Butte College’s Student Equity Program is committed to fostering diversity, inclusion, and equity while promoting a campus learning environment that encourages and supports all students in persisting toward their educational goals by increasing their retention and graduation rates. The Student Equity Program champions the rights of all students to meaningful educational opportunities and works to define and secure the full range of resources, supports, and services necessary to provide these opportunities to disproportionately-impacted students. The Student Equity Program also provides leadership and accountability to resolve systemic inequities for all Butte College students through engaged research, community outreach, professional development, and by expanding pathways for access and success and promoting a healthy and engaging campus climate.
The Student Equity Program is established in order to ensure equal educational opportunities and outcomes for students and more specifically, to promote success for all student groups who experience disproportionate impact as indicated by data in the Student Equity Plan. The Student Equity Program aims to close the college’s equity gaps by increasing access, course completion, ESL and basic skills completion, degrees, certificates, and transfer for disproportionately impacted students as measured by success indicators linked to the Student Success Scorecard.
SSSP/SE Office Space Remodel
The remodel of the SSSP/SE space has improved the efficiency, productivity, and security of the SSSP and SE programs, and it has provided adequate space for support staff to work.
Administrative Secretary III
The addition of a permanent Administrative Secretary III to the SE Program in November has been instrumental in tracking and monitoring the large SE Program budget. This support allows us to better track expenditures in a timely manner, anticipate costs, and plan for future budgetary needs. It will also be critical for state reporting.
Cultural Awareness Community of Practice
The Cultural Awareness Community of Practice aims to foster a culture of inclusivenessand to create a more welcoming campusenvironment for students of color, disabled students,and queer students. Individuals who go through theprogram will increase their awareness of histories ofoppression, build capacity to engage in social justicework, and examine their own beliefs and identities. The program has been full every year has increased the equity-mindedness of faculty and staff.
FAIR Classrooms
The FAIR Classrooms Program provides course-specific completion data to classroom faculty and supports them to both 1) recognize areas of success/strength, and 2) develop tools to address equity gaps in their own classes. The FAIR Classrooms Program has been full each semester, with a full wait list for fall 2018.
BC Bloom Student-Run Magazine
The purpose of BC Bloom magazine, as founder and former student Feven Mebrahtu put it, is to “subvert the dominant paradigm that trivializes and undervalues the narratives of so many, including ethnic and gender minorities, and students living with various levels of disability, disenfranchisement, or poverty.” Ultimately, the magazine increases inclusivity to marginalized students and provides a forum for others to learn from voices that are often silenced.
The Student Equity Program has not developed Student Learning Outcomes. The SE Program is guided by the 2017-2019 SE Plan and the 2017-2019 Integrated Plan.
The CCCCO has mandated that all student equity programs analyze five student success indicators that are well aligned with those articulated in the Student Achievement Standards: access, course completion, ESL and basic skills completion, degree and certificate completion, and transfer. In terms of course success, the college has a six year overall goal of 74%, while Student Equity Plan goals are to increase course completion rates for disproportionately impacted students by 3-15% in the same six year span. The college plans to increase Basic Skills English completion rates by 3.5% and Student Equity Plan goals are to reduce equity gaps in Basic Skills English for disproportionately impacted students by 2.5-10% by 2025. The college plans to increase Basic Skills Math completion rates 3.9%, and the SE Plan goals are to reduce equity gaps on Basic Skills math from 6-12%. Within six years, the college plans to increase degree completion rates by 3.7%, certificate completion rates by 12.7%, and transfer rates by 16%. Student Equity Plan goals are to see increases for disproportionately impacted students in the following areas: 2.9-5.7% in degree completion, 2.6%-5.4% in certificate completion, and 4.4-10% in transfer by year 2025.
The Student Equity Program directly supports the College’s Strategic Direction in two main areas: “Enhancing a Culture of Completion and Academic Achievement” and “Enhancing a Culture of Inclusiveness.” In terms of “Enhancing a Culture of Completion and Academic Achievement,” the Student Equity Program is facilitating the success of disproportionately impacted students through each step of the Progress and Completion Model:
Connection (SE Indicator Access):
Student Health Center (TOVA Units, ADHD Testing)
Veterans Clerk (50%)
Bilingual Call Center Representative (50%)
Outreach and Recruitment Technicians (3) (50%)
Outreach Techs (SAs, Travel)
High School Collaboration
Roots Orientation
Entry (SE Indicator ESL/Basic Skills Completion):
ESL Coordinator (100%)
ESL Program (Marketing)
ECE in Spanish Program (stipend, materials)
Math Support Institute for HS Seniors
English 118 IAs (3) (50% each)
Progress (SE Indicator Course Completion):
Inspiring Scholars Coordinator (100%)
Inspiring Scholars Secretary (100%)
SASP Lending Library
Summer Bridge Support (textbooks, supplies, student assistants)
Childcare at the CDC
Student success Services Program Support Person (50%)
Student Success Services Supplies
CMST Support for Foster Youth
BC Bloom
Science Connection Institute
FAIR Classrooms Program
Cultural Awareness Community of Practice
Identity-Based Club Support (BSU, Native American, MEChA, Pacific Islander Club)
Completion (SE Indicators Degree/Certificate Completion and Transfer):
Veterans Counselor (50%)
Student Conference Opportunities (Umoja, HACU, A2Mend, NCORE, etc…)
Diversity Days Support
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Webpages
MESA Retention Specialist (60%)
MESA Travel
MESA Week Zero
The Student Equity Program also supports the “Enhancing a Culture of Inclusiveness” initiatives in the following ways:
Educating the campus and community that diversity is shaped and informed by many characteristics including but not limited to ability, age, culture, education, ethnicity, gender identity, language, religious beliefs, sex, sexual orientation, and socio-economic status.
The Student Equity Program currently sponsors the Cultural Awareness Community of Practice, a workshop series that seeks to give faculty and staff the concepts to better understand and the practices to more fully meet culturally diverse students where they are at. The training aims to close the equity gaps at Butte by fostering a culture of inclusiveness, which understands that institutional change must happen in the context of reducing intersectional—not isolated—oppressions (race, gender, sexuality, ability and class). The SE program has also sponsored a number of other culturally-relevant workshops and guest speakers.
Recruiting, hiring and retaining a diverse workforce.*
The Student Equity Program is currently working to do the following relative to hiring the best candidate while developing a more diverse workforce: 1) analyze hiring data from Butte College to get an accurate picture of hiring processes and practices, and 2) develop and provide robust unconscious bias trainings to all hiring committee members, 3) working with the Center for Urban Education to equitize our hiring processes. The SE Program is committed to ensuring the activities outlined in the college’s EEO Plan are completed.
Improving access, success, and completion of targeted student populations through the implementation of the Student Equity Plan.*
The primary responsibility of the Student Equity Program is to develop, implement, and evaluate the college’s Student Equity Plan with the aim of improving access, course success, degree and certificate completion, and transfer for disproportionately impacted student populations.
Creating and sustaining programs, projects, and events that promote a greater understanding of diversity and equity.
All of the work done by the Student Equity Program is aimed toward creating and sustaining activities that will promote diversity and equity as values of the college in addition to developing and implementing activities that will improve academic outcomes for disproportionately impacted students.
Empowering and institutionalizing the efforts of the Diversity Committee, Equal Employment Opportunity Advisory Committee, and Student Equity Committee.
The SE Program is responsible for running the twice-monthly SE meetings. SE Program staff also sit on the Diversity Committee and support the work that gets done in that forum. SE Program staff also serve on the EEO Advisory Board and coordinate with HR staff to facilitate EEO trainings.
Using data to inform dialogue about diversity and equity.
The SE Program has funded most of the Research Analyst positions at our college. These analysts have significantly increased the college’s ability to provide accurate, up to date data and present it in easy-to-understand formats. This in turn has allowed for more productive, data-informed discussions and decision making campus-wide.
The Student Equity Program is relatively new and has not yet gone through the Program Review process.
Student Equity Program Goals for 2018-2019:
Measurable Student Equity Plan goals for each of the five indicators (access, course completion, ESL/Basic Skills Completion, certificate/degree completion, and transfer) are provided in detail in the 2017-2019 Student Equity Plan.
Additionally, Butte College’s 2017-2019 Integrated Plan has been developed to ensure that the SE, BSI, and SSSP programs are coordinating both their efforts and resources to maximize student success and close equity gaps. The Integrated Plan identifies five common goals for all three programs:
1. Support students to start strong
2. Close equity gaps
3. Support student completion
4. Develop a campus culture of data-based inquiry
5. Increase student engagement
These Integrated Plan goals align with student equity’s five success indicators: access, course completion, ESL/basic skills completion, degree/certificate completion, and transfer. The Student Equity Program activities outlined in the Student Equity Plan are designed to mitigate disproportionate impact for the student populations defined by the college’s equity data while also supporting larger institutional student success goals as defined by the 2017-2019 Integrated Plan.
Strategy 1 - Senior-Level Officer of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Position
The need for a senior-level Officer of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is undeniable when one considers that since fall 2006, Butte College’s population of students of color has risen from 23% to 41%. All indications suggest that this trend will likely continue for the foreseeable future. In order to meet the needs of the “now” student, whom our college President has described as racially diverse, sexually diverse, and gender non-conforming, the college must be positioned to consider issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion in all decision making and to be proactive in response to national, state, local, or college-level discourses, events, or policies related to diversity and equity. This position would work with colleagues across the institution to create a campus climate that affirms the values of diversity and equity as vital aspects of the learning environment while also articulating the importance of actively engaging diversity as part of the intellectual development of students who will compete in a global marketplace. Ultimately, this position would be in charge of developing and implementing a strategic vision and plan for diversity and equity efforts across the whole institution.
More specifically, the Officer of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion would work with faculty, staff, and student leaders to help the school actualize its diversity and equity objectives. As the Chancellor’s Office moves toward the consolidation of programs that support disproportionately impacted student groups, this position could potentially oversee programs that are currently aligned in their aims but have not had the institutional support needed to align their work in more collaborative ways. Some of these programs/services potentially include Student Equity, MESA, EOPS, VRC, Inspiring Scholars, Safe Place, Title IX, DSPS, HSI, GSET, EEO efforts, and perhaps Student Life. This senior-level position could also be responsible for creating a strategic, intentional professional development program for faculty and staff around diversity and equity issues.
While the population of students of color has nearly doubled in the past 10 years, our faculty of color has increased by 1% in that same time period and remains woefully behind at just 12%. At the recent Strategic Planning Retreat, the senior-level Officer of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion was identified as the top priority for supporting student success and creating an inclusive campus environment. These efforts should focus on eliminating barriers to student success, preventing the recurrence of concerns expressed by students, and remedying the impact of these concerns on individual students and the campus community. In order to ensure a safe and welcoming environment that provides equal opportunity for success to all students, our college needs to 1) address hiring issues including unconscious bias training, 2) provide professional development for faculty and staff on cultural competency/cultural humility and privilege, and 3) strategically plan our college-wide efforts to close equity gaps and educate all students, faculty, and staff on the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion. This position could provide leadership on all these issues.
Strategy 2 - Cultural and Community Center Space and Staff
The Culture and Community Center has been supervised by Student Life since its inception, but due to declining enrollments, Student Life will no longer be able to support the CCC. The Student Equity Program has the staff and resources to take over the daily operations of the CCC.
The goal of the CCC is to “create a sense of unity, understanding, and mutual respect among Butte College's diverse community. The Culture & Community Center advocates for and empowers Butte College's diverse community by providing educational programs and cultural events in a safe and interactive environment where people gather to learn about themselves and others.” This goal aligns with the mission of the Student Equity Program and the transfer of the space and programming efforts will be quite seamless. In order for the CCC to be a functional and productive space for students, we will need to hire a part-time (24 hours per week), 9-month classified staff person to operationalize the activities and student use of the space.
Strategy 3 - Student Club Support
The Student Program plans to increase student engagement (one of our Integrated Plan goals) by funding programming and travel for four identity-based clubs: Black Student Union, Native American Club, MEChA, and the Pacific Islander Club. The Student Equity Program will support club meeting catering, campus events, community field trips, and conference/university travel for these four clubs.
Increasing the opportunities for students of color to engage in the campus community is critical for supporting their academic success. Our African American, Native American, and Hispanic students are disproportionately impacted at our college, and focus group data tells us that students are needing more opportunities to interact together and engage with the campus. The clubs are a great way of making student groups feel valued, nurtured, and connected. Increasing student engagement is also one of five goals in the college-approved Integrated Plan.
None at this time
Student equity funding from the CCCCO will support all Student Equity Program requests with the exception of the VP of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The Student Equity Program could potentially fund a portion of this salary as long as other currently funded personnel are shifted to other sources of funding. However, this VP-level position should be a district funded position in order for the college to demonstrate its prioritization of diversity, equity, and inclusion not only as institutional values, but as intentional, strategic planning efforts.
| Original Priority | Program, Unit, Area | Resource Type | Account Number | Object Code | One Time Augment | Ongoing Augment |
| Description | Supporting Rationale | Potential Alternative Funding Sources | Prioritization Criteria | |||
| 1 | Student Equity | Personnel | $0.00 | $200,000.00 | ||
| The need for a senior-level Officer of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is undeniable when one considers that since fall 2006, Butte College’s population of students of color has risen from 23% to 41%. All indications suggest that this trend will likely continue for the foreseeable future. In order to meet the needs of the “now” student, whom our college President has described as racially diverse, sexually diverse, and gender non-conforming, the college must be positioned to consider issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion in all decision making and to be proactive in response to national, state, local, or college-level discourses, events, or policies related to diversity and equity. This position would work with colleagues across the institution to create a campus climate that affirms the values of diversity and equity as vital aspects of the learning environment while also articulating the importance of actively engaging diversity as part of the intellectual development of students who will compete in a global marketplace. Ultimately, this position would be in charge of developing and implementing a strategic vision and plan for diversity and equity efforts across the whole institution. | While the population of students of color has nearly doubled in the past 10 years, our faculty of color has increased by 1% in that same time period and remains woefully behind at just 12%. At the recent Strategic Planning Retreat, the senior-level Officer of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion was identified as the top priority for supporting student success and creating an inclusive campus environment. These efforts should focus on eliminating barriers to student success, preventing the recurrence of concerns expressed by students, and remedying the impact of these concerns on individual students and the campus community. In order to ensure a safe and welcoming environment that provides equal opportunity for success to all students, our college needs to 1) address hiring issues including unconscious bias training, 2) provide professional development for faculty and staff on cultural competency/cultural humility and privilege, and 3) strategically plan our college-wide efforts to close equity gaps and educate all students, faculty, and staff on the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion. This position could provide leadership on all these issues. |
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| 2 | Student Equity | Personnel | $0.00 | $35,000.00 | ||
| The Culture and Community Center has been supervised by Student Life since its inception, but due to declining enrollments, Student Life will no longer be able to support the CCC. The Student Equity Program has the staff and resources to take over the daily operations of the CCC. | The goal of the CCC is to “create a sense of unity, understanding, and mutual respect among Butte College's diverse community. The Culture & Community Center advocates for and empowers Butte College's diverse community by providing educational programs and cultural events in a safe and interactive environment where people gather to learn about themselves and others.” This goal aligns with the mission of the Student Equity Program and the transfer of the space and programming efforts will be quite seamless. In order for the CCC to be a functional and productive space for students, we will need to hire a part-time (24 hours per week), 9-month classified staff person to operationalize the activities and student use of the space. |
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| 3 | Student Equity | Operating Expenses | $0.00 | $10,000.00 | ||
| The Student Program plans to increase student engagement (one of our Integrated Plan goals) by funding programming and travel for four identity-based clubs: Black Student Union, Native American Club, MEChA, and the Pacific Islander Club. The Student Equity Program will support club meeting catering, campus events, community field trips, and conference/university travel for these four clubs. | Increasing the opportunities for students of color to engage in the campus community is critical for supporting their academic success. Our African American, Native American, and Hispanic students are disproportionately impacted at our college, and focus group data tells us that students are needing more opportunities to interact together and engage with the campus. The clubs are a great way of making student groups feel valued, nurtured, and connected. Increasing student engagement is also one of five goals in the college-approved Integrated Plan. |
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