Whereas, Community colleges are serving the needs of an increasing population of students whose native language is not English;
Whereas, Some community colleges are currently offering courses in a variety of content areas in languages other than English without any formal policies or procedures; and
Whereas, This practice raises issues of integrity of the curriculum, minimum qualifications, and availability of student materials;
Whereas, Teaching pedagogy has shifted to best meet student learning needs, including a movement to lecturing with various technology platforms in a laboratory setting and the inclusion of laboratory-like group collaborations and peer assisted learning in lecture formats;
Resolved, That the Academic Senate explore the lab/lecture issue and the academic implications of the lab/lecture distinctions.
Whereas, The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges has adopted an issues paper entitled Information Competency in the California Community Colleges and formulated the definition of information competency that includes the following skills:
State a research question, problem, or issue.
Determine information requirements in various disciplines for the research questions, problems, or issues.
Use information technology tools to locate and retrieve relevant information.
Communicate using a variety of information technologies.
Whereas, The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges worked closely with the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office in the revisions of the Program and Course Approval Handbook;
Whereas, The section entitled "Course Repetition" contains a sentence that has caused concern among faculty across the state: "It is not the intent of the regulation that basic skills or ESL courses generally be eligible to be so designated [for course repetition]" (page 36); and
Whereas, Title 5 55805.5 allows fulfillment of mathematics and English Associate Degree requirements with high school level mathematics and English courses;
Whereas, English and mathematics faculty wish to examine and discuss possible changes to the relevant Title 5 language;
Whereas, The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges is the body responsible for recommending such changes; and
Whereas, Every other discipline requirement for the associate degree is a collegiate level transfer course;
Whereas, The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges has supported career preparation for jobs that provide sustainable living wages;
Whereas, The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges was instrumental in developing the Career Ladders Initiative, which recognizes the importance of integrating economic development activities with occupational programs;
Whereas, The July 26, 2001, draft of "Framing Document: A Career Ladders Approach to Workforce Development," the adopted Academic Senate paper on information competency, and many employers across diverse industries agree that skills in literacy and numeracy alone are no longer sufficient for people to obtain and retain jobs in the workplace, and cite increasing demands upon workers to "collect and assess information";
Whereas, Title 5 55002 (Standards and Criteria for Courses and Classes) requires that, for both degree applicable and nondegree-applicable credit courses, the course outline of record be made available to each instructor;
Whereas, There is continuing anecdotal evidence that many part-time temporary faculty members begin teaching in California community colleges without being provided a copy of the course outline of record for their assignments and often continue to teach for many years without knowing that course outlines exist; and
Whereas, Global education is a growing pedagogical area in the California community colleges;
Whereas, The term global education is often used to connote vastly different conceptions, from the inculcation of internationalist and multicultural perspectives to the advocacy of corporate globalism and trade relations, and therefore needs a more precise educational definition; and
Whereas, The policy development and implementation of global education are academic and professional matters;
Whereas more than 70% of the nation's colleges and universities offer courses especially designed to enhance the academic success of their students, and
Whereas research nationwide supports the value of student success courses in enhancing educational outcomes, and
Whereas current Title 5 Regulation 55002 singles out the counseling discipline for higher scrutiny for its courses,
Resolved that the Academic Senate convene a task force that includes counseling faculty to review Title 5 55002 Standards and Criteria for college orientation and guidance courses, and