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CAEP Annual Plan: 2021-22 56 Santa Monica Regional Consortium for Adult Education

Status: Consortium Approved

California Adult Education Program : Annual Plan : 2021-22 Produced: Jul 26, 2021, 06:13 PM UTC Anthony Fuller

56 Santa Monica Regional Consortium for Adult Education

Plans & Goals - Consortium Approved

Executive Summary
The Santa Monica Regional Consortium for Adult Education takes pride in serving as the Santa Monica-Malibu academic and career pathway for adult learners seeking to increase basic skills, earn a high school diploma, prepare for the GED examination, complete noncredit courses to earn a certificate, transition to college-level (credit courses/programs), and/or obtain mid-level employment with livable wages. As members of the Consortium, the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Adult Education Center (AEC) and Santa Monica College Noncredit Programs (SMC Noncredit) are committed to making a positive impact in the lives of underserved, underemployed and unemployed adult learners. This commitment stems from the Consortium's ongoing strategic goal to assess the academic and career needs of regional adult learners and to focus on eliminating barriers and intentionally addressing systemic racism in order to provide more accessible, equitable, and quality academic and career pathways. Despite having to offer instruction and support services completely online in response to the COVID 19 Pandemic, the Consortium and its regional partners accomplished its stated goals. To assist students with transition services, SMC and AEC fully implemented the use of the referral tool and SMC Noncredit created 5 noncredit pathway maps that outline credit and career opportunities. SMC Noncredit successfully piloted an Integrated Education Training Program with ESL for College and Career Pathways courses which supported students enrolled in Introduction to Early Care Education. SMC Noncredit offered the newly approved Receptionist program in fall 2020. Additionally, four new pre-certified nursing courses received local approval in May 2021. AEC and Noncredit administrators, faculty and staff participated in local and statewide professional development aimed at building a stronger workforce with a focus on noncredit short-term vocational, workforce preparation, and student equity themes. In the fall of 2020, SMC Noncredit presented at the CAEP Virtual Summit and both the AEC and SMC Noncredit participated in a joint Equity for All Learners Community of Practice facilitated by CALPRO in spring 2021. SMC Noncredit received data-based training facilitated by West Ed and SMC Institutional Research. In collaboration with SMC Marketing, SMC Noncredit transitioned all marketing materials to online platforms and participated in several virtual recruitment events with SMC and community partners. Both agencies served on the Local Hire and Local Train subcommittee of the City of Santa Monica’s Economic Recovery Committees to expand visibility of local training opportunities for adults who were directly impacted by the economic crisis. Consistent with the goals in our 3-year plan, for the 2021-2022 annual plan the Consortium is committed to: (1) greater marketing and outreach efforts (2) strengthening partnerships with both local and industry partners (3) the expansion of new CDCP certificates (4) Alignment of ESL and pathways from AEC to Noncredit and SMC (5) Professional Development. To build on the successes of this past year, the goals for the 2021-22 year include: (1) Begin to transition from completely distance learning to a combination of distance education and on ground instruction (2) Provide intentional outreach to displaced workers, continue to strengthen marketing and outreach efforts and continue to assist with the City of Santa Monica’s Economic Recovery efforts.(3) Expand referrals to community partners like West LA JVS WorkSource and the Santa Monica’s Public Library. (4) Create additional pathways for students transitioning from AEC to Noncredit, AB 540 students transitioning to credit, and formerly incarcerated students. (5) Create new courses and noncredit CDCP certificate programs that meet the current workforce needs including in digital literacy, healthcare and logistics. (6) Continue to refine ESL alignment and expand integrated education training programs to careers in healthcare. (7) Explore the use of Open Educational Resources for all noncredit programs. (8) Continue professional development opportunities for remote teaching and services, racial equity and adult education curriculum and services. (9) Continue to fund noncredit faculty, administrators and classified staff and student workers to implement CAEP activities.
Regional Planning Overview
The main themes that will drive the Three-Year Plan while beginning to transition from completely distance learning to operating in a combination of distance education and on-ground instruction and services during COVID19 are: (1) expansion of marketing and outreach efforts to reach new students that have been affected by the current economic crisis ;(2) development of noncredit CDCP courses/programs leading to mid-level employment with living wages and successful transition to credit CTE programs; (3) enhanced counseling transition support; (4) continuation of ESL curriculum development including the expansion of Integrated Training Programs; (5) exploration of Adult Secondary Education courses in English and mathematics and expansion of noncredit opportunities to support first generation college students’ success in credit coursework. The Consortium will continue to focus on the successful transition of AEC students to Noncredit Career Development College Preparation (CDCP) courses and programs. Noncredit administrators will continue to partner with SMC faculty to support academic departments with the implementation of newly approved noncredit CDCP programs in addition to advising SMC faculty on how best to develop new noncredit CDCP programs based on regional labor market data. Both Consortium members will evaluate the effectiveness of program activities by collecting and analyzing course,program, and student transition and completion data in an attempt to identify racial equity gaps. The AEC will develop strategies based on identified student needs. These strategies will be evaluated by AEC administrators and teachers and will follow a cycle thadst includes planning, implementation, assessment, and improvement. Critical needs and challenges will be identified by schoolwide needs assessments and student surveys. The Consortium will adopt a student survey to be conducted in the fall 2021 semester that will identify student goals and needs in addition to assessing the racial climate. Results will be used to enhance course development, student services and professional development opportunities. The following objectives map directly to the Consortium’s Logic Model activities, outputs, and/or outcomes serving as a driving factor for annual plans throughout the funding period: (1) strategies will be regularly evaluated by the AEC Professional Learning Community; (2)SMC Institutional Research will partner with SMC Noncredit to analyze racial equity data in student transitions and outcomes by regularly evaluating noncredit strategies; (3)the AEC will evaluate the effectiveness of pilot programs by reviewing formative data collected during student enrollment as it relates to identified student academic and career goals; (4)regular review and data analysis will be performed by the AEC Special Programs Lead; (5)student surveys, CASAS assessment results, and EL Civics assessments will enable the AEC to inform improvement processes. The Three-Year Plan will inform the following strategies and progress indicators: (1) by January 2022, the SMC Noncredit will partner with SMC Outreach to develop new marketing and outreach strategies to encourage enrollment of displaced workers. (2) by March 2022, the Consortium will host a partner event to promote current class offerings and expand use of the referral system to at least one community partner. (3) By May 2022, the Consortium will host at least one joint professional development opportunity for administrators, faculty and staff. (4) By May 2022, the Consortium will increase the number of noncredit CDCP program completers and in collaboration with SMC faculty, the Consortium hopes to add at least one new noncredit CDCP program in Health Sciences, Logistics or Sustainability.

Meeting Regional Needs

Regional Need #1

Gaps in Service / Regional Needs
The Consortium has had difficulty reaching its most underserved communities in the Santa Monica-Malibu region, especially in light of the current economic crisis. There continues to be a lack of visibility of adult education programs in the region because only a small minority of residents ~5% benefit from adult education programs. There needs to be a stronger connection between adult education/noncredit programs, community, and industry. This lack of visibility was also the result of only being able to promote programs digitally as a result of working completely remotely throughout the 2020-2021 school year. It was difficult to reach potential students who either did not have access to technology or had limited digital literacy. With the possibility of returning to some on-ground activities, the Consortium hopes to plan and participate in more in person outreach and recruiting strategies.
How do you know? What resources did you use to identify these gaps?
According to the 2019 American Community Survey, U.S. Census, 95% of Santa Monica residents have a high school diploma and have a median income of $96,570. Given that the Consortium is in a region where most residents are not traditional adult education/noncredit learners and given that many SMC students are residents of the Los Angeles region, the Consortium's adult learner/noncredit population might be significantly lower than other regions/districts. Although the majority of residents have a high school diploma or higher, the poverty rate was reported to be 9.9%. During the height of the economic crisis which resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the unemployment rate rose to 15.80% in May 2020.
How will you measure effectiveness / progress towards meeting this need?
Year 2021/2022 Annual Plan Primary Objectives: One of the Consortium's greatest challenge continues to be program awareness and growth especially during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis. Although a high percentage of Santa Monica residents may not have an interest in adult education programs, those who were most impacted by the pandemic need the programs and resources the Consortium can offer now more than ever. It is critical for the Consortium to be intentional in its marketing and outreach by connecting with community and industry partners to identify potential students. The Consortium continues to work with the City of Santa Monica’s Community and Economic Development Task Force to promote training and skill building opportunities for local residents who are facing employment hardships as a result of COVID-19. Noncredit is an active member and represents the Consortium in the City’s bi-weekly meetings. The Task Force aims to connect underemployed and unemployed Santa Monica residents with local job training programs and employment. As a result, adult education and noncredit programs will be widely promoted with the goal of increasing enrollment and completion in short-term vocational and workforce preparation courses/programs. Additionally, the Task Force is collaborating with the City of Santa Monica’s Chamber of Commerce to identify skill gaps in the workforce to better inform the creation of adult education and noncredit career readiness courses. Although Noncredit pivoted to online marketing and recruitment strategies, these strategies were not successful in reaching adults with low levels of digital literacy or limited access to technology and competing personal priorities. As a result, enrollment was impacted in both fall 2020 and spring 2021. As the Consortium plans to be able to offer some in person instruction and services, the SMC Noncredit Initiatives Marketing Workgroup will work in closer partnership with SMC Outreach and SMC Marketing Departments to promote adult education pathways with displaced workers and adults looking to retrain for new industries. Regional partners will be updated at least three times a year. If successful, the Consortium will have an increase in enrollment across adult education and noncredit programs in the region which would lead to an increase in completion and transition (e.g., greater number of certificates and degrees earned). The Consortium will regularly monitor enrollment each semester. Financial resources will be allotted for marketing materials and outreach efforts. Noncredit administrators will join Strategic Enrollment Development Workgroups,and Noncredit administrators, faculty, classified staff, and student helpers will continue to implement outreach and recruitment activities. With the successful development of the interagency tracking tool used by the Consortium members, community partners have discussed the need to expand the referral tool to include their agencies. The Consortium plans to train and onboard at least one community partner in the 2021-2022 academic year. If successfully implemented, the Consortium will be able to receive and track external student referrals. The Consortium will continue to strengthen pathways for students to transition to their next goals. The AEC will focus on better alignment of existing adult school programs to support student persistence, progression, and completion toward academic goals. The AEC will strengthen alignment of current pathways with SMC noncredit and credit programs and local educational institutions, in addition to existing and new community and industry partners. SMC will continue to build on the noncredit Career Development College Preparation (CDCP) course and program mapping efforts and continue to expand program offerings that align to credit and career opportunities. To ease students' transition from noncredit to credit coursework, the Noncredit team will streamline processes to help students petition for AB 540 status, work with the Welcome Center to create a more holistic onboarding to credit, and will work with the SMC Formerly Incarcerated Student Advocacy group to discuss potential noncredit opportunities for formerly incarcerated students. SMC Noncredit will also continue to work with SMC special programs to support traditionally marginalized student groups and their families. In an effort to increase student transition from the AEC to Noncredit, the Consortium will continue to provide outreach and counseling transition services to the AEC by Noncredit counselors visiting the AEC at least two to three times a semester (spring and fall) and at least once during the intersessions (summer and winter). Identified strategies will be considered while working towards school-wide program objectives and individual student goals through the collection of data and ongoing review/reflection of data. In addition, the development of improved longitudinal data to track outcomes for

Gaps In Service

New Strategies

Strategy #1
Marketing and Outreach: Noncredit will work with SMC Outreach to develop a strategic enrollment and development plan that is inclusive of adult education opportunities. Noncredit plans to participate in SMC sponsored outreach events, Welcome Week, First Generation Student Extravaganza, Open Houses and community resource fairs, and participate or develop other outreach opportunities. The Consortium will continue to serve on the City of Santa Monica’s Local Hire and Local Train Subcommittee of the Economic Recovery Workgroup to promote adult education opportunities to the community and the region. The AEC will work more closely with the SMMUSD Community and Public Relations Officer to promote AEC programs. AEC will continue to build relationships and promote program services through SMMUSD Community Liaisons and participation in SMMUSD school parent meetings. Ongoing promotion through school website, Google Business, Community Resources Padlet and Job Resources Padlet. Student Engagement Lead will support the formation of a new Student Engagement Workgroup and school newsletter.
Strategy #2
Electronic Student Referral and Tracking System: The Governing Board will train and onboard at least one community partner to the new online referral and tracking tool. The expansion of a tracking system will strengthen the Consortium’s connection to community and industry partners and increase student access while streamlining the referral process. With the ability to track interagency referrals, the Consortium will more easily make connections to community resources and the workforce. Along with the interagency referral system, the Consortium will identify dedicated time/workspace for partners to meet with students and Consortium members.
Strategy #3
Professional Development: The Consortium will promote professional development opportunities that focus on equity for faculty and staff in order to address possible barriers to persistence, completion, and transition. Noncredit will continue to participate in instruction and curriculum-related professional development in addition to noncredit-related workshops, meetings, and conferences as well as noncredit career pathways. Student data will drive professional development with a focus on workforce/career preparation, digital literacy, and noncredit Career Development and College Preparation (CDCP) programs. The AEC will focus on providing faculty and staff professional development opportunities in alignment with student learning outcomes and under the guiding principles of the SMMUSD’s vision and mission. AEC student data will support professional development in the areas of student persistence, curriculum alignment, support services and technology. The Consortium will continue to host joint events to align curriculum and eliminate duplication of services.
Strategy #4
Remote and on ground instruction and services: As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the immediate shift to distance learning and remote services, both agencies experienced loss of enrollment and students who struggled with the distance learning. Following Public Health Guidance, the Consortium plans to be able to transition back to some on ground instruction and services to help students with digital literacy or technology concerns. Additionally, the Consortium will continue to support the continued use of distance learning and remote services.
Strategy #5
Exploration of Open Educational Resources: Noncredit will support faculty in exploration of converting all classroom materials to Open Educational Resources. Although Noncredit courses do not charge enrollment fees, some classes require students to buy their own supplies. Since noncredit coursework does not qualify students for state or federal financial aid, the use of free Open Educational Resources will eliminate financial barriers for students to enroll in classes.
Strategy #6
Counseling and personal connection: With the transition to remote operations, counseling services have adapted and will continue to adapt in order to meet student needs. SMC Noncredit counselors call students who are experiencing access barriers to online learning and resources. As of March 2020, noncredit counselors launched an online version of the new student orientation and transitioned to a new onboarding process to ensure students are enrolling in the appropriate classes and have what they need to contribute to their academic success in distance education classes. Noncredit counselors will continue to work with AEC counselors to provide virtual presentations to AEC students interested in enrolling in SMC noncredit classes via email communications, online meeting platforms, and by phone. AEC counselors will communicate with students in one-on-one counseling sessions, virtual class presentations, and email communications. SMC Noncredit and AEC counselors will continue to utilize the Consortium’s Student Referral System to receive and track student referrals. In June 2021, Noncredit hosted a Virtual Student Success Ceremony to recognize the achievements of students during the year. Noncredit plans to hold an in-person ceremony in Spring 2022 to recognize program completers and students transitioning to college and career. AEC recognizes student achievement through completion and or achievement certificates. These are awarded at the end of each term or end of a school year. Students having achieved their Citizenship goal are recognized by returning to the classroom and sharing their experience with current students. Planned monthly school newsletter will highlight student and faculty successes.
Strategy #7
CASAS Testing, Evaluation, Reporting and Professional Development: In the fall of 2020, Noncredit Administrative team received training from West Ed on using LaunchBoard data to inform program planning. In the fall of 2021, Noncredit will support the training of faculty, staff and administrators on the use of Precision Campus in order to utilize campus data to inform program planning and assessment. With the assistance of noncredit Progress Indicators and the newly approved ESL Certificates of Competency, all noncredit CDCP courses will be measured and evaluated uniformly. The AEC will continue to focus on CASAS testing and evaluation of student performance based on CASAS pre and post assessment results in addition to our new referral and tracking information. The AEC will incorporate CAEP and Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act II (WIOA II) data and integrity reports into program planning and evaluation. Student data will drive professional development with a focus on digital literacy and noncredit Career Development and College Preparation (CDCP) programs resulting in alignment of curriculum to WIOA II and college to career readiness standards. AEC collaboration with off-campus partners will be supported by remote CASAS testing. It is anticipated that once on-campus learning is available the AEC will work with CASAS face to face testing and CASAS remote testing. The AEC will participate in trainings and webinars offered by CASAS and the California Department of Education in order to remain in compliance.

Seamless Transitions

New Strategies

Strategy #1
Equity-based Mindset: Consortium faculty and staff will continue to increase their understanding of equity issues facing regional adult learners. Special attention will be given to trauma informed teaching and student support strategies. This equity-based transformation in mindset will assist faculty and staff in improving services and instruction to continue to meet the needs of traditionally underserved students. In return, the Consortium expects to have an increase in the number of noncredit CDCP (certificate/program) completers.
Strategy #2
Professional Development: Participation in adult education and noncredit professional development opportunities, including conferences and in-house meetings/trainings, will keep the Consortium abreast of legislative changes and best practices in adult education and noncredit curriculum, instruction, and student support services. The Consortium will continue to support professional development opportunities that enhance distance learning and remote student services delivery.
Strategy #3
Noncredit Career Development and College Preparation: Noncredit administrators will work closely with SMC faculty, administrators, and staff to continue to develop and increase the institutional knowledge of the Consortium as it relates to: AEC to SMC (noncredit) student transition, noncredit eligible categories, program development, and pathways to credit and career. Noncredit lead faculty and administrators will actively participate in SMC Student Equity Achievement and Redesign (Guided Pathways) conversations with the goal of integrating noncredit academic, career, and student services pathways in discussions and plans. SMC Career Education faculty will explore in-demand career opportunities in the Santa Monica region leading to employment opportunities with a specific focus on Business/Logistics, Computer Science and Information Systems, Early Care and Education, Earth Sciences, ESL and Health Sciences. Working in collaboration with the Los Angeles Orange County Regional Strong Workforce Consortium as well as the City of Santa Monica’s Community and Economic Recovery Taskforce, SMC Noncredit will promote existing programs that address current workforce needs as well as support the development of new curricula needed for economic recovery in light of COVID-19.
Strategy #4
Counseling Transition Support: Noncredit counselors will visit the AEC several times a year to assist students who are interested in transitioning to Noncredit ESL, vocational courses/programs, and/or postsecondary credit programs. AEC ESL/Citizenship counselor to assist AEC students with SMC application and guide students through SMC enrollment process at the time of SMRC referral. Joint counseling meetings will be held each semester to align and develop a process to support students as they transition to their next academic and career goal(s). The Consortium will collaborate to identify cohorts of students who can commit to a career pathway, including completing a noncredit CDCP program. Noncredit will partner with SMC Welcome Center to create a more streamlined pathway from noncredit to credit.
Strategy #5
ESL Curriculum Alignment: The AEC and Noncredit will continue to make ESL curriculum alignment and faculty professional development a high priority. The AEC and Noncredit ESL Co-Faculty Leads will proceed with aligning noncredit ESL curriculum to AEC ESL courses that serve the needs of the region. Because of the unexpected shift to remote operations and distance education, there is a shared need for the Consortium’s English Language Learners to acquire basic computer skills necessary to access online learning platforms. To that end, Noncredit ESL and AEC Co-Faculty Leads will continue to support efforts to promote and incorporate computer literacy skills necessary to prepare students for distance education and hybrid courses. Students placed in Adult Basic Education and Adult Secondary Education are encouraged to take newly available computer literacy skills courses through a new online learning system. Consortium ESL faculty will continue to collaborate to share promising practices related to effective ESL instruction particularly with a focus on distance education. Going forward, the programs will continue to explore best practices to share data between agencies; to collaborate on curriculum, assessments and instructional resources; and to create new pathways to ensure that students have the skills to navigate and adapt to an ever-changing global society. With the approval of the six new noncredit ESL Certificates of Competency, SMC will share counseling and placement tools with the AEC.
Strategy #6
Community Referrals: Due to the move to remote operations in the 2020-21 academic year, the Consortium was unable to expand the newly implemented referral system to community partners. The Consortium remains committed to expanding the referral system to include community partners to ease student transition between agencies. The Consortium intends to expand its newly implemented referral and tracking platform to include at least one community partner. In order to do so, Consortium leadership led by the AEC Co-Chair will create interagency cross training opportunities to ensure best practices in student data security and ensure FERPA regulations are being met. A student referral process was established to refer AEC students to SMC Noncredit for 2020 summer offerings. SMC Noncredit staff receive referrals and connect with students on an ongoing basis. Each agency receiving a referral is responsible for outreach to interested students and follow-up regarding enrollment. The student data sharing waiver has been translated into Spanish and updated for 2021. Verbal acknowledgement is received by the AEC counselor with acknowledgement of approval notated in the AEC’s MIS system, ASAP. To ensure coherence, onboarding of community partners will include identifying one individual at each agency to receive and process referrals, community program offerings, and confirm data sharing waiver approval. Noncredit will continue to partner with the West LA JVS WorkSource Center to host specialized career fairs for students who complete a noncredit Career Education program each semester.

Student Acceleration

New Strategies

Strategy #1
Integrated Education and Training: In the fall 2020 semester, Noncredit ESL successfully piloted an Integrated Education and Training IET program with the SMC Early Childhood Education Department’s Noncredit Early Care and Education courses and program. Noncredit will continue to support this integrated training program model for Early Care and Education and will also explore the contextualization of ESL for College and Career Pathways for Health Care careers in Spring 2022. Students who complete the program will qualify for both a noncredit ESL for College and Career Pathway Certificate of Competency in addition to a Noncredit Certificate of Completion in either Introduction to Early Care and Education or one of the multiple certificate programs in Health Sciences. The AEC and Noncredit ESL faculty will collaborate to identify and enroll ESL students who are interested in this career pathway.
Strategy #2
Mirrored Courses: To assist students accelerate their transition to credit courses, Noncredit will explore the use of mirrored courses in Spring 2022. Mirrored courses will be explored as a way to gauge student interest in a noncredit transportation pathway.

Professional Development

New Strategies

Strategy #1
Professional Development Participation and Report-outs: Professional development for Consortium members will focus on: Equity in Adult Education, Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, digital literacy, distance education, English as a Second Language, Immigrant Education, distance education and remote services, and noncredit to credit and career pathways. The Governing Board will ensure that professional development is aligned with Consortium activities and CAEP objectives. Both members will identify equitable and accountable professional development requests and approvals processes, appropriate for both members, that may require “share and learn” report-outs at Consortium meetings. In support of transition to remote operations and distance education, AEC administration and faculty will meet once a month. Technology Learning Community Workgroup (TLC) has been established in support of newly needed instructions and administrative technology demands. The Tech Share Lead identified with AEC administration staff identified as Moderator. AEC Staff Meetings focus in support of school administrative policies, Distance Learning instruction, attendance guidelines, assessment, upcoming deliverables, curriculum review, partner updates, student referrals, community services, faculty/student surveys, group sharing, and best practices. These peer learning opportunities are invaluable in meeting the needs of students, faculty, and administration. Funding has been allocated for future meetings to take place once a month.
Strategy #2
The Consortium Governing Board will participate in meetings, trainings, workshops, conference and events with a focus on: Adult Education, Noncredit, CAEP, CASAS, WIOA I, WIOA II, Distance Education, Equity, and the Los Angeles County Workforce Development Board's MOU for Adult Education. SMC Noncredit administrators, faculty leaders, and designated classified staff will continue to participate in Association of Community and Continuing Education (ACCE), Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC), Guided Pathways ,Strategic Enrollment Development Planning, Institutional Effectiveness Partnership Initiative, , Racial Equity, Research and Planning Group for Noncredit (RP Group, Strong Workforce Program for Noncredit, and Student Equity and Achievement discussions and events including virtual events. The AEC and Noncredit will participate in distance education and technology based professional development. AEC administrators and faculty will participate in online trainings as follows: Outreach and Technical Assistance Network (OTAN), Zoom meetings for educators’ trainings, ESL Library, TESOL Online with Cambridge: CATESOL Virtual Conference, Newsela Instructor Certification, Using Remind to Safely Communicate with Students 2021 LA Counselor Conference. AEC staff will be invited to participate in one or more of the following OTAN online workshops: Using Technology to Amplify Student Voice, Tech Tools for Civic Engagement and Creating Accessible Documents, which will demonstrate 508 compliance features.
Strategy #3
Faculty and Cross-Department Conversations: Consortium Co-Faculty Leads will facilitate Noncredit and AEC curriculum and instruction shared learning discussions in collaboration with adult education, noncredit, and credit faculty in order to create clearer pathways, eliminate redundancies, and identify challenging areas including distance education. These conversations will include updates on Consortium efforts as they relate to the goals of CAEP. Noncredit administrators, faculty and staff will participate in cross departmental meetings to inform the larger SMC community about noncredit opportunities.Strategy #4 Racial Equity-based Professional Development and Data Informed Planning: In spring 2021, the Consortium hosted an Equity for All Learners Community of Practice facilitated by CALPRO in which 27 AEC and Noncredit administrators, faculty and classified staff participated in a six week long community of practice. One of the greatest benefits of the training was the shared collaboration between agencies and departments. The Consortium is committed to building on this foundational experience and continues to learn and implement equitable strategies to assist adult learners.
Strategy #4
Student surveys: In collaboration with SMC Noncredit Institutional Research, the Consortium will develop and administer a Consortium wide student survey in the fall of 2021. This survey will serve as a way to identify student needs in addition to analyzing student racial climate. Survey results will help guide set professional development goals and resource allotment.

Leveraging Resources

New Strategies

Strategy #1
Los Angeles County Workforce Development Board’s MOU for Adult Education: Co-Chairs and Co-Project Directors will network with adult education and noncredit regional providers identified by the Workforce Development Board. Governing Board members will participate in networking opportunities and presentations. Noncredit will continue to partner with the West LA JVS WorkSource Center to refer students in need of employment assistance in addition to the bi-annual career fairs for noncredit Career Education program completers.
Strategy #2
Santa Monica Public Library: The AEC, as part of its mission to serve the SMMUSD, will take the lead in reaching out to the Los Angeles Public Library and Malibu branch in an effort to offer adult education and potentially noncredit classes at library locations. Ongoing collaboration and communication with Santa Monica Public Library (SMPL) are continuing despite the current City of Santa Monica budget constraints and COVID-19 social distance recommendations. As it stands, AEC will not offer on-site classes at Santa Monica Public Library due to library and meeting room closures. Classes previously offered at SMPL sites have been moved to a distance learning format with the option to move to face-to-face or blended learning once spaces become available. SMPL will continue to post and disseminate AEC course information. The Malibu Library is a member of the Los Angeles Public Library system, and the AEC is welcome to have a presence in Malibu and promote adult education offerings. ESL classes are not scheduled to run in Malibu due to COVID-19 social distancing recommendations; however, all previous Malibu Library students will be invited to participate in upcoming distance learning classes. Once the Santa Monica Public Library resumes full services, the Consortium will partner with the Santa Monica Public Library to host consortium meetings and to explore library meeting rooms for future adult education and noncredit classes.
Strategy #3
SMC Noncredit Awareness: SMC Noncredit administrators, lead faculty, and designated classified staff will continue to present at college faculty and staff meetings as well as college-wide and community events on noncredit academic and career pathways. Meetings and events include but are not limited to Academic Affairs, Enrollment Development, Student Services Department Meetings, Career Fair, Career Education (formerly, CTE) Committee, Curriculum Committee, Flex Day and Opening Day, Guided Pathways (SMC Redesign), Super Saturday, VIP Day, Welcome Week, and Equitizing Gateway Courses Advisory.

Fiscal Management

A narrative justifying how the planned allocations are consistent with the annual adult education plan which is based on your CAEP 3-year plan.
The Consortium’s Governing Board, representative of SMC Noncredit and SMMUSD Adult Education administrators, faculty, and classified staff, are committed to remaining accountable by ensuring Consortium-related activities align with CAEP objectives/strategies. CAEP funds will continue to only be allocated to activities that support noncredit and adult education academic and student services programs, including curriculum and program development; support staff (classified, student workers, faculty, and managers); marketing; outreach; technology; research; data collection, analyses, and reporting; and for 2021-2022, most likely a combination of on ground and virtual professional development and remote operations. All activities are consistent with the 2021-2022 annual plan and 2019-2022 three-year plan. Activities are revisited and expanded to meet the needs of the Consortium’s growing adult education and noncredit programs in the region in addition to State and County responses and mandates pertaining to COVID-19.
An approach to incorporating remaining carry-over funds from prior year(s) into strategies planned for 2021-22.
The Consortium’s Governing Board is confident that our 2020-2021 remaining funds will be spent down by the CAEP deadline; however, this could change given SMC and SMMUSD district policies that might need to be adjusted due to COVID-19, the economic crisis, and remote operations. Carry-over funds from prior year(s) are incorporated into the expansion of activities/strategies outlined in the 2021-2022 Annual Plan including: curriculum and program development; support staff (classified, student workers, faculty, and managers); marketing; outreach; technology; research; data collection, analyses, and reporting; and for 2021-2022, most likely a combination of on ground and virtual professional development and remote operations.

Certification

Santa Monica CCD - Member Representative

Approved by Ashley Mejia

07/13/2021 04:10 PM PDT

Santa Monica-Malibu Unified - Member Representative

Approved by Anthony Fuller

07/26/2021 11:13 AM PDT