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Glossary of Terms

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Budget Change Proposal (BCP)

A Budget Change Proposal is a process used to budget program plans. In the Economic Development Program, BCPs begin as concept papers that are determined by collaboration between the Chancellor's Office and the Funding Sub-Committee of the Advisory Committee. They are presented to and approved by the Consultation Council and finalized by approval of the Board of Governors and included as part of the system BCP for submission to the Governor. The system-wide BCP is usually finalized and approved by the Board of Governors (BOG) in September for submission to the Governor in November of each year.

California Community College Association for Occupational Education (CCCAOE)

CCCAOE's purpose is to promote public recognition of vocational education and economic development activities; to develop partnerships with community agencies; to serve as a resource in assisting the membership to provide quality opportunities for professional growth within the community colleges.

Contract Education

Contract Education is a delivery mechanism that is used to deliver education and training services directly to business and industry personnel for a cost-recovery fee. Any community college may have a contract education unit. Contract education units help employers reach specific business goals by providing needs analysis, skills assessments, and education/training opportunities at the worksite. The training provided is customized and focused on the industry, driven by market demand. Contract Education activities are designed as self-supporting local operations. Support is provided through the ED>Net Centers of Excellence, and through the technical assistance provided by the Initiative Directors of Contract Education, one in the north, one in the south and the Director for Organizational and Institutional Development.

Coordination Network

The Coordination Network is a single statewide competitive grant that was established to support and coordinate community college economic development efforts throughout the state. Key duties of the Coordination Network include:

• Provide business and employers with a single point-of-contact,
• Strengthen leadership, communication, and liaisons with the private sector as well as public sector education and training providers,
• Provide operational, technical, logistical, and marketing support to community college economic development programs, the advisory committee, the private sector advisory council and the initiative committees for identified strategic priorities,
• Coordinate input for consideration by the Economic Development Program Advisory Committee, the Chancellor and the Board of Governors regarding ways to strengthen the Community College System's ability to fulfill the mission of the economic development program.
  

Credit/Noncredit/Not-for-credit

Degree Credit

The purpose of degree-credit is to prepare students for transfer and employment. Degree-credit courses have content and objectives that are “college level,” include extensive use of essay in student evaluation, have a high expectation of critical thinking, have limited repeatability and are supported by State funds.

Nondegree Credit

The purpose of nondegree-credit is to prepare students to succeed in college-level work. These courses are not typically "college level." Student evaluations may have some demonstration as well as essay. These are limited to 30 semester units per student and are supported by State funds.

Noncredit

The purpose of noncredit courses is to prepare students to survive and participate fully as citizens. The content and objectives include instruction and training for ESL, vocational, older adults, elementary and secondary basic skills, immigrants, health and safety, disabled, parent education, and home economics. These are not subject to repeatability limits and are supported by State funds.

Not-for-credit and Community Service

The purpose is to respond to the needs of business and the community. The content and objectives are locally defined and are not subject to Chancellor's Office approval. These courses are not supported by State funds and are paid for by fee-for-service arrangements, either by contract with employers or by individuals.

Economic Development

Economic development refers to the policies and activities that improve and protect the natural resources, social resources, and economic resources of a community.
The policies and activities conducted in a region advance the economy by:

• Improving profit potential for companies and businesses,
• Improving earning potential for individual residents of the community,
• Improving revenue to government entities,
• Providing a sustainable, good standard of living for all residents.
  In the California Community Colleges, the term "Economic Development" refers not just to the categorically-funded grants from the Chancellor's Office, but to all of the comprehensive efforts supplied by the Colleges in meeting community demands for developing and protecting its economic resources and is the third mission of the California community colleges.
  

Economic Development Program Advisory Committee (EDPAC)

This is an advisory committee established by the Board of Governors for the California Community Colleges Economic Development Program. The Advisory Committee guides overall program development, recommends resource development and deployment, and recommends strategies for implementation and coordination of regional business resources. The advisory committee makes recommendations to the Chancellor and the Board of Governors on whether existing initiatives should continue to be funded at their existing levels, if their funding should be increased or decreased, or terminated.

Economic & Workforce Development Programs (CCCEWD)

The coordinated effort between all of the programs and services funded through Economic Development funds from the Chancellor's Office of the California Community Colleges.

Electronic Data Collection

This is a quarterly collection of data about project performance and compliance that is collected by an electronic system run from the ED>Net web site. All ED>Net funded grants are required to provide specified data to the Chancellor's office at the end of each quarter. It is entered into forms which are on-line and connected via the Internet to the ED>Net website. The data is organized and summarized for analysis and reporting by the Chancellor's Office.

Evaluation Terminology

Summative Evaluation Summative evaluation is designed to examine and analyze the overall impact of a program, with the intent of measuring the value of the public expenditure on Economic Development and gauging the strength of the public investment. Some examples of summative measures are growth, wages, salary and profitability. Summative evaluation is usually designed to be suitable for delivery to legislatures, funding agencies, and governing boards.

Formative Evaluation Formative evaluation is designed to provide feedback to program operators, in order to allow mid-course corrections to be made toward continuously improving the program. Examples are activities, number of clients, hours of service, etc.

Outcome (A Measure of Effectiveness) Outcomes measure the benefits or changes for individuals or populations during or after participating in program activities. It's what participants know, think, can do, or what their condition is following the program. Outcomes measure program results. An examples might be the improvement in wages and salaries for employees of companies served by ED>Net.

Output (A Measure of Activities) Output measures are activities that are undertaken in the effort to achieve effectiveness or impact. Outputs might include such things as the number of employees trained, number of workshops delivered, number of companies doing business with ED>Net, or the average dollar amount of customized training contracts.

Industry Driven Regional Collaborative (IDRC)

This is a category of grant in the Economic Development Program that is designed for maximum flexibility driven by local market needs. It develops a service delivery structure between a college and business/industry partners to provide market-driven education and training services within a region. IDRC grants have a maximum life of two years.

Initiative

An economic development initiative is a long-term, multi-regional, workforce and business-related effort designed to attract, retain, and support businesses in California through linkages to the community colleges. Economic Development Initiatives are system-wide efforts designed to promote development in innovative, emerging economic clusters that have substantial potential to advance California's economy. Initiatives funded at this writing include Advanced Transportation Technology, Biotechnology, Environmental Technology, Health Care, New Media/Multimedia/Entertainment, Workplace Learning, Applied Competitive Technology, International Trade, Small Business, and Business and Workforce Improvement (Centers of Excellence and the Professional Development Institute).

Initiative Center

An Initiative center offers programs and services through a local community college in an economic region in the state in one of ten strategic priority areas, or initiatives, such as Biotechnologies, Workplace Learning Resources, and Regional Health Occupations. The center services respond to the mission of the community college's economic development program and to the workforce training needs of a region. The services vary according to the type of initiative center and are delivered throughout the region, not just to the college holding the center grant. The person responsible for the daily operation of the center is a Center Director.

Initiative Director

The Initiative Director is a subject-matter expert whose role is to coordinate the statewide strategic responses of all of the granted centers in one disciplinary area. The primary focus of the initiative director is to work with and support strategic priority committees to develop and implement initiatives. This leadership position works with the Initiative Centers to guide and coordinate their activities and provide technical support to insure their success. In addition, the initiative director is required to provide organizational and institutional development services to any college or economic development program that is seeking to align with regional economic development priorities.

Job Development Incentive Fund

A category of grant in the Economic Development Program designed to provide incentives for employers who create entry-level positions to transition welfare recipients into the workplace.

Occupational/Vocational Education

Organized educational programs offering a sequence of courses or instruction in a sequence or aggregation of occupational competencies that are directly related to the preparation of individuals for paid or unpaid employment in current or emerging occupations requiring other than a baccalaureate or advanced degree.

Professional Development Institute

The Professional Development Institute is an Economic Development project intended to support the learning needs of economic development professionals in the community college system through workshops, training, and a library of resources. The services of the PDI are available to all community college faculty, staff and economic development professionals.

Regional Consortium

The Regional Consortium provides coordination and collaboration with the various college services in the region. These services include, but are not limited to, Vocational Education, Statewide Advisory Committees, Tech Prep, Special Populations, and Economic Development. The Regional Consortium may also be the reviewing body for new program endorsements before submission to the Chancellor's Office. There are 7 Regional Consortia representing 10 regions, with three pairs of consortia merged for organizational purposes: North/Far North, Bay/Interior Bay, and LA/Orange County.

RFA

This is a "Request for Application" - the official Chancellor's Office document that establishes the requirements to compete for and to operate a project with grant funds.

Special Populations

This VTEA term refers to individuals with disabilities, educationally and economically disadvantaged individuals (including foster children), individuals of limited English proficiency, individuals who participate in programs designed to eliminate sex bias, and individuals in correctional institutions.

VTEA

Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act of 1998. The purpose of the VTEA is to develop more fully the academic, vocational, and technical skills of secondary students and postsecondary students who elect to enroll in vocational and technical education programs by:

• building on the efforts of states and localities to develop challenging academic standards;
• promoting the development of services and activities that integrate academic, vocational, and technical instruction, and that link secondary and postsecondary education for participating vocational and technical education students;
• increasing state and local flexibility to provide services and activities designed to develop, implement, and improve vocational and technical education, including tech prep education; and,
• disseminating national research, and providing professional development and technical assistance to improve vocational and technical education programs, services, and activities.
  

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