UNIT ASSESSMENT REVIEW – BUSINESS AND LAW

DEPARTMENT
November 3, 2008

1. Please highlight any changes since you submitted your unit assessment (e.g.
enrollment trends of the units as of Fall 08).
Enrollment in the Business and Law Department has increased by 42% from fall
2007 to fall 2008 (See attached table and chart).

Two new law adjunct faculty have been added and three new AJ adjunct faculty.

(See also #4 below.)

2. What do you see as the strengths of each of your units?

What do you see as the challenges?

Strengths
AJ • Has built partnerships with outside universities and criminal justice
agencies
• Has developed relationships and partnerships with Cal State L.A.,
Los Angeles County Probation Department, California Supreme
Court, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, and the F.B.I.
• Has created articulation agreements with nearby universities
Business • Diverse faculty with a wide range of knowledge
• Online classes and hybrid classes have increased enrollment
• Long history of providing business majors with a quality education
• Faculty with field experience in business
CAOT • Prepares students for workplace employment and or transfer to a
university
• Offers practical courses using the latest computer technology
Law • Online faculty are all highly trained, practicing attorneys
• Updated course management system (Moodle 1.9)
• Using e-portfolios to collect written research papers from legal
research and writing classes
• Participating in the CCC e-portfolio project and will implement the
use of e-portfolios in assessment of SLO’s in the program
• Has collaborated with the Van Nuys and San Fernando Court
managers in developing a new Court Internship program
 Challenges
AJ • Revising several of the AJ certificates
• Creating Internet classes and marketing to specific populations
• Improving communication among AJ faculty
Business • Increasing enrollment
• Adding new classes
• Finding classroom locations – would like to offer more classes after
7 p.m.
• Providing ancillary services: financial aid, counseling, tutoring to
retain the students
• Economic conditions – students having enough resources to come to
college (financial aid delayed, costs of textbooks increasing)
• Students are juggling jobs, family, and student responsibilities.
Almost all business and CAOT students are working and about 50%
of them have family.
• Keeping up with constant industry changes so that classes can be
taught with up-to-date information.
• Replacing retiring faculty
CAOT • Increasing enrollment
• Creating Internet classes and marketing the CAOT program
• Working with limited English speaking students with poor
educational backgrounds and many economic and personal
challenges
• Keeping up with the latest software; ex. Office 2007 vs. Office 2003
• Being able to keep the CAOT Center open for student use at times
other than scheduled class times
• Coordinating offering multiple classes scheduled at the same time for
the purpose of increasing enrollment
Law • Growing the program while maintaining standards
• Employing a student to upload materials and to keep the online web
pages current

3. How does your unit planning support the mission of the college?
Part of AJ’s unit planning has included creating articulation agreements with nearby
universities. They have been very successful in maximizing articulation agreements
with the criminal justice department at Cal State L.A. and the sociology department at
CSUN. This has resulted in an increase in enrollment and supports the mission of the
college in preparing students to transfer to a four-year university.

Business offers a wide range of degree programs to help students transfer to four-year
universities and they also offer a retail management certificate. Several classes are
offered on line for easier student access.
4. CAOT offers several certificates and a degree program which helps students prepare
both to obtain employment and to transfer.

The Paralegal Program offers a certificate and AA Degree in Legal Assisting-

Paralegal required for students who want to become certified paralegals in California.
The program also provides classes (Bus. Law I online) to meet the growing needs of
its business students to take online classes due to their “busy” schedules.

5. What are your visions for changes, revisions and growth?

AJ will focus on those courses that are required for the A.S. degree and those courses
that transfer and articulate to the sociology department at CSUN and the criminal
justice department at Cal State L.A. They have changed the requirements for the
degree in Administration of Justice. Now, five of the eight required courses in the
major also articulate with the criminal justice program at Cal State L.A. They also are
in the process of working with their advisory board to revise several of their
certificates. Over the summer, they developed a skill certificate in Basic Police
Academy Preparation. Their strategy for growth includes making it convenient for
students to finish the AJ program and transfer to a nearby university. They will
accomplish this by carefully planning semester schedules, types of classes offered,
creating Internet classes and marketing to specific populations including peace
officers.

The Paralegal program plans to develop a strategic plan for ensuring its growth.
They plan on developing a marketing plan and increasing their support for their
online students, and increasing support for online tutoring. David Jordan wrote four
proposals for CTE Innovation Funds which would enable them to create four new law
certificates: Legal Nurse Consultant, Patients’ Rights Advocate, Special Needs Legal
Advocate and Legislative Research Analyst, which would provide training for entry
level paralegal jobs in the fields of Allied Health, Green Technology (Legislative
Research Analyst) and Advocacy for Children with Special Needs.

Business and CAOT plan to develop a joint advisory committee and to evaluate
scheduling and class offerings (students are going elsewhere to finish their degrees).
A survey has been developed and will be administered this fall semester to all
business and CAOT students to determine and better meet student needs. Tutoring in
accounting is beginning at the LRC. CAOT plans on working with the Business
Discipline to improve the marketing of both programs: mini schedules of classes will
be printed, flyers distributed, and postcards mailed reminding students of upcoming
classes. Through partnerships with other disciplines, CAOT will encourage students
in other majors to take their courses and the faculty members plan on establishing
more contact with high schools in our service area, visiting companies to promote
their program, certificates, and degree and using labor market statistics to help
promote the curriculum and career opportunities. CAOT also plans to work with the
EDD Office and Work Source Center to advertise their courses and program.
Curriculum is being written for a course in International Accounting which would
 emphasize the globalization aspect of business.

As more classroom space becomes available, Business and CAOT would like to
partner to create a unified business center which would simulate a business work
environment and help create a learning community for our students.

CAOT submitted two proposals for CTE Innovation Funds; based on labor market
analysis and statistics, a new degree and certificate program has been proposed for a
Medical Office Assistant and a new Health Claims Billing Specialist certificate.
Other courses that are being planned for are logistics and Quick Books.

6. What resources are needed to support as well as to build the programs in your
Department?

• AJ has requested more storage space and a dedicated classroom to alleviate

the problem of moving instructional equipment around the campus. AJ is in
the process of creating a Forensic Science program which will create further
demand for a dedicated classroom. They also need a display case to help
advertise and promote the program by displaying items of interest related to
criminal justice such as forensic science equipment, evidence, and AJ shirts
for sale. Currently, a display case is outside their CTE budget for this fiscal
year.
• To meet student demand, the paralegal program has requested at least an
additional 1.2 FTEF in Fall 09 over the Fall 08 (including new sections in
Fall/Spring, and also in Winter/Summer sessions. They also need a student
worker (with skills in technology) to assist in uploading and managing the
online course shells and the course management system. As they need to
adopt the lexis-nexis legal research system for their students, they will require
some resources to support and pay for this system.
• Accounting needs to replace the computers that were stolen from its lab in
2004.

7. What is the status of SLO assessments in your department?

SLOs and Assessments

AJ Six AJ courses have SLOs and assessments have been planned for these
courses. By the end of fall semester, all active AJ courses will have
SLOs and defined assessments.
Business Business is behind in its SLOs, however, by the end of the semester all
courses should have defined SLOs and assessments and several classes
are planning assessments.
CAOT All active CAOT courses have SLOs, three courses have been assessed
and three more are planned for this semester.
Law All Law courses have SLOs and this semester they are developing
rubrics and planning assessments to start in Winter 09.
8. What is the status of the course outlines of record and course updates in your
department?

Course Outlines of Record and Updates

AJ CORs are current for all courses being offered this semester. Three
courses are planned to be updated this spring.
Business A number of Business CORs are severely out of date, however, a plan
has been developed with the business faculty to update all curriculum
this year. The first drafts of four CORs (Accounting 1 and 2, Economics
1 and 2) have been submitted to the chair of the department for review
and are being revised.
CAOT All active CAOT courses have up-to-date CORs except for one which is
planned to be updated this semester.
Law Three courses need to be updated, Bus. Law I and 2, and Law 19. These
courses will be submitted to Curriculum for updating either in Fall or
Spring 2009