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ASCCC President’s Update | March 2025
Hello colleagues!
For me, January and February have been difficult months. I know I am not alone. As the calendar turned to a new year, like many of you, I was riding a wave of renewed energy following a holiday break spent with loved ones and with opportunities to read and rest. I was excited about the work awaiting the ASCCC this spring. Then came the presidential transition and early signs of unclear executive orders, disruption of funding to Federal programs, deportations, and threats to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.
Given the likely impacts to community college programs and to students, their families, and our communities, it is impossible to be apolitical. At ASCCC, we believe all students, regardless of gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, nationality, immigration status, religion, or disability, should have access to higher education and the support necessary to succeed. California’s community colleges admit 100% of applicants, and it is critical that we nurture cultures of belonging and support. Executive Director Krystinne Mica and I released a statement affirming ASCCC’s commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, anti-racism, and accessibility. These values and intentions are woven into everything we at the ASCCC do with and for faculty, students, colleges, and the Chancellor’s Office.
January was also tough as we lost a man of incredible humanity and impact, Dr. John Stanskas, who passed away January 28 with his family by his side after a 15-month cancer battle that many didn’t know he was fighting. John was Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs at the Chancellor’s Office at the time of his death and has long had impact on students, faculty, and community college colleagues as a faculty member and dean at San Bernardino Valley College and as a member of the ASCCC Executive Committee, including as ASCCC President 2018-2020. No matter where we worked, John Stanskas was a fierce advocate of students and believed strongly that inclusion benefits everyone. John’s loss hit me hard. He was a cherished colleague, mentor, and friend, as he was to many. Read the ASCCC statement honoring Dr. Stanskas.
The continued commitment by faculty to support of all students is critical during a time of much uncertainty. Many students feel threatened by the rhetoric and actions of the Federal government and no longer see college campuses as safe spaces. It is imperative that we all work to welcome and support students in our teaching, counseling, library, and campus spaces, continue work to use culturally affirming practices, and acknowledge historical and lived experiences of diverse populations.
Please share this newsletter with colleagues, including faculty, classified professionals, and administrators. We do this work together.
In community,
Cheryl Aschenbach
President, Academic Senate for California Community Colleges
Generative Artificial Intelligence
In the November 2024 President’s Update, I stated that ASCCC intends to support faculty exploration of generative AI in the learning environment via a number of efforts. Those efforts continue within ASCCC and in partnership with statewide representatives via the Chancellor’s Office AI Council.
If you aren’t familiar with these resources yet, please see the November 2024 ASCCC Rostrum, which was entirely focused on generative artificial intelligence, the ASCCC resource, Academic Integrity Policies in the Age of Artificial Intelligence Resource Document, and the Chancellor’s Office Human-Centered Principles for Adopting Generative AI that were approved by the Board of Governors. While these resources are not exhaustive, they provide a foundation for thinking about the potential of generative AI as well as for using AI in ethical ways in the classroom and across campus.
The ASCCC AI-focused Academic Academy: Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education – Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow event took place in San Diego from February 20-22, 2025. Together, ASCCC, thought leaders, and the Chancellor’s Office explored AI in teaching and learning. If you were registered, we hope you had a great time. If you weren’t able to attend, be sure to look for more AI-focused articles in the February Rostrum and for upcoming ASCCC webinars
Speaking of webinars, on February 12, the ASCCC held a webinar titled “Empowering Educators: Navigating AI in the Community College Classroom” in collaboration with the Council of Chief Librarians. If you missed it, you can access the recording and slides here. On March 13, 12:00pm-1:30pm, the ASCCC Educational Policies Committee will be holding a webinar titled “Teaching and Learning with AI Bots”; register here.
Part-Time Faculty Institute
In response to a Chancellor’s Office survey of professional development needs and interests of part-time faculty, ASCCC was asked to hold a part-time faculty focused event. With the theme “Taking It to the Next Level: Connecting, Mentoring, Academic and Professional Matters in the 10+1”, the Part-Time Faculty Institute will be April 10-12, 2025 at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina. The institute is tailored to empower and inspire part-time faculty with engaging sessions and practical workshops, with most led by part-time faculty. Thanks to funding from the Chancellor’s Office, registration is free. Unfortunately, registration is now full, but interested part-time faculty can join the waitlist using the link under the registration tab on the Part-Time Faculty Institute webpage.
Transfer: Associate Degrees for Transfer
The California General Education Transfer Curriculum (Cal-GETC) goes into effect Fall 2025, replacing the IGETC and CSU GE Breadth general education patterns as the sole general education transfer pathway for both CSU and UC. While courses previously approved for IGETC are approved for Cal-GETC, all courses for Area 1C, Oral Communication, had to be submitted. Currently enrolled students hold catalog rights to IGETC, which didn’t include oral communication except for CSU, but questions remain whether students will need to retake oral communications courses if they have a break in enrollment and have to use the Cal-GETC pattern. The Intersegmental Committee of Academic Senate (ICAS) Cal-GETC Standards Subcommittee is discussing this and other concerns, including consideration for partial certification, clarifications in Area 2 and Area 5, potential for 2 disciplines in Area 5 instead of separation of two courses into physical and biological sciences, and consideration of Credit for Prior Learning, CLEP, and Cambridge International exam results, with the intent to include guidance in the next version of Cal-GETC Standards expected later this spring.
As was noted in the November 2024 President’s Update, the AB 928 Associate Degree for Transfer Intersegmental Implementation Committee finalized its 2024 report and recommendations. It is expected that some or all of the recommendations, in addition to those from the 2023 report that weren’t acted on, will be introduced as legislation during the 2025 legislative session. While the committee’s work doesn’t have immediate impact on colleges, it does have impact as recommendations become law and statewide and local implementation is required. It’s important for faculty leaders, including local senate presidents, curriculum chairs, and articulation officers, to be aware of what is being proposed and, where possible, to provide input via written or spoken public comment.
Transfer: Common Course Numbering
In the November 2024 President’s Update and the Fall 2024 Common Course Numbering Update, it was noted that CCN Faculty Workgroups (CCNFWs) were meeting to develop templates for 23 Phase II courses. CCNFW clusters met in late October, mid-November, and early December. Following each convening, post-development surveys were distributed as an opportunity for faculty to provide input on the templates developed during the convenings. The October CCNFWs met again in December to review post-development survey results and adjust proposed CCN course templates in response to feedback. As a result, templates for eight courses and corresponding honors templates were finalized and sent to the Chancellor’s Office mid-January. The November and December CCNFWs met in February to review feedback and revise templates; as the templates were finalized, they were sent to the Chancellor’s Office.
Concerns about articulation of CCN Course Templates still exist, so before releasing the first of the Phase II course templates, the Chancellor’s Office is working with UC and CSU system offices and academic senate leaders to solidify transferability and articulation timelines and to continue determining steps necessary to achieve the vision for articulation included in the 2023 Common Course Numbering Task Force Report and Recommendations.
As UC and CSU conduct Cal-GETC and articulation review processes for the Phase I courses submitted to COCI and ASSIST by colleges in December and transferability and articulation timelines are discussed for Phase II, planning for Phase III course template development is underway. ASCCC has been asked to work with faculty to develop fifty CCN course templates in Phase III. ASCCC communications to California community college academic senate presidents and to the UC and CSU academic senate leaders were sent out; the communications included the list of courses, calls for nominations of faculty to participate in CCNFWs, and a link to all pre-development surveys.
Continuing to respond to faculty feedback, ASCCC is making minor adjustments to the Phase III course template development process. First, all CCNFW convenings will be held in June 2025 to allow the Chancellor’s Office to continue important articulation conversations with UC and CSU and to allow time to gather feedback on Phase I courses submitted to ASSIST in December. June convenings should also present fewer conflicts with faculty courses and other obligations as was experienced with the Phase II convenings. More time is being given for pre-development survey responses and faculty nominations, and faculty selected to participate in CCNFWs will be notified mid-April to allow plenty of time to keep calendars clear for scheduled CCNFWs.
To facilitate on-going communication and provide up-to-date information about common course numbering efforts, specifically CCN course template development and faculty engagement, the ASCCC now has a dedicate website. Visit the ASCCC Common Course Numbering (CCN) Development and Faculty Engagement webpage to access active pre-development and post-development surveys. Also on the page is a link to view CCNFW Faculty Engagement, which notes the colleges represented on each of the CCNFWs.
ASCCC continues to offer support to local colleges as faculty navigate many aspects of common course numbering. CCN will be a topic at the Spring 2025 Curriculum Regionals. Together with Erik Reese, ASCCC Curriculum Chair, I will be hosting CCN Support Office Hours on March 26, April 17, and May 7. Questions can now be sent to ccnsupport@asccc.org.
You can find information about Common Course Numbering in the following places:
ASCCC Common Course Numbering (CCN) Development and Faculty Engagement webpage, which includes information about template development processes and faculty engagement
Chancellor's Office Course Outline of Records Submission webpage, which includes CCN Templates and COCI submission information.
Chancellor’s Office CCN Resources and Other Items of Interest webpage, which includes memos, program updates, timelines, and webinars.
Title 5 Regulations
Whether necessitated by new legislation or by a need for clarification or a new direction, the Chancellor’s Office has been busy developing and revising title 5 regulations. For a full list of current regulatory actions, visit the Chancellor’s Office Pending Regulatory Action webpage.
For regulations impacting academic and professional matters, the Chancellor’s Office consults with the ASCCC for recommendations; this may occur through Chancellor’s Office committees like the California Community Colleges Curriculum Committee (5C) or Professional Learning Flex Workgroup where ASCCC representatives have been appointed. It may also occur via direct consultation and discussion at ASCCC Executive Committee meetings and meetings with ASCCC leadership.
The regulatory process always includes a 45-day public comment period and may include an additional 15-day comment period if substantial revisions are made in response to feedback received during the 45-day public comment period. The ASCCC always distributes announcements for public comment periods related to regulatory actions via its listservs as well as additional information or guidance from the Chancellor’s Office for implementation of new or revised regulations. Faculty are encouraged to share the announcement and to make public comments when so moved.
Regulations approved by Consultation Council at the January 2025 Board of Governors meeting include the following:
Baccalaureate Degrees – regulations approved. Awaiting chaptering by the Secretary of State.
Course Outline of Record – regulations approved. Awaiting chaptering by the Secretary of State.
NextUp Foster Youth –regulations approved. Awaiting chaptering by the Secretary of State.
The Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS) regulations approved by the Board of Governors July 2024 have been chaptered by the Secretary of State and are effective March 13, 2025.
State and Federal Legislative Advocacy
January 2025 began a new two-year legislative session. Bills were introduced through February 21. The ASCCC reviewed the bills as they were introduced to determine which ones had impacts on academic and professional matters, as well as on student access and success.
ASCCC’s legislative efforts are on-going. Like in 2023, more than 25% of members of the California State Assembly and Senate are either new legislators or new to their house. For the last decade, ASCCC has engaged in regular conversation with legislators and staff most involved with CCC-impacting legislation. This includes chairs, members, and staff of the Assembly Higher Education and Senate Education committees and of the Assembly Budget Committee, Assembly Education Finance Subcommittee, Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee, and Education Finance Subcommittee. The position of the ASCCC is that regular communication enables us to educate legislators on the role of the ASCCC and creates opportunities to discuss proposed and pending bills.
In January, I, along with Executive Director Krystinne Mica, Vice President LaTonya Parker, and advocate Austin Webster of W Strategies, LLC, spent a day at the Capitol, primarily meeting with legislators and staff of the committees noted above. On February 19, the ASCCC Executive Committees and members of the Legislative Advocacy Committee engaged as teams and met with more than 50 legislative offices to share our work, express support for continued funding of the California Community Colleges despite budget uncertainty, and encourage the California State Legislature to consider ways to fill gaps in funding for critical higher education and student support if federal funds are withdrawn.
Advocacy at the federal level is also important. In February, Vice President Parker, Executive Director Mica, and I joined CCC representatives in Washington, D.C., to speak with Senators Padilla and Schiff and many members of California’s congressional delegation. In many of those meetings, we heard support for the work being done to engage and support all community college students and advance workforce training. We also had opportunities to share the incredible work being done at local colleges and at the state level.
Whether they represent us at the state or federal level, representatives want to hear from us. If you don’t know who your State Senate and Assembly representatives are, visit Find Your California Representatives. If you don’t know who represents you in Congress, visit Find Your Member. You can also use these pages to find contact information for your representatives. Call, email, or visit their local offices; make sure your voice is heard, and share the information so that the voices of friends, family, students, colleagues, and community members can be heard as well.
Spring 2025 Plenary Session
Spring 2025 Plenary Session will be April 24-26 at the Hyatt Regency Irvine. The theme is “Creative Collaboration Now: Leading for Student Success.” The session will be hybrid, with the option for attendees to participate in person or online. Different from past resolution processes is that only amendments and urgent resolutions will be submitted during the session. This change is being piloted in response to delegate interest in having more time to review proposed resolutions with local senates before plenary sessions. As a result, all resolutions, aside from amendments and those deemed to be emergency resolutions, will need to be submitted in advance.
Resolutions Timeline for 2025 Spring Plenary Session
Pre-session resolutions packet to the field by March 14, 2025
Area Meetings: Friday, March 21, 2025
Updated resolutions packet to the field (pre-session packet + Area meeting resolutions) by March 28, 2025
Last day for resolution submission is April 10, 2025
Mandatory contacts meeting on April 11, 2025
Plenary Resolutions packet sent to the field April 17, 2025 (1 week before the first day of plenary)
Plenary Session begins on April 24, 2025
Amendments and urgent resolutions due April 25, 2025 (Fri of Plenary) time TBD
More information on the resolutions process and timelines can be found on the ASCCC Resolutions Process webpage.
To support faculty interested in submitting resolutions for consideration by delegates during Spring 2025 Plenary Session, the ASCCC Resolutions Committee is holding Resolutions Committee Office Hours March 10, March 11, March 19, March 25, March 26, March 28, April 7, April 11, April 15, and April 17. See the registration pages for each individual date or view the ASCCC Events Calendar for specific times and to register.
I mentioned it in the November 2024 President’s Update, but it’s worth mentioning again: the ASCCC Executive Committee has taken action to hold Fall Plenary Session 2025 as fully in-person, with hybrid attendance and participation only available on Saturday during resolution voting and debate. Plan to join us in person in San Diego November 6-8, 2025.
Exemplary Program Award Winners
Thank you to all colleges who submitted nominations for the 2025 Exemplary Program Awards, established in 1991 by the Board of Governors to recognize outstanding community college programs. The Exemplary Program Awards are sponsored annually by the Foundation for California Community Colleges, with nomination, scoring, and selection processes facilitated by the ASCCC. The Academic Senate selects annual themes related to the award’s traditions and statewide trends. This year’s theme, “Integrating, Advancing, and Sustaining Open Educational Resources for Access and Equity,” recognized programs that serve as a sustainable and comprehensive model for other colleges' Open Educational Resources (OER) efforts in one or more of the following areas:
Broadening access and awareness of OER among faculty
Making OER accessible using Universal Design for Learning principles
Developing OER with culturally-relevant content grounded in inclusive, diversity-focused, equitable, and anti-racist principles
Developing resources to support professional development that broadens the creation and use of OER content
Finding ongoing support for reviewing OER content
Winners of the 2025 Exemplary Program Awards are Coalinga College for their OER efforts coordinated through the Coalinga College Library and Diablo Valley College for their OER@DVC program which has been instrumental in transforming the culture of curriculum development at DVC by promoting Open Educational Resources (OER) and Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) section. Two colleges earned honorable mention: Lemoore College’s #OERevolution and MiraCosta College’s Sociology Department ZTC/OER Program. The four programs were honored by Chancellor Christian, Board of Governors President Hildegarde B. Aguinaldo, and ASCCC President Cheryl Aschenbach at the January Board of Governors (BoG) meeting. More information about the winning programs can be found in the BoG agenda item and in an upcoming Rostrum article.
Credit for Prior Learning
The ASCCC has been in conversation with the Chancellor’s Office and leadership of the Mapping Articulated Pathways (MAP) project about collaborating to convene faculty to develop statewide credit recommendations. ASCCC previously worked with the Foundation for California Community Colleges to develop statewide credit recommendations for real estate, automotive technology, emergency medical systems, fire technology, and computer information systems using industry licensing or certifications, C-ID descriptors and model curriculum, and existing community college courses. This work is being done not to mandate local adoption of credit recommendations but to support scaling of credit for prior learning to the benefit of students. The ASCCC will also be working with MAP to continue to assist local colleges in the review or establishment of CPL review processes and policies.
Want to see existing statewide credit recommendations as well as explore how credit for prior learning is being awarded at colleges statewide? Visit the MAP webpage and dashboards.
Dreamscape Learn for Biology
I spoke with the Chancellor’s Office recently about their interest in developing a contract with Dreamscape Learn to provide 2D video courseware for general education biology courses. Together with CVC and @ONE leadership, I emphasized that faculty should have an opportunity to know more about the courseware, its use in biology courses at ASU and in a handful of California community colleges, and Chancellor’s Office intentions to fund the technology. As a result of that conversation, this spring ASCCC, CVC, and @ONE will be collaborating with the Chancellor’s Office to hold information sessions and solicit input from faculty. We’ll share more information as we have it, but I wanted to give faculty a heads up that the conversation is happening. Please let your biology faculty know.
Disciplines List: Minimum Qualifications Updates
The ASCCC annually facilitates the disciplines list process, which culminates in recommendations for new and revised disciplines to the Board of Governors. During the 2024 call for disciplines list revisions, three discipline proposals were submitted: Art (revision); Brewing, Fermentation, and Distillery Sciences (new); and Physical Education (Adapted) (revision). A first hearing was held during the Fall Plenary session; all three proposals are moving forward to a second hearing and consideration for approval by delegates at the Spring Plenary session.
Faculty interested in proposing a new discipline or a revision to existing discipline can submit proposals until September 30 for the 2025-2026 process. An important part of the proposal process is gathering support from colleagues, so don’t wait until September! Information, including timelines, FAQs, and the proposal form, can be found on the ASCCC Disciplines List webpage.
Board of Governors Faculty Representatives
The ASCCC facilitates the annual nomination process for faculty representatives to the California Community College Board of Governors. The process starts with a call for nominations in February. Nominations must be submitted by June 30 each year. Selected nominees are interviewed by the ASCCC Executive Committee in September and recommendations made to the Governor, who makes final appointments. Of the nominations made by ASCCC to the Governor’s Office during the 2024 cycle, Adrienne Brown, faculty member at Los Angeles Harbor College, was reappointed for 2025-2027 and will continue to represent faculty along with Dr. Cirian Villavicencio from San Joaquin Delta College, who is serving 2024-2026. Nominations are now open. Information about the nominations process can be found on the ASCCC website.
Thank you!
I am grateful for the dedication and efforts of faculty statewide. Your daily support of students is incredible, as is your on-going work to promote learning as a safe space where all are welcome, to adjust to innovations in teaching and learning, to contribute to state-wide efforts including common course numbering, C-ID, and credit for prior learning, and to lift faculty voice in local college and community college system governance. Your contributions create ripples of impact on students, faculty, and colleges throughout the state. Now more than ever, we need to stay unified in support of students and community colleges, no matter the variance of personal belief or political affiliation.
Upcoming Webinars
Visit the ASCCC Events Calendar to see the full listing of available webinars across a variety of topics.
Upcoming Events
Follow links for more information and to register.
North Rising Scholars Regional – March 14 at City College of San Francisco
North Curriculum Regional – March 14 at Folsom Lake College
Central Valley Curriculum Regional – March 15 at Merced College
Spring Area Meetings – March 21 (virtual)
South Rising Scholars Regional – March 28 at Cypress College
Central Valley Rising Scholars Regional – April 5 at Bakersfield College
Part-Time Faculty Institute – April 10-12 at Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina
Spring Plenary Session – April 24-26 at Hyatt Regency Irvine
North Noncredit Regional – May 3 at Butte College
Faculty Leadership Institute – June 12-14 at Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport
Curriculum Institute – July 9-12 at the Ontario Convention Center
Looking for more Info? Visit the ASCCC webpage at asccc.org or email info@asccc.org.
