Wednesday February 4, 2015

President's Update - February

Hello senate presidents and other interested readers,

We hope you all had a wonderful and safe holiday season. As we move into the new year and the spring term, we are once again faced with a seemingly ever-growing workload. Many of the projects and initiatives that began last year will continue into the spring, and additional important efforts are already underway. The Academic Senate will do all that we can to keep you informed and updated on all of these matters in order to help you represent the faculty in your districts and on your colleges effectively.

David Morse, 
President

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Spring 2015 ASCCC Plenary Session

The Spring 2015 Plenary Session will be held at the Westin San Francisco Airport on April 9 to 11, 2015.  Planning for the plenary session is only in its initial stages, but currently suggested topics for general session presentations include President Obama’s plan for tuition-free community colleges and the Board of Governor’s Task Force on Workforce, Job Creation, and a Strong Economy.  The Executive Committee also plans to present the ASCCC Strategic Plan and a revision of the ASCCC Bylaws and Rules.  More information on the plenary session and area meetings will be released in the coming months and can be found here. 

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The President’s Plan to Make College More Affordable

On January 9, 2015, President Obama announced his new America’s College Promise proposal, which includes, among other things, making the first two years of community college tuition free for “responsible students”—those who “attend at least half-time, maintain a 2.5 GPA while in college, and make steady progress toward completing their program.”  Full details of the proposal can be found here. While many of the details of the president’s proposal are very attractive and are consistent with ASCCC positions, including the concept of eliminating tuition fees, other aspects of the plan are cause for concern, such as his featuring of Western Governors University as a positive model and the requirement that states must “allocate a significant portion of funding based on performance, not enrollment alone.”  Much discussion of the president’s proposal will take place over the next few months, and we will hope that the more problematic aspects will be addressed.  The Academic Senate will continue to monitor the situation and keep you updated on developments.

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Task Force on Workforce, Job Creation, and a Strong Economy

The Board of Governors Task Force on Workforce, Job Creation, and a Strong Economy has been formed and held its first meeting in late January.  More information on the task force, including the membership, the meeting schedule, and a set of frequently asked questions, can be found here.  The task force is co-chaired by Long Beach City College electrical technology professor and faculty union president Lynn Shaw and features three additional faculty members as Academic Senate appointees: ASCCC Vice-President Julie Bruno, San Diego Mesa College math professor and Curriculum Chair Toni Parsons, and Pasadena City College counselor Lynell Wiggins.  In order to encourage and gather broader faculty input to inform task force discussions, the Academic Senate will be hosting regional conversations specifically for faculty on February 27 at Solano College, on February 28 at Palomar College, and on March 13 at Clovis College.  We encourage local faculty leaders and CTE faculty to attend these meetings and help us ensure that the faculty voice is heard by the task force. Registration for these events is now posted on our website at the link above. 

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The Community College Baccalaureate Degree Pilot

Applications for participation in the Community College Baccalaureate Degree Pilot have been received and evaluated by the Chancellor’s Office. A list of fifteen pilot colleges was given initial approval at the January 20-21 Board of Governors Meeting.  The press release identifying the pilot colleges and programs can be found here. Many questions regarding the CCC Baccalaureate Degrees remain to be answered, and conversations with the CSU and UC systems regarding the proposed degrees are ongoing. The Academic Senate has been involved in reading the applications and will help to lead discussions with the pilot colleges to define such aspects of the degrees as general education requirements and instructor minimum qualifications, among others.  We will continue to work to ensure that all degrees offered in our system are held to high academic standards.

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The Technology Initiatives

The three systemwide initiatives—Online Education (OEI), Common Assessment (CAI), and Educational Planning (EPI)—continue to make progress. The OEI Steering Committee has selected an online tutoring agency to support the project and expects to approve a vendor for a common course management system on February 6, 2015.  More news on the OEI can be found on a new website created by OEI Executive Director Pat James located here.  The CAI Steering Committee also hopes to select a vendor for the project in February and expects the work of creating the common assessment system to begin in March. A professional development workgroup for the CAI will be formed in April to prepare for pilot trainings at colleges in early fall.  The EPI Steering Committee expects to demonstrate, test, and revise the systemwide student services portal beginning in late January, and a request for proposals for an online education planning tool and degree audit system has been released with a deadline for proposals of January 23.

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LAO Report on Transfer

On February 2, the Legislative Analyst’s Office released a new report on transfer between community colleges and the CSU system. The report is a requirement of the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act that was created by SB 1440 (Padilla 2010) and SB 440 (Padilla, 2013) and analyzes the implementation of the associate degrees for transfer.   Overall the LAO’s findings are quite positive, as they state, “Both CCC and CSU have made considerable progress in implementing transfer reform.”  The full report is available on their site here.  http://www.lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/3166

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Academic Academy

The 2015 ASCCC Academic Academy will be held on March 13 and 14 at the Westin South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa.  This year the theme for the Academic Academy is Subverting Silos: Collaboration for Student Success and Equity.  The Academic Senate’s Transfer, Articulation, and Student Services Committee, chaired by Cynthia Rico, and the Equity and Diversity Action Committee, chaired by James Todd, have been working together to develop an impressive program for the event, with presenters coming from colleges all around the state to share their successes regarding student success and equity.  More information, including a preliminary list of presentations, can be found here.  We hope many of you will join us for this important and exciting institute but know that you need to register early as space is limited.    

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Regional Meetings

The ASCCC will be presenting two separate sets of regional meetings on March 20 and 21, 2015. The ASCCC Noncredit Committee, chaired by Debbie Klein, will hold regionals on noncredit instruction and programs at Foothill College on March 20 and at Cerritos College on March 21.  The Online Education Committee, chaired by John Freitas, will host online education regional meetings on March 20 at College of San Mateo and on March 21 at Mt. San Antonio College. Registration and other information for both events can be found on the links above. We encourage local senate leaders to send teams of interested faculty, staff, and administrators to these events and to register early.  

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2015-16 Budget

On January 9, 2015, Governor Brown released his initial budget proposal for 2015-16.  Although many of us were disappointed that the requested dedicated funding for full-time faculty hiring and professional development were not included, the budget overall was very generous to the community college system.  Chancellor Brice Harris described the budget in this way:  “Gov. Brown’s budget proposal for community colleges is the best our system has seen in years. It proposes additional funding that will make seats available for 45,000 more students. Once again, the governor’s plan endorses the work we are doing to improve completion rates, close achievement gaps, and make workforce training even more responsive to the needs of our economy. At the same time, the budget provides a bold plan to lift thousands of Californians out of poverty by reshaping and reinvesting in adult education programs that serve the neediest residents.”  Of course, many aspects of the budget can change between now and its final approval in summer, but all indications at this time are that we can expect strong funding for our colleges in the coming year. A summary of the budget can be found on the State of California website here. 

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Executive Committee Meetings

The ASCCC Executive Committee will hold its February meeting at San Jose City College on Friday, February 6 at San Jose City College and on Saturday February 7 at the Four Points Hotel in San Jose.  The meeting agenda is available for viewing at the link above  The March Executive Committee Meeting will be held on March 6-7 in Riverside.  We encourage all local senate leaders and other interested parties to join us for these meetings so that we can keep you better informed and so that you can give us your input on our work and the issues we discuss.

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Conclusion

The new year is off to a running start, and the amount of work facing us can sometimes feel overwhelming.  Nevertheless, we must stay focused and active on all projects and initiatives because the faculty voice is crucial to the success of our colleges at both the state and local levels. The Academic Senate will continue to provide you with information on all statewide issues and events in the timeliest manner possible, and we look forward to hearing from you regarding your successes, your ideas, and your concerns in order that we may represent you as effectively as possible.  We also hope to see you at the many institutes and other events that we will be hosting in the coming months. Until then, stay vigilant, remain collegial, and continue your great work in representing the faculty of our system.  

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Archived President's Updates

Past President's Updates can be found on the Senate website here. 

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