Faculty Diversification
The Board of Governors Vision for Success Faculty and Staff Diversity Task Force, co-chaired by the Chancellor’s Office and the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC), issued its report and recommendations to the Board of Governors at the Board’s September meeting. All three recommendations were unanimously adopted by the Board of Governors, and much appreciation for the leadership of Deputy Chancellor Gonzales and the Academic Senate was acknowledged.  The three recommendations are as follows:

1. Incorporate the strategies identified in the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Integration Plan to integrate DEI into the Vision for Success,
2. Adopt the DEI Statement endorsed by the ASCCC Executive Committee and the Task Force as a systemwide directive by which to evaluate all aspects of the system, and
3. Support the budget proposal submitted by the task force for $60M in ongoing funding to support professional development, EEO expansion, and hiring full-time faculty as well as $16M in one-time funding to, among other things, create a student to community college faculty pipeline.  Of all the budget change propoposals for the system, this is the ASCCC’s number one priority for advancing our service to students. 

The ASCCC has also reached out to system partner colleagues siuch as the Chief Executive Officers, Chief Instructional Officers, Chief Student Services Officers, and the Association for Chief Human Resources Officers, asking for liaisons to assist in the work we have undertaken. Our goals are to address the following in this academic year:

1. Evaluate and emphasize the second minimum qualification—sensitivity to and understanding of the diverse academic, socioeconomic, cultural, disability, and ethnic backgrounds of community college students—such that its value is equal to discipline-specific qualifications.
2. Create model hiring and appointment processes.
3. Develop tools to engage colleges in systemic change dialogue.
4. Evaluate and revise the EEO Standards.

An in-person summit was convened on January 22, 2020 with relevant ASCCC committee chairs as well as representatives from our system partners committeed to collegially advancing our work in these areas.  While we may not finish all of these tasks in the current academic year, we hope to make significant progress in each area. This work can only be strengthened with the assistance of our system partners.

At the Fall 2019 ASCCC Plenary Session, the delegates representing the collective wisdom of the 62,000 faculty in the system in academic and professional matters voted to Support Infusing Anti-Racism/No Hate Education in Community Colleges, Resolution FA19 03.02, to Replace the ASCCC Inclusivity Statement with a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Statement, Resolution FA19 03.03 by acclaimation, and Adopt the Paper Equity-Driven Systems:  Student Equity and Achievement in the California Community Colleges, Resolution FA19 03.04 by acclaimation.  The recommendations from the paper that now define the position of the ASCCC are listed below and have been delivered to the Board of Governor’s and the Chancellor’s Office as the advice and judgment of the Academic Senate. 

Upcoming Events
March 19-20, Faculty and Staff Diversification Symposium, Sacramento
April 16-18, 2020 ASCCC Spring Plenary Session, Oakland

Additional information is available on our website, www.asccc.org, and a copy of this report with hyperlinks can be found on our website under the President’s Update at www.asccc.org/president-update. 

Please feel free to reach out to the Academic Senate at info@asccc.org whenever we can be of service. 

Respectfully,

        John Stanskas, President

Recommendations Defining the Position of the ASCCC in the Equity Driven Systems Paper
Adopted Fall 2019

RECOMMENDATIONS
Student equity requires transformation in re-envisioning the student experience through an equity lens and an institutional commitment to enhance the success of all students. The following recommendations are intended to facilitate the development of an equity-driven system by integrating equity and provide a framework for accountability, sustainability, partnerships, and professional development. The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges recommends the following to the Board of Governors, colleges and districts, and local academic senates:

Board of Governors

1. Center an equity-driven system framework by integrating the Board’s goals of diversity, equity, and inclusion into the Vision for Success. (Integration)
2. Regularly review and revise the Board’s diversity, equity, and inclusion statement. (Sustainability)
3. Develop an ongoing assessment and evaluation strategy based on the diversity, equity, and inclusion statement, which can be used to evaluate board decisions on funding and policy making. (Accountability)
4. Regularly review and revise as necessary Title 5 language, the mission of California Community College system, Equal Employment Opportunity plan templates, and any required documentation/forms, in conjunction with statewide stakeholders through existing statewide advisories and Consultation Council, using an equity-driven system framework. (Sustainability and Partnership)
5. Appropriately support the development of an equity-driven system through policy making and fund allocation to sustain system-wide program development and professional development and leadership opportunities for all system constituents. (Professional Development)

Colleges and Districts

1. Develop an action plan that will transform each college into an equity-driven institution to drive transformation throughout the college and district. Within this process, define and integrate principles of equity, diversity, and inclusion into the college’s vision, mission and values statements, and strategic planning documents. (Integration and Partnership)
2. Develop an ongoing assessment and evaluation that utilizes data to prioritize, assess, evaluate, and revise decision-making processes, policies, procedures, programs, budget development, and professional development/ leadership opportunities at every level of the college and district aligned with the college’s ToA or action plan. (Accountability)
3. Appropriately fund and develop the institution’s research capacity, data literacy, and link to an equity-driven system framework. (Accountability)
4. Create and sustain an equity-minded culture by reviewing and revising local hiring policies, procedures, and practices to (a) seek, hire, and retain equity-minded practitioners; (b) eliminate bias and other barriers to hiring diverse faculty and staff; and (c) close opportunity gaps, especially for our minoritized students. (Sustainability and Accountability)
5. Appropriately fund and support leadership and professional development opportunities to enhance equity-mindedness and cultural competency, including but not limited to: (a) engaging in implicit bias training for hiring committee members; (b) learning and practicing culturally relevant teaching and contextualized teaching and learning; (c) developing data literacy for equity-minded practitioners; and (d) centering equity in guided pathways frameworks. (Professional Development)

Local Academic Senates

1. Lead the development of a college action plan to transform the college into an equity-driven institution. In addition, the local academic senate should develop its own action plan to integrate an equity framework into the decision-making and recommending practices embedded in the 10+1. (Integration)
2. Ensure faculty leadership as the institution evaluates data used to prioritize, assess, evaluate, and revise decision-making processes, policies, procedures, program and curriculum development, budget development processes, professional development and leadership opportunities, and other 10+1 areas as aligned with the action plan. (Accountability)
3. Engage all college and district stakeholders (e.g., full/part-time faculty, students, staff, administrators, board members, community) in critical conversations to shift ideologies to foster an equity-driven institution to improve student outcomes, including student learning outcomes, especially through the development of a guided pathways framework, emphasizing culturally relevant teaching and contextualized teaching and learning, and integrating academic and support services. (Partnerships)
4. Review and revise policies and procedures through an equity-driven framework, especially as they apply to program review and institutional planning and budget development. (Integration and Sustainability)
5. Evaluate recruitment, hiring, and retention policies and procedures of faculty positions and the internal appointment processes of the academic senate through the lens of equity and any adopted action plan.  (Integration and Sustainability)