State and Legislative Issues

Examining SB 1143 Best Practices and Models for Accomplishing Student Success

Whereas, SB 1143 (Liu, 2010) calls for the Board of Governors to develop a plan to promote and improve student success and examine specified best practices and models for accomplishing student success;
Whereas, The Chancellor’s Office is developing a task force to begin developing these plans, and they are examining a number of existing student success projects such as Completion by Design, Complete to Compete, Complete College America, and the American Diploma Project; and
Whereas, Local implementation of some of these models and activities is already occurring;

Research Implications of Expansion of Community College Mission

Whereas, AB 2400 (Anderson, March 2010) seeks to authorize selected districts to offer baccalaureate degrees in specific areas; and

Whereas, The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges formulates its positions based upon research and careful consideration of the pros and cons of an issue;

Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges study the issues of California community colleges potentially offering baccalaureate degrees and, based upon that analysis, develop a white paper for the body’s consideration no later than Spring 2011.

Restore Categorical Funding

Whereas, Categorical programs support students who are underserved, are disadvantaged economically, educationally and by language, and often are the first generation to attend college;

Whereas, Many programs such as Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS), Disabled Student Programs and Services (DSPS), and CalWORKs have been extraordinarily successful as widely acknowledged by state educators and legislators;

Whereas, Categorical monies were intended to be reserved to fund categorical programs in ways mandated by Title 5; and

Opposition to Proposed Modification of the Community College Mission

Whereas, A memo dated January 22, 2010 with the subject “Avocational, Recreational, and Personal Development Courses … Some Suggestions” was distributed by the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office and sought to offer guidance to colleges seeking to comply with language in the 2009-2010 Budget Act, directing that community colleges, to “the greatest extent possible, shall implement any necessary workload reductions in areas other than basic skills, workforce training, and transfer”;

Opposition to Legislation on Minimum Qualifications for Faculty

Whereas, The California Education Code and Title5 gives the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges primacy over determining minimum qualifications for faculty hiring and give local academic senates primacy over the equivalency process; and

Whereas, There are legislative attempts to restrict or eliminate the primacy of the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges to establish minimum qualifications and its member senates to establish equivalencies;

Limit Taxpayer-funded, Need-Based Financial Aid to Public and Private Nonprofit Colleges Only

Whereas, Need-based financial aid is awarded to students on the basis of financial necessity rather than academic merit;

Whereas, Historically, the vast majority of students have attended public or private nonprofit colleges, and thus need-based financial aid from taxpayer dollars was thought to be an investment in individuals for the good of society and not for the benefit of private investors;

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