District Strategic Planning Council
Purpose
The District Strategic Planning Council (DSPC) and the five DSPC committees are responsible for integrating the strategic plans of the three colleges into a coherent District Strategic Plan and ensuring that appropriate district support services are available to assist the colleges in their efforts to improve student success, access, and equity. The three colleges develop and implement strategies to improve the quality of student instructional programs and have the primary responsibility to meet or exceed the district strategic goals and targets, which shall be derived essentially from the colleges and their planning activities. The guiding principle of the DSPC committees and sub-committees are to:
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- identify and expand upon effective strategies among the three colleges
- share sound practices and ensure economies of scale
- conserve resources by identifying and coordinating infrastructure and technological
solutions among district entities
- monitor, evaluate, and assess strategic goals and achievement by all entities
- identify and expand upon effective strategies among the three colleges
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All planning proposals originate at one of the three colleges or from the program-review process within district support services and are submitted to the appropriate DSPC committees or sub-committees for vetting and input.
This Operational Guidelines and Structure document is subject to review and revision
which should occur at least every three (3) years. Any necessary or appropriate changes
may occur subject to DSPC approval.
Structure
The DSPC includes representatives from the five committees and their sub-committees.
Chancellor
The Chancellor must endorse any district or college plan documents that require Riverside
Community College District Board of Trustees approval before it can be submitted to
the Board. The Chancellor’s cabinet and the District Academic Senate advises the Chancellor
on all planning documents from district support services and/or the colleges. Once
the Chancellor has approved the plan it is sent to the appropriate Board committee
for discussion and recommendation for approval.
The District Strategic Planning Council (DSPC)
The DSPC approves the District Strategic Plan and other district long- and short-term strategic plans as a recommendation to the Chancellor, oversees the work of the five DSPC committees, and makes recommendations to the Chancellor’s cabinet on all college and district planning activities, documents, and policies that require approval by the Board of Trustees, particularly those that involve district budget appropriations and/or academic and student service initiatives that impact the colleges or district support services. DSPC will only act on any district or college planning proposals if one or more of the five DSPC committees or one of the sub-committees has reviewed the proposal and made a formal recommendation to the DSPC. If the DSPC determines that it cannot make a positive recommendation to the Chancellor, the council will provide a written rationale and offer concrete suggestions for changes to the recommending committee or sub-committee who submitted the proposal.
It is expected that members of the council, committees, and sub-committees will have familiarity with the topics and issues addressed by their particular bodies. Each member shall have a vote unless specifically designated as a non-voting member. Members may appoint a designee or send a proxy to serve in place of the member. While members who will be unable to serve for an extended period may choose a designee who has voting rights, voting is not permitted for a proxy sent by a member who is unable to attend a scheduled meeting. When a vacancy occurs in an administrative position that is a member of the DSPC, the administrative co-chair shall appoint a designee.
DSPC meetings will be held monthly during the primary academic terms and as needed
the remainder of the year. The District Academic Senate shall select the faculty co-chair
(rotating by college each year). District employees may be asked to attend DSPC meetings
to make presentations at the invitation of the co-chair(s). No recommendations made
by the DSPC shall in any way override the authority of the Academic Senate conferred
by Title 5 §53200 et seq.
Committees of the District Strategic Planning Council
The primary responsibilities of the five DSPC committees are to monitor, assess, and evaluate the district strategic goals and objectives assigned to them by the DSPC and provide one written assessment of the assigned goal(s) to the DSPC in spring. The appropriate DSPC committee assists in the development of the district five-year plans listed in the District Strategic Plan and coordinates the planning activities of the colleges into a coherent strategy. The committees are charged to provide regular updates to DSPC on the progress of plan development. The Chancellor will designate one of the Vice Chancellors or Associate Vice Chancellors to chair a committee, who shall provide the necessary district support services to the committee. The District Academic Senate shall ratify the selection of the faculty co-chair (rotating by college each year) for each of the five committees. The administrative co-chair shall also serve on the parallel Board of Trustees committee to provide regular updates for Board consideration. Members of the Board of Trustees who oversee the functional areas in question and receive recommendations from the groups are strongly encouraged to attend committee meetings.
Each member shall have a vote unless specifically designated as a non-voting member. Members may appoint a designee or send a proxy to serve in place of the member. While members who will be unable to serve for an extended period may appoint a designee who has voting rights, voting is not permitted for a proxy sent by a member who is unable to attend a scheduled meeting. When a vacancy occurs in an administrative position that is a member of a committee or sub-committee, the administrative co-chair shall appoint a designee.
Each committee may create temporary task forces or work groups and designate specific tasks to them. Unless there are extenuating circumstances, the sub-committee, task force, or workgroup will regularly report the results of their work to the authorizing committee. The authorizing committee may permit the sub-committee, task force, or workgroup to report directly to DSPC if deemed necessary. The committees shall select the membership of all task forces using the accreditation guidelines (Accreditation Standard IV A, Sections 1-5). The administrative co-chairs of the committees shall select the administrative co-chairs of the designated sub-committees, task forces, and workgroups. Vice Chancellors shall provide the necessary and appropriate district administrative support to the sub-committees, task forces, or workgroups. District employees may be asked to attend DSPC committee and sub-committee meetings to make presentations at the invitation of the co-chair(s). The faculty co-chair of a task force or sub-committee shall be selected by the faculty serving on the task force or sub-committee, given that the Academic Senate has delegated the co-chair selection process. Ideally, the membership of the sub-committees or task forces should come directly from the college committees assigned to complete the work and have the necessary expertise in the area. Each college, using its participatory governance processes, shall submit its representatives to the various committees.
To ensure that the topics or issues addressed within the DSPC are brought to the colleges for their consideration and implementation, members of the DSPC shall report district-level actions and discussions to their college-level units. The colleges shall provide feedback on the issues for DSPC’s consideration.
Following are the Committees of the DSPC:
Teaching and Learning Committee (TLC)
Equity, Social, Economic, and Environmental Justice Committee (ESEEJC)
Institutional Planning, Effectiveness, and Governance Committee (IPEGC)