Local Senates

Student Preparation and Success

Whereas community college student services, including counseling, transfer centers, transfer alliance, EOPS, student equity (success), financial aid, health centers, tutoring, and components of matriculation and CalWORKs, have an important role in enrollment, retention, persistence, completion rates, and general student success inside and outside of the classroom, and

Basic Skills Opportunities

Whereas, The research conducted as a component of the Basic Skills Initiative (BSI) and other studies has highlighted the need to enhance basic skills instruction and provide related support services;

Whereas, Models for effective instruction for basic skills students include such things as learning communities, academies, fast track classes, summer bridge programs, and specialized counseling; and

Urge Newly Elected Local Presidents to Attend Leadership and Sessions

Whereas, Strong local senates are essential for proper oversight of academic and professional matters;

Whereas, Local academic senate leaders need information and appropriate training in order to lead their respective senates effectively; and

Whereas, The leadership institutes and session breakouts of the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges are designed to provide vital information on academic and professional matters and prepare faculty leaders to deal effectively with issues;

Enterprise Software and Academic Decisions

Whereas, The position of the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges is that districts should include senate participation from the outset in the decision-making processes relative to the selection and adoption of administrative computing systems, and local academic senates should consult collegially with the appropriate district officers and/or administrators regarding decision-making processes related to the selection, adoption, and implementation of administrative computing systems (Resolution 11.05 F99 Administrative Computing Systems);

Selecting Faculty Department Chairs

Whereas, There is no specific Education Code or Title 5 provision stating that faculty department chairs must be chosen by the faculty;

Whereas, In some cases administrators select faculty department chairs with little or no faculty consultation; and

Whereas, A "10 + 1" area of Title 5 is "district and college governance structures, as related to faculty roles";

Support for Local Senate Staff Training

Whereas, Faculty on local academic senates do not carry out their responsibilities and oversight of the "10 + 1" alone, but work in conjunction with staff and administration as part of a larger college community;

Whereas, Local academic senate offices can be resources which, when well-organized, provide essential documentation and support for college-wide efforts such as accreditation, committee assignments, and policy setting, as well as documenting the institutional memory of the college;

Basic Skills Initiative - Local Implementation Consultation

Whereas, The Basic Skills Initiative (BSI) has, over the last three years, evolved into a series of local efforts that require senate involvement due to the impact on budgeting and governance processes;

Whereas, The local academic senate president sign-off on the BSI action plans is meant to ensure that appropriate collegial consultation occurs in developing such action plans; and

Whereas, Local academic senate presidents are reporting a variety of levels of faculty involvement in developing the action plans;

College Foundations

Whereas there are an increasing number of community colleges and districts which have either formed, or are considering the formation of, independently chartered and/or incorporated foundations, and

Whereas the mission of these foundations is to provide a means to attract the interest, support and involvement of the local community in the college and its programs, and

Whereas the scope and activities of these foundations are adjunctive or supplemental to college projects and programs developed and funded through the established institutional system, and

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