Continued erosion of the Master Plan - Part 2

We have previously noted the ad hoc dissipation of the 1960 Master Plan for Higher Education without any comprehensive plan to replace or revise it.* Not everyone is unhappy about the ad hoc approach by the legislature, with gubernatorial blessing. From Inside Higher Ed:

California community college advocates and leaders are applauding new state legislation that allows two-year institutions to award four year-degrees. Assembly Bill 927, signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom on Oct. 6, makes baccalaureate programs being piloted at 15 community colleges permanent and allows other community colleges across the state to also create the programs. The law allows the California Community Colleges system to offer up to 30 new bachelor’s degree programs per year, provided the programs fill different workforce needs than programs already available within the state’s university systems.

“We think it really allows our community colleges the flexibility and the authority to continue designing programs to meet the needs of California’s ever-changing economy and workforce,” said David O’Brien, vice chancellor for governmental relations for California Community Colleges.

Star Rivera-Lacey, president and superintendent at Palomar College, a two-year institution north of San Diego, said the legislation will give students affordable bachelor’s degree options at colleges where “they’ve already been successful” without having to encounter new hurdles transferring to a four-year university.

“For us, it’s like Christmas,” Rivera-Lacey said. “Community colleges have always been a place of accessibility. To add a bachelor’s degree to that -- I think this is a game changer, and I think California has been waiting for it for a while.”

The new legislation allows community college administrators to submit proposals for new bachelor’s degrees to the office of the chancellor of the community college system during two annual cycles. Fifteen programs per cycle will be considered and must pass a review process by the chancellor’s office, California State University and University of California systems administrators, and the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities. The number of baccalaureate degree programs offered by a community college district must be fewer than a quarter of the number of the district’s associate degree programs...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/10/18/california-community-colleges-expand-baccalaureate-programs.

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*http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2021/10/continued-erosion-of-master-plan.html.