Noncredit committee made progress through Fall/Spring Plenary breakouts and a Noncredit Curriculum Regional. The body also passed two related resolutions: "Restructure the FON to Include Noncredit Faculty" and "Establish Noncredit Liaison Position."
Whereas, The Legislative Analyst’s Office December 2012 report, “Restructuring California’s Adult Education System” and the January 2013 Governor’s Omnibus Education trailer bill and SB 173 (Liu, as of April 8, 2013) have all proposed cutting noncredit instruction, thereby eliminating older adults, parenting, home economics, and health and safety;
Whereas, The approved noncredit instruction programs that are being considered for elimination have historically given California’s community colleges the ability to address local areas of need, including but not limited to older adults who are returning to the workforce because of economic hardship, older adults who need to increase or sustain their mental and physical agility, parents who need to develop effective strategies to nurture optimal child development and manage challenging behaviors in their children, and parents who are going through the court system for divorce or child custody cases; and mature drivers who want to update their road skills;
Whereas, The elimination of approved noncredit instruction programs would change the California community college’s commitment to educating the people of California and would greatly alter the term “community” in the title adopted by the system in 1967, and local districts would be rendered unable to provide accessible educational opportunities to communities identified as demonstrating real need; and
Whereas, The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges have continually demonstrated support for noncredit instruction programs by supporting resolutions as far back as 1989 that aim to improve the quality of noncredit education in the state, and recently resolutions have called for the Academic Senate to assign responsibility for adult education to California community colleges (06.03 F11), and oppose the elimination of non-CDCP noncredit classes (13.02 F11);
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges oppose the elimination of any of the noncredit approved instruction programs currently defined in Education Code; and
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges recommend that individual colleges or districts continue to exercise local control over decisions about how to use state funding in order to administer and customize noncredit programs in response to their community needs.
MSC