PUBLIC TO SOUND OFF ON COLLEGES PLAN BEING DRAFTED FOR STATE'S 2-YEAR CAMPUSES.Byline: Lisa M. Sodders Staff Writer The state community college system plans to develop its first-ever systemwide strategic plan by January and is seeking public comment through community meetings. At each meeting, people will be asked for their opinions about access, student success, economic and work-force development, organizational effectiveness Organizational effectiveness is the concept of how effective an organization is in achieving the outcomes the organization intends to produce. The idea of organizational effectiveness is especially important for non-profit organizations as most people who donate money to non-profit and resource development. The state will then use the input to create an outline for the plan this summer, with a draft version ready for the Board of Governors this fall. ``We can no longer educate community college students like we did 25 years ago,'' said board President George Caplan. ``The dramatic demographic changes in California and the inability of the K-12 system to prepare students for colleges require the community colleges to recalibrate the way we educate.'' The state system also is seeking input from the University of California The University of California has a combined student body of more than 191,000 students, over 1,340,000 living alumni, and a combined systemwide and campus endowment of just over $7.3 billion (8th largest in the United States). and California State University systems California State University System, coordinating agency established in 1960 by the merger of individual California state colleges, now consisting of 23 campuses. , public school districts, businesses, and community and governmental agencies. The plan is being funded by a $300,000 donation from the James Irvine James Irvine may refer to:
Caplan said board members hope the strategic plan will help them develop an assessment program to give incoming community college students the remedial courses they need to succeed. Historically, the community colleges have taken all students over the age of 18, but many students simply aren't prepared for college, Caplan said. ``If nursing students don't have sufficient math skills, they can't dose medication,'' he said. ``We have welding-program students who can't read safety manuals. ``We still want to provide open access, but we want people to succeed, and we want them educated enough, before they take a particular course, that they have a good chance of succeeding.'' One of the top items on the agenda for the new chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College District The Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) is the community college district serving Los Angeles, California and some of its neighboring cities. In addition to typical college aged students, the LACCD also serves adults of all ages. is developing a district strategic plan for the nine colleges. Darroch ``Rocky'' Young, the new chancellor, said a statewide plan is a good idea, but a plan must be specific if it's to do any good. ``I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. how you can move forward in a coherent manner if you don't have a plan for how you're going to do it,'' Young said. ``(Otherwise,) you end up having a sort of shotgun approach 'shotgun approach' A diagnostic philosophy in which every conceivable parameter is measured, especially in a Pt with an obscure disease, to detect rare conditions that may cause a particular Sx. See Defensive medicine. Cf Screening. : You fire off in one direction and then another, and you don't maximize the use of your resources.'' California's 109 community colleges constitute the nation's largest system of higher education higher education Study beyond the level of secondary education. Institutions of higher education include not only colleges and universities but also professional schools in such fields as law, theology, medicine, business, music, and art. , with more than 2.5 million students during 2003-2004. The system receives about $5 billion in funding from the state. Lisa M. Sodders, (818) 713-3663 lisa.sodders(at)dailynews.com IF YOU GO --A public hearing on the community college system's strategic plan will be held 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesday at the Historic Mayfair Hotel, 1256 W. Seventh St., Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. . For information, see www.ccc-systemstrategicplan.org CAPTION(S): box Box: IF YOU GO (see text) |
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