WHEREAS, Assembly Bill (AB) 705 (Irwin) was enacted in October, 2017 establishing the goal of students completing transfer level courses in English and mathematics within one year of entering a California Community College (CCC) and further establishing strict conditions under which a student could enroll in pre-transfer level coursework and AB 1705 (Irwin) was subsequently enacted in September 2022 providing additional requirements for CCCs to implement regarding student enrollment into transfer level English and mathematics courses;
WHEREAS, The California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office has issued instructions to all CCCs that colleges are specifically prohibited from enrolling students into transfer-level English or math/quantitative reasoning coursework that does not satisfy the requirements within the student’s intended program or major[1], regardless of community educational needs and the student’s intent to enroll in pre-transfer level coursework;
WHEREAS, The California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office has defined “highly unlikely to succeed” as a cohort with a throughput rate of less than 15%, meaning that only if data indicates fewer than 15% of a specified cohort succeed in calculus without taking a prerequisite can that group be classified under AB 1705 (Irwin, 2022) as “highly unlikely to succeed” and in such cases, colleges are permitted to justify requiring the prerequisite for students in that group; however, enrolling large numbers of students in STEM courses, such as calculus, without proper access to prerequisite coursework is likely to negatively affect the quality of STEM instruction and student outcomes, which diminishes the overall academic preparedness of students majoring in STEM fields, potentially undermining the success of those transferring to UC and CSU institutions; and
WHEREAS, The CCC Chancellor’s Office Memo, published on December 10, 2024, permits the continued offering of a one-semester pre-transfer-level math course through July 2027, which according to the Public Policy Institute of California, at one in five colleges, a third or more of students are enrolled in pre-transfer-level courses and without proper access to these courses, underserved and underrepresented students in STEM fields will be placed in advanced courses where they are more likely to fail without the adequate academic preparation, jeopardizing their academic progress, financial aid, and pathways to STEM degrees, which are critical for socioeconomic mobility; Now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges advocate to the CCC Chancellor’s Office and the California State Legislature for unrestricted student access to pre-transfer-level coursework, ensuring that students retain the autonomy to select courses that best align with their individual educational needs and goals.