10-11 CLFIC submitted a Rostrum article; "Starting students off on the right foot and keeping them on the right track!" to address the second resolve of this resolution to “encourage local senates to work with their collective bargaining units to add language in local contracts establishing reasonable minimum counselor to student ratios.”
Whereas, The significant role counseling faculty play in the success of students has been reinforced in numerous research based documents such as Basic Skills as a Foundation for Student Success in California Community Colleges (Center for Student Success, 2007), Facilitating Community College Transfer: A Master Plan Mandate, (Intersegmental Committee of Academic Senates, Spring 2009), Community College Transfer Task Force: Findings and Recommendations Aimed at Strengthening the Community College Transfer Process (Intersegmental Task Force, September 2009), California Community College Transfer: Recommended Guidelines (California Community College Chancellor’s Office and California Community College Transfer Center Directors Association, 2006), and Crafting a Student-Centered Transfer Process in California: Lessons From Other States (Institute of Higher Education Leadership and Policy, August 2009);
Whereas, The acknowledged importance counseling faculty play in the success of students contrasts directly with the precipitous decline in the number of counseling faculty systemwide which can, in large part, be attributed to recent events, including the decimation of categorical funding (campuses commonly hire counseling faculty using matriculation funds), a significantly reduced portion of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act than was expected while many campuses had planned to use these funds to backfill categoricals, and the fallacy of the 50% law that claims the counseling function does not directly support instruction, and, as a result, colleges are incentivized to limit expenditures on counseling activities, including hiring; and
Whereas, When colleges receive growth dollars to provide funding for an increase in enrollment, they do not simultaneously receive equal funding to support the services used by students representing that increase in enrollment;
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges work with the Chancellor’s Office to change Title 5 to define the minimum number of counseling faculty required based on the recommended counselor to student ratio (1:370) cited in the Academic Senate adopted paper Consultation Council Task Force on Counseling (2003); and
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges encourage local senates to work with their collective bargaining units to add language in local contracts establishing reasonable minimum counselor to student ratios and request that the Academic Senate collaborate with statewide collective bargaining organizations to jointly press for local bargaining units’ consideration of establishing reasonable minimum counselor to student ratios.
MSC Disposition: Local Senates, Council of Faculty Organizations