2011

Career Technical Education (CTE) -- Effective Practices

Whereas, The Senate’s adopted 2002 paper Toward A Perspective On Workforce Preparation and Economic Development provides an overview of career technical education (CTE) in California and makes recommendations for CTE, but it does not provide guidance about how to implement them; and

Whereas, Resolution 21.01 S10, “Career Technical Faculty Participation,” called for strategies to ensure CTE faculty participation in local governance and increase awareness of CTE issues in local representation;

Collecting Drop/Withdrawal Data

Whereas, Students drop or withdraw from courses for a variety of reasons, both academic and non-academic;

Whereas, Low retention rates are often looked upon negatively without sufficient data to indicate that the reasons students drop classes are beyond the control of the faculty or college;

Whereas, Concerns have been raised about excessive withdrawals and multiple attempts to succeed in a course or program and the potential this creates to preclude the enrollment of other students, not to mention the concomitant fiscal impacts; and

Oppose the Inclusion of Local and State-mandated CSU Graduation Requirements

Whereas, California Education Code (CEC) §66748, which outlines the requirements for associate degrees for transfer as created under Senate Bill (SB) 1440 (Padilla, 2010), states that “The California State University may require a student transferring pursuant to this article to take additional courses at the California State University so long as the student is not required to take any more than 60 additional semester units or 90 quarter units at the California State University for majors requiring 120 semester units or 180 quarter units”;

Local College Participation in the LGBT-Friendly Campus Climate Index

Whereas, The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges has long been committed to serving the academic and student service needs of all students to the best of its ability with limited resources;

Whereas, The LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender)-Friendly Campus Climate Index (www.campusclimateindex.org) is a free resource which allows colleges to document the policies, programs, and practices they use to ensure that their colleges are welcoming for LGBT students;

Opposition to Western Governors University California

Whereas, The Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) report on distance education (October 25, 2010) recommends the creation of a task force comprised of legislative representatives and members of the administration to identify steps that need to be taken to establish a Western Governors University (WGU) California, which would use resources that could be devoted to the higher education system already in place in California;

Democracy Commitment

Whereas, The existence of the California community colleges is a direct expression of the State of California's commitment to one of the basic tenets of democracy, that of providing for an educated public;

Whereas, The faculty of the California community colleges embrace the fundamental conviction that our students deserve to be full participants in the democratic process; and

Need for Behavioral Intervention Teams

Whereas, Despite the fact that studies have disputed the claim that individuals suffering from mental illness are more prone to committing violence, the tragedy in Tucson, Arizona reminded all of us in the community college system that our students come to us with varying backgrounds and a myriad of needs that in many cases go undetected before they arrive at our campus doors;

Economic and Transfer Impact of “Recreational Courses”

Whereas, Courses in the visual and performing arts and in physical education are commonly perceived and referred to as “recreational” courses, with the implication that these courses have little relevance to the core priorities of the California community colleges - transfer, basic skills, and career/technical education;

Whereas, This perception has resulted in challenges to programs and courses in the areas of physical education and visual and performing arts by legislative, regulatory, and policy-making entities across the state;

Research on Student Success of Community College Athletes

Whereas, Physical education, kinesiology, and athletics courses have come under increasing scrutiny by the Legislative Analyst’s Office;

Whereas, Pilot research indicates that student athletes have higher GPAs, better persistence, greater course success rates, and greater unit completion rates and carry heavier unit loads than the general student body population; and

Whereas, Athletics programs cannot exist without physical education and kinesiology courses that support student athletes;

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