May

In response to the public murder of George Floyd, I wrote an open letter to my campus community, where I am an alumnae and current member of the faculty. This letter was written to ask the campus to remember our Black students who were still reeling from the murder of Ahmaud Arbery. I was asking colleagues to have compassion for our students’ vicarious and lived trauma from the constant viewing of unarmed Black people being murdered at the hands of law enforcement.

George Floyd’s viral, violent, and unforgivable murder framed my transition to the presidency of my academic senate. Commencement marked the end of our spring semester, and I would start my new post on May 26, 2020. Prior to the Labor Day weekend transition, I looked forward to sending a “happy summer” message to my peers, indicating my excitement and commitment to serve. Clearly, the world needed to hear a different message, including my own peers.

In response to the Summer 2020 special edition of the Senate Rostrum and the heightened focus on Black Lives Matter for many white allies like myself, I’ve renewed and expanded my personal and professional focus on inclusion, diversity, equity, antiracism, and accessibility (IDEAA), challenging myself to move out of my own privileged comfort zone to question Eurocentric visions and values in our education system, including my own classroom.

The California Community College (CCC) system has experienced a significant awakening over the past several years. A recognition of the need to do better for our students, faculty, and staff has become clear. The charge to do better is outlined in the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO) and Chancellor Oakley’s “Vision for Success,” the CCCCO and Chancellor Oakley’s “Call to Action,” and the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC) multiple resolutions addressing Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Antiracism, and Accessibility (IDEAA).

Jennifer Dorian, the faculty coordinator for Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS), serves with a focus on the diverse elements of teaching, research, and coordinating in support of students preparing for and currently enrolled in humanities courses focused on reading and writing.

In recent months, interest has increased in prior learning experience and the provisions for awarding credit for previous learning experiences.  While no decisions have been made regarding what form this credit will take, faculty should be aware of what these terms mean and how the awarding of prior learning experience credit might impact departments and colleges. 

[Note:  The following proposal was presented to the Chancellor’s Consultation Council in March 2016.  The proposal was an information item and no action was taken.  Discussions regarding possible revisions to the 50% Law and the FON will continue into the next academic year.  The proposal is reproduced here to keep local academic senates informed regarding current progress on this topic.]

When people hear the term model curriculum, they often think of the Transfer Model Curricula (TMCs) that are used to create Associate Degrees for Transfer (ADTs) at community colleges. The passage of SB1440 (Padilla, 2010) created the ADTs and implemented specific guarantees for students, including admission to a CSU campus with junior standing. Many articles have been written about TMCs and ADTs; this article, however, is not one of them.

The passage of AB 288 (Holden, 2015) on dual enrollment introduced many changes to the potential structure of dual enrollment at colleges, most of which were covered in the February 2015 Rostrum article “Dual Enrollment:  What Local Senates Need to Know.” One of the most significant changes, however, is that under the new College and Career Access Pathways (CCAP) agreements colleges will be allowed to offer developmental courses in both English and math.   Under previous memorandums of understanding, instructional service agreements, and other agreements that created dual enrollmen

To say the future of the accreditation process for California’s community colleges has been unclear lately is the peak of all understatements. Yet even while the conversations swirl over what direction the community college system will take, colleges throughout the state are still working feverishly to create their self-evaluations for the upcoming cycle. A new aspect of that process for colleges that have not completed a self-evaluation under the 2014 standards is the Quality Focus Essay (QFE).