by Maya Bendotoff
CCFT, at the request of faculty members and in conjunction with our Quality Public Education Campaign, continues to work on various levels to advocate for changes to repeatability regulations that limit student access and success.
A small group of dedicated faculty worked tirelessly over spring semester (see the update at http://ccftcabrillo.org/news/news/1405/organize.php) and picked back up at the start of the fall semester.
In the spring of 2014 CCFT was successful in passing a resolution at the CFT Convention (see resolution 27 as well as the article entitled “Course repeatability rules restrict student access, learning” on p.14 of the April-May California Teacher).
The Cabrillo College Faculty Senate brought forth a similar resolution to the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC) plenary session. The ASCCC approved “unfettered access to community colleges,” but deleted the last and most important resolve clause, “that the ASCCC work with the Consultation Council and the Board of Governors to increase repeatability options needed for student success.” (For more on how the ASCCC views the issue and a faculty response, see Susan Stuart’s response to David Morse.)
At the October 21 meeting of the Cabrillo Senate, faculty from various programs (including Claire Thorson and Susan Stuart from VAPA, Eric Carter from Culinary Arts, and Kim Belliveau from Kinesiology) presented a modified resolution. The new resolution addresses the fact that the current limitations have had uneven and adverse impacts across colleges and disciplines, and asks for broader statewide parameters to provide more local autonomy so that local senates can designate some courses in the following disciplines as repeatable: CTE; kinesiology; creative writing; world languages (conversation courses); and visual, applied and performing arts. If colleges have successfully moved forward under the new regulations, they would not need to make any changes. In areas where the quality of programs is suffering, appropriate changes could be made.
Cabrillo faculty would like to share the new resolution with interested colleagues across the state, many of whom have been extremely grateful for having a pathway to help advocate for their programs, and are hoping for passage of the resolution at the Spring 2015 ASCCC plenary session.
Cabrillo faculty and students also have been meeting with local legislators. Potential avenues for moving forward on this front include legislative hearings (hopefully in January 2015) or a letter to the Community College Board of Governors (BOG) and Chancellor requesting changes (signed by legislators throughout the state). Legislative action is another option.
While some people claim that, “people in Sacramento now think that we are two year colleges,” many of us know that is not true, and believe it is important to stand for community colleges. Many students take longer than two years to complete all of their coursework as they juggle other realities, including jobs and families, or may need to come back and complete courses, without significant barriers, where technology has changed. And, while the detail of how this is worked out in curriculum is a Senate issue, the broader issue is one of access. We stand for quality programs for all of our students—including those that may lack a foundation and may need repeated practice to learn skill-based disciplines. The CFT has been a strong proponent for low fees, broad access, and high quality education; your voices and participation are essential in providing input and advocacy on just what that means.
Versions of the resolution developed by Cabrillo faculty was approved in the following Senates: Orange Coast, Mendocino, LA Valley, Monterey Peninsula College, Victor Valley, Irvine Valley, and Contra Costa. It was also passed by the Governing Board of Foothill/DeAnza, the California Community College Independents (CCCI), United Faculty of Contra Costa (representing Contra Costa, Diablo, and Los Medanos), and AFT 2121 (CCSF).
Faculty involved in the development of the resolution at Cabrillo include: Don Adkins, Sarah Albertson, Ann Endris, John Govsky, Gordon Hammer, Tobin Keller, Beth McKinnon, Dawn Nakanishi, Steve Schessler, Topsy Smalley, Michael Strunk, Susan Stuart, Claire Thorson, Gail West, Sharon Took-Zozaya, and Katie Woolsey. Additional advocates include: Cheryl Anderson, Kim Belliveau, Eric Carter, Michele Chao, Jean Gallagher-Heil, Onnie Killifer, Brian Legakis, Gary Marcoccia, Patrick Meyer, Sadie Reynolds, Conrad Scott-Curtis, Barbara Schultz-Perez, Rich Simms, Nancy Stucker, and Ana Zargorska, and many others, including CCFT Council reps.