Setting High Professional Standards Eminence, Minimum Qualifications and Learning Assistance Spring Plenary Session 2009

Standards and Practices Committee Members Beth Smith, Grossmont College, Chair Julie Adams, Academic Senate, Executive Director Dianna Chiabotti, Napa Valley College Joseph Bielanski, Berkeley City College Yolanda Bellisimo, College of Marin

General Equivalency Knowledge: ◦Equivalency processes and criteria must be jointly agreed upon by the local board and senate. ◦Equivalencies may be granted for master’s degree disciplines, but the non-master’s disciplines are under discussion. ◦Discipline faculty are the designated experts in determining whether or not an applicant’s work and education are at least equivalent to the required minimum qualifications.

Eminence and the Absence of a Associate Degree Minimum Qualification **Search “eminence” under Title 5, and high school qualifications appear. **No credential or degree required to teach CTE in high schools.

Eminence No longer in Title 5 for community colleges. Inconsistent use by administrators when considered outside of equivalencies. Problematic for human resources departments based on inconsistent use by faculty and administrators. Can be easily assumed under equivalencies. Resolved, we conclude that eminence may no longer be used to qualify faculty when evaluating minimum qualifications during the faculty hiring process; and Resolved, we investigate if a Title 5 change is necessary to eliminate eminence as a means to qualify candidates in hiring pools.

Associate Degree as Minimum Qual College CTE faculty should have at a minimum an associate degree to understand what their students are experiencing. Faculty need to have expertise in the discipline as well as a general education. We award these degrees! College faculty need to be recognized as experts with higher qualifications than faculty at high schools. Resolved, we recommend to the Board of Governors that there is no equivalent to the associate degree for disciplines in which a master’s degree is not generally expected or available, and that an associate degree is the minimum educational qualification required for all faculty members in these disciplines.

Learning Assistance

Resolution Fall 2008 Resolved, That we clarify the scope and intent of the minimum qualifications for Learning Assistance and Learning Skills Coordinators or Instructors (Title 5 §53415) and publish the results as soon as possible.

Learning Assistance or Learning Skills Coordinators or Instructors (Title 5 §53415): The minimum qualifications for service as a learning assistance or learning skills coordinator or instructor, or tutoring coordinator, shall be either (a) or (b) below: (a) the minimum qualifications to teach any master’s level discipline in which learning assistance or tutoring is provided at the college where the coordinator is employed; or (b) a master’s degree in education, educational psychology, or instructional psychology, or other master’s degree with emphasis in adult learning theory. Minimum qualifications do not apply to tutoring or learning assistance for which no apportionment is claimed.

Basic Skills Resolution S99 Resolved that we reaffirm our opposition to basic skills as a separate discipline or as a sub-discipline to any discipline on the Master's List for minimum qualifications, and Resolved that we refuse to consider any proposed changes to the Disciplines List in its present review of the Disciplines List and subsequent reviews that would lower minimum qualifications for faculty who teach basic skills courses.

Survey 1. Does your college have a learning assistance or learning skills coordinator or instructor? 2. If “yes,” can you send us the job description?

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