May

Grades are Valuable

At the Spring 2008 Plenary Session, the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges adopted the position paper Promoting Thoughtful Faculty Conversations about Grade Distributions. This document examined California Community College Chancellor's Office data on grades at the system level, and also in a selection of career/technical programs that have external requirements such as a licensing board. Among its conclusions is the finding that despite concern at a national level, for the California Community College (CCC) System there is no evidence of grade inflation in general.

Anticipating the Future

"Putting out fires, that's all I ever do." This observation came, alas, not from a Fire Technology student but from an academic senate president who felt she never had time to tackle the real and pressing issues that impede educational excellence at her college. The need to be proactive as well as reactive confronts not only local senate presidents but the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges as well.

The Sun Rises on Equity and Diversity Issues: Looking Ahead to 2009-2010

With all the activities occurring at our colleges, the ones with due dates and compliance requirements often rise and stay at the top of the to-do list. That means that issues like hiring diverse faculty, developing culturally-competent curriculum, or increasing student equity find a home on the back burners until there is motivation to move these issues to the front. The next academic year, 2009-2010, will be the right time to bring to the forefront all of those simmering, yet important discussions of equity and diversity. The reasons why next year is so opportune follow.

Sustainability and the Academic Senate

Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges strongly support discussions among community college faculty and with colleagues from the University of California and California State University about the development of sustainability curriculum; and

Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges offer breakouts on the development of sustainability curriculum in career technical education, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, and liberal arts areas at the Spring 2009 Plenary Session. (Resolution 9.04 F08)

A Tale of Two Data Elements

For a friend, it was the best of times, yet it was the worst of times. He had bought a beautiful new carpet for the living room, but rather than enjoy his new floor covering, the result was that he became uncomfortably aware of the dinginess of the paint on the walls and the shoddy condition of the baseboards.

In a similar way, when we in the community colleges work to address one issue, we often end up becoming uncomfortably aware of others. Such is the case with our work on the proper coding of our courses for MIS reporting.

An SLO Terminology Glossary: A Draft in Progress

With the introduction of the 2002 Accreditation Standards, California community college faculty tentatively waded into the waters of Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) and assessment. At a Spring 2009 plenary breakout session, some preliminary results were presented from a recent survey of SLO coordinators conducted by the Academic Senate's Accreditation and SLO Committee. In the survey, which will be more fully reported in a forthcoming Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC) paper, most of the respondents stated that their colleges had waded into the SLO waters by 2008.

An Institute of Intrigue

On a warm and sultry summer morning in the predawn hours, a breakfast flock of pelicans gently wings its way across the bogs and southwestern shore of the San Francisco bay. They glide in the still air on a convoluted wandering path among the towering concrete slabs of Redwood City's high tech companies painting a scene of majestic serenity. At the same time a non-descript white van departs the suburbs of Sacramento loaded with heavy and mysterious boxes, seemingly on a mission of unknown, but potentially nefarious deeds.

Julie's Inbox:

Dear Julie,

After the accreditation team visited our college, one of the team's recommendations to our board of trustees was to perform a self-evaluation. We think that's a good idea for our board, but our senate executive committee wants to know if academic senates should also perform self-evaluations. What do you think?
Evaluating Evaluations


Dear E.E.,

Eminence-Do I Know It When I See It?

"Eminence"-the word of terror to the chair of the Standards and Practices Committee. Well, maybe not "terror," but it sure brings up a lot of questions in any discussion of equivalencies to disciplines in the Disciplines List. The equivalency process in section 87359 of the Education Code states that "no one shall be hired to serve as a community college faculty.unless the governing board determines that he or she possesses qualifications that are at least equivalent to the minimum qualifications."

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