GCC aims to focus on the basics

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — Glendale Community College officials plan to forge new partnerships and focus on more basic skills like English literacy through the next decade as they try to address a changing workforce.

In a preliminary draft presented to the college’s Board of Trustees this week, administrators said the college’s 2020 Educational Master Plan would guide curriculum, instruction and programs in the coming years. The planning guide represents months of work by college committees and survey groups.

“It’s your chance to make a long-term adjustment of what you’re going to get to where you need to be,” said college board President Tony Tartaglia. “It forces you to be critical of what you’re doing and how you do it, and make the necessary changes to do what you’re doing better.”

The plan, which must be ratified by the board, includes items like increasing English literacy and basic skills, as well as new partnerships, notably with Los Angeles Community College, which opened a campus in Atwater Village.

“It’s pretty comprehensive. It does address all the responsibilities of the college,” said Edward Karpp, the associate dean for research and planning.

The tentative master plan prioritizes four themes of strengthening student achievement, in addition to workforce development, student services and fiscal stability.

As part of the plan, college officials developed a series of strategies to meet the objectives.

To enhance workforce development and programs like the college fire and power academies, college officials propose consolidating separate oversight departments.

The goals were devised through an analysis that identified threats to the college’s mission, Karpp said.

Still lacking from the master plan are standards that would allow college officials to measure progress, Karpp said.

College Supt./President Dawn Lindsay said the master plan was presented early so it could satisfy another recommendation of the accrediting committee.

“We needed to respond to [it] and show we were working on it,” she said. “We’re using it as a fluid document, which is why it isn’t complete yet.”

The accreditation committee, a team of independent California community college employees, made scores of recommendations in March, from staff communication to budgeting. Some of the points were reflected in the master plan, but not all. Planners must still review the 200 items and match them with what’s in or out of the 200-page master plan, he said.