President's Update | December 2016

Fall Plenary Session

The ASCCC held its Fall Plenary Session on November 3-5 in Costa Mesa. The program included general sessions and breakouts on a variety of important topics. If you missed any information during the plenary, all presentational materials and handouts may be found on the ASCCC website. The resolutions adopted on Saturday may be found on the website as well. We are grateful to all attendees for participating in the sessions and engaging in thoughtful and insightful dialogue about issues facing the community colleges.  We also offer a special note of appreciation to all of our presenters who shared their expertise and knowledge with our attendees.  

Accreditation

Efforts to improve the accreditation process continued in November with meetings by both CEO Workgroup I and II. Workgroup I continues its discussions with the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) on ways to improve ACCJC’s current processes. Led by Chancellor Helen Benjamin, these conversations are based on a report submitted to the ACCJC in June. At the ASCCC Fall Plenary Session, Chancellor Cindy Miles, the chair of Workgroup II, reached consensus on the long-term goal of having a single higher education commission for the Western region, recognizing this would take a number of years with many steps and considerations that they will continue to research and define in upcoming meetings. Meanwhile, both workgroups recognize the imperative of supporting and improving ACCJC to sustain our accreditation viability with the U.S. Department of Education. As always, regular updates on both workgroups and all efforts involving the ACCJC may be found on the Community College League of California’s Accreditation webpage. The ASCCC leadership will be attending the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI) meeting in February to provide testimony in line with the letter submitted to the United States Department of Education regarding ACCJC’s compliance report. 

Accreditation Institute

We are in the process of finalizing the program for the Accreditation Institute on February 17 and 18, 2017 in Napa Valley. Please don’t forget to register for this important institute. Information may be found on the ASCCC website.  A preliminary program will be posted in January. 

  Legislation    

The Legislative and Advocacy Committee is publishing a quarterly newsletter. The first issue was produced in November and distributed through the ASCCC’s various listservs, including the Legislative Liaison listserv. If your local senate has not yet identified a legislative liaison, please do so in the spring to help us stay in contact with faculty at your college. All our listservs are open to subscribers, so please sign up if you haven’t already so that we may keep you up to date on the latest information and events. The newsletter, legislative updates, and additional information may be found on the Legislative Update webpage.

EEO, Diversity, and Faculty Hiring                                                    

The Chancellor’s Office Equal Employment Opportunity and Diversity Advisory Committee and the Office of the General Council identified nine best practices in three areas—pre-hiring, hiring and post-hiring—for success in promoting Equal Employment Opportunity throughout the community college system. Examples of each of the nine practices were selected by the advisory committee and published in the EEO and Diversity Best Practices Handbook to be used as a resource by local colleges. The handbook and information on the advisory committee may be found on the Equal Employment Opportunity webpage on the Chancellor’s Office website. 

The ASCCC Equity and Diversity Action Committee will be holding Diversity and Faculty Hiring regional meetings on February 10, 2016 at Sacramento City College and February 11, 2016 at Southwestern College. General sessions and breakouts will focus on effective practices for encouraging a more diverse faculty body at local campuses. Registration is available on the ASCCC website now and the agenda will be available the first of the new year. 

Minimum Qualifications (MQs) and Equivalencies CTE Minimum Qualifications Advisory Work Group

Requests for assistance on screening minimum qualifications and the use of equivalency to meet MQs continue to come in from local senates, especially in CTE disciplines. In an effort to provide additional support to colleges, the ASCCC is working in partnership with the Academic Affairs and Workforce divisions of the Chancellor’s Office as well as with CIO, CEO, and HR representatives on the CTE Minimum Qualifications Advisory Work Group. The charge of the workgroup is to investigate and disseminate effective equivalency practices from all stakeholder perspectives with the intention of using equivalency processes to create diverse pools of candidates for program hiring. The workgroup expects to disseminate a short document in January to assist faculty and colleges in refining their equivalency processes as they move into the spring hiring cycle. Additional information from the workgroup will be published in spring. As always, resources on the Disciplines List, Minimum Qualifications, and equivalency may be found on the Standards and Practices Committee webpage on the ASCCC website.

MQs and Equivalencies Regional Meetings 
This spring, the ASCCC, with support from the Institution Effectiveness Partnership Initiative, is holding two MQ and Equivalencies regional meetings tentatively scheduled for March 9 and 10. The meetings will utilize the IEPI team approach, so colleges will be asked to bring teams of senate presidents, equivalency chairs, CTE liaisons, HR professionals, deans, and CIOs.  More information will be available soon on the ASCCC website. 

Curriculum-SACC is now 5C

The 5C (formerly SACC) continues the work of streamlining curriculum processes. The Chancellor’s Office is releasing the 6th edition of the Program and Course Approval Handbook, and a 5C workgroup is writing a white paper to describe the changes in curriculum processes in the Chancellor’s Office Academic Affairs division. Also, the ASCCC, in partnership with 5C and the Chancellor’s Office, will be holding curriculum workshops across the state. Look for details including dates, times, and locations on the ASCCC website in January. 

Upcoming ASCCC Executive Committee Meetings

Executive Committee Meeting, January 6-7, 2017, College of Alameda (January 6) Oakland Marriott City Center (January 7)
Executive Committee Meeting, February 3-4, 2017, El Camino College (February 3) and Hotel Maya, Long Beach (February 4)
Monthly Executive Committee Meetings are listed on the Executive Committee webpage. 

Upcoming ASCCC Events

• SLO Symposium, February 3, 2017, North Orange County Community College District
• Faculty Hiring Regional Meetings, February 10, 2017 (North), Sacramento City College and February 11, 2017 (South), Southwestern College
• Accreditation Institute, February 17-18, 2017, Napa Valley Marriott
• Instructional Design and Innovation Institute, March 17-18, 2017, San Jose Marriott
• Area Meetings, March 24, 2017 (North) and March 25, 2017 (South)
• Spring Plenary Session, April 20-22, 2017, San Mateo Marriott

The ASCCC is always happy to provide assistance or guidance on any senate-related topic.  We also make visits to local colleges to connect directly with academic senates or other faculty bodies when appropriate.  Please feel free to contact us if you are interested in these services. More information may be found at www.asccc.org.