Curriculum at SCC and Role of the Senate Presented by Craig Rutan and Joyce Wagner SCC Academic Senate Fall 2013 Retreat

Board of Governors/Chancellors Office Sets policy and provides guidance Edits the Program and Course Approval Handbook (PCAH) Final approval of educational programs. Maintains the CCC Curriculum Inventory Is directed to maintain, to the maximum degree permissible, local authority and control.

Local Governing Board Establish policies for and approve courses of instruction and educational programs. May adopt policies and procedures related to curriculum only if recommendations on these policies and procedures are made through collegial consultation with the local academic senate.

Legal Authority of Academic Senate The Governing Board shall … ensure … the right of academic senates to assume primary responsibility for making recommendation in the areas of curriculum and academic standards. ◦ Education Code §70902 (B)(7)

The “10+1” and CIC From Section §53200 (c) 1. Curriculum, including establishing prerequisites 2. Degree & Certificate Requirements 3. Grading Policies 4. Educational Program Development 5. Standards & Polices Regarding Student Preparation and Success

Creation of the Curriculum Committee Title 5 §55002: Curriculum Committee. The college and/or district curriculum committee recommending the course shall be established by the mutual agreement of the college and/or district administration and the academic senate. The committee shall be either a committee of the academic senate or a committee that includes faculty and is otherwise comprised in a way that is mutually agreeable to the college and/or district administration and the academic senate.

Curriculum Committee Responsible for the development, review, and renewal of curriculum. Recommends to the BOT those courses and programs which meet stated standards. Must be a committee of the senate or a college committee, and its composition must be mutually agreed upon by administration and the senate.

Other duties typically assigned to Curriculum Committees Catalog and schedule of classes Program Review Record keeping and dissemination Prerequisite review Articulation Placing courses in disciplines

Administration Defined in local shared governance policies and procedures of the district in the areas of curriculum development and renewal.

Current Structure at SCC CIC is part of shared governance and is listed as reporting directly to the senate. The senate does not review most CIC decisions; they go straight to the BOT. The CIC chair gives regular summary reports to the senate under a standing agenda item. The CIC chair is now an elected position. The senate has reviewed new graduation requirements and programs changes. Proposals come from the discipline faculty.

Review is done via CurricUNET Approval/review chain for courses: curriculum office, honors advisory committee, articulation officer, department, curriculum chair, dean, curriculum cluster, technical committee, CIC, curriculum office. First reading/second reading format at CIC. Originators are asked to come to CIC meeting. Additional forms are required for honors and distance education courses. Course SLOs are reviewed at CIC. CIC made plans for assessment of liberal arts degrees

Current RSCCD Policies: AR6133—January 1997 Prerequisites/Corequisites/Advisories/ Limitations on Enrollment Information dissemination Challenge process Review process Program Review Implementation Requirements

AR6134—January 2000 Program discontinuance procedure ◦ Two semesters of program review ◦ Formal notice sent to AS Pres., CIC chair, FARCCD, VP Academic affairs, SCC Pres. ◦ Convening of District PDRC ◦ BOT If mutual agreement between faculty and administration, and students are not adversely affected, the processes of this procedure do not need to go into affect.

Where Do We Go Next? Our existing practice is not documented anywhere. We need to officially adopt a set of procedures for how the Curriculum and Instruction Council should operate. Once the SCC Academic Senate has decided how to proceed, the procedures will be drafted, approved, and kept in the Curriculum Handbook.

Possibilities The authority to make any recommendation to the Board of Trustees on academic and professional matters belongs to the Academic Senate. The SCC Academic Senate could choose to change current practice to be more involved in the process: ◦ Every course/degree proposal could come to the Academic Senate after being reviewed by CIC. The CIC vote would be a recommendation that the senate approve the change. Under current practice, this would require a formal resolution to adopt each item. ◦ All of the curriculum items could be brought in a package to the senate for approval before sending the memo on to the Board of Trustees. ◦ We could continue out practice of having CIC recommend curricular changes directly to the board.

Policies in General Should be clearly understood and accessible. Should maintain high curriculum standards. Should be possible to implement in an organized, efficient manner. Should be flexible and responsive to the needs of students. Should meet regulations.

Possible Policies for Senate Consideration Quadrennial Review Units/LHE relationship Challenging of decisions Program suspension Credit by exam Online teaching readiness Prerequisites by content review Term lengths of CIC members Others?

Other Issues How closely do SCC policies and procedures need to align with those at SAC? Is the workload of the CIC manageable? Should we develop subcommittees for prerequisite and/or distance education review?

Summary The authority of the academic senate for curriculum comes from education code The “10+1” is the implementation of the law in regulation by the Board of Governors The SCC Academic Senate has previously delegated some of its authority to the Curriculum and Instruction Council. The authority of CIC is not written anywhere and this needs to be addressed. The SCC Academic Senate must decide if they want to maintain current practice or modify it.

Resources ASCCC 1996 Paper: The Curriculum Committee: Role, Structure, Duties, and Standards of Good Practices ASCCC 1996 Paper: The Curriculum Committee: Role, Structure, Duties, and Standards of Good Practices SCC Curriculum and Instruction Handbook ASCCC Curriculum Website