Faculty Equity Modules

Why Equity?

As an open-access institution, the [California Community Colleges] system serves a diverse student population in terms of race and ethnicity, age, and levels of educational attainment. However, student success remains a challenge for the system. Achievement gaps persists among the colleges where only 48% of students who enter a community college complete a degree, certificate, or transfer to a four-year university after six years. These achievement gaps disproportionately impact underrepresented minority students in the college system.

Though half of California community college students identify as underrepresented minorities, faculty and staff racial and ethnic diversity remain relatively homogenous. This raises questions about the role of faculty and staff diversity in student achievement. If faculty and staff are a main lever in student achievement, how then is achievement impacted when faculty and staff are unlike the students they serve? What does it take to create an inclusive environment where all students are equitably served?

Equity efforts at Modesto Junior College seek to address these questions and provide a more equitable experience for those who are disproportionately affected. 

Modesto Junior College is a federally-designated Hispanic-Serving Institution. Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) are defined in Title V of the Higher Education Act as not-for-profit institutions of higher learning with a full-time equivalent (FTE) undergraduate student enrollment that is at least 25 percent Hispanic, and at least half of the institution’s degree-seeking students must be low-income. The federal definition can be found here: www2.ed.gov/print/programs/idueshsi/definition.html.

Adapted from Vision for Success Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force report, California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office. https://www.cccco.edu/