Senate Websites

October
2001
Executive Director

The Academic Senate Office has been extremely busy over the summer. If you have not visited our website recently, I suggest you do so. Along with the constantly evolving session and institute information, we have added many new features. I would like to highlight just a couple of them available from the main Academic Senate website. First, we have added an interactive map of California that shows the location of each community college campus and includes a link to the local senate website. If your website is not listed on the map, please forward it to our Senate Office, so that it can be posted on the new map. Second, we are constantly adding to the collection of Academic Senate publications available for download from our website. While our new publications are posted on the website immediately, the Senate's ultimate goal is to archive all of its 30 years worth of publications online. Over the summer, the Senate staff has been scanning and proofing documents that would constitute this valuable resource. We hope to have all the older documents posted by the end of the year. Third, the website now contains a searchable resolution database. This database currently contains only resolutions adopted in the last 6 years. We hope to have all the Senate's resolutions included on this database in the very near future. Currently you can search our resolution database by keyword and session date. The last feature I would like to highlight is the development of an online database directory. The resource allows faculty and general audience to access essential information about each community college, link to its main and local senate websites, and look up current local senate representatives. This directory also allows local senate presidents and staff the ability to update their information online instead of filling out and mailing paper forms. We anticipate that the directory will be fully functional by the time of this publication. If you are an academic senate president, you will be notified of a password to access this new feature. As you can see, we have been very busy on our Senate website. Please take some time and visit our site.

Next, we have recently redesigned the site for curriculum developers, which is now available at www.curriculum.cc.ca.us. This site has a wealth of resources for curriculum designers. It is anticipated that the Curriculum Committee will begin to review model course outlines that will soon be posted on this site to serve as a constantly evolving reference for those who are directly involved in writing course outlines. If you have a model course outline, please send it to Elton Hall, Curriculum Committee Chair, at ehall [at] vcccd.net. The site has also been updated with the recently revised Chancellor's Office Curriculum Standards Handbook that is now called Program and Course Approval Handbook. To ease access to rich resources available from this site the search feature is provided on this site to instantly link you to the information you are looking for. Please visit this new website and send us any suggestions.

The Senate has yet another website for the IMPAC Project available at www.cal-impac.org. This website contains information about the Intersegmental Major Preparation Articulated Curriculum project. The project is now in its second year. If you do not know about the project, please visit the IMPAC website to get the background information, read reports from discipline meetings, and learn about the future of the project.

Last but not least is our newest website dedicated to the work of the Intersegmental Committee of Academic Senates (ICAS). ICAS is comprised of the Academic Senate presidents/chairs of UC, CSU and CCC. Each year the chair rotates to the next segment. This year the CCC, Hoke Simpson, is chairing ICAS. ICAS is the intersegmental statewide body that addresses common interests across the segments. Visit the website at www.academicsenate.cc.ca.us/icas.html to find out more about ICAS and watch the issues as they develop.

On a personal note, I would like to thank our talented webmaster, Rita Rasskazova. Rita joined my team over two years ago and has continuously raised the bar on our websites and publications. The websites have all been created and maintained by Rita. Each new design contains her imagination and dedication. Thank you Rita. If you get an opportunity, please join me in thanking Rita for her wonderful work. Her email address is ascccdesign [at] mindspring.com.