Library and Learning Resources

Whereas, the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC) has long expressed concerns that the cost of textbooks and other course materials represent a financial burden for California Community College students (“Textbook Issues: Economic Pressures and Academic Values.” 2005) and has more recently also supported efforts “to reduce the cost of course materials and supplies for students in course sections for which open educational resources may not be available (Fall 2017, Resolution 12.01), and

Whereas, The field of learning assistance has evolved since the last Academic Senate resolutions in 2008 (10.01 F08) [1] and 2011 (10.12 S11) [2] that addressed minimum qualifications and a 2011 article about separating learning assistance and tutoring [3];

Community college libraries change lives. Library faculty throughout the California Community Colleges System play a significant role in helping students achieve success while supporting their colleges’ missions and values, academic curriculum, and institutional learning outcomes. Moreover, libraries embody the spirit of community, creativity, and discovery that educators all seek to instill in their students. Libraries also promote literacy, equity, freedom of information, and lifelong learning.

As institutions of higher education seek to support students through innovative learning and teaching methods, many colleges have begun to investigate the opportunity to provide tutoring through distance education formats. Support for student success is not limited to face-to-face interactions within the classroom. As awareness of online tutoring and its role in supporting community college students increases, many colleges have set goals to eliminate barriers in providing student success support by implementing effective practices for online tutoring programs.

Whereas, Resolution 13.04 S08 directed the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges to “research and prepare a paper that addresses effective and non-effective practices for establishing online tutoring programs”;

Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges adopt the paper Effective Practices for Online Tutoring29 and disseminate the paper to local senates and curriculum committees upon its adoption.

MSU

Whereas, Resolution 16.01 F17 directed the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges to “explore methods to update and expand the content of the papers Library Faculty in California Community College Libraries: Qualifications, Roles, and Responsibilities and Standards of Practice for California Community College Library Faculty and Programs to illustrate the vital and important role that libraries and librarians can, and do, play in contributing to the success of our students”;

Whereas, The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges has adopted the paper Library Faculty in California Community College Libraries: Qualifications, Roles, and Responsibilities (adopted Spring 1996);

Whereas, As part of the implementation of the Student Success and Support Program by the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, noncredit students will be required to use CCCApply as a point of entry to the California Community College System;

Whereas, The California Community College (CCC) Student Success Task Force recognizes the importance of libraries in student persistence, retention, and successful achievement of goals, and a system-wide integrated library system (ILS) will allow each student in California’s community colleges to access essential academic materials via a cloud-based library catalog that can be retrieved through a variety of means, including mobile devices as well as through existing learning management systems, including Canvas, which has been adopted by more than 92 colleges as of September 22, 2016

Whereas, Resolution 11.01 F12 Pursue Statewide Open Educational Resources for Student Success[1] supported Academic Senate for California Community Colleges participation in “the convening of appropriate stakeholders, including faculty from our intersegmental partners for implementation of SB 1052 and 1053 (Steinberg, 2012), to develop appropriate rules and guidelines for accessing Open Educational Resources materials for faculty in a broad range of formats that encourage their wide-spread availability for adoption and use”;