November

On July 2, 2022, Barbara Schnekler, born Barbara Toston and also known professionally for many years as Barbara Hinkley, passed away after a battle with cancer. Barbara was an important early leader of the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges and a voice for faculty throughout the community college system.

As faculty are returning to their classrooms, meetings, and other activities, the most consistent two refrains the ASCCC has been hearing are “we’re so happy to be back” and “we’re exhausted.” Faculty are facing a lot right now, and so, first, thank you.  Thank you for all you have done over the past eighteen months from the start of the shut down, and thank you for all you continue to do for your colleges, your colleagues, and most importantly, your students.

Note: The following article is not an official statement of the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges. The article is intended to engender discussion and consideration by local colleges but should not be seen as the endorsement of any position or practice by the ASCCC.

Note: The following article is not an official statement of the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges. The article is intended to engender discussion and consideration by local colleges but should not be seen as the endorsement of any position or practice by the ASCCC.

Pronouns are an important part of gender identity and an easy way for people to show respect for individuals and their genders. Using a person’s chosen personal pronouns lets that person know that you respect the individual and recognize their identity.

As educators in the largest system of higher education in the United States, faculty in the California community colleges acknowledge equity as crucial to their work. The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges’ mission includes a commitment to equity (ASCCC, 2020a), and the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office Vision for Success includes the goal to first reduce and then close achievement gaps for traditionally underrepresented student groups (CCCCO, 2017).

Theoretical frameworks have always been important elements in instruction because of their ability to introduce subjects to students in ways that are meaningful and dynamic.  They allow both the instructor and students to study their subjects through specific lenses that not only provide deeper understandings but also help students to understand why the study of a subject is important.

In Fall 2021, California community colleges were inundated by tens of thousands of fake student accounts representing an effort to gain fraudulent access to financial aid (Burke, 2021). These fraudulent activities put a technological and fiscal hardship on the colleges and, more importantly, negatively impacted students by re-directing much needed financial aid and COVID relief dollars away from those who needed funding the most.

The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC) has for some time recommended that local academic senates establish succession plans for their leadership.[1] In fact, this subject was a major topic of the 2021 ASCCC Faculty Leadership Institute. The work of a local academic senate president can be challenging.

Note: The following article is not an official statement of the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges. The article is intended to engender discussion and consideration by local colleges but should not be seen as the endorsement of any position or practice by the ASCCC.