President's Update | June 2021
June 11, 2021
Dear Friends and Colleagues:
Congratulations for making it to the end of the academic year and for all the work you did this year on behalf of your colleagues and your students. One can hardly believe that at this time last year many of us were still hoping to be back in person in the fall and that the ASCCC was discussing how the fall plenary session would work. The situation does feel a little bit like the movie Groundhog Day, but at least, like Bill Murray, we seem to be coming out on the other side!
In addition, just over a year has passed since the horrific murder of George Floyd, and these intervening months have seen the ASCCC, along with our partners in the Chancellor’s Office, FACCC, CCLC, the Student Senate for CCC, and other organizations, come together to work on the issues facing the community college system and its colleges around systemic racism, the need for faculty diversification, and continued efforts to advance the strategies in the systemwide DEI Integration Plan. These efforts will continue into the next year and beyond, and the ASCCC is proud to continue to both participate in and lead these discussions and take action with our stakeholder partners. We are also focused on several more recent issues: concerns around transfer and legislation (particularly AB 928 and AB 1111, both by Assemblymember Berman, 2021), the implementation of an ethnic studies requirement and the development of more ethnic studies programs statewide, and the creation of an ASCCC Data and Research Taskforce, which was just approved at our last meeting. We will continue to update you as these efforts move forward.
In April, the ASCCC held its second virtual plenary session around the theme of “Working Collectively: Transforming and Decolonizing Institutions.” The nearly 500 attendees engaged in three days of professional development and resolution debate, and were treated to several excellent general sessions, including one with Dr. Roberto Hernandez from San Diego State University, who spoke about “Decolonizing Community Colleges: Understanding History to Reimagine the Future.” The resolutions from the plenary session, which were passed by the over 110 delegates representing the 115 academic senates from degree granting institutions as well as district senates and members of the Executive Committee, can be found here.
Following the plenary session, the ASCCC conducted elections for the 2021-2022 academic year. On June 4, we held our last in person/hybrid Executive Committee meeting of the 2020-2021 year. We bid a fond farewell to Mayra Cruz, Sam Foster, Silvester Henderson, and Julie Oliver. On Saturday, the ASCCC had its annual orientation in person and welcomed the 2021-2022 Executive Committee:
Dolores Davison, President
Virginia “Ginni” May, Vice President
Cheryl Aschenbach, Secretary
^Michelle Bean, Treasurer
^Stephanie Curry, Area A Representative
Karen Chow, Area B Representative
Robert L. Stewart, Jr., Area C Representative
LaTonya Parker, Area D Representative
*^Christopher Howerton, North Representative
*^Karla Kirk, North Representative
*^Amber Gillis, South Representative
Manuel Velez, South Representative
*^Lance Heard, At-Large Representative
^Carrie Roberson, At-Large Representative
Krystinne Mica, Executive Director
*indicates newly elected member of the board
^indicates a new position for the individual listed
From June 16-18, the ASCCC will present the penultimate event of this academic year’s programming: the Faculty Leadership Institute. We will be welcoming more than 150 registered attendees who are either local faculty leaders or are moving into positions of leadership. On July 7, we will kick off the final event of the year: the Curriculum Institute. Both of these institutes will be held entirely virtual, and we hope to see many of you at one or both of them.
The first event of the fall will be the Academic Academy on October 7-9, 2021. This virtual event will focus on transfer. The fall plenary session, from November 4-6, will be a hybrid event, with the in-person portion held at the Westin Long Beach. We will continue to monitor the governor’s announcements about gatherings, as well as the CDC and county information, to ensure that the in-person event is as safe as possible; more information about the event will be forthcoming.
In reflecting back on the past year, one can easily become lost in the negative impacts and events: the loss of colleagues, friends, and family, the decline in enrollment, especially in BIPOC students, and the absence of in-person events and classes. However, one must now also acknowledge that the community college system has survived the pandemic, and, as colleges head into the summer and begin to think about the fall, I challenge all of us to embrace not only how we survived but how we will thrive in the coming year. Next year will provide opportunities to reshape teaching and learning and make further process in DEI efforts throughout the state, two areas of focus that will require the involvement of not only the ASCCC but of all of local senates as well. The ASCCC will continue to emphasize the need for the faculty voice in all discussions about the system, whether those are within the system itself, with the legislature and the governor’s office, or being held by non-practitioners, and we will continue to advocate for the faculty and students of the California community colleges.
I am incredibly proud of the work that has been done this year by the faculty around the state as well as by the ASCCC, the Executive Committee, our ASCCC office team, and the incredible volunteers who fill committees, attend meetings on behalf of the ASCCC, and do so much more. Thank you to all of you for your work this year. I look forward to seeing you, whether virtually or (hopefully) in person, in the fall term. Happy Summer all!
With Gratitude,
Dolores M. Davison
President, Academic Senate for California Community Colleges
List of Upcoming Events
June 2021
- June 16-18, 2021
2021 Faculty Leadership Institute - Virtual Event
July 2021
- July 7-9, 2021
2021 Curriculum Institute - Virtual Even
Save the Date!
- October 7-9, 2021
Academic Academy - Virtual Event - November 4-6, 2021
Fall Plenary Session - Westin Long Beach/Hybrid
