Supporting Health Equity in the Implementation of AB 928 (Berman, 2021) [1]

Fall
2022
Resolution Number
15.06
 
Contact
Assigned to
Transfer, Articulation, and Student Services Committee
Category
Intersegmental Issues

Whereas, “[H]ealth disparities are preventable differences in the burden of disease, injury, violence, or opportunities to achieve optimal health that are experienced by socially disadvantaged populations” and result from multiple factors, including poverty, inadequate access to healthcare, individual and behavioral factors, and educational inequalities [2] and “[h]ealth equity is achieved when every person has the opportunity to ‘attain his or her full health potential‘ and no one is ’disadvantaged from achieving this potential because of social position or other socially determined circumstances,’” [3];

Whereas, Lifelong Learning and Self-Development classes equip the student with skills for academic and career success and personal health and wellness, expose students to a wide variety of study and career pathways, and provide essential life-changing education on a variety of time-sensitive topics needed early on in college, including success strategies, human behavior, reproductive options, physical and mental health, critical thinking, stress management, information literacy, social relationships, avoiding addiction and drug and alcohol abuse, relationship to environment, self, and others involving sexuality, nutrition, and exercise, and requirements in this area motivate students to complete classes in these highly important topics, help to ensure growth in all learning domains, and contribute breadth to higher education in many essential topics which are not addressed in any other area of higher education requirements, and research demonstrates the broad benefits of physical activity on brain function, physical and mental health, and safe and effective participation in many physical activities, forms of exercise, and sport requires skill, knowledge, and appropriate instruction and supervision, and the benefits to many factors necessary to academic and career success including cognition, reduced anxiety, and depression, improved quality of life, and improved sleep outcomes [4];

Whereas, Delaying access to Lifelong Learning and Self-Development (LLSD) education can have profoundly negative consequences on a student’s life due to the topics covered, and California State University (CSU) and University of California (UC) institutions are less accessible due to entrance requirements [5] and less affordable than community colleges, [6] and CSUs and UCs (combined) serve fewer students than community colleges, [7] and many students and community members who would benefit from LLSD education at California community colleges (CCC) will never have the opportunity to attend a CSU or UC institution, and CCCs already have broad infrastructure, curriculum, faculty, and bond-funded facilities in place to widely deliver LLSD classes, and removing LLSD requirements and the opportunity for students to fulfill LLSD units at CCCs would reduce community college student educational access, impair equity, and be wasteful of public resources; and

Whereas, The California community colleges (CCC) have diverse student bodies, and, in both absolute and relative terms, when compared to California State University and University of California institutions, serve more individuals from racial, ethnic, and socio-economic groups that suffer disproportionately high levels of health disparities, [8] and serve more first generation college students, [9] removing the Lifelong Learning and Self-Development (LLSD) requirement and thereby reducing exposure and access to education in health, physical activity, and other LLSD classes at the CCCs would be immoral, unethical, and based on the populations served and the health disparities of many of those populations, and the factors contributing to health inequity including lack of access to education and removing this requirement and access would also constitute a form of structural and institutional racism [10];

Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges recognize Lifelong Learning and Self-Development as a vital component of early college education to support student success and health equity and recommend that it should be broadly accessible at all California community colleges to support health equity and educational equity for students, communities, and society.

M/S/C


[1]AB 928 (Berman, 2021): https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB928.
[2] CDC- Adolescent and School Health-Health Disparities. (24 November 2020). https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/disparities/index.htm.
[3] CDC- National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion-Health Equity. (3 March 2022).
https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/healthequity/index.htm.
[4] Ehrman, J. K., Liguori, G., Magal, M., & Riebe, D. (2018). ACSM guidelines for exercise testing and prescription (Tenth edition). pp. 6-21. Wolters Kluwer. https://www.acsm.org/docs/default-source/publications-files/acsm-guidelines-download-10th-edabf32a97415a400e9b3be594a6cd7fbf.pdf?sfvrsn=aaa6d2b2_0; Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd Edition. (2019). https://health.gov/sites/default/files/2019-09/Physical_Activity_Guidelines_2nd_edition.pdf.
[5] UC vs CSU minimum freshman admission requirements (2022 August). https://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/_files/documents/csu-uc-a-g-comparison-matrix.pdf.
[6] Community College Fee Example: the fees for LAMC can be found here: https://lamission.edu/Business-Office/Student-Fees.aspx.
[7] Resources Pertaining to CSU, CCC, and UC Enrollment and Demographic Data: California Community College students’ demographic data (2020-2021): https://www.calpassplus.org/LaunchBoard/Student-Success-Metrics.aspx.
[8] Bahls, C. (2011 October 6). Health policy brief: Achieving equity in health. Health Affairs, 1-6. http://healthaffairs.org/healthpolicybriefs/brief_pdfs/healthpolicybrief_53.pdf.
[9] Resources Pertaining to CSU, CCC, and UC Enrollment and Demographic Data: California Community College students’ demographic data (most recent data is from 2020-2021): https://www.calpassplus.org/LaunchBoard/Student-Success-Metrics.aspx.
[10] Gee, G.C., Ford, C.L. (2011 April). Structural racism and health inequities: Old issues, new directions. De Bois Review. pp. 115-132. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25632292/; CSU data center website with enrollment dashboard demographics: https://www.calstate.edu/data-center/institutional-research-analyses/Pages/enrollment.aspx; UC disaggregated data: https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/about-us/information-center/disaggregated-data; Resources pertaining to entrance requirements and cost to attend: Admission requirements for CA Community Colleges: https://home.cccapply.org/en/colleges/requirements; Community College Fee Example: the fees for LAMC can be found here: https://lamission.edu/Business-Office/Student-Fees.aspx.