SDCCD: Equity And Access: Finding Opportunities To Better Serve Students

Press release from San Diego Community College District:

February 22, 2022

Never have equity and access been more important that in the middle of a worldwide
pandemic, and for the San Diego Community College District these were the building
blocks for making sure all students, faculty, and classified professionals were successful
not only during the 2020-21 academic year but in shaping the future of the District,
as well.

When surveys revealed that students faced a host of financial challenges during the
pandemic, they were supported by the District with a variety of laptop and Wi-Fi hot
spot distribution events, as well as regular food distribution events at each of the
colleges. Specifically, the SDCCD surveys showed that students at San Diego City College
(18%), Mesa College (16%), and Miramar College (13%) reported not having enough food
at home.

As Acting Dean of Student Affairs at City College, Adan Sanchez, Ed.D., helps with
the coordination of Hunger Action Days where students and college community members
can stop by to receive bags of fresh fruits and vegetables and other nonperishable
foods, thanks to partnerships with the San Diego Food Bank and Feeding San Diego.
The District’s other colleges continued to host similar events throughout the year,
as well. 

Within the Office of Student Affairs, Sanchez is applying his knowledge as the former
Title V activity director to lead equity-minded, campus-wide efforts to intentionally
support students by taking the time to better comprehend their lived experiences,
and by making them feel “understood, validated, and uplifted through multifaceted
services.”

“The pandemic has given us an opportunity to reflect on how we better serve our students,”
Sanchez said. This includes finding more efficient online resources, such as using
Google voice numbers to text with students or identifying where Zoom can support in-person
events to offer hybrid options. 

Direct aid to students went far beyond the regular distributions of food and thousands
of laptops. 

During the 2020-21 academic year, the District received $7,779,070 in Coronavirus
Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funds and Higher Education Emergency
Relief Funds (HEERF), some of which directly supported more than 17,300 students. 

Additionally, in July 2020, the United Way of San Diego provided $267,000 in grants
in the form of $200 payments to some of the approximately 24,000 SDCCD students initially
denied CARES Act funds.

On top of COVID-19-related relief funds, the District and its four colleges distributed
nearly $720,000 to students in the form of scholarships during the 2020-21 academic
year.

- The Board of Trustees, during its April 8 meeting, passed resolutions denouncing
xenophobia and anti-Asian/Asian Pacific Islander sentiment arising from mischaracterizations
regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, and reaffirming the District’s commitment to the
well-being and safety of the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, as well
as established April as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion month.

- The District, the day after Congress adopted the June 19 federal holiday, announced
its observance of the Juneteenth National Independence Day.

- As part of Phase II of the Preparing Accomplished Transfers to the Humanities (PATH)
Integrated Internship Initiative, UC San Diego Arts and Humanities Ph.D. students,
through an additional $2.7 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, were
introduced to a range of academic leadership positions within the SDCCD. The efforts
are part of the District’s goal to expand the diversity of students interested in
teaching or working at community colleges.

- For the first time, all three District credit-colleges, City, Mesa, and Miramar,
were included in The Hispanic Outlook on Education Magazine’s list of Top 100 Colleges
and Universities for Hispanics. The data for the recognition, included in the October
2020 issue, was based on the 2018-19 academic year. 

This press release was produced by San Diego Community College District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.