FA FA FA Faculty Assess AB705's Downstream Effects
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Monday February 25, 2019 Faculty Assess AB705’s Faculty Association’s 2019 fafhda.org Downstream Effects FA Hosted Retirement Workshops by Kathy Perino, FA Chief Negotiator three courses leading up to a transfer level Open to All Foothill-De Anza Faculty Full implementation of AB 705 in Fall course), the funding rate of $3700 per FTES EWS 2019 is just around the corner, and FA is asked means a loss of about $148,000 to the college. It’s never too early to plan for retirement! The Faculty Association is host- FAF O O T H I L LN - D E A N Z A F A C U L T Y A S S O C I A T I O N weekly about expected and often unexpected However, if the students who are enrolled consequences of these changes. First, the in the transfer level course actually pass in ing three different workshops on both campuses; all are aimed at helping President’s Report workload associated with all curriculum the first year (a big “If”), the college gains faculty plan for retirement: changes and placement processes is colossal. funding from the Student Success Allocation part of the funding formula, at a rate of about Faculty are spending hours and hours develop- • California State Retirement System (CalSTRS) workshops for SLO Down!: A call for ing courses that will satisfy the legal require- $900 per student (the student success alloca- ments of AB 705 yet still support students. tion is based on headcount, or alternatively both part-time and full-time faculty Faculty are trying to invent tools for Guided bellybuttons, not FTES). If the number of critical self-reflexivity Self Placement (not to be confused with Self- students finishing transfer level math and • Financial planning workshops for all faculty that will provide Assessment method: Students were as- Guided Placement) without “testing” students English in the first year increases by 80 bel- by Tim Shively, FA President lybuttons, the college will increase that part tips and strategies for managing tax-shelter annuities and sessed on their ability to analyze through the on existing subject matter knowledge. deferred compensation plans as well as overall retirement As a yearly adjunct at Santa Clara Uni- means of short essay questions on an exam as Second, curriculum changes have as- of the funding by $72,000. Further, if 20 of versity back in the late 1990’s, I participated well as writing a paper in which they had to sociated workload changes in the form of those 80 successful bellybuttons are Promise planning. Vendor representatives will be on hand. in a program assessment of the English analyze one or more of the assigned texts. load factors. Non-credit load factors, credit Grant recipients, the college regains an ad- Department which looked holistically at Target for Success: Successful learning lecture and credit lab load factors are negoti- ditional $220 per Promise Grant bellybutton, • For full-time faculty, FA is providing workshops on samples of student writing, the syllabi for will be reflected by 85 percent or more of the ated. If, for example, or another $4400. Thus, in this hypothetical Article 18 (Pre-retirement reduction in load) and the courses from which they originated, the situation, the budget still takes a hit due to students producing passing level analysis. a 2 hour corequisite Article 19 (Post-retirement teaching) curriculum governing said courses, and the Assessment Data Summary: A total of 26 is added to a class to AB 705, but it can be mitigated some by the college catalog’s descriptors of the same students completed the final exam and paper. support the AB 705 Student Success Allocation, a loss of $148,000 along with degree requirements, etc., etc. It For the final exam, 25 out of 26 students students, faculty and becomes a loss of about $72,000. Financial and Retirement Planning for Early to Mid-Career was an immense undertaking covering not passed the final exam. For the final paper, 26 administrators must Undoubtedly, the monetization of our Full-Time Faculty only the individual components but their in- out of 26 students passed the final paper. be aware of the as- students feels wrong and is wrong. But when terfaces, requiring While making a tremendous effort to sociated load factors the state creates a system that does just that, Tuesday, CalSTRS, 11:30 - 1:00 pm, Admin 109, De Anza multiple “readers” ignore the mechanical prose style, I am un- and whether a full we have no choice but to stay informed and March 19 Financial Planning, 1:30 - 3:00 pm, Admin 106, De Anza to pore over all the able to escape the circular self-justification time faculty member use that knowledge to influence policy deci- materials and add underlying the “results”: success will be based in that department sions made on our college campuses. Monday, Financial Planning, 12:00-1:30 pm, Hearthside 2313, Foothill their comments and on students passing the exam and paper the will be able to reach Regarding the Governor Newsom budget April 22 CalSTRS, 2:00 - 3:30 pm, Toyon Room 2020, Foothill and the chancelllor’s new student centered suggestions, both instructor has created. Since the instruc- “full annual load.” Financial and Retirement Planning for Part-Time Faculty in writing and in tor has also established the grading criteria FA is not suggesting Perino funding formula, the implementation plan group discussion. which determines what constitutes “passing,” that load factors drive for the new SCFF was to fund colleges using Tuesday, Financial Planning, 11:30 - 1:00 pm, Admin 106, De Anza It was an exhaust- therefore, the SLO assessment is successful the curriculum process; however, FA should a 70-20-10 percent model for 2018-19, and March 19 CalSTRS, 1:30 - 3:00 pm, Admin 109, De Anza ing yet illuminat- because I have designed it so. (Well, I teach be consulted so that everyone is aware of the gradually decrease the portion of funding ing undertaking, a Critical Thinking course you may wish to implications of such decisions. associated with enrollment from 70 to 65 Monday, CalSTRS, 12:00 - 1:30 pm, Toyon Room 2020, Foothill College and, significantly, avail yourself of before conducting any fur- Third, when fully implemented, AB 705 then 60 percent each year while increasing April 22 Financial Planning, 2:00 - 3:30,Hearthside Room 2313, Foothill faculty were com- ther SLO’s.) Even assuming that the exam and will have a significant impact on enrollment, the portion associated with “attainment” or student success factors from 10 to 15 then Pre-Retirement Planning for Full-Time Faculty: pensated for their Shively paper included analytical tasks, the potential and therefore, a similar impact on funding. Articles 18 and 19 participation. unspecified breadth thereof, the reductive The Foothill mathematics department fully 20 percent, ending with a 60-20-20 funding Fast forward twenty years later. FHDA, standard of student success, the lack of any implemented its AB705 curriculum changes model in 2020-21. Newsom’s proposal delays Wednesday, Foothill College, 12:00 - 1:30 pm, Toyon Room 2020 where I am now a tenured faculty member, objective criteria whatsoever—I’m sorry, this Fall and the impact on enrollment is al- this transition; it keeps the 70-20-10 model March 20 is heavily invested in the Student Learning but I’m not going to drink that Kool-Aid. ready evident. Course offerings in the “AB for 2019-20 by simply increasing each fund- Outcomes (SLO) enterprise, at the insistence I’m sure there must be SLO’s with turns of 705 transfer level” classes are way down, ing rate (whether FTES, degree attainment, Tuesday, De Anza College, 12:30 - 2:00 pm, Admin. 106 of its Accreditor, the infamously almost dis- phrase that practically sing off the TracDat, and class cancelations in those courses are completion of a certificate, etc) by the COLA April 23 accredited ACCJC. Both colleges provide and reasoning of such astuteness to make a up. Foothill’s overall enrollment is down of 3.46 percent. This decision, along with the release time for SLO coordinators, De Anza logician’s head spin. But this ain’t one of about six percent for Winter, with about forty provision that limits the increase in funding for the Student Success Allocation to only 10 College publishes an SLO newsletter, and them. To turn a page from Freud, sometimes percent of that associated with AB705 changes Professional Achievement Award (PAA) Workshops - Winter 2019 faculty, cajoled and badgered at every turn a frog is just a frog. in Math and English. percent year over year, brings into question to engage in the SLO process, in return are The foregoing raises one of the central The budget implications of enrollment the long term plan for the new formula. Per- Full-time faculty are invited to attend a Professional Achievement Award (PAA) work- offered...nothing. As for substantive com- difficulties in critically assessing the SLO en- decline due to AB 705 is complicated by the haps this Governor has reviewed the history shop. The workshop covers eligibility criteria, the application process, Professional mentary and discussion, I have my doubts terprise: the desire to avoid peeing on anyone Student Centered Funding Formula, which of performance-based funding and realizes Growth Activities, evaluations and college/district service requirements. Faculty are about any assessment system which reduces else’s parade. No one wants to dis the work includes additional funding when a student it has no clear record of changing outcomes. encouraged to read Article 38 before the workshop; this may be found under the Agree- to individual sentences the supposed mastery their colleagues so dutifully engaged in; we completes transfer level math and English in If anything it encourages educational institu- ment tab at fafhda.org.