Work Experience Education
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 work experiences.
Districtwide Work Experience 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:
- City College Work Experience
- Mesa College Work Experience
- Miramar College Work Experience
- College of Continuing Education Work Experience - TBD
Spring 2025 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:
- Be a current SDCCD student - APPLY ONLINE
- Secure a job, internship, or volunteer position (Paid or Unpaid)
- Watch the Online Work Experience Orientation and complete the Orientation Quiz (Save quiz as file (PDF) & upload the file into WE Application)
- Complete the Online Work Experience Application
- Completion of Employer Agreement by Site Supervisor (emailed to Site Supervisor automatically once student WE Application has been submitted)
- Attend mandatory Faculty Work Experience Orientation with their Work Experience Instructor (in-person or remote, details provided by faculty)
Fall 2024 Online forms
Districtwide Coordination
Districtwide coordination is managed through SDCCD Career Education and Workforce Development (CEWD)
- Districtwide Faculty Work Experience Coordinator: Shawn Fawcett | sfawcett@sdccd.edu
- Amertah Perman, Dean, CEWD | aperman@sdccd.edu
- Noah Lacsina, Career Services Admin Tech, CEWD | nlacsina@sdccd.edu
College Work Experience Coordinators
2024-2025
- San Diego City College Faculty Work Experience Coordinator: Nicole Vargas | nvargas@sdccd.edu
- San Diego Mesa College Faculty Work Experience Coordinator: Shawn Fawcett | sfawcett@sdccd.edu
- San Diego Miramar College Faculty Work Experience Coordinator: Kyoka Hashimoto | khashimoto@sdccd.edu
- San Diego College of Continuing Education Faculty Work Experience Coordinator: Oscar Aparicio | oaparicio@sdccd.edu
College Work Experience Deans
2024-25
- 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, Skilled Trades
Districtwide Resources:
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Handbooks
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Tools, Resources, Guides, & Worksheets
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Learning Objectives Resource Guide and Worksheet
- Process summary
- Dashboard(s)
- Sexual Harassment Prevention Training
- Alternative Site Visit Request Form
- No Longer Required
- Alternative site visit no longer needed as of fall 2023 per revised Title 5 regulations (see below)
- Communication Resources
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Faculty Support
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Faculty of Work Experience Courses encouraged to add the SDCCD Sexual Harassment Training Completion Form to your canvas shell:
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All WE students must complete this training prior to submitting a Cumulative Work Record, but students are encouraged to complete the training prior to logging your Work Experience Hours. This training includes an introduction to educational and workplace regulations and guidance regarding sexual harassment including how to recognize, report, and prevent sexual assault and harassment. Please remind students to complete the training and submit a copy of proof of completion (screenshot of Canvas grades) to via the online form link below rather than an email. This will help us keep better track of student completions per semester. If a student met the training in another way or they are an SDCCD employee, please have them email me to share details.
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Self-Enroll in Canvas in the Gender Equity, Sexual Harassment and Violence Prevention Training Course
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Complete the training. Organized into 3 modules: Key Concepts, Reporting and Response, Awareness and Prevention, you will find a series of short videos and supplemental handouts for review. Hit the "next" button at the bottom right to move through the course content.
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Submit documentation of completion. Print grades to PDF. Save file to computer. Upload into the Sexual Harassment Training Proof of Completion Form
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Participate in the Work Experience Course Shell for WE faculty to utilize as an optional tool in designing your WE course(s).
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The WE shell provides template pages and assignments to provide an overview of the WE process, requirements, and forms that students need to complete as part of the course (basically all Title 5 requirements / forms). Faculty may use this shell as a reference and import individual modules/pages or all of the content into their own course shell to then adapt and update based on their preferences.
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The course is also listed in Canvas Commons - faculy may add it as a ‘favorite.’
- Feedback and questions may be sent to the Districtwide Faculty Work Experience Coordinator: Shawn Fawcett
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Career-Focused Modules & Template Assignments – Faculty encouraged to explore the Career-Focused Modules Canvas Shell developed by Mesa WE faculty.
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The shell provides ready-to-use career-focused template assignments to be infused within curriculum across all disciplines and academic programs. Faculty can incorporate any of the modules into their WE course and adapt as they see fit.
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District Plan
- no longer required; to be replace by admin procedure; draft admin procedure developed and endorsed by colleges in december 2023; moving through formal AP/BP approval processes.
- Districtwide AP
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Districtwide Paper Forms
- Still available throughout transition to electronic processes (2022-23); do not use without Work Experience Coordinator permission; City College requires use of these forms spring 2023, summer 2023, and fall 2023. These forms will no longer be available after fall 2023.
- 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.
- Still available throughout transition to electronic processes (2022-23); do not use without Work Experience Coordinator permission; City College requires use of these forms spring 2023, summer 2023, and fall 2023. These forms will no longer be available after fall 2023.
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)
- Updated the hours for all 270 and 272 courses
August 2023 Update: Chaptering of the approved Title 5 Work Experience Changes has been completed.
- Final Approved Changes
- Curriculum Institute Presentation July 2023
- Guidance Memo from the State - August 2023
- Curricular Impacts - will be reviewed and discussed within districtwide subject area meeting(s)
- Process Impacts - will be reviewed and discussed within districtwide process committee meeting(s)
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
- Fall 2022 - Title 5 regulations in place (2020 suspensions expired Summer 2022)
- Summer 2022 - Continuation of 2020 suspensions (expire at end of Summer 2022)
- Spring 2022 - continuation of Spring 2020 suspensions
- Spring 2020
State & National Resources
- The CA Internship & Work Experience Association (CIWEA) – CA’s leading professional association for educators and employers dedicated to supporting internship and work experience programs in high education.
- The Cooperative Education & internship Association (CEIA) - national membership association providing professional development in the field of cooperative education and advocacy for best practices in work-integrated learning.
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.
2024-25 Agendas
- September 24, 2024
- February 26, 2025
2023-2024 Agendas
- November 2023
- September 2023
- February 2024 - subcommittee focused on data engagement and dashboard development
- March 2024
- April 2024
2022-2023 Agendas
2021-2022 Agendas
2020-2021 Agendas
2019-2020 Agendas:
2018-2019 Agendas: