Tuesday May 19, 2015
President's Update - May
Hello senate presidents and other interested readers,
The 2014-15 academic year is drawing to a close. We have all had a busy year, with numerous important projects and other demands on our attention and time at both the state and local levels: the work on Equity and SSSP
plans, the Statewide Educational Technology Initiatives, the Institutional Effectiveness Partnership Initiative, the passing of SB 850 (Block, 2014) and the implementation of the Community College Bachelor’s Degree Pilot, the
AB 86 Adult Education Consortia, accreditation issues, the Workforce Task Force, and others. In addition, the ASCCC created and passed a new strategic plan, revised our bylaws
and the Empowering Local Senates Handbook, presented numerous statewide and regional events, and represented you in various other ways. With summer approaching, one would think that we all deserve to take a break and catch our breath. However, the work of academic senates does not stop in summer, and so we offer the following updates to keep you informed regarding statewide developments as you continue to serve the faculty and students on your campuses.
David Morse,
President
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Spring 2015 ASCCC Plenary Session
The 2015 ASCCC Spring Plenary Session
in San Francisco was a great success. We had an outstanding turnout of faculty leaders, both new and experienced, and we were joined at various points during the three-day event by a wide variety of college presidents and administrators, vice-chancellors and Chancellor’s Office Staff, and representatives from FACCC and other partner organizations, as well as a number of other distinguished guests. In spite of the many demands that we face which led to the
Thriving Under Pressure theme for this plenary, the positive energy and attitude among all attendees was impressive. We thank everyone who attended and participated in the presentations and in our voting on Saturday.
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New Executive Committee Assignments
The Spring Plenary Session saw the election of the ASCCC Executive Committee for 2015-16. Each member of the new Executive Committee has accepted an assignment that includes work such as serving on ASCCC committees and task forces, on Chancellor’s Office advisory bodies, as a liaison to other organizations, and in other areas. The major standing committee and task force assignments for 2015-16 are as follows:
Standing Committee Chairs:
Accreditation Committee: Randy Beach
Budget Committee: Wheeler North
Curriculum Committee: John Freitas
Educational Policies Committee: Michelle Grimes-Hillman
Equity and Diversity Action Committee: Kale Braden
Legislative and Advocacy Committee: Julie Bruno
Noncredit Committee: Cheryl Aschenbach
Online Education Committee: Dolores Davison
Professional Development Committee: James Todd
Relations with Local Senates Committee: Cynthia Rico
Resolutions Committee: John Stanskas
Standards and Practices Committee: John Stanskas
Transfer, Accreditation, and Student Services: Ginni May
A Few Other Assignments of Major Note:
Part-Time Faculty Task Force: Wheeler North
Common Assessment Initiative Co-Chair: Craig Rutan
Online Education Initiative Vice-Chair: John Freitas
Educational Planning Initiative Co-Chair: Cynthia Rico
CCC Baccalaureate Degree Task Force: John Stanskas
SACC Co-Chair: Michelle Grimes-Hillman
FACCC Liaison: Dolores Davison
CSU GEAC Liaison: John Stanskas
This list is just a small sample of the work that Executive Committee Members do, and all aspects of that work are important. We have a great team as we prepare for the coming year, and we look forward to serving and representing the faculty statewide.
If you are interested in participating on one of these committees, please complete an Application to Serve form found on our website. The committees will be forming during the summer so please provide your best contact information on the form.
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Budget Update
On May 14 Governor Brown released his proposed revision to the budget that had been announced in January. The May Revision provides $619 million in new Proposition 98 allocations to community colleges. Some significant details of the governor’s proposed changes to the January budget are as follows:
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$49.7 million to increase access from 2% to 3% ($156.5M total for 2015-16).
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A decrease of $31.3 million to reflect a downward adjustment in the COLA from 1.58% to 1.02%
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$75 million to support an increase in full-time faculty hiring.
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$141.7 million in additional funds for support of district general operating expenses, bringing the proposed total to $266.7 million.
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$148 million for deferred maintenance and instructional equipment.
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$60 million in one-time funds for the Basic Skills and Student Outcomes Transformation Program. These funds are intended to improve basic skills instruction through adoption and/or expansion of evidence-based models of placement, remediation, and student support that will aid the progress and success of basic skills students.
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$15 million increase for Student Equity Plan funding, bringing the total proposed increase to $115 million for the 2015-16 fiscal year.
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$2.5 million to fund the COLA for the EOPS, DSPS, CalWORKs, and the Childcare Tax Bailout programs.
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$2 million in one-time funds for a pilot program to foster collaboration between colleges and CSU campuses relating to basic skills instruction for incoming CSU students.
Full detail of the governor’s May Budget Revision can be found
here. On the whole, the proposal contains a great deal of good news for community colleges. The dedicated funding for full-time faculty hiring is an addition that FACCC, the ASCCC, and our union partners have all argued strongly for. The decrease in COLA is disappointing, but COLA is based on a mandatory calculation by the Department of Finance and in any case should not outweigh all of the positive features of the revision. Of course, one must remember that the May Revision is only the governor’s proposal; the legislature must still present its version of a budget to the governor by June 15, and then the two proposals must be reconciled. However, last year the
legislature was considerably more liberal than the governor in its budget revision proposal, so reason for optimism does exist.
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ASCCC Budget Request: A Collaborative Effort
The Academic Senate submitted a request to the legislature for an increase in funding of $250,000 for the coming year. This request is barely significant in the larger view of the state budget but would be very important in helping the ASCCC to support the implementation and continuation of faculty driven projects as well as provide valuable professional development for all faculty. At the suggestion of FACCC Executive Director Jonathan Lightman, the ASCCC sought support for this request from the Chief Instructional Officers, the
Community College League (CCLC), and the Association of California Community College Administrators
(ACCCA) as well as FACCC. All of these organizations willingly agreed to add their official logos and the signatures of their leaders to the ASCCC’s request, showing their appreciation for the work and importance of the Academic Senate and the continuing development of positive relationships with our various partner organizations. We thank the CIOs, CCLC, ACCCA, and FACCC for their support and look forward to continuing to develop our partnerships with them.
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Legislation
As directed by resolutions passed at the Spring Plenary Session, the ASCCC filed letters of official support for AB 288 (Dual Enrollment), AB 626 (Full-time Faculty Hiring and Part-time Office Hours), AB 798
(Open Educational Resources) and a letter of support if amended for AB 770 (Basic Skills Innovation). We had previously filed a letter of support for AB 490
(funding for EOPS and CARE) and are in the process of developing with FACCC a joint letter of opposition to SB 42
(California Commission on Higher Education Performance and Accountability), for which we had previously filed a letter of concern. All of the letters sent by the ASCCC regarding legislation are available for your review on our new Legislative Update Page. In addition, the ASCCC continues to consult with Assemblymember Bonilla on
AB 798, and President David Morse and Executive Director Julie Adams met with Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin to discuss possible amendments to AB 770.
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Workforce Task Force
The Taskforce on Workforce, Job Creation, and a Strong Economy continues to move forward. On May 13 the taskforce examined the topics of curriculum processes, instructor qualifications, and student pathways. ASCCC Executive Committee Member Michelle Grimes-Hillman and Statewide Career Pathways
Articulation Liaison Kris Costa were guest presenters on behalf of the Academic Senate. Presentation materials and background papers are posted on the Doing What Matters website here (see bottom of the page).
The next meeting of the taskforce is set for June 11, at which time one of the topics will be funding for CTE.
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Accreditation Task Force
The Consultation Council Accreditation Taskforce has met several times in the past two months and has created a draft outline for its report. The taskforce hopes to send its report forward to the Chancellor and Consultation Council in June and to the Board of Governors in July with strong recommendations for addressing system-wide issues with accreditation.
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CCC Baccalaureate Degree Task Force
In collaboration with the Chancellor’s Office, the ASCCC has formed a task force to establish appropriate parameters for the Community College Baccalaureate Degree Pilot. This task force, chaired by John Stanskas and co-chaired by Michelle Grimes-Hillman, developed proposals in the areas of defining upper division coursework, upper division general education requirements, minimum qualifications for faculty teaching upper division courses, and necessary support services and then met with representatives from the pilot colleges on May 7 to discuss the proposals. The task force will continue to work with the pilot colleges and the Chancellor’s Office to ensure that all degrees offered by California community colleges meet appropriate standards.
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Executive Director Evaluation
In fall 2014, the elected members of the Executive Committee worked in collaboration with ASCCC Executive Director Julie Adams to revise the process for the executive director’s evaluation. Rather than being based on the decision of the president alone, the evaluation process is now conducted by an ad hoc sub-committee of the Executive Committee, which prepares a report based on a variety of input and recommends an evaluation conclusion to the full Executive Committee, which makes the final decision. We expect this process to provide a more complete, well-rounded evaluation and to ensure greater fairness and consistency for the executive director. The first cycle of this new evaluation process is now underway, with the Executive Committee scheduled to consider the sub-committee report at its
May 29 meeting.
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Disciplines List
At the Spring 2015 Plenary Session, the ASCCC adopted four revisions to the Disciplines List in the areas of African American Studies, Counseling DSPS, Learning Disabilities DSPS, and Supply Chain Technology. These proposed revisions will be submitted to the Consultation Council in July and to the Board of Governors in September. Once the proposals are adopted by the Board of Governors, the revisions will go into effect immediately and will be published in an updated Disciplines List.
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Coming ASCCC Events
The ASCCC Executive Committee hopes that the 2014-15 academic year has been successful and enjoyable for all of you, and we hope you are able to take some time for rest and revitalization this summer. We look forward to seeing many of you at the Leadership Institute and the Curriculum Institute. Until then, keep up the great work you do on your campuses and please contact us if we can be of help to you.
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