CHAPARRAL

Equivalence is not equivocation  
or There’s value in equivalence
by Sid Kolpas and Peggy Renner

Were he alive, would Ansel Adams be minimally qualified to teach photography at GCC?  Does Mikhail Baryshnikov meet the strict minimum qualifications to teach our dance classes?  Could Kobe Bryant dare to dream that someday he might coach basketball for the Vaqueros? Could we hire someone like Virginia Woolf, who never had a formal education, to teach a writing class?  Would Harrison Ford qualify to teach a Theatre Arts class?  These are all questions of equivalency to the minimum qualifications, for which there is now a Board of Trustees adopted policy with guidelines to help divisions decide whether a teaching candidate who does not meet the strict minimum educational qualifications has experiences that, in depth and breadth, are equal in value to those qualifications.

AB1725, which called for the establishment of Minimum Qualifications to teach in the California Community Colleges, also included provisions that would allow for the hiring of faculty who do not meet the precise letter of the minimum qualifications, provided that “the governing board determines that he or she possesses qualifications that are at least equivalent” (Sec 87359).  The criteria and process for reaching this judgment is determined jointly by the Board of Trustees of Glendale Community College District and the Academic Senate (Title 5, Sec 53430).  Together, they are responsible for establishing and monitoring the process to assure its fairness, efficiency, and consistent adherence to maintaining standards of Minimum Qualifications that were established by the Academic Senate of the California Community Colleges, approved by the Board of Governors and changed by Glendale Community College only to raise the standards.

The authority to determine equivalent qualifications does not allow us to hire less-qualified individuals.  We can raise, but cannot waive or reduce the standards set forth in the Minimum Qualification list. The fact that a particular under-qualified candidate is the best that the college can find at that moment does not affect the question of whether he or she possesses equivalent qualifications.   That is, the issue is not how badly an instructor is needed, but whether that person has qualifications as good as (equivalent to) those who do meet the letter of the minimum requirement. In the worst case, the state could withhold credit to students who were taught by an unqualified professor.

            In order to establish equivalence of a required degree, candidates must show possession of at least the equivalent in level of achievement, breadth, and depth of understanding for each of the following: 

• The general education required  for that degree
• The coursework required for that degree major

                  A candidate who does not provide conclusive evidence (records) in regard to both of these does not possess the equivalent of the degree in question.  The burden of proof is on the candidate.

                  Many criteria for determining equivalency seem obvious and can be handled in a simple manner.  Others are more complicated.  One easy-to-address situation occurs when someone has all the appropriate coursework and thesis for the relevant degree, but the degree has another name.  A review of the transcript might show that the coursework is the same and the degree equivalent.

                  A more difficult case comes when experience or independent learning is proposed as the equivalent of academic work. These often occur in divisions such as Technology and Applied Academics, Visual and Performing Arts, and Physical Education, and in subjects such as Office Technology.   The problem lies in obtaining evidence to establish that a candidate really does have the broad background and depth of experience to be judged equivalent to the content of the academic work of the degree in question.

                  We in the Academic Senate are very happy to announce that the Glendale Community College Policy On The Equivalence To Minimum Qualifications was officially passed by the Board Of Trustees at their February 24, 2003 meeting.  This policy will now officially guide division chairs on:

• Criteria for equivalency and the burden of proof to establish the equivalence to a required degree or to establish the equivalence to required experience

• The emergency (“last minute”) equivalency procedure

            The policy is only for equivalency issues; it does not apply to candidates for whom the establishment of minimum qualifications is “obvious.”   The new policy:

• places the initial decision-making process regarding equivalency in the hands of the division committee.  This committee is clearly the place where the decision-making expertise lies.

• has an emergency provision for the inevitable “last minute” and “off schedule” decisions where it is difficult to convene the division equivalency committee

• sets the equivalency committee of the GCC Academic Senate as the last resort if the equivalency committee of the division cannot reach unanimity

Any discipline that contains the phrase “or the equivalent” in its minimum qualifications leaves the door open for equivalency issues.

The equivalency committee of the division consists of three tenured faculty members: The chair and two other tenured faculty members from at least two of the following:

• A current or a past senator from the chair’s division

• An instructor from either the discipline or a closely-related discipline

• A senator on the hiring committee

• Any other senator

                  At the April 3 Senate electorate meeting, Sid Kolpas gave a brief overview of the new Equivalency Policy.  While all division chairs now have copies of the policy to disseminate to members of their equivalency committees, Sid will always be available for consultation.  In these financially difficult times, it is unlikely that many new hires will take place.  Nonetheless, should a great need arise for “equivalency training” among faculty or division chairs, Sid would gladly hold workshops on the process.

                  Equivalent or not equivalent?  Hopefully, that will no longer be a question. &