To Whom It May Concern at the Higher Learning Commission,

My name is Nathanial Bork, I am an Adjunct Instructor in the Philosophy

Department at the Community College of Aurora, and I have some deep concerns
regarding our Gatekeeper Intervention Strategies and the implementation of certain
policies regarding Inclusive Excellence.
The Gatekeeper Course Interventions affect History 121 and 122, English 121
and 122, and Philosophy 111 and 112. I dont know the details of the other 5
courses, but here is what is happening at CCA for PHI 111:
1) Mandated 20% reduction in Course Content
2) We have to continue implementing new strategies until we have a success
rate of 80% for all student groups, as defined by race and gender.
3) Out of a normal twice per week course, we must set aside 5 classes to work
on Writing Assignment Scaffolding, wherein we work with students to develop
their English skills to write their single argumentative essay
4) We are only allowed to assign either 2 3-4 page papers, or 1 6-8 page paper,
for which the above scaffolding requires us to commit 5 class periods to
helping students write.
5) The above writing assignment(s) must count for 40% of the students course
grade.
6) We must use a standard rubric that is given to us to grade the writing
assignment.
7) We are to aspire to make as much of our classes cover material not created
by white males. The goal we were given is 30% women and minorities.
8) We are required to do small group work every other class period.
Another long standing CCA policy affecting my PHI 111 course are that
Instructors are not allowed to choose their course book.
For your reference, I have attached the resignation letter of a CCA Instructor who
felt that these changes attempt to achieve greater Student Success numbers by
lowering the difficulty of the class, the Gatekeeper Intervention Strategies given to
me by my Chair, the syllabus I had been using prior to these changes, and my
current syllabus.
My Chairs defense of these policies, on behalf of CCA, are that they are
within the letter of the law regarding CDHE mandated GT Standard and Pathway
Competencies, CDHE mandated Student Learning Outcomes, and General Learning
Outcomes at the Community College of Aurora.
I dont have the knowledge necessary to evaluate the above claim, but my
Chair does seem to understand these issues extremely well and I have no reason to
suspect that his claims are incorrect.
That being said, my concern is not that we arent within the letter of the law,
but that we are in violation of the spirit of the law regarding Guaranteed Transfer
courses. Simply put, this class is now much, much easier to get an A in or pass than

it was previously. Its now so much easier, that currently every single student on my
roster currently has an A+, and to my recollection the last time I was involved in a
course set to this difficulty level, either as a teacher or a student, was early high
school.
And if the people were giving A+s to in the GT courses are only doing the
equivalent of high school work at other colleges, I believe that sets up our students
for harm later on. Our Student Success rates will spike through the roof, but well
be graduating people who think theyve received a college education, but in reality
have only done high school level work in terms of knowledge gained and skills
developed. And the harm from what I see as lack of rigor will become evident after
theyve left CCA and are forced to compete with their peers from other schools.
In short, it strikes me as the soft bigotry of low expectations for these
students. But, as is often the case, I could be wrong in my assessment. My college
professors pushed me hard, and it made me who I am and laid the foundation for
my success in life, and I want that growth for the students who are under my care.
So it is with them in mind that I ask you to review some of the new Inclusive
Excellence policies at CCA.

Thank you for your time,

Nathanial Bork
Adjunct Philosophy Instructor CCA and ACC
President of the CCA Adjunct Alliance
President of the CCA Chapter of the AAUP