No images? Click here President’s Update | April 2023 ![]() Dear Colleagues, Spring has sprung. As the days get longer, faculty continue to work hard, teaching classes and supporting students. The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges is getting ready for the 2023 Spring Plenary Session, where faculty leaders will have an opportunity to network, learn about current issues, vote during elections and resolutions, and of course make time to enjoy the event. Although ASCCC plenary sessions are generally focused on academic and professional matters and related issues, we invite colleagues from other stakeholder groups at both the state and college levels to join in the sessions and engage in dialog as we strive to improve educational opportunities for the students the system serves. As the plenary session approaches, we encourage all faculty to carefully read the resolutions packet and share it with colleagues. In addition, please read the ASCCC Legislative Report included in each ASCCC Executive Committee meeting agenda under item III.A. Read about the assembly and senate bills and about the trailer bills. Meet with administrators, classified professionals, students, and governing boards to learn about their priorities. Work as a team to stay informed. Many changes are occurring; sometimes one can see them happening, and sometimes one cannot. For example, during the Area C Meeting on March 25, attendees learned that the mission of the California Community Colleges (EDC §66010.4) was revised while they were verifying the language for use in a resolution. AB 2973 (2022) Postsecondary Education; omnibus bill revised the mission of the California Community Colleges as codified in California EDC §66010.4 and explained in the Legislative Council’s Digest that “Existing law…includes in the mission of the community colleges, among other things, the provision of remedial instruction for those in need of it” and that “This bill would revise the mission of the community colleges to instead include the provision of instruction and additional learning supports to close learning gaps for those in need of it…, and…change the term ‘remedial’ to ‘pretransfer’ and the term ‘basic skills’ to ‘foundational skills’ and would make nonsubstantive and conforming changes to these and other provisions.” This omnibus bill was approved by the governor on September 22, 2022 and became law on January 1, 2023. Later in fall 2022, the ASCCC adopted Resolution F22 07.14 to “work with the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office and the California Community Colleges Board of Governors to reaffirm its mission and values, vowing to put students first” on November 5, 2022 based on then California EDC §66010.4. This resolution was based on the language of the law as it appeared in November 2022. The California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office published its 2022 Chaptered Legislation Report on November 30, 2022, summarizing the changes to California EDC §66010.4 as “noncontroversial” and stating that the bill “updates the CCC mission to include the provision of instruction and additional learning supports to close learning gaps and updates specified references of ‘remedial’ to ‘pretransfer-level.’” It did not report that the bill revised the mission and eliminated the provision of “remedial instruction for those in need of it.” More troubling, no discussion took place by system stakeholders regarding a revision to the mission of the California Community Colleges system. While some may see the changes to the mission as nonsubstantive, others may see them as a fundamental shift in the education the colleges provide. Regardless, all faculty should be talking about and engaging in deep conversations about the mission and how they are serving the diverse communities of California. Another significant change that has been broadly communicated is the appointment of a new chancellor for the California Community Colleges system, Chancellor-select Sonya Christian, who will officially begin June 1, 2023. Chancellor-select Christian began her community college career serving as a faculty member. The ASCCC is looking forward to working in collaboration with Chancellor-select Christian to inform policy and program development that truly serves the students in the California Community Colleges system. We offer our congratulations to Sonya Christian. On a related note, interim Chancellor Daisy Gonzales has been a champion for students and faculty during her tenure at the Chancellor’s Office in her roles as deputy chancellor and chancellor. We thank her and wish her the best in her future endeavors. For faculty who are considering running for a seat on the ASCCC Executive Committee, time still remains to submit nominations. All elections materials are due by 5:00 PM on April 20, 2023. Nominations will be accepted during the scheduled lunchtime session at the plenary session on April 20 but are welcome earlier through the submission of materials. More information is available on the ASCCC 2023 Elections webpage. Those looking to ease into ASCCC service can volunteer for statewide service by completing the application. Whether one chooses to run for election or apply for statewide service, all are invited and encouraged to join in statewide work; your voice is wanted. Learn more about statewide service in these Rostrum articles: Serving Faculty, Students, and the System: Participating and Learning with the ASCCC and To Serve or Not to Serve: Considerations When Running for the ASCCC Executive Committee. Below are a few updates about recent ASCCC and statewide efforts. Please forward this message to all constituents at your college, district, or organization. If you have any questions, please contact us at info@asccc.org. On behalf of the ASCCC Executive Committee, remember to take some time for yourself and your loved ones, and have a wonderful spring term. Respectfully, ![]() Ginni May Elections for the ASCCC Executive CommitteeThe Academic Senate for California Community Colleges is seeking nominations for the 2023-24 Board of Directors, also known as the Executive Committee. Each year, the Executive Committee nominations process provides the ASCCC membership with a direct voice in the organization’s governance. The Executive Committee provides strategic guidance for the successful achievement of the ASCCC's Mission, oversees the strategic plan of the ASCCC and its organizational performance, reviews high-level organizational goals and policies, makes high-level decisions, reviews executive director performance, and serves as a community advocate for the ASCCC. All candidates for election to the Executive Committee must meet at least one of these criteria:
Nominations for this election will only be accepted through completion and submission of the Executive Committee Candidate Form commencing on March 20, 2023 and closing on Thursday, April 20 during the scheduled lunchtime of the spring plenary session. For more information, visit the ASCCC Elections page. Academic FreedomOne of the priorities for both the ASCCC and the Intersegmental Committee of Academic Senates (ICAS) is the full protection of academic freedom for faculty and students throughout the state. Following the annual ASCCC and ICAS legislative visits in February, these two bodies have been engaging with the Governor’s Office on potential avenues to enshrine academic freedom into law this legislative session, including budget trailer bill language or new legislation. In addition, there has been well-established support for the protection academic freedom from FACCC, the AFT/CFT, the CTA, the AAUP, and moreover, the California State Senate through SR 45 (Min, 2022). DEIA in Evaluations and Tenure ReviewApproved by the California Community Colleges Board of Governors in May 2022, the California Code of Regulations language for including diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) in all employee evaluations has been chaptered by the secretary of state and is effective as of April 26, 2023. The regulations are linked here. Districts will need to work with employee groups to implement the regulations. Academic senates should be engaging in dialogue with unions about ways to incorporate DEIA elements into faculty evaluations and tenure review processes; Education Code 87663(f) requires that “where faculty evaluation procedures are collectively bargained, the faculty’s exclusive representative shall consult with the academic senate prior to engaging in collective bargaining regarding those procedures.” The ASCCC will be working with union partners to offer examples of how colleges are implementing the regulations. In the meantime, the ASCCC paper Sound Principles for Faculty Evaluation may be of help, and one example of a district's inclusion of DEI in faculty evaluations is embedded in a PowerPoint from a Fall 2021 Plenary Session breakout “Setting a Higher Standard: Partnering with Unions to Embed DEI Expectations in Evaluations.” During 2021-2022, the Chancellor's Office DEIA Implementation Workgroup developed model DEIA Competencies and Criteria to also assist colleges with these efforts. Associate Degree RequirementsAt the 2022 Fall Plenary Session, delegates approved Resolution F22 07.01 Comprehensive Title 5 Revision to Align Associate Degree General Education with the AB 928-required General Education Pathway. The resolution included two resolved statements, one to work with the Chancellor’s Office to amend Title 5 §55063(c) and §55063(d) to align with Cal-GETC, the “singular lower division general education pathway” resulting from AB 928 (Berman, 2021), and one to bring amendments to Title 5 §§55060–55064, including §55063, to the ASCCC’s 2023 Spring Plenary Session for consideration by the ASCCC delegates. The California Community Colleges Curriculum Committee (5C) has been working with the Chancellor's Office on these revisions, and they will be available to review as part of the resolution packet on Friday, April 21; unfortunately, the revisions were not finalized in time for a resolution to be included in the packet sooner. The current proposed revisions to the Title 5 language can be found on the ASCCC website. However, there may be additional edits through the process described in the Procedures and Standing Orders of the Board of Governors, section 206. For comparison, the current Title 5 regulations can be found here. While the framework for the associate degree general education pathway will be aligned with Cal-GETC, the courses included in each area may differ between the two GE pathways. Courses approved for each GE area in Title 5 will continue to be determined through local curriculum processes, while courses eligible for Cal-GETC will be submitted to and approved through a yet to be determined process. Dual AdmissionsAssembly Bill 132 was an education trailer bill that was chaptered on July 27, 2021. One of its mandates includes establishing dual admissions programs at both the CSU and UC commencing with the 2023–24 academic year, extending until the 2026–27 academic year. The program authorizes eligible first-time freshman applicants to enter into a dual admissions agreement with the CSU or UC that guarantees the student’s admission to a specific campus of the segment selected by the student at the time of the agreement if the student completes transfer requirements and meets the agreement criteria. Some information on dual admissions programs can be found on these websites: Associate Degree for TransferAB 1749 (McCarty) is proposed legislation titled the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act: University of California. It would require that, like the CSU, the UC also guarantee transfer into a UC campus in a similar major with junior standing to students that complete an ADT and require no more that 60 semester units to complete a baccalaureate degree. While the GPA requirement for admission to the CSU is 2.0, for UC admission it would be 3.0. If the bill passes, the Regents of the University of California would need to act, by resolution, to impose this requirement on the UC system, since the UC System has legislative autonomy. A recent article in Edsource provides some viewpoints about transfer pathways to the UC system. AB 928The next meeting of the AB 928 Intersegmental Implementation Committee will take place at Long Beach City College in Long Beach on April 25, 2023 from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. The bill language is available on the California Legislative Information website. Common Course NumberingThe AB 1111: Common Course Numbering Task Force is scheduled to meet on April 27, 2023 in Sacramento from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm. The meetings continue to focus on learning so that the task force may formulate recommendations for implementation. Open Educational Resources InitiativeThe ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative (OERI) recently announced the projects that were selected for funding as part of its 5th Request for Proposals (RFP V). Additional information on RFP V, as well as the projects being finalized in the current term—RFP IV—and the products of the prior funding cycles, is available on the OERI's website. The OERI also recently shared a revision of its Inclusivity, Equity, Diversity, and Anti-Racism (IDEA) Framework. One can access the framework and read about its history and efforts to improve it on the ASCCC OERI IDEA Framework website (tinyurl.com/OERI-IDEA). The framework is also available in Canvas. Because the framework is intended to be a living document, review and feedback from faculty are appreciated. The OERI continues to compile information related to the Zero Textbook Cost Degree Program and related statewide efforts to decrease instructional material costs for students. Attendees of the upcoming ASCCC 2023 Spring Plenary Session are encouraged to visit the OERI's table and to attend its informational session. Upcoming Events
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