State and Legislative Issues

Whereas, The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges has supported the creation of appropriate baccalaureate degrees at the community college level [1] after completion of a five-year pilot [2] period plus a first round of baccalaureate degree programs created under AB 927 (Medina, 2021);

Whereas, The Intersegmental Committee of Academic Senates established a “singular lower division general education pathway that meets the academic requirements necessary for transfer admission to both the California State University and University of California” named the California General Education Transfer Curriculum (Cal-GETC) [1] as required by AB 928 (Berman, 2021) [2];

Whereas, AB 1187 (Irwin, 2022) [1] was approved by the Governor of California on September 30, 2022 and amended California Education Code §84757 by adding the following paragraph to subdivision (a): “(10) Supervised tutoring for foundational skills and for degree-applicable and transfer-level courses, as authorized pursuant to regulations adopted by the board of governors on or before July 31, 2023.

Whereas, Local academic senates are considered legislative bodies as defined by the Ralph M. Brown Open Meeting Act, necessitating compliance with all open meeting requirements;

Whereas, AB 811 (Fong, as of April 12, 2023) [1] calls for

Whereas, AB 607 (Kalra, as of February 17, 2023) [1] proposes to modify California Education Code §66406.9 [2] by adding the requirement that the California Community Colleges “prominently display, by means that may include a link to a separate internet web page, the estimated costs for each course of all required course materials and fees directly related to those materials, for no less than 75 percent of the total number of courses on the online campus course schedule.

Whereas, AB 1705 (Irwin, 2022, as of March 16, 2022) [1] would require that California community colleges create a Transfer Level Gateway Completion Dashboard by July 2023 that shall be updated annually and shall contain data on a statewide basis disaggregated by regional, district, and college levels, including drop out prior to census date counts in mathematics, English, and ESL English;

Whereas, The right of students to enroll in a transfer level English or mathematics course resulting from AB 705 should not require that students forfeit their right to take a pre-transfer level English or mathematics course for the purpose of academic preparation, meeting non-transfer degree/certificate requirements [1], re-skilling, or life-long education [2];

Whereas, California Education Code 66010.4. (a) (1) defines the primary mission for the California community colleges as to “offer academic and vocational instruction at the lower division level for both younger and older students, including those persons returning to school”;

Whereas, California Education Code 66010.4. (2) requires the California community colleges to offer instruction and courses to achieve all of the following:

Whereas, The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC) acknowledges the importance of academic freedom, most recently through the fall 2020 adoption of the paper Protecting the Future of Academic Freedom in a Time of Great Change and the adoption of Whereas, The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC) acknowledges the importance of academic freedom, most recently through the fall 2020 adoption of the paper Protecting the Future of Academic Freedom in a Time of Great Change and the adoption of Resolution