Dr. Sonya Christian may not have officially started as Chancellor of the California Community Colleges until June 2023, but from the time she was selected as chancellor by the Board of Governors in February 2023, she has been working with leaders from the community colleges, the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO), the Governor’s Office, legislature, industry, and more to set the direction of the California Community Colleges system.
The Vision for Success (CCCCO, n.d.a.) adopted by the Board of Governors in 2017 and then the Multi-Year Roadmap between the Newsom Administration and the California Community Colleges (Department of Finance, 2022) in 2022 both set ambitious goals for student success, transfer, and racial and regional equity. What the Vision for Success and the Roadmap both lacked was input from system stakeholders, including faculty and others, in the determination of goals, metrics, and areas of focus.
At the June 2023 Consultation Council meeting, the first of Dr. Christian’s tenure as chancellor, she explained to leaders of the many stakeholder groups represented that Vision 2030: A Roadmap for California Community Colleges (CCCCO, n.d.b.) is intended to blend elements of the Vision for Success and the Governor’s Roadmap and, more importantly, that its actions, goals, and metrics would be shaped through broad public input.
Understandably, since most of the early discussion about Vision 2030 happened during the summer months and the three strategic directions of equity in access, equity in support, and equity in success have remained consistent since being introduced, faculty could easily assume that Vision 2030 was pre-set and be frustrated by the existence of one more system-level plan with outcomes being determined without the input of students and stakeholders. However, Chancellor Christian has expressed a different plan: to have stakeholders shape the actions and metrics of Vision 2030 through engaged input.
This continued engagement and shaping of Vision 2030 has happened in many ways, as noted by the Summary of Vision 2030 Engagement Activities (CCCCO, n.d.d.) shared with the Board of Governors in September, and efforts are ongoing. Consultation Council discusses Vision 2030 monthly and, each month since June, has engaged in activities to identify strengths, weaknesses, and missing elements. Chancellor Christian and Deputy Chancellor Daisy Gonzales engaged with students, faculty, CEOs, and trustees in a series of online town halls in September, each conducted in partnership with their respective representative organizations: the Student Senate for California Community Colleges, the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges, and the Community College League of California. Each of these townhalls included an overview of Vision 2030 and then multiple means of sharing thoughts, ideas, and suggestions. For the Faculty Vision 2030 Town Hall held by the Chancellor’s Office and the ASCCC on September 14, faculty were encouraged to use Padlet or Zoom chat to provide input. Some of the feedback shared focused on part-time faculty parity, career education, expansion of open educational resources and zero textbook cost, continued student supports including housing, technology, and mental health, lifelong learning, climate literacy across disciplines, support for expanded library services and personnel, and more. Feedback also focused on the need for professional development to support local equity efforts, to expand culturally responsive teaching practices, and to learn about artificial intelligence.
A Vision 2030 Community Input Feedback Form is available on the Chancellor’s Office website, and all are encouraged to provide input. [1] The Vision 2030 Board of Governor’s agenda item in September included a thematic summary of input (CCCCO, n.d.e.) received via the form. Whether one has provided input already or not, everyone is still encouraged to provide input as the Vision 2030 continues to evolve.
Regarding the plan for adoption of 2030, at the September Board of Governor’s meeting, the Board took action to approve the Vision 2030 goals and strategic directions. Input will continue to be collected throughout the fall semester, with the intention of having the Board of Governors approve actions, outcomes, and metrics at its January 2024 meeting, with those elements to be reviewed and, potentially, revised annually to meet emerging needs.
As an example of the evolving nature of the Vision 2030 actions, at Consultation Council in July, seventeen actions within the three strategic directions were previewed and discussed. At Consultation Council and the Board of Governors in September, two months later, the seventeen actions were reduced to twelve actions, some of which have been added since July, most notably the intention that “all actions, policies, and procedures will be enacted centering equity and inclusion and dismantling prejudice and racism” (CCCCO, n.d.c.), while others have been refined, combined, or removed based on feedback.
As one looks beyond the three goals of Vision 2030 to the strategic directions of equitable baccalaureate attainment, equitable workforce and economic development, and the future of teaching and learning, many actions can be taken, inclusive of efforts already in practice at some colleges but intended to be expanded to scale at more colleges. Within the strategic direction of equitable baccalaureate attainment, dual enrollment was an early emphasis as many heard or read about Chancellor Christian’s intention for students to complete a minimum of 12 units of college credits through dual enrollment, a goal that was first included in the Governor’s Roadmap. This strategic direction also calls for an expansion of California community college baccalaureate programs as well as improved transfer pathways to university systems. Important, too, to equitable baccalaureate attainment is the focus on programs for traditionally disproportionately impacted groups like justice-involved and impacted students, veterans, foster youth. The strategic direction of equitable workforce and economic development includes actions focused on career education, work-based learning, apprenticeships, development of high tech or high touch systems, and a spotlight on intentionality within four key sectors: healthcare, climate action, STEM, and education. The future of teaching and learning strategic direction most notably includes generative artificial intelligence, an area where much is to be learned and with many implications for teaching and learning.
Many of the elements and actions within the strategic directions speak to teaching and learning through curriculum, instruction, and student supports, all of which fit within the roles of faculty across the community colleges as well as within the academic and professional matters delineated in California Code of Regulations Title 5 §55200 on which academic senates are to be collegially consulted. Academic senates will have many opportunities to lead; within the academic and professional matters, these opportunities are a responsibility of academic senates. A few ways in which academic senates can provide leadership through recommendations related to specific Vision 2030 actions are as follows:
- Collaborate among faculty across instructional and student service areas to recommend dual enrollment pathways and courses that could include career exploration, college success strategies, STEM foundations, career education early pathways, and general education coursework. This effort may include development of new curriculum or revision of existing courses to best take high school-to-college students through dual enrollment.
- Collaborate among faculty across instructional and student service areas to recommend coursework and certificate and degree pathways for justice-impacted students, including adults and, in an intersection with dual enrollment, juveniles.
- For all populations, especially for those called out as special populations in Vision 2030 and those for which opportunity and gaps persist, collaborate among faculty to develop recommendations for effective services and support in and out of the classroom as well as for professional development to support continued faculty growth in support of these efforts.
- Collaborate among faculty across general education, STEM, career education, and student services disciplines to develop and assist in implementation of recommendations related to credit for prior learning, credit attainment for apprenticeship learning, competency based education, and development of new career education programs. Additionally, explore new industry partnerships and career education program development.
- Collaborate with professional development leaders to identify immediate and ongoing needs for professional development among the wide range of potential faculty needs, from culturally responsive teaching and counseling and effective online teaching strategies to understanding artificial intelligence and an exploration of technologies that could be deployed to increase student support and engagement.
- Collaborate among faculty within disciplines and across colleges and universities to determine what lower division coursework is critical for upper division success in a major and how lower division pathways can be refined to provide transfer preparation for a wide range of university options, including California State Universities, Universities of California, California’s independent colleges and universities, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and other public and private out-of-state institutions.
- Collaborate with bargaining unit leaders, human resources, and administrators to continue improvement of hiring processes, faculty onboarding, and ongoing faculty growth through the full duration of employment, particularly with an eye toward hiring and support of diverse faculty and deployment of inclusion, diversity, equity, anti-racism, and accessibility within faculty evaluation and tenure review processes.
While a new California Community Colleges vision can feel a bit overwhelming and, frankly, at times disconnected from the day-to-day work of faculty with students, much about Vision 2030 is encouraging. For one, faculty along with all stakeholders have an opportunity to shape the actions, outcomes, and metrics until the Board of Governors takes action to finalize these elements in January 2024. Faculty should take advantage of this opportunity and provide input through any of the means available. Second, faculty are a critical part in attaining the goals of Vision 2030, and academic senates have an opportunity to lead through development and communication of recommendations within academic and professional matters and then to assist in the implementation.
It will take a village to achieve the ambitious goals of Vision 2030. Fortunately, the California community colleges have more than 56,000 faculty already working to advance equitable student access, support, and success. Together with academic senates and with students and stakeholder partners, faculty can do much to advance the actions central to Vision 2030, its goals, and its strategic directions.
References
CCCCO. (n.d.a.) Vision for Success.
CCCCO. (n.d.b.) Vision for 2030.
CCCCO. (n.d.c.) Vision 2030: A Roadmap for California Community Colleges DRAFT 4.
CCCCO. (n.d.d.) Vision 2030 Engagement Events.
CCCCO. (n.d.e.) Vision 2030 Website Feedback.
Deprtment of Finance. (2022, May). Multi-Year Roadmap between the Newsom Administration and the California Community Colleges.