Resource Request Forms
Unit Plan: Description of the Unit
Unit: Communication Studies
Division or Area to Which You Report: Language Arts
Author(s) of this Unit Plan: Patti Keeling-Haines, christine warda, Veronica Martinez and Jason Ames
Date: March 11, 2011
Audience: To be read and responded to primarily by Marketing and Outreach
Purpose: Used for public relations, used in catalog and/or brochures, grant applications. Marketing & recruiting materials
Instructions: Write about one paragraph which should include the unit’s mission statement. You may include an image or picture, if you wish.
You may use last year’s description with updates or revisions as needed.
Our mission in the Communication Studies area is to serve the students of Chabot College as they seek to transfer, earn degrees or certificates
and/or develop better skills for the work place. Communication Studies is an essential part of every student’s education in that it provides the
necessary critical thinking and communication skills vital to a student’s success. In addition, Communication Studies supports the student’s
potential success in other classes where they are often asked to present reports/presentations that require public speaking skills, as well as
success in the workplace by teaching them necessary professional communication skills. The Communication Studies area is committed to
serving our students by ensuring access to courses/activities, including but not limited to addressing basic skills issues and the needs of our nonnative speaking students, as well as students preparing for transfer. We offer transfer courses that prepare students for success at the four year
institution of their choice and a two-year degree that prepares the student for success on the job. Our vision is, of course, to continue to serve
the students of Chabot College, expanding our curriculum and lab offerings to meet the needs of our population.
In addition, we offer students the opportunity to participate in the only academic, co-curricular program offer at Chabot, Forensics Competition.
Our award-winning program affords Chabot students additional opportunity to develop critical thinking and presentational skills; compete for
awards and scholarships; and serve the Chabot community.
Resource Request Forms
Program Review Summary & Unit Plan
Unit/Area: Communication Studies
Division/Area to Which You Report: Language Arts
Author(s) of this Unit Plan: Patti Keeling-Haines, Jason Ames, christine warda, Veronica Martinez
Today’s Date: March 11, 2011
School Year Program Review Completed: 2011
Audience: IPBC; Program Review Committee; Deans/Unit Administrators; Budget Committee
Purpose: To provide evidence of progress on from previous year and to provide input into planning for subsequent years.
Instructions: If you have completed your unit plan last year, please update your timeline and answer the questions below. If you are
updating/changing your timeline, list the appropriate year in which revisions were made.
1A. Problem Statement: Summarize your original Program Review conclusions (or if this was done in last year’s unit plan, please
update).
1B. Analysis: What was the basis for these new and/or continuing conclusions?
Communication Studies has been utilizing Program Review as a means to improve our own area and explore our relation to
Communication departments at local community colleges, as well as, transfer institutions. By exploring our program in
comparison to others, we believe we can see where we are excelling and where improvements can be made. So far, we have
changed our name from Speech to Communication Studies, we have been exploring/developing core/elective curricula, and we
have been developing support services for students in our area. Based on our analysis, we can cite several new/continuing
conclusions.
1. Name Change / Identity: The name change reflects a national trend. The struggle was getting people to understand and
recognize our field(s) of inquiry/study and stepping away from the “Speech” stigma (“all you do is public speaking, right?!”). We
have released our website to help current and potential students understand our field/offerings thanks to our Webmaster
Abdullah Yahya. We have started a discussion with counselors to assist them in understanding who we are, and will continue to
offer more theoretical/foundational Communication courses when possible.
2. Division Location: We have researched our position in the Language Arts Division extensively. Of 13 local community colleges
surveyed, 8 are housed within Performing/Fine Arts Divisions, 1 is stand-alone Communication Divisions and only 4 are housed
in Language Arts/English. Further, it is rare that Mass Communication and Communication are in different divisions. This is true
for both of our immediate, local colleagues: Las Positas College’s Speech Department is housed within Fine Arts, and CSUEB’s
Communication Department merged with Mass Communication nearly a decade ago. Our separation has and will continue to
confuse students, colleagues, and those at transfer institutions. (For example, when we asked the Institutional Research and
Grant office to give us total Communication/Speech degrees in the last five years, they sent us a spreadsheet with Mass
Communication and Communication numbers.) Consequently, after much study and deliberation, we believe that Humanities is
Resource Request Forms
the best home for Comm. Studies, and we are advocating that our move to SOTA be adopted by Fall of 2012. We believe this will
provide our students with a stronger understanding of our field and it’s relation to Mass Communication, Theater/Performance,
and Philosophy. It will also strengthen our elective offerings in the Humanities, giving students more options to complete the
Communication Studies AA-T.
3. Curriculum Development: We recently added one new course in Persuasion. Now we are currently working to create/add
three new courses: Intro to Communication Studies, Intro to Performance Studies, and a Tutor Training course. We have also
decided to drop COMM 30 and 2B from our current offering. Further, courses related to Health, Family, Professional,
Organizational and Compassionate Communication will be helpful to our student population in the future.
The Communication Studies area recently volunteered to be one of the first departments to pilot the AA-T degree. This will
prepare us for future changes and offer students another option to our current AA degree, which is also being revised. Having
certificates and AA degree options will allow us to develop our program and increase the number of transfers and AA degrees.
We also need to explore new, more aggressive ways to fund/expand our dramatically growing (and highly successful) forensics
program, which has been the unwilling and undeserving victim of budget cuts.
4. Student Learning Outcomes: At this point, all COMM courses have SLOs. We are currently training adjuncts to ensure our area
is completing all required SLO work. Some adjuncts have already completed the task. We have found it advantageous to
participate in Carolyn Arnold’s campus-level SLO Focused Inquiry Groups to learn how to complete our assessments. Patti and
Jason participated in the Critical Thinking FIG and Jason, christine, and Veronica participated in the Cultural/Global Awareness
FIG, and Patti, Jason, Christine, and Veronica participated in the Speaking FIG. Veronica presented the results of the Speaking
FIG at the FIN Conference 2011.
5. Support Services: As part of our program review, we have decided to require a 1 unit-lab with all COMM 1 sections. We’ve
looked to models set up by local community colleges and universities. Now that we have a designated space in room 803 we can
pilot this program in Fall 2011. Adding this requirement will ensure the additional support needed by most students in an
introduction to public speaking course. Students with different learning styles, students not native to English, students with
high apprehension, etc. all need additional individual help outside of the classroom. In order to facilitate the influx of students
to the Comm. Lab, we are proposing a new Comm. Tutoring course, which will enable us to educate students while enabling us
to staff the lab.
6. Area Growth: There has been no new hire in over five years, as Jason Ames was our last “growth” position. We have had two
replacement hires since then, but we continue to be a small, somewhat stagnant area – which is odd considering our courses are
always full and we’re turning away so many students. Other Communication programs at comparable schools have 5-8 full time
faculty; we’ve been making due with 4. It’s hard to believe considering we help EVERY student on this campus meet their oral
communication and/or critical thinking requirements! But really, we do more than that. It is important for us to be able to offer
a degree and certificates that provide a solid foundation for our transfer students. In the past four years, only 15 people have
Resource Request Forms
received an AA in Communication Studies. Bringing in at least one more full-time faculty, we would be able to truly develop our
field/curricula (which supports almost every other discipline on campus), support our National Award winning and Nationally
ranked Forensics program, and assist with campus responsibilities such as committee work, SLO development/assessment,
adjunct coordination, etc.
2. Student Learning Outcomes Inventory
a. What percentage of courses in your discipline have Student Learning Outcomes developed? __100%___
b. How many Student Learning Outcomes are there on average per course? _4____
c. What percentage of course SLOs in your discipline have been assessed? _50%__
d. What percentage of courses in your discipline have had the assessments reflected upon, or discussed with colleagues, or discussed with
the college at large? _50%____
e. Has your discipline determined any actions that might be taken as a result of this data, or insights?
The discussion on what SLO’s are in place and the process of attaining some of the narrative results (from the FIG work for example)
have been valuable in determining changes within individual courses. But the quantitative results and elumen data have not yielded
benefits as of yet. The Communication Studies area has come to several conclusions. One, we need better adjunct coordination. Since
our area is taught by half full time and half part time instructors - 50% of our assessments are done by people who are only here for a
few classes a week. The full time faculty are already stretched thin with a thriving Forensics program, a popular Communication Lab,
and one faculty member on sabbatical. We need assistance or at least one additional full time hire to continue to excel in these SLO
projects. Our primary focus has been and will continue to be our face-to-face time with students rather than the extra data entry (we
are already entering and calculating grades) required to be compliant in this area. We urge upper “management” to take our concerns
seriously, especially as our program/major continues to grow.
Second, by participating in the College Wide Learning Goal projects, we are able to more effectively articulate our identity to more of
the campus. Fellow faculty are learning that we are more than Speech teachers. We have shown our excellence in teaching and
discussing critical thinking and global and cultural involvement, as well as, opened our colleagues eyes to the idea that the CWLG of
Communication is truly restricted if we are to interpret Communication as Speaking. Communication also includes Nonverbal
Communication, Perception, and Listening (among other skills) and we are excited to share our expertise with the campus in other
contexts of Communication beside Public Speaking. We can help colleagues in other fields to identify and assess Communication
skills within the contexts of their own disciplines.
Resource Request Forms
3. List your accomplishments. How do they relate to your program review, unit planning and SLO work? Please cite any relevant
data elements (e.g., efficiency, persistence, FT/PT faculty ratios, SLO assessment results, external accreditation demands, etc.).
1. We have been researching and incorporating more electronic resources (multimedia, etc.) in our classrooms. We are fortunate to
hold most of our classes in Building 800 which allows for “smart” speechmaking and teaching tools. Also, all faculty have switched to
a new discipline wide text for our COMM 1 courses which, through Pearson Education, offers MySpeechLab: Course Compass. This
was not only an advancement in technology but also a cost-saving option for our students. We are hoping to offer our first hybridonline course in Fall 2011. We understand that Chabot College serves a diverse population with varied learning styles, varied
economic backgrounds, and time commitments. Having more on-line resources will cater to more students.
2. We continue to have solid productivity for all COMM 1 courses. Our Division average class fill is 108% at census over a 2 year
aggregate viewing. Obviously our core class, Comm. Studies 1, which is needed to transfer to CSU’s, continues to fill at a very strong
rate. Looking at the total numbers, however, we can see that our entire division is flourishing. Our two new courses, Comm 20 and
Comm 3 are strong. Comm 20 (Persuasion) is filling at a 99% ratio and Comm 3 (Small Group Communication) is filling at 109%.
Forensics also continues to be strong, filling at a staggering 150% rate, demonstrating a growing and developing team that is not just
competition bound, but also College oriented. Clearly, these numbers demonstrate that Comm. 1 is not making us “look good”; our
entire division and all of our course offerings are strong, thanks to interesting subject matter, necessary skill development, and
outstanding faculty (if we do say so ourselves … and we just did). While we are sympathetic to the budget crisis, we don’t understand
why we would be looking to cut sections from a course that EVERY student needs to transfer/graduate. This becomes especially true
with AB 1440 being passed, and the new transfer requirements within that document. The other courses we offer are available on a
less-regular basis, which we believe hurts the number of degrees we actually confer. The number drops significantly from those who
declare a Communication major to those that receive them. We are looking into changing that in 2011 by establishing the AA-T and
revising our current degree requirements. Further, our enrollment data shows our average term WSCH/FTEF to be 396.14 – we
believe this number does not include the additional WSCH hours submitted by full time faculty for Forensics coaching. For example,
in Spring and Fall 2010, christine completed approximately 350 additional WSCH hours. These spreadsheets have been submitted but
are not reflected on our EM data. On our EM report, Fall 2010 notes 80 WSCH – when the number should be double that. This would
significantly change our WSCH/FTEF totals; the numbers are better than the report suggests.
Resource Request Forms
3. We’ve also tried to take more students than our cap of 25. This has not been successful. For example, in a COMM 1 class with 25
students, an instructor can expect to spend at least 7 out of 18 weeks watching student speeches (with 11 weeks to teach the
content/techniques for each unique style of speaking). When faculty added more than 25, we struggled to make time to hear all
students required speeches and found that in order to take 7 more students into each COMM 1 section, it would require giving up 2
more weeks of instruction toward student speech days. (9 weeks to teach and 9 weeks to observe student speeches) This is certainly
not enough time to teach the course content, nor is it enough time to allow for students to develop their presentation skills. We are firm
in our commitment to teach public speaking in smaller classes – as it allows for greater skill development and for them to complete the
transfer requirements of the course.
4. Our Forensics program is top-notch. Over the past 5 years, Jason has been a mastermind at pulling together a championship caliber
team. This is important because without the full-time investment by faculty and the campus, the team all but disappeared. Now it is
one of the top debate and individual events squads in the country. Further, we are one of the most diverse teams, not only on campus,
but in the nation. Our members come from many different ethnicities, ages, religions, political backgrounds, abilities/disabilities,
genders and sexual orientations. This year, Eileen Vivian Zedd a 2nd year team member, won the opportunity to represent Chabot, as
well as, the state of California at the Interstate Oratory Contest. Not only do we have great success in our travels to competition, we
also have numerous on-campus activities to serve the campus and community. Each semester we host on-campus speech and debate
tournaments for students in COMM 1, 2, 5, 20, and 46. Also, each semester we present the “Speak Up,” a showcase of student
speeches. Further, we have on-campus debates – both forum-style, as well as, informal sessions (inviting the Psychology Club or
Students for Social Justice to our practices). Faculty members also judge community public speaking contests, such as the Rotary Club
annual event, and supply student judges for local high school competitions. Our forensics program continues to have a dynamic
presence on and off campus. This is truly where we see communication skills development over several semesters; a way to assess our
strengths and weaknesses in pedagogy and Program Level Outcomes.
We have found that it is too much for one coach to do. As such, Patti, christine, and Veronica have donated afternoons and weekends
to assist Jason. We do it because we support our program and our students, but we cannot do this for long. We need an Assistant
Coach to truly have the impact we’d like on this campus.
5. Our area continues to support and work diligently with others to create a sense of community on campus. We are active on
committees and Academic Senate. We participate in FIGs and FIN. We are mentors in the Puente program. This year we traveled to
WSCA where we helped facilitate a panel on Communication Labs, and christine warda presented on a panel. We have been involved
and want to continue being involved with faculty/staff development (i.e., The SpeakEasy group from last year). Communication
Studies has been an integral part to many projects on campus, while also facing the same coordinator release time cuts as other areas.
We would like to see area-coordinator release time and comm. lab-coordinator time restored.
Resource Request Forms
6. Growing Communication Studies Lab: This year, we have finally found a useful space for the Lab – Rm. 803. This allows us to
finally offer a lab unit for students enrolled in COMM 1. We believe this will have a dramatic impact on our assessment data in the
future. Currently, our success rates for COMM 1 are similar to the college average of 65-67%. We hope to increase this number by
about 5%. Overall, Communication Studies has a 65-69% success rate with 16-19% nonsuccess. While we may not be able to
significantly alter the 15-18% withdrawal rate, we do believe we can improve the success/nonsuccess ratio with increased support
services. This will presumably increase the number of successful transfer students and open up more space within our course offerings
(as students will not have to retake our courses).
4. List your new and continuing unit goals. Based upon what you accomplished, do you have any changes you are making to your
goals or timeline? Please make any revisions to the timeline on the next page.
Continuing goals (if you did not do a unit plan, skip to the next box):
1. Move to SOTA.
2. Seek new hire.
3. Continue to develop curriculum.
4. Add a virtual component to the website.
5. Create the AA-T degree.
6. Bring back the “SpeakEasy.”
New goals:
1. Require 1 unit of Lab time in COMM 1.
2. Create new course in Tutor Training.
3. Find new methods of funding for Forensics.
4. Create/submit certificates in Communication to Curriculum committee.
5. Discuss how these goals support the college Strategic Plan goals and/or strategies.
Continuing goals (if you did not do a unit plan, skip to the next box):
1. The move to SOTA will provide our students with a stronger understanding of our field and it’s relation to Mass
Communication and Philosophy and to strengthen our elective offerings in the Humanities. It is important that our courses
remain current and provide a solid foundation for any career path. Moving to SOTA we can work in partnership with our
Resource Request Forms
colleagues in Theater, Philosophy, and Mass Communication to see how our areas can complement one another. (B2-3)
2. A new hire/expanding our area allows for:
*Maintaining the excellence of the Forensics program which increases the recognition of Chabot and its programs throughout
the community and the country. (A1) Forensics also allows us to engage and recruit high school students and community
members.
*A member of our faculty to continue to judge local clubs’ speech/oratory contests and we would like to have another Forensics
person to be more involved with area high schools. One more faculty member could make a HUGE difference here. (C2-4)
*Increasing online course offerings and multimedia tool development to help us find ways to deliver instruction and services to
all. (A4)
*The Communication Lab to offer support services to faculty and staff. In 2009 christine warda started an informal group, the
SpeakEasy, to help folks strengthen their presentation skills. We would like to make this project more formal and use the
workshop format. (D3) With a new hire, christine and Veronica will be able to focus energy here and not take away from our
successful collaboration with Jason in coaching forensics.
3. Developing curriculum:
*Our continuing involvement on campus-level SLOs is important and will continue.
*As essential basic skills (speaking/listening), Communication courses help students learn college success skills, confidence,
and strategies for success in their careers. (B1-4) As we strengthen our degree, it will be important to hear from our colleagues
in Health/Nutrition, Dental Assisting, Nursing, Business, Theater, Philosophy, Mass Communication, and Political Science, to see
how our areas can complement one another. (B2-3)
* Scheduling: Online/Saturday/Evening courses will need to reflect major course work. We will need to offer more than COMM 1
in the evening and online in the future. Finally, we hope to engage the community more by offering relevant course work in
Communication Studies. (C2,4)
4. Website:
A new website allows for people to truly understand who we are in our area and our course offerings. We also would like to add
a Virtual Communication Lab with resources for students, faculty, and staff (A4, D3)
5. We will continue our commitment to creating a new version of our AA degree (AA-T).
6. As stated earlier, we will be working toward restarting the SpeakEasy. Many faculty and staff have expressed the desire to
improve/refine/practice their own presentation skills. We look forward to providing the space and guidance for this important
goal.
New goals:
1. Add 1 new Lab unit added to COMM 1 – Being a basic skills area (speaking, listening) and since one of the college-wide
learning goals is Communication, it’s clear that anything we do increase the learning in our Fundamentals of Speech
class will coincide with the college goals.
2. Create a new course in Tutor Training – In this course tutors will get valuable teaching/counseling training through
hand-on peer tutoring. Providing most of our tutors with units (rather than pay) with create a sustainable future for our
Comm Lab.
3. Find new methods of funding for forensics.
Resource Request Forms
4. Certificate Development: (A4) As we revise, we will be working with students and faculty to determine the best electives
to include, as well as, which certificates will be most useful. (B2-4)
6. Solution: Cut and paste your previous timeline and update the “Accomplished?” column, if necessary. Detail the plan for
accomplish your goals. If you are making revisions to your activities or timeline, please indicate that in the “Revised?” column.
Unit Action Plan Timeline
No.
Timeline
Milestone Activity
Person(s)
Responsible
Accomplished?
Yes/No/
In Progress*
Revised?
Yes / No
If yes, list
revision year
Do you need
additional funds
to support this
activity?
Yes/No
If, yes, what
type?**
1
Fall 2011
Meeting with Webmaster to add on to website
Patti/christine
Accomplished YES, 2011
set-up, working
on virtual
2
Fall 2010
Setting up Blackboard for all our classes
YES
YES, 2011
3
Fall 2010
Securing a space for the Comm Lab
Raeanne
Ianniello/all full
time
Comm Faculty
YES
YES, 2011
4
Ongoing
Patti Keeling
In progress
No
5
Ongoing
Participating on faculty prioritization committee and securing evidence
needed to warrant an additional hire
Forensics budget is always iffy. We need for consistent and adequate
funding.
Create a new course in Tutor Training
Yes-would
like to pay
adjuncts who
assist.
Yes-pay
adjunct for
time.
Yes-staff
and/or facility
Yes
Comm Faculty
In progress
No
Yes
christine and
Veronica
No
YES, 2011
No
NEW Spring 2011
6
7
Fall 2010
Technology in the Classroom
Comm Faculty
YES
YES, 2011
No
8
Ongoing
Degree Revision/Certificate Offerings
Comm Faculty
In Progress
No
No
9
Ongoing
Developing support services for Communication students and
Communication skills across campus
Comm Faculty
In Progress
No
Yes –staff,
and
equipment
may be
necessary
Resource Request Forms
No.
Timeline
Milestone Activity
Person(s)
Responsible
Accomplished?
Yes/No/
In Progress*
Revised?
Yes / No
If yes, list
revision year
Do you need
additional funds
to support this
activity?
Yes/No
If, yes, what
type?**
NEW Fall 2011
Move to SOTA
Comm Faculty
In progress
YES, 2011
No
Confer with Jennifer Lange and Trish Shannon on funding for Speak
Easy
christine and
Veronica
In progress
YES, 2011
Yes
Require 1 unit of Lab in COMM 1
Comm Faculty
No
YES, 2011
Yes
10
NEW Spring 2011
11
NEW Fall 2011
12
* Note: As you may be carrying over or planning new activities for this planning cycle, this column should list that all activities are “In Progress.”
** List types such as “equipment,” “supplies,” “staffing,” “contractual services,” etc…
Resource Request Forms
Unit Plan: Full-Time Faculty/Adjunct Staffing Request(s) [Acct. Category 1000]
Unit: Communication Studies
Division or Area to Which You Report: Language Arts
Author(s) of this Unit Plan: Patti Keeling, Jason Ames, christine warda, Veronica Martinez
Date: 11 March 2011
Audience: Faculty Prioritization Committee and Administration
Purpose: Providing explanation and justification for new and replacement positions for full-time faculty and adjuncts
Instructions: Please justify the need for your request. Be sure to include reference to Goals/Objectives from Part II, and Strategic Planning
Priorities. Please cite any evidence or data to support your request, including enrollment management data (EM Summary by Term) for the most
recent three years, student success data (EM Success report), and any other pertinent information. For EM data, go to http://help/EMC/ (from on
campus—college intranet). If you have not worked with EM data previously, seek assistance from your division dean or CEMC rep.
1. Number of new faculty requested in this discipline: __2___
2. Rationale for your proposal. Include such things as enrollment, persistence, FT/PT faculty ratios, SLO assessment
results, external accreditation demands, etc. Anything that led you to request this position should be included.
We haven’t had a new hire since Jason Ames in 2004, although we’ve had two replacement hires since then. Other
Communication Studies areas at comparable schools have 5-8 full-time faculty. In fact, in recent history there were 5-6
here at Chabot. As a program that provides coursework to satisfy not one, but two of the ‘golden 4’ requirements, it is
strange and inefficient to have such a small full-time group. We help every single student at Chabot fulfill their oral
communication requirements for transfer and degrees. Areas like ESL and World Languages serve a significant number of
students at Chabot, but not near the number needed to be served by Communication Studies – yet we have the same
number of full-time faculty as these areas. There must be some confusion somewhere when Comm. Studies is compared
to an elective area, rather than required – like Math and English. Further, since we will be one of only two programs at
Chabot to offer the AA-T degree, we anticipate a spike in demand for our courses. Since we have had our sections axed,
we are in a tough position to provide students this necessary part of their transfer education.
We currently rely on 10 part-time faculty to keep our area afloat and while most are terrific instructors and valued for
their input, it is impossible to equate a full time position, which includes professional responsibilities outside the
classroom, to multiple adjuncts. We simply cannot get our work done. Additional new faculty will enable us to develop
our field/curricula (which supports almost every other discipline on campus) especially in the area of developing and
marketing our new and revised degrees. Additional new faculty will enable us to expand the very necessary area of
Resource Request Forms
distance learning, as well as to assist with student learning outcome assessment and program review. Additionally, new
faculty will help support our award-winning Forensics program, Communication Studies Lab, and community outreach.
The Communication Studies area enjoys incredible enrollment and could easily expand our offerings and curriculum if the
budget times were different. We, of course, must at the very least have reasonable progress in both those areas. In
addition, our success rates are excellent given the variety of students we serve. This story is further illustrated on the
enrollment summaries and success data.
Finally, we have asked for a new position (or two) every year. We’ve gone to meetings and observed a process that
doesn’t always reflect the will of the faculty of the needs of the students. Still, we’ve actively participated with our
persuasive data and critical needs. We hope to see at least one new position in the very near future.
3. Statements about the alignment with the strategic plan and program review are required. Indicate here any
information from advisory committees or outside accreditation reviews that is pertinent to the proposal.
Our needs are in keeping with goals set forth in the 2009-2012 strategic plan, more specifically:
A1 – Increase familiarity of Chabot and its programs throughout the community.
A2 – Reach out to populations underrepresented in higher education (Forensics recruitment/degree development)
A4 – Find multiple ways to deliver instruction and services for all (online/hybrid instruction)
In addition, all of our Student Learning Outcomes meet those set forth in Goal B: Student Success (Provide high-quality
programs and services so all students can reach their educational and career goals).
Specifically:
B1-Strengthen basic skills development as a foundation for success
B2-Identify and provide a variety of career paths
B3 – Support programs and initiatives that increase the cusses for all students in our diverse community.
B4-Assess student learning outcomes and expand instruction and services (we have completed our outcomes and
assessments).
Finally, we meet several of the goals under Community Partnerships, most specifically
C3 - Promote faculty and staff involvement in college and community activities (Speech Night, Intramural Competitions,
Speakeasy, to name a few)
Resource Request Forms
C4 – Engage the community to participate in campus programs and evaluate the effectiveness of these efforts.
4. Attachments:


EM Summary by Term report for the appropriate discipline or cluster of disciplines.
EM Success report for the appropriate discipline or cluster of disciplines.
Chabot College Unit Plan, Part I
Unit Plan: Classified Staffing Request(s) [Acct. Category 2000]
Unit:
Division or Area to Which You Report:
Author(s) of this Unit Plan:
Date:
Audience: Administrative Staff
Purpose: Providing explanation and justification for new and replacement positions for full-time and part-time regular (permanent) classified
positions (New, augmented and replacement positions)
Instructions: Please justify the need for your request. Be sure to include reference to Goals/Objectives from Part II, and Strategic Planning
Priorities. Please cite any evidence or data to support your request. If this position is categorically funded, include and designate the
funding source of new categorically-funded position where continuation is contingent upon available funding.
Justifications should include rationale for requesting the position. Rationale should include specific reference to, where
necessary and appropriate:







Data from student learning and service area outcomes
Connection to program review
Relationship to institutional priorities
Impact on enrollment and revenue
Safety
Mandates
Workload distribution (impact on other’s work)
1. Rationale for your proposal. Please include the rationale from your program review and unit plan. Rationale should
include things such as student learning and service area data and outcomes, difficulty in serving students, health and
safety concerns and/or any other information that speaks to the criteria listed previously.
Chabot College Unit Plan, Part I
2. Statements about the alignment with the strategic plan and program review are required. Indicate here any information
from advisory committees or outside accreditation reviews that is pertinent to the proposal.
Chabot College Unit Plan, Part I
Unit Plan: Enrollment Requests
Unit: Communication Studies Area
Division or Area to Which You Report: Language Arts Division
Author(s) of this Unit Plan: Patti Keeling-Haines, Jason Ames, christine warda, Veronica Martinez
Date: March 11, 2011
Audience: Budget, Deans, CEMC, IPBC
Purpose: To recommend changes in FTEF allocations for subsequent academic year and guide Deans and CEMC in the allocation of FTEF to
units.
Instructions: In the area below, please list your requested changes in course offerings (with reference to corresponding change in FTEF) and
provide your rationale for these changes. Be sure to analyze enrollment trends and other relevant data ( http://help/EMC/). Please seek your
dean’s assistance as needed.
All COMM 1 courses (Fundamentals of Speech) will add a 1 unit Lab requirement.
The rationale:
Several campuses are incorporating required Lab time with their Public Speaking courses, such as Ohlone College and Santa Barbara
College. The idea is to ensure the necessary practice of classroom lecture and textbook information. Class time does not provide
adequate time for students to learn and practice these skills. During Lab time, students will practice all concepts introduced in the
classroom, such as, research, outlining, delivery and evaluation. ESL and students with high anxiety (a large population), need this
additional time to review and practice these concepts. The Comm Lab requirement will provide the necessary time it takes for
students to not only learn the material superficially but actually become more proficient with presenting themselves in public. We
want to encourage as much practice as possible.
The 1-unit requirement should also aid in the continued funding of the Comm Lab.
We need a Communication Tutoring course in order to staff our Comm Lab. This way, we do not have to find a budget to pay our
tutors, we can be open more hours, and involve more students in this project. This course will need to be offered in both Fall and
Spring semesters. We ask that we do not have to give up any more of our already full sections – on average, the Communication
Studies area has a 108% enrollment efficiency – to accommodate the offering of this new course.
We also should offer a true introductory survey course for Communication Studies. In the Transfer Model Curriculum (TMC) proposal
and discussion with CSU and CCC colleagues, we have found that the biggest piece missing from our course offerings is an
Introduction to Human Communication course. We hope to offer it in 2011-2012. We will need additional FTEF to offer this course –
which will be an important part of the Communication Studies AA-T (one of only two offered at Chabot – so we assume this degree
path will be extremely popular).
Chabot College Unit Plan, Part I
Since we believe the Communication Studies AA-T will be widely popular, we believe that it is imperative to increase our area’s FTEF
to allow for some growth, even in dire budget times. We can currently serve about 1500 students a year (with an average of 757
served each term). While some may suggest that we increase our class capacity, we understand and hold firm that this will NOT
enhance learning but dramatically decrease learning in our area. Our courses require significant time allotted for student
presentations/debates and opportunities for group projects, roleplays, and other communicative training activities. If the capacity is
increased, students will have even less individual attention and instructor support in the development of their communication skills.
In the 2009 Accreditation report, it notes that there were approximately 6300 students looking to transfer or receive an AA/AS. At
this point, we are able to serve about ¼ of that number – whereas all of these students must take a Communication course. It would
take us 4 years to serve all of these students and the goal is to have them out in 2. We need to offer more sections to make this
possible. We cannot be cut anymore!
Unit Plan — PROPOSAL FOR NEW INITIATIVES
Unit: Communication Studies Area
Division or Area to Which You Report: Language Arts Division
Name of Person Completing this Form: Patti Keeling-Haines, Jason Ames, christine warda, Veronica Martinez
Chabot College Unit Plan, Part I
Date: March 11, 2011
Audience: Deans/Unit Administrators, IPBC, Foundation, Grants Committee, Budget Committee
Purpose: A “New Initiative” is a new project or expansion of a current project that supports college goals. The project will require the support of
additional and/or outside funding. The information you provide will facilitate and focus the research and development process for finding outside
funding.
Instructions: Please fill in the following information.
Educational Master Plan and/or Strategic Plan Goal/Objective Addressed:
Expand the Communication Studies Lab as an annex to the Learning Connection.
Project Description:
Public Speaking is a vital skill for academics, business, and personal situations. Most employers name communication skills as
critical and at the same time lacking in most potential employees. Students need to be given many opportunities to present material
aloud. We are doing students a disservice if they graduate without these skills.
The Comm Lab will provide assistance and support to all students who need to prepare oral presentations. Peer tutors will
help drop-in students with topic selection, research, organization/outlining, rehearsal, preparation and use of visual aids, reducing
anxiety, and evaluating any type of presentation.
Students in Comm Studies courses, such as Public Speaking, will be the primary audience (see Unit Plan part IV – required Lab time),
but other students will also greatly benefit. Students in Business, English, History, ESL, etc. need help preparing oral presentations.
This concept has been proven at numerous colleges, including Cal State University East Bay, Ohlone Community College, and San
Jose State University. The Comm Lab will also be used for the Speak Easy.
Project Objective: (include goal & outcome from Part II of your Unit Plan for reference)
“Communication Studies has been utilizing Program Review as a means to explore our relation to Communication departments at local community
colleges, as well as, transfer institutions. By exploring our program in comparison to others, we believe we can see where we are excelling and
where improvements can be made. So far, we have changed our name from Speech to Communication Studies, we have been
exploring/developing core/elective curricula, and we have been developing support services for students in our area. Based on our analysis, we
can cite several new/continuing conclusions.” (Part II)
As for student services, our primary new initiative is expanding the Communication Lab. We now have a designated space in room
803. And we will continue to be part of the planning for a communal space in Bldg 100, in addition to our space in Bldg 800. We
will need some enclosed space in Bldg 100 and should include presentational aide equipment for students to properly rehearse.
Chabot College Unit Plan, Part I
Rehearsal will often be videotaped for use later by the student, tutor and/or instructor. These enclosed spaces will reduce anxiety, give
the opportunity to increase volume, and ensure no disruption to other students.
The Comm Lab will run more effectively with a companion webpage (a link from the Communication Studies webpage). We will
work with our webmaster to further assist us … oh, that’s right. Chabot doesn’t have a webmaster anymore. I guess we’ll have to put
this one off, then. Students can obtain basic information (description of Lab, services offered, and tutor information) as well as
additional tutoring aides and speech library. A live chat space would also be ideal. The website has endless possibilities, including
providing faculty from other disciplines with ideas for presentation assignments.
Expected Project Outcome:
The Communication Studies Department ideally offers 30-40 courses per semester, with 25 students per class. All of which will be
encouraged to use the Lab. Approximately 12 sections (COMM 1) will be required to visit the Lab, approx. 300 students per semester
(far fewer sections given budget cuts). Other departments have also shown to make the Lab either a requirement or offer extra credit
in their classes. In addition students will be using the website. Consequently, we have the potential to serve between hundreds of
students in the first year.
The numbers will undoubtedly grow as instructors see the opportunity to offer more presentation-type assignments, improvement in
the quality of oral reports, and ideally more vocal students. Students will realize there is a non-threatening environment to work on
one of the most anxiety ridden skills on campus, they will learn how to organize their thoughts, increase levels of confidence, and
most importantly realize the sense of accomplishment that comes from having a voice.
Note: From August 2008- April 2009, there were approximately 95 visits to see a tutor. Although this was substantial considering
this was a brand new program, the number is still considerably lower than what is projected for the new Lab. The lower numbers were
due to:





Being a brand new program.
No enclosed space = students could not prepare as necessary, and anxiety too high in open areas.
Students were confused as to our location mixed with so many other tutoring programs.
With no designated space, faculty were reluctant/refused to send students more often.
There was not a 1 unit Lab requirement.
All of these problems were reduced when we received the new space. From September 15-Dec 14 we had 220 student visits.
Chabot College Unit Plan, Part I
Activity Plan to Accomplish the Objective:
ACTIVITY (simple description)
2.
Maintain 1-2 enclosed spaces including: table, chairs, lectern, laptop/desktop
Full-time Comm
computers, projector/screen, tripod, document camera, TV/DVD, locked cabinet, easel, faculty will oversee
bookshelves, mirror, timers, and Visual Aid Stands.
plans.
To use in the Fall of 2011
3.
Facilitators to train tutors (TUTR 1b and new Communication Tutoring course).
4.
Coordinator time and compensation to establish a useful website.
Alternating responsibility
Fall and Spring 2011-2012
Ongoing
Complete all necessary duties to hire, train (TUTR 1a), and schedule tutors. Track
drop-ins. Provide adequate communal space (table, chairs, computers).
Estimated Resource Requirements:
ACTIVITY BUDGET CATEGORY AND
NO.
ACCOUNT NUMBER
PERSON(S)
RESPONSIBLE
Learning Connection
TIMELINE (OR TARGET
COMPLETION DATE)
ACTIVITY
NO.
1.
Christine Warda and
Veronica Martinez
Christine Warda
DESCRIPTION
Personnel (staffing and benefits for
professional experts, reassigned
time, classified personnel).*
Supplies
Other
To be determined after the Learning Connection provides breakdown of
exactly what they will cover.
Total
Proposed personnel workload may be covered by:
Contingent on Learning
Connection
COST
Chabot College Unit Plan, Part I


New Hires:
Reassigning existing



x
Faculty # of positions ____________

Classified staff
# of positions ________
employee(s) to the project; employee(s)' current workload will be:
Covered by overload or part-time employee(s)
Covered by hiring temporary replacement(s)
Other, explain __________________________________________________________________
At the end of the project period, the proposed project will:

Be completed (onetime only effort)
x
Require additional funding to continue and/or institutionalize the project (obtained by/from):
____The Learning Connection will continue to provide the space and support of tutors._
Will the proposed project require facility modifications, additional space, or program relocation?

No
x
Yes, explain: __In addition to the communal space proposed by the Learning Connection, we will also require
enclosed space for students/tutors to work.
Will the proposed project involve subcontractors, collaborative partners, or cooperative agreements?

No
X
Yes, explain:
The only cooperative agreement will be between the Learning connection and Communication
Studies faculty.
Do you know of any grant funding sources that would meet the needs of the proposed project?
x
No

Yes, list potential funding sources: