Senate Support for AB2400

Spring
2010
Resolution Number
06.08
R
Contact
Assigned to
Resolutions Committee
Category
State and Legislative Issues
Status
Completed

Whereas, Due to current economic realities and high unemployment rates in the state, tens of thousands of unemployed or underemployed Californians are entering or returning to college to improve job skills or train for new careers;

Whereas, A Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) study recently found that the California economy will need one million additional workers with baccalaureate degrees by 2025 in order to remain competitive, while enrollment caps at UC and CSU have denied access to public higher education for significant numbers of qualified students, have cancelled some CSU summer sessions, and have denied access to many transfer students;

Whereas, Community college transfer students face a variety of challenges including enrollment caps, impaction in CSU programs, and different entrance or major requirements that limit student options for transfer if they are not accepted to their first choice university, while these same students are often place bound and do not have the time or money to travel to colleges outside the area, and offering specific baccalaureate programs within the community college system could help reduce time to completion and/or improve bachelor degree completion rates and reduce the total cost of higher education both for the student and for the state; and

Whereas, AB 2400 (Anderson, 2010) would allow the Grossmont-Cuyamaca, San Diego, and San Mateo Districts to study and explore the possibility of offering a selected number of baccalaureate degrees on a community college campus, when the following conditions exist: 1) a community need is identified and documented; 2) nearby public four-year universities have no interest in offering a similar program, or cannot increase current program capacity, or current programs do not meet industry demand; 3) the district determines that it has the expertise, resources and interest to offer a quality program; 4) the program can be self-supporting through tuition, donations and/or state funding; and 5) the district has considered existing and new partnerships with other colleges and universities prior to recommending that a district college offer the degree.

Resolved, that the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges support AB 2400 (Anderson, March 2010), and participate in the study of how community colleges can be used to help address job shortages in California’s most vital employment areas that require baccalaureate degrees, deliver baccalaureate education in a selected number of areas, and expand the capacity of public higher education in California to produce baccalaureate candidates that will be needed in the future in order to maintain the state’s competitiveness in the world economy.

MSR Disposition: Referred to the Executive Committee to do with as the Executive Committee sees fit.