Whereas, The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges recommends in the position paper Noncredit Instruction: Opportunity and Challenge 1 that the ASCCC should work with the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office to revise regulations and the Student Attendance Accounting Manual to provide noncredit attendance accounting options in addition to positive attendance in a manner similar to those available for credit courses;
Whereas, Current and formerly incarcerated students face significant barriers in pursuing their educational goals, especially in higher education, due to restricted access to educational opportunities, instruction, materials, and services stemming from legal policies and financial limitations; and
Whereas, The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges has numerous positions supporting the provision of equitable educational opportunities and support services for current and formerly incarcerated students 1; and
Whereas, California Education Code §84362, also known as the 50% Law, designates a minimum of 50% of a college’s general fund budget for direct instruction, but the current definition of instruction under the 50% law does not include support faculty such as counselors, librarians, tutorial coordinators, and any other faculty not actively in a classroom, and thus the 50% law becomes a fiscal and structural barrier to student support;
Whereas, Academic Freedom is a fundamental concept, supported by faculty tenure, that exists to ensure that institutions of higher education function for the public good and assures that colleges are constructed on the foundations of genuine trust and integrity but is not codified or protected in California Education Code;
Whereas, Curriculum, especially curriculum that leads to the expansion of required courses and units, should be driven by faculty to meet the educational needs of the community it serves with consideration of transfer opportunities and the capacity to hire faculty in disciplines that could be required due to the legislation;
Whereas, Title 5, Division 6 of the California Code of Regulations, established by the California Community Colleges Board of Governors and including curricular requirements for the California Community Colleges, has the strength of law;
Whereas, The California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO) and the California Community Colleges Board of Governors, with the support of the state legislature, approved a fully online community college, now named Calbright;
Whereas, SB 850 (Block, 2014) established a pilot program to create baccalaureate degrees in 15 districts within the California Community Colleges system, based in part on concerns regarding the potential gap in the number of students needing baccalaureate degrees by 2030 and beyond;
Whereas, The 15 pilot programs have succeeded in graduating more than 200 students in the first two years of the pilot, with hundreds more currently in courses leading to a baccalaureate degree, particularly in those programs related to allied health;
Whereas, In 2010 legislation was introduced calling for the creation of baccalaureate degrees in the California Community College System, and the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC) voted to oppose such an action for multiple reasons, including opposition to “any expansion of the California community college mission as proposed in AB 2400 (Anderson, March 2010)” [1];
Whereas, A recent study [1] showed that California community college students are increasingly housing insecure, with 1 in 5 students, or roughly 400,000 students in the system, currently being homeless, and that 60 percent of community college students in California have experienced recent housing insecurity and 50 percent have struggled with food insecurity in the last year;
Whereas, As of 2017, approximately 46 percent of California Community Collegesstudents receive need-based financial aid, compared to about two-thirds of resident undergraduate students enrolled in the University of California and the California State University systems [1];
Whereas, Many state and federal student aid programs are structured to help full-time students and thereforedo not benefit community college students who attend college part time,and student aid in the California Community Colleges is conventionally overseen by the Student Aid Commission;