Program Review and Action Planning – YEAR THREE
Final Summary Report
Division
Program
Contact Person
Date
Applied Technology & Business
Fire Technology
William Robert (Bob) Buell, Jr.
March 4, 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).
1. All Fire Technology course outlines have been updated to comply with the Uniform Fire
Technology Curriculum, California State Fire Training Policies and Procedures, and the United
States Fire Administration Fire and Emergency Services Higher Education model for Associate
Degree courses.
2. Chabot College pioneered the first Firefighter Safety and Survival course in California. The
course outline has been provided to all California community colleges with Fire Technology
programs as a model for how to deliver this new Associate Degree course.
3. The reinstatement of the Fire Prevention Inspector Associate Degree has led to more Fire
Technology Associate Degree students pursuing both Associate Degrees.
4. The revision of the FT 91A Wildland course into the CAL FIRE Wildland Firefighter Basic
Training course has led to a partnership between the California Department of Forestry and Fire
Protection to develop job-ready wildland firefighters for state and federal fire agency
employment.
5. Student retention and success in the Fire Academy has improved with the implementation of
Learning Assistants (LA’s). What began as two (2) LA’s shared among 4 courses has
expanded to six (6) LA’s shared among twelve courses (10 Fire Technology and 2 Physical
Education Fire Conditioning). Due to the in-class involvement of LA’s, every student in these
courses directly benefits from the individual attention and assistance. There is also a higher
level of performance in the Fire Academy and Wildland courses with LA’s working alongside the
students as they develop the required job performance skills.
6. Through bond and VTEA funding, the Fire Technology program has obtained state of the art
equipment to replace outdated equipment, some as old as 25 years, while also providing
storage racks and containers for this equipment at the off-campus fire tower in San Leandro.
The supplies and equipment acquired help us to meet our training obligations while ensuring
student safety.
7. The increased availability and use of technology and multi-media in the classroom has helped
to improve the delivery of the technical components of fire service training when manipulative
performance is not practical or possible. The investment in updated video media, use of
Blackboard and Edustream, and availability of on-campus computers for student use have
contributed to an increase in student success for those students who persevere to complete the
program.
8. Two Fire Technology courses have made the transition to hybrid online delivery (FT 50 – Fire
Protection Organization / FT 52 – Firefighter Safety and Survival). Another two courses may
make this transition in Spring 2012 (FT 51 – Fire Service Operations / FT 53 – Fire Behavior
and Combustion).
9. A greater investment in the Fire Prevention Inspector program has been made through the
acquisition of code books and tools needed to meet the training in Fire Prevention Technology
(FT 54) and Fire Protection Equipment and Systems (FT 55). To develop the students’
confidence in performing inspections and evaluating fire protection systems, the instructor has
introduced more interactive components that help the students familiarize with the resources
around them on campus. For example, assistance from other on campus disciplines, such as
the Theater Arts Department, have provided role-players for our Fire Inspector students to
experience the challenges of a building inspection.
10. The Fire Technology Instructor/Coordinator has taught fire suppression classes for Campus
Safety and Auto Technology. As a member of the Committee On Online Learning (COOL),
classes on the use of Blackboard features and Edustream have also been taught during Flex
days and as part of individual training sessions.
11. The Fire Academy has modified the live fire training component to the use of propane fire
trainers with smoke machines to provide a clean burn instead of burning wood or other Class A
combustibles.
12. For Fire Academy students who need more practice with psychomotor training, time is offered
outside of class for manipulative performance development. The Fire Conditioning instructor
and the LA’s work with the Fire Academy students an hour before the regularly scheduled Fire
and Law Enforcement Conditioning courses to provide the individualized instruction and
reinforcement of in-class training.
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.
Addition of Learning Assistants to the classroom for all lab sessions
2.
Addition of lab time in between Fire Academy class sessions for Fire Academy students at risk
of substandard performance
3.
Use of Blackboard for immediate feedback to students on academic performance and as a tool
for assessment of course content
4.
Use of Edustream within Blackboard as a secure resource to offer video segments for students
to review outside of class for reinforcement of material covered within class
5. Providing additional course offerings in a hybrid online format to attract working firefighters and
students with more challenging schedules
6. Increasing instructor awareness of FT course content taught by their peers to reduce
redundancy and contradiction, but build upon expected outcomes for greater continuity and
consistency
Challenges/Barriers to Success:
1.
After 47 years of Fire Technology courses offered through Chabot College, there is still no
home for the Fire Technology program on campus. The program is split into multiple locations
on and off campus, which is confusing to students who are trying to navigate through this
program.
2.
The Fire Technology Instructor/Coordinator is the only full time faculty position in the Fire
Technology Department and the job duties have expanded beyond coordinating the overall
program. Due to the retirement of the Fire Academy Director, the addition of the Wildland
Firefighter certification program, the reinstatement of the Fire Prevention Inspector program,
and the coordination of the Fire Academy skills with the Fire Science Conditioning program in
the Physical Education Department, the release time takes far more than the 40% time allotted.
3.
Many of the students are academically and physically unprepared for this career path. Although
the Fire Conditioning training addresses the psychomotor development, the students who lack
the mathematical competency, writing proficiency and reading comprehension face a significant
disadvantage taking the Fire Technology courses before improving these basic skills.
4.
Many students are unaware of their learning style and lack the study skills to support the the
courses they register to take during the semester
5.
Some students lack the financial resources for tuition, books, and equipment, and are unable to
Financial Aid to cover these costs
6.
Many students lack home internet access and laptop computers, so their computer and internet
access is limited to on campus computers. Evening students who work 9-5 weekday jobs find it
difficult to complete online assignments due to the lack of student on campus access to
computers on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
7.
Due to the technical elements of the cognitive components in the face-to-face class offerings,
some students have difficulty following along in class, and the resources are not in place to
effectively assess student comprehension during content delivery
8.
Maintaining the financial support for the equipment and supplies needed in the lab sessions
9.
The lack of an on campus fire training tower requires annual facility use fees to compensate the
Alameda County Fire Department for use of the training facility in San Leandro. There is
uncertainty as to whether the San Leandro site will be sold for residential housing in the future,
so Chabot needs to plan for our own site to ensure the Fire Academy delivery is maintained
10. Limited availability of Learning Assistants because there are limited hours allotted to each
11. Only one student assistant as an equipment technician to support the Fire Academy. An
additional position is needed to support the on campus resource needs.
12. The new FT 91D Firefighter Survival skills course requires that two independent primary
instructors observe the Chabot instructors as they teach the course for the first time to be
certified to teach in the future. This adds an expense to the program for at least two course
offerings until the Chabot instructors have satisfied the new state standard.
13. Impending relocation from the Fire Conditioning training room (2904) during the PE Complex
renovation for possibly two to three semesters, impacting the ability to deliver the on campus
physical skills training to support the Fire Academy as well as the FT 89 Introduction to Fire
Academy course (prerequisite to the rest of the Fire Academy courses).
14. Uncertainty of Community Education’s future significantly impacts the option to offer the Fire
Officer and Driver Operator courses as required under the Regional Fire Training Program
accreditation.
15. Lack appropriate fire apparatus for wildland training
IV. Next Steps: Recommendations for program and institutional improvement.
Program Improvement:
1. Expand the use of Fire Technology Learning Assistants across 13 courses. Support funding up
to 8 LA’s.
2. Use radio frequency audience response technology compatible with Mac and PC platforms to
obtain student feedback to assess the progress of student comprehension during content
delivery
3. Obtain an additional student assistant as an equipment technician to support on campus
resource needs
4. Encourage students to complete the English and Math Placement tests
5. Assess Learning Styles in the First Phase FT courses to encourage students to apply effective
study skills as early into the fire technology training as possible.
6. Require Fire Conditioning training before entry into the Fire Academy to improve student
performance and reduce injuries.
7. Convert two additional Fire Technology courses to online hybrid format
8. Fund the professional specialist positions requested to support the Hazardous Materials course,
the Firefighter Survival skills class, and the SCBA repairs.
9. Fill the full time Public Safety (Fire & Law Enforcement) Conditioning Instructor position in the
near future. Until then, continue to fund the professional specialist costs for fire conditioning as
requested for the past two years.
10. Offer the Fire Officer and Driver Operator courses through Community Education and provide
the option for credit by examination to those students who want to receive the 2-unit credit for
these courses.
11. Obtain sufficient equipment that makes the Chabot Fire Technology program less dependent on
the resources of outside agencies to provide the training to our students.
12. Obtain secure storage solutions for Fire Technology Program equipment
13. Maintain equipment within serviceable condition and replace outdated and broken equipment
14. Acquire surplus Fire Engine from CAL FIRE for shared use with Las Positas College to support
the Wildland Firefighter courses at both campuses.
Institutional Improvement:
1. Update the Facility Master Plan to include the facility and resource needs of the Fire
Technology program, especially the Fire Academy
2. Acquire alternate training location on campus for delivery of the Fire Conditioning and
Introduction to Fire Academy courses while 2904 is undergoing renovation. This location needs
22 feet interior height, access to an active fire hydrant and capable of holding the equivalent of
two 40-foot shipping containers worth of fire equipment
3. Need additional computer lab accessible to Fire Technology students with wireless access for
students with their own laptop computers
4. Provide evening and weekend Blackboard help for students
Academic Program Review and Action Planning – YEAR ONE
Division
Program
Contact Person
Date
Applied Technology & Business
Fire Technology
William Robert (Bob) Buell, Jr.
May 26, 2011 – Added Year One Section to provide program description
Section A – Data Review and Analysis
I. Basic Success and Equity (Data from 3 previous years)
 What trends are you seeing over time? How does the basic success data compare to the college
as a whole and to statewide average success rates, if available? What might explain the
differences?
 What courses in your discipline show the greatest/least amount of success? What accounts for
success in these courses? How could you improve success in the less successful areas?
 What do you see in the comparisons between men and women and between different
ethnicities? What accounts for differences? What concerns you? How could you strategically
address the concerns?
 What inferences can you draw from the data correlating the highest level of Math/English
completed and success in your discipline's courses?
 If you have online/hybrid/telecourse/CD-ROM courses, do the success rates differ from the
same courses offered on-campus? If so, should the success rates be the same, why are they
different, and is this a cause for concern? What areas of inquiry does this raise about
online/hybrid/telecourse/CD-ROM courses?
Fire Technology - Overview
The Fire Technology program is a career technical education unit of Chabot College, first developed
in 1963 to meet the training and education needs of pre-employment and career fire service
professionals. All Fire Technology courses meet the CSU transferability requirement. Chabot
College is currently the only Community College in Alameda County that offers a State Fire Marshal
Accredited Fire Academy. There are three general phases to the Fire Technology program, and
students may start the program in either the Fall or Spring Semester.
The first phase involves courses designed to prepare students for entry into the Fire Academy. During
the first phase of the program, students determine if the fire service career is right for them. The first
phase courses are a combination of Fire Technology (50, 51, 52), Health (61, 81, 83) and Physical
Education (2FSC or 2FIC) courses. Students will take these courses at both Chabot and Las Positas
Colleges to meet the Fire Academy prerequisites. Some students will attend other colleges that offer
similar prerequisite courses, or students will transfer to Chabot equivalent training obtained through
private institutions. There is no sequential requirement for the aforementioned Fire Technology
courses, only that they are successfully completed prior to entry into the Fire Academy.
The second phase involves the Fire Fighter I Certification Preparation courses, including the Fire
Academy course segments (Fire Technology 89, 90A, 90B and 90C), and three additional
certifications (FT 91A – CAL FIRE Wildland Firefighter Basic, FT 91B – Hazardous Materials First
Responder Operational, and FT 91C – Incident Command System 200). The only sequential series of
the Fire Fighter I Certification Preparation is the Fire Academy, and these four courses (89, 90A-BC) must be taken at Chabot College to receive a Chabot Fire Academy certificate. However, the FT
91 series of certifications can be taken at any institution and units transferred to Chabot.
The third phase involves the fire fighter work experience program (FT 95/96), along with the
remaining core courses (FT 53, 54, 55, 56) for completion of the Fire Technology Associates Degree.
With the exception of the work experience program, the remaining core courses may be taken
concurrently with first and second phase courses. The work experience program may only be taken
once a student has successfully completed all of the training requirements for Fire Fighter I
Certification.
The primary attraction for the Fire Technology program is the Fire Academy. Students will often
take first phase courses wherever and whenever convenient, not all of them through Chabot College.
For instance, Chabot does not offer an evening Health 81 (Emergency Medical Technician – EMT)
course, so the evening-only students will attend either Las Positas or Merritt College for an evening/
weekend EMT course. Chabot offers FT 51 during the evening in Fall and during the day in Spring
to meet the interests of both day and evening students in a school year. However, evening students
who begin the Chabot Fire Technology Program in a Spring Semester will attend the Spring FST 51
at Las Positas College while taking the Spring FT 50 and 52 at Chabot. Also, some students take all
of the first phase courses through Chabot, but then decide to attend a Fire Academy through another
institution, such as San Mateo College, Los Medanos College, or the South Bay Consortium. All of
these circumstances make tracking student success through the curriculum difficult.
Basic Success Data
The Fire Technology basic success data is not comparable to the college as a whole because the data
does not represent the aforementioned variables that affect student success and progress. Some first
semester pre-employment students will attend the first few weeks of Fire Technology classes at
Chabot, then drop these courses for one of several reasons. One faction of students may drop after
finding comparable courses at other colleges that meet the Academy prerequisites, but are more
convenient or closer for the student. Another faction will drop because they’ve decided that a fire
service career does not meet their interest. A third faction drops a few courses, but remains in others,
after realizing the workload involved for all courses is more than they can handle at the time. A
fourth faction will drop because they cannot afford the books or other associated educational fees.
Finally, the last faction drops because they realize that their basic reading, math and/or study skills
are insufficient to handle the course work. Many career firefighters find that the schedule for
attending on-campus courses conflicts with their rotating work schedule, so these firefighters tend to
take one Fire Technology class per year while taking on-line general education courses. There is no
data collection to reflect these issues.
Success Data Comparison
The course data is misleading regarding least/greatest amount of success, because of the enrollment
of first semester students in certain courses, as well as the late term employment of the preemployment students, or fire season workload of career firefighter students. First semester students
enrolled in first phase courses (FT 50/51/52, Health 61 or 81/83, and PHED 2FIC/FSC) will
sometimes take third phase courses (FT 53/54/55/56) if any first phase courses are full. When first
semester students decide not to pursue this discipline further, or realize they cannot handle the course
load, they drop some (or all) of the first and third phase courses. This causes success data to appear
different for the same course in different semesters. Most first semester students enroll in Fire
Technology 50 & 52, along with Health 61 and Physical Education 2FIC or 2FSC. Those with poor
basic skills (English, Math or Study Skills) will drop one or more of the Fire Technology and Health
classes by the seventh week of the semester. Some of the pre-employment students who are dropping
the third phase courses late in the semester are obtaining seasonal firefighter or medical employment
due to cyclical hiring periods with state and private institutions. Career firefighters drop these
courses late in the semester if their fire season workload prevents them from continued attendance.
The late drop pre-employment and career students often return in a future semester to retake the
course(s).
Most Fire Technology students in a second or third semester tend to maintain enrollment in courses,
with very few dropping or failing the second and third phase courses. Students taking second phase
courses are committed to complete them successfully. The Fire Academy courses (FT 89, 90A, 90B,
90C) are the only sequential courses in the curriculum. Prior to implementation of the Fire Academy
Introduction course (FT 89), and improvements to the Physical Education 2FSC & 2FIC courses, the
success rate of the FT 90A/B/C was between 50% and 70%. Since these changes, the success rate for
FT 90A/B/C has averaged between 77% and 83%. Students in third phase courses may spread these
courses out over two semesters while tackling their general education courses.
A common challenge to student success in the Fire Technology program is basic skills proficiency.
Students who are not academically prepared in reading comprehension, writing proficiency,
mathematic capability, and recall / reasoning ability find the Uniform Fire Technology curriculum
difficult to master. Also, students who are not physically prepared in the areas of strength, flexibility,
endurance and stamina find the psychomotor skills of the fire service manipulative training too
challenging. Furthermore, students with poor study skills find the course work too overwhelming to
manage. The emerging issue that has surfaced more frequently in the past few semesters has been
students who cannot maintain their mental focus in the field during psychomotor skills performance.
To improve success, there are several student assessments and resource modifications that should be
considered and reviewed. Every student should be required to take the English and Math assessment
tests. Students with English skills below the qualification for English 1A, and/or Math skills below
the qualification for Math 55, will most likely fail to complete the first and second phase Fire
Technology courses. These students are most in need of Basic Skills courses prior to entry into the
Fire Technology program. All students need to be advised of courses designed to improve their
Study Skills so that they can handle college-level course work. The Fire Technology program needs a
physical fitness assessment for first semester students to help them identify their current level of
fitness and provide direction to help them achieve the required fitness level for program and career
success. For economically challenged students, copies of texts need to be acquired and held at the
library for student access. Finally, more Fire Technology resources need to be available on-line, with
consideration toward creating web-enhanced or hybrid on-line Fire Technology courses.
Gender and Ethnicity Comparisons
The factor that most affects the success of women in the Fire Technology program is their physical
preparedness for the Fire Academy. The fire service is a physically demanding career, and all
firefighters, regardless of gender, are required to perform the psychomotor skills equally. Women
often are academically prepared for the cognitive program requirements, but must work harder than
their male counterparts to achieve the necessary fitness level to perform firefighter skills. This is true
throughout the career for employed female firefighters. The Physical Education Division offers
afternoon and evening programs for firefighter conditioning. Over the years, more investment in fire
fighting equipment provided on-campus for student use has allowed all students the opportunity to
use the actual equipment and learn the body mechanics and techniques to physically perform more
efficiently. This equipment access has helped many women learn how to perform the job while
improving their fitness. The solution to this issue is three-fold. First, there needs to be better
advertisement of the fire service career, the physical demands of the job, and the role of the Chabot
Fire Science Conditioning program toward helping women achieve the required fitness level.
Second, the Fire Technology program needs to have an early recruitment program in middle and high
schools, with special emphasis in the Physical Education divisions of these schools. The sooner that
girls are introduced to the career options in the Fire Service, the sooner they can be advised of the
physical and academic requirements, thereby selecting the most beneficial courses in high school to
prepare for a fire service career. Third, the Fire Technology program needs to partner with the
Women in the Fire Service program as a networking resource whereby local members of this
organization can mentor young women who express in an interest in the fire service career.
The factors that affect the success of different ethnicities are quite varied. Many of these students
perform quite well. Those who do not perform well are facing different challenges. Some students do
not speak English as their first language, so they find some of the coursework difficult to understand.
Some students have poor study skills; they’re clearly intelligent, but their retention of information
week-to-week is lacking. The most common challenge for different ethnicities, along with nonminority students, is substandard reading comprehension. Although their ability to recall cognitive
information is satisfactory, they don’t always understand the meaning of the content they study.
These students would clearly benefit by early assessment of basic skills. Yet, many of these students
continually face financial challenges and have to choose between the ability to afford tuition, texts,
and course materials. These students need early notification of financial aid opportunities to manage
these situations. Yet, if more resources were available on line, or texts available through the library,
these students would have more options for accessing the necessary educational resources.
The Chabot Fire Technology program continues to invest in the acquisition of firefighter safety and
rescue equipment for use by students participating in the Fire Fighter Certification Preparation
courses and the Fire Technology Work Experience program, thereby reducing the out-of-pocket
expenses that would otherwise deny financially challenged students from this field of education.
II. Course Sequence (Data from 2 previous years)
Note: Answer this question if you have been provided data about course sequences in your discipline.


Is success in the first course a good indicator of success in the second course? What are the
curricular, pedagogical, and/or methodological implications of what you see?
Do your successful students in the first course enroll at a high rate in the second course within
two years? What are the implications of what you see?
As described earlier, the Fire Technology courses are best grouped in phases. The Phase 1 courses,
Fire Technology 50, 51 and 52, can be taken in any order, along with the EMT training through the
Health Division (61, 81, 83), in preparation for the Phase 2 courses. However, success in the Phase 1
courses does not provide a good enough indicator of success in the Phase 2 courses unless the student
has also completed the Physical Education Fire Science Conditioning (PHED 2FSC) course before
beginning Phase 2. The sequential components of the Phase 2 courses are Fire Technology 89-90A90B-90C.
Fire Technology 89 is actually Week #1 of the Fire Academy, and is in the semester preceding the
full Academy (90ABC). It is offered mid-semester twice, per our agreement with Las Positas
College, as their students must come to Chabot for the Fire Academy training. Students who are
unsuccessful in the first offering of FT 89 may return a month later for the second course offering of
FT 89, and are often successful on the second attempt. Most of the unsuccessful students have not
taken any fire conditioning training, and many of them have transferred their prerequisites for FT 89
from other colleges.
The most significant measure of success in future courses in a sequence comes from the success data
for Fire Technology 90A. The full Academy (90ABC) in the semester following FT 89, is made up
of 3 short semester courses, four weeks in length each, where students attend the off-campus program
two evenings and one Saturday per week. Most students who successfully complete FT 90A, will
likely complete FT 90B and 90C in the same semester, often with higher grades than they received in
FT 90A. The biggest contributor to this success has been the addition of Learning Assistants to the
Fire Conditioning class and the FT 89, 90A, 90B and 90C courses. Also, the addition of adding
online components for the cognitive competencies, allowing more face-to-face time in class with
students to work on psychomotor development.
III. Course Review (Data from 5 previous years)
 Ed. Code requires that all courses are updated every five years. Are all of your courses
updated? If not, do you want to maintain or continue these courses? Please indicate your plans
in terms of curriculum. Have all of your courses been offered recently? If not, why? Are
students counting on courses to complete a program or major when these courses are not being
offered?
Course Updates
All Fire Technology courses have been updated within the past two years. The Fire Technology 50
series curriculum (FT 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56) was updated to meet the National Fire Academy Fire
and Emergency Services Higher Education (NFA FESHE) Model for Fire Technology curriculum.
These updates now allow transferability of courses between Chabot College and higher education
institutions outside the State of California.
The Fire Science Conditioning course, although technically under the Physical Education Division,
was recently updated and submitted to the Curriculum Committee for consideration and approval.
Course Offerings
The following courses are offered each semester:
- FT 50 (Fire Protection Organization)
- FT 51 (Fire Service Operations)
- FT 52 (Firefighter Safety and Survival / formerly Firefighter Safety and Public Education)
- FT 53 (Fire Behavior and Combustion)
- FT 89 (Introduction to Fire Academy)
- FT 90A (Fire Fighter 1 Certification Preparation I – Basic)
- FT 90B (Fire Fighter 1 Certification Preparation II – Intermediate)
- FT 90C (Fire Fighter 1 Certification Preparation III - Advanced)
- FT 91A (CAL FIRE Wildland Firefighter Basic)
- FT 91B (Hazardous Materials First Responder – Operations Level)
- FT 91C (Incident Command System I-200)
- FT 91D (Firefighter Survival Skills) – New mandate for Fall 2011
- FT 95 (Work Experience)
- FT 96 (Work Experience Seminar)
Note: The FT 50 and 52 courses are offered twice per semester, with one section each as an
online hybrid course. Such course offerings permit working firefighters to return to
Chabot to complete their certification and degree requirements.
The following courses are offered once a year:
- FT 54 (Fire Prevention Technology)
- FT 55 (Fire Protection Equipment and Systems)
- FT 56 (Building Construction for Fire Protection)
The greatest demand is to offer the FT 50, 51, 52, 89, 90ABC, and 91ABCD every semester, along
with Work Experience for student firefighters to gain experience in preparation for the competitive
testing and hiring process for fire service agencies. The FT 53, 54, 55 and 56 must still be offered
each year to help students achieve their certification and associate degree goals. Although FT 53 is
not a prerequisite for the Fire Academy, many students are taking FT 53 prior to the Fire Academy to
be better prepared for the live fire fighting components of the Academy.
The remaining Fire Technology courses (70 series) are required by State Fire Training to be offered,
however, we don’t have the FTEF to offer them. Since these 70-series courses are electives that are
not required for a degree through Chabot College, they ARE accepted by the CSU system toward a
Bachelor Degree if community college credit is provided upon successful course completion. The
proposed method of delivery for the 70-series courses will be through Community Education with the
option for students to receive College Credit by Exam.
IV. Budget Summary (Data from 3 previous years)
 What budget trends do you see in your discipline? What are the implications of these trends?
 Where is your budget adequate and where is it lacking? What are the consequences on your
program, your students, and/or your instruction?
 What projected long-term (5-10 years) budget needs do you see? You will detail your short-term
needs in the action plan that follows. You do not need to cite them here.
Budget Trends
The anticipated budget trends for the Fire Technology program are divided among on-campus
courses, off-campus courses, inter-disciplinary support, facilities support, and program coordination.
On-Campus Courses
The Fire Technology program strives to ensure that students are offered the most current and relevant
training and education compliant with California State Fire Marshal and the Chancellor’s Uniform
Fire Technology curriculum. Acquisition of updated audio-visual media is necessary to support the
Fire Prevention Inspector Associates Degree and the Wildland Firefighter I – Basic course (FT 91A).
Most of the current audio-visual media meets the needs of the FT 50, 51, 52, 90A, 90B & 90C
courses. However, more audio-visual resources are needed to support the FT 53, 54, 55, 56, 91A,
91B and 91C courses.
Library subscriptions to more fire service periodicals should be considered for student access. Also,
the purchase of textbooks for reserve at the library also needs consideration to help the financially
challenged access the required study resources. Per the Accredited Regional Training Program
requirements, the Fire Academy resource library of fire service references books needs to be updated
as most of these books are nearly ten years old.
Off-Campus Courses
The Fire Academy courses (FT 90A/B/C) are conducted off-campus at the Alameda County Fire
Department (ACFD) Training Center in San Leandro, and the Field Work Experience course (FT 95)
is conducted through the Oakland, Alameda and Fremont Fire Departments. These courses require
students to wear OSHA compliant fire protective clothing during the performance of structure and
wildland fire fighting and training activities. Chabot College provides most of the OSHA-compliant
fire protective clothing on loan to students, excluding hoods, gloves and footwear (that students must
obtain).
Recent inventory of the fire protective equipment revealed that some of the clothing items are no
longer OSHA compliant and need replacement, and additional equipment must be acquired for
students to train in structure firefighting operations per OSHA and California State Fire Training. As
safety standards evolve, Chabot must adapt by ensuring that all protective equipment loaned to
students, and fire/rescue equipment used by students, are compliant with OSHA and National Fire
Protection Association (NFPA) standards, thereby reducing Chabot’s liability.
Much of the donated fire equipment has deteriorated, some beyond repair. The Fire Technology
Coordinator continues to solicit equipment donations from fire department’s that have surplus
inventory no longer in use by the donating department, but still serviceable and operational.
However, donations are insufficient to cover program equipment needs.
To provide live fire training, funding is necessary to cover costs of servicing portable fire
extinguishers, replenishing propane, fueling fire apparatus, replacing forcible entry supplies, and
maintaining the donated fire engine. When equipment needs repair, qualified repair technicians will
be needed. As equipment wears out, it needs to be replaced.
Over the next year, additional funds are requested to bring the cache of safety, fire fighting and
rescue equipment up to current standards. Due to higher priority needs that surfaced during the
current school year, equipment originally requested this year was postponed to the next budget year
so that existing funds could cover the unanticipated costs.
Audio-visual resources will be needed off-campus at the Fire Training Center. Currently, only a
television, VCR player, slide projector and overhead projector are available; all of these A/V units
were donated. There is no computer or LCD projector available, unless personally provided by an
instructor. Also, there is no wildland fire fighting vehicle available for the FT 91A Wildland
Firefighter course. Options are being pursued to remedy this challenge.
Inter-Disciplinary Support
The Fire Technology program relies on the success of several Health, PE & Athletics Division
courses for students to sufficiently prepare for the Fire Academy and the Fire Technology Associate
Degree. Of primary significance is the Physical Education Fire Conditioning curriculum (PHED
2FSC & 2FIC). The PHED program, along with the FT 89 course, are instrumental to the
psychomotor performance success of students who were previously unprepared for the physical
demands of the Fire Academy. The Fire Technology program provides equipment to the PHED
program so students can develop the necessary biomechanical skills and coordination using
equipment identical to that used in the Fire Academy.
Currently, the PHED courses have most of the necessary equipment, but occasionally need
replacement hose and repairs to ladders. The protective clothing, provided to the PHED courses,
needs periodic laundering each semester, so a cleaning service is needed.
When the PHED Fire & Police training room in Building 2900 undergoes renovation, the Fire
Conditioning course will need to be relocated and the equipment will need secure storage. Two 40foot storage containers with sufficient shelving will need to be obtained to meet the storage needs.
The Fire Technology program can provide fire safety education to other Chabot College disciplines
as time and resources are available. Currently, a portable propane fire simulator unit is used for fire
extinguisher training. The cost to operate the fire trainer is limited to the supply costs for the propane
and fire extinguisher servicing. At a future opportunity, the Fire Technology program will obtain a
vehicle fire trainer prop for use with training the Auto Technology students as well as the Fire
Academy students.
Facilities Support
Since the Fire Academy is primarily conducted off-campus at the ACFD Training Facility (property
of City of San Leandro), Chabot pays an annual rental cost of $5000.00 per year to Alameda County
(which might increase in the next facility use agreement). The Chabot College fire engine is also
stored at the tower, and is overdue for service. The ACFD maintenance facility has offered to service
the fire engine for $2000.00, excluding parts. Depending on replacement parts needed, the total
service costs could reach as much as $10,000.00, including labor.
Most of the Chabot College Fire Academy equipment is stored at the ACFD Training Facility in two
40-foot shipping containers (owned by Chabot College), along with a 20-foot shipping container
(property of ACFD) holding the remaining equipment. Some of the equipment used is wearing out
and in need of replacement, including hose, breathing apparatus cylinders and two wood fire service
ladders (ladders will arrive in June 2011). There will be a need to move out of ACFD’s 20-foot
container in the near future, though no specific date has been set.
Due to the potential loss of the Alameda County Fire Tower in the near future (City of San Leandro
has expressed interest in selling the property for residential development), unless a more suitable offsite location is obtained under the control of Chabot College, the Fire Technology program will need
a home on-campus. The original training site for the Fire Academy, the NIKE Site, was sold by the
district without funding a new location for the Fire Academy. The funds from the NIKE property
sale were diverted to art projects at both Chabot and Las Positas Colleges. Chabot College has
offered a certified Fire Academy training program every year since 1979, but there has never been a
plan to incorporate the needs of the program on district-owned property. It is essential that the
Facilities Master Plan include a Fire Academy training site with tower and classroom so that the
future of the Academy is not adversely impacted by outside agencies because of resource availability.
Also, there is a need to have more computer lab availability on campus for students participating in
the hybrid online Fire Technology courses, so that we may be able to conduct lab assessments during
class time.
Program Coordination
Coordination of the Fire Technology program involves compliance with state requirements while
addressing local jurisdiction needs. Participation in State Fire Curriculum revisions, Fire Technology
Directors Association meetings, and County Fire Training Officers activities enhance program
coordination efforts to ensure that the college curriculum meets the changing needs of the fire
service. Attendance of some Fire Technology Directors Association Meetings requires coverage of
travel and hotel expenses. Membership dues for the Fire Technology Directors Association and the
Alameda County Training Officers Association should be covered by Chabot College. Currently,
these membership dues are out-of-pocket expenses paid by the Fire Technology Coordinator.
To meet the Local Processing requirements for State Fire Marshal certified exams, a SCANTRON
machine was purchased. Changes at State Fire Training may require the purchase of additional
software for recording and tracking student success as a requirement of the Regional Training Center
accreditation.
The Fire Technology program will undergo a Regional Training Center Reaccreditation during Fall
2011, with a site visit by a State Fire Training Accreditation team sometime during the 2011-2012
school year. The anticipated cost of the accreditation and site visit is $2500.00, and is required for
continuance of the Fire Academy. The accreditation process requires a “self-assessment” by a team
of Fire Technology instructors. Since there is only one full-time instructor/coordinator, the balance
of the team needs to be made up of adjunct instructors, so compensation is needed to cover the
adjunct instructor participation.
A greater marketing effort is needed to promote the Fire Technology program. Printing costs for
color brochures and flyers need to be supported, and the Chabot Fire website will continue to be
maintained. During the next year, efforts will be coordinated to develop a marketing video for the
promotion of the Fire Technology program. This video would be distributed via DVD to middle and
high schools to generate interest in the fire service career and the Chabot Fire Technology program in
particular.
Funds are also needed to train adjunct instructors in SLO development. The Fire Technology
Coordinator teaches only one of the core curriculum courses, the rest are taught by adjunct
instructors. Though initial SLO’s were created, the rubrics and assessments for the adjunct core
courses still need to be developed consistent with the eLumen software.
Funding Adequacy
The current funding provided to the Fire Technology program is inadequate to support the needs of
the entire program. There is insufficient funding to provide the same curriculum as offered by other
community colleges with Regional Fire Training Center Accreditation, and the majority of the
current equipment inventory was donated to the Fire Technology program several years ago and is
falling into disrepair. Available instructional media supports only half of the Fire Technology courses
offered, leaving some instructors to borrow the necessary resources from local agencies to instruct
their courses. As OSHA, NFPA, CAL FIRE, and State Fire Marshal standards change, the Fire
Technology program must evolve and adapt to meet the new challenges. With an off-campus Fire
Academy competing for resources needed by on-campus Fire Technology courses, conflicts occur in
sharing such resources until more are acquired. Since the Fire Academy has never had a home on
campus, the program is dependent on the use of Alameda County Fire Department’s Fire Tower,
currently owned by the City of San Leandro. The annual rental must be paid to continue use of the
tower. However, if San Leandro sells the tower property to a private developer, neither Chabot nor
Alameda County will have a Fire Tower, so a contingency plan must be prepared for a new tower
location (on or off campus) should the San Leandro tower property be sold.
The highest priority funding is for replacement safety equipment, live fire training supplies, facility
rental, fire engine servicing, secure equipment storage and accreditation fees. All other expenses
identified are necessary for student success in the curriculum, adjunct instructor support for SLO
development, accreditation team participation, interdisciplinary support and program coordination.
Some expenses can be spread out over two years, and others may be postponed at the detriment to the
program quality, but the high priority items must be funded to allow continued fire training while
reducing the College and District’s liability.
Consequences for Lack of Funding
To operate a Fire Technology program, Chabot College is exposed to significant liability if students
are not properly outfitted with personal protective equipment while performing fire and rescue
operations. Also, the equipment must be in proper working order, free of defects that may place the
student at risk of injury during training. To comply with State Fire Training Accreditation, the Fire
Technology Program must provide training in twenty-four disciplines for the Fire Academy, so all
equipment used by students must meet approved safety standards. New curriculum provided by State
Fire Training impacts the Chabot Fire Technology program by requiring a change in techniques for
rescue operations with a need for specialized equipment. New CAL FIRE standards require Chabot to
revise the Wildland Firefighter course to meet updated training and safety criteria, ultimately
requiring the purchase of new equipment. Also, the Fire Technology Accreditation is scheduled for
next school year, so funding is necessary to pay for the Accreditation fees and site visit to allow the
Fire Academy to continue. This Accreditation is overdue by the State, at no fault of Chabot, and
without an Accredited Fire Academy, Fire Technology will lose its primary student interest.
The Fire Academy has recently been able to afford live fire training due to the donation of used selfcontained breathing apparatus (SCBA) from Santa Clara County Fire District, so the Fire Academy
needs to pay the costs for fuel and extinguishing agent. The live structure fire training component
also incurs a cost to rent the propane-fueled Fire Trailer in Alameda City. This Fire Trailer provides
a safe and controlled fire fighting experience for Fire Academy students and is environmentally safe
enough to use, especially on “no burn” days. Lastly, the Chabot Fire Engine has not been serviced in
several years. It desperately needs this service to ensure safe operation during driving and pumping
operations.
V. Enrollment Data (Data from 2 previous years)
 Please provide a brief description of: overall enrollment trends; enrollment trends by course; and
enrollment trends by time of day and Saturday.
 Describe what your discipline has done in terms of curriculum or scheduling in the last two years
that has effected enrollments.
 Describe plans or strategies that you have for the near future in terms of curriculum or
scheduling that could impact your enrollments.
 Lastly, look closely at whether the schedule you currently offer provides access to the broader
community that your discipline serves at Chabot College—day time, night time, Saturday,
distance education, special or targeted communities that would or do enroll in your courses.
Enrollment Data Discussion
The enrollment trends from Fall 2007 to Spring 2010 reflect an increase in student success in all Fire
Technology Program courses. In each assessment category (gender, ethnicity, overall), the majority
of students achieved a passing grade (“C” or better), and over half of these courses require an 80%
minimum passing performance level. Although these statistics reflect positively on the Fire
Technology Program, there are other issues that the empirical data does not reveal, but are evident to
the instructors.
We continue to see a trend where students want to fast track their path through the curriculum to
complete the Fire Academy, but are not academically prepared to handle the workload in a
compressed time frame. Most of the students who have either withdrawn from or not successfully
completed the first phase Fire Technology courses (FT 50, 51, 52) are also taking Health or Physical
Education courses in the same semester. Those students who choose to withdraw will either drop all
fire courses because they’ve decided not to pursue this career path after all, or they will remain in
some classes and drop others for a more manageable course load.
Curriculum / Scheduling Impacts on Enrollment
The majority of curriculum scheduling has remained the same over the past three years with the
exception of the Academy Introduction course (FT 89), implemented as of Fall 2006. The FT 89
course underwent different scheduling changes until it found its niche as a mid-semester course. One
section of this week-long course is offered on a Tuesday evening / Thursday evening / All day
Saturday schedule, and the other section is offered on a Wednesday evening / Friday evening / All
day Sunday schedule (to accommodate Las Positas students). The success of the FT 89 courses helps
to maintain the Fire Academy (90 A/B/C) enrollments.
Future Curriculum / Scheduling Strategies
To determine future curriculum / scheduling strategies, the Fire Technology program will conduct
surveys of current students and neighboring fire agencies to determine how well Chabot is meeting
their collective needs and what Chabot can be doing to improve educational delivery. The Fire
Technology 50 and 52 courses have transitioned into hybrid form this past year, and other Fire
Technology instructors will look at these courses to determine if a hybrid format is amenable and
sufficient to meet student and fire agency educational interests for their courses.
The Fire Technology 91A course has drawn more student interest since its revision to meet the CAL
FIRE Wildland Firefighter 1 – Basic certification level, and an additional Spring semester offering of
FT 51 in the evening would help keep evening students at Chabot instead of losing them to Las
Positas College to attend the same course.
Finally, a new mandated course on Firefighter Survival skills (FT 91D) will be implemented as of
Fall 2011 to comply with the changes in CAL FIRE certification standards. It will require
adjustments in our Fire Academy course scheduling and facility use agreement with ACFD in the
future.
VI. Student Learning Outcomes Inventory
Acronym Key:
SLO = Student Learning Outcome is a general term, for the following three levels of outcomes:
CLO = Course-level Outcome, i.e. what a student can do after completing a course
PLO= Program-level Outcome, i.e. what a student can do after completing a sequence of courses
CWLG = College-wide Learning Goal
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Percentage of courses in your discipline that have CLOs and rubrics developed: 47% of active
courses Majority of Fire Technology courses are taught by adjunct instructors. Currently, I
am in the process of aligning CLO’s for these courses with the California Compendium
Project for Fire Technology Student Learning Outcomes. The instructors of these courses will
review these SLO’s and modify them for their CLO’s. The 70 series of Fire Technology
courses are yet to be taught since SLO’s have been required, as these courses do not have the
FTEF to offer at this time.
For this information, please see the list of which courses do and do not have CLOs on the
SLOAC’s main webpage:
http://www.chabotcollege.edu/sloac/default.asp
Percentage of courses in your discipline that have the minimum number of CLOs developed:
(1 unit = 1 or more CLO, 2 units = 2 or more CLOs, 3 or more units = 3 or more CLOs) 47% but not entered into eLumen
For this information, please see the CLO spreadsheet on the SLOAC’s main webpage:
http://www.chabotcollege.edu/sloac/default.asp
Date the CLO Assessment schedule was submitted: To be submitted June 2011
For this information, please see the Course-level Outcomes assessment schedules list from the
Assessment Progress and Plans webpage:
http://www.chabotcollege.edu/sloac/progress.asp
Percentage of courses in your discipline that have had all the CLOs assessed within the past three
years, as per Chabot’s Assessment policy: 7% outside of eLumen
For this information, please see Chabot’s Assessment Policy from the SLO/Assessment
Guidelines webpage:
http://www.chabotcollege.edu/sloac/guidelines.asp
Percentage of courses in your discipline that have had all the CLO assessments reflected upon, or
discussed with colleagues, within the past three years 28%
What questions or investigations arose as a result of these reflections or discussions?
Explain: The students who have demonstrated the greatest success are those who enter these courses
with: (1) effective study skills for their learning styles, (2) a strong foundation of basic English and
Math skills to comprehend and perform the cognitive competencies, and (3) the physical conditioning
and ability to safely and competently perform all manipulative performance skills. The lack of any 1
of these three above contribute to the challenges faced by students who are not successful.
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What actions has your discipline determined that might be taken as a result of these reflections,
discussions, and insights?
Actions planned: The Fire Technology instructors have identified specific courses that will have
“strongly recommended” assessments prior to entry. The course outlines for these courses have
already been revised for Fall 2011 implementation. Also, the firefighter physical conditioning course
will change from a recommended course to a required course prior to entry in the Fire Academy to
increase student success in manipulative performance while reducing student injuries. Also, some
courses need more in class assessment as part of the lecture component to determine how well
students comprehend the presentation.
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What course-level and programmatic strengths have the assessment reflections revealed?
Strengths revealed: With the addition of Learning Assistants to the program, we are seeing an
increase in student motivation to succeed. Students interact more with Learning Assistants to gain
greater insight to the course requirements and instructor expectations. More of our at-risk students
are progressing through the curriculum because of the Learning Assistants whom they see as peer
mentors. Also, the Fire Academy has evolved during the past two years because of the Learning
Assistant program, allowing the instructors to offer more challenging components that enhance the
students’ knowledge, skills and abilities for potential employment as firefighters. An unexpected
success for students is that many are pursuing both the Fire Technology and Fire Prevention Inspector
Certificates and Associate Degrees since the return of the Fire Prevention Inspector program. This
has increased the enrollment in non-Fire Technology courses, such as Industrial Technology 74
(Measurements and Calculations), English 70 (Report Writing), and Business 22 (Introduction to
Management). Finally, with the revision of the wildland training course to a state-certified Basic
Forest Firefighter training program for entry into state and federal fire service careers, Chabot has
seen an increase of students transferring to Chabot College to access this program.
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Percentage of programs within your discipline that have established at least two PLOs, and
mapped appropriate CLOs to them: In progress for June 2011
For this information, please see the Program-level Outcomes progress page from the Assessment
Progress and Plans webpage:
http://www.chabotcollege.edu/sloac/progress.asp
Which of the CWLGs do your discipline’s CLOs address? Components of all five CWLG’s are
addressed across the entire Fire Technology curriculum, including the Fire Science Conditioning
course.
In which if any of the College-wide Learning Goals Faculty Inquiry Groups have discipline
member(s) participated? I (Bob Buell) have contributed to the Basic Skills FIG through
participation in the Learning Assistant program.
Insights gained: The Learning Assistant Program has been a significant contributor to student success
and retention in the Fire Academy. This program has expanded to sharing the small group of Fire
Technology Learning Assistants (LA’s) across 13 courses. The students have responded very
positively to the LA’s, and the LA’s have developed more advanced skills through the experience of
helping others that Fire Academy graduates volunteer to be part of the LA program for future FT
courses to maintain perishable skills while developing themselves for permanent employment with a
fire service agency.
VII. Academic Learning Support
What kinds of academic learning support does your discipline use or require to help students succeed
(e.g., tutoring, learning assistants, student assistants, peer advisors, lab support, supplemental
instruction, peer-led team learning, peer advisors)? How many hours per semester do you use and/or
how many hours per semester do you need?
Explain: The Fire Technology program has shown greater success with the availability of Learning
Assistants (LA’s). We currently use 6 LA’s for as much as 20 hours per week per LA. Also, at least
11 course offerings have an occasional need to access computer labs for as many as 32 students in
both morning and late afternoon/early evening courses for authentic assessment (especially in hybrid
online courses). The Fire Technology program is also expanding to using Blackboard in more
courses each semester, and using EduStream as a secure online video repository for wider access to
students. Professional Specialists are also used to support the physical conditioning of active Fire
Academy students, as well as fire instructor development to comply with new training and
certification standards required by State Fire Training.
VIII. External Data
 Cite any relevant external data that affects your program (e.g., labor market data, community
demand, employment growth, external accreditation demands, etc.).
Even with the downturn in the economy, agencies across the country are still hiring firefighters at
federal, state and local levels. The updates to the Fire Technology Program over the past five years
have better prepared our students for employment with local area fire agencies, CAL FIRE and the US
Forest Service & National Park Fire Departments. As a Regional Fire Training Program, we are
required to meet State Fire Training requirements for delivery of the Fire Academy to maintain our
accreditation. Also, the Uniform Fire Technology Curriculum requirements must be adhered for
compatibility with other Fire Technology programs in California, and compliance with the Fire and
Emergency Services Higher Education (FESHE) standard for transferability between Fire Technology
programs across the country. Our commitment to compliance with the external influences on our
program have helped us maintain a prominent presence in the fire service community throughout
California.
Data Summary and Plan of Action Description/Rationale:
Note: Since we are in Year Three of Program Review, this section will be addressed during the
2011-2012 Year One Program Review.