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:
10/12/2010
Dean:
Maurice Jones
BI Download:
10/07/2010
Dept. Chair:
Ed Lorretto - HIST - cluster
chair;
1) Robert J. Brem - POSCI
contract faculty - CDL Project;
2) Megan Montague - POSCI
p/t - CDL Project;
3) Bob Thyken - POSCI p/t CDL Project;
4) Crystallee Crain - POSCI
p/t - CDL Project.
Discipline:
POSCI
Campus:
Alameda
Mission
The “politics” program at College of Alameda offers an Associate of Arts Degree in
Political Science. Learning is facilitated through discursive exploration of
foundational knowledge rooted in student reading and exploration of problems in
analysis and their solution. A sensitivity to methods that enhance basic skills guides
learning facilitation orientated toward student success. Students in the major are
encouraged to ask and explore central questions of politics. Instruction is guided
using socio-culturally commensurable “great questions“ of philosophy and politics
applied to modern life with “utilization” of student “material” brought to class from
their own lives. Natural student interest in politics relative to current events is
tapped, to address specific needs unique to our students’ realities and those of
Alameda as well as the Bay Area in general. An emphasis is placed on
highlighting how politics is relevant to the lives of students. PLOs are rooted in
these principles, the stated learning outcomes of College of Alameda, the discipline
of political science and shaped by Title 5.
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II.
Student Data
A. Enrollment
Fall 2008
Fall 2009
Fall 2010
390.0
390.0
343.0
9.0
8.0
6.0
Total FTES
37.72
38.11
34.3
Total FTEF
1.59
1.4
1.2
FTES/FTEF
23.66
27.22
28.63
Enrolled
379.0
367.0
N/A
Retained
347.0
308.0
% Retained
91.0
83.0
N/A
N/A
379.0
301.0
79.0
32.0
8.0
367.0
276.0
75.0
59.0
16.0
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
0.6
0.6
0.0
1.2
50.08
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
0.6
0.6
0.0
1.2
50.08
1.2
0.6
0.0
1.8
66.66
0.6
1.4
0.0
2.0
30.0
0.0
0.6
0.0
0.6
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.
Political science as citizen education is relevant
to the development of community leadership
(which is acknowledged by the requirement of
all transferring students to take POSCI-1). We
have launched an initiative in Community
Leadership and Public Service (CDL)
curriculum meeting needs articulated by East
Bay Area community based organizations
(partners) relative to vocational training and
certificates towards careers in violence
prevention outreach, community building, and
public administration. The Community Partners
serve as an ad hoc CDL Community Advisory
Board (in addition to a core group of COA
faculty and staff and community partner
personnell).
Transfer and Basic Skills: Describe how your
course offerings address transfer, basic skills, and
program completion.
As a "learning department" (see learning
college theory and the notion of teaching with
dedication to contextualized student learning
success); the principles of basic skills
education (best practices of the four areas of
the basic skills initiative) are consciously
integrated into our work. This is in line with the
“community centered vision” for community
college education as articulated in Title 5 of the
State of California Education code. We utilize a
"universal design" approach - integrating basic
skills practices - in teaching politics to a
population that includes students in need of
such sensitivities. This maximizes both
success for all students, regardless of their
initial state of college readiness, in terms of
transfer and acquisition of the life skills of
citizenship in the 21st century modern world
system.
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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
1) Student success in terms of access and
equity are increased via capacity building in
terms of psycho/socio/political efficacy.
2) We are fully engaged with about 20
community based organizations and CSU East
Bay in partnership regardiong violence
prevention and public administration.
3) The "Program of Distinction" is the
community leadership & public service
initiative.
4) Innovation and collaboration are created in
our learning community and service learning
design specifications.
5) We are actively seeking resources to
advance our mission - and support the college in external funding outreach efforts,
programatic alliances, and mutual skills
development and burden sharing with
personnell of our community partners.
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
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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.
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CURRICULUM ENHANCEMENT GOALS
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Full systemic integration of contextualized learning outcomes emphasizing “green” & sustainability
themes; civic engagement; and futures consciousness driven life skills development. The overall goal is
to anchor in students' holisitc consciousness a dynamic psycho/socio/political efficacy rooted in the
values of public service.
Community Leadership and Public Service Certificates (e.g. violence prevention and public service and
social change agency certificates [tied into the Kettering Foundation and Camp Wellstone models of
social change] as a terminal job skill oriented certificate that will be marketed to non-profit organizations
and interested individuals Bay Area wide)
Cooperative efforts with internal constituents (e.g. the COA Learning Communities, CLASS committee,
and the Sustainable Peralta Initiative).
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OVERALL INNOVATION GOALS
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Creative partnerships with other schools (e.g. within Peralta and with Chabot College and CSU East
Bay)and community development organizations -- to aid students in pursuing careers and life style
choices guided by the ethics and values of the public service;
Enhance basic skills mastery by seeking to increase utilization of library and learning resource center
workshops and the use of student study circles & peer support groups;
Expand the "European Tutoring model" of “independent study” mentoring for advanced students;
Build upon success of the student “Politics/MUN Club” in collaboration with CSU East Bay and Laney
College and Chabot College.
Build upon the ideas of political theatre initiated by our "Chautauquas at CoA" and film projects. We
intend to expand this project to work towards an engaged campus model with interdisciplinary
objectives. This would include expanding the idea to include student government and community
partners and class projects – and do so for Single day events: Constitution Day; Earth Day; Cinco de
Mayo -- highlighting civic engagement and green principles in community building.
Classroom instruction enhancement goals include:
increasing Basic Skills sensitive universal
design pedagogical (androgogical) techniques, interactive group work & in class self-reflective work;
utilize guest lectures and/or interchange visits from other disciplines; exposure to graduate students;
service learning components; and learning community style collaborations and hybridization of courses.
We have a number of technological support goals to improve course content instruction and delivery
which include: integration of interactive projection based course survey software and citizen participation
software; smart classroom technology as it becomes available; bulletin boards & Blogs; and web-based
hybridization. We intend to expand the efforts of “on-line presence” in 2010-2011 – for expanded use of
web-page, twitter, and resources availability on line.
We have a number of student learning evaluation goals relative to assignments that include: increased
narrative dimensionality rooted in self reflective goals and journal & structured notes and analysis
portfolio assignments, pre/post-tests, “process evaluation” techniques & protocols, and means for long
term follow up “outcomes evaluation measures.” These are seen as necessary for validity and reliability
reasons.
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ONGOING OUTREACH EFFORTS involve:
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An increased partnership between POSCI and student services in Student Government ASCOA;
“COA Days” is a proposed event cosponsored by the political science department and ASCOA and the
public relations office. It is a yearly “recognition faire” designed to showcase what students have
learned & accomplished in their civic engagement efforts is during the previous year and culminating in
the COA Superior Service Awards. This will be a recognition of outstanding students, community
partners (organizations & individuals), and other individuals and groups as appropriate. This is part of
the institution of an ethic of service into the curriculum.
Work on inter-departmental (liberal arts) program revisions into learning community format (e.g. building
upon our successful ventures with the history department and expand it with partnerships with English
re: "writing across curriculum".
Seek to create a Web Based presence in terms of: Blogs and active Public Interest Intellectual
Scholarship (create a PIRG….)
We continue to work on the long term documentary film project in conceptual stage regarding
democracy as a way of life.
We have worked on a closer relationship with “feeder schools” (e.g. CSU) and seek through CDL
relationships with OUSD and AUSD and ASTI – perhaps a career day presence and workshops for
school counselors working closer with the One Stop Center and the transfer and matriculation
committees.
Pitch COA to these schools with the advantage over Laney or Merritt that it is a smaller less intimidating
school with more teacher student contact possibilities. It is the same issue that encourages some to go
to small colleges rather than the big intimidating UC Berkeley or UCLA.
Work with Student government to make weekends less "dead" on campus. If there are just a few
classes and nothing else, it loses some appeal – this is part of the engaged campus model.
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IX. Needs
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Please describe and prioritize any faculty, classified, and student assistant needs.
We anticipate needing another full time faculty member as we move towards full activation of our public
administration and community leadership certificates and degrees. Perhaps as soon as the 2012-13
academic year. We note: though we only had 6 sections in Fall of 2010; this represents a severe set of
cuts from a height of 9 sections as recently as 2008. We anticipate with program expansions, we could
be over 12 sections of all POSCI courses as early as the Spring semester of 2012.
We still believe that the services of an institutional researcher is essential in meeting the requisite
demands of valid and reliable outcomes research, program evaluation and grant management activities
we shall be engaged in the development of the Community Leadership and Public Service initiative.
In agreement with colleagues in other departments (e.g. Mathematics, History, and other department
delivering DE courses); we seek an on campus testing center for DE testing and for make up
examinations.
We continue to need and to fully utilize the services of a student teaching and research assistants. (We
share assistant time with other departments (e.g. ESL, History, and the office of instruction [relative to
curriculum committee issues]) that do not have this resource. This is evidence of inter-departmental
inter-collegial cooperation on the part of our department. We also utilize the services of other student
workers in development of website and in the development of the CDL program.
Please describe and prioritize any equipment, material, and supply needs.
1) feeding copier scanner - with PDF document creation capacity.
2) printer
3) printer cartridges
4) printer paper
5) larger flat computer screen
6) Computer with enhanced data analysis capacity (e.g. to utilize data from data reading scantron reader [if
we can get it functioning] – for use in data analysis of outcomes assessments and other student surveys to
support classroom activities relative to the methods of political science [this equipment remains boxed in the
office of institutional research for three years now).
7) A department projector (large screen projection capacity)
8) Sound system (e.g. speakers for use with projection.
9) Wi/Fi support in room!
Please describe and prioritize any facilities needs.
Expanded office space to create a Community Leadership and Public Service - Service Learning and Civic
Engagement Center and PIRG - and to house growing staff needs when the project becomes more fully
operational. We could easily share with the learning communities in this.
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X.
Course SLOs and Assessment
Fall 2010
Number of active courses in your discipline
13
Number with SLOs
13
% 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
We are in the final design stages of a narrative contextual systems portfolio based assessement protocol
rooted in personalized 21st century themes and appreciative inquiry methods.
Describe results of your SLO assessment progress
We will run the entire protocol starting in Spring 2011.
XI. Program Learning Outcomes and Assessment
Fall 2010
Number of degrees and certificates in your discipline
1
Number with Program Learning Outcomes
3
Number assessed
0
% Assessed
0
Describe assessment methods you are using
We are in the final design stages of a narrative contextual systems portfolio based assessement protocol
rooted in personalized 21st century themes and appreciative inquiry methods.
Describe results of assessment
We will run the entire protocol starting in Spring 2011.
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