What is the Office of VC – ESP?

The Vice Chancellor, Educational Services & Planning acts as liaison and provides overall coordination in the planning, development and implementation of the instructional and student support programs of the District.  Research, accreditation, strategic planning, workforce and economic development, and educational technology are all concerns of the VC-ESP.

Being collaborative and district-wide in nature, much of the work mentioned above is accomplished through a Committee or Council structure.  As such, the VC-ESP chairs or co-chairs several district-wide committees including the District Joint Vice Presidents Council, the District Strategic Planning Committee, the District Shared Governance Council, the Enrollment Services Committee, the District Instructional Technology Committee, the Distance Education Advisory Committee, and the District Decision Support Services & Work Advisory Group, among others.  More information about these groups is available at:

The Office of Vice Chancellor, Educational Services & Planning (http://www.smccd.edu/edservplan/).

Through the District Joint Vice Presidents Council, the VC-ESP works closely and extensively with the Vice Presidents from all colleges on instructional and student services matters throughout the District.   The District Academic Senate president also serves as co-chair with the VC-ESP on several important committees. 

Highlights of Select Projects and Initiatives of the Office of the VC-ESP

Strategic Planning

In 2007, the Board of Trustees directed the District to complete a District Strategic Plan.  As a result, the District Strategic Plan Committee was formed.  Co-chaired by the District Academic Senate President (Nick Kapp 2007-2008; Patty Dilko 2008-present) and me, in collaboration with hundreds more faculty and staff, we completed the first District Strategic Plan. The document was developed through a highly participatory process and represents an integrated planning system for our District that is based on a culture of evidence, shared governance, and a belief in providing the highest quality education to our students. The unprecedented economic crisis has significantly impacted our planning efforts. The committee has identified 14 priority goals and is currently working on developing a vision statement, which will be built on the visions developed by the Colleges and the District office.

Direct link to the District Strategic Plan (http://www.smccd.edu/edservplan/ssp)

District Shared Governance

In order to provide an opportunity for students, staff, and faculty to participate effectively in District governance, the Board of Trustees established the District Shared Governance Council (DSGC). It is co-chaired by the District Faculty Senate President and me. Governance is defined as those institutional structures and processes for decision-making and communications that engage students, staff, faculty, and administrators relative to the mission and values of the District. The Council advises the Board of Trustees, through its designee, the Chancellor, on the following matters:

a. Procedures for faculty, staff, and       management hiring and equal     employment opportunities

b. Periodic review of the District Shared Governance Council policy

c. Planning for district-wide professional development activities

d. Oversight of the District Budget and     Planning Subcommittee

e. Changes to or the addition of locally     determined student fees

f.  Educational and facilities master     planning processes

g. Board policies that directly affect faculty, staff and students of the District, as determined by the District administrator responsible for Rules and Regulations, in     conjunction with the DSGC co-chairs.

Direct link to the District Shared Governance Council: http://www.smccd.edu/edservplan/dsgc

Accreditation

The District Accreditation Coordinating Council was formed for the purposes of providing all entities with resource materials, particularly those from the District Office, updating the Colleges and Board of Trustees on progress and timelines of self-studies, and coordinating efforts in addressing accreditation requirements. The Council consists of the four Accreditation Liaison Officers (three from the Colleges and one from the District) and the six College self-study co-chairs. It is chaired by me. Currently, the Council is working on evaluating Delineation of Functions – in response to a new policy from ACCJC requiring the ongoing assessment of how clearly multi-college districts articulate the separation of responsibilities along the four accreditation standards. The Council has met to discuss preparation for the Colleges’ mid-term reports which are due in October this year.

CurricUNET

This is a web-based tool to assist District faculty with course revision and development and to facilitate the Colleges’ curriculum development and review processes. Additional benefits include a program review module and access to course banks from over 60 community colleges in California. My office led the negotiation for contract terms to acquire CurricUNET and is currently leading the effort to deploy CurricUNET district-wide with the guidance of CurricUNET Steering Committee. After months of laboring over intricate details of system design, we are well on our way to system rollout in fall 2010. Trainings are underway for different groups of users. Ultimately, all deans and faculty will eventually be trained to use CurricUNET. Direct link to CurricUNET Steering Committee site:

http://www.smccd.edu/edservplan/curricunet

TracDAT

SLOAC Coordinators led efforts in identifying TracDAT as the tool of choice to input and assess student learning outcomes at all levels. With TracDAT, district faculty can use an internet browser to work on SLOs. The tool will provide a consistent approach to documenting SLOs with flexibility for customization and reporting. The goal is to have district faculty and staff use TracDAT to document the Colleges’ SLOs efforts in order to fulfill accreditation requirements. My office was asked to lead the negotiation for contract terms to acquire TracDAT. I am currently leading the district-wide effort to deploy TracDAT with the guidance of TracDAT Steering Committee. With the incredible help from SLOAC Coordinators, we are well on our way to system rollout in fall 2010.  

Direct link to TracDAT Steering Committee site: http://www.smccd.edu/edservplan/tracdat/

Distance Education

Broadening access to postsecondary educational opportunities for our county's residents and beyond is a key purpose of the District’s distance education efforts.   The Distance Education Advisory Committee was formed in 2007 to better coordinate the expansion of our existing distance learning courses and programs and the committee is co-chaired by a faculty member (Dani Castillo 2007-2009; Tania Beliz 2009-present) and me. The committee developed our district Distance Education Strategic Plan, and continues its work with ongoing evaluation of our district's technology needs and search for best practices. The committee is working on an enhanced Distance Education Gateway so students and faculty can easily find resources, courses, or support from a central point. Starting fall 2010, course design assistance will be available from Pete Bruni, the Distance Education and Course Design Coordinator.

Direct link to the Distance Education Advisory Committee website: http://www.smccd.edu/edservplan/deac

Fact Book

The office of the VC-ESP is also responsible for the creation and update of the SMCCCD Fact Book. This comprehensive reference contains key data that assists the Colleges and the District in planning activities, grant writing, marketing, accountability, and general decision making. It was developed based on earlier versions of the district compendium and other online publications from the colleges. The fact book is organized into 8 categories:

1. Student Enrollment
2. Student Achievement
3. Program Offerings (degree/certificate offerings)
4. Program Planning Data (productivity measures)
5. Faculty and Staff Data
6. Facilities
7. Budget
8. County Demographics (population, housing, the economy)

These data categories align with the environmental scan data used for the District Strategic Plan.

Direct link to the District Fact Book: http://www.smccd.edu/factbook 

Grants Support

The function of the grants support is to assist the District and Colleges in their efforts to obtain supplemental federal, state and private funding for programs and initiatives.  Assisted by Sue Harrison, Grants Coordinator (half-time), we:

1. support the District grants analyst and CFO in coordinating, monitoring and reviewing mandated reporting for district-wide grants such as Perkins Title IC, Tech Prep and Basic Skills,
2. support the community and government relations office with applications for Federal appropriations requests and the SMCCC Foundation with prospecting funding opportunities for College initiatives, and 
3. monitor federal, state, local and private funding opportunities and disseminate the information to appropriate District and College personnel.

Through district-wide presentations, information about the District’s grant application, submission, and compliance processes is disseminated.  As requested, we also assist College and District Administration, Faculty, and Staff in the application and submission process for federal, state and private grants. 

Course Equivalence Matrix

The Course Equivalency Matrix was developed for the purpose of making it easier for counselors and staff to search and compare current courses in the three Colleges. The design of the matrix was supported by the District Joint Vice Presidents Council, reviewed by the District Curriculum Committee and approved by the Board of Trustees. The matrix contains a number of most frequently used course attributes, but is not meant to replace the print catalogues or course schedule. The data is sourced from several Banner tables and reflects only the active courses in an academic year.  The District ITS, the colleges’ instructional office staff, and many others have made considerable efforts to accommodate the design requirements of the matrix and the accuracy of the data.

Thank you, Patty Dilko!

Before I end this newsletter, I want to recognize Dr. Patty Dilko for her outstanding leadership as the District Academic Senate President and for her dedication to the mission of our district and colleges. She is directly involved in many of the key initiatives and has been a great collaborator and a terrific colleague. I will miss working with her.

Quiz

Roughly how many students have been served by our district colleges since 1922? Do you know? If so, send me an email: luan@smccd.edu

The first 2 persons whose answers are closest to the right number will each receive a prize.

Have a great summer!

Jing Luan
Vice Chancellor, SMCCCD