If we seem late with the Spring 2019 schedule, it’s because we are. We’re scrambling a bit to adjust to some changes that were brought about by the recently passed, and now-in-the-process-of-being-implemented, AB 705.
I won’t go into great detail here, though if you are interested in what’s going on, I recommend you read this memorandum from the state Chancellor and state Academic Senate, which gives both a brief history of the law and guidelines for implementing it. I will, however, mention two things worth noting:
First: One of the requirements of the law changes how we place students into our courses. An oversimplified version of this (though not by much) is that we have to use high school GPAs as the primary method for placement, which has resulted in a significant shift in what courses are needed.
So Carla (our dean) and I have been waiting for information from census (which is next week) to be able to assess what we’ll need to offer in Spring. I have a meeting with Carla (the dean) on Sept. 11 to finalize what we’ll be offering. Once we know that, I’ll be able to start plugging in names.
Second: This is just something for everyone to be aware of. The department needs to make a lot of decisions that come out of this new law. Very little has been finalized yet–we have an AB 705 team working on developing recommendations for the department to consider–but it is pretty clear that our offerings will need to change. English 105 will certainly need to be discontinued. English 51 and/56 may need to be discontinued, though we’re working through some subtleties in the law (as well as subtleties in our own views).
And the number of English 1A sections taught are certain to increase pretty dramatically. For those who have not taught 1A for awhile, I recommend that you prepare yourself for that possibility (likelihood?)–and with the knowledge that the range of students’ abilities will be much wider than they have in the past. (Note that support for those students and for faculty teaching them is on the AB 705 team’s radar.)
Part-time faculty: I’ve sent an email requesting your availability and preferences. Please fill out that Google form as soon as you can–certainly by Friday, Sept. 14, if possible. I hope to leave that Sept. 11 meeting with a workable schedule, and I’ll begin work on your schedules as soon as the full-time assignments have been worked out. And, as always, I’ll be compiling the jig-saw puzzle keeping in mind the requirements of the contract, respect for seniority, and (to the best of my ability) accommodating your requests.