Wednesday, July 21, 2010

"Amicus" support for our "prayer" lawsuit against the SOCCCD

     Recently, three groups have filed amicus (friend of the court) letters in support of our “prayer” lawsuit against the South Orange County Community College District (aka Westphal v. Wagner).
     One of the organizations is the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). Here’s an excerpt from their letter:


     Another letter/brief was jointly filed by the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges and the Faculty Association of California Community Colleges.
     Here are some excerpts:

(Click on graphic to enlarge it)
(Click on graphic to enlarge it)

Pictured: Karla Westphal, speaking before the SOCCCD board of trustees

Competitive admissions in nursing programs

Vying for Limited Slots (Inside Higher Ed)

     Community colleges pride themselves on open admissions policies. But an increasing number are moving to competitive admissions in nursing programs.
     Officials at Southern State Community College, in Ohio, recently announced that the college would abandon the first-come-first-served approach of its associate degree nursing program next spring and adopt competitive admissions standards. Currently, all students who meet the program’s minimum requirements — mainly earning at least a 2.5 cumulative grade point average in college and completing a series of prerequisite math and science courses — are placed on a waiting list and admitted according to number. The 4.0 GPA student has no advantage over the 2.5 GPA student. Next spring, all qualified students will be ranked using an institution-developed equation, taking into equal consideration their overall GPA, grades in the required courses and entrance exam scores. Those with a higher rank will be given precedence in filling the program’s 100 slots.
. . .
     Like many nursing programs around the country, the one at Southern State has more qualified students than it can currently accommodate. [Julianne Krebs, director of nursing at Southern State] noted that its last waiting list had about 120 students. Given this, it is likely that Southern State's program, also like others with competitive entry, will turn away many qualified students.
     Elaine Tagliareni, chief program officer of the National League for Nursing and former community college nursing professor, noted that Southern State’s change is indicative of a larger trend of community college nursing programs adopting competitive admissions. She noted that the tremendous shortage of nurses in the field has pressured many community college programs to try to improve their passage rates by adopting these criteria….
. . .
     Two years ago…, the California Legislature passed a law setting competitive-admissions standards for all community college nursing programs in the state. Before the change, all qualified students were chosen for programs by a lottery system. The change has made a noticeable difference in California.
     “Community colleges with as high as 50-70 percent drop-out rates moved to accepting the students with the highest grades in prerequisites, or at least a minimal grade of B,” [ Patricia Benner, professor emerita at the University of California at San Francisco School of Nursing] explained. “This lowered the failure rates, repeat course rates, and the drop-out rates. … It is expensive to take students who are likely to fail and/or drop out. Saddleback Community College nursing program in Southern California near [Los Angeles] is my prime example of this policy. They have a high completion rate, and they also have 100 percent pass rates for the nursing licensing exams.”….

Roy's obituary in LA Times and Register: "we were lucky to have you while we did"

  This ran in the Sunday December 24, 2023 edition of the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register : July 14, 1955 - November 20, 2...