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| Community Colleges Take on the Deep Work on Access and Equity
Change doesn’t come from a leader announcing a plan. Change begins from deep inside a system, when a few people notice something they will no longer tolerate, or respond to a dream of what’s possible. We just find a few others who care about the same thing. Together we will figure out what our first step is, the n the next, then the next. Gradually, we become large and powerful. We don’t have to start with power, only with passion.
- Margaret Wheatley The Campus Change Network is a year long process designed to support campus leaders from around California in ensuring the success of all students by strengthening or developing campus-wide reforms around issues of access, equity and inclusion. Launched by California Tomorrow in 2005, the network includes seven community colleges from different parts of the state: San Diego City College, Las Positas College, Skyline College, City College of San Francisco, West Valley College, Hartnell College and Golden West College. The network brings together leaders from these colleges to assess their current programs and policies, to discuss, share and learn from successful campus change models, and to develop their own strategies to move access and equity issues to the center of their institutions’ planning and resource allocation efforts.
Leadership Teams
One of the key elements of the Campus Change Network is the formation of cross-campus leadership teams at each participating college. These teams have representation and full support from the college’s top leadership along with a combination of participants from across the campus: i.e. faculty from academic, occupational and developmental disciplines; support services and classified staff; institutional researchers; college trustees; and student leaders.
Cross-College Meetings
During the course of the year, California Tomorrow hosts and facilitates a series of 2 1/2 day convenings for these college leadership teams. The convenings draw on a combination of modalities and provide content based-expertise, hands-on strategic planning time, and inquiry-based reflection to build each team’s capacity to lead access- and equity focused reform efforts on their own campus.
By the end of the year, each leadership team will have taken stock of their college’s most pressing access and equity priorities, developed and articulated clear goals and strategies to address these priorities, and crafted and/or strengthened an action plan to guide and sustain their institutional change efforts.
The network also fosters and strengthens the cross-college relationships necessary to promote mutual mentorship and support among network members.
Technical Assistance
To support the campus leadership teams, California Tomorrow staff also provides customized technical assistance to each team to assist them in advancing their organizational change efforts.
Tools and Resources
To help team members build their capacity to lead access- and equity-related reform efforts, California Tomorrow has introduced an organizational change framework, based on our 20-year history of research and institutional change work, along with an inquiry based curriculum and additional research and models developed by other colleagues in the field. We have also developed supplementary tools to meet the unique needs of each campus’ access- and equity reform efforts.
Looking Ahead
As the Campus Change Network continues, we plan to:- Document the successes and challenges of the institutional change efforts underway at participating campuses
- Revise and disseminate our working tools
- Continue to build and share our resource collection of promising practices
- Engage a second cohort of 6-8 community colleges to participate in the Campus Change Network
- Engage community college leaders from the Campus Change Network to take a deeper look at promising practices in curriculum reform and the alignment of support services
Please contact Ireri Valenzuela-Vergara for more information about the Campus Change Network. |
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