Sacramento State Graduation Initiative
Proposal for a Steering Committee as Prepared by
Attachment A
Faculty Senate Agenda
December 16, 2010
Joseph F. Sheley, Provost, and Lori Varlotta, Vice President, Student Affairs
Background: Aligned with CSU directives to increase graduation rates for freshmen and transfer
students, Sacramento State’s Graduation Initiative has now been in place for a year. It originally
produced a campus Plan, approved by the CSU but open always to revision, many objectives of
which we now are pursuing. More recently, a work group was formed to craft a plan by which, in
concert with the Graduation Initiative, we aim to “Close the (Graduation Rate) Achievement Gap”
among various subpopulations of Sacramento State students (by system mandate, between
Underrepresented Minority (URM) and non-Underrepresented Minority (~URM) students, though
we may expand this goal). That work group produced a report that builds upon and adds to the
more generic, original campus Plan. We seek now to integrate the two documents and to post our
revised “full,” as opposed to “working,” plan and then effectively to implement the objectives of the
new Plan.
Proposal: To accomplish this, we propose the creation of a Graduation Initiative Steering
Committee to revise (rapidly) the campus Graduation Initiative Plan with the recommended
“Closing the Achievement Gap” plan as the core, to design implementation and assessment
strategies for elements of the Plan, and to recommend revision of the Plan periodically as needed.
Steering Committee Membership: The campus’s Graduation Initiative is headed jointly by the
Provost and the Vice President for Student Affairs. The Steering Committee’s co-chairs would be
Marcellene Watson-Derbigny and Kathryn Palmieri, Academic Affairs’ and Student Affairs’
designated Graduation Initiative leaders, respectively. Seeking to build upon the expertise and
energy of the “Closing the Achievement Gap” work group, we propose that the composition of the
Steering Committee include the following:
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One member from the Office of Institutional Research (OIR)
Five members from Student Affairs reflecting expertise in Campus life, Financial Aid, Student
Organizations and Leadership, the Career Center, and Admissions and Outreach
One member from the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL)
One Dean or Associate Dean from the Colleges
One Department Chair
Two College Based Educational Equity Directors
The Faculty Senate Chair or Designee (one-year term)
Chairs, or designees from among the members, of the following Faculty Senate Committees:
Academic Policies Committee, Curriculum Policies Committee, and General
Education/Graduation Requirements Policies Committee (one-year term)
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Two members from the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP)
One member from the Committee on Diversity and Equity (CODE)
One member from the Campus Educational Equity Committee (CEEC)
One member from Services to Students with Disabilities (SSWD)
One member from Academic Technology and Creative Services (ATCS)
One member from Research & Administration
Eight faculty members (i.e., one representing each College and one instructional faculty
member from the Library for a total of 8 faculty representatives)
One student representative from Associated Students Incorporated (ASI)
Three ex-officio members with expertise in academic preparation and college readiness,
along with retention/graduation expertise (to be comprised predominately of faculty)
The membership above builds upon the original members on the initial Closing the Achievement
Gap working group with the proposed new inclusion of a broader cross section of faculty with
representation from each College and the Library to address the policy implications embedded in
the Graduation Initiative, four Senate Executive Committee members to include the Chair or his
designee to assure proper attention to the shared governance elements of the Plan), a
Dean/Associate Dean, and one student representative appointed by ASI.
The Steering Committee would total 34 persons with terms of three years (half initially appointed
for two-year terms). Note: Given the work completed by the existing work group on Closing the
Achievement Gap, it is paramount to maintain its core foundation (and the various areas
represented within the work group membership) to maintain momentum on the Initiative.
Specific Charge: 1) Revise the campus Graduation Initiative Plan with the recommended “Closing
the Achievement Gap” plan as the core; 2) prioritize elements of the revised Plan to facilitate
strategic and focused implementation efforts; 3) arrange Steering Committee membership into
work groups around specific Plan themes and prioritized action items; 4) design implementation
strategies and set deadlines to accomplish the revised Plan’s prioritized objectives; 5) establish
benchmarks and assessment strategies to track accomplishment of objectives; and 6) periodically
review and recommend revisions to the Plan.
Steering Committee Duration: Ongoing, until Plan objectives are achieved (likely in the range of
five years).
Steering Committee Initial Meeting: February 2011
Revised Plan Submitted to CSU Central Office: End of February 2011/Beginning of March 2011