Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 5, § 55003 - Policies for Prerequisites, Corequisites and Advisories on Recommended Preparation

(a) The governing board of a community college district may establish prerequisites, corequisites, and advisories on recommended preparation, but must do so in accordance with the provisions of this article and subchapter 6, article 1. Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to require a district to establish prerequisites, corequisites, or advisories on recommended preparation; provided however, that a prerequisite or corequisite shall be required if the course is to be offered for associate degree credit and the curriculum committee finds that the prerequisite or corequisite is necessary pursuant to sections 55002(a)(2)(D) or 55002(a)(2)(E). Unless otherwise specified in this section, the level of scrutiny required to establish prerequisites, corequisites, and advisories on recommended preparation shall be based on content review as defined in subdivision (c) of section 55000 or content review with statistical validation as defined in subdivision (f) of this section. Determinations about prerequisites and corequisites shall be made on a course-by-course or program-by-program basis.

(b) A district governing board choosing to establish prerequisites, corequisites, or advisories on recommended preparation shall, in accordance with the provisions of sections 53200-53204, adopt policies for the following:

(1) the process for establishing prerequisites, corequisites, and advisories on recommended preparation. Such policies shall provide that in order to establish a prerequisite or corequisite, the prerequisite or corequisite must be determined to be necessary and appropriate for achieving the purpose for which it is being established.

(2) procedures to assure that courses for which prerequisites or corequisites are established will be taught in accordance with the course outline of record, particularly those aspects of the course outline that are the basis for justifying the establishment of the prerequisite or corequisite.

(3) the process to ensure that each section of the prerequisite or corequsite is to be taught by a qualified instructor and in accordance with a set of objectives and with other specifications defined in the course outline of record, as required in section 55002 for all courses.

(4) the process, including levels of scrutiny, for reviewing prerequisites and corequisites to assure that they remain necessary and appropriate. These processes shall provide that at least once each six years all prerequisites and corequisites established by the district shall be reviewed, except that prerequisites and corequisites for vocational courses or programs shall be reviewed every two years. These processes shall also provide for the periodic review of advisories on recommended preparation.

(5) the bases and process for an individual student to challenge the application of a prerequisite or corequisite.

(c) A district governing board choosing to use content review as defined in subdivision (c) of section 55000 to establish prerequisites or corequisites in reading, written expression or mathematics for degree-applicable courses not in a sequence shall first adopt a plan specifying:

(1) the method to be used to identify courses to which prerequisites or corequisites might be applied;

(2) assurance that courses are reasonably available to students when prerequisites or corequisites have been established using content review as defined in subdivision (c) of section 55000. Such assurance shall include sufficient availability of the following:

(A) appropriate courses that do not require prerequisites or corequisites, whether noncredit, credit, basic skills or degree-applicable courses; and

(B) prerequisite or corequisite courses;

(3) provisions for training for the curriculum committee; and

(4) the research to be used to determine the impact of new prerequisites and corequisites based on content review.

(d) Prerequisites or corequisites may be established only for any of the following purposes:

(1) the prerequisite or corequisite is expressly required or expressly authorized by statute or regulation, or expressly required by institutions for which the college has transfer agreements; or

(2) the prerequisite will assure, consistent with section 55002, that a student has the skills, concepts, and/or information that is presupposed in terms of the course or program for which it is being established, such that a student who has not met the prerequisite is highly unlikely to receive a satisfactory grade in the course (or at least one course within the program) for which the prerequisite is being established; or

(3) the corequisite course will assure, consistent with section 55002, that a student acquires the necessary skills, concepts, and/or information, such that a student who has not enrolled in the corequisite is highly unlikely to receive a satisfactory grade in the course or program for which the corequisite is being established, and if the corequisite course is intended as additional support for students enrolling in transfer-level English or mathematics (or quantitative reasoning) courses, then it must be determined that the corequisite course increases the likelihood that the student will pass the transfer-level course; or

(4) the prerequisite or corequisite is necessary to protect the health or safety of a student or the health or safety of others.

(e) Except as provided in this subdivision, no prerequisite or corequisite may be established or renewed unless it is determined to be necessary and appropriate to achieve the purpose for which it has been established. A prerequisite or corequisite need not be scrutinized using content review as defined by subdivision (c) of section 55000 or content review with statistical validation as defined by subdivision (f) of this section, if:

(1) it is required by statute or regulation;

(2) it is part of a closely-related lecture-laboratory course pairing within a discipline;

(3) it is required by four-year institutions;

(4) baccalaureate institutions will not grant credit for a course unless it has the particular communication or computation skill prerequisite or

(5) it is a corequisite that has been recommended through placement guidelines approved by the Chancellor.

(f) Content review with statistical validation is defined as conducting a content review (as defined in subdivision (c) of section 55000) and the compilation of data according to sound research practices which shows that a student is highly unlikely to succeed in the course unless the student has met the proposed prerequisite or corequisite.

(g) If the curriculum committee, using content review with statistical validation, initially determines, pursuant to section 55002(a)(2)(E), that a new course needs to have a communication or computation skill prerequisite or corequisite, then, despite subdivision (e) of this section, the prerequisite or corequisite may be established for a single period of not more than two years while the research is being conducted and the final determination is being made, provided that all other requirements for establishing the prerequisite or corequisite have been met. The requirements of this subdivision related to collection of data shall not apply when the prerequisite or corequisite is required for enrollment in a program, that program is subject to approval by a state agency other than the Chancellor's Office and both of the following conditions are satisfied:

(1) colleges in at least six different districts have previously satisfied the data collection requirements of this subdivision with respect to the same prerequisite or corequisite for the same program; and

(2) the district establishing the prerequisite or corequisite conducts an evaluation to determine whether the prerequisite or corequisite has a disproportionate impact on particular groups of students described in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, age or disability, as defined by the Chancellor. When there is a disproportionate impact on any such group of students, the district shall, in consultation with the Chancellor, develop and implement a plan setting forth the steps the district will take to correct the disproportionate impact.

(h) Prerequisites, corequisites, and advisories on recommended preparation must be identified in college publications available to students as well as the course outline of any course for which they are established.

(i) By August 1 of each year districts choosing to establish prerequisites, corequisites or advisories shall submit to the Chancellor's Office in the manner specified by the Chancellor the prerequisites and corequisites that were established during the prior academic year. Districts shall also specify the level of scrutiny, i.e., content review as defined in subdivision (c) of section 55000 or content review with statistical validation as defined in subdivision (e) of this section, used to determine whether the prerequisite or corequisite was necessary and appropriate for achieving the purpose for which it was established.

(j) Prerequisites establishing communication or computational skill requirements may not be established across the entire curriculum unless established on a course-by-course basis.

(k) The determination of whether a student meets a prerequisite shall be based on successful completion of an appropriate course or on an assessment using multiple measures, as required by section 55522. Any assessment instrument shall be selected and used in accordance with the provisions of subchapter 6 (commencing with section 55500) of this chapter.

(l) If a prerequisite requires precollegiate skills in reading, written expression, or mathematics, the district shall:

(1) ensure that courses designed to teach the required skills are offered with reasonable frequency and that the number of sections available is reasonable given the number of students who are required to meet the associated skills prerequisites and who diligently seek enrollment in the prerequisite course.

(2) monitor progress on student equity in accordance with section 54220. Monitoring shall include:

(A) conducting an evaluation to determine the impact on student success including whether the prerequisite or corequisite has a disproportionate impact on particular groups of students described in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, age or disability, as defined by the Chancellor.

(B) where there is a disproportionate impact on any such group of students, the district shall, in consultation within the Chancellor, develop and implement a plan setting forth the steps the district will take to correct the disproportionate impact.

(m) Whenever a corequisite course is established, sufficient sections shall be offered to reasonably accommodate all students who are required to take the corequisite. A corequisite shall be waived as to any student for whom space in the corequisite course is not available.

(n) No exit test may be required to satisfy a prerequisite or corequisite unless it is incorporated into the grading for the prerequisite or corequisite course.

(o) The determination of whether a student meets a prerequisite shall be made prior to his or her enrollment in the course requiring the prerequisite, provided, however, that enrollment may be permitted pending verification that the student has met the prerequisite or corequisite. If the verification shows that the student has failed to meet the prerequisite, the student may be involuntarily dropped from the course. If the student is dropped, the applicable enrollment fees shall be promptly refunded.

Otherwise a student may only be involuntarily removed from a course due to excessive absences or as a result of disciplinary action taken pursuant to law or to the student code of conduct.

(p) Any prerequisite or corequisite may be challenged by a student on one or more of the grounds listed below. The student shall bear the initial burden of showing that grounds exist for the challenge. Challenges shall be resolved in a timely manner and, if the challenge is upheld, the student shall be permitted to enroll in the course or program in question. Grounds for challenge are:

(1) The prerequisite or corequisite has not been established in accordance with the district's process for establishing prerequisites and corequisites;

(2) The prerequisite or corequisite is in violation of this section;

(3) The prerequisite or corequisite is either unlawfully discriminatory or is being applied in an unlawfully discriminatory manner;

(4) The student has the knowledge or ability to succeed in the course or program despite not meeting the prerequisite or corequisite;

(5) The student will be subject to undue delay in attaining the goal of his or her educational plan because the prerequisite or corequisite course has not been made reasonably available; or

(6) Such other grounds for challenge as may be established by the district governing board.

(q) In the case of a challenge under subdivision (p)(3) of this section, the district shall promptly advise the student that he or she may file a formal complaint of unlawful discrimination pursuant to subchapter 5 (commencing with section 59300) of chapter 10 of this division. If the student elects to proceed with the challenge, completion of the challenge procedure shall be deemed to constitute an informal complaint pursuant to section 59327.

(r) District policies adopted pursuant to this section shall be submitted to the Chancellor's Office as part of the district's matriculation plan pursuant to section 55510.

Notes

Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 5, § 55003

1. New section filed 7-17-2007; operative 8-16-2007. Submitted to OAL for printing only pursuant to Education Code section 70901.5 (Register 2007, No. 35).
2. Amendment of section and NOTE filed 4-25-2011; operative 5-25-2011. Submitted to OAL for printing only pursuant to Education Code section 70901.5 (Register 2011, No. 18).
3. Amendment of subsections (a), (c)(1), (c)(2)(A), (c)(4), (d)(1), (d)(3) and (e)(1)-(4), new subsection (e)(5) and amendment of subsection (k) filed 7-17-2019; operative 8-16-2019. Submitted to OAL for printing only pursuant to Education Code section 70901.5 (Register 2019, No. 30).
4. Editorial correction of subsections (c)(2)(A), (d)(3) and (e)(1)-(4), restoration of inadvertently omitted subsection (e)(5) and correction of HISTORY 3 (Register 2020, No. 9).

Note: Authority cited: Sections 66700 and 70901, Education Code. Reference: Sections 70901 and 70902, Education Code.

1. New section filed 7-17-2007; operative 8-16-2007. Submitted to OAL for printing only pursuant to Education Code section 70901.5 (Register 2007, No. 35).
2. Amendment of section and Note filed 4-25-2011; operative 5-25-2011. Submitted to OAL for printing only pursuant to Education Code section 70901.5 (Register 2011, No. 18).
3. Amendment of subsections (a), (c)(1), (c)(2)(A), (c)(4), (d)(1), (d)(3) and (e)(1)-(4), new subsection (e)(5) and amendment of subsection (k) filed 7-17-2019; operative 8/16/2019. Submitted to OAL for printing only pursuant to Education Code section 70901.5(Register 2019, No. 30).
4. Editorial correction of subsections (c)(2)(A), (d)(3) and (e)(1)-(4), restoration of inadvertently omitted subsection (e)(5) and correction of History 3 (Register 2020, No. 9).