鈥淭he Chancellor鈥檚 Office has not stopped processing cycle 2 applications at this time,鈥� Melissa Villarin, a spokesperson for the state chancellor鈥檚 office that oversees California鈥檚 116 community colleges, told EdSource on Tuesday.
allows the chancellor鈥檚 office to approve up to 30 new bachelor鈥檚 degree programs annually at community colleges across the state. The approvals are done across two cycles each year, and a maximum of 15 programs can be approved per cycle. But last week, Assemblymember Mike Fong, D-Alhambra, and state Sen. Josh Newman, D-Fullerton, wrote to the chancellor鈥檚 office to request a pause on the current cycle of applications. Fong is the chair of the Assembly Higher Education Committee, and Newman chairs the Senate Education Committee.
issued Tuesday to Fong and Newman, the community college system鈥檚 interim chancellor, Daisy Gonzales, cited 鈥渟trict timelines鈥� that the system must meet under state law for processing applications and described plans to move forward with this cycle鈥檚 applications. The system received 29 applications for the current cycle and wants to approve 14 of them.
In a statement to EdSource Tuesday, Fong said he appreciated the response from the chancellor鈥檚 office and called on the community colleges and CSU to work together to resolve their disputes. 鈥淎s a former community college trustee, I was very supportive of baccalaureate degrees in community colleges, and as chair of the Assembly Higher Education Committee, I remain supportive,鈥� he said.
When reached for comment, CSU spokesperson Amy Bentley-Smith said system officials had 鈥渘ot received any communication鈥� from the community college chancellor鈥檚 office Tuesday. Bentley-Smith added, though, that CSU 鈥渁ppreciates Chairs Newman and Fong鈥檚 call for a pause鈥� to the application process. 鈥淚t is imperative that the working group be able to come together and build a review process that ensures the law鈥檚 requirements, particularly regarding duplication, are followed,鈥� Bentley-Smith said.
The initial letter from the lawmakers, , came weeks after the community college system approved . The chancellor鈥檚 office approved that program despite formal objections by the 23-campus CSU system, which argued that the program duplicated offerings at CSU. AB 927 stipulates that new baccalaureate programs at community colleges can鈥檛 duplicate programs at CSU or the University of California. Community college officials disagreed with CSU鈥檚 belief that the program was duplicative. Kevin Trutna, Feather River鈥檚 president, told EdSource that the Feather River region and its forests are much different than regions served by any CSU campus.
During a CSU board of trustees meeting in March, the system鈥檚 interim chancellor, Jolene Koester, said she was 鈥渟hocked and disheartened鈥� that the community college system approved the Feather River program and said CSU was 鈥渃onsidering all available next steps in this matter.鈥�
In their letter, Fong and Newman called for the convening of representatives from both systems and the UC that would 鈥渂etter define program duplication鈥� and come up with a resolution process when disputes arise.
鈥淚t is in this spirit of collaboration that we strongly urge the Community College Chancellor鈥檚 Office and Board of Governors to pause cycle two applications,鈥� Fong and Newman wrote.
But at least as of now, the chancellor鈥檚 office has decided against doing so. At least one college, Los Angeles Valley College, has already received the go-ahead for a new bachelor鈥檚 program. that it received provisional approval from the chancellor鈥檚 office for a Bachelor of Science degree program in respiratory therapy.
The chancellor鈥檚 office is supposed to finalize approvals for cycle two applications by June.
鈥淎B 927 established strict timelines for the Baccalaureate Degree Program, which the Board of Governors and Chancellor鈥檚 Office is required to meet as part of our statutory requirements for the program鈥檚 second cycle, and for which community college districts across the state have dedicated substantial time and effort to preparing degree program proposals,鈥� Gonzales, the interim chancellor, wrote in her response letter to Fong and Newman.
The 14 applications that met the approval criteria are currently being reviewed by the system鈥檚 four-year university partners, which include CSU, the University of California and the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities, which represents the state鈥檚 private nonprofit universities.
Gonzales added that 鈥渕uch like our first cycle,鈥� the chancellor鈥檚 office anticipates that the four-year systems will agree on approving 鈥渕any of the applications.鈥�
In the first cycle, the only objection made was by CSU to the Feather River program.
In her response letter, Gonzales also said that the community college and CSU systems have already established an intersegmental work group 鈥渢o address dispute resolution鈥� and had their first meeting on April 13.
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