Curriculum Institute July 2009

1. Curriculum InstituteJuly 2009 Creating Your Own Resources: Local Curriculum Handbooks Janet Fulks, Chair, Curriculum Committee Virginia May, Sacramento City College Marilyn Keefe Perry, Sacramento City College Sofia Ramirez Gelpi, Allan Hancock College

2. The College’s Curriculum Handbook In this breakout we will: • provide some examples of how and why to develop or revise a local curriculum handbook. • provide an opportunity for you to ask questions and share the level of clarity and transparency of the curriculum process at your college. • discuss the Curriculum Handbooks at Sacramento City College and Allan Hancock College - four sample handbooks are on the Institute flash drive.

3. Curriculum Handbooks • How do you ease the processes of course and program approval? • How do you assist faculty with curriculum development and review? • What resources are available at your college that assures college/district and state regulations for curriculum development are followed?

4. Outcomes for Today’s Breakout After this breakout, we hope you will be able to: • articulate to your own Academic Senate the benefits of a current curriculum handbook. • describe the steps required for the development or revision of a curriculum handbook. • make a map of the entire (local and state) curriculum approval process.

5. Interactive Exercise – “parking lot” • Use the Post-it Notes to jot down your Questions/Concerns • Responses provided later in the presentation

6. Some questions to think about… To get you started in developing a curriculum handbook… • Who is responsible for curriculum? Who participates in the development process? Where could I find them? • How do you assist faculty with curriculum development and review? • Once you have your curriculum proposal finalized, how do you go about attaining its approval? • How can the curriculum process be made transparent, easy to follow? • How do you ease the processes of course and program approval?

7. Benefits of a Curriculum Handbook • Makes the curriculum approval process transparent to all parties. • Clarifies the responsibilities of the curriculum committee and others involved. • Clarifies the responsibilities of the curriculum developer/initiator. • Clarifies the responsibilities of the college’s instructional services office. • It serves as a guide/roadmap to a beginner.

8. When Developing/Updating a Curriculum Handbook … • Consider your college goals and mission when developing curriculum. Add information to the introductory section. • Consider the limitations on curriculum development. • Include descriptions of the various types of curriculum, e.g. degree credit, non-degree credit, non-credit, community services, and contract education.

9. When Developing/Updating a Curriculum Handbook … • Refer to the Ed. Code, Title 5, Accreditation Standards, the State Chancellor’s office Course and Program Approval Handbook, and your own college/district regulations and best practices. • Stay current on Title 5 curriculum changes and Chancellor’s Office updates. • Seek information and comments from faculty and others involved in the curriculum approval process. What might they be looking for in a resource document?

10. When Developing/Updating a Curriculum Handbook… • Obtain Curriculum Committee and Academic Senate approval of the handbook. • Make it public and accessible!! A handbook is only useful if available to those involved in the development of curriculum. • Pdf file on your college intranet • Printed versions • Attached in an email message to all faculty • On reserve in the library

11. The Entire (local and state) Approval Process • Describe the approval process from beginning to end. It lowers anxiety and makes for a less overwhelming process. • Include information about the responsibilities of those in the approval process. For example, what are the responsibilities of the initiators, curriculum committee reps, articulation officer, chairs, deans, support staff, etc. Include phone numbers, email addresses, office locations, etc…

12. Where could you start? Tips for success: • Good ideas are: • list the steps, one by one • number the steps 1, 2, 3… • use a flow chart • Consider cheat sheets! For example, add a quick checklist that enables the initiator/rep/chair/dean to follow a step-by-step approach to curriculum development. This is extremely useful to those new in the process. • Understanding the process averts errors, delays, and non-approval of curriculum.

13. More cheat sheets! Consider adding… • a page that includes terms and definitions. • a “if you are doing X, then you need the Y forms” page. For example, if the initiator simply wants to change the title of a course, then indicate in this page which forms to be used for such a change. Then indicate where to go in the handbook [was it p. 60?]. • Samples!! Adding samples of previous course outlines, modifications, etc. do help everyone. Add good samples, yes, but also add a few bad ones [do label these “BAD”]. • Lists of appropriate wording. For example, list which verbs to use when stating course objectives and which ones are appropriate for stating course goals. (Bloom’s Taxonomy)

14. More tips • Consider the reader!! Not everyone can recite Ed. Code or Title 5. Use friendly, easy to understand language. Offer examples when possible to clarify processes. • Consider everyone involved in the process. Your handbook will be a resource document for everyone involved in the process. • Grammar, punctuation, formatting.. Oh my! Consider having a subcommittee or taskforce to work with these separately or you may find yourself correcting outlines instead of discussing content and substance of course proposals.

15. Parking Lot Questions/Concerns • Let’s answer those questions!

16. Thank You! • Remember to complete the breakout evaluation. • This presentation will be posted on the ASCCC website under the Curriculum Institute. Contact Information: • Virginia “Ginni” May mayv@scc.losrios.edu • Marilyn Keefe Perry perrym@scc.losrios.edu • Sofia Ramirez Gelpi sgelpi@hancockcollege.edu