Innovation Anchored in Tradition:
Action Research @ Glendale Community College

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Michael Dulay

Glendale Community College Mission Statement

Glendale Community College is a comprehensive  public community college open equally to all adults or high school graduates who can  benefit from its programs and services.

Its primary mission is to prepare students for successful transfer to four-year colleges and universities or for successful placement or advancement in  rewarding careers. Its mission is also to serve its surrounding community through adult  non-credit education and community services courses and programs.

As part of this mission, Glendale Community College considers the  following to be particularly important:

• to provide a rich and rigorous curriculum that helps students understand and appreciate  the artistic and cultural heritage of this society, the history and development of  civilization, the scientific environment in which they live, and the challenges of their  personal lives;
• to emphasize the coherence among disciplines and promote openness to the diversity of  the human experience;
• to help students develop important skills that are critical for success in the modern  workplace, such as verbal and written communication, mathematics, effective use of technology  for work and research, information analysis and evaluation, problem solving, and the  ability to work with others and conduct their lives with responsibility;
• to provide an extensive array of student services and learning tools, including  state-of-the-art technology, to assist students in all aspects of their college  experience.

For this purpose Glendale Community College maintains a supportive,  non-discriminatory environment which enables students to reach their educational goals in  an efficient and timely manner.

OBJECTIVES AND FUNCTIONS

Pursuant to its stated mission, Glendale Community College has one objective: education.
Six primary functions support this objective.

a. Associate in Arts/Associate in Science: Education toward the granting of AA/AS degree(s) is provided in accordance with approved graduation requirements. General education and major coursework form the core of the required curriculum, the balance being electives.

b. Education for meeting the lower division requirements of a university or a four-year college. The college offers many courses which are equivalent to those available in the freshman and sophomore years at the University of California. The California State University and other colleges and universities in the United States. A student with a satisfactory high school and community college record will receive full credit for all college and university level work done at Glendale Community College provided that the work meets the specific requirements of the college or university to which the student transfers.

c. Education beyond the high school level for vocational competence and/or occupational certification: Training programs are offered for many occupations in business and industry. Certificates are awarded upon completion of the requirements for the occupation-centered curriculums. Courses offered in these programs serve three groups of students: those training for entry-level positions; those preparing for advancement on the job; and those seeking to improve skills to meet new job requirements. Thus, students are offered a balance of technical and general education.

d. Pre-Collegiate Basic Skills: Educational programs prepare students for collegiate level work. Courses are designed to provide the student with basic skills instruction with emphasis on speaking, listening, reading, writing and computation.

e. Education beyond the secondary level for personal improvement. Recognizing the needs of post-secondary students for education which may lead neither to education in a higher institution nor to vocational preparation, Glendale Community College offers a diversity of courses which satisfy intellectual curiosity and provide knowledge about and appreciation of our diverse cultural heritage.

f. Non-Credit/Adult Education level-A comprehensive program includes basic education, courses leading to the high school diploma, citizenship, English as a second language, career and vocational classes, and courses that satisfy the many special interest needs of the community.