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Letter to the Developmental Education Faculty |
Colleagues:
I am sure you have heard all the “buzz” about CACC’s Quality
Enhancement Plan (QEP) that focuses on developmental education.
As part of the developmental education faculty, you will have a
vital role in making this program a success. I just wish to
update you about what has transpired and what plans are being
made to implement this new program.
First, a number of hours have been devoted to selecting
developmental education as the focus for our QEP. The selection
was based on enhancing student learning, affordability, and the
ability to produce measurable results; developmental education
meets all these criteria.
Administrators, faculty, and staff have been busy since November
2003 researching methods of establishing a strong, productive
developmental education program. To date, some have attended
conferences; some have visited other state community colleges to
see what has been most productive with their programs; some have
attended state-wide seminars presented by software venders; some
have attended on-campus software presentations; and some have
collected developmental writing, reading, and mathematics
sources. In addition, subcommittees have begun drafting vision
statements, program goals, and objectives. These are just some
of the activities that have been ongoing over the past six-plus
months.
You have probably been thinking, “What is my role in the
developmental education program that I keep hearing about?”
Well, I certainly hope you will play an active role in setting
up what IS going to be THE most outstanding developmental
education program in the state. I want to hear your suggestions
for developing a universal syllabus for the discipline in which
you teach. I want you to assist in determining what services to
provide developmental students. Basically, I want you to share
your strengths in establishing a program of which we will all be
proud. We are in the learning business, and you are the experts
in this field. The classroom teacher’s role is the core of any
strong educational program.
Obviously, we are not planning to begin all disciplines and
services by this fall. We hope to develop the mathematics
component first. Negotiations are in progress for a contract
with the I Can Learn software company. Although a number of
companies’ plans have been presented, the math faculty who have
previewed the software believe that the I Can Learn program will
be most beneficial to CACC students.
Thank you for your hard work with CACC developmental students.
Please look for an email or call from me about meeting to gather
ideas by mid-July. Best wishes for a productive summer term.
Laura Brown
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