City College of San Francisco - California Competes

STANDARD II.A
provide students with information. The
overall design and user-friendliness of the
website need significant improvements. The
Communications Committee is reviewing the
website issues. Information about academic
freedom and student academic honesty is
included in appropriate College publications;
however, since course syllabi are one of the
few documents that are actually distributed to
all students in all classes, the guidelines for
course syllabi contained in the Faculty
Handbook should be revised to include
student academic honesty and the
consequences for noncompliance.
4. Educational planning and regular assessments
of progress on strategic priorities have become
core elements in the institution’s annual
planning and budgeting cycles. The primary
method for assessing instructional programs
and student services is Program Review,
conducted on a six-year cycle. While the
completion rates for program reviews have
increased substantially since the last
accreditation reaffirmation, a significant
number of these reviews are not completed
in a timely manner. Many of the participants
in the Program Review processes do not know
how the program reviews interface with
planning and budgeting activities and there
are no clearly articulated follow-up procedures
for programs that have completed their
reviews. Criteria for assessing program
quality and viability should be established
and programs should be provided assistance
in developing improvement plans, when
appropriate. In addition, there is no
mechanism for the comprehensive review of
course outlines on a regular cycle, although
plans for addressing this have been initiated
as of Fall 2005. The review of course outlines
should be incorporated into the Program
Review procedures. Finally, the College has
worked diligently to minimize the impact on
students and staff in the rare circumstances
when programs have been eliminated;
however, the College does not have a formal
procedure for terminating programs.
5. The College has made a good faith effort to
begin the process of assessing current practices
regarding student learning outcomes (SLOs).
In addition to workshops for faculty, staff, and
administrators, the Academic Senate and the
College Curriculum Committee have been
actively engaged in these discussions. A
student learning outcomes assessment plan
has been added as an option in the Program
Review procedures. Departments have been
encouraged to develop program outcomes
statements for inclusion in the College
Catalog. There are a number of individual
initiatives within departments that specifically
address SLOs. However, there is no institutionwide
process for evaluating the effectiveness
of student learning outcomes at the course,
program, and institutional levels. The College
should develop a plan through the Shared
Governance process to address the
development, implementation, and
assessment of SLOs. The institution faces
many challenges as it works toward
developing a more comprehensive approach
to the assessment of student learning
outcomes. The assessment of SLOs is an
academic and professional matter that clearly
falls within the domain of faculty. Faculty
will have to be provided with training and,
in some cases, institutional support for
assessment activities. The process must
be flexible enough to adapt to the specific
needs of individual departments, programs
and services. Faculty must have confidence
that the outcomes from these assessments will
be used for program improvement and not in
a punitive manner. Finally, since students will
benefit from the impact of improving student
learning outcomes, students should be
involved in the discussions and planning
of SLO assessments. These efforts will require
strong leadership from faculty and
administration.
132 CITY COLLEGE OF SAN FRANCISCO