by Sterling Warner, First Vice-President
Evergreen Valley College

In addition to Regional Meetings, ECCTYC/TYCA Pacific Coast has held two full board meetings since last year’s CCCC Conference in New York. ECCTYC/TYCA Pacific Coast spent a good part of the Spring 2007 Board Meeting welcoming new Board members, discussing the future of inside english (our professional journal), planning for a preconference workshop featuring the California State University Early Assessment Program (EAP), and working on its Fall 2007 conference in general.

From October 10-13, 2008, ECCTYC/TYCA Pacific Coast celebrated its biyearly conference, “California Cultures: Changing Teaching, Teaching Change,” at the Doubletree Hotel in Burlingame, California. The spirit of the two-year college teacher/scholar pervaded ECCTYC 2007 thanks to conference chair and current ECCTYC Interim President Heidi Ramirez, Hartnell College.

A mere sampling of cutting edge sessions include “Re-Imagining the Writing Center: It’s Not Just a Place to Get Your Paper Checked” to “Tools of Engagement: War Veterans in Our Writing Classes”; “Bridging the Gap: Connecting Academic Cultures” to “What Do We Talk about When We Talk about Reading?”; “The Basic Skills Initiative: Welcome to the ‘Hotel California.’” For photos and reviews of these diverse workshops and presentations, visit “Conference 2007 Highlights” at www.ecctyc.org.

At the Friday Luncheon, Jody Millward received the Nina Theiss Award for her outstanding service to the teaching of English. Five co-authors from Modesto Jr. College shared the Best inside english Article 2005-2007 Award: Deborah Gilbert, Emily Malsam, Optimism One, Adrienne Peek, and Jason Wohlstadter for “From Part-time to Tenure Track: How to Get Hired for a Full-Time Gig” (Spring 2007).

Summary of Current Activities:

Ongoing issues and topics for professional advocacy reported by the ECCTYC/TYCA Pacific Coast area Co-directors include but are not limited to the “usual suspects”:

• Sharing approaches that different California Community Colleges have taken with respect to the Basic Skills Initiative
• Reassessing technology as a teaching tool for our ever changing student demography
• Developing/Revising/Sharing SLOs
• Adapting and diversifying writing pedagogy to address student learning styles and needs (e.g., pedagogy for the Generation 1.5 student and the immigrant student)
• Dealing with assessment issues (including BOGS, placement assessment, exit/competency or outcomes assessment, program assessment)
• Examining differential loading policies, especially how a favorable student/faculty ratio in a classroom promotes “effective” teaching practices and learning strategies
• Investigating the pros and cons of four-unit English 1A classes

The full ECCTYC/TYCA Pacific Coast Board of Directors also has been diligently engaged in organizational concerns such as:

• Celebrating the “teacher/scholar,” encouraging more full-time and adjunct instructors to submit pieces for possible publication in TETYC and/or inside english
• Updating and modernizing our website
• Revisioning ECCTYC’s literary journal, inside english; our new editor, Sean Stratton (Chaffey College), will take the lead here
• Attempting to establish blogs that two-year college English instructors read and respond to on a consistent basis (too often blogs have started off strong but then fizzled)
• Interacting with four-year colleges concerning the CSU Early Assessment Program (EAP), Junior Proficiency Writing Exams (GWAR), and other partnerships

Finally, ECCTYC continues to work as the professional voice of two-year college English departments in California, bearing in mind its broad mission: “ECCTYC as TYCA Pacific Coast, a region of the Two-Year English Association of the National Council of Teachers of English, represents community college English departments and faculty by promoting excellence in teaching English and by articulating the concerns of the discipline to professional and policy making groups.” To this end, ECCTYC has begun to work closely with the State Academic Senate on a number of matters.

On one hand, many projects or initiatives—including the Basic Skills Initiative—seek to identify, honor, and support “effective teaching practices” as well as maximize learning opportunities in the classroom and beyond. On the other hand, fiscal constraints—or the “need for administrative efficiency” as some call it—have led to such things as the California Community College BOGs (Board of Governors) Initiative. Therein, beginning in March 2007, the state chancellor began the process of evaluating the implementation of a system-wide uniform, common assessment with multiple measures of all community college students.

However, the California’s Consultation Council Task Force on Assessment’s recommendation to take action toward developing a common assessment instrument for English at all two-year colleges met with understandable resistance in Fall 2007. One resolution expressing as much advocated that the “Academic Senate for California Community Colleges support the authority of faculty to determine assessment procedures on their respective campuses including the selection of assessment instruments and how they are used in the placement of students.”

We find ourselves in a unique position what with Jody Millward chairing the National TYCA Research Initiative. However, activities of the TYCA Research committee are not the purview of the ECCTYC/TYCA Board.