DOCUMENT RESUME JC 970 485 ED 411 011 Regional Curriculum Colloquia and Delegated Approval TITLE Authority. Adopted Spring 1997. Academic Senate for California Community Colleges, INSTITUTION Sacramento. 1997-00-00 PUB DATE NOTE 62p. Tests/Questionnaires (160) Non-Classroom (055) Guides PUB TYPE MF01/PC03 Plus Postage. EDRS PRICE Budgets; College Curriculum; *College Governing Councils; DESCRIPTORS Community Colleges; *Curriculum Development; Participative Decision Making; Power Structure; Program Implementation; Scheduling; *State Programs; Training; Two Year Colleges *California Community Colleges; *Delegation of Authority IDENTIFIERS ABSTRACT In the California Community Colleges (CCC), authority is conditionally delegated to local college districts to approve new credit courses, articulate courses with other district colleges, and approve graduation requirements. This document details policies adopted by the CCC's Academic Senate regarding the scope, mechanisms, and conditions of that delegation and discusses the role of regional curriculum colloquia. Following and structure of an introduction to curriculum approval in the CCCs, the role regional curriculum colloquia are detailed, indicating that they are 2-day workshops focusing on curriculum standards and best practices. Next, methods for scheduling colloquia are discussed; the state's 15 local regions are identified; colloquia staffing and training is described; and the program's budget-is presilLed, indicating that $25,000 are allocated annually. Finally. recommendations are provided to help colleges document their eligibility for delegation to the Office of the Chancellor, focusing on knowledge, procedures, and curriculum standards. Eight appendixes, which comprise most of the document, provide Education Code Sections 70901 and 70902; Title 5 Sections 51021, 51022, and 55100; sections from the CCC's Curriculum Standards Handbook; a list of 24 related resource manuals; sample correspondence from the process, including an initial notice to colleges, request for volunteer college facilitators, letter of appointment for college facilitators, request for delegation checklists, instructions to site facilitators, and notice of continued delegation; survey instruments used in colloquia evaluations; a grant application form; and a model action plan for following up on colloquia. (HAA) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** Regional Curriculum Colloquia 44 and Delegated Approval Authority Academic Senate for California Community Colleges Adopted Spring 1997 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization R. M. Silverman originating it. Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES official OERI position or policy. INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)." Curriculum Committee, 1996-97 Bill Scroggins, Chair, Chabot College Luz Argyriou, Napa Valley College Donna Ferracone, Crafton Hills College Jannett Jackson, Fresno City College Linda Lee, San Diego Miramar College Jean Smith, San Diego Continuing Education Lo Bob Stafford, San Bernardino Valley College Ron Vess, Southwestern College Nancy Glock-Grueneich, Chancellor's Office Liaison Joyce Black, CIO liaison, Pasadena City College 2 BEST COPY AVAILABLE Table of Contents Introduction: Delegated Curriculum Approval Authority 1 Standards and Conditions of Delegation: Role of Regional Curriculum Colloquia 2 Structure of a Regional Colloquium 4 Scheduling 5 Staffing and Training 8 Budget 9 Documenting the Three Standards of Delegation 10 The Action Plan and Approval Status 12 Appendices Education Code Sections 70901 and 70902 14 1. Title 5 Sections 51021, 51022, and 55100 2. 18 Curriculum Standards Handbook, Chapter 2: 3. Course Approval Authorities Delegated to Qualifying Colleges 19 Appendix D. Delegation Checklist 25 Suggested Resource Manual List 4. 27 Typical Correspondence 5. 29 Initial Notice to Colleges Request for Volunteer College Facilitators Letter of Appointment for College Facilitators Second Notice of Regional Colloquia Request for Delegation Checklist, Documentation and Participants Letter of Instructions to Site Facilitator at Host College Letter of Transmittal for Written Analysis of Documentation Notice of Continued Delegation 1995-6 Regional Colloquia Pilot Evaluations 6. 41 Grant Application 49 7. Model Action Plan 8. 59 3 Introduction: Delegated Curriculum Approval Authority A solid curriculum is the backbone of any college. In the California Community College system, curriculum oversight is provided by the Board of Governors and the Chancellor and is recognized as a matter on which the Chancellor relies primarily on the advice and recommendations of the Academic Senate. (See Appendix 1, Education Code, Section 70901.) The Board of Governors is given the authority to set minimum standards for credit and noncredit classes and to review and approve all educational programs offered by community college districts and all courses that are not offered as part of an educational program. The Board of Governors has the right to delegate nonmandated responsibilities to appropriate bodies. In publishing the Curriculum Standards Handbook the Board has exercised this delegation authority. The scope, mechanism and conditions of that delegation are the subject of this paper. Specifically, the approval authorities conditionally delegated to local districts, as stated in the Handbook, are the ability to: Approve new credit courses not part of approved programs. Under this authority, new and existing courses may be assigned a TOP code without regard to whether the college has approval for that TOP code. Determine that a given course meets the conditions of repeatability in accordance with provisions of Title 5 §58161(c). Enter into conjoint programs between specified colleges within a district that allow one college in the district to offer introductory and intermediate courses to be counted toward a degree or certificate approved by the Chancellor's Office for a different college. In addition, colleges continue to have the authority to: Approve graduation requirements that apply to all students seeking the associate degree, including general education requirements as outlined in Title 5 §55806. Recommend patterns of courses to students for transfer or to meet other student goals and publish them in the catalog as recommendations for the convenience of students and counselors. Modify existing programs as needed to increase effectiveness or maintain currency in relation to the original program goals and objectives. The Chancellor's Office continues to retain approval authority for new programs. 1 4 Standards and Conditions of Delegation: Role of the Regional Curriculum Colloquia As part of their fundamental mission, colleges are expected to continually educate those who develop, review, and approve curriculum so that all are fully knowledgeable as to statutory, regulatory, intersegmental and accreditation standards, including those in the Curriculum Standards Handbook. It is also expected that colleges maintain good practices for reviewing and approving curriculum, including completely documenting local procedures, involving appropriate faculty in such reviews, and adopting timelines that assure adequate input of all who are affected. Finally, it is expected that the results of this process are courses and programs in the college's curriculum which fully meet the necessary standards when reviewed by the Chancellor's Office, four-year transfer institutions, and through accreditation. The knowledge, procedures, and curriculum standards are the foundation of sound college curriculum and constitute the standards upon which continued delegation of curriculum approval authority is based. (See Appendix 3 for Section 2.4 and Appendix D of the Curriculum Standards Handbook, Volume 1. Note that the changes cited for this section are those recommended by the Chancellor's Office Curriculum Advisory Committee but not yet approved.) The section of this paper on Documenting the Three Standards of Delegation will discuss good practices for meeting these standards. To maintain delegated curriculum approval authority colleges must submit documentation of their current effort in support of the three standards, must participate in technical assistance to bolster those on-going efforts, and must submit an action plan detailing additional efforts which will continue to improve curriculum standards at the college. (Again; see the suggested changes to Section 2.4 of the Curriculum Standards Handbook in Appendix 3.) If approved, these three components (documentation, technical assistance, and an action plan) will constitute both the necessary and sufficient conditions to receive continued delegation of the curriculum approval authorities cited above. Regional Curriculum Colloquia provide a mechanism to deliver technical assistance. The colloquia accomplish several goals in advancing curriculum quality. First, the colloquia allow the college's Delegation Checklist documentation to be reviewed by trained facilitators who provide written feedback to the college. Second, workshops on key curriculum issues provide the college's team with significant training. Third, the regional nature of the colloquia brings neighboring colleges together to become informed of one another's curriculum and practices and to share exemplary models. Fourth, with the aid of a trained facilitator, the college will have the opportunity to develop an action plan with specific objectives to provide for the continuous improvement of the college's curriculum and curriculum practices. Typically two months in advance of its scheduled colloquium (see the section on submit the Scheduling) the college Checklist accompanied by Delegation will documentation supporting the three standards: knowledge, procedures, and curriculum. Each college will receive a copy of the documents submitted by the other colleges in the region. A trained facilitator (see the section on Staffing and Training) will read the materials and provide a written analysis to the college and also to others in the region. Facilitators are experienced faculty and instructional administrators recognized for their expertise by being selected by their colleagues for this important task. This written analysis is not a 2 ST COPY AVAILABLE "report card" scoring the college with a "thumbs up" or "thumbs down." It consists of a series of suggestions, based on the experience of the facilitator, which serve as the starting point for identifying areas that might benefit from improvement. On the morning of the first day of the colloquium the college team, typically about 20 in number (see Structure of a Regional Colloquium), will have the opportunity to participate in workshops on significant curriculum issues such as structure and function of the curriculum committee, course outline of record format and review techniques, prerequisites, new program approval, program discontinuance, and program review. These workshops will be led by the team of trained facilitators who have reviewed the colleges' documentation. These workshops will be repeated so that members of the college teams will have an opportunity to participate in two such discussions. The afternoon workshops will be based on exemplary practices at the participating colleges presented by those at the college who designed and implemented them. This will provide an opportunity for the college teams to share best' practices with other colleges in their region. Again, these workshops will be repeated so that each team member may attend two such presentations. The morning of the second day will focus on individual colleges. A smaller group of the college team, typically about six, will meet with the facilitator who analyzed their documentation. This dialog will allow for clarification and expansion on that commentary. The goal of this discussion is both to recognize areas where processes are satisfactory and to identify specific topics which could benefit from further attention. The result will be an action plan which lists the areas targeted for improvement, evaluates their current condition, and gives direction for improvement. As part of their commitment, facilitators are available for follow-up directly with each college. When the colloquia have developed to the point that colleges begin their second round of participation, the second day conference will begin with an assessment of the progress the college has made on its previous action plan. For those areas where progress has not been satisfactory, the barriers to such progress will be identified and targeted as in need of primary attention by the college. It is not expected that any issue will go unresolved for more than two consecutive colloquia. The Regional Colloquia culminate in a package of material presented to the Chancellor's Office: 1) the Delegation Checklist and supporting documentation along with the facilitator's analysis as revised through the second day discussions with the college team, 2) a list of participants on the college team and a summary of their evaluation of the colloquium experience, and 3) the college action plan. This material satisfies the proposed final condition for the college to receive continued delegation of curriculum approval authority. The college will be so notified in writing by the Chancellor's Office upon receipt of these materials. Colleges which choose not to participate in the Regional Colloquia have the option of arranging for direct technical support from the Chancellor's Office. The college should notify the Chancellor's Office of their intentions in writing upon receipt of the notification of their colloquium assignment for that year. Direct technical assistance differs from the 3 colloquia in that the Delegation Checklist and supporting documentation will be review by Chancellor's Office staff who will then visit the college, meet with appropriate faculty and staff, and assist the college in the development of the action plan. Colleges will provide compensation for this direct assistance. Structure of a Regional Colloquium Regional colloquia are two day workshops, typically all day Friday and Saturday morning. Colleges will receive advance notice in writing of the date and place. (See the sample letter in the Appendix.) The schedule for the two days will typically follow this pattern: First Day 8:30-8:45 Welcome and plan for the day 9:00-10:15 Breakouts on curriculum issues (typically six topics) Repeat of breakouts 10:30-11:45 12:00-12:45 Lunch provided by host college at participant's expense 1:00-2:15 Breakouts by six individual colleges on exemplary practices Repeat of breakouts 2:30-3:45 4:00 Collection of evaluations and departure Second Day 9:00-12:00 Local college teams meet with their facilitator to go over written analysis of documentation and to develop an action plan. The college team consists of those with major responsibilities for reviewing and approving curriculum. Guidelines for attendees are listed below. First Day (typically 20 total attendees) Faculty Curriculum Committee Chair/Co-chair Chief Instructional Officer Chief Student Services Officer Selected Instructional Deans Articulation Officer Library Faculty Member Dean of Counseling Student member(s) of the Curriculum Committee Other members of the Curriculum Committee as designated by the college Second Day Faculty Curriculum Committee Chair/Co-chair Chief Instructional Officer Four other members designated by the college 4 7 Scheduling Regional colloquia are scheduled so that each college has the opportunity to participate once each three years. The number of colleges in each region is held at 6 to 8 to allow for close interaction of participants while keeping the total number of colloquia each year to a manageable number of 5. The colleges in each of the 15 regions are listed on the next page. Scheduling will follow this pattern: Groups 1, Year 1: (1997-98) 4, 10, 13 7, Groups 2, Year 2: (1998-99) 11, 14 5, 8, Groups 3, (1999-2000) Year 3: 12, 6, 15 9, An annual timeline is detailed below. Samples of correspondence appear in the Appendix. coordinator, senior facilitators, and Chancellor's Office staff are finalized June dates for the coming year's colloquia are set dates and locations for facilitator training are set all colleges in affected regions receive first notice first notice includes request for a host college in each region colleges in neighboring regions receive request for facilitator nominations October colloquium colleges reminded that documentation is due 8/1 July August training session for senior facilitators is held college facilitators are appointed by Academic Senate and CIO Board training sessions for college facilitators are held (1 north, 1 south) host colleges for all colloquia are identified; 2nd notices to all colleges documentation for October colloquium analyzed and distributed by 9/1 November colloquium colleges reminded that documentation is due 9/1 documentation for November colloquium analyzed and distributed by 10/1 September October 1st colloquium is held 2' colloquium is held November October colloquium colleges are sent notice of continued delegation February colloquium colleges reminded that documentation is due 12/1 November colloquium colleges are sent notice of continued delegation December documentation for February colloquium analyzed and distributed by 1/1 March colloquium colleges reminded that documentation is due 1/1 documentation for March colloquium analyzed and distributed by 2/1 January February 3" colloquium is held May colloquium colleges reminded that documentation is due 3/1 5 3 BEST COPY MA0 NI 4th March colloquium is held February colloquium colleges are sent notice of continued delegation documentation for May colloquium analyzed and distributed by 4/1 April March colloquium colleges are sent notice of continued delegation 5th colloquium is held May June May colloquium colleges are sent notice of continued delegation 6 Regions for Regional Curriculum Colloquia Far North (6) 6 South Bay & Coast (8) 11- L.A. Valleys (8) 1 Feather River Cabrillo Citrus Lake Tahoe Evergreen Glendale Lassen Gavilan LA East Redwoods Hartnell LA Mission Shasta Mission LA Pierce Siskiyous Monterey Peninsula LA Valley San Jose City Pasadena North Valley (6) West Valley 2 Rio Hondo American River Butte Central Valley (6) 12- Greater L.A. (8) 7 Cosumnes River Columbia Compton Sacramento City Fresno City El Camino Sierra Kings River LA City Yuba Merced LA Harbor Modesto LA Southwest North Bay (7) San Joaquin Delta LA Trade Tech 3 Contra Costa Santa Monica Diablo Valley South Valley (6) West LA 8 Marin Bakersfield Mendocino Cerro Coso 13- South Coast (8) Napa Porterville Cerritos Santa Rosa Sequoias Coastline Solano Taft Cypress West Hills Fullerton 4 - East Bay (8) Golden West Alameda Central Coast (8) Irvine Valley 9 Chabot Allan Hancock Long Beach Laney Antelope Valley Orange Coast Las Positas Canyons Los Medanos Cuesta 14- Midsouth (6) Merritt Moorpark Desert Oxnard Oh lone Imperial Valley Vista Santa Barbara Mira Costa Ventura Mt. San Jacinto Peninsula (6) 5 Palomar Canada 10- Inland Empire (7) Palo Verde De Anza Barstow Foothill Chaffey 15- South (8) San Francisco City Crafton Hills Cuyamaca San Mateo Mt. San Antonio Grossmont Skyline Riverside Rancho Santiago San Bernardino Valley Saddleback Victor Valley San Diego City San Diego Mesa San Diego Miramar Southwestern 7 O.