DA General Information

Content

• Campus Overview
• De Anza College Information
• Accrediation
• Basic Proposal Outline
• Project Director's Responsibilities
• Assessment

Campus Overview

De Anza, one of more than 100 community colleges in California, has gained a natonal reputation for its responsiveness to community needs, including those for students with physical and learning disabilities, older adults, minorities and re-entry students.

De Anza offers classes on and off campus, day and evening, weekends, and on local television. Operating on the quarter system, the college schedules complete offerings in fall, winter, and spring, as well as several summer sessions of varying lengths.

De Anza is one of two colleges within the Foothill-De Anza Community College District and participates in the League for Innovation in the Community College, an organization comprised of 20 of the nation's most innovative community college districts and also one Canadian province.

Philosophy and Objectives

De Anza believes that each person has dignity and worth and is entitled to an equal right to develop their potential for a full and meaningful life. Men and women of all ages, interests and ethnic backgrounds are welcomed here to exchange ideas, to gain understanding of their own and others' motivations, to question and learn.

The fundamental notion that education is a process of exploration entails mutual responsibility. Thus the college offers programs sensitive to the changing needs of the community it serves and provides a staff of dedicated professionals, committed to creating an environment that nurtures learning. Students, in turn, participate directly in their own education, challenging themselves and fellow students, as well as entering into a cooperative relationship with faculty.

In proportion to the students' personal investment of time, energy, and commitment, they will come to know themselves, develop their abilities, and define their responsibilities to themselves and the community of which they are a part.

De Anza offers educational opportunities in a range of programs serving many functions:

The first two years of four-year degree programs parallel requirements of the University of California, the California State University and Colleges and private colleges and universities.

Business, occupational, and professional assistant courses and curriculums for students with a view to entering gainful employment at the end of two years of college or less

General education courses and programs for those desiring to broaden their educational and cultural experiences or continue lifelong learning

Re-entry services with renewed opportunity for entering or resuming higher education

Counseling services to assist students in self evaluation and attainment of their maximum potential

A diversified program of community activities, recreation culture, and education offering wide access to campus facilities days, evenings, and weekends

The Facilities

Located on an 112-acre campus in Santa Clara Valley, De Anza, through its distinctive architecture, harmonizes with the surrounding community and creates a natural, restful campus atmosphere conducive to study. The buildings are a blending of Spanish and modern architecture with adobe-like walls and red-tile roofs. Architectural accent points are expressed in buildings which serve unique functions, such as Flint Center (a 2,570-seat auditorium), an Olympic aquatics complex, a 5,000-seat Outdoor Events Arena, the 200-seat Minolta Planetarium, and the three-story Advanced Technology Center.

The buildings are grouped university-style in a traffic- free area in the center of campus. A perimeter road encircles the academic area and provides main access to the campus.

The landscape development accents natural advantages of the campus. More than 100 oaks, sycamores and palms were preserved and are supplemented with indigenous plantings. The basic flat nature of the campus is accented by rolling lawns and meandering paths. Exterior areas are developed to create a variety of dignified courts ranging from intimate patios to large formal areas for outdoor assemblies.

In addition, hundreds of off-campus classes are offered at numerous locations throughout the community. Extended-campus classes are designed to meet the specific needs of students, including both technical and general courses. All classes are comparable high quality as those of the main Cupertino campus, providing the identical number of credits and satisfying the same degree and transfer requirements

De Anza College Information

De Anza College

Background and Introduction:

De Anza College, located in the heart of Silicon Valley, has been a leader among community colleges in the innovative use of technology in the delivery of instruction and services to thousands of students. In the early 1980s, De Anza began using computer based instructional models to overcome traditional problems inherent in teaching to a broad, diverse population. In 1994 De Anza opened the state's first Advanced Technology Center (ATC) and is one of the very few community colleges nationally to hold a Class-B Internet site license. De Anza's Distance Learning Center, one of the largest programs in the state with approximately 7,000 enrollments a year, has demonstrated success in offering a variety of credit courses through television, mixed media, and on-line. This year, two of the six strategic goals of the college encourage the enhanced "use of technology to create more flexible and responsive systems and course delivery" to further the "development of programs and courses unique in Silicon Valley for innovation." The college supported these goals through stipends to 11 faculty across diverse disciplines to develop on-line courses via the web and e-mail. De Anza recently received national recognition from the League for Innovation in the Community College for its implementation of its on-line Internet Admissions and Registration process, the first community college in the US to offer such a service. In May, 1997 De Anza College was named "most wired" community college in America by Yahoo Internet Life magazine. De Anza College also has a long-standing commitment to, and demonstrated history of, collaboration with many community colleges in California and nationally to improve student learning through technology.

Institutional Narrative

Introduction

Located in Silicon Valley, the educational challenge of De Anza College reflects the paradox of a highly technical industrial environment with a vastly under-educated workforce. According to placement criteria students in an era of accelerating economic and technological change. What happens to Silicon Valley has important implications for the country as a whole. America's position in the global economy now is solidly based on the foundation of our high-tech industries. As these industries developed, a combination of a strong economy and a diverse, well-trained population allowed California's workforce to stay on the cutting edge. But the state's ability to accommodate a huge and growing immigrant population has declined sharply in the past few years. This decline has occurred in tandem with an upsurge in worldwide competition.

In Silicon Valley, the "cultural competence" of the United States now faces a severe test. Because of the political climate in California and the nation's calling into question the validity of affirmative action, a major proportion of our student body is at risk just when industry most urgently needs to hire fully trained technicians.

De Anza's ethnic minority students come from homes where more than 46 different languages are spoken. According to De Anza's Office of Institutional Research, 31 percent of the students at De Anza are Asian (37 percent if Filipinos are included) and 16 percent of the student body has identified itself as having a primary language other than English. Overall, 55 percent of the student body is from non-Anglo backgrounds.

The college's recent financial limitations, reflecting California's budget cut-backs, have impaired De Anza's ability to respond to a growing student body with a high immigrant population and limited funds. Just three years ago, California was staggering from a series of economic and natural disasters: massive fires, the largest earthquake in decades, and this spring, the destructive impact of "El Ni-o." Despite a significant nation-wide economic recovery, California still ranks 49th in state employment relative to population and 49th in spending for education. Most recent figures indicate that the national average spending for community college on a per student basis is $6,500 per student; California is currently funding at $3,500 per student or at $3,000 below the national average per student. Despite these many changes and partly because of them, De Anza College, in partnership with the wider community, is more determined than ever to meet its challenges. This spirit of commitment to "re-invent" is exemplified by Dr. Kanter, who challenged De AnzaÕs staff:

"We must eradicate elitism; we must embrace our changing cultural, social, and economic values; and we must expand the horizon of what is possible for everyone.... Our vision must be drawn from multiple intelligence, diverse perspectives, myriad cultures, contrary opinions, and collective values, beliefs, and attitudes....In all of this, we must now build community with those around us."

Like Silicon Valley's industries, De Anza College faces the need for continuous, rapid and massive change in order to become and remain self-sufficient.

General Characteristics of the College

De Anza College is one of two colleges in the Foothill-De Anza Community College District and one of California's 107 community colleges. These community colleges operate under the governance of a State Chancellor, a State Board of Governors appointed by the Governor, and local districts with their own locally elected governing boards. California's community colleges are organized into 71 community college districts. Each college within a district has a president or a superintendent. Multi-college districts also have a chancellor who presides over the district. Each district has its own elected Board of Trustees to apportion funds and to govern the colleges within its district.

De Anza College will celebrate its 30th anniversary in 1998/99. The physical plant has aged, and repair and replacement are placing a serious drain on the fiscal resources of the college. One of the top priority items on the President's agenda is maintenance of classrooms, offices and equipment. As De Anza's existing academic programs evolve and new programs are initiated, necessary changes in the physical plant require costly remodeling. The college has limited flexibility within the budget for additional expenditures because of high fixed costs: roughly 85 percent of annual expenditures are assigned to categories such as salaries, benefits and overhead. President Kanter has issued a plea for contributions of equipment and support from the business community to supplement De Anza's limited resources.

Accreditation

De Anza is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, one of six national accrediting agencies.

The University of California, Stanford University, San Jose State University and all other accredited colleges and universities give full credit for equivalent courses taken at De Anza.

Pertinent course work offered by the college has been approved by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, the State Department of Education, and the Veterans Administration, as well as the Council on Medical Education and Registration, the Board of Registered Nursing, the American Physical Therapy Association, Community Allied Health Education and Accreditation, and the American Bar Association.

Accrediting Agency

De Anza College is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, 3402 Mendicino Avenue, Santa Rosa, CA 95403, (707)569-9177. It is an institutional accrediting body recognized by the Commission on Recognition of Postsecondary Accreditation and the U.S. Department of Education.

Basic Proposal Outline

NEED/PROBLEM. Describe the need locally/institutionally that exists that makes this funding necessary. Be sure to back up your premise with FACTS. Use authoritative sources, statistics and labor market information to support your position.

RESPONSE TO THE NEED/PROBLEM. Why is your organization/ institution/college/district qualified to successfully conduct this project?

OBJECTIVES TO BE ACCOMPLISHED. Be sure to state objectives in measurable terms and be sure that they are reasonable and attainable.

ACTIVITIES/PROCEDURES TO REACH OBJECTIVES. What specifically will you do to accomplish your objectives? When will you do them?

OUTCOMES OF ACTIVITIES/PROCEDURES. What will be accomplished through the activities? Make sure they relate directly to the objectives of the project.

WHO WILL MANAGE THIS PROJECT? What positions will support this project and who will fill them? What qualifications do they have or will they need to accomplish GOALS?

HOW WILL THIS PROJECT BE EVALUATED/DOCUMENTED? Who will do it?

HOW WILL YOU INFORM OTHER PEOPLE, INSTITUTIONS & PUBLICATIONS OF YOUR PROJECT?

WHAT HAS YOUR ORGANIZATION/INSTITUTION/COLLEGE/ DISTRICT PROVIDED TO MAKE THIS PROJECT A SUCCESS? What is their commitment to this project and why is it important to the overall mission?

WHAT WILL THIS PROJECT COST? Provide a detailed account of expenses and what/who they will be allocated to. Be sure to include any matching funds provided by the college or partner organizations either through financial, equipment or in-kind contributions to the project.

Project Director's Responsibilities

The Project Director has the ultimate responsibility to see that the terms of the grant are carried out according to the grant contract.

The Project Director is responsible for communicating all changes in the grant activities, budget and/or timelines to the granting agency and the Grants Monitor.

The Project Director must file all required reports accurately and on time.

The Project Director knows the terms and conditions of the grant and is responsible for following and enforcing them.

The Project Director knows the Foothill-De Anza policies and procedures and is responsible for following and enforcing them in grant activities.

The Project Director has the ultimate fiscal responsibility for the grant.

Assessment

Sample Letter: Please revise, as you feel necessary.

June 15, 1999Foothill-De Anza Occupational Training Institute 21250 Stevens Creek Boulevard Cupertino, CA 95014

Dear Ms. Yoos:

(Your College) is committed to support the "Foothill-De Anza Santa Clara County College Consortium CalWORK's Assessment Project" to increase our county's efforts in moving clients permanently out of the welfare system and into jobs that will lead to a "living wage". We can collaborate to meet the workforce assessment and preparation challenges for clients and their families in Santa Clara County to retain employment and move up into a sustainable standard of living.

(Your College) will continue to serve clients seeking self-sufficiency and is pleased to partner with Foothill-De Anza Santa Clara County College Consortium CalWORK's Assessment Project on the success of the objectives outlined in the proposal. (Your College) is committed to participation in the following areas and other activities as needed once the proposal is implemented.

Participate on Advisory Board.

Participate in the in-service for training of staff.

Will make up to ____ CalWORK's referrals to the project.

Participate on staffing evaluation after assessment.

Participate in a Regional Cultural Awareness Retreat for college staff, faculty, and administrators focusing on socioeconomic diversity issues as they impact welfare recipients.

I look forward to collaborating on "Foothill-De Anza Santa Clara County College Consortium CalWORK's Assessment Project". This project serves the community by bringing agencies together.

Sincerely,

PARTNER COLLEGE                    ROLE/INVOLVEMENT

San Jose City College 

Evergreen College 

West Valley College 

Mission College 

Gavilan College 

Foothill College 

De Anza College