Whereas, Student athletes represent a significant portion of the at-risk student population within the California Community College system, and significant local, state, and federal regulations (i.e., Commission on Athletes, National Collegiate Athletic Association and Financial Aid) critically impact their matriculation;
Whereas, There have been numerous reports of paraprofessionals acting in counseling roles, and such paraprofessionals do not meet the state minimum qualifications for the faculty counseling discipline;
Whereas, Paraprofessionals may give incorrect information and advice to students regarding college programs, services, and transfer;
Whereas, The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges has an adopted position (4.01 F98) that large colleges have full-time Transfer Center Directors and Articulation Officers, and that small colleges have at least a half-time Transfer Center Director and half-time Articulation Officer and that these two positions be faculty; and
Whereas, There is a recent trend in the California community colleges to replace current counseling faculty serving as Transfer Center Directors with classified staff;
Whereas, The Academic Senate paper Faculty Development: A Senate Issue, adopted Spring 2000, calls for the design of faculty development activities of a sustained and collective nature geared toward teaching excellence;
Resolved, That the Academic Senate develop a paper that examines the benefits of creating "cultures of instructional improvement" at California Community Colleges, providing local senates with direction, models and resources.
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;
Whereas, Many colleges are considering alternative calendars with insufficient data about the successes, challenges, and issues of such calendars;
Whereas, Direction is needed to resolve issues of full- and part-time faculty load;
Whereas, Information and direction are needed regarding the effect of alternative calendars on students; and
Whereas, Colleges are being pressured to move quickly to adopt alternative calendars;
Whereas, The community colleges are committed to help all students whose goals are to transfer to a four-year university to develop their academic potentials by providing necessary resources;
Whereas, Little comprehensive research has been published regarding the academic needs and support systems necessary for the underprepared California community college student athletes; and
Whereas, The relevance of participatory governance is as strong today as it was in 1988, when AB 1725 came into effect;
Whereas, Participatory governance has been questioned by those who oppose the principles of mutual respect; and
Whereas, The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges should strive to maintain its strength and educate college communities;
Whereas, Traditional student course evaluation forms do not work effectively with distance education courses;
Resolved, That the Academic Senate collaborate with statewide bargaining unions on developing student course evaluation standards and tools for use with courses offered via distance education and present the information at a future breakout session.
Whereas, The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges has previously approved a resolution requesting accountability of budget allocations to individual districts;
Whereas, This accountability has not been implemented;
Whereas, Many local academic senates remain unaware of funds such as staff development, academic senate support, Telecommunications and Technology Infrastructure Program (TTIP), and others; and
Whereas, Monitoring such funding entails considerable time and effort;