Report 2022-113 All Recommendation Responses

Report 2022-113: California Community Colleges: Increasing Full-Time Faculty and Diversity Remains a Challenge (Release Date: February 2023)

Recommendation #1 To: Community Colleges Chancellor's Office

To monitor districts' progress toward the goal of having at least 75 percent of their hours of instruction provided by full-time faculty, by February 2024, the California Community Colleges Board of Governors and the Chancellor's Office should develop, implement, and report on a metric of instruction that calculates actual instruction hours taught by full-time and part-time faculty.

1-Year Agency Response

It is not necessary to implement this recommendation due to new reporting requirements in Education Code which supersede this recommendation. SB 117 (2023) amended Education Code to add sections 87890 through 87894 which outline additional reporting requirements for the Chancellor's Office and for districts as a condition of receiving full-time faculty hiring funds. Education Code section 87891 (c )(1) requires the number and percentage of instruction taught to be reported as measured by the current regulatory definition and calculation of full-time equivalent faculty, as described in Title 5 sections 53309 and 53310. Therefore, development of a new metric is not required.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: No Action Taken

This response is essentially unchanged from the Chancellor's Office's 6-month response. Although SB117 does not prohibit the California Community Colleges from developing, implementing, and reporting on a metric of instruction that calculates actual instruction hours, the Chancellor's Office appears to indicate that it does not intend to do so at this time.

6-Month Agency Response

It is not necessary to implement this recommendation due to budget trailer bill Language and new reporting requirements in Education Code which supersede this recommendation. SB 117 (2023) amended Education Code to add sections 87890 through 87894 which outline additional reporting requirements for the Chancellor's Office and for districts as a condition of receiving full-time faculty hiring funds. Education Code section 87891 (c )(1) requires the number and percentage of instruction taught to be reported as measured by the current regulatory definition and calculation of full-time equivalent faculty, as described in Title V sections 53309 and 53310. Therefore, development of a new metric is not required.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: No Action Taken

Although SB117 does not prohibit the California Community Colleges from developing, implementing, and reporting on a metric of instruction that calculates actual instruction hours, the Chancellor's Office provides no indication that it will do so.

60-Day Agency Response

Through the consultative process required by law, the Chancellor's Office has initiated a systemwide conversation on the future of teaching, learning, and student success. Specifically, an item on this topic was included on the April 20, 2023, Consultation Council agenda. The discussion centered around the recognition of the complexity of the definition of instruction and identification of factors that contribute to student success. Next steps will include an in-depth study to provide data and evidence to inform further consideration of changes to the metric of instruction used to measure progress toward the 75% goal and a mechanism to promote compliance.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending

Based on its response, the Chancellor's Office has not yet begun to develop, implement, and report a metric of instruction that calculates actual instruction hours. It's next steps may represent the beginning of implementation of this recommendation if those steps include development of a metric that calculates actual instruction hours taught by full-time and part-time faculty.

Recommendation #2 To: Community Colleges Chancellor's Office

To ultimately achieve the goal of at least 75 percent of instruction taught by full-time faculty, the Chancellor's Office, by February 2024, should set increasing annual benchmarks for the amount of instruction by full-time faculty at the districts, with the goal of achieving an appropriate target percentage within five years. The Chancellor's Office should also develop a mechanism to promote compliance with its benchmarks.

1-Year Agency Response

New reporting requirements in Education Code supersede this recommendation. SB 117 (2023) amended Education Code to add sections 87890 through 87894 which outline additional reporting requirements for the Chancellor's Office and for districts as a condition of receiving full-time faculty hiring funds. Districts have local control over hiring decisions and collective bargaining activities. The newly expanded reporting requirements will provide consistent public information on hiring trends and districts' progress toward meeting the goal of having 75% of instruction taught by full-time faculty.

The new Annual Academic Hiring Report has been sent to districts and is due on April 1, 2024 as the statutory deadline of March 31 falls on a Sunday. As data trends are established for the various metrics included in the new Annual Academic Hiring Report, potential benchmarks can be explored. The Faculty Obligation Number described in Title 5 section 51025 is the existing compliance mechanism to measure and promote districts' progress toward the goal.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Pending

The Chancellor's Office continues to indicate that it may explore potential benchmarks, but it has not committed to doing so.

6-Month Agency Response

New reporting requirements in Education Code supersede this recommendation. SB 117 (2023) amended Education Code to add sections 87890 through 87894 which outline additional reporting requirements for the Chancellor's Office and for districts as a condition of receiving full-time faculty hiring funds. Districts have local control over hiring decisions and collective bargaining activities. The newly expanded reporting requirements will provide consistent public information on hiring trends and districts' progress toward meeting the goal of having 75% of instruction taught by full-time faculty. Based on this information, the Chancellor's Office can explore potential benchmarks. Currently, the Faculty Obligation Number described in Title V section 51025 is the existing compliance mechanism to measure and promote districts' progress toward the goal.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Pending

The Chancellor's Office indicates that it may explore potential benchmarks, but it has not committed to doing so.

60-Day Agency Response

Through the consultative process required by law, the Chancellor's Office has initiated a systemwide conversation on the future of teaching, learning, and student success. Specifically, an item on this topic was included on the April 20, 2023, Consultation Council agenda. The discussion centered around the recognition of the complexity of the definition of instruction and identification of factors that contribute to student success. Next steps will include an in-depth study to provide data and evidence to inform further consideration of changes to the metric of instruction used to measure progress toward the 75% goal and a mechanism to promote compliance.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending

Based on its response, the Chancellor's Office has not yet begun to implement this recommendation. It's next steps may represent the beginning of implementation of this recommendation if those steps include setting increasing annual benchmarks and developing a mechanism to promote compliance with those benchmarks.

Recommendation #3 To: Community Colleges Chancellor's Office

To ensure that districts appropriately use the funds designated for hiring full-time faculty, the Chancellor's Office should, by August 2023, require each district to report to the Chancellor's Office in November of each year on the number of full-time faculty positions filled and maintained with the funds allocated for that purpose in the prior fiscal year, the percentage of the funds used in the prior fiscal year, and the cumulative total of the funds used and unused since the initial allocation in fiscal year 2018-19. Each district should also include in the report its progress toward meeting the goal of at least 75 percent of instruction by full-time faculty.

1-Year Agency Response

New reporting requirements in Education Code supersede this recommendation. SB 117 (2023) amended Education Code to add sections 87890 through 87894 which outline additional reporting requirements for the Chancellor's Office and for districts as a condition of receiving full-time faculty hiring funds. Education Code section 87891 requires districts to report to the Chancellor's Office by March 31 annually the number of full-time faculty positions filled and maintained with the funds allocated for that purpose in the prior fiscal year, the percentage of the funds used in the prior fiscal year, and the cumulative total of the funds used and unused. The results of this new report will be available in a public report by May 30 annually, as required by statute. Districts continue to report on progress toward meeting the goal of having 75% of instruction taught by full-time faculty in the Faculty Obligation Number Compliance Report due November 1 annually.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Pending

The Chancellor's Office will need to demonstrate that it has communicated these requirements to the districts, including requirements to report the number of full-time faculty positions filled and maintained with the funds allocated for that purpose in the prior fiscal year, the percentage of the funds used in the prior fiscal year, and the cumulative total of the funds used and unused since the initial allocation in fiscal year 2018-19, to demonstrate full implementation of this recommendation.

6-Month Agency Response

New reporting requirements in Education Code supersede this recommendation. SB 117 (2023) amended Education Code to add sections 87890 through 87894 which outline additional reporting requirements for the Chancellor's Office and for districts as a condition of receiving full-time faculty hiring funds. Education Code section 87891 requires districts to report to the Chancellor's Office by March 31 annually the number of full-time faculty positions filled and maintained with the funds allocated for that purpose in the prior fiscal year, the percentage of the funds used in the prior fiscal year, and the cumulative total of the funds used and unused. This report is in development and will be shared with districts prior to the March 31 deadline for submission. Districts continue to report on progress toward meeting the goal of having 75% of instruction taught by full-time faculty in the Faculty Obligation Number Compliance Report due November 1 annually.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Pending

We will evaluate whether the Chancellor's Office's implementation of the requirements of SB117 also represent implementation of this recommendation when it officially communicates the requirements to the districts.

60-Day Agency Response

Districts annually report their full-time equivalent faculty attributed to both full-time and part-time faculty and these reports are publicly available on the Chancellor's Office website. In addition, district financial reports, including expenditures for salaries and benefits, are audited annually and publicly available on each district's website.

Through the consultative process required by law, the Chancellor's Office will initiate a systemwide conversation to discuss potential revisions to monitoring, oversight, and annual reporting related to full-time faculty hiring funds. Specifically, this topic is included for discussion on the agenda for the May 11, 2023, meeting of the Chancellor's Office Fiscal Affairs Advisory Workgroup.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: No Action Taken

The Chancellor's Office's response indicates that it has not yet initiated actions to implement this recommendation for districts to report how they use the additional funding for hiring full-time faculty that they receive.

Recommendation #4 To: Community Colleges Chancellor's Office

To ensure that districts appropriately use the funds designated for hiring full-time faculty, the Chancellor's Office should, by August 2023, implement a policy to annually synthesize the information from the districts into a systemwide report and post it on its public website by January of the following year.

6-Month Agency Response

New reporting requirements in Education Code supersede this recommendation. SB 117 (2023) amended Education Code to add sections 87890 through 87894 which outline additional reporting requirements for the Chancellor's Office and for districts as a condition of receiving full-time faculty hiring funds. Education Code section 87892 (a) requires the Chancellor's Office to publish a systemwide report by May 30 annually.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Pending

We will evaluate whether the Chancellor's Office's implementation of the requirements of SB117 also represent implementation of this recommendation when it publishes the required report.

60-Day Agency Response

Districts annually report their full-time equivalent faculty attributed to both full-time and part-time faculty and these reports are publicly available on the Chancellor's Office website. In addition, district financial reports, including expenditures for salaries and benefits, are audited annually and publicly available on each district's website.

Through the consultative process required by law, the Chancellor's Office will initiate a systemwide conversation to discuss potential revisions to monitoring, oversight, and annual reporting related to full-time faculty hiring funds. Specifically, this topic is included for discussion on the agenda for the May 11, 2023, meeting of the Chancellor's Office Fiscal Affairs Advisory Workgroup.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: No Action Taken

The Chancellor's Office's response indicates that it has not yet initiated actions to implement this recommendation to implement a policy to annually synthesize and report the information recommendation 3 asks the Chancellor's office to require districts to report.

Recommendation #5 To: Community Colleges Chancellor's Office

To ensure that districts appropriately use the funds designated for hiring full-time faculty, the Chancellor's Office should, by August 2023, implement a policy to verify that the districts are using the funds for their designated purpose.

6-Month Agency Response

SB 117 (2023) amended Education Code to add sections 87890 through 87894 which outline additional reporting requirements for the Chancellor's Office and for districts as a condition of receiving full-time faculty hiring funds. Education code section 87893 specifies that the Chancellor's Office adopt a policy requiring districts to submit evidence of expenditures and the Chancellor's Office to provide technical assistance and guidance and follow-up on any discrepancies. The Chancellor's Office is developing a policy and procedures for these monitoring activities and will apply the procedures to information reported by districts in March 2024.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Pending

We will evaluate whether the Chancellor's Office's implementation of the requirements of SB117 also represent implementation of this recommendation when it finalizes the relevant policy and procedures.

60-Day Agency Response

Districts annually report their full-time equivalent faculty attributed to both full-time and part-time faculty and these reports are publicly available on the Chancellor's Office website. In addition, district financial reports, including expenditures for salaries and benefits, are audited annually and publicly available on each district's website.

Through the consultative process required by law, the Chancellor's Office will initiate a systemwide conversation to discuss potential revisions to monitoring, oversight, and annual reporting related to full-time faculty hiring funds. Specifically, this topic is included for discussion on the agenda for the May 11, 2023, meeting of the Chancellor's Office Fiscal Affairs Advisory Workgroup.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: No Action Taken

The Chancellor's Office's response indicates that it has not yet initiated actions to implement this recommendation to implement a policy to verify that the districts are using full-time faculty hiring funds for their designated purpose.

Recommendation #6 To: Community Colleges Chancellor's Office

To ensure that districts are performing analyses needed to identify and determine the causes of any underrepresentation in the faculty they hire, the Chancellor's Office should, by August 2023, implement a policy to verify that districts conduct the required demographic analyses of their employment processes.

6-Month Agency Response

The Chancellor's Office is in the process of formulating and implementing a policy to verify that community college districts conduct the demographic analyses of their employment processes as required in Section 53023 of Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations. The implementation will align with new requirements in the Education Code which supersede this recommendation. SB 117 (2023) amended Education Code section 87103 to add the requirement that the Chancellor's Office implement a policy, on or before October 1, 2023.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Pending

We will evaluate whether the Chancellor's Office's implementation of the requirements of SB117 also represent implementation of this recommendation when it finalizes the relevant policy.

60-Day Agency Response

The Chancellor's Office provided an update on the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Integration Plan at the March 20, 2023 Board of Governor's Meeting and March 16, 2023 Consultation Council. The update included discussion of recent revisions to regulation, the 2022 EEO/Diversity Best Practices Handbook, revised standards for employee evaluation and tenure review, Pipelines to Possibilities Program, ALIVE Academy, Aspiring Radical Leaders Institute, and additional state resources made available by the Legislature since the Board of Governors adopted the DEIA Integration Plan in 2019. Also shared were upcoming statewide efforts to promote equal employment opportunities through targeted professional development, district grants, and promising practices showcases. In 2023, the Chancellor's Office will continue to present the Representation Matters Webinar Series, host Communities of Practice to support EEO related efforts, support professional development efforts related to culturally responsive pedagogy and practices, and create learning opportunities for all employee classifications through a needs assessment, and host a two-day event in Fall of 2023 to showcase and celebrate the momentum of DEIA and promising campus practices.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending

To supplement its response, the Chancellor's Office provided its memo to Community College Districts on the transition to a new EEO program model. This memo explains that districts will need to demonstrate that they have recorded, reviewed, and reported the required data regarding qualified applicant pools. To fully implement this recommendation, the Chancellor's Office will need to finalize and implement a policy to verify that the districts have conducted the required analyses.

Recommendation #7 To: Community Colleges Chancellor's Office

To improve faculty diversity at all districts, the Chancellor's Office should, beginning in fiscal year 2023-24, require districts to implement all of the multiple methods to receive EEO funding, and it should create a process to verify proper implementation of a selection of the methods to ensure compliance and consistency.

6-Month Agency Response

New requirements in the Education Code supersede this recommendation. SB 117 (2023) amended Education Code section 87102 to require districts to implement strategies from the Multiple Methods identified by the Chancellor's Office as a condition of receiving equal employment opportunity funds. While the CSA recommendation is for the Chancellor's Office to require districts to implement all of the Multiple Methods to receive EEO funding, the Legislature's amendment does not require that all the Multiple Methods be implemented. Nevertheless, the Chancellor's Office has, and will continue to, encourage districts to implement strategies from all of the Multiple Methods as recommended. Additionally, SB 117 also requires the Chancellor's Office to create a process by January 1, 2024 to verify each participating community college district's proper implementation of strategies from the Multiple Methods. The Chancellor's Office is in the process of formulating and implementing such a process.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: No Action Taken

Although SB 117 does not prohibit the Chancellor's Office from requiring districts to implement all of the multiple methods, the Chancellor's Office's response provides no indication that it will implement this recommendation.

60-Day Agency Response

The Chancellor's Office provided an update on the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Integration Plan at the March 20, 2023 Board of Governor's Meeting and March 16, 2023 Consultation Council. The update included discussion of recent revisions to regulation, the 2022 EEO/Diversity Best Practices Handbook, revised standards for employee evaluation and tenure review, Pipelines to Possibilities Program, ALIVE Academy, Aspiring Radical Leaders Institute, and additional state resources made available by the Legislature since the Board of Governors adopted the DEIA Integration Plan in 2019. Also shared were upcoming statewide efforts to promote equal employment opportunities through targeted professional development, district grants, and promising practices showcases. In 2023, the Chancellor's Office will continue to present the Representation Matters Webinar Series, host Communities of Practice to support EEO related efforts, support professional development efforts related to culturally responsive pedagogy and practices, and create learning opportunities for all employee classifications through a needs assessment, and host a two-day event in Fall of 2023 to showcase and celebrate the momentum of DEIA and promising campus practices.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Will Not Implement

To supplement its response, the Chancellor's Office provided its memo to Community College Districts on the transition to a new EEO program model. This memo states that the requirement that districts must meet seven of the nine multiple methods will not change. Based on this statement, our current assessment is that the Chancellor's Office does not intend to implement this recommendation. Implementation of this recommendation would be to require districts to implement all of the multiple methods to receive EEO funding, and to create a process to verify proper implementation of a selection of the methods.

Recommendation #8 To: Community Colleges Chancellor's Office

To improve faculty diversity at districts, the Chancellor's Office should, by February 2024, implement a policy to regularly determine the most effective and feasible best practices for districts to implement. It should then update its multiple methods process to include those selected best practices when it conducts its evaluation of district EEO plans once every three years.

6-Month Agency Response

New requirements in the Education Code supersede this recommendation. SB 117 (2023) amended Education Code section 87102 to require the Chancellor's Office to, on or before April 1, 2024, to implement a policy to regularly determine the most effective and feasible best practices for participating community college districts to promote faculty diversity under their EEO plans and to update the Multiple Methods strategies to include the selected best practices for purposes of evaluating each participating district's EEO plan once every three years. The Chancellor's Office is in the process of formulating and implementing such a policy.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Pending

We will evaluate whether the Chancellor's Office's implementation of the requirements of SB117 also represent implementation of this recommendation when it finalizes the relevant policy.

60-Day Agency Response

The Chancellor's Office provided an update on the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Integration Plan at the March 20, 2023 Board of Governor's Meeting and March 16, 2023 Consultation Council. The update included discussion of recent revisions to regulation, the 2022 EEO/Diversity Best Practices Handbook, revised standards for employee evaluation and tenure review, Pipelines to Possibilities Program, ALIVE Academy, Aspiring Radical Leaders Institute, and additional state resources made available by the Legislature since the Board of Governors adopted the DEIA Integration Plan in 2019. Also shared were upcoming statewide efforts to promote equal employment opportunities through targeted professional development, district grants, and promising practices showcases. In 2023, the Chancellor's Office will continue to present the Representation Matters Webinar Series, host Communities of Practice to support EEO related efforts, support professional development efforts related to culturally responsive pedagogy and practices, and create learning opportunities for all employee classifications through a needs assessment, and host a two-day event in Fall of 2023 to showcase and celebrate the momentum of DEIA and promising campus practices.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: No Action Taken

To supplement its response, the Chancellor's Office provided a memo to districts on the transition to a new EEO program and a draft of a new 10-point plan for faculty diversity hiring. While the plan does include evaluations of relevant best practices, it is not clear that the Chancellor's Office has yet taken steps to implement a policy to regularly determine the most effective and feasible best practices and then to specifically update the multiple methods to include those best practices.

All Recommendations in 2022-113

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.