Getting Everyone On Board With Higher Ed Policy Also Matters - Part 3

We have been saying in a series of posts that California needs to set up a process similar to the one that led to the old Master Plan for Higher Ed. Illustrations keep popping up. From Inside Higher Ed today:

California Community College leaders have indicated they plan to move forward with approving bachelor’s degree programs at their institutions, despite a request from state lawmakers to pause in response to objections from the California State University system... Legislation signed into law last October, Assembly Bill 927, made permanent a set of 15 pilot baccalaureate programs at community colleges and allows new four-year programs at these institutions. Community colleges can apply to offer up to 30 new baccalaureate programs annually if the programs don’t duplicate existing programs at universities in the state.

Assemblymember Mike Fong, who chairs the Assembly higher education committee, and State Senator Josh Newman, who chairs the Senate education committee, wrote a letter to the chancellor’s office last week asking the community college system to halt the current cycle of applications to “discuss a better resolution process for disputes” and “better define program duplication,” Cal Matters first reported. The request came after California State University system leaders complained that the chancellor’s office approved an applied fire management program at Feather River College, despite their objections that it resembled programs their campuses offer...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2023/04/28/california-2-year-colleges-wont-pause-approving-4-year-programs.

Clearly, we don't have anything that could be called a "process" to sort things out. So far, the governor has not shown an interest in setting any kind of process in motion.