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City College of San Francisco - California Competes

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CHANCELLOR'S PREFACE:<br />

THE MAKING OF A SELF STUDY<br />

The making <strong>of</strong> this self study is a story worth telling because it is a reflection <strong>of</strong> how the members <strong>of</strong><br />

this institution work together to produce excellent outcomes. It is also the story <strong>of</strong> how members<br />

<strong>of</strong> a diverse complex institution can find common ground.<br />

In February 2004, I asked a group <strong>of</strong> <strong>College</strong> leaders to sit down with me to discuss how we would address<br />

our self study. The conversation revealed that we had different conceptions <strong>of</strong> the study, and it took us<br />

a few hours <strong>of</strong> discussion to figure out what we should do. Some <strong>of</strong> us wanted to take the traditional<br />

standards-focused approach, while others argued for a radical departure, suggesting that we should<br />

analyze the <strong>College</strong> through a theme-based framework as suggested by the ACCJC.<br />

We decided to adopt both study strategies: <strong>City</strong> <strong>College</strong> would conduct a traditional self study based upon<br />

the four primary standards during the Fall 2004 semester and then transform these standards committees<br />

into six theme-based committees to produce a series <strong>of</strong> essays based upon the ACCJC-recommended<br />

themes during Spring 2005.<br />

We also agreed that we would establish an integrated self-study process. The traditional study based<br />

upon the standards would inform the development <strong>of</strong> our essays, and, consequently, the reader would<br />

attain a better understanding <strong>of</strong> our institution than from either a traditional study or a set <strong>of</strong> themebased<br />

essays alone.<br />

To accomplish this ambitious goal <strong>of</strong> producing, in effect, two inter-connected studies in less than a year,<br />

we established an organizational infrastructure consisting <strong>of</strong> standards committees (later to become<br />

theme-based committees) comprising faculty, classified staff, and administrators and a steering committee<br />

comprising the committee co-chairs plus representatives from the <strong>College</strong> organizations, the senior<br />

administrators, and a Board-appointed liaison. To ensure this entire process would work smoothly,<br />

efficiently, and inclusively for all <strong>College</strong> constituencies, I appointed a Work Group composed <strong>of</strong> three<br />

faculty members, two administrators, two classified staff, and a resource person.<br />

The Work Group built the infrastructure upon which this self study rests, an infrastructure that<br />

extended across our campuses to ensure the participation <strong>of</strong> as many members <strong>of</strong> the <strong>College</strong> community<br />

as possible. They coordinated all <strong>of</strong> the committee meetings, the <strong>College</strong> listening sessions, and the<br />

discussions with <strong>College</strong> organizations. Special sessions were convened to speak with students about their<br />

concerns and their assessment <strong>of</strong> the drafts. The Work Group assembled close to 100 self study templates,<br />

each with a specific section addressing one <strong>of</strong> the standards, a set <strong>of</strong> study questions, a list <strong>of</strong> evidence to<br />

review, and a rubric to evaluate how well the <strong>College</strong> met the standard. The self study templates required<br />

committee teams to review evidence and write up their findings. The completed templates were then<br />

reviewed by the entire committee and were used by the co-chairs to write the standards reports contained<br />

in this self study. The Work Group also assembled hundreds <strong>of</strong> documents, reports, minutes, and other<br />

types <strong>of</strong> evidence to support the standards reports.<br />

CITY COLLEGE OF SAN FRANCISCO<br />

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