Name That Section - Frequently Used Education Code and Title 5 Sections for Community College Districts

First, the regulations implementing Education Code section 53203 define “academic and professional matters” as “policy development and implementation matters” concerning the following 11 enumerated subjects:

 Curriculum, including establishing prerequisites and placing courses within disciplines;



Degree and certificate requirements;



Grading policies;



Educational program development;

 Standards or policies regarding student preparation and success;

 District and college governance structure, as related to faculty roles;

 Faculty roles and involvement in accreditation processes, including self- study and annual reports;

 Policies for faculty professional development;



Processes for program review;

 Processes for institutional planning and budget development; and

 Other academic professional matters as mutually agreed upon between the Governing Board and the Academic Senate. 200

The development of EEO Plans (or the formation of their Advisory Committees) does not fit neatly into any of the 10 specified areas; nor is there case law or commentary that indicates EEO Plans fall within any of these 10 areas. 201 Therefore, we conclude that EEO Planning is best categorized under the “catch-all” category.

Second, regulations define “consult collegially” as permitting consultation through one of two methods:

1) Relying primarily on the advice of the academic senate; or

2) The obligation to reach mutual agreement. 202

The regulations do not dictate which form of collegial consultation districts should utilize, but rather leave that determination to the discretion of individual districts.

Here, while robust participation should be encouraged regarding content, there must be a point after which the drafters may be directed to submit a proposed EEO Plan to the Board of Trustees for approval. We make this suggestion not to discourage an inclusive process, but to offer districts a way to meet their legal duties in the face of a stalemate. Therefore, districts whose participatory governance process requires “mutual agreement” with their academic senates should consider ways to define the topic for collegial consultation to permit the district to move forward in the event of a stalemate. For example, districts (under the

Name that Section: Frequently Used Education Code and Title 5 Sections for Community College Districts ©2019 (c) Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 68