City College of San Francisco one

Thanks...

I wanted to say a big THANK YOU to all of you for making me feel so welcome at City College of San Francisco. Walking into a college in the middle of these kinds of issues could have been a lot more difficult.  There have been some tough decisions, in particular around enrollment management, but I know that we have a great future at CCSF. 

Also, thanks to Carol and Jessica.  They have both been a great resource for me and have done an amazing job.

Program Review

Without a doubt, the next big task is to complete our department program reviews.  Both Jessica and Carol have asked for your input.  Please make every to contribute to the Program Review process.  Your voice is a necessary component and they really won’t be complete unless you share your thoughts on student progress, your academic programs, and the goals for next year.  Program Review is THE way to let the campus community know about the good work we've been doing, what are plans are for the future, and the resources we need to improve.  If you have any questions about Program Review, please don’t hesitate ask your Chairs, Pam Mery, or me.

Outcomes Assessment

The faculty of the School of English and Foreign Languages have been evaluating all courses and programs through our on-going systematic review of their relevance, appropriateness and achievement of student learning outcomes.   Both English and Foreign Languages are making great progress. As Dean, I want to thank those who have been doing the good work of assessing student work and identifying challenges and areas of success through outcomes assessment.  For me, as when we put student learning at the heart of our integrated planning, it is a real opportunity to have student need drive our institution. 

Administrative Hires 

There has been a lot of movement since July to fully implement new organizational structures designed to create a more balanced institution and to address accreditation Eligibility Requirement 5 (Administrative Capacity). Much of what we are  seeing today is based on  recommendations from Working Group 7 that was charged with addressing options for a more effective and efficient organizational structure to determine logical reporting lines and structures that support timely decision making. 

Some recent hires include the new Chancellor, Dr. Art Tyler; Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs, Susan Lamb; Dean, Mission Center, Jorge Bell; Dean, John Adams/Evans Center, Carl Jew; Dean, Dean of the Office of Student Affairs & Wellness, Samuel Santos; Interim-Dean, ESL, International Education and Transitional Studies.  We also have a new Director of Marketing, Peter Anning and others who are joining CCSF as we move forward to transform students' lives.

Accreditation

Day in and day out, City College is taking positive steps toward addressing recommendations to meet accreditation standards.  A glance at the Roadmap reveals measurable outcomes, continual progress, and accountability.  As of today, we have completed 137 of the 350 activities at 100%! Pam Mery, Dean of Institutional Effectiveness, recently gave an update that affirms that we are on the right track with Standard IA and IB.  IA3 relates to a regular cycle of review for our Mission Statement.  We now meet the standard since our BOT and/or Special Trustee will review the Mission Statement annually.  For Items from Standard IB1-4, our planning process are clear and linked to outcomes, the college mission, and strategic objectives.  We have been actively using our integrated planning model.  According to Pam, the key is to get through the next cycle and “close the loop” on Program Review because doing so moves us closer to meeting the standard.

Our SLO Coordinators, Kristina Whalen and Katryn Weise, have been working diligently to lead the College’s outcomes assessment work that help us meet Standard IIA.  They recently gave a presentation to the administration that outlined our SLO processes/resource and the role that administration plays in the outcomes efforts.  They highlighted the webpage on SLOs, department webpages, the annual plan, the SLO handbook, the brownbag lunches on Fridays, the Monday help sessions, and the overall review of Flex Day on September 13th.  The also commented on the many reports that are available, including the SLO scorecard, the semester reports, and a report that just came back from the ACCJC (College Status Report on SLO Implementation) on our progress with SLOs.  We’ve scored very well on virtually every area!  Finally, Kristin and Katryn advised the Deans to continue to support faculty with outcomes assessment (in particular with GE and ILOs), to work with faculty to ensure we are creating quality outcomes, and that the January 2nd deadlines for updates is just around the corner.

Associate Vice Chancellor Star reported that we have made great strides in meeting Standard IIIA2 and Eligibility Requirement 5 and we have almost completed this recent round of administrative hires.  We are also finishing up the required staffing report to comply with Standard IIIA6. 

A recent update from Ron Gerhart, the new Vice Chancellor of Finance and Administration, reported that of the 192 items on the FCMAT report, 57 are now completed.  He went on to say that these items were related to the 8 year plan for stability, payroll, and roles/responsibilities in Finance.  Areas that still need progress are related to further connecting budget development timelines and planning and fiscal department process.  He mentioned that there is nothing in the report that can’t be accomplished but that the timelines are very tight.

We all have a part to play in responding to the recommendations.  Faculty involvement and leadership in Outcomes Assessment, updating CORs, and Program Review directly relates to progress on Standards IIA1, IIA2, IIA3, and IB1, 2, 3, and 4.  Serving on a hiring committee helps with IIIA2. Participation in any of our participatory governance committees helps with IB and IVA.  Working together to “live the standards” we will be able to continue to move CCSF Forward!