Curriculum

Whereas, On October 6, 2021, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 927 (Medina, 2021) [1] authorizing the California community colleges to extend the operation of the statewide baccalaureate degree pilot program indefinitely and authorize the California Community Colleges Board of Governors to establish up to 30 baccalaureate degree programs annually;

Whereas, The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges encourages local academic senates to establish mechanisms to encourage faculty to consider open educational resources (OER) when developing or revising courses and to document the use of OER on the course outline of record (Resolution S19 09.05 [1]);

Whereas, California Code of Regulations Title 5 §55063 establishes requirements for students to earn an associate degree, including demonstrated competence in reading, written expression, and mathematics;

Whereas, Current regulations define the standards to meet these requirements by associating those requirements with specific courses or disciplines and outlining methods for establishing equivalencies to courses in those specific disciplines rather than defining reading, written expression, and mathematics competency statements; and

Whereas, AB928 (Berman, 2021) presents unintended consequences for students in many disciplines, including kinesiology, within the California Community Colleges system;

Whereas, C-ID constructed a template in “Social Justice Studies” as a general “Area of Emphasis” for students wishing to transfer into Ethnic Studies programs or Women and Gender Studies programs;

Whereas, The fields of Ethnic Studies and Women and Gender Studies have long been recognized in higher education as distinct and legitimate disciplines and exist as separate programs and degrees at transfer institutions including California State University and University of California;

Whereas, AB 927 (Medina, 2021) expands baccalaureate degree programs in the California Community Colleges;

Whereas, AB 705 (Irwin, 2017) was passed in 2017 and discouraged the placement of students into pre-transfer intermediate algebra and encouraged placing students directly into transfer-level math based on multiple measures data;

Whereas, The course outline of record is at the center of local curricular process, its required elements have been outlined in California Code of Regulations Title 5 § 55002, and the application of those requirements is detailed in the Program and Course Approval Handbook; and

Whereas, There is a lack of system guidance on the definition and appropriate practice of cross-listing sufficient to guide colleges on course development and submission;

INTRODUCTION

Resolution 16.01 in Fall 2019 called for publishing resources for learning assistance with a focus on the role of tutoring and learning center faculty.

Whereas, The field of learning assistance has evolved since the last Academic Senate resolutions in 2008 (10.01 F08) and 2011 (10.12 S11) that addressed minimum qualifications and a 2011 article about separating learning assistance and tutoring;

Whereas, In Fall 2019, the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges adopted Resolution 16.01 Develop Standards of Practice Resource for Learning Assistance and Tutoring in the California Community Colleges, including the Role of Learning Skills Coordinators or Instructors, and Tutoring Coordinators [1], which recognized the evolution of the field of learning assistance since prior learning assistance center and tutoring resolutions; and