Office of Instruction Update - October 2024
From ribbon cuttings to my first ECPC meeting as VPI to watching my Huskies trouncing michigan in front of 72,000 fans as the sun set in Seattle, October was a very busy and exciting month.
Common Course Numbering update: The first 6 -actually 11 with Honors- CCN courses have been approved by the Curriculum Committee. The original courses have been ended and the new courses have been built in Colleague effective Fall 2025. There are still lots of changes and rebuilds taking place as CCN is swirling with CalGETC, new Local GE, and other curriculum changes stemming from four-year reviews. We are not finished yet, we have a big month ahead of us, merging all the changes, building the courses for rest of the courses, making sure advisories are correct with the proper number. But do y’all know who has it better than Clovis? NOBODY!! Nobody has the Clovis curricular dream team of Margee, Stacy, and Anna. Please be sure to give them a big thumbs up when you see them next.
| C-ID | Current Clovis Course Name | New Course Name (CCN) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | COMM 110 | COMM-1, Public Speaking | COMM-C1000, Introduction to Public Speaking |
| 2 | COMM 110 | COMM-1H, Honors Public Speaking | COMM-C1000H, Introduction to Public Speaking - Honors |
| 3 | ENGL 100 | ENGL-1A, Reading and Composition | ENGL-C1000, Academic Reading and Writing |
| 4 | ENGL 110 | ENGL-1AH, Honors Reading and Composition | ENGL-C1000H, Academic Reading and Writing - Honors |
| 5 | ENGL 105 | ENGL-3, Critical Reading and Writing | ENGL-C1001, Critical Thinking and Writing |
| 6 | ENGL 105 | ENGL-3H, Honors Critical Reading and Writing | ENGL-C1001H, Critical Thinking and Writing - Honors |
| 7 | MATH 110 | MATH-11, Elementary Statistics | STAT-C1000, Introduction to Statistics |
| 8 | POLS 110 | POLSCI-2, American Government | POLS-C1000, American Government and Politics |
| 9 | POLS 110 | POLSCI-2H, Honors American Government | POLS-C1000H, American Government and Politics - Honors |
| 10 | PSY 110 | PSY-2, General Psychology | PSYC-C1000, Introduction to Psychology |
| 11 | PSY 110 | PSY-2H, Honors General Psychology | PSYC-C1000H, Introduction to Psychology - Honors |
Please welcome Kelly LaSalle to the Curriculum Team as our new Curriculum Analyst. Kelly joins us from Fresno Pacific and brings of wealth of curricular (and Colleague) experience. She gets to train with Margee for the next 7 weeks – how fortunate is that?! She started today and jumped into the mix of all the swirl described above. Thank you Kelly!
Teaching & Learning Center: I am so excited to announce that we will have a physical space for the Teaching and Learning Center that is not in Tracy Stuntz’ Instructional Design office! Starting in the Spring, the TLC (cool name still yet to be determined) will be at the Herndon Campus, Bldg. A, Room 110. Our hope is to make this space of creativity and innovation. Come for the Universal Design, DE discussions, Canvas trainings, and so much more. Tracy will not be alone, however.
We have appointed Ann Brandon as the Teaching and Learning Coach and Diana Chandara as the DEIA Coordinator! Both Ann and Diana will join Tracy (and others) in the TLC, providing trainings, guidance, activities, and more to instructors in support of student engagement and retention, professional development, Active Learning, mentoring of faculty on best practices for DEI efforts, providing resources on equity and inclusion, and supporting all faculty through DEI training and workshops.
Earlier in the month I went with the other VP’s on a tour of the United Health Centers, guided by their Community Outreach Supervisor Mark Lozada. The work they do throughout our communities, urban and rural, are beyond approach. For me personally, I was sometimes emotional as I saw the great number of folks of color in leadership roles in the corporate officer, on the Board, in the pictures on the wall of the physicians and dentists. Lots of pride that day.
Last week I attended the Chief Instructional Officer conference in San Diego (I was indoors most of the time, don’t get too excited). For the sake of your time, all I will say is that I learned a lot and it felt good to be validated.
Today is November 1, Day of the Dead – el Dia de los Muertos. The roots of the Day of the Dead, celebrated in contemporary Mexico and among those of Mexican heritage in the United States and around the world, go back some 3,000 years, to the rituals honoring the dead in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. The Aztecs and other Nahua people living in what is now central Mexico held a cyclical view of the universe, and saw death as an integral, ever-present part of life. Upon dying, a person was believed to travel to Chicunamictlán, the Land of the Dead. Only after getting through nine challenging levels, a journey of several years, could the person’s soul finally reach Mictlán, the final resting place. In Nahua rituals honoring the dead, traditionally held in August, family members provided food, water and tools to aid the deceased in this difficult journey. This inspired the contemporary Day of the Dead practice in which people leave food or other offerings on their loved ones’ graves, or set them out on makeshift altars called ofrendas in their homes.
And finally, an October shout out to Leslie King - For keeping me on track.
Respectfully,
James R. Ortez, Ph.D., MPA
Vice President of Instruction
