Category: ACCE President

A Post-Workshop Note from ACCE President, Frances DeNisco

11/10/2017

Thank you all for a great, productive week statewide!

I was privileged to see and speak with many of you this week, and I just want to remark that the dedication and work that all of you do as professionals continues to inspire me. The ability to meet with my Community Education colleagues is invaluable to me as a one person program. I know our colleagues in continuing education feel the same about having that time to check in and be amongst a group of people who understand.

The momentum we have been able to generate in the past several years on behalf of our students statewide is remarkable, and I look forward to seeing you all in Oakland in February to discuss ways to see that the momentum continues.

Thank you to the Board of ACCE, the Chancellor’s Office and Mt. San Antonio college for all of your work on behalf of professionals in the state who seek real change for their students. Thank you to our presenters: Kirstin Corbin, Chantee Guiney, Neil Kelly, Ashley Walker, Michael Quiaoit, Stephanie Paramore, Michael Ngo and of course our Board members who presented as well.

Frances DeNisco
ACCE President

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A Note from ACCE President, Liza Becker (Spring 2017)

4/18/2017

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Each term has its own sense of excitement for me. Summer term is my favorite – a time to tie up loose ends and generate fresh ideas for the new academic year. Fall term is full of hope for implementing new plans and aiming for those benchmarked outcomes. Winter is a time for re-strategizing, re-calibrating, and re-aligning the (enthusiastic) goals set in summer or early fall. Spring is simply action time! It is time to revisit our plans and “close the loop.”

I hope you too are feeling re-energized and prepared to tackle the myriad of tasks on your list. One thing to keep in mind is that we are here, as ACCE colleagues, to support each other and provide resources needed for our students and our programs. A great venue for this is always the ACCE spring conference, and this year was no exception. We were able to cover a broad spectrum of topics ranging from legislative and Chancellor’s Office updates, to communicative strategies in dealing with micro aggression in the workplace, and sharing our model programs that can be adapted for our own colleges. Kudos to the entire ACCE Board, and especially to Carla, Cindy, Jan, Madelyn, and Rosie for setting up such an awesome program! You’ve set the bar high for next year.

Next, I would like to tell you about an exciting event with which ACCE is involved in early May. It is a 2-day noncredit summit entitled: Building Bridges and Programs: Developing and Sustaining a Culture of Noncredit. This is a collaborative effort among several organizations including the Chancellor’s Office and Institutional Effectiveness Partnership Initiative (CCCCO, IEPI), Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC), California Community College Success Network (3CSN), and the Career Ladders Project (CLP), and others. Our goal is for teams to leave the conference with substantial resources and a preliminary plan for noncredit implementation or expansion at their colleges. The conference is currently sold out, but you can still add your name to the waitlist using the IEPI website. Look for further announcements through ACCE and other listservs.

Lastly, I want to wish you a smooth and successful spring term, and look forward to our next in-person gathering.

Liza Becker
ACCE President

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A Note from ACCE President - Liza Becker

12/8/2016

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There is a Chinese proverb which says, “May he live in interesting times.” Like it or not we live in interesting times. They are times of danger and uncertainty; but they are also more open to the creative energy of men [and women] than any other time in history.
– Robert F. Kennedy, Capetown South Africa, 1966

No doubt about it. We are living in interesting times. Our fall term started with greater than usual level of interest in the outcome of our political elections. It is ending in surprise and, let’s face it, a bit of anxiety about the future of our programs, our funded initiatives, and especially for our students. But have you also detected, as I have, the sense of solidarity and affirmation? The sense that we are resilient and ready to tackle any obstacles . . . dare I say “walls” that try to get in our way?

Press releases and listserv statements are all affirming the fact that we will not let our students down. We are in the business of serving and providing opportunities for our diverse populations, many of whom are turning to us for a new chance at college pathways, career advancements, and civic engagement. Whether it’s noncredit or community education they seek, we are ready, willing, and able to support them through the mission of ACCE - advocacy, networking, and sharing of our best practices.

Our ACCE Northern and Southern Workshops delivered this promise. I attended both and received feedback from colleagues who are interested in establishing or growing their programs, also from colleagues who are well established and willing to share their model practices. Rosie has written a wonderfully extensive description on the Community Education workshops in this newsletter. As for noncredit sessions, they were focused on starting noncredit programs and support services, as well as initiative and legislative updates. Some of the slides are posted on our ACCE website. I hope you were able to join us.

The ACCE Annual Conference also promises to be an interesting session. It will be held at The Dana on Mission Bay, in San Diego, scheduled February 1 – 3. Our theme is Treasure Hunting: Finding the right Xs for your students’ success! We are fortunate to have more funding initiatives these days than in years past. This comes at a price! We must be diligent in reporting our successes through outcomes, data, and other accountability measures. I encourage you to present your best practices with others by answering to the call for presentation we have posted on our website and emailed through the listservs.

As I write this just before Thanksgiving, I can’t help but think how fortunate I am to be part of the ACCE organization. ACCE has always been there for me over the years in terms of providing information and resources as well as support and camaraderie. Through ACCE, I have connected with key players across the state who listen to us and help us to set policy and guidelines that meet the needs of our students. ACCE is an organization that is comprised of hard working professionals who demonstrate creativity, innovation, and energy on a daily basis – necessary characteristics in these “interesting times.” I am thankful to be part of this professional organization and hope you are too!

Wishing you a Happy Holidays!
Liza Becker

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A Note from ACCE President - Liza Becker

9/6/2016

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Years ago, I used to look forward to summer sessions, jokingly calling them “Summer Lite.” These days, there doesn’t seem to be anything “lite” about them. Now I say “Where did the summer go!?” and I’m sure you can relate. There seems to be a good deal of activity on both the noncredit and community education fronts, and ACCE is making sure that we have representation at the table when the important conversations take place.

As I step into my new role as ACCE President, I can’t help but consider the major accomplishments we have achieved over the past few years. When I first joined ACCE in 2004-05, we were fiercely advocating for equalization of funding and eventually achieved it with the CDCP rate of enhanced funding. (Remember SB361?) This opened doors for some of us, and for others it helped to keep our doors open during the economic downturn, beginning in 2007-08. Today, we have different challenges (good ones!) that are the result of new initiatives, restored categorical funding, and collaborative opportunities with partners across our regions and the state.

So here are just some of the critical issues that are currently on our ACCE radar: Progress Indicators: Board of Governors is currently reviewing the recommendation of adding Satisfactory Progress (SP) as an indicator of success for noncredit, requires title 5 changes. We want this to be approved!

Noncredit SSSP: Implementation of Common Assessment Initiative and CCCApply processes are being hashed out with workgroups so that our support services can be adequately reported in the new noncredit SSSP funding formula. Locally, we need to identify gaps and align our data to the data elements coding for proper upload (and pay points).
Fee-based and Credit Co-enrollment: ACCE is still pursuing advice and direction for this option which has the potential to provide additional opportunities for student access. This has been reviewed extensively in SACC and discussions will hopefully continue in the coming year.

Updates on these “hot topics” and much more will be communicated to you via our ACCE website, the noncredit and community education listservs, our one-day fall workshops, and our annual spring conference. If you or a colleague would like to be added to one or both listservs, please contact your Council Leaders or the ACCE website administrator (contact information is on our website). Dates for the Drive-In Workshops are set for October 21 (Fri.) for the north and November 10 (Thur.) for the south. We also have the spring conference dates scheduled, so please save the dates of February 1 – 3 and prepare to stay at a lovely San Diego beach-side hotel. We are working on a special rate for conference attendees.

Last, but not least, I want to send a special welcome message to our new council leaders. Carla Muldoon, Cindy Chang, and Jan Young: You will help your colleagues in the field and learn so much along the way!!

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From the ACCE President: Spring Updates

5/6/2016

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It has been a little over two months since the 2016 ACCE Conference, and I would like to once again thank all of the attendees, ACCE Board members, presenters, and sponsors who contributed to such a memorable event. Judging from the evaluations, the content of the presentations addressed the needs and expectations of attendees. Monterey, with its historical and cultural settings embedded in the pristine nature, was a spectacular location for the event. As you might remember, I emailed a survey asking all ACCE members to point us in the right direction for next year’s conference location. The Board is discussing the possibilities and will make an announcement shortly.

At the conference, recognitions for Excellence in Program were awarded to Michelle King from Santa Monica College, Community Education Program and Julia Peterson from College of the Redwoods, Noncredit/Continuing Education. This year, the Lifetime Achievement Award went to ACCE Past President, Erica LeBlanc from Santa Monica College.

As we find ourselves in the middle of the spring semester, the ACCE Board finds itself busy participating in a number of state-wide activities. Valentina Purtell, ACCE Past President, has been attending Institutional Effectiveness Partnership Initiative (IEPI) meetings. Thanks to her participation, the recognition and validation of noncredit progress indicators is closer to becoming a reality. The Initiative has expanded its inclusion of noncredit participants at its meetings from one to three persons, which means ACCE will send two more of its Board members to those meetings. We feel our voices are being heard and our contributions to the state-wide dialogue about noncredit progress indicators are necessary and needed. Also present at the IEPI meetings, Academic Senate for California Community Colleges and specifically John Stanskas, Academic Senate Secretary, has been credited with truly supporting the noncredit cause. I sent a personal email to John on behalf of ACCE expressing our gratitude for his efforts.

Over the years, ACCE has been working to ensure that ongoing communication with Academic Senate becomes a reality. In the context of AEBG legislation, such collaborative efforts are crucial to inform faculty and administrators about the benefits of noncredit instruction. In the middle of April, the State Academic Senate Noncredit Committee held its Northern and Southern California Regional Meetings and ACCE Board members were present at each meeting.

As an advocacy group, ACCE strives to be on the cutting edge of legislation affecting noncredit and community education in California. Most recently, Madelyn Arballo from Mt. San Antonio College testified in Sacramento about the progress of the implementation of the AEBG plans. Also present at the hearing were representatives from adult schools in the state.

Spring is the time when the ACCE Board holds its elections and if you feel you can contribute to the field of community or continuing education at the state level, please don’t hesitate to contact ACCE. We can always use help.

Wishing you the best of spring semesters,
Jarek Janio
ACCE President

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A Post-Workshop Note from ACCE President, Frances DeNisco

A Note from ACCE President, Liza Becker (Spring 2017)

A Note from ACCE President - Liza Becker

A Note from ACCE President - Liza Becker

From the ACCE President: Spring Updates

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