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As two California higher education systems continue to feud, lawmakers have entered the equation using a route usually reserved for irate retirees: A strongly worded .

The matter at hand 鈥� the 1,300-student Feather River College in rural Plumas County offering a bachelor鈥檚 degree in applied fire management 鈥� has become a lightning rod issue, sparking delays and anger on both sides.

鈥淚 was quite frankly shocked and disheartened,鈥� at a trustees鈥� meeting, claiming that the community college system had 鈥渁cted unilaterally鈥� and out of accordance with the law by approving the bachelor鈥檚 degree program at Feather River.

At the same meeting, Koester stressed that each component of the state鈥檚 higher education system 鈥� the 116 community colleges, 23 California State Universities campuses, and 10 University of California campuses 鈥� play a distinct role.

Koester鈥檚 objection stems from the Master Plan for Higher Education California adopted in 1960 and tweaked occasionally since. In that plan, the University of California system has sole jurisdiction to award doctorate degrees; the UC and CSU systems should both award bachelor鈥檚 degrees; and community colleges are supposed to function as vocational instruction, plus undergraduate education for students who then transfer to a UC or CSU.

The crux of the current kerfuffle is that allows the Community College Chancellor鈥檚 Office to establish as many as 30 new bachelor鈥檚 degree programs every year at any one of its 116 colleges, with certain caveats. Most importantly, the bachelor鈥檚 degree program cannot be 鈥渄uplicative鈥� of 鈥渆xisting baccalaureate programs offered by state universities.鈥�

Cal State officials have argued that the applied fire management program at Feather River duplicates a bachelor鈥檚 program at Cal Poly Humboldt, though Humboldt鈥檚 doesn鈥檛 yet exist. The two colleges are roughly 270 miles apart, a five and a half hour drive. The Feather River program would theoretically enroll 20 to 25 students in its first year.

A 鈥榬ed herring鈥�

To the CSU Academic Senate, the debate is also about enrollment and money.

In a resolution last year, it called on the CSU system to study the financial impact of allowing community colleges to award bachelor鈥檚 degrees, which they could lead to 鈥渞educed enrollment in CSUprograms, a reduction in revenue from student fee and potentially a reduction in State support.鈥�

Community college administrators see a different challenge. 鈥淎 great example is nursing,鈥� said then-Community College Chancellor Eloy Oakley at a July 2022 meeting: 鈥淚t is clear that there is a need (for nursing degrees), that the CSU cannot fulfill that need, so why wouldn鈥檛 we be able to fulfill that need?鈥�

The pushback from CSU officials towards bachelor degrees, Oakley said to his colleagues, is a 鈥溾��. In reality, he said, it is about 鈥�perceived competition for enrollments.鈥�

Koester argues that the proposed fire degree at Feather River College is essentially the same as the one Cal Poly Humboldt plans to offer. Moving forward with the program would jeopardize the 鈥渢rust鈥� between the two higher education systems, Koester wrote to the Community College Chancellor鈥檚 office on Jan. 23.

Community college leaders decided to proceed anyway.

As new applications for bachelor鈥檚 programs poured in this year, and the leaders from both systems refused to budge on a plan to resolve future disagreements, Senate Education Committee Chairperson , a Brea Democrat, and Assembly Higher Education Chairperson , a Monterey Park Democrat, issued a joint letter on Tuesday, asking the community college system to put the new applications to a 鈥減ause.鈥�

Wildfire country

鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 expecting (the legislators鈥� letter),鈥� said Lizette Navarette, interim deputy chancellor of California Community College, in an interview with CalMatters today. 鈥淚s this signaling towards legislation that they鈥檙e going to run? Is this an indefinite 鈥榩ause?鈥欌��

Although the letter comes from the Legislature, she said the language is 鈥渃onsistent with some of the other letters the CSU has sent.鈥�

Nonetheless, she affirmed that her office would 鈥渙f course want to work with the legislature鈥� on its requests.

Neither Newman nor Fong responded to questions from CalMatters regarding the letter. A CSU spokesperson said the Cal State system wouldn鈥檛 speculate about what it would do if the community college system doesn鈥檛 pause, per the legislators鈥� request.

鈥淲e expect that the final approved bachelor鈥檚 program will not duplicate a CSU or a UC regardless of location,鈥� the legislators wrote, which runs counter to the interpretation that the community colleges have made.

The colleges see 鈥溾�� as one reason why a school may deserve to award a certain bachelor鈥檚 degree.

Feather River College is a prime example. Nestled in the High Sierra two hours north of Lake Tahoe, Feather River is a small, rural school with the setting to prove it.

鈥淚 can walk out on my campus and look at the hill across the valley and see a burnt hilltop,鈥� Kevin Trutna, president of the college, told CalMatters. 鈥淧lumas National Forest, Lassen National Forest, Lassen National Park. Three-fourths of our county is federal or state forest. You have a ready-made (wildfire) laboratory here that nobody is focusing on. This is our speciality.鈥�

Both the Camp and Dixie fires tore through the Feather River Valley in 2018 and 2021, respectively, leaving nearby towns like .

鈥淲e cannot sit here and let Humboldt State (Cal Poly Humboldt) or Cal Poly San Luis Obispo or Chico or anybody say 鈥楬ey, this is our business. We鈥檒l send you people out there,鈥欌�� Trutna said. 鈥淲e need to do something to be proactive to preserve the rest of our national forest.鈥�

When Feather River College submitted an application in January 2022 to offer a bachelor鈥檚 degree in 鈥淓cosystem Restoration and Applied Fire Management,鈥� two professors from Cal Poly Humboldt, as well as professors from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Cal State Chico, UC Davis, and the nearby UC Cooperative Extension school all submitted letters in support.

Four months later, then-Associate Vice Chancellor of the Cal State University system Alison Wrynn objected to the Feather River program, arguing that it duplicated Cal Poly Humboldt鈥檚 soon-to-be fire management program.

Other California community colleges face scrutiny

While the Feather River program has become the most contentious, other community colleges faced similar pushback. Out of the nine colleges that were approved to offer bachelor鈥檚 degrees under the new law, at least four faced objections from CSU campuses.

Cal State San Marcos, for example, said that San Diego City College鈥檚 application to award bachelor鈥檚 degrees in 鈥淐yber Defense and Analysis鈥� would be duplicative of a program that San Marcos intended to build.

The nearby CSU campuses later dropped their opposition to San Diego City College鈥檚 program, but communication hiccups between the CSU and community college administrators led to additional delays to the program鈥檚 approval, .

If there鈥檚 disagreement about whether a community college should proceed with a bachelor degree program, the administrators at each higher education system establish a 鈥渨ritten agreement鈥� that explains whether the objections have been resolved, according to the 2021 law.

The new law stipulates that the entire approval process, including any conflict resolution, should take no more than five months. It ultimately took more than a year for the community college and California State University officials to reach agreements regarding eight of the nine proposed bachelor鈥檚 degree programs.

The agreement that wasn鈥檛 agreed to

The Feather River dispute was never resolved.

鈥淎 written agreement was shared with the CSU and we didn鈥檛 really get a response back,鈥� said Navarette.

That鈥檚 because the CSU system didn鈥檛 agree to it, said Nathan Evans, a CSU associate vice chancellor.

In the legislators鈥� letter, they take aim at the community colleges鈥� actions, writing that 鈥渨ritten agreements鈥� need to be signed by the 鈥渋mpacted parties.鈥�

Instead of moving forward with the fire management program, Evans wants to see Feather River College and Cal Poly Humboldt collaborate on a joint degree. He pointed to programs across the state that help students work towards a certain major through two years of school at community college and two years at a four-year university. In another scenario, he referenced how professors from Cal State Fullerton and San Bernadino travel to Riverside City College or teach remotely so that community college students can get a bachelor鈥檚 in nursing in less than three years.

But Trutna doesn鈥檛 see those options as realistic. 鈥淥ur students just can鈥檛 move over there for two years,鈥� he said, adding that 鈥渢his is a hands-on vocational degree, not something you can do remotely.鈥�

And so, in March, the community college board of governors approved Feather River鈥檚 program. The law grants the community college board with the ultimate decision-making authority, leaving CSU leaders to search for a different recourse.

Meanwhile, the 14 colleges that just applied to launch their own bachelor鈥檚 degree programs will go on hold as they wait and see what agreements, if any, the two higher education systems can reach.

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