Report 2022-113 Recommendation 1 Responses

Report 2022-113: California Community Colleges: Increasing Full-Time Faculty and Diversity Remains a Challenge (Release Date: February 2023)

Recommendation #1 To: Community Colleges Chancellor's Office

To monitor districts' progress toward the goal of having at least 75 percent of their hours of instruction provided by full-time faculty, by February 2024, the California Community Colleges Board of Governors and the Chancellor's Office should develop, implement, and report on a metric of instruction that calculates actual instruction hours taught by full-time and part-time faculty.

1-Year Agency Response

It is not necessary to implement this recommendation due to new reporting requirements in Education Code which supersede this recommendation. SB 117 (2023) amended Education Code to add sections 87890 through 87894 which outline additional reporting requirements for the Chancellor's Office and for districts as a condition of receiving full-time faculty hiring funds. Education Code section 87891 (c )(1) requires the number and percentage of instruction taught to be reported as measured by the current regulatory definition and calculation of full-time equivalent faculty, as described in Title 5 sections 53309 and 53310. Therefore, development of a new metric is not required.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: No Action Taken

This response is essentially unchanged from the Chancellor's Office's 6-month response. Although SB117 does not prohibit the California Community Colleges from developing, implementing, and reporting on a metric of instruction that calculates actual instruction hours, the Chancellor's Office appears to indicate that it does not intend to do so at this time.

6-Month Agency Response

It is not necessary to implement this recommendation due to budget trailer bill Language and new reporting requirements in Education Code which supersede this recommendation. SB 117 (2023) amended Education Code to add sections 87890 through 87894 which outline additional reporting requirements for the Chancellor's Office and for districts as a condition of receiving full-time faculty hiring funds. Education Code section 87891 (c )(1) requires the number and percentage of instruction taught to be reported as measured by the current regulatory definition and calculation of full-time equivalent faculty, as described in Title V sections 53309 and 53310. Therefore, development of a new metric is not required.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: No Action Taken

Although SB117 does not prohibit the California Community Colleges from developing, implementing, and reporting on a metric of instruction that calculates actual instruction hours, the Chancellor's Office provides no indication that it will do so.

60-Day Agency Response

Through the consultative process required by law, the Chancellor's Office has initiated a systemwide conversation on the future of teaching, learning, and student success. Specifically, an item on this topic was included on the April 20, 2023, Consultation Council agenda. The discussion centered around the recognition of the complexity of the definition of instruction and identification of factors that contribute to student success. Next steps will include an in-depth study to provide data and evidence to inform further consideration of changes to the metric of instruction used to measure progress toward the 75% goal and a mechanism to promote compliance.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending

Based on its response, the Chancellor's Office has not yet begun to develop, implement, and report a metric of instruction that calculates actual instruction hours. It's next steps may represent the beginning of implementation of this recommendation if those steps include development of a metric that calculates actual instruction hours taught by full-time and part-time faculty.

All Recommendations in 2022-113

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.