Program Review and Action Planning – YEAR THREE
Final Summary Report
Division
Program
Contact Person
Date
Applied Technology and Business
Automotive Technology
Jim Baum, Steve Small, Mike Sherburne, Kurt Shadbolt
February 2011
I. Reflect upon the last three years' analysis and activities.
II. Briefly summarize the accomplishments of the discipline, and how they relate to the review of the
program, the program-level outcomes (PLOs) and course-level outcomes (CLOs).
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In the periods 2007-2010 the automotive discipline has seen a consistent student success
rate of 72%. This comes at a time in which the program has seen a population increase
of 51% and is above the average college success rate.
Based on 2009-2010 Perkins data, compared to other regional automotive programs, our
measurables are comparable with the exceptions of non-traditional students (women) in
the program and program completions. During the 2007-2010 time frames, we have
increased our non-traditional student population 300%, but it is still below the desired
state goal (3.7% vs 4.57%). The completion number (50% vs 64.93%) is deceptive in
that we have an industry placement rate of 80.95%. It is reasonable to deduct that
students may not be graduating from the program, but have accomplished their desired
outcomes for knowledge and skill obtainment for employment.
We have successfully launched the BMW Associates Degree Program in Fall 2010 and
are currently expanding the partnership with BMW to offer industry training at Chabot
College.
A grant from the Department of Energy in partnership with City College of San
Francisco has resulted in the development and launch of a new Hybrid vehicles course
at Chabot (Spring 2011) with a second course to follow in the near future. This
curriculum is already being shared at other community colleges as part of the grant and
will provide base materials for high school / ROP program seminars. This grant has
sponsored 2 industry update training session held at Chabot College and will ultimately
result in the creation of a certificate program at Chabot.
We have begun the remodel of the automotive instructional facilities and anticipate
completion in Spring 2011. This will provide Chabot with a state of the art automotive
facility.
The automotive program at Chabot College is an established program providing quality
education and training to our students and industry. We are uniquely positioned to become
one of the premier automotive programs in the country. Our partnership with BMW and
addition of Hybrid vehicle training prepares our graduates for increased employment
opportunities and earning potential. We have achieved these outcomes by being focused on
student outcomes dictated by industry and employer expectations.
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III. Please list what best practices (e.g., strategies, activities, intervention, elements, etc.) you would
recommend? What was challenging? Was there a barrier(s) to success?
Best practices:
1.
Maintaining relevance to industry and meeting the expectations of industry and
potential employers
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Student learning focused on application of the skills and knowledge obtained in lecture
and laboratory
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Providing the necessary tools, equipment, and learning experiences to ensure entry level
competencies
Challenges/Barriers to Success:
1.
Due to the constant changes in the automotive industry and with the regulatory
environment in California, improving the flexibility and timeliness of the curriculum
approval process is critical to maintaining a successful program.
2.
The college budget for the automotive discipline has remained equal or reduced in
recent years. This has proven to be an on-going challenge due to increased expenses for
consumables and other items necessary for instruction. Without these items, students
will not be able to perform some of the skills necessary to prepare them for entry level
employment. Major expenditures for the automotive program have been supported by
Measure B funding or Perkins funding in recent years. With the current budgetary
issues and nearing the end of Measure B term, future funding sources must be identified
and pursued. Without these areas of funding, maintaining relevance to industry needs
with tools and equipment is not possible, thus we could no longer maintain or
programmatic accreditation or relevance with industry.
1. Reduced availability of course offerings due to budgetary restrictions. This has resulted
in students taking longer to complete their programs.
IV. Next Steps: Recommendations for program and institutional improvement.
Program Improvement:
1. Our current plans are to complete a revision of the entire automotive program that will
achieve the following goals: (A) Improve our alignment with NATEF requirements, (B)
Better align courses with ASE certification areas, (C) Ensure course content focuses on
understanding and application of fundamentals, (D) Allocate appropriate amount of
contact time for individual courses (Units), (E) Provide increased course availability to
students through scheduling and delivery modality, (F) Develop courses to be as
“independent” as possible, (G) Eliminating prerequisites and sequences unless
absolutely necessary, (H) Improved flexibility for faculty / course assignments, (I) Cost
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management thru clearly defined needs based on course curriculum and desired
outcomes, (J) Cost reductions for students thru the implementation of custom text for
Chabot program, (K) Ability to evolve program into “hybrid-delivery” or paperless
without major revisions.
In regards to facilities, the completion of the 1400 building is highly anticipated (Spring
2011) and priorities need to be given to the expedited completion of the 3400 building
remodel that will result in an expected revenue source when utilized by BMW North
America for industry update training.
Tool and equipment updates and maintenance will be ongoing to maintain relevance to
industry and programmatic accreditation.
Budgets will also need to support instructional costs for faculty and delivery needs. We
will need to explore additional sources for funding including grants and other revenue
generating opportunities.
To address completion rates we have done the following: (A) Revised our certification
programs to eliminate English transfer requirements, and other non-industry related
courses (B) Improving communication with students on the request for graduation
process (C) Support the utilization of available software that will identify students who
have completed graduation requirements for their chosen major.
Institutional Improvement:
1. Explore possible changes in the curriculum review / approval process to be more
responsive to changing technologies and regulations experienced in the CTE
educational areas in a timely manner.
2. Support for applied skills in math and English for CTE students not interested in
transfer to 4 year institutions.
3. Implementation of available database programs that can identify students who have
completed the requirements necessary for graduation, thus reducing the number of
eligible graduates who have not applied for graduation.
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