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Work Experience Education

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Work Experience Education (WEE) is a structured educational process that combines real-world work experiences gained by students with regular academic or vocational instruction and is considered to be an integral part of the community college curriculum. Work Experience Education courses provide experiential learning activities to strengthen student learning and reinforce the student’s effective work habits, attitudes and career awareness, thereby enhancing the student’s marketable skills.

Work Experience is a District-initiated program of education consistent with California Administrative Code, Title 5, Section 55250, consisting of General Work Experience Education and Occupational Work Experience Education. Title 5 Section 55250.3 defines Work Experience Education to include employment of student in part-time jobs selected and approved as having educational value for the students employed therein and coordinated by college employees.

Work Experience is part of the Work-Based Learning Continuum and provides students with opportunities to receive college credit for learning through paid and unpaid internships.

This page provides SDCCD Colleges currently offering WEE to students a central location for internal guidance and support materials. 

Districtwide WEE Forms and processes

Transition to electronic processes - All SDCCD offerings of Work Experience must follow the districtwide processes and utilize the agreed upon districtwide forms. As of Spring 2024, all offerings are integrated into the districtwide online work experience forms. Exceptions may be formally requested and reviewed for the unique and rare instances when online forms may not be accessible.

WORK EXPERIENCE ONLINE FORMS CHANGE EVERY SEMESTER

Institutions must ensure students and faculty are utilizing the correct online forms for the term enrolled.

Process Summary for fully online process for Faculty and Coordinators

As of Summer 2024, each college locally publishes online forms for students within their local work experience websites:

Fall 2026 Online Forms

Students must complete all requirements BEFORE they are eligible to receive an add code to enroll in Work Experience. Colleges responsible for communicating required these steps to students. Add codes/permission numbers will be created about a week before the semester and can be accessed in the SDCCD Portal. 

To be eligible to obtain an ADD code/permission # to enroll in Work Experience, students must:

Summer 2026 Online Forms

Students must complete all requirements BEFORE they are eligible to receive an add code to enroll in Work Experience. Colleges responsible for communicating required these steps to students. Add codes/permission numbers will be created about a week before the semester and can be accessed in the SDCCD Portal. 

To be eligible to obtain an ADD code/permission # to enroll in Work Experience, students must:

Districtwide Coordination

Districtwide coordination is managed through SDCCD Career Education and Workforce Development (CEWD)

 

College Work Experience Coordinators

2026-27

  • San Diego City College Faculty Work Experience Coordinator: Nicole Vargas  | [email protected] 
  • San Diego Mesa College Faculty Work Experience Coordinator: Shawn Fawcett |  [email protected] 
  • San Diego Miramar College Faculty Work Experience Coordinator: Kyoka Hashimoto | [email protected] 

College Work Experience Deans 

2026-27

  • San Diego City College: Jesse Lopez,  Dean, School of Arts, Humanities, Communications & Telecommunications
  • San Diego Mesa College: Alex Berry, Associate Dean of CTE
  • San Diego Miramar College: Claudia Estrada-Howell, Dean, School of Business, Technical Careers, and Workforce Initiatives
  • San Diego College of Continuing Educaiton: Andrei Lucas, Dean, Skilled Trades / Brad Tavaris, Assocaite Dean (SDCCE does not yet offer WEE, but has designated leads since FY24 to support planning and design for future noncredit WEE delivery)

 Districtwide Resources:

  • District Plan
    • A District Plan is no longer required by Title 5; replaced by district admin procedure (AP)
    • Districtwide AP
  • Districtwide Paper Forms
    • No longer available
    • All WEE delivery must utilize the term-based online forms and processes
    • Only under very specific and unusual conditions will paper forms still be available
      • Application: Initial step in participating in WEE courses. Completed and signed by student and employer/site supervisor as initial step in participating in WEE courses and submitted to Work Experience Coordinator once position is secured.
      • Learning Agreement: Includes learning objectives and must be signed by the Supervisor, Student, and Instructor. Signed by student, instructor, and worksite/supervisor. Includes three measurable job-oriented learning objectives.
      • Cumulative Work Record: Utilized throughout the semester and completed by the student. Completed by the student and submitted to instructor.
      • Unpaid Work Experience Volunteer Form: required for all unpaid work experience. Completed by student and signed by Work Experience Coordinator/Instructor and Risk Management.

Noncredit WEE

Title 5 Changes now allow for the delivery of Noncredit WEE. Noncredit curriculum must first be developed and state approved prior to delivery.

Industry Experience - embedding Work Experience into nonWEE courses

Title 5 Changes now allow for the integration of work experience into non-WEE courses. The District Industry Experience forms and processes have been developed to support this work. Pilots are underway at City, Mesa, and Miramar Colleges.

2026-27 Expanded Pilots in Implementation:

  • City: DSGN 218 (ongoing) and CHIL 193 (new)
  • Mesa: CHIL 275 (ongoing)
  • Miramar: CHIL 193 (new)

2025-26 Pilots

  • City: DSGN 218
  • Mesa: CHIL 275

24-25 Title 5 Work Experience Changes

June 2024 Updates

  • Admin Procedure 
  • Curriculum Updates
    • Updated the hours for all 270 and 272 courses
      • if the course description had the following statement “each 75 hours of paid employment or 60 hours of volunteer work” then it was removed and replaced with “every 54 hours of work experience or one credit may be earned for every 54 hours of work experience.”
    • Removed “The combined credit for all 270 discipline courses may not exceed 8 units per semester for a total of 16 units of cooperative work experience” - replaced with “A maximum of fourteen credit hours for all work experience subject areas may be earned during one enrollment period.”
    • No changes to repetition (currently allowable)
    • No changes to content or objectives (proposed changes to be implemented by faculty for 2025)

August 2023 Update: Chaptering of the approved Title 5 Work Experience Changes has been completed.

Changes - Below is a brief list of the approved changes:

  • Changes "Cooperative Work Experience Education" to "Work Experience Education;"
  • Authorizes noncredit work experience education for the first time;
  • Removes the requirement for a "local plan," and adds requirements for local board policy and procedures;
  • Establishes the respective responsibilities of students, faculty, and employers in work experience education programs;
  • Allows for remote site visits;
  • Removes the distinction between "occupational" and "general" work experience;
  • Revises the credit hour calculation for work experience as follows:condenses calculation into one formula (54 hours = 1 unit of credit);
    allows work experience to be integrated into a single course outline of record that may include lecture, lab, or activity hours in addition to work experience hours; and
  • Clarifies record-keeping requirements.

Pending State guidance, the San Diego Community College District currently plans to implement changes in 2023-2024 and 2024-25. Guided by the Districtwide Work Experience Process Committee, updates will be made to:

  • Required Work Experience forms
  • Work Experience Handbooks for Faculty/Instructors and Students
  • Work Experience policy and procedures

Curriculum updates will be addressed by faculty via the districtwide work experience subject area meeting(s).

Background: In July 2022, the California Community Colleges Board of Governors approved Title 5 Work Experience Education changes. 

  • As of October 2022, the Chancellor’s Office communicated that they understand implementation will be delayed due the curriculum process
    • Revisions
    • They are going to give everyone a year to implement
    • For any changes that can be implemented right away, colleges/districts are encouraged to do so (where possible)
    • A guidance memo will be provided by the Chancellor’s Office
    • The Chancellor’s Office expressed concerns regarding some local interpretation of the repeatability. They intend to clarify their goals within the memo and are hoping each college/district will follow the guidance memo (clarification will include that repeatability is allowable).
  • Spring 2023 - chaptering delayed
  • Summer 2023 - chaptering completed
    • Guidance memo - TBD

COVID19 Adjustments

State & National Resources

 

Work Experience Process Committee

The Work Experience Process Committee address operations (handbooks, forms, administrative procedures, and risk management) and title 5 compliance for Work Experience and is convened by Instructional Services.

Committee membership includes Work Experience Deans and Work Experience Coordinators from San Diego City, Mesa, and Miramar College as well as the District’s Dean of Career Education and Workforce Development and a Program Support Technician assigned to coordinating Work Experience. District Risk Management attends as needed.

The Work Experience Process Committee meetings are held no less than once per academic year.

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