September 23, 2024 - General Education Updates for Associate's Degrees

I. Call to Order

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Welcome

Erik Woodbury welcomed new and returning senators as well as guests.

The special meeting was called to continue the conversations from the last meeting on the proposed changes to the local GE pattern. 

Erik Woodbury encouraged new members to reach out to the officers and other representatives with any questions regarding Senate work and procedures.

Erik asked Voting and Associate Members joining online to turn on their cameras and add "VM" to their zoom names.

Erik also reminded Voting Members attending remotely to submit a separate online attendance form for each meeting. Their names and meeting location must be published in the agenda. Voting members must attend within district boundaries to count toward quorum and vote.

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Public Comment 

Shagun Kaur: who to call when air conditioning does not work in the classroom.

The division assistant should submit a work order to HVAC.

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II. Consent Calendar

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None

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III. Needs and Confirmation

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District and College Needs

The Senate will address the needs and confirmations in the regular meeting next week. 

In this special meeting they highlighted the immediate and urgent need for more At-Large Representatives to serve on Tenure Review Committees.  The Request to Serve link is on the Academic Senate website.

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IV. New & Continuing Business

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Discussion on Updates to General Education Pattern for Associates Degrees

Updating the De Anza GE Pattern.docx

This special Senate meeting during the first week of class was called to determine the timeline on updating the De Anza GE pattern. The decision and schedule will impact the curriculum workflow for revisions and new courses effective fall 2025. The changes or updates were due last spring. They needed to determine and update the GE pattern before the regular curriculum work for this year may proceed. 

Good news, once the GE pattern is approved the curriculum office will take care of all the updating and sorting the courses from the current GE pattern into the new areas. However, it will take them time, at least 4 to 6 weeks once the pattern is decided to finish the updates. 

The Senate considered two options and its respective timeline for a GE pattern that will be effective fall 2027

Option 1: A Two-Stage Approach 

Step 1: Initial approval for a plan within the next two weeks 

Step 2: More extensive discussion and potential revisions over the remainder of the 24/25 academic year. There will be flexibility to change and make updates in the subsequent years.

Option 2: A Slower Approach to a Permanent Solution. Spend most of this quarter making a decision which means less time, approximately 3 weeks for faculty initiators to do their entire 1st part of the curriculum process.

Several people proposed making a decision within the next two weeks and moving forward. 

Sam Bliss pointed out the additional workflow and timeline in the fall to complete common course numbering for 6 courses by December as mandated by AB1111 phase 1.

Motion for Option One

Felisa Vilaubi motioned, Cynthia Kaufman seconded to move on with option one. No objections or additional comments. Motion passed unanimously.

Erik Woodbury referred to the Updating the De Anza GE Pattern document sent to Senate members and department chairs that provided the background on State Regulatory Changes under AB 928. The Cal-GETC pattern established a singular GE pattern for transfer to both the UCs and CSUs. The California Community College Chancellor’s Officer (CCCCO) approved a proposal for an updated Title V Graduation Requirements for local and associate degrees.

Erik also went over tables that compared these patterns. See document for tables and comparisons. Also, commentaries on the patterns and impact on students. The new Title V requirements set the units at 30-33. The current De Anza pattern is at 32-43. The Cal-GETC GE Pattern is at 48-49. The Proposed De Anza Local GE Pattern is at 45-52 units

Who uses these patterns?

Students can use the Cal-GETC pattern for transfer and graduation. However, Cal-GETC does not count D toward fulfilling transfer or graduation requirements. Students will have to retake the class or take another class in the same area. The local pattern does accept Ds.  About 9% De Anza students have taken the De Anza GE pattern for AA/AS Degrees.

There were comments and concerns about marginalized students and populations most affected by these changes. 

Shagun Kaur, Mark Landefeld and Mary Pape asked about what other colleges, especially those around the area like Foothill, are doing about the GE Pattern to understand how De Anza compares with them.

Foothill is doing the basic Title V with the addition of PE requirements.

Some students have opted out of the De Anza GE pattern by applying to reciprocity agreements with other colleges.

How to make the pattern work for students and maintain De Anza core values?

Felisa, Cheryl and James proposed incentives rather than requirements. Students can stack certificates to build up their resumes. There were discussions about creating certificates and how they can help with enrollment. Examples of these certificates included CTE, World Languages, etc.

There were discussions about areas that need to be finalized and decisions that need to be made for the New GE Pattern. These included changing or eliminating the ICS Requirement. Examining the ESGC Requirement: Keep, revise, eliminate? Both ICS and ESGC are double countable in other areas,

The decision should consider the current direction of education (AI, literacy, LBGTQ+, etc), how it has transformed, and how it aligns with the core values for general education at De Anza.

Currently, there are 45-52 units in the Proposed Local GE Pattern compared to 30-33 units in the New Title V Minimum Local Pattern. One suggestion was to keep the local degree at the Title V minimums (30-33 units) and add Area 7: Physical/Mental Wellness and Personal Development.

Previous Reference Documents

GE Proposal Presentation

Revised GE Advisement Sheet

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Adjournment

Felisa Vilaubi motioned, Cynthia Kaufman seconded, to adjourn, no objection.

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Attendance

In person

Erik Woodbury, So Kam Lee, Mary Pape

Veronica Avila Acevedo, James Adams, Viviana Alcazar, *Cheryl Balm, Megan Brophy, Lauren Gordon, Rusty Johnson, Cynthia Kaufman, Shagun Kaur, Sherwin Mendoza, Lisa Mesh, Christian Rodruiquez, Jayanti Roy, Lakshmikanta "LK" Sengupta, Sukhjit Singh, James Tallent, Felisa Vilaubi, Christina Wright

Online

*Sam Bliss,  Mary Donahue, Dawnis Guevara,  Mark Landefeld, Ravjeet Singh, Leah Smith

Online, non-voting

*Christina Espinosa, *Lydia Hearn, Anna Nguyen,  Jamie Pelusi, *Marisa Spatafore, *Eric Mendoza, *Adrienne Hypolite

Absent

*Deborah Armstrong, Kevin Glapion, Elsa Jimenez-Samayoa, Mark Hamer/Rachel Silveria

*Non-voting