Memos
As a member of the USC Center on Race and Equity “California Community College Racial Equity Leadership Alliance,” El Camino College staff members and students have the opportunity to participate in more than a dozen topical e-convenings on subjects such as Creating Equitable Pathways to Leadership, Roles for Employees of Color, Disaggregating Data to Identify Racial Inequities, and Hiring and Retaining Faculty of Color.
Conversations on these topics is one of many important catalysts for change on our campus. Teams of five e-convening participants will share what they learned, best practices, and tips for implementation, during open forums hosted by the President’s Advisory Committee on Race and Equity.
The President’s Advisory Committee has established a process for soliciting interest in participation e-convenings via a Formstack form. Please visit e-convening sign-up to request consideration and view a list of topics and dates.
As part of our membership to the USC Center for Race and Equity, El Camino College students will be asked to participate in a survey that assesses their impression of the racial climate on our campus and within their communities. This short survey will be administered by the National Assessment of Collegiate Campus Climates (the “NACCC”) beginning October 19, 2020.
This new national survey created by the USC Race and Equity Center was specifically designed for undergraduate students at community colleges and four-year institutions to gather informed data. This critical data will assist college leaders to frame important conversations about race, to guide strategic planning for racial equity, to benchmark against other participating institutions, and to measure improvement from one participation year to the next.
Please encourage students to complete the survey, which will be sent from the NACCC using the email address nacccsrv@usc.edu. Although the message will be marked as coming from an external sender, it is legitimate and should not be treated as spam or phishing. The data collected in this survey is critical to our efforts to improve racial equity and inclusion at El Camino College. Results from the survey will be available from USC in the fall for future planning at El Camino College.
As part of our membership to the USC Center for Race and Equity, El Camino College students will be asked to participate in a survey that assesses their impression of the racial climate on our campus and within their communities. This short survey will be administered by the National Assessment of Collegiate Campus Climates (the “NACCC”) beginning October 19, 2020. This new national survey created by the USC Race and Equity Center was specifically designed for undergraduate students at community colleges and four-year institutions to gather informed data. This critical data will assist college leaders to frame important conversations about race, to guide strategic planning for racial equity, to benchmark against other participating institutions, and to measure improvement from one participation year to the next.
Please encourage students to complete the survey, which will be sent from the email address nacccsrv@usc.edu, as this data is critical to our efforts to improve racial equity and inclusion at El Camino College. The results from this survey will be available from USC in the fall for future planning at El Camino College.
Critical work needed to address racism and strengthen equity at El Camino College is taking place across campus with participation at all levels of our organization. Leading the institutional response to this important work is the President’s Advisory Committee on Race and Equity, which held its first meeting in September. The committee convened to discuss its purpose, organizational matters, and reviewed data, a key factor to making informed decisions that support creating an inclusive and welcoming campus for all students, staff and faculty. The Committee focused on five foundational pillars.
- Curriculum and Faculty Professional Development
- Campuswide Professional Development
- Police and Community Relations/Policies
- Student Experiences
- Employee Experiences
In addition, the Committee will continue to establish a full calendar of activities for the remainder of the school year for participation by campus stakeholders and has already identified partnerships and events to support the Committee’s charter of ensuring we foster an equitable and inclusive campus.
Established earlier this summer, El Camino College joined the USC Center on Race and Equity “California Community College Racial Equity Leadership Alliance.” Teams of five will be attending more than a dozen e-convenings on topics such as Creating Equitable Pathways to Leadership, Roles for Employees of Color, Disaggregating Data to Identify Racial Inequities, and Hiring and Retaining Faculty of Color. The Advisory Committee has established a process for soliciting interest in participation in future e-convenings via a Formstack form. Please click here to request consideration as a participant in an e-convening. The list of topics and dates is included in the interest form.
E-convening participants will share what they learned, best practices, and tips for implementation, during open forums hosted by the President’s Advisory Committee on Race and Equity. Dates for these forums will be announced shortly.
In support of faculty development, and in collaboration with the Senate, the following faculty members participated in the first USC Center on Race and Equity e-convening, which focused on Fostering and Sustaining Inclusive Classrooms for Students of Color.
- Melissa Fujiwara, Faculty, Sociology
- Christopher Page, Faculty, English
- Charlene Brewer-Smith, Faculty, Cosmetology
- Nancy Freeman, Faculty, Life Sciences
- Christopher Hurd, Faculty, Counseling
In addition, more than 30 members of our campus community are participating in the USC Center for Race and Equity “Equity Now!” four-part seminar in September and October. Topics include Unpacking Internal and Institutional Racism, Skill-building for Racial Literacy, Leveraging Racial Equity Data, and Taking Action for Racial Equity. These subjects will be presented by nationally renowned speakers. To learn about the series, visit “Equity Now!”
In support of the President’s Advisory Committee’s student experience subcommittee, 100 students, faculty and staff attended the recent virtual A2Amend Conference. This conference was hosted by the African American Male Education Network and Development (A²MEND), a non-profit organization comprised of African American male educators who utilize scholarly and professional expertise to foster institutional change within the community college system to increase success of African American male students. The event featured Dr. Cornel West, Dr. Joy DeGruy and Dr. Michael Eric Dyson discussing institutional racism, and the road ahead for reform and dismantling racist systems.
The President’s Advisory Committee on Race and Equity will continue to meet monthly while subcommittee members develop their goals and identify recommendations to address racism and equity at El Camino College. The Committee is developing campuswide forums around the topics included in the USC e-convenings as well as many other ideas to keep the dialogue on race and equity moving forward.
Thank you.