All Program Reviews for Honors
| Academic Year | Status | |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-2026 | Submitted | Current |
Honors
2025-2026 Program Review
1 ) In 3-5 sentences, describe your unit to an audience of potential students. Many units take this information from their website. If it has been awhile since your unit has updated its website, take this opportunity to design a brief description of your unit for today’s students.
ARC students are eligible for the Honors Transfer Certificate by completing 15 units of approved Honors coursework. Students who successfully complete five Honors courses receive a transcript notation showing that they have earned the certificate. Completion of the certificate with a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or better allows students to take advantage of transfer agreements with highly selective colleges and universities through the Honors Transfer Council of California and to participate in the Transfer Alliance Program at UCLA. Students who enroll in at least one honors course qualify for Honors-to-Honors programs upon admission to UC Davis and UC Irvine.
2 ) Who is disproportionately impacted in your unit?
Disproportionately impacted students include the following based on courses success and student participants as of Spring 2026 (n=255):
African American
• 17 participants (6.8%) of which 6 (2.3% identify as male)
• Significant DI for Course Success rates in ENGL C1000H (formerly ENGWR 480) and in SOC 480
• Significant DI for Course A-B Rating rates in ENGL C1000H (formerly ENGWR 480) and in SOC 480
• Significant DI for Course Completion rates in SOC 480
Latinx
• 68 participants (26.9%) of which 25 (9.8% identify as male
• Significant DI for Course A-B rates in ENGL C1000H (formerly ENGWR 480)
Native American
• 1 participant (0.4%)
Below Poverty Level
• Significant DI for Course Success rates in ENGL C1000H (formerly ENGWR 480), ENGL C1001H (formerly ENGWR 482 and STAT C1000H (formerly STAT 480)
• Significant DI for Course A-B rates in ENGL C1000H (formerly ENGWR 480), ENGL C1001H (formerly ENGWR 482 and STAT C1000H (formerly STAT 480)
• Significant DI for Course Completion rates in ENGL C1001H (formerly ENGWL 482) and STAT C1000H (formerly STAT 480)
Use the Disproportionate Impact* reports below to answer question #2. These reports show how student achievement outcomes vary by gender, race/ethnicity, veteran, foster youth, disability, and income/poverty level status to enable users to engage in more advanced student-centered and equity-centered analysis, reflection, and planning. These reports are integrated with ARC's Data on Demand system to provide users with more sophisticated and nuanced ways of exploring their unit's data. To access the reports, you may be prompted to log in to ARC's Data on Demand system. If so, click on "Log in with ARC Portal" and enter your Los Rios single sign-on credentials (same as Canvas or Intranet).
*This link provides the California Community College Chancellor's Office's definition of disproportionate impact.
Disproportionate Impact
The disproportionate impact (DI) links now direct you to your unit’s DI data in ARC Data on Demand. The DI data will show which student groups are experiencing disproportionate impact for course success rates (A, B, C, Cr, P), A-B rates, and course completion rates (students who did not withdraw) at the course level.
In addition, a new report on intersectional DI (e.g., ethnicity/race by gender) is available for assessing intersectional Di for course success rates. The intersection DI report defaults to the subject code level (e.g., all ENGWR courses). Use the org tree in the side bar to filter to individual courses (click on the right arrow next to American River College, right arrow next to your division, right arrow next to your department/discipline, then select the specific course to view).
If prompted to log in, click on “Log in with ARC Portal” and enter your Los Rios single-sign on credentials (same as Canvas or Intranet).
3 ) What equity advancing actions have your programs already taken?
Actions include program recruitment and information provided at onboarding activities and events; and dissemination to new and enrolled students placed into ENGL C1000/C1000H and with transfer as their educational goal based on race and gender. With the program being housed at the UNITE Center under the Dean of Student Engagement and Completion, there is a close tie with learning communities (i.e., Black Student Success, El Centro/HSI, PRISE, the Pride Center, Puente, Rising Scholars, Umoja Sakhu, UndocuScholar Resource Connection). Collaboration with the CSUS Black Honors program and the non-profit organization, Improve Your Tomorrow has begun to identify and support African American/Black students.
4 ) What will be your unit’s strategies for eliminating disproportionate impact (DI)?
Strategies include:
- Initiating an outreach and on-campus efforts to demystify what the honors program is and how it differentiates from postsecondary/high school honors programs
- Collaboration with student support programs and learning communities, primarily with the Native American Resource Center, El Centro/HSI, Puente, Black Student Success, and Umoja
- Solicitation of Honors course creation and development that include culturally relevant subject areas, such as biology, economics, ethnic studies
- Professional development opportunities for honors instructors on equity-based instruction and delivery
- Program evaluation (student surveys)
5 ) What support do you need to eliminate disproportionate impact (DI)?
- Research support is recommended to survey students to examine barriers and challenges associated with course success and completion.
- Encourage honors instructional faculty to participate in professional development opportunities focusing on equitable instruction, culturally relevant pedagogy, technology, and learning styles.
6 ) What other issues or concerns have affected your unit and are important for you to bring up?
- The relocation of the Honors Program to the UNITE Center is a significant move for its location is now at the center of student engagement. Its proximity to learning communities and the Center for Leadership and Development is convenient for students and faculty coordinators to collaborate. Honors counseling at the UNITE Center enables students - who would not otherwise venture into the space – to learn about other programs and engage with other students.
- A solidified budget for program activities is also recommended to accommodate funding for the annual Bay Honors Consortium, graduation stoles for students earning the Honors Transfer Certificate, transfer-related honors programs, and semester gatherings for students and faculty (i.e., welcome, end-of-year celebrations).
- Expand honors course offerings by providing incentives (i.e., professional development leaves, ESAs) for instructional faculty to create honors versions of coursework that meet CalGETC general education requirements, especially in Area 1C - Oral Communication, Area 3A - Arts, Area 5A - Physical Science and Area 6 - Ethnic Studies).
The Enrollment, Department Set Standards, and SLO Data Set may be additional considerations and helpful for answering this optional question, but not required. To access the reports, you may be prompted to log in to ARC's Data on Demand system. If so, click on "Log in with ARC Portal" and enter your Los Rios single sign-on credentials (same as Canvas or Intranet).
Enrollment
The enrollment links now direct you to your unit’s enrollment data in ARC Data on Demand (5 years of duplicated enrollment for Fall or Spring terms). Using the filters available along the left side navigation in ARC Data on Demand, enrollment data can now be disaggregated or filtered on a number of course or student characteristics to provide more fine-tuned exploration and analysis of enrollment data. Examples include disaggregating by course, ethnicity/race, gender, and age.
If prompted to log in, click on “Log in with ARC Portal” and enter your Los Rios single-sign on credentials (same as Canvas or Intranet).
Department Set Standards
Shows course success rates (# of A, B, C, Cr, and P grades expressed as a % of total grade notations) compared to lower and upper thresholds. Thresholds are derived using a 95% confidence interval (click the report link for details). The lower threshold is referred to as the Department Set Standard. The upper threshold is referred to as the Stretch Goal.
- Green
- Most recent academic year exceeds the upper threshold
- Yellow
- Most recent academic year falls between the lower and upper threshold
- Red
- Most recent academic year falls below the lower threshold
SLO Data Set
The faculty's continuous review of student achievement of course SLOs is documented using the Authentic Assessment Review Record (AARR), which involves a review of student work demonstrating achievement of the course SLO. Faculty record student achievement for a randomly assigned course SLO based on one or more authentic assessments that they regularly perform in their classes. The aggregated results are then reviewed annually as part of Annual Unit Planning, in which the results may serve as the basis for actions and, if applicable, resource allocation, and are aligned with college goals and objectives.
The AARR summary link provides an aggregate of the results of the most recent AARR implementation. The AARR results by SLO link provides a more detailed view, including the specific ratings assigned by faculty to each randomly assigned course SLO, and what, if any, actions were taken.
Note: Established thresholds (i.e., green/yellow/red indicators) have yet to be developed for SLO data.
In your program review process, you may want to refer to the goals and actions in your Annual Unit Plans since your last Program Review. Follow this this link to access your previous AUP submissions. For Faculty support, please contact Daniel Slutsky at slutskd@arc.losrios.edu.