Is budget driving curriculum? Faculty roles in program discontinuance and suspension

1. Is budget driving curriculum?Faculty roles in program discontinuance and suspension Carolyn Holcroft, Foothill College Craig Rutan, Santiago Canyon College 2012 ASCCC Curriculum Institute

2. Overview • Defining what a program is, and why it matters • Faculty role in programs • Program Discontinuance • Temporary Suspensions/Hiatus

3. What is a program? • Title 5 §55000(g) defines an educational program as “an organized sequence of courses leading to a defined objective, a degree, a certificate, a diploma, a license, or transfer to another institution of higher education.” • An educational program could include: • Associate Degrees (AA/AS/AA-T/AS-T) • Certificates of Achievement/Competency/Completion • Low Unit Certificates • A sequence of courses that lead to a defined outcome such as transfer, GE pattern completion, entry into college-level courses, etc.

4. Changes to Programs • Title 5 §51022: “Within six months of the formation of a community college district, the governing board shall adopt and carry out its policies for the establishment, modification, or discontinuance of courses or programs.” • Title 5 §55130: “program approval is effective until the program or implementation of the program is discontinued or modified in any substantial way.”

5. Role of Faculty • The 10+1 academic and professional matters under faculty purview include: • Course Curriculum (including creation, modification, and/or deletion) • Degree and Certificate requirements • Educational Program Development • Budget: NOT primarily faculty role. Close collaboration with administration is imperative.

6. Program Discontinuance • Complete elimination of a program • Procedure usually directed by district board administrative procedure • Only considered after program review • Issues with problematic trends and possible solutions should be addressed during cyclical review process. • If problems persist (typically after two or more cycles) discontinuance may be considered

7. Planning Ahead • Easier to plan when we have resources! However, also need to be able to plan for times of scarce resources • Many of our processes/procedures are more geared towards increasing rather than decreasing offerings • Recommend periodically reviewing processes to ensure they’re equipped to handle decreasing resources and offerings • Agreeing on criteria BEFORE crisis hits makes process less difficult if it becomes reality

8. Budget Issues • Not the primary reason to permanently discontinue an instructional program, only one of several very important considerations • what if your college simply can’t afford to offer a particular program anymore? • As resources are lost, a program might look like it is not successful anymore – important that procedures include careful analysis of the effects of resource allocation on program performance • If a program would be successful with proper funding, does it make sense to permanently discontinue it?

9. Problematic trends identified during cyclical program review process? • Role of program in terms of overall college mission • Decreased workforce demands • Changes in transfer institution requirements/expectations • Resource availability: human, physical and fiscal

10. Potential Considerations?

11. Who is involved? • Faculty are part of educational program development under 10+1, so faculty must be involved in making adjustments to offerings • Requires collaboration between faculty, administration, and support staff • Particularly important: Academic Senate, Counseling, Curriculum Committee, Bargaining Unit, Articulation Officer, affected full time faculty • Occupational advisory committee • Local governing board • Participatory governance and transparency in procedures is essential

12. Adherence to Procedure is Imperative • Once discontinuance discussions are initiated, there may be pressures to speed up/shorten the process. DO NOT allow this to happen • may not just remove degree/certificate, but also all courses in that area • Once program is gone it might not come back (ever) • These processes tend to be slow and with good reason! Discontinuance affects many people. • Need to continue to serve students until formal recommendation for the program future is made • Must consider students currently enrolled in program! • Accreditation standards clearly require this (II.A.6.b)

13. An Alternative?Temporary Program Suspension • Faculty/Department chairs typically work with deans to plan course offerings to meet current budget targets AND student needs • Sometimes portions of programs, or entireprograms, might be considered for a temporary suspension or hiatus • “Inactive”program status must be formally requested of Chancellor’s Office (CCC-511)

14. Consequences to students! • Suspensions/hiatus can clearly affect student ability to complete planned program of study • Accreditation standards clearly require that students must be accommodated

15. Develop a Suspension Process • Consider developing formal process for suspension: • Set clear standards for reexamination of suspension status • If a program is “inactive” for three years, the Chancellor’s Office considers it to be discontinued • What will timing of reviews be on your campus? • Don’t allow suspension to circumvent program discontinuance process • Faculty are part of educational program development under 10+1, so faculty must be involved in making adjustments to offerings and catalog changes

16. Who really decides? • When discussions begin, is there truly discussion or does it seem like the decision has already been made? • Do you have a formal process to review suspensions or do administrators make the decisions under the right of assignment?

17. Program Elimination Due to Budget • While hiatus/suspension is a temporary solution, college budgets may be cut to the point where some programs are too expensive to be offered. • These are discussions that no one wants to have but a college cannot simply cut equally across all disciplines for ever. • Does your college have procedures in place to analyze the cost of a program versus the benefit to the students? • Just as with discontinuance due to program viability, everyone needs to be at the table and no one group should be given blame.

18. Summary • Your colleges already have a formal process for program discontinuance, make sure that you use it only when it is really necessary. • Budget realities should not be a means to circumvent established discontinuance processes • Be judicious using hiatus status, consider developing formal process for initial decisionand subsequent review • It may be necessary to eliminate costly programs to protect the integrity of your college’s offerings. Don’t wait too long to look at these decisions.

19. Thank You • Do you have any questions? • Presenter Contact Information: • Carolyn Holcroft: holcroftcarolyn@foothill.edu • Craig Rutan: rutan_craig@sccollege.edu