October

Disciplines List Revisions

This year the Academic Senate will recommend revisions and additions to the Disciplines List for Minimum Qualifications for hiring public California community college instructors. The opportunity to make changes and additions occurs once every three years, in accordance with AB 1725, which delegated to the Academic Senate primary responsibility for making recommendations to the Board of Governors for professional preparation for instructors in each discipline included in the curriculum.

Chancellor Backs LACCD Senate

In an unprecedented call for the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees to adhere to Title 5 regulations by consulting with the District Academic Senate on academic and professional matters, the State Chancellor has demonstrated that the Chancellor's Office and the Board of Governors will enforce Title 5 regulations and that Boards of Trustees cannot arbitrarily bypass academic senates.

First Annual Technology for Teaching Institute

The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges and the @ONE Training Project cosponsored the first annual Technology for Teaching Institute June 15-19, 1998, at California State University, Monterey Bay. One hundred community college faculty members from around the state attended. The participants ranged from absolute beginners to those interested in learning the skills needed to put courses online.

Shared Governance Retreat at COS

As the newly elected academic senate president for The College of the Sequoias I was frantically seeking speakers for our senate retreat prior to the start of the school year. I felt a real need to have someone share, with our senators, the secrets of a successful shared governance model for our college.

We had already scheduled our Superintendent/President, Dr. Kamiran Badrkhan and Board President, John Zumwalt to speak; however, we were still seeking an outside expert.

Board of Governors Faculty Member Nominations

Each year the Academic Senate nominates faculty for a seat on the Board of Governors. As you may be aware, there are two faculty members serving on the Board of Governors. Each member is appointed to serve a twoyear term which end on an alternating basis. The faculty appointments are made by the Governor from a list of three recommendations forwarded by the Academic Senate. Any college or district senate may nominate one faculty member.

1998 Exemplary Award Winners

Marine Diving Technology at Santa Barbara City College and Acquired Brain Injury Program at Coastline Community College are the 1998 Exemplary Award Winners. The programs will each receive $4,000 donated by the Foundation for California Community Colleges. Four additional programs received plaques and honorable mention at the September Board of Governors Meeting in Sacramento. The Honorable Mentions are:

Summer Leadership Institute

This year's Leadership Institute was held June 25-28 at the Doubletree Hotel in Palm Springs. Sixty-five faculty members (incoming and current academic senate presidents, vice-presidents, senators, and representatives) from community colleges throughout California attended the Institute. The focus of the Institutewas to help participants develop and apply effective leadership skills and strategies at their respective campuses.

Occupational Education Leadership Seminars

The fourth annual Occupational Leadership Seminar was held this year in San Diego at the Islandia Hotel on April 3-4, 1998. The Occupational Leadership Seminars are the result of an initiative of the Bay Region Consortium in conjunction with the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges. The purpose of these seminars is to give faculty an opportunity to attain the knowledge needed to stay on the cutting edge of educational needs in their fields, share successes with others, and develop relationships with colleagues from community colleges around the state.

Curriculum Committee AS/CIO Liaison Report

A number of curriculum concerns were discussed in the liaison group during the year, including curriculum alignment, review of certificates, definition of programs, compliance monitoring, and the role of the Chancellor's Office in curriculum oversight. The level of staffing in the Chancellor's Office affects the curriculum approval process, curriculum quality and the oversight process. The group acknowledged that the level of staffing is inadequate to carry out all of the curriculum functions. Possible Title 5 changes will be needed to deal with recent changes in curriculum.

Curriculum Committee Papers Adopted

Two papers, "Stylistic Considerations in Writing Course Outlines of Record" and "Good Practices for Course Approval Processes" were adopted at the Spring, 1998 Session. The paper on stylistic considerations included these topics: writing the catalog and course descriptions, stating the goals and justifications for the proposed new course such as degree, general education and transfer functions served by the course, and listing the learning outcomes expected of students.

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