Open (Green)House for ZTC Pathway Development

Cultivating Sustainable ZTC Degrees & Certificate Pathways

Open (Green)house for ZTC Pathways Development by Sarah Harmon, Ame Maloney, Bianca Rowden-Quince, & Diana Tedone-Goldstone for SMCCCD, is licensed CC BY-SA.

ZTC Degree Pathways Open House Facilitators

Faculty & Administrator ZTC Cultivators

EMILIE HEIN

Physics

ASCCC OER Physics Lead

Skyline College

heine@smccd.edu

YANCY AQUINO

Biology

Skyline College

aquinoy@smccd.edu

SOLEDAD MCCARTHY

Business

Skyline College

mccarthys@smccd.edu

LUCIANA CASTRO

Spanish

Skyline College

castrol@smccd.edu

NICOLE PORTER

Early Childhood Education, Interim Dean SS/CA

Skyline College

portern@smccd.edu

Session Outcomes

• Define ZTC Degrees
• Discuss processes and key data to cultivating ZTC Degree and Certificate Pathways
• Climate and environment
• Understanding the landscape
• Tending the soil
• Planting seeds and nurturing growth
• Strengthening connections with cultivators and resources
• Identify next steps to cultivating sustainable ZTC degrees & certificate pathways

Who's in the house?

What is a ZTC Degree?

Zero Textbook Cost Degrees refer to community college associate degrees or career technical education certificates earned entirely by completing courses that eliminate conventional textbook costs by using alternative instructional materials and methodologies, including open educational resources. Discretionary student printing of instructional materials shall not be considered as cost as part of this program.

(CCC Ed Code 78052 (b)(5))

Intro to ZTC Certificate & Degree Pathway Development

• Why are we doing this work?
• What does it look like?
• What is the lift?
• Who are the people that need to be involved?
• What resources are required for sustainability?

ZTC Degree Pathway Case Study - AS RC

• Climate and Environment
• Understanding the landscape
• Tending the soil
• Seeding and nurturing
• Cultivators and resources

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What supports are needed to cultivate a sustainable ZTC "garden"?

Let's Talk About Cultivation

Biology

began as part of RC cohort & blossomed

Spanish

solo FT faculty driven

ECE.

local and state-wide collaboration

Physics

department-wide, state-wide, & cross-discipline collaboration & implementation

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Business

solo faculty driven + SPWD support

Climate and Environment

Looking out on the Horizon

• SMCCCD Free College Strategic Initiative
• Alignment with Promise Scholars Program
• CA State Chancellor’s Office ZTC Grant(s)
• Focus on development of comprehensive local ZTC certificate and degree pathways
• Additional grant opportunities focusing on "Z"-Pathways
• DOE, Michelson, & more

Reports from the Field

ISKME’s Bay Area Regional ZTC Gap Analysis–Recommendations

• For Community Colleges:
• Publish (OER) learning materials lists
• Showcase these lists when marketing pathways
• Collaborate with other colleges/districts to create ZTC materials
• For CC Districts and the State Chancellor’s Office:
• Enhance collaboration within districts and across colleges
• Identify perceived gaps in OER
• Support collaborations that close those gaps
• Monitor the impact of Z-Pathways, especially in underrepresented groups

More Reports from the Field

Source: OEW 2022 SMCCCD Student Thank You Notes

Thanks for making education affordable with free text books!

- Cañada Student

Thank you very much for providing 0 cost textbook which is beneficial for students. This helps a lot. I am grateful that you are concerned about your students.

- CSM Student

Thank you for offering a zero cost textbook Interpersonal Communication course. Zero-textbook courses make a difference in the lives of students who need to think about the costs of attending college and other financial decisions that involve family obligations. You are awesome! - Skyline Student

Understanding the Landscape

Faculty Survey

OE Week 2022

“What Z-Pathways would you like to work on?”

Faculty Survey Responses

• 28 total faculty (11 PT, 17 FT)
• Top interests for ZTC pathway development
• Social Sciences
• Business and Accounting
• Humanities
• Opportunities to collaborate!

Student Survey

OE Week 2022

“What Z-Pathways would you like to see offered by SMCCCD?”

What ZTC Pathways interest students?

Top 5 Responses (~20-30%)

• Health Care Fields (29.55%)
• e.g., Radiological Technologies, Respiratory Therapy, Nursing, Medical Assisting, EMT, Pharmacy Technician, Veterinary Technician
• Business (29.04%)
• including Entrepreneurship and Accounting
• Social Sciences (28.54%)
• e.g., Ethnic Studies, Communication Studies, Anthropology, Psychology, History, Sociology, Political Sciences, Linguistics, Economics
• General Education (IGET-C, CSU, and Local) (19.19%)
• Math and Statistics (19.19%)

General Education

• Key to setting up degrees and certificates
• Students are looking for ‘GE Degree’ that is ZTC

Program Enrollment Data (PRIE)

Undecided; BUS. Admin (AS-T); Allied Health (AS-T); PSYC (AA-T); NURS (AS); COMP (AS-T); PSYC (AA-T)

SKYLINE

CAÑADA

Undecided; BUS. Admin (AS-T); PSYC (AA-T); NURS (AS); PASS (CA); ENGR (AS): ECE. (AS); Interior Design (AS)

CSM

Undecided; BUS Admin (AS-T); NURS (AS); PSYC (AA-T); COMP & IS (AS); ENGR (AS); BIOL (AS-T); BUS. MGMT (AS)

Skyline's Z-Degree Opportunities

Cañada’s Status

• Programs that have converted most/all core courses to ZTC:
• ANTH (core ✅; some selectives)
• ECE/EDUC (most core; some selectives)
• Programs that have inquired:
• ESL
• Math
• Umoja-related courses
• We have GE areas covered (could be better in some areas)

Our Next Steps

• Tending the soil
• Planting seeds & nurturing growth
• Strengthening connections with cultivators and resources

Preparing to Cultivate a ZTC Pathway

What are some of the seeds that you want to plant?

Connnect with Your Campus ZTC Faculty Leads!

Thanks!

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