Information Overload! Statewide resources can inform our work

Aren’t we academics supposed to love information? The Academic Senate certainly does!

At a minimum, the ASC president’s job is to synthesize information and use it when representing the faculty voice in various meetings and decision points. Even better is when they are successful at sharing that synthesis with others! Best of all is when the shared information can actually lead to broader input and better decision making.

I’ve been so happy that committee chairs are working to update past minutes and re-visit committee charges improve organization of our college’s information. However, maybe many of us don’t realize that we have an abundance of statewide resources available to us, especially through the ASCCC. I’ll be highlighting these all semester, starting with these 3:

What is participatory governance? Why do we do it and what is it supposed to accomplish? We have an exciting campus-wide opportunity to learn about how participatory governance works, and how we can use it to best effect at CCC. Statewide leaders from the Academic Senate (Jon Stanskas, president of the ASCCC) and a counterpart from the CEO’s group (The League) will present Collegiality in Action- Effective Participation Fundamentals. MARK YOUR CALENDAR FOR March 26, 2-4pm, GE-225.
There is an opportunity to participate in an ASCCC event the very next day at Foothill Colege, where State Chancellor Eloy Ortiz and ASCCC President Stanskas will be at the Area B Meeting. March 27, 9:30AM-3pm
The ASCCC is our statewide faculty resource. I have learned so much about the faculty senate and how our system works through these events over the years. They are led by the best educators out there (CC faculty!) and I hope you take advantage. Here is a ‘best of Spring 2020‘ event calendar that I curated from this page

Cut through and remove whatever saps energy

Have you noticed that the trees in the creek have been ‘ringed’? Thanks to the student work crew (under Bruce King’s guidance) who are cutting off the energy-draining ivy to improve the health of the trees!

What do we DO with information overload? Let’s explore the layers of guidance we receive.

What does the State Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO) say about our college’s activities? This page makes it all seem so simple. Take a look!

“We are guided by our North Star, the system’s Vision for Success“. Pretty simple so far, only 6 links here!
“The framework for achieving the goals of the Vision for Success is Guided Pathways.” Ok, we can handle it. There are just 10 links to information here!
“Colleges are supported through the Vision Resource Center.” Well now I’m overwhelmed! The entire set of answers to everything community college seems to be here, though!
Look for more on the Vision For Success in my next blog!

Equity Image of the week

Number of credits earned in a year (not semester) by CCC students. % full time students at CCC (by ethnicity)

bar graph of credits attempted by race — Follow the “College professionals” tab at the CCCCO site
then “data”, then “Launchboard”, then “guided pathways”. (This gets you here ) Leave the ‘first time ever in college’ button selected, Select CCC on the left menu and 2015-2016 then “run report” button. After results are generated, drill down by “ethnicity” in the center pull down menu.

Hiring is in full force!

We are on the verge of welcoming a huge number of new colleagues. So far, I know about hiring committees forming for the following positions this semester: District Chancellor, Five new Full-time CCC Faculty, CCC Permanent Vice President, CCC Director of Marketing, CCC Outreach Manager. Look for invitations to join the hiring committees for CCC CTE Dean/Director, Permanent deans, and permanent president coming up over the next couple of semesters!