AP 4021 Revision Update

1 day ago

2 min read

by Jeanine Sepulveda, FA Executive Board Member

The Academic Senate is leading a collaborative effort to revise AP 4021, our college’s academic procedure for educational program initiation, modification, revitalization, and discontinuance. As part of my role on the task force working on these revisions alongside Jim and colleagues from across the college, I’m sharing an update on our progress. Our goal is to create a clearer and more transparent set of procedures that outline the steps for program initiation, modification, revitalization, and discontinuance.

A Collaborative Process

This work began last May and has involved faculty and administrators working together to review and revise the existing procedure. Key voices on the task force include Annie Ngo, Scott Fallstrom, Steve Isachsen, Robin Allyn, Polo Mariscal, Jim Sullivan, Daniel Ante-Contreras and myself.

The process has included a lot of discussion of how the current procedure works in practice, clarification of roles and responsibilities, and consideration of how to make the processes clearer and more useful for faculty, while also including student protections.

Where we started

Our review process started with sharing our perspectives on the clarity of our current process. We dove deep into questions like, ‘What defines a program? How does this (current AP 4021) process fit in with Program Review? How do other colleges structure their program discontinuance process?’ This led the group to separate out AP 4021 into a proposed AP 4021A, which addresses the initiation, modification, revitalization, and deactivation of educational programs, sequence of courses leading to a degree, certificate or diploma, and AP 4021 B, which describes the revitalization and discontinuance procedure for an entire discipline or department.

Where We Are Now

We are now in the final stages of revision. The current work is focused on refining and clarifying the language and determining if any gaps in understanding still need to be filled, before being routed to the FAC and Senate for their review. Our goal is to ensure that the revised AP 4021 (A and B) provide clear pathways and timelines for faculty and administrators alike.