Peralta Community College District
Annual Program Update Template 2010-2011
Each discipline will complete this form to update program reviews developed in 2009-2010. These will
be reviewed at the college level and then forwarded to the district-wide planning and budgeting
process. The information on this form is required for all resource requests – including faculty staffing
requests – for the 2011-12 budget year.
I.
Overview
Date Submitted:
10/12/10
Dean:
Maurice Jones
BI Download:
10/07/2010
Dept. Chair:
Carlotta Campbell
Lead Faculty: Dr. Dylan Eret
Discipline:
PHIL
Campus:
Alameda
Mission
Philosophy is a A.A. program that examines fundamental questions about everyday
life and the natural world. The main objectives of studying philosophy at the
College of Alameda are: (1) to critically analyze ideas, texts, arguments, traditions,
and contemporary culture, and (2) to synthesize knowledge for the purposes of
inspiring personal and social change. By studying philosophy, our students gain
wisdom, clarity, and awareness about a wide variety of philosophical issues that
arise within different cultural and historical contexts. Philosophy prepares our
students to transfer to any discipline of their choice within the Humanities and
Social Sciences at a college or university. In addition, our students learn valuable
life skills such as critical thinking, cultural competence, social activism, communitybuilding, and conflict resolution.
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II.
Student Data
A. Enrollment
Fall 2008
Fall 2009
Fall 2010
212.0
245.0
192.0
6.0
6.0
4.0
Total FTES
20.51
23.62
19.2
Total FTEF
1.19
1.2
0.8
FTES/FTEF
17.18
19.68
24.0
Enrolled
209.0
244.0
N/A
Retained
163.0
205.0
% Retained
77.0
84.0
N/A
N/A
209.0
130.0
62.0
46.0
22.0
244.0
159.0
65.0
39.0
15.0
Census Enrollment (duplicated)
Sections (master sections)
B. Retention
C. Success
Total Graded
Success
% Success
Withdraw
% Withdraw
III.
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Faculty Data (ZZ assignments excluded)
Fall 2010
Contract FTEF
Hourly FTEF
Extra Service FTEF
Total FTEF
% Contract/Total
0.0
0.8
0.0
0.8
0.0
IV. Faculty Data Comparables F2010 (ZZ assignments excluded) (Z assignments excluded)
Contract FTEF
Hourly FTEF
Extra Service FTEF
Total FTEF
% Contract/Total
Alameda
Berkeley
Laney
Merritt
0.0
0.8
0.0
0.8
0.0
0.0
1.0
0.0
1.0
0.0
0.4
0.2
0.2
0.8
50.0
0.0
0.2
0.0
0.2
0.0
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V.
Qualitative Assessments
CTE and Vocational: Community and labor market
relevance. Present evidence of community need
based on Advisory Committee input, industry need
data, McIntyre Environmental Scan, McKinsey
Economic Report, licensure and job placement rates,
etc.
Transfer and Basic Skills: Describe how your
course offerings address transfer, basic skills, and
program completion.
N/A
We offer an Associate in Arts (A.A.) degree in
Philosophy, and several courses that meet
IGETC and CSU breadth requirements for
transfer to UC and CSUs (e.g., there are six
courses and more on the way: PHIL 1, 2, 10,
30A, 30B, etc.). Our courses are essential to
fulfilling general education and critical thinking
requirements. Most importantly, our courses
train students for a range of future goals such
as transferring to a four-year college, enrolling
in professional schools, continuing lifelong
learning, and improving self-understanding.
Exploring the range of human experiences from
the everyday to the extraordinary, our vision for
Philosophy is to continually create courses that
are practical and meaningful to students’
everyday lives in the twenty-first century. A
degree in Philosophy can be applied to a range
of careers in law, education, business,
medicine, nursing, law, psychology, sociology,
anthropology, theology, social work, grassroots and non-profit organizations.
Our lead faculty (Dylan Eret) is a critical
member of the Curriculum and Technology
Committee, which gives our program the
flexibility to create new courses and align them
with other COA courses. We also maintain
regular contact with the articulation officer at
COA and staff within the UC and CSU systems
to make certain that our courses both fulfill
transfer requirements and prepare students for
upper-division course work at any college of
university.
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VI. Strategic Planning Goals
Check all that apply.
Describe how goal applies to your program.
Advance Student Access, Success & Equity
Engage our Communities & Partners
Build Programs of Distinction
Create a Culture of Innovation & Collaboration
Develop Resources to Advance & Sustain Mission
For (1), I plan to create an early-alert system
(online and in-person, after class) for at least
one course to notify students who are missing
key materials, performed poorly on
quizzes/assignments, or have missed a certain
number of classes. In addition, I plan to focus
on retention via ethnicity – especially AfricanAmerican men and women – since, in my
experience so far, some of these students tend
to get “lost” in the system or do not get the
attention they need to succeed in a college
environment.
For (2) and (3), I plan to improve my curriculum
to address the life concerns and cultural
backgrounds of my students. Given that
students have responded well to course
materials on language, media, music, and
religion, I intend to create more course in
Philosophy that address these themes. Using
my background as a folklorist, I have already
emphasized the value of studying varieties of
linguistic differences throughout my courses
For (4), I have talked to the Dean about
coordinating a Women's Studies program
among several faculty members in the
Humanities and Social Sciences. I am in the
process of writing a NEH grant to create an
intercampus program in the Humanities with
BCC lead, Laura Ruberto.
I also plan to work with my Chair and the
Transfer Center to pilot an Honors program to
help students on an individual and small-group
basis. The purpose of this program is to help
students secure a spot in respectable programs
at various local colleges and universities within
the UC and CSU systems, including Mills
College. Please see Action Plan below for a
detailed version of these goals.
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VII. College Strategic Plan Relevance
Check all that apply
New program under development
Program that is integral to your college’s overall strategy
Program that is essential for transfer
Program that serves a community niche
Programs where student enrollment or success has been demonstrably affected by extraordinary
external factors, such as barriers due to housing, employment, childcare etc.
Other
VIII. Action Plan

Please describe your plan for responding to the above data. Consider curriculum,
pedagogy/instructional, scheduling, and marketing strategies. Also, please reference any cross district
collaboration with the same discipline at other Peralta colleges.
Include overall plans/goals and specific action steps.
Curriculum – Fulfill the vision of the Humanities & Philosophy as interdisciplinary fields with local and
global scope that attempts to explore the interfaces between cultural tradition and innovation; Establish
new required, transferable course such as Popular Culture, Storytelling, World Religions, Conflict
Resolution, Creativity in Education, Improvisation and Performance, Gender Studies, etc. to build
departmental offerings and attract more students to our program.

Pedagogy/Instruction – Plan to experiment with more active, bodily learning techniques in classroom
setting, new media technologies, speech recognition software and recording devices; Work with other
instructors on best practices in the classroom; Create interdepartmental exchange programs (already
working with Art/Cultural/Film Studies faculty at BCC); Write grants for technology equipment and
instruction; Pilot Honors program

Scheduling/Grant-Writing – Continue to build intercampus partnerships and coalitions with other
Humanities & Philosophy programs in PCCD, especially at BCC and Laney (NEH Digitial Humanities
Grant); Outreach to local community programs and schools

Marketing Strategies – Build upon newly-created web platform with Drupal and Wordpress to establish a
more attractive and user-friendly internet presence (successful so far); Bring in/train more faculty to
create a continuity of appearance and reliable information portal; Distribute and post paper flyers at
regular intervals across campus sites and bulletin boards to make students aware of departmental
offerings.
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IX. Needs
Please describe and prioritize any faculty, classified, and student assistant needs.
We urgently need at least one full-time instructor in Philosophy to help expand our popular
interdiscplinary program, and to cover innovative new courses. I would also like to request student
assistance in the collection of data, scheduling, and application process while co-directing a pilot Honors
program and Learning Community.
Please describe and prioritize any equipment, material, and supply needs.
1. New Compact LCD/DLP Projector (XGA) and Compact Computer Speakers While C and D Building is Set
to be Renovated. NOTE: I heavily rely on multimedia texts (audio, video, images, PowerPoint) in the
classroom to make my materials more engaging and accessible to a wide variety of students.
2. Computer and Screen in Offices (preferably a MacBook Pro and large screen for editing multimedia
materials)
3. Video Equipment, Microphones, Tripod, Digital Recording Devices, Video Editing Software, Speech
Recognition Software (for archiving student storytelling collections and play projects)
4. Updated Film Archives (DVDs) and Library Materials (Books)
5. Color Laser Printer
6. New Portable Computer Speakers (50W or above, Yamaha) to play in large rooms.
7. Elmo Portable Document Reader


Please describe and prioritize any facilities needs.
20-30 Smart Classrooms (e.g., LCD Projectors, Speakers, Computer, Screen, Document Reader, Media
Center, Interactive Whiteboard, Clickers, and Podium in each academic classroom).
Testing Center (for more in-depth statistical analysis of quizzes and other assignments)
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X.
Course SLOs and Assessment
Fall 2010
Number of active courses in your discipline
7
Number with SLOs
7
% SLOs/Active Courses
100
Number of courses with SLOs that have been assessed
0
% Assessed/SLOs
0
Describe types of assessment methods you are using
Qualitative and Quantitative
Describe results of your SLO assessment progress
I will be assessing SLOs in the Fall 2010 and Spring 2011 semesters
XI. Program Learning Outcomes and Assessment
Fall 2010
Number of degrees and certificates in your discipline
1
Number with Program Learning Outcomes
7
Number assessed
0
% Assessed
0
Describe assessment methods you are using
N/A
Describe results of assessment
N/A
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