Having the ability to record presentations in many of the CMST courses (Public Speaking, Small Group Communication, Argumentation and Debate, Oral Interpretation, and Forensics) is imperative to student learning. These performance-based classes need updated technology to record speeches and presentations, upload the videos to the Internet, and allow students to access them online in order to reflect on their work.

NOTE: If we had a fair increase in our yearly operating budget, we could use those funds to purchase necessary equipment (such as these tripods) in order to increase our pedagogical effectiveness and student success. 

• Enhancing a Culture of Completion and Academic Achievement
• Supporting Student, Faculty and Staff Success
• Using Data-Informed Processes for Continuous Improvement
• Enhancing a Culture of Inclusiveness

• Seeing yourself as others see you is fundamental to achieving public speaking competency. Watching videos of their presentation is one of the best ways for students to gain insight into their speaking abilities, and is a common practice used at other colleges.
• Video-recording speeches and the later viewing of those videos provide students with an opportunity for self-reflection on their work. It allows students to see what areas they are doing well in and identify what they need to improve. This reflection helps students make improvements in their speaking and achieve success.
• iPads are the easiest, most efficient way we have found to record speeches and distribute the videos to students via a private YouTube channel.
• Although many students do have access to phones that they can record their speeches on, our department identifies that there is still a significant need to provide this access for students who do not have smartphones. We have observed that the “digital divide” does, indeed, exist on our campus, and letting students know ahead of time that we have the ability to record their speeches for them avoids them having to “out” themselves in class as being someone who lacks a phone.  We do not want to disadvantage students without smartphones, so we need a way to allow them view/access their speeches.
• In addition, even those students with smartphones often do not have enough memory, or lose their phone, or run out of battery power, etc., and this is not noted until right before they are about to speak.  We need reliable back-up recording technology for those situations.
• Equally important is that the iPads allow us to record and store student speeches on a private YouTube channel for easy access to use for future assessment purposes (e.g. In January 2018, we used random informative speeches for a norming session to determine the quality of our rubric, how objectively instructors were using the rubric, and to determine if students were meeting PLO#4. Please see SLO deep dive report explained previously in the unit plan).
• In the 2017 unit plan, the department requested 10 iPads; we received six (we already had three, bringing the total to nine). 
• The year, the department respectfully requests 10 table top tripods for the mini iPads (10 X $23.99 = $239.90)

The capstone for our CMST degree is our Forensics course.  An assistant coach would help to provide coaching, judging and travel assistance for the 13 different events within Forensics, and to accommodate the growing emphasis of public spheres pedagogy, outreach and recruitment. Therefore, the CMST department requests a Forensics Assistant Coach stipend equivalent to the Track and Field Coach Level 1 ($3448.37) OR a one class buy-out for an associate faculty member. 

• Enhancing a Culture of Completion and Academic Achievement
• Supporting Student, Faculty and Staff Success
• Maximizing Resources to Support Student Learning
• Enhancing a Culture of Inclusiveness

• Butte College Forensics competes against community colleges in Northern California that have anywhere from 2 - 4 coaches.
• Butte College is the only community college that offers 13 forensics events and only has one coach.
• In 2014, the Program Review Validation Team stated, “The team recommends that the budget for the Forensic Team be increased to provide stipends for additional events coaches.” They see the need for not just one, but two or more coaches to run a successful Forensics program.
• Each of the 13 events can be divided into 4 different categories which require unique qualifications and specialties. Much like offensive, defensive and special team units found on our sports teams, Butte Forensics offers: Platform Events, Limited Preparation Events, Oral Interpretation Events, and Debate Events. It is impossible for one coach to cover all disparate events. 
• The team does not have enough help for safe tournament travel. If a coach is unwell or has a personal (or student) emergency to manage, the rest of the team is left completely unsupervised, uncoached, and without transportation.
• Our one coach provides transportation for as many as 18 students in a section. One coach can only transport (at most) 11 students. 
• Required judging: When attending a competition, Butte College is required to bring qualified Forensics judges. One coach can only cover the judging commitment of 4 students, and yet, our program serves up to 18 students. Thus, not having enough coaches for judging means some of our students have to stay home, or that Butte college has to pay exorbitant judging fees. 
• The assistant coach would also be responsible for marketing and recruitment of students to the team. 
• The CMST department would like to grow our forensics program. This is going to be quite difficult without coaching assistance. 

With the statewide push of the completion agenda and our college's committment to pathways, it is now more important than ever that we reach out to our students; this connection will help to ensure that students know about our CMST AA and AA-T degrees. Therefore, the CMST department requests $2587 to design and produce professional quality promotional materials for our major.

NOTE: If we had a fair increase in our yearly operating budget, we could use those funds to purchase necessary equipment (such as these tripods) in order to increase our pedagogical effectiveness and student success. 

• Enhancing a Culture of Completion and Academic Achievement
• Supporting Student, Faculty and Staff Success

• Guided Pathways may help many students find the right path for their interests and career goals, but only if they have clear, easily accessible, pertinent information about that path.
• Some of our students work well in online environments, while others prefer the traditional, tactile paper approach.
• Communication Studies has a unique need to provide information about the possibilities that our major opens up.  Ours is a highly versatile, interdisciplinary major that prepares students well for a variety of degrees and careers, but this fact is less intuitive or visible than some other disciplines (e.g. psychology leading to a major or career in that profession).
• Our program is unique in that most of our classes meet GE requirements, so students who take their GE within our program can fairly easily obtain a second AA degree, which enhances their value as transfers or upon entry into the workforce.
• Our major is particularly well-suited for undecided students, who may not be as well served by the Guided Pathways approach.  Promotional materials will help such students see that they can still explore within our interdisciplinary degree, while moving forward efficiently. 
• SPECIFICS:

• Professional quality marketing materials that identify the GE and IGETC transfer suitability of our classes, the possibility of earning a second degree with your GE, the variety of upper division majors and careers that our degree prepares them for, and the value employers place on the communication skills we teach.
• Glossy, color, tri-fold pamphlets for distribution at promotional events on campus, and distribution to area high school counselors. Per Lisa Delaby: $1250 for creation of brochures and $262.00 for printing and shipping for quantity of 500.
• Quality cardstock, color handouts for distribution to Butte College counselors and Communication Studies faculty to hand out to interested students ($50).
• Promoting the Forensics program is key to recruiting new student competitors. 25 Forensics team jackets cost roughly $35 each, equaling approximately $875. The jackets will be a highly visible representation of the team and its accomplishments (much like the BC athletic attire worn by student athletes).
• A high-quality digital camera ($150) is needed to provide photos for department and college marketing materials. The BC Public Relations department often requests pictures of our forensics team in competitions; the pictures are usually taken with phone cameras, which doesn't produce high enough quality products to use for marketing materials.    

Application-based, active learning that encourages students to see the relevance of course work is an integral part of our CMST curriculum. Students, the college and the community benefit in a variety of ways from public sphere work. Therefore, our department requests $600 for the continuation and expansion of the Great Debate and other public sphere events. 

• Enhancing a Culture of Completion and Academic Achievement
• Supporting Student, Faculty and Staff Success
• Enhancing a Culture of Inclusiveness

• Public sphere events have been found increase student engagement in their coursework. This may translate into higher student success rates.
• Public sphere work adds a richer level of meaning to course content.
• Public sphere events are diverse and inclusive. The Great Debate is specifically designed to inform and discuss important civic issues in a non-threatening, useful way, which connects to the college mission and benefits the community. Supporting this work is vital.
• Public events are high profile. They build community relationships within our service area and with CSU, Chico. They bring a great deal of positive attention to our students and our campus.
• We request support for continuing a stipend ($500/year) for the faculty in charge of coordinating the event, as we see the preparation work for this event as going “above and beyond” our regular job requirements.
• We request $100 to be used for marketing and promoting the event within the college community. In the past, our efforts to promote the event have been limited to anything that is low-cost, and the Great Debate Coordinator has even purchased paper, ink, etc. out of their own pocket in order to have nicer flyers. We would like to have money for colored flyers, and perhaps posters to represent Butte College at the event.

CMST is a leader in FTES generation and enrollment for the college, even given the fact that our department is fairly small (as compared to other larger FTES generating departments [e.g. Math/English]). Per the SURE report data, our revenue to cost ratio is an excellent 1.52. We provide core GE classes for the entire student body. Our department has grown significantly in recent years, in terms of majors, full time faculty, and course offerings. To support our growth and student success, we request a department budget increase to $3000/year.

NOTE: If we had a fair increase in our yearly operating budget, we could use these funds to purchase necessary equipment (such as the tripods) in order to increase our pedagogical effectiveness and student success, reducing the number of department augmentation requests.  

• Enhancing a Culture of Completion and Academic Achievement
• Supporting Student, Faculty and Staff Success
• Maximizing Resources to Support Student Learning
• Enhancing a Culture of Inclusiveness

• Present budget $1367.00 (7 fulltime faculty = less than $200 per full-time faculty and adding in associate faculty $1367/22 = $62.14).
• According to the recommendations in the February 2014 Program Review Validation Team Report: "The CMST Department is drastically underfunded. Its current operating budget stands at $1,367 yearly, which is in stark contrast to allocations for other academic departments of similar size. The department has concrete student-centered plans that more proportional funding would support.These include the Great Debate and public sphere pedagogy, technology for student use and to demonstrate communication modes, conference opportunities and associate faculty training, as well as marketing efforts to publicize and grow the program. The Validation Team emphasizes that the Forensics budget must be a separate consideration, since this is an activity along the lines of sports teams or the Honors Society. Forensics should not be conflated with the department budget, unless the same applies to these other activities."
• Increasing our general department budget would allow us to meet at least some of the following general needs of the department. Some examples include:
• Obtain VoiceThread software annual subscription for innovative asynchronous content delivery in online classes $100 (x3 online instructors) = $300/year
• Discipline specific travel and conference funds (ICA, NCA, and NCFA) (cost variable).  These conferences routinely hold “GIFTS” sessions at which faculty share “Great Ideas for Teaching Speech.” These materials are vital to keeping our classroom instruction fresh and timely for our students.
• Planning and executing an annual CMST “Talk Fest” Celebration for Communication Studies majors = $200
• Purchasing new documentaries for use in classes = $500
• Forensics Supplies:
• 2 Visual Aid Stands @ $70 each = $140
• 2 art portfolios for carrying visual aids @ $200 each = $400
• 20 Interpretation black book binders @ $6 each = $120
• 50 Oral Interp Black Book (performance) Materials (10PC) @ $4 each = $200

In alignment with our Program Review Validation Team 2014 Report, the CMST department requests one full time faculty hire to replace a recent resignation. This new full-time faculty will help to support student success, promote our major and contribute to the overall growth of the CMST department. 

• Enhancing a Culture of Completion and Academic Achievement
• Supporting Student, Faculty and Staff Success

• The CMST department had grown to 8 full time faculty members, but with one resignation last year, we are back down to seven.
• In order to meet student demand for our classes, promote our major, and continue the every day work of the department, we need another full-time faculty member to replace the one who left. 
• This would bring our full-time faculty number back up to the total requested by our latest Program Review Validation Team Report in 2014. 

The need for a senior-level Officer of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is undeniable when one considers that since fall 2006, Butte College’s population of students of color has risen from 23% to 41%. All indications suggest that this trend will likely continue for the foreseeable future. In order to meet the needs of the “now” student, whom our college President has described as racially diverse, sexually diverse, and gender non-conforming, the college must be positioned to consider issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion in all decision making and to be proactive in response to national, state, local, or college-level discourses, events, or policies related to diversity and equity. This position would work with colleagues across the institution to create a campus climate that affirms the values of diversity and equity as vital aspects of the learning environment while also articulating the importance of actively engaging diversity as part of the intellectual development of students who will compete in a global marketplace. Ultimately, this position would be in charge of developing and implementing a strategic vision and plan for diversity and equity efforts across the whole institution.

More specifically, the Officer of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion would work with faculty, staff, and student leaders to help the school actualize its diversity and equity objectives.  As the Chancellor’s Office moves toward the consolidation of programs that support disproportionately impacted student groups, this position could potentially oversee programs that are currently aligned in their aims but have not had the institutional support needed to align their work in more collaborative ways. Some of these programs/services potentially include Student Equity, MESA, EOPS, VRC, Inspiring Scholars, Safe Place, Title IX, DSPS, HSI, GSET, EEO efforts, and perhaps Student Life. This senior-level position could also be responsible for creating a strategic, intentional professional development program for faculty and staff around diversity and equity issues.

• Enhancing a Culture of Completion and Academic Achievement
• Supporting Student, Faculty and Staff Success
• Maximizing Resources to Support Student Learning
• Enhancing a Culture of Inclusiveness

While the population of students of color has nearly doubled in the past 10 years, our faculty of color has increased by 1% in that same time period and remains woefully behind at just 12%.  At the recent Strategic Planning Retreat, the senior-level Officer of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion was identified as the top priority for supporting student success and creating an inclusive campus environment.  These efforts should focus on eliminating barriers to student success, preventing the recurrence of concerns expressed by students, and remedying the impact of these concerns on individual students and the campus community. In order to ensure a safe and welcoming environment that provides equal opportunity for success to all students, our college needs to 1) address hiring issues including unconscious bias training, 2) provide professional development for faculty and staff on cultural competency/cultural humility and privilege, and 3) strategically plan our college-wide efforts to close equity gaps and educate all students, faculty, and staff on the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion. This position could provide leadership on all these issues.