Rising Scholars Faculty Liaison

As called for in Resolution 13.04 (Spring 2022) Establish Local Rising Scholars Faculty Liaisons, local academic senates at colleges delivering instruction at California Department of Corrections and county jail facilities are encouraged to identify a Rising Scholars faculty liaison. Liaisons should be faculty teaching inside of a prison, jail, or other carceral facility or who has been formerly incarcerated. If a college has a re-entry/formerly incarcerated support program with faculty involvement, these faculty may also be considered for the role of liaisons.

The purpose of a local Rising Scholars faculty liaison is to serve as a point of contact for ASCCC communications specific to faculty engaged with Rising Scholars, carceral instruction, and support of justice-involved students. Locally, liaisons should disseminate information to other Rising Scholars colleagues and to their local senate.

When establishing the Rising Scholars faculty liaison position, academic senates should create a structure to best serve the needs and interests of the faculty at their local college. For example, the position may be held by one faculty member, shared by two faculty members, or may consist of a small group of faculty with one faculty member acting as the primary contact. Any of these models are well suited to fulfilling the intent of the resolution.

The Executive Committee understands that many local senates and faculty in general have limited resources and time; thus, liaisons can do as little or as much as they have time and resources to do.  There are, however, two most basic expectations for the Rising Scholars Faculty liaison:

  1. Sign up for the ASCCC Rising Scholars Faculty Liaison listserv (ASCCC_RISINGSCHOLARS [at] listserv.cccnext.net); and
  2. Communicate with the local senate and faculty the statewide conversations relevant to his/her college and Rising Scholars program.

Additional liaison responsibilities may be considered by local senates in planning for the Rising Scholars Faculty liaison and in selecting a faculty member. Any additional responsibilities are to be determined locally and may be dependent on availability of local funds, potentially including Rising Scholars funds, to compensate the liaison for their investment of time and effort as liaison.
Below is a sampling of liaison position responsibilities initially created by the Legislative and Advocacy Committee for legislative liaisons; academic senates may use these as examples as they develop local responsibilities to best fit with their local governance structure and Rising Scholars-related needs. Additional responsibilities of the Rising Scholars Faculty Liaison(s) to consider:

  • Sign up for the system-wide Rising Scholars listserv (ASCCC_RISINGSCHOLARS [at] listserv.cccnext.net) in addition to the ASCCC Rising Scholars Faculty listserv mentioned above.
  • Monitor both listservs and report to the local academic senate and, as determined to be appropriate in collaboration with local senate officers, faculty at large on campus.
  • Attend local senate meetings and report regularly or as requested about issues impacting Rising Scholars students and faculty, including within both prison and jail instructional programs and campus post-release/re-entry support programs.
  • Facilitate or act as a resource for local discussions on issues potentially impacting Rising Scholars students and faculty.
  • Identify issues of particular local concern that may be of broader regional or statewide concern and convey those to the Rising Scholars Faculty Advisory Committee.
  • Collaborate with local senate officers to create or improve a mechanism for the most effective communication with faculty on campus about Rising Scholars issues.
  • Serve as a conduit between the local faculty and the Rising Scholars Faculty Advisory Committee representatives in the area.
  • As local funding permits, attend state-level events and meetings (ASCCC, Rising Scholars, etc) and report information back to local senates and Rising Scholars faculty; consider participating in panels or making presentations as appropriate.
  • Work with local student organizations and advocacy groups to help them with their Rising Scholars efforts as well as keep them informed of faculty discussions and efforts.