Students

The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges has held a longstanding commitment to increasing the transfer of historically underrepresented students. Particularly noteworthy in this ongoing effort of the Academic Senate occurred during the 1991-93 period when the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges adopted a Senate initiated, system-wide "Student Equity Policy" that seeks to address individual college responsibilities in this area.

The Student Equity Policy was adopted by the Board of Governors in September 1992. It requires districts in the community college system to develop a Student Equity Plan. The plan should include details of campus-based research or needs assessment, goal identification, and specification of implementation activities, resource support, and evaluation.

No issue is more important to the future of California than student equity, than increasing the enrollment and success of under represented ethnic minorities. Unless we enable large numbers of students from many ethnic groups to be successfully integrated into the economic mainstream of this state, we will certainly have failed those students. That motive is reason enough for urgent action. However, even if one were ethically indifferent, student equity is no less important.

A speech by Karen S. Grosz to the Disabled Students Programs and Services Conference concerning the underrepresentation of the disabled among faculty and administration, and giving suggestions on how faculty can better meet the needs of students with disabilities.

The purpose of the Student Needs Survey was to identify the needs of ethnic and language minority students to assist faculty in the development of methods and measures to prepare for the changing demographics of the 1990's, wherein ethnic and language minority students will compose a "new majority" in their classrooms. The purpose of the Faculty Development Programs Survey was to determine faculty opinion as to the current status and direction of faculty development programs in addressing the issue.