Hot Topics in Minimum Qualifications in Title 5 (and more)

1. Hot Topics inMinimum Qualifications in Title 5(and more) Darwin Smith, Michelle Grimes-Hillman, Jon Drinnon Standards and Practices Committee Academic Senate for California Community Colleges Fall 2011 Plenary Session

2. Breakout Overview • Proposed Title 5 change on non-master’s list • Minimum Qualifications issues on resolutions • What’s your hot topic?

3. Title 5 Change Goal • Clarify that for non-Master’s disciplines, professional experience is required no matter what; possession of a Masters does not negate the need for this experience. If a degree higher than a Bachelor’s is possessed the two year professional experience is still required for disciplines listed in the two non-Master’s categories.

4. Resolution in favor of experience • 10.02 TITLE 5 §53410 CLARIFICATION OF MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS FOR DISCIPLINES NOT REQUIRING A • MASTER’S DEGREE • Spring 2010 • Whereas, Title 5 §53410 Minimum Qualifications for Instructors of Credit Courses, Counselors, and Librarians defines the basic degree and professional experience requirements for the three categories of disciplines allowed, Master’s degree expected, specific Bachelor’s or associate degree expected, or Master’s not expected; • Whereas, The Academic Senate paper “Qualifications for Faculty Service in the California Community Colleges” and common interpretation both provide that Master’s degrees are required for the Master’s required list, and for the other two lists both a degree and professional experience are required; and • Whereas, This regulation, the exact intent of which may be unclear due to its structure, is interpreted by some districts and the Chancellor’s Office to mean that possession of a Master’s degree in a discipline on the Master’s-not-expected lists negates the requirement for “professional experience directly related to the faculty member’s teaching assignment”; • Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges take the position that faculty hired to teach in the disciplines on the two Master’s-not-expected lists must possess both a degree or equivalent and professional experience as described in Title 5 §53410 (c) and (d); • Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges work with the Chancellor’s Office to ensure that an interpretation that faculty hired to teach in the disciplines on the two Master’s-not-expected lists must possess both a degree or equivalent and professional experience is clearly stated via the appropriate means (e.g., Title 5 correction, legal opinion or a change in the Minimum Qualifications/Disciplines List); and • Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges update all its minimum qualifications papers clarifying the interpretation of Title 5 §53410 to require professional experience from all candidates qualifying under sub-division (c) and (d), and include updates reflecting all other recent regulatory changes.

5. Title 5 Language with Proposed Change • Right now §53410 can be read to mean that if a Master’s (or higher) is possessed then “any”“one of the following requirements” are met for all disciplines listed on all three lists. Striking “any” and reformatting to create three parallel (a, b, c) subsections, one for each list, corrects the problem.

6. Proposed Language Change • §53410. Minimum Qualifications for Instructors of Credit Courses, Counselors, and Librarians. • The minimum qualifications for service as a community college faculty member teaching any credit course, or as a counselor or librarian, shall be satisfied by meeting any one of the following requirements: • (a) For faculty assigned to teach in disciplines where the master’s degree is generally expected and available: • (1a) Possession of a master’s degree, or equivalent foreign degree, in the discipline of the faculty member’s assignment. • (2b) Possession of master’s degree, or equivalent foreign degree, in a discipline reasonably related to the faculty member’s assignment and possession of a bachelor’s degree, or equivalent foreign degree, in the discipline of the faculty member’s discipline. • (bc) For faculty assigned to teach courses in disciplines where professional experience is required and the master's degree is not generally expected or available, but where a related bachelor's or associate degree is generally expected or available, possession of either • (1) a bachelor's degree in the discipline directly related to the faculty member's teaching assignment or equivalent foreign degree plus two years of professional experience directly related to the faculty member's teaching assignment; or • (2) an associate degree in the discipline directly related to the faculty member's teaching assignment or equivalent foreign degree plus six years of professional experience directly related to the faculty member's teaching assignment. • (cd) For faculty assigned to teach courses in disciplines where professional experience is required and the master's degree is not generally expected or available, and where a related bachelor's or associate degree is not generally expected or available, possession of either: • (1) any bachelor's degree or equivalent foreign degree plus two years of professional experience directly related to the faculty member's teaching assignment; or • (2) any associate degree or equivalent foreign degree plus six years of professional experience directly related to the faculty member's teaching assignment.

7. Resolutions6.01 F11 General Fund Dollar Support for Community Service Courses Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges assert that if students from community service classes, noncredit, and credit courses are taught by the same faculty member in the same class, the faculty member must meet minimum qualifications for the credit course; Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges recommend changing California Education Code §78300(c) to allow General Fund moneys be used for community service classes when those classes support degree and transfer students and programs; and Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges urge faculty who teach courses with combinations of students from credit, noncredit, and community service to explain to their students the specifics of their enrollment, i.e., that community service and noncredit students do not earn college credit for these classes

8. Resolutions6.05 Allow Community Colleges to Subsidize Credit Instruction with Not-For-Credit Class Fees Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges support legislation allowing colleges and districts to charge more than the cost for not-for-credit classes and to use the proceeds solely to fund additional sections of credit courses and support services for vocational and transfer programs of study.

9. Resolutions9.02 Defining Credit and Noncredit Basic Skills and Basic Skills Apportionment Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges initiate an exploration of the appropriate division of credit and noncredit basic skills classes; and Resolved, The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges support funding noncredit basic skills classes at the same apportionment rate as credit classes.

10. Questions & Answers What’s your hot topic?