Proposed Revision to Title 5, Section 55063 Minimum Requirements for the Associate Degree Ethnic Studies Requirement

Spring
2023
Resolution Number
07.07
 
Contact
Assigned to
President
5C
Category
Consultation with the Chancellor's Office
Status
Assigned

Whereas, The California Community Colleges Ethnic Studies Graduation Requirement, codified in California Code of Regulations Title 5 section §55063 Minimum Requirements for the Associate Degree, [1] was adopted upon action of the California Community Colleges Board of Governors (BOG) in 2021, and BOG President Pamela Haynes commented that ethnic studies serves as a means to help “break down barriers to equity” by placing “diversity, equity, and inclusion…and anti-racism at the heart of our work,” [2] and doing so requires experts within the four autonomous disciplines of ethnic studies—African American Studies, Chicana/o/x Latina/o/x Studies, Asian American Studies, or Native American Studies—to teach ethnic studies courses;

Whereas, Courses offered from the four autonomous ethnic studies disciplines engage students in dynamic and rigorous instruction through discipline-specific theoretical lenses and frameworks that teach all students about the histories, expressions, and contributions of the diverse cultures that make up California and the U.S., and ethnic studies disciplines engage students in a critical analysis of these cultures and their relationship to the society at large in order to understand and address how systems and structures of racism, classism, etc. impact all populations within the U.S.; and

Whereas, Title 5 §55063 (e) (3) Minimum Requirements for the Associate Degree states, “Satisfactory completion of a transfer-level course (minimum of three semester units or four quarter units) in ethnic studies. This requirement may be satisfied by obtaining a satisfactory grade in a course in ethnic studies taught in or on behalf of other departments and disciplines,” which has been misinterpreted to allow for ethnic studies courses to be taught by non-ethnic studies scholars and for non-ethnic studies disciplines to misrepresent courses as authentic ethnic studies courses, and if this language is unchanged, students may wind up receiving credit for the ethnic studies requirement without ever completing an authentic ethnic studies course;

Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges work with the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, through existing processes, to recommend that the Ethnic Studies Graduation Requirement for California community college associate degrees established in California Code of Regulations Title 5 §55063 be amended as follows: “(3) Satisfactory completion of a transfer-level course (minimum of three semester units or four quarter units) in ethnic studies. This requirement may be satisfied by obtaining a satisfactory grade in a course from one of the four autonomous ethnic studies disciplines: Asian American Studies, American Indian/Native American Studies, Black Studies/African American or Africana Studies, and/or Chicana/o/x Latina/o/x Studies.” [3]

M/S/C


1. California Education Code, title 5,section 55063 Minimum Requirements for the Associate Degree: https://govt.westlaw.com/calregs/Document/I43B642004E0E11EDA19AD993669B28BD?viewType=FullText&originationContext=documenttoc&transitionType=CategoryPageItem&contextData=(sc.Default.
2. California Community College Ethnic Studies Requirement Frequently Asked Questions 2 September 2022 available through the Vision Resource Center.
3. Replacement of the following paragraph number (3) of title 5 §55063, under the header (e) Additional Requirements: Satisfactory completion of a transfer-level course (minimum of three semester units or four quarter units) in ethnic studies. This requirement may be satisfied by obtaining a satisfactory grade in a course in ethnic studies taught in or on behalf of other departments and disciplines.