Glendale
Community College
NCA
Self-Study Report, January 2002
Chapter Three
Responses to 1992 Report and Significant
Developments
1992 Accreditation Visit and Significant Developments
Many physical and organizational changes have
occurred at Glendale Community College since 1992, a good number of these
resulting in a strong emphasis on continuous assessment activities. This emphasis has helped create a way
of thinking that focuses on the improvement necessary to sustain the College’s
long-standing record of student academic achievement and success.
GCC had its last
comprehensive accreditation visit in 1992. The NCA Team recommended 10 years of accreditation.
The 1992 NCA Team
Report stated, “that although the College is to be highly commended for
meeting NCA criteria in student assessment, some concerns need to be
addressed.”
Even though
the College meets NCA General Institutional Requirements, there is evidence
that the current mission statement needs to be refined to facilitate the
development of a well-conceived, comprehensive plan that measures institutional
effectiveness. One of the
components of the Institutional Effectiveness Plan should be a specific plan to
assess student academic achievement.
(See attached NCA memorandum dated 9/9/92: "institutions scheduled
for comprehensive visits commencing in 91-92 are required to include as a part
of the evaluation review plan in which the institution documents academic
achievement as a part of the fulfillment of criterion three.”)
The College-Wide
Academic Achievement Committee (CWAAC) was formed to develop college-wide
assessment measures. The
Institutional Effectiveness Plan was submitted and approved in Spring
1993. Faculty members have put in
place the Student Academic Achievement Plan at the course, academic program,
and college-wide general education levels, and assessment results are being
included in the planning and budgeting process.
A concern identified
in the 1983 team report on the number of occupational programs with very few
completions has not yet been fully addressed.
Although
the number of two-year diplomas awarded has increased by 152% and the number of
certificates awarded has increased by 625% over the last 10 years, to address
this concern fully, the College re-examined its definition of completions in
relation to its vision and mission and purposes statements. The completion of a formal program is
not necessarily the intended goal for all students. While the College tracks completion of formal programs, the
College also recognizes many students attend classes to learn enough to get a
job, keep a job, and/or advance on the job. The College defines a completer as one who finishes a course,
certificate, and/or a degree, or transfers to a university. Recognizing that certain occupational
programs have low completion rates, the College has implemented a program
review process.
The
residential faculty (only 16%) does not appear to be sufficiently involved in
the evening program.
Per the
Board-adopted Residential Faculty Policies (RFP), while full-time faculty are
not required to teach in the evening program, they may elect to teach their
“load” in the evening.
However, faculty involvement in the evening program is direct in that
residential faculty provide evening supervision, recommend employment of all
adjunct faculty, and orient these faculty to the curriculum and College
processes. In this way, they are
actively involved in ensuring the quality of the evening program. In Fall 2001, residential faculty
generated 31% of the evening teaching load and 30% of evening FTSE.
The current
academic advising system should be redesigned to increase its effectiveness and
to ensure a high level of continuity.
Since the last
visit, the addition of 8 full-time Academic Advisors has increased the total
number to 10. In addition, 5
Athletic Specialists contribute one-half of their time to academic advisement. Advisors participate in weekly updates
and training and have greater access to advising resources such as transfer
guides, curriculum check sheets, and course equivalency guides. The previous reliance on residential
faculty for general advising was examined and their role in this area was
reduced. Advisors now go out to
the high schools, GCC North, and other community sites. The system has been redesigned to serve
our students better.
Students
interviewed had the perception that they were not always adequately and completely
informed of activities and events that take place on campus.
Bulletin boards, sandwich boards,
newsletters, and articles in the student newspaper were initiated to address
this concern. Students can also
access announcements on the student server and the College calendar on the web
at
http://www.gc.maricopa.edu/calendar
Students
interviewed do not fully understand the process to access needed funds for
their organizations and clubs.
The College has
instituted an annual training program for club members and faculty
advisors. In addition, a Student
Life staff member now works with clubs, organizations, and the two student
governments to explain the required policies and to assist them with the
procedures. Additional club funds
have been made available through the Office of Student Life. Clear criteria, along with a formal
application process, are in place.
The Library book budget has remained static for many years and appears
to be inadequate to support both the core curricula and new programs.
Increases in the
book budget have occurred since the last visit. Specifically, in 2001-02, the Library was allocated $100,000
in capital dollars for books, over $18,000 for supplies, $43,000 for
subscriptions, and $14,000 for electronic subscriptions. Also important, the GCC Library Media
Center (LMC) is fully networked with the District, the 9 other MCCCD colleges,
and the state universities and public libraries. In addition to the monies that have been added to the print
materials budget, the College has also realized the need to focus some of its
resources on its non-print materials budget and must address the issue of
funding additional databases.
Should the Governing Board adopt National Association Standards of the
League of Innovations, the College will attempt to increase the number of
databases to comply with this national standard. As books are important to the College and students,
book-sharing processes have been improved and expanded. In addition, the amount of money
allocated to the College from the District library bond funds increased the
number of electronic library resources, and all GCC students have free access
to the Internet.
Significant
Developments since 1992 NCA Visit
Over the past thirty-five years, GCC has
demonstrated its commitment to life-long learning and excellence in many
ways. Changes implemented since
1992 have improved the College’s ability to operate more effectively as
employees provide improved and more inclusive services to students and the
community.