President's Update | October 2017

Accreditation

At its September meeting, the Board of Governors received progress reports from the chairs of Workgroups I and II. Dr. Helen Benjamin provided a status update on the recommended improvements regarding ACCJC as stated in Workgroup I Report: Improving ACCJC Structure, Function, and Relations. This fall, Workgroup I will continue to seek improvements to the accreditation process under the leadership of Southwestern College President Kindred Murillo. Dr. Cindy Miles summarized the conclusions of Workgroup II in its final report, Higher Education Accreditation Alignment: A Vision for the Western Region. In the report, Workgroup II affirms the goal of moving toward a single accreditor for the western region and offers an implementation plan and timeline. At this time, it is unclear if or when the CEO Board of California Community Colleges will pursue the steps outlined in the report. We will continue to provide updates on accreditation as information becomes available. Additional information on efforts regarding accreditation and ACCJC can be found on the Accreditation webpage published by the Community College League of California.

CCC 2018-2019 Budget and Legislative Proposal

The Board of Governors adopted the California Community Colleges 2018-2019 Budget and Legislative Proposal at its September meeting. This year, the Chancellor’s Office brought to the Board of Governors a proposal that included both budget request as well as legislative priorities. Additionally, the Chancellor’s Office organized the proposal around the Vision for Success system-wide goals. The 2018-2019 Budget and Legislative Proposal includes the following budget requests: 

Base increase - $200 million
Full Time hiring - $75 million
Part Time support - $25 million
Flexible Learning Outcomes for Workers (FLOW)  - Funding request TBD
Basic Skills Transformation Grants - $25 million
Professional Development - $25 million
Chancellor’s Office Staffing and Professional Development - $2.5 million
Equal Employment Opportunity - $5 million
California Promise Program - $25 million

Statutory requests include Project FLOW (see below), Cal Grant Program, Basic Skills Transformation Grants, Professional Development, Adult Education data sharing, integration of student support services, and the California Promise Program. More information about the development of the proposal may be found on the Board of Governors agenda item.

Project FLOW: Flexible Learning Options for Workers

At the Board of Governors’ May meeting, the Chancellor reported that the Governor wrote a letter to the Chancellor requesting the investigation of an online community college. In response, the Chancellor’s Office formed a workgroup to discuss the Governor’s request. The scope of work for FLOW includes:

• Identify those whom the California community colleges are not currently serving well through traditional education delivery models.
• Identify online education models that will reach these students and best facilitate their completion of useful credentials.
• Determine how the California context factors into the creation of possible options, including existing models.
• Identify three to five options along with pros, cons, and associated challenges.

The Chancellor has identified “adults with some college and no certification” and “working adults with vocation needs” as the population to benefit from the options developed by the workgroup. The workgroup recommendations will be presented to the Board of Governors at its November meeting. For more information, the Chancellor’s Office has established a website for Project Flow.

Guided Pathways

The Chancellor’s Office IEPI Guided Pathways workshops are well underway and will continue through November 7. As specified in Education Code 88920-88922, attendance at the workshops is required for all colleges wishing to participate in the Guided Pathways Award Program. Information on the program, including the statute requirements, videos, presentation materials, and other resources, may be found on the IEPI Guided Pathways website. The Academic Senate will hold a general session and breakouts at the fall Plenary Session in November focused on faculty and academic senate concerns and interests. Finally, please be sure to identify a Guided Pathways liaison for your academic senate to facilitate the sharing of information and the inclusion of faculty voice in the implementation of the CCC Guided Pathways Program.  Send the name and contact information of your liaison to info@asccc.org.

Legislative and Advocacy Priorities

In September, the ASCCC Executive Committee, upon recommendation of the Legislative and Advocacy Committee, adopted the following advocacy priorities for 2017-2018:

•    Full-time faculty hiring and diversity
•    Audit Fee
•    Permanent and sustainable funding for C-ID
•    Dedicated professional development resources to improve student success and completion by convening faculty discipline meetings*
•    Wrap-around student support including mental health services and direct aid for food and housing insecurity.
 
*Designed to facilitate statewide discussions about curriculum, serving various student groups, and improving collaboration at the discipline level.  

  Legislative Update    

The 2017 legislative session ended on Friday, September 15. The Governor has until October 15 to either sign or veto bills sent to him by the legislature. Below are a few notable bills sent to the governor for action including: 

AB 19 California College Promise: Establishes the California College Promise - Presented to the Governor
AB 214 Student Hunger: Improves access for low-income students to the CalFresh program – Signed and Chaptered
AB 637 Cross-Enrollment in Online Education: Eases regulatory constraints for online course enrollment - Presented to the Governor
AB 705 Assessment: Requirements for Assessment and Placement in Math, English and ESL - Presented to the Governor
AB 1018 Student Equity Plans: Requires homeless and LGBTQI+ students to be included in student equity plans - Presented to the Governor
SB 12 Financial Aid Assistance: Expands the CAFYES (Cooperating Agencies Foster Youth Educational Support) Program from 10 to 20 colleges - Presented to the Governor

ACR 32 - Community College Faculty: Calls for proposal to address challenges of achieving 75% instruction full-time faculty and improved compensation equity for part-time faculty - Chaptered 

On October 5, the governor signed a series of bills into law designed to protect undocumented students and ensure access to resources both to complete educational goals and provide legal services and health coverage protections.  

Letters in opposition to AB 705 as well as monthly ASCCC legislative updates and additional information may be found on the Legislative Update webpage. Detailed information about the content and status of bills may be accessed at the California Legislative Information website. Also, information on advocacy as well as tools to track legislation may be found on the Faculty Association for California Community Colleges (FACCC) website. 

Fall Plenary Session and Area Meetings

The ASCCC Fall Plenary Session is almost here. The Plenary Session will be held on November 2-4 at the Irvine Marriott Hotel in Irvine. Area meetings are scheduled for Friday, October 13 (North – Areas A and B) and Saturday, October 14 (South – Areas C and D). Meeting information for all areas may be found on the Area News page. 

Academic Senate Directory

A new academic year often comes with a change in academic senate leadership. Please make sure the ASCCC directory is up to date with the correct listings for your senate leadership including your academic senate’s career technical education, legislative, noncredit, and guided pathways liaisons. For more information on these positions, please see the ASCCC liaison webpage. Also, be sure to sign up for any or all of the Academic Senate listservs so that you can receive critical notices, important updates, and information newsletters.

Upcoming ASCCC Events

• Area Meetings, October 13 (Areas A and B) and October 14 (Areas C and D), 2017
• CTE Regional Meetings, October 20 (North: College of Alameda) and October 21 (South: Chaffey College), 2017
• Civil Discourse and Equity Regional Meetings, October 27 (North: Solano College)and October 28 (South: Fullerton College)
• Fall Plenary Session, November 2-4, 2017, Irvine Marriott Hotel, Irvine
• Curriculum Regional Meetings, November 17 (North) and November 18 (South), 2017
• Student Learning Outcomes (SLO) Symposium, February 9, 2018, Orange Coast College
• Spring OER Regional Meeting, February 9 (South), February 10 (North). Locations are forthcoming.   
• Accreditation Institute, February 23-24, 2018, Wyndham Anaheim Hotel, Garden Grove
• Spring CTE Regional Meetings, March 9 (North) and March 10 (South), 2018
• Area Meetings, March 23 and March 24, 2018
• Spring Plenary Session, April 12-14, 2018, San Mateo Marriott
• Faculty Leadership Institute, June 14-16, 2018, Sheraton Park Anaheim
• Curriculum Institute, July 11-14, 2018, Riverside Convention Center

Note: More events will be posted as soon as they are confirmed.

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.