Accreditation - Hartnell College!!

Institutional Self Evaluation – 12-05-12
Human Resources. The group plans and approves flex activities, and encourages faculty
members to develop and present their own activities. Topics range from teaching
methodologies to the sociology of students to technical training to presentations by outside
speakers on a variety of subjects.
Self Evaluation
When Hartnell College was placed on probation in 2007, two of the seven concerns referred
to timely curriculum revision and the development of student learning outcomes. As
documented in previous progress reports, the Board allocated resources to update hundreds
of course outlines (IV.A.53). In response, the college has evolved mechanisms to stabilize
this effort and ensure that curriculum is current and of high quality.
Faculty ―curriculum leaders‖ provided assistance in this effort. These leaders were
longstanding members of the curriculum committee and were selected not only for their
expertise but to provide the necessary breadth of knowledge to assist. The leaders were given
reassigned time and met biweekly with the Curriculum Chair and the Vice-President of
Academic Affairs, functioning as a screening committee that recommended curriculum to the
full committee. Curriculum leaders worked with individual faculty to ensure that the revision
schedule was met. In Fall 2011, the curriculum leader program gave way to the appointment
of a Dean of Curriculum and Instructional Support. These changes are reflected in the new
curriculum workflow process that was presented to the Academic Senate in February, 2012.
Thus, the combination of faculty expertise and institutional commitment provided muchneeded
support for curriculum development.
The Full-Time Faculty Hiring Committee developed a rubric for hiring considerations that
includes three-year enrollment data, the number of current full-time faculty (and consults the
seniority list regarding the likelihood of imminent retirements), the potential for growth in
the program, the availability of well-qualified part-time faculty, the breadth of expertise
among the existing faculty, and the full-time faculty obligation number (IV.A.56). The
committee presents a three-year hiring plan to the Resource Allocation Committee, where the
analysis is shared and recommendations made based on need and available resources. Given
the seniority patterns among the faculty, the committee identified more positions than the
college can currently afford to fill, but sixteen new faculty have been hired since the 2007
site visit.
The Faculty Professional Development Committee has been revitalized during the last year.
Response to the invitation to develop activities, as well as participate in them, has been
enthusiastic, and more than fifty hours of flex-approved activity have been scheduled. A
calendar of events has been placed on the PDC website (IV.A.19) which has greatly
facilitated planning.
Committee members conducted self evaluations in October 2011. The Curriculum
Committee reported that CurricUNET works reasonably well to support updating, tracking,
and strong courses and programs. The program planning module PlaNet (GoverNet) is more
recalcitrant, but academic groups continue to work with the program and meet their deadline.
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