Division of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
Program Review: Dean’s Report – 2013
Architecture – Administration of Justice – Anthropology – Art – Art History – Digital Media
– Early Childhood Development – Economics – Ethnic Studies – Geography – History –
Humanities/Religious Studies/Philosophy – Interior Design – Mass Communications: Radio
& TV – Mass Communications: Journalism – Music – Music Recording & Technology –
PACE – Photography – Political Science – Theater - Sociology
11 December, 2013
It is important to understand, first and foremost, that the number, diversity and
nuanced complexity of programs within this division is extreme. The unique program
reviews from each discipline contain a far greater amount of important detail regarding
specific ways to maintain quality and promote student success. As such, this document
will serve as a summary merely on the broadest of levels, highlighting only the most
pressing needs and accomplishments of the division from the perspective of the interim
dean. It is not intended to be an exhaustive accounting of the intricacies of the entirety
of the division; this would require a far greater scope.
Some of the most noteworthy accomplishments of the Arts, Humanities & Social
Sciences division the recent year include:
 The successful creation and approval of 9 new AA-T Transfer degrees, most in the
college.
 The successful restructuring of entire rubrics in the arts to accommodate the new,
state-mandated policies on repeatability.
 Over 100 concerts, performances, gallery shows, and public lectures, both on and
off campus.
 The beginning of a process of working with the California State Bar Association to
be one of the first community colleges in California to pilot a 2+2+2 pathway to
law school for minority & underserved students.
 Exceptional success in transferring students to some of the most highly regarded
programs in Architecture, Political Science, Administration of Justice,
Economics, and several other programs.
 The return of the main offices of the state-wide Early Childhood Mentoring
Program to the Chabot campus.
 The completion of an extensive campaign to select, commission, and install a
number of works of Public Art, which currently beautify our campus.
 Ongoing work in scheduling, curriculum and enrollment management to work
towards rectifying offerings that have not allowed students to progress through
programs within a reasonable time period.
 Hiring of several new, highly qualified adjunct instructors with exceptional
professional and academic backgrounds, including two former Chabot students.
 The opening of a remodeled 1200 building, which has doubled the number of our
music practice rooms, updated and refreshed our performance and rehearsal
spaces, and added a 2300 square foot music technology lab and recording studio.
Division of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
Program Review: Dean’s Report – 2013
Architecture – Administration of Justice – Anthropology – Art – Art History – Digital Media
– Early Childhood Development – Economics – Ethnic Studies – Geography – History –
Humanities/Religious Studies/Philosophy – Interior Design – Mass Communications: Radio
& TV – Mass Communications: Journalism – Music – Music Recording & Technology –
PACE – Photography – Political Science – Theater - Sociology
In general terms, the Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences division continues to do
exceptional work in and out of the classroom. Our student success rates are, from a
campus perspective, very high, and we continue to be the WSCH/FTEF engine that
drives the campus. Further, we act as a primary interface with the community through
our Law & Democracy Program, Public Lecture Series, Art Gallery and on-campus
public art, our 24/7/365 on-air KRCH Radio, The Spectator, and numerous public
performances featuring our students performing with nationally-acclaimed artists.
We have done these things despite considerable instability in and around our
institutional organizational structure and changing leadership personnel. This is a
testament to the high level of commitment and dedication to our students which our
faculty and classified professionals demonstrate on a daily basis. In particular, both of
our administrative assistants, Catherine Powell and Cheryl Sannebeck have been
exceptionally dedicated, highly effective and selfless. Truly, we could not function as a
division without them. They are our MVP’s.
All of that said, the division has several critical, ongoing needs that must be met to
sustain the high level of success we currently provide and to take us forward in doing an
even better job at serving the strategic mission of the campus. To try and itemize them
within the scope of this document would be a disservice to the programs, and also to the
process of meeting those needs. Therefore, I will speak to them only in the broadest of
terms. This summary is no substitute for the unique and pressing needs included within
the Program Review documents of the individual disciplines.
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Further work needs to be done in determining appropriate levels of FTEF support
for programs that are on the edge of meeting basic completion needs. These
include, but are not limited to, Photography, Ethnic Studies, Interior Design, and
Art.
Several areas of the division are staffed by either one, two, or in some cases no
full-time faculty. More work needs to be done to address these needs, either
through hiring of more full-time faculty, or increased internal support.
Despite the many positive aspects of the 1200 Building remodel, there are a
number of unfinished and/or unsatisfactory structural and technological items
that currently impede adequate pedagogical function.
There are several budget needs that go beyond the year-to-year request cycles
currently in place. These include, but are not limited to, annual budget support
for:
o Equipment/instrument/facilities repair and upkeep
o Software subscriptions and update purchases
o Adequate staffing of lab monitors in DIGM, MURT, MCOM, & GEOG
o Funding for the publication of our school newspaper.
Division of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
Program Review: Dean’s Report – 2013
Architecture – Administration of Justice – Anthropology – Art – Art History – Digital Media
– Early Childhood Development – Economics – Ethnic Studies – Geography – History –
Humanities/Religious Studies/Philosophy – Interior Design – Mass Communications: Radio
& TV – Mass Communications: Journalism – Music – Music Recording & Technology –
PACE – Photography – Political Science – Theater - Sociology
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The entire Social Science division has included in their Program Reviews a
request for a 50-station mobile Chromebook (laptop) lab that can be shared
among the instructors and courses within the division. I fully support this
request.
Over the past several years, the arts in particular have endured
disproportionately high levels of budgetary cuts, primarily in terms of FTEF and
staffing. We need to work to try to replace or restructure these losses—on an
institutional level—if we as a campus are to adequately include the arts as part of
our educational offerings.
The ECD Lab School has experienced perhaps the most significant financial cuts
over the past several years in the entire district. Although it remains one of the
most well-run and highly respected institutions on our campus, largely due to the
impressive leadership of Director Vanessa Cormier, the ECD Lab School is in dire
need of increased financial support, specifically in terms of staffing.
Lastly, I would like to address the organizational restructuring that has occurred. A
dean’s summary of any level of integrity would simply be incomplete without
addressing this item. Two years ago, the division of Social Sciences and the School of
the Arts were two separate divisions, with two separate deans. Due to circumstantial
budget and personnel situations, the two divisions were “temporarily” combined and
assigned to one (interim) dean. The understanding was that this was to be done on
an experimental basis, and revisited at the appropriate time. Over the course of the
last 12 months, I have said repeatedly that the scope of the combined job is simply
too big to be handled effectively. I have provided compelling evidence to support
this, and I have been unwavering in my assertion that one manager for this volume
of students and programs (twice as many as any other division on campus) is not
effective or sustainable. The sheer number and diversity of students and programs is
overwhelming for a single manager, clearly does not support the strategic mission of
the college, and will do disservice to the students, programs, faculty and staff if
continued.
Respectfully submitted,
Eric Schultz, D.M.A.
Interim Dean, Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences
Chabot College