September, 2018

In This Issue:

  • Legislature Closes Busy 2017-18 Session
  • The Promise of Dual Enrollment
  • Announcing Undocumented Student Week of Action
  • Department of Education Likely to Revise Title XI Sexual Assault or Harassment Guidelines  
  • Advocacy Starts at Home
  • Federal Grant Opportunities – Presented by Downs Government Affairs
  • Upcoming Event

Legislature Closes Busy 2017-18 Session   

California’s 92nd legislative session ended on August 31, 2018. Hundreds of bills have been sent to the Governor’s desk for review and consideration for signature by the September 30th deadline. This session, the Legislature considered a large variety of issues, ranging from California’s response to wildfires, a State net neutrality policy, and climate change to the elimination of cash bail bond. In total, the state Legislature considered over 1,000 pieces of legislation in the last month, many of which affect community colleges and the students we serve. For a full list of bills, please visit the League’s website at: https://www.ccleague.org/advocacy/bill-tracking. 

Below are brief summaries of priority bills focused on community colleges. Several League-supported bills have made it to the Governor’s desk. If your district or college have a position or interest in any of the below bills, League staff encourages you to download the template letters and send a version to the Office of the Governor.

AB 1886 (Medina) - Service on Boards and Commissions
Supported by the CCCT
This bill would permit all students, regardless of immigration status, to serve on various education governing boards like the Board of Governors of California’s Community Colleges or a local K-12 district board.
Status: Signed by Governor Brown and chaptered into law.

AB 1935 (Irwin) - Community Colleges: Tutoring
Support
This bill would permit colleges to capture apportionment funds for students who self-refer themselves to supervised tutoring.
Status: Held in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

AB 2012 (Medina) - Parental Leave
Watch
Would require that a person employed in an academic position or a classified employee will receive no less than 50% of his or her regular salary for the remaining portion of the 12-workweek period of parental leave, regardless of the type of differential pay system used by the community college district
Status: On the Governor’s Desk.

AB 2217 (Burke) - Tax Credits
Oppose
Would have created program that would have provided tax credits for individuals who donate to individual schools or non-profit organization, resulting in an overall reduction of funding available for K-12 and community college districts.
Status: Held on the Senate Floor.

AB 2785 (Rubio) - Lactation Accommodations
Watch
Would require the California Community Colleges (CCC) to provide reasonable accommodations on their campuses for a lactating student to express breast milk, breast-feed an infant child, or address other needs related to breast-feeding
Status: On the Governor’s Desk.

AB 3101 (Carrillo) - Simplifying CCCApply
Support
Would authorize the CCC to continue using best value contracting for the procurement of certain goods and services by eliminating the January 1, 2019, repeal date of the program pilot and removing related reporting requirements
Status: On the Governor’s desk, to download a template letter please click here.

AB 3186 (Medina) - Best Value Contracting
Support
Would authorize the CCC to continue using best value contracting for the procurement of certain goods and services by eliminating the January 1, 2019, repeal date of the program pilot and removing related reporting requirements
Status: On the Governor’s Desk.

SB 539 (de Leon) - College Access Tax Credit
Watch
This bill would expand a current program in which taxpayers can receive tax credits for donating to the state’s Cal Grant B Access Award program. It should be noted that the current program has resulted in a very small increase in the Cal Grant B Access Award.

SB 577 (Dodd) - California Community College Teacher Credentialing Partnership Pilot Program
Support
This bill would establish the California Community College Teacher Credentialing Partnership Pilot Program which would award up to 3 grants, in the amount of $500,000 each, to collaboratives, that would be comprised of at least one accredited degree-granting institution of higher education with a physical presence in this state and at least one community college, to offer teacher credential coursework remotely at participating community college or colleges.
Status: On the Governor’s desk, to download a template letter please click here.

SB 1071 (Roth) - Policy to Award Course Credit for Prior Military Education, Training, and Service.
Support
This bill would require the CCCCO in collaboration with the Academic Senate to, by September 1, 2019, develop a consistent policy for awarding course credit for prior military education, training, and service and would require each community college district to have a policy consistent with the policy developed by the CCCCO
Status: On the Governor’s Desk.

SB 1406 (Hill) -  Baccalaureate Degree Programs
Support
This bill would extend the current baccalaureate degree program at California’s Community Colleges by two years, permitting students to continue to enroll in the existing 15 programs for an additional two years.
Status: On the Governor’s desk, to download a template letter please click here.

Governor Brown has until September 30, 2018, to sign, veto, or allow bills to become law without his action. The League will continue to monitor the status of priority bills and share a full summary after the signing deadline.

Upcoming Briefing: The Promise of Dual Enrollment

September 13, 2018, 11:00 AM

Dual enrollment has proven to be a promising strategy for improving the success of high school students and adults without a high school diploma in accessing and succeeding in postsecondary education and training and may prove to be successful for adults without a high school diploma as well. The College and Career Access Pathways (CCAP) Act was aimed at focusing dual enrollment on underrepresented students and those who may not be college bound and linking it to pathways.

Don’t miss our upcoming informational briefing!

Join the briefing via Remote Access
Link: https://cccconfer.zoom.us/j/773225558
Telephone: +1 669 900 6833
Meeting ID: 773 225 558

Sponsored by:

  • California EDGE Coalition
  • Career Ladders Project
  • Community College League of California

This briefing will look at new research examining how dual enrollment programs are being implemented around the state and what key policy and administrative challenges remain. We will also hear from three colleges who are at the forefront of implementing dual enrollment by taking this strategy to scale.

Speakers

  • Linda Collins, Executive Director, Career Ladders Project
  • Naomi Castro, Director, Career Ladders Project
  • Laurencia Walker, College Readiness Director, Hartnell College
  • Matthew Morin, Director, Adult Education and High School Partnerships,
    Chaffey College
  • Miguel Duenos, Associate Dean of Student Services, East LA College

Announcing Undocumented Student Week of Action

Tools to help your undocumented students.
Week of Action: Oct 15-19, 2018

During the week of October 15-19, 2018, students at California Community Colleges will engage in a week of activities to support and defend undocumented students throughout the state. Undocumented Student Week of Action is a student-led campaign to advocate for a permanent solution to codify the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program that includes a pathway to citizenship, and support and resources to ALL undocumented students.

Throughout the week, students and supporting partner organizations are encouraged to meet with their Congressional representatives, sign postcards advocating for DACA, and register students to vote. Colleges will be asked to highlight services that they and other affinity organizations can provide to help undocumented students succeed in the classroom and in their communities.

Ready to Support this Effort?
Confirm your participation in Undocumented Student Week of Action by submitting a coalition partner form by September 21, 2018.

Undocumented Student Week of Action Partnership Form

To support these activities, the League, the Chancellor’s Office, the Faculty Association for California Community Colleges, and a non-profit undocumented student advocacy group - Immigrants Rising - will provide toolkits that groups and organizations can use throughout Undocumented Student Week of Action.

Join us for a webinar to discuss the resources and materials in the toolkit on Wednesday, September 19, 2018.
Undocumented Student Week of Action
Interested Partner Webinar
September 19, 2018, 1:00 p.m.

Webinar Details
Webinar Link: https://cccconfer.zoom.us/j/127398956
Telephone: Dial +1 646-876-9923 or +1 669-900-6833
Meeting ID: 127 398 956

We hope you will sign on as a supporting partner of Undocumented Student Week of Action, October 15-19, 2018.

For more information, please contact the League at (916) 444-8641 or visit our website at www.ccleague.org/DACA.

Department of Education Likely to Revise Title IX Sexual Assault or Harassment Guidelines  

Several reports released from Washington, D.C. have indicated that within the next few weeks the Department of Education (DOE) will propose new rules regarding how and when an institution should conduct a sexual harassment investigation under Title IX. The likely proposed rules will narrow the circumstances in which an investigation could occur and as a result significantly reduce the number of qualifying Title IX investigations.

With the rescission of the 2011 Dear Colleague Letter which provided guidance on how to conduct these investigations, new guidelines have been widely expected. However, the DOE will likely release proposed rules, not just guidelines, and thus have stronger enforcement powers if a college violates them while conducting an investigation.Specifically, the proposed rules are expected to contain elements of:

  1. Higher standard of proof to determine if a college was compliant with the rules when investigating Title XI sexual assault or harassment cases.
  2. Holding colleges accountable only for formal complaints provided to the institution. 
  3. Colleges would only be permitted to investigate conduct that allegedly occurred on campus or university-owned property.
  4. Permit colleges to determine which standard of proof to use when determining to take action on these cases.
  5. Create a stricter definition of what is sexual harassment.

A New York Times article announcing the proposed changes can be found by clicking here.

Advocacy Starts at Home 

For the next several months, the state Legislature will be on recess and your elected representative will be working in their district office. Thus, now is the perfect time to build a positive working relationship with your legislators. By working with your legislators in the fall, you are able to provide context to the complex policy choices they must make in Sacramento. The League encourages campuses to:

  • Invite your legislator on campus for a tour.
  • Visit he or she in their district office with a delegation made up of trustees, faculty members and students.
  • Invite your legislator to community events on campus.

League staff can identify scheduling information, provide a targeted list of legislators, craft talking points or other items. For more information, call us at (916) 444-8641.

Federal Grant Opportunities

Presented by Downs Government Affairs

The League, in partnership with Downs Government Affairs, provides a list of federal grants to assist your community college in improving its programs and services. If you have any questions about the following grants, please feel free to reach out to Thomas Downs at TCDowns@downsgovaffairs.com.

For a full list of federal grants available to community colleges, visit our Federal Grants page at: www.ccleague.org/federal-grant-opportunites

Upcoming Events

Student-Centered Funding Formula Webinar hosted by the Chancellor’s Office
September 13 @ 10:30 AM
Click Here to Access Webinar

Board of Governors Meeting
September 17 – 18 | Chula Vista, CA

Undocumented Student Action Week Webinar
September 19 @ 1:00 PM 
Click Here to Access Webinar

Consultation Council
September 20 | Sacramento, CA

Undocumented Student Action Week
Oct. 15 – 19 | Statewide

League Annual Convention
November 15– 17 | Rancho Mirage, CA

For more information, contact the League's Government Relations and Communications staff:

Lizette Navarette, Vice President | lizette@ccleague.org
Ryan McElhinney, Legislative Advocate | ryan@ccleague.org
Laura Murrell, Communications Manager | laura@ccleague.org
Gerson Light-Sanchez, Government Relations & Communications Fellow | fellow@ccleague.org

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