Chaffey College began implementation through the development of a representative steering committee charged with creating a plan and encouraging participation. The Learning Outcomes Task Force includes a member from each academic school on campus, the director of institutional research, the curriculum chair, and the vice-president of instruction. The Task Force will likely expand to include student services and classified membership. The effort is co-chaired by two faculty members: one from liberal arts and another from occupational programs. Both share equally in the responsibility of the SLO initiative.
Over the past year, the committee has developed a pilot project, leading to fuller participation by all college groups over the next few years. The pilot included one faculty program from each school. Each pilot group was charged with articulating 5 learning outcomes for their respective programs and presenting the experience during the fall Flex activities. They received a small stipend for their efforts and leadership. During the past semester, the Task Force has conducted training and support sessions for the pilot groups with the hope that they will become mentors for the process in their own schools. In essence, the committee "grew" mentors and ambassadors. The Flex presentations were very well received. The pilot groups have been especially good at demonstrating that the SLO process can be both simple and interesting with careful planning.
The College is now in the process of supporting the pilot groups through an assessment phase and also recruiting new programs for the next phase of outcome articulation. Presently, approximately 25 programs have tentatively volunteered to articulate 3-5 outcomes for their programs, and they will begin the assessment phase in the spring. The new cohorts will have the support of the Task Force, as well as the pilot groups who began last year.
