Orange Coast College - Kinesiology & Athletics Division Athletic Department Program Review Submitted to the Orange Empire Conference Submitted to: Orange Empire Conference Committee Approved: Michael Sutliff, Dean, Kinesiology and Athletics Jason Kehler, Athletic Director Page 1 Orange Coast College is located in Costa Mesa, California on a 164-acre campus that was founded in 1947, and has grown into one of the nation’s largest - and finest -community colleges, enrolling more than 25,000 students each semester. The college features exceptional facilities and the latest in technology, and offers more than 135 academic and career programs, including one of the nation’s largest and most acclaimed public nautical programs. Nearly half the students on campus are enrolled in one of OCC's Career and Technical Education programs. OCC ranks first out of Orange County's community colleges in the number of students it transfers to the University of California and California State University systems. During the past decade, thousands of OCC students have transferred to UC and CSU campuses. Additionally, many OCC students go on to transfer to private colleges and universities within California and across the nation. The college’s Athletic Department, which is one of three departments in the Kinesiology and Athletics Division, is one of the finest in California offering 25 competitive athletic teams that compete in the Orange Empire Conference and the Southern California Football Association under the jurisdiction of the California Community College Athletic Association. The Athletics Department has 11 full-time staff members and administrators supporting an annual average number of 550 student-athletics and over 50 coaches (11-full-time). Orange Empire Conference Program Review The Orange Empire Conference Athletic Program Review serves as the primary mechanism to assess and evaluate the Athletic Program at OCC. Our goal is to ensure we are adhering to all guidelines outlined by the OEC, SCFA, and the CCCAA while addressing the programming needs of the department. Central to this review was the identification of program strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities of the department, and to provide specific recommendations to us as part of this self-study. The department welcomes the feedback from the external review team to provide external validation on what the program does well while providing recommendations for improvement. The Self-Study Document The self-study is organized by individual standards and includes: a summary statement following the first standard question, department responses to each recommendation listed from the previous program review in 2011, responses to each standard question, identification of action plans, where appropriate for program growth and improvement, and identification of appendices used for documentation and additional support of the narratives. Page 2 Standard One: Constitutional Compliance Question #1 After referring to your previous OEC Program Review list the area and describe the action taken on program review team “considerations” or recommendations. Summary Statement: The Athletic Department at Orange Coast College has actively engaged in strategies since the last program review to improve the dissemination of constitutional language and bylaws, and the impacts of understanding the consequences of not following the rules, whether they are acts of omission or commission. Improvements and changes have occurred across the entire Athletic Department since 2011, and they include: 1. Development and/or updates on Handbooks, 2. Individual team meetings with the coaching staff, athletes, athletic director, and Athletic Eligibility and Compliance Technician where specific rules related to compliance are outlined, 3. Comprehensive compliance meetings for staff and coaches with the Athletic Director, 4. Consistent participation in the CCCAA exam by coaches and staff, 5. Inclusion of coaches and division meetings with focused discussions on compliance related issues in various forms to ensure essential replication and understanding of building a culture of compliance, 6. The development of a strategic plan for analyzing areas of weakness and specifying strategies to address improvements. 7. Annual meetings including the Athletic Board of Control, division meetings, coaches meetings and special forums. Recommendation 1: The committee recommends that the athletic department take a more proactive approach to inform student athletes about issues regarding drugs, sexual harassment and diversity. The Orange Coast College Athletic Department understands and values this recommendation and has taken steps to address all areas of the recommendation. Actions taken by the Department include: 1. Individual Team Meetings with the Athletics Director and Athletic Eligibility and Compliance Technician: The Athletic Director and Athletic Eligibility and Compliance Technician met with each Fall team (including Basketball Teams) in July and August of 2016 and will meet with Spring Team’s in November 2016 to review aspects of the constitution and issues of compliance with emphasis on bylaw 1-3, the gender equity philosophy, key elements of the districts policies and non-discrimination and sexual harassment, and the impacts of sexual misconduct, and drug use as it relates specifically to student athletes. (See Appendix 1 –Power point from Meeting) Page 3 2. Development of a Student Handbook that incorporates language related to specific content outlined in the recommendation. Specific topics in the handbook include: a. Orange Coast College Non-Discrimination Statement b. Statement on Sexual Harassment c. Definition and statements related to Sexual Misconduct d. Department Philosophy Statement on Gender Equity 3. Update of a Division Handbook that incorporates language related to specific content outlined in the recommendation about how coaches can communicate with student athletes. Specific topics include: a. Orange Coast College Non-Discrimination Statement b. Statement on Sexual Harassment c. Definition and statements related to Sexual Misconduct d. Department Philosophy Statement on Gender Equity 4. Presentation to student athletes at the Student Support Forum on engaging in Healthy Behaviors. (See Appendix 2 – Agenda for Forum) Recommendation 2: The Athletic Department needs to develop a comprehensive Student Athlete Handbook. The Department has updated a student handbook that is disseminated to each student athlete at individual team meetings held each year, and an electronic version available on the Athletic Website. (See Appendix 3 – Copy of Student Handbook) Recommendation 3: The Athletic Department needs to develop a comprehensive Coaches Handbook. The Department has updated a coach’s handbook that is disseminated to each Head Coach prior to the start of the season. An electronic version is also provided and the handbook is available on the Athletic Website. (Appendix 4 – Copy of Division Handbook) Recommendation 4: The Athletic Department needs to make sure all coaches understand CCCAA Bylaws by having regular scheduled compliance meetings. Addressing CCCAA Bylaws with coaches occurs throughout the year in department wide meetings, small group sessions, and with individual coaches. Page 4 More specifically, there are six forums where CCCAA Bylaws are reviewed and discussed: 1. Individual Team Meetings with the Athletics Director and Athletic Eligibility and Compliance Technician: The Athletic Director and Athletic Eligibility and Compliance Technician met with each Fall team (including Basketball Teams) in July and August of 2016 and will meet with Spring Team’s in November 2016 to review aspects of the constitution and issues of compliance with emphasis on bylaw 1-3, the gender equity philosophy, key elements of the districts policies and non-discrimination and sexual harassment, and the impacts of sexual misconduct, and drug use and addition as it relates specifically to student athletes. 2. The Athletic Director holds compliance meetings each August where specific bylaws are presented and discussed. Selections of specific bylaws are based on the following criteria but there is particular emphasis on bylaw 1-3. The criteria includes: Newly adopted legislation, overview on key aspects of bylaw 1-3, areas where infractions have occurred, or specific laws that are confusing or misunderstood. Specific areas of focus include: Eligibility, Recruitment, uniform distribution process, and services and restrictions on benefits to student athletes. (See Appendix 5 – Power point and agenda from August 2016 meeting). 3. Division Meeting: The Dean holds three Division meetings each primary term (6 a year) and updates concerning the Athletic Department are a standing agenda item for those meetings. Specific topics and agenda items in regards to CCCAA bylaws and rules included at these meetings include: Updated legislation, rules related to recent infractions by Orange Coast College and other OEC Departments. 4. Football Team: The Athletic Director and Athletic Eligibility and Compliance Technician meet with the staff of each team to review core constitutional bylaws and rules in regards to Eligibility, Recruiting (Local athletes, Instate Athletes, and Out-of-State Athletes), and the restrictions on inducements. Policies and practices on uniform distribution is also discussed. 5. CCCAA Compliance Exam: Each coach, staff member, and administrator is required to successfully complete by August 27th the on-line compliance exam each