Student Equity Plan

Reduce the equity gap for groups experiencing disproportionate impact by 60% by 2025:

• Black/African American: -8.30% to -3.32%
• Female: -8.40% to -3.36%

Action Steps

• Audit the entire enrollment process to identify barriers and make the necessary changes
• Add capacity to expand opt out. Increase the number of African American and female students who enroll in 15 units or more using Opt Out
• Designate employees who will reach out to specific groups of students within 48 hours of submitting an application to provide support regarding next steps
• Designate financial aid personnel to assist African American and female students with completing financial aid
• Proactively reach out to African American students to discuss programs and services available such as EOPS/CalWorks/CARE and DSPS services
• Check students’ schedules who enrolled without attending orientation or meeting with a counselor to ensure that they are enrolled in appropriate courses.
• Set up special orientation for African American students to help them complete the enrollment steps and register for classes

Resources

• Additional capacity (staffing resources) to provide the high-touch service to ensure Black/African American and female students matriculate and enroll successfully
• District IT: technology resources to improve the enrollment processes with the current system
• A review of policies, practices, and regulations that disproportionately impact Black/African American and female students related to their ability to successfully enroll in their courses

Reduce the equity gap for groups experiencing disproportionate impact by 40% by 2025:

• Black/African American: -6.00% to -3.60%
• Foster Youth: -11.30% to -6.78%
• Hispanic: -3.20% to -1.92%
• Homeless: -10.40% to -6.24%
• Non-Binary: -16.20% to -9.72%
• Economically Disadvantaged: -3.20% to -1.92%
• DSPS: -5.10% to -3.06%

Action Steps

• Expand SI tutors into more math and English courses and improve training for faculty and tutors who are part of the SI program to improve the program goal of closing equity gaps
• Evaluate the extent to which SI tutors are being utilized to support disproportionately impacted groups and implement new strategies
• Provide resources to faculty to develop and implement active learning curriculum. This type of curriculum has been shown to reduce equity gaps in STEM (By up to 30%)
• Research effective, proven culturally-responsive instructional strategies and pedagogies to improve student success in math and English. Share with faculty and promote adoption
• Build Communities of Practices across disciplines (perhaps led by Teaching and Learning Leads), an interdisciplinary, cooperative, shared space for learning/applying teaching practices
• Expand UMOJA/PUENTE sections into math and English
• Continue to monitor and if successful possibly scale an intensive ENGWR 300 course for students who have previously unsuccessfully attempted it

Resources

• Communication to students about the math and English placement processes should be streamlined and clarified
• Collaboration with the Los Rios District Office, and especially District IT, to develop solutions to the software challenges that prevent some students from enrolling in the proper math and English classes
• Evaluation of corequisite and support models, as well as student support programs that support student success
• Research and implementation of effective and culturally-relevant instructional practices that reduce inequities in course success

Reduce the equity gap for groups experiencing disproportionate impact by 60% by 2025:

• Black/African American: -10.60% to -4.24%
• Homeless: -21.30% to -8.52%
• Veteran: -14.80% to -5.92%
• White: -5.70% to -2.28%

Action Steps

• The college is reactivating its Equity Academy for new faculty hires, now called Community of Equity and Inclusion this coming spring 2023
• Increase equity-minded professional development for all employee groups
• As mentioned previously, the college should invest in more classified professionals in the Student Success Coach role to enhance its in-reach capacity to support students’ continued enrollment
• The college’s initiative to become a zero-textbook cost institution is well underway in its second year of implementation, with almost 50% of full time faculty and close to 20% of part time faculty participating in the college’s OER (Open Educational Resource) Award Program
• The students would also receive timely feedback from course instructors about their academic progress in the class; this makes academic support interventions more timely and effective as well
• As previously mentioned, combined with the wide array for support programs and basic need services, as well as applicable equity-minded teaching and learning professional development; the college will be able to provide affordable student housing with a 12-unit enrollment requirement that should improve persistence and reduce equity gaps

Resources

• Professional development for faculty and staff to foster an inclusive learning environment
• Investment in more Classified professional staff to enhance in-reach
• Provision of affordable housing for students

Reduce equity gaps for Black/African American Students in the “Attained a Vision Definition” metric by 40% - from -2.90% to -1.74%.

Action Steps

• Provide assistance to Black/African American students in choosing a major and staying on the path towards completion of that major (e.g. by focusing on careers)
• Reduce costs and other financial barriers that may act as a barrier to enrolling in required courses
• Expand and maintain program maps to provide students with a clear pathway to completion
• Develop student centered schedules to facilitate on-time completion
• Increase buy-in and participation amongst faculty towards evidence based, equity minded teaching practices (particularly in gatekeeper courses)

Resources

• Resources, training, and institutional support that help faculty, classified professionals, and administrators better identify and act to remove barriers for students

Reduce the equity gap for groups experiencing disproportionate impact by 40% by 2025:

• Black/African American: -11.50% to -6.90%
• First Generation: -1.60% to -0.96%
• Foster Youth: -17.00% to -10.20%
• Male: -4.80% to -2.88%

Action Steps

• Implement the action steps under Metrics 1 to 4, including:
  • Provide assistance to Black/African American students in choosing a major and staying on the path towards completion of that major (e.g. by focusing on careers)
  • Reduce costs and other financial barriers that may act as a barrier to enrolling in required courses
  • Expand and maintain program maps to provide students with a clear pathway to completion
    • Minimize confusion between Associate Degrees and ADTs
  • Develop student centered schedules to facilitate on-time completion
  • Increase buy-in and participation amongst faculty towards evidence based, equity minded teaching practices (particularly in gatekeeper courses)
  • Build Communities of Practices across disciplines (perhaps led by Teaching and Learning Leads), an interdisciplinary, cooperative, shared space for learning/applying teaching practices
  • Expand UMOJA/PUENTE sections into Math as well as English
• Revise course numbering to meet legislative requirements of AB1111 and draw clearer connections to CSU/UC coursework
• Dedicate professional development resources and space for innovative practices in the implementation of AB705, AB1805, and AB1705, including action steps from Metric 3:
  • Provide resources to faculty to develop and implement active learning curriculum. This type of curriculum has been shown to reduce equity gaps in STEM (by up to 30%)
  • Research effective, proven culturally-responsive instructional strategies and pedagogies to improve student success in Math and English. Share with faculty and promote adoption.

Resources

• Resources, training, and institutional support that help faculty and staff better identify and act to remove barriers for students
• Stronger utilization of program maps and pathways to guide students toward their goals

In order to assess the impact of the 2019-2022 Student Equity Plan, trends in equity gaps were evaluated from 2018 (the baseline year) to 2021 (where data were available). Over the last four years, there has been notable changes in the data provided by the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO) for equity planning. This made evaluation of the prior equity plan difficult. The table below presents equity gap trends for student groups who would have been described as disproportionately impacted in the last plan had the metrics remained exactly the same. The first three metrics (found in the “Metric” column; Successful Enrollment, Persisted to Second Primary Term, and Completed Transfer-Math and English First Year) are similar to prior equity plan metrics, whereas the last two are new to the current planning cycle (Attained a Vision Definition and Transfer).

In areas with significant collegewide equity efforts, there has been some closure of equity gaps. For example, the “African American Success Initiative” has focused on closing gaps in successful enrollment - e.g. the percentage enrollment of first-time students after application. Notably, the gap in success enrollment for Black/African American students has decreased by 29.6% since 2018. Additionally, programs like Opt-Out - which encourages students to enroll in 15 units - and the We Won’t Fall campaign - a series of goals and strategies intended for closing equity gaps - have focused on first term enrollment and persistence. A primary focus of these programs is closing Black and Hispanic/Latinx equity gaps in early momentum metrics (e.g. unit load, completion of transfer-level math/English, etc.) and persistence. The data provided by the CCCCO suggests that there has been movement in these areas. Specifically, the gap in Black/African American persistence declined by 49.1% from the baseline year, and the gap for Hispanic/Latinx completion of transfer-level math/English has declined as well.

On the other hand, with regards to transfer rates and award completion (“Attained a Vision Definition”), the findings are more mixed for the aforementioned collegewide efforts. In particular, the equity gap for Black/African American student transfer has increased by 31.6%. The equity gap in transfer for Foster Youth students has also remained stubbornly high, and it has grown for Male students as well.

Given the observed changes in early momentum metrics and the identification of potential initiatives associated with these changes, the College set more aggressive goals for the first three metrics. The mixed results for completion resulted in slightly less aggressive goals - given that it may be more difficult to change these metrics in the long term.

Equity gap trends for groups that would have been identified as DI in the last equity plan had the same metrics been used.

• * SEP Baseline Year
• ^† Metric has changed in definition since the last SEP
• ^# Metric not included in the last SEP (it focused on counts of transfers and awards)