The Board of Trustees was presented with a student success report on March 20 from the Office of Institutional Research which highlighted a decline in student success in certain groups based on race, gender and income.

A student success report provides data on how well students have performed academically at City College. The data is broken down and based on different groups. The plan provides a personalized approach that addresses academic needs while considering students’ personal growth, career development, and overall well-being. 

The data revealed that while some progress has been made there are still gaps in student achievement. The data showed disparities in enrollment and success rates, especially for Blacks, Pacific Islanders and other minority groups.

“In this time . . . where the nation’s climate is pretty tricky as it relates to what we’re doing for equity,” Keller Magenau Executive Director of Institutional Assessment, Research and Planning said. “I think we are going to be really looking to you [board] and relying on you to stay oppressed of the political climate, the legal climate, making sure everything we are doing aligns with California law and federal law and that you give us some guidance to make sure those don’t conflict.”

The board discussed various approaches to address the issue with Trustee Ellen Stoddard suggesting that they seek input from students as they may have valuable suggestions for solutions. Student Trustee Bruce Tan expanded on Stoddard’s point noting that factors like housing and living conditions could also significantly impact the data.

President of the Board of Trustees Jonathan Abboud said that coming up with a statistical goal for the board would be effective, as well as working with the Associated Student Government (ASG) to get more student input.

“I really hope collectively that we do come together each department collectively and put in some intentional evidence-based data-driven initiatives,” Trustee Charlotte Gullapmoore said.  “If one group is failing at that level, it means we are all failing . . .  it makes it hard for me to be happy for the congratulatory sessions of this ‘staff person is doing this’ or ‘this faculty person is doing that’ when our students are not succeeding, especially given the current climate. What are we saying to them?”

Abboud said that there is a lot of work to be done and that it’s the board’s purpose to educate students and get them through.

Around 30 minutes before the board meeting convened news came out regarding Trump Administration’s executive order to “dismantle or remove” the Department of Education.

The education department helps manage funding educational programs across the country. This department is responsible for distributing federal funds like financial aid.

“At this time there’s very little information available as to what this actually means in general and for Santa Barbara City College specifically,” Superintendent-President Erika Endrijonas said. “I can tell you that as of right now we are able to access financial aid and we are able to do what we need to do to support students, but a lot of things still need to be revealed as to what that means.”

Endrijonas said she will give updates as more information becomes available.

The Board of Trustees will hold their next meeting on April 17.