Chancellor’s Newsletter – February 2021

CCLC Effective Trusteeship Workshop

The Community College League of California hosted their annual Effective Trusteeship and Board Chair workshop January 20th – 22nd in a virtual setting.  Chancellor Houston was responsible for two sessions on Friday.  The first session focused on Board-CEO Relations and Board Support of the CEO.  The second session focused on Delivery Onsite Instruction During the Pandemic.

Other sessions included topics such as Trustee Roles and Responsibilities, Navigating the New Normal, Ethics in a Virtual World, Ensuring Academic Quality Learning Objectives, Current Climate of our Economic Issues, DEI, Participatory Governance, and Student Success.


CCLC Legislative Conference

The Community College League of California hosted their annual Legislative Conference in a virtual format in 2021.  The Annual Legislative Conference offers an opportunity for CCC to engage with their legislative representatives, a critical action for the success of California community colleges and students. The general sessions during the conference focused on budget, politics and public policy, economic recovery, student stories, and legislative policy providing opportunities for attendees to discuss priority issues, hear best practices, and learn about strategies to advocate for community colleges successfully.

Chancellor Houston and several members of the Yuba Community College District Governing Board attended this year’s virtual conference.  Yuba Community College District is considering several legislative issues, in addition to those recommended by the CCLC and the CCCCO.  The first is the possibility of resurrecting Assembly member Jaqui Irvin’s bill that would provide apportionment funding for basic skills tutoring.  This bill is crucial for AB 705 success.  Assm. Irvin is supportive of resubmitting the bill.  The second is a new bill by Assembly member Media regarding teacher preparation programs.  The bill is intended to close a hole in current law that allows that teach credentialing candidates can transfer teacher preparation bachelor’s degrees from non-accredited institutions.  The bill, as written, would shut out some community college accredited bachelor’s degrees, so we are requesting Assm. Medina’s staff to consider a modest revision.

During the conference, the CCLC Veteran’s Caucus, which Chancellor Houston is a member, honored California Senator Richard Roth for his work on behalf of community college student veterans.  Senator Roth is a retired United States Air Force 2-Star General.  His perseverance has provided ongoing and one-time allocations to support Veterans Resource Centers.


Legislative Update

Bills of Interest

ACR 8 (Weber) – This would honor the late civil rights pioneer and icon Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and commemorate Dr. Martin Luther Kind, Jr. Day.

AB 269 (Medina) – This bill would shorten the maximum length of a prescribed period of probation for classified employees to 6 months or 130 days of paid service, whichever is longer.  This change would not apply to a conflicting collective bargaining agreement entered into before January 1, 2022, until the expiration or renewal of that collective bargaining agreement.

AB 295 (Jones-Sawyer) – This bill would establish a working group consisting of representatives from the State Department of Education, the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, the Trustees of the California State University, and the Regents of the University of California to consider the creation of a pilot program that would provide free postsecondary education in the state by replacing the system of charging students tuition and fees for enrollment at a public postsecondary institution.  The bill would require the working group to submit a report to the Legislature on the pilot program.

AB 337 (Medina) – This bill would eliminate the prohibition against a student member of the California Community College Board of Governors voting during the student member’s first year on the board.

AB 340 (Ward) – This bill would add expenses associated with participation in a registered apprenticeship program and payment on the principal or interest of a qualified education loan to the definition of “qualified higher education expenses” under the Golden State Scholar Share Trust.

AB 375 (Medina) – This bill would require that negotiation on reemployment preference for part-time, temporary faculty assignments be based on the minimum standards not exceeding 80% to 85% to a full-time equivalent load, and would prohibit the community college district from restricting the terms of the negotiated agreement to less than that range, unless explicitly agreed upon by an individual part-time, temporary faculty member and the district.  The bill would require the community college district to commence the negotiation of these terms no later than the expiration of any negotiated agreement in effect on January 1, 2022, and for any community college district that does not have a collective bargaining agreement in effect as of January 1, 2022, upon the effective date of the bill.

AB 396 (Gabriel) – This bill would require a program that meets the eligibility standards established by the department for CalFresh local educational programs that increase employability at a campus of the California State University, the California Community College, vocational school, or graduate school, and would request each campus of the University of California, to submit an application for certification to the department on or before June 1, 2022.  To the extent that this provision would impose new duties on community college districts to submit an application for certification to the department, it would constitute a state-mandated local program.

AB 403 (Kalra) – This bill would establish the Fair Access to College Textbooks Act as part of the Donahoe Higher Education Act.  The act would prohibit a campus of the California Community Colleges, the California State University, and independent institution of higher education, or a private postsecondary educational institutions for assessing an automatic charge for instructional materials to a student, or enter into an agreement with a book publisher or other entity to assess the charge, and would prohibit those institutions from calculating an automatic charge to be assessed under these provisions on the basis of the number of credit hours in which the student enrolls, number of courses in which the student enrolls, a student’s major or program, or any other basis other than the cost of the specific instructional materials required or recommended for a specific course or course section in which the student enrolls, unless certain conditions are met.  The bill would request each campus of the University of California to comply with these provisions.  The bill would provide that these provisions only apply to a contract entered into or renewed after January 1, 2022.

AB 410 (Fong) – This bill would enact the Nurse Licensure Compact, under which the Board of Registered Nursing and the Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians would be authorized to issue a multistate license that would authorize the holder to practice as a registered nurse or a licensed vocational nurse, as applicable, in all party states under a multistate licensure privilege, as specified. The bill would designate the Board of Registered Nursing as the licensing board for registered nurses for purposes of the compact and would designate the Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians as the licensing board for vocational nurses for purposes of the compact. The bill would require the boards to participate in a coordinated licensure information system that would include all of the licensure and disciplinary history of all licensed registered nurses and licensed vocational nurses.

AB 417 (McCarty) – This bill would authorize the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to establish a program, named the Rising Scholars Network, to enter into agreements with up to 50 community colleges to provide additional funds for services in support of postsecondary education for justice-involved students, as defined.  The bill would require a community college district that wishes to participate in the Rising Scholars Network to apply to the board of governors for funding pursuant to these provisions, as provided, and would require the board of governors to adopt regulations for the Rising Scholars Network that fulfill certain goals and guidance.

AB 421 (Ward) – This bill would change the accounting procedures for career development and college preparation courses from positive attendance to census date.

AB 438 (Reyes)– This bill would revise and recast provisions relating to the layoff of classified employees of school districts and community college districts to require certain notices and opportunities for a hearing when a classified employee’s services will not be required for the ensuing year due to lack of work or lack of funds. The bill would express the intent of the Legislature in enacting the bill to provide classified school employees with the same rights to notice and hearing with respect to layoffs as is provided to certificated employees of school districts, including teachers and administrators, and academic employees of community college districts. If, after January 1, 2021, the Legislature provides certificated or academic employees with any additional rights to notice or hearing as to layoffs, the bill would require the respective classified employees to be afforded the same rights by the school district or community college district, as applicable.

ACR 18 (Kamlager)– This action would recognize February 2021 as Black History Month, urge all citizens to join in celebrating the accomplishments of African Americans during Black History Month, and encourage the people of California to recognize the many talents of African Americans and the achievements and contributions they make to their communities to create equity and equality for education, economics, and social justice. The measure would also recognize the significance in protecting citizens’ right to vote and remedying racial discrimination in voting.

SB 100 (Hurtado) – This bill would require the State Department of Social Services to convene a working group to examine the extended foster care program, make recommendations for improvements to the program within six months.  The bill would require that working group include representatives from specified state agencies and stakeholders.  The bill would require the working group to evaluate on and provide recommendations to the overall functioning of the extended foster care system, higher education opportunities, and supports for nonminor dependents, job training and employment opportunities and supports for nonminor dependents, housing access, and transition support for nonminor dependents exiting care.

SB 108 (Hurtado) – This bill would declare that it is the established policy of the state that every human being has the right to access sufficient healthy food.  The bill would require all relevant state agencies, including the State Department of Social Services, the Department of Food and Agriculture, and the State Department of Public Health, to consider this state policy when revising, adopting, or establishing policies, regulations, and grant criteria when those policies, regulations, and grant criteria are pertinent to the distribution of food and nutrition assistance.

SB 205 (Leyva)– This bill would require a certificated or classified school employee, and an academic or classified community college employee, who exhausts all available sick leave and continues to be absent from duties on account of illness or accident for an additional period of 5 months to receive the employee’s full salary during those 5 months.

SB 228 (Leyva) – This bill would extend this requirement and request for enrollment priority for certain foster youth or former foster youth to those whose dependency was established or continued by the court on or after the youth’s 13th birthday.  The bill would also authorize the program to provide direct financial support to enrolled students who meet all eligibility requirements but whose courses have not yet commenced, and who have completed required matriculation activities as described, if those services are deemed necessary to enable the student to be successful upon the commencement of the academic term.

SB 246 (Leyva) – This bill would require the Superintendent to implement a reimbursement system plan that establishes reasonable standards and assigned reimbursement rates that would vary with additional factors, including a quality adjustment factor to address the cost of staffing ratios.  By November 10, 2022, and annually thereafter, the bill would require the reimbursement system plan, including methodology and standards, to be submitted to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee.  The bill would require that plan to include a formula for annually adjusting reimbursement rates.  By July 1, 2022, and annually thereafter, the bill would require the department to establish a reimbursement rate target for each contracting agency that meets specific quality standards based on specified elements, including quality adjustment factors for the age range of children proposed to be served by the contracting agency.  The bill would make these provisions subject to an appropriation by the Legislature.  The bill would also, subject to an appropriation by the Legislature, for the 2022 calendar year, require the regional market rate ceilings to be established at the 75th percentile of the 2018 regional market survey for that region or the regional market rate ceiling that existed in that region on December 31, 2017, whichever is greater.  Subject to an appropriation by the Legislature, commencing January 1, 2023, and annually thereafter, the bill would require the annual regional market ceilings to be established at the 85th percentile of the 2018 regional market survey for that region or the regional market rate ceiling that existed in that region on December 31, 2017, whichever is greater.

SB 290 (Skinner) – This bill would among other provisions, require a unit designated to satisfy the inclusionary zoning requirements of a city or county to be included in the total number of units on which a density bonus and the number of incentives or concessions are based. The bill would require a city or county to grant one incentive or concession for a student housing development project that will include at least 20% of the total units for lower income students.

SB 294 (Leyva) – This bill would remove the 12-year limitation for service credit earned on an employer-approved compensated leave.

SCR 10 (Bradford) – This action would recognize February 2021 as Black History Month, urge all citizens to join in celebrating the accomplishments of African Americans during Black History Month, and encourage the people of California to recognize the many talents of African Americans and the achievements and contributions they make to their communities to create equity and equality for education, economics, and social justice. The measure would also recognize the significance in protecting citizens’ right to vote and remedying racial discrimination in voting.

SCR 6 (Bradford) – This resolution would honor the late civil rights pioneer and icon Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.


Articles of Interest

Two Years After Her Death, Yolo County Honors Natalie Corona
(Daily Democrat – Published January 11, 2021)

Woodland Community College to offer direct COVID-19 relief grants to students enrolling in the spring semester
(Lake County News – Published January 15, 2021)

Woodland Community College to Offer COVID 19 Relief Grants to Students
(Daily Democrat – Published January 15, 2021)

A record number of students leaving California for college. See where they’re going
(Sac Bee – Published January 15, 2021)

Local vaccine supply reduced this week
(Appeal-Democrat – Published January 19, 2021)

State Audit: More Virus Money Should Have Gone to Small Counties
(Daily Democrat – Published January 19, 2021)

‘It’s just too much’: Why some students are abandoning community colleges
(PBS – Published January 19, 2021)

Bachelor’s degree completion program to start in Lake County in Fall 2021
(Lake County Record-Bee – Published January 21, 2021)

Community Colleges Hit Hard by the Pandemic
(Marketplace – Published January 25, 2021)

2021 California County Scorecard of Children’s Well-Being
(Children Now – Published January 26, 2021)

College faculty are ‘exhausted,’ concerned pandemic is widening equity gaps: report
(Higher Education Dive – Published January 27, 2021)

Community colleges and their students were already vulnerable. Then the pandemic hit
(MarketWatch – Published February 2, 2021)

California considers changing vaccine plan again to put those with medical conditions next
(Sac Bee – Published February 3, 2021)


Chancellor’s Calendar
January 2021

1 – Bi-weekly meeting with Board President
1 – YCCD Townhall
2 – Chancellor’s Cabinet
2 – Bi-weekly CCLC CEO Webinar
2 – District Consultation Council (DC3) Meeting
3 – Weekly CCCCO Webinar
3 – Meetings of the Facilities / Audit, Finance and Policy / Student Access and Success Committees and Agenda-setting
3 – Meeting of the YCCD Foundation Board
4 – Strategic Planning Community Forum – WCC Colusa County Campus
4 – Strategic Planning Community Forum – WCC Lake County Campus
4 – ACCCA Board Executive Team meeting
4 – YCCD Strategic Planning meeting
5 – Strategic Planning Community Forum – WCC Main Campus
8 – Meeting with Trustee Wheeler
8 – Meeting with Student Trustees
9 – Chancellor’s Cabinet
9 – Bi-weekly CCLC CEO Webinar9 – Monthly Meeting with Academic Senates’ leadership
10 – District Management Council (DMC) Meeting
11 – Hannover Research Community College Executive Roundtable
11 – Board Special Meeting – Work session
11 – Regular Meeting of the Governing Board
12 – Lincoln’s Birthday (District Holiday)
15 – Presidents’ Day Holiday (District Holiday)
16 – Chancellor’s Cabinet
16 – Bi-weekly CCLC CEO Webinar
16 – Meeting with Board President & Vice President
16 – Meeting with FAYCCD leadership
17 to 19 – ACCCA Annual Conference
17 – CCCCO Bi-weekly Webinar
17 – CCCCO Consultation Council
17 & 18 – Meetings with Legislators
22 – Bi-weekly meeting with Board President
22 – Meeting with Trustee Roderick
23 – Chancellor’s Cabinet Retreat
25 & 26 – CCLC CEO Symposium