Program & Schedule 

Breakfast on your own

  9:00 – 11:05Welcome and Opening Plenary

11:05 – 11:30Coffee Break

11:35 – 12:35Breakout Session 1

12:35 – 1:35Lunch

  1:45 – 3:00Breakout Session 2

  3:00 – 3:25Coffee and Snack Break

  3:30 – 4:45Breakout Session 3

  4:50 – 5:20Exhibit Hall

  5:20 – 7:0020th Anniversary Celebration

 Wednesday, October 8 | 11:35 am–12:35 pm

Pedagogy With Pride: Queer Approaches to Learning & Community in the Pride Scholars Learning Cohort
Strand: Achieving Equity in the Classroom
Room: Regency A

This presentation aims to inform and address the equity gap for LGBTQ+ students in California community colleges and other higher educational settings using San Diego Mesa College’s Pride Scholars Learning Cohort as a model. This presentation will serve as a guide for community college administrators, educational practitioners, and those interested in leading support systems for LGBTQ+ students in higher education. Drawing on the development and growth of our Pride Scholars program and Pride Scholars Learning Cohort, this presentation will focus on effective queer-centered initiatives to ensure the representation, excellence, and success of LGBTQ+ students in the classroom and college community. This presentation can provide insight into the experiences of LGBTQ+ students in community colleges and will, in turn, support the creation of practices supporting the holistic well-being of this important student population through inclusive pedagogy and cohort model programming.

Presenters: Gibran Guido and Lucio Lira, San Diego Mesa College

Supporting Faculty in Developmental Education Reforms Through Campus Data Partnerships
Strand: Redressing Structural Inequities
Room: Regency B

Findings from rigorous quasi-experimental and interrupted time-series analyses provide new evidence of AB 705’s dramatic impacts: increasing transfer-level English and math completion, transfer-level credits and degrees, and transfer. At the same time, math faculty face challenges with increased course failure rates and concerns that this reform may not be working for all students. These perceptions, based on their personal experiences in the classroom, feel divergent from data indicating improving student outcomes. However, some colleges increased support by encouraging institutional researchers to collaborate with faculty in developing classroom innovations and evaluating effectiveness. This session supports faculty voice and education while highlighting data partnerships as a strategy for promoting buy-in for campus reforms such as acceleration. This session will also identify promising student success innovations.

Presenters: John Hetts, California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office; Rena Weiss, Moorpark College; Kri Burkander, Research for Action

Grading for Equity: Approaches to Undoing the Affective Harm of the Grading Scale
Strand: Achieving Equity in the Classroom
Room: Regency C

This session will explore the merits and tensions of equitized grading practices, deconstructing the white supremacist roots of traditional grading systems. Participants will learn to create decolonial grading strategies to improve student success, especially for marginalized populations, in the post-pandemic era. The session introduces contract grading, ungrading, and a hybrid model, offering practical methods for creating inclusive grading systems. Using sample syllabi, participants will gain strategies to implement these approaches, which have proven effective in promoting transparency, validation, intrinsic motivation, and agency while reducing implicit biases. Presenters will share student experiences and research-backed resources to guide participants in modifying their grading practices to be more equitable and race conscious.

Presenters: Bri Brown, Cuyamaca College; Adrienne Oliver, Laney College

Student Success Teams in Action: Practical Strategies for Equity and Impact
Strand: Redressing Structural Inequities
Room: Harbour

Student Success Teams (SSTs) are a powerful tool for increasing student engagement, persistence, and completion, especially for Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and first-generation students. This session will explore how colleges can structure and sustain SSTs by integrating counseling, faculty, student services, and administrators into a coordinated, equity-driven model. Participants will examine real-world examples from Career Ladders Project’s partner colleges, analyze strategies for improving collaboration, and discuss methods for leveraging data to close equity gaps. Through interactive discussions and planning exercises, attendees will leave with actionable strategies to enhance or implement SSTs at their institutions, ensuring students receive personalized, proactive, and culturally responsive support.

Presenters: Byron Reaves, Sherry Shojaei, and Michelle Simotas, Career Ladders Project; Michelle Vidaurri, Santa Rosa Junior College

First Year Experience and Beyond: A Community College’s 25-Year Journey to Student Success
Strand: The Compassionate Campus: Creating Support Systems for Students and Employees
Room: Sandpebble C-E

Join us as we share our community college’s 25-year journey in developing and refining a comprehensive First Year Experience (FYE) program. Discover how we’ve adapted to changing student needs, navigated shifting higher education landscapes, and sustained successful initiatives despite budget challenges. Our interactive workshop will highlight the following: key strategies for fostering student engagement and retention; effective partnerships and collaborations; data-driven decision-making and assessment; lessons learned and best practices; and takeaway actionable insights and practical strategies to enhance your own FYE initiatives and foster long-term student success.

Presenters: Cynthia Mosqueda and Darrell Thompson, El Camino College

A Qualitative Approach: Understanding Community College Counseling Practices and Experiences
Strand: Redressing Structural Inequities
Room: Bayside

In fall 2023, faculty researchers at Cosumnes River College (CRC) embarked on a qualitative research project to assist the Counseling Department with identifying structural barriers to student success within the department. The research stemmed from past college survey findings that students suggested general, non-specified improvements to counseling services at the college. Through workplace shadowing and intensive interviewing, researchers uncovered five key findings for the department to consider. These findings were varied in their degree of difficulty and resource intensity to implement. Researchers will share the history of the project, outline the research methodology, summarize primary findings, and discuss actionable, student-centered recommendations that any California community college counseling department might consider. Members of the CRC Counseling Department will share how they have received the research findings and how they are integrating them into their work. In addition, presenters will engage attendees in an exercise to envision their own qualitative action-research projects.

Presenters: Ea Edwards, Ray Mapeso, Katrina McDonald, Sabrina Sencil, and Katy Wilson, Cosumnes River College

Intentional Collaborations: Promising Practices in Hire UP Year 1 Implementation
Strand: Race-Conscious Partnerships and Networks
Room: Grand Peninsula E

This session explores the Hire UP program at Rio Hondo College, a pilot program that supports formerly incarcerated students, CalWORKs recipients, and former foster youth in overcoming financial and social barriers in higher education through supporting their navigation at the college level and providing access to academic and professional resources. Our session highlights the program’s success in fostering equity by equipping students with the tools to succeed and accomplish their academic and career goals. Through student data and interactive discussions, participants will learn strategies for implementing culturally responsive practices and utilize student feedback on how to improve their programs to continue to support students from these populations.

Presenters: Vanessa Cerano, and Cyndi Bendezu Palomino, Rio Hondo College

 Wednesday, October 8 | 1:45 pm –3:00 pm

Liberatory Design & Transformative Research for Racial Equity: Bay Team Career Exploration Community
Strand: Race-Conscious Partnerships and Networks
Room: Regency A

Are our freedom dreams of racially just career pathways possible? In the words of Dr. Bettina Love, “Freedom dreaming is imagining worlds that are just, representing people’s full humanity, centering people left on the edges, thriving in solidarity with folx from different identities who have struggled together for justice, and knowing that dreams are just around the corner with the might of people power.” Please join our regional capacity-building Bay Team to learn about our collaboration to adapt the National Equity Project’s Liberatory Design and the UC Berkeley Othering and Belonging Institute’s Transformative Research Toolkit to K14/16 and Guided Pathways redesign. Together, we are centering Bay Career Exploration students, faculty, and staff in community learning and co-creation of equitable career exploration resources to support our students’ dreams and regional family-sustaining wage attainment.

Presenters: Sharon Turner, Bay Area Community College Consortium (Foothill College hosted); Rona Zollinger, Bay Area Community College Consortium (Peralta CCD hosted); Maeve Katherine Bergman, Foundation for California Community Colleges; Grace Cho, Gladeo

You Can’t Count If You’re Not Counted: More Inclusive Data Collection and Reporting Strategies to Drive African American/Black Student Success
Strand: Redressing Structural Inequities
Room: Regency B

The RP Group is calling for more inclusive ways of identifying African American/Black students in higher education because current methods do not always capture everyone who identifies as African American/Black. Our existing data collection and reporting practices often limit or exclude students who identify with more than one race or ethnicity, leading to the undercounting of African American/Black students. More inclusive identification methods can lead to more accurate and complete data, which in turn can result in a better understanding of African American/Black students and improved support of their success. The recommended changes that will be presented will benefit not only African American/Black students but also students from other racial/ethnic groups that are also often undercounted, including Native American and Pacific Islander students.

Presenters: Temperence Dowdle, Cypress College; Aisha Lowe, Los Rios Community College District; Lisa DiDonato and Marcell Gilmore, Mt. San Antonio College; Jeremy Smotherman, Santa Rosa Junior College; Darla Cooper, The RP Group

 - Artificial Intelligence as a Learning Tool: Implications and Applications in Tutoring and Academic Support Centers
Strand: Achieving Equity in the Classroom
Room: Regency C

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping education, including tutoring and peer-led academic support. This session examines how AI impacts peer educators both as students and as tutors, exploring its potential to support learning and the ethical challenges it presents—particularly regarding equity, inclusion, and accessibility. Participants will analyze risks such as bias and academic dishonesty, while also exploring AI’s ability to increase access and personalized support. This session highlights the unique role of peer educators in helping students develop critical AI literacy in student-centered environments. Attendees will gain concrete strategies for training peer educators, supporting faculty AI policies, and fostering safer, reflective spaces where students learn to engage with AI ethically and intentionally, strengthening connections between academic support and student success.

Presenters: Fred Hernandez, Crystal Kiekel, and Freddy Ramirez, Los Angeles Pierce College

 - Student Success in Corequisite STEM Calculus at Citrus College
Strand: Achieving Equity in the Classroom
Room: Harbour

Citrus College has improved calculus completion by implementing strategies including 1) redesign of our STEM calculus pathway, providing direct access to Calculus 1 with support for students and 2) enhancing classroom experience for students through active learning, blended strategies, and a welcoming environment, which resulted in improved student engagement, participation, and success with positive math attitudes and sense of belonging. In this presentation, Citrus College mathematics faculty and students will share their classroom experiences teaching and learning in the Corequisite STEM Calculus I course.

Presenters: Robert Chen, Sophia Lee, and Balaji Sethu Raja, Citrus College

Culturally Responsive Dual Enrollment: Professional Development for Faculty
Strand: Professional Learning and Leadership Development: Building Culturally Relevant, Humanizing Practices
Room: Sandpebble C-E

Dual enrollment is growing, but how are we preparing faculty to teach adolescents? The Bay Area K-16 Collaborative partnered with Career Ladders Project to create a three-part professional development experience for dual enrollment faculty, Culturally Responsive Dual Enrollment Teaching and Learning. This experience focused on the following concepts: creating conditions for success, cultivating learner success, and course reflection and refinement. Together with faculty who experienced the course, we will share an overview of the content and format and explore how to support faculty in dual enrollment.

Presenters: Laurencia Walker, Career Ladders Project; Cynthia Grutzik, San Francisco State University

Nursing a Sense of Belonging: Improving Outcomes for English Language Learners in Career Training Courses
Strand: Achieving Equity in the Classroom
Room: Bayside

Communities benefit when medical professionals reflect the community’s diversity. The San Diego College of Continuing Education’s Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) program consists of a diverse, multilingual group of students. Through the ELL Healthcare Pathways Grant, students participate in an Integrated Education and Training (IET) model that includes in-class, contextualized language support, dedicated administrative services, and digital skills, and that nurtures a sense of belonging. Additionally, CNA instructors gain strategies for differentiating instruction to benefit multilingual learners. Faculty reflect on student input and outcomes as they consider ways to improve the healthcare pathway and build belonging for all students. In this interactive presentation, we share lessons learned, summarize student success outcomes, discuss potential challenges in cross-departmental partnerships, and invite your perspective on improving student success in career pathways.

Presenters: Karen Hamilton and Ryane Willis, San Diego College of Continuing Education

 - Navigating Places Not Meant For Us: Work-Based Learning With AANHPI Community College Students
Strand: Achieving Equity in the Classroom
Room: Grand Peninsula E

How can learning communities integrate work-based learning in a culturally sustaining way? This session will present the results of a case study on capstone projects in an AANHPI learning community at a California community college. It will seek to underscore the dynamic nature of cultures in our praxis and the innate potential in our AANHPI students to challenge dominant narratives and toxic stereotypes and reclaim their power of voice. It also will amplify the calls to action that the AANHPI students issued in their capstone projects for more love and understanding of their ancestors, their intersectional selves, and each other. As one of the students shared, “I think that is really important to just have spaces where you feel like you can just unapologetically belong.”

Presenter: Katlin Choi, San Diego Mesa College

 Wednesday, October 8 | 3:30 pm–4:45 pm

 - Student-Led: FoundationCCC Student Ambassador Program as a Statewide Model for Holistic Empowerment
Strand: Race-Conscious Partnerships and Networks
Room: Regency A

This session will highlight the FoundationCCC Student Ambassador Program as a leading peer-to-peer model advancing basic needs access, holistic student support, and empowerment across the California Community Colleges system. The program uplifts student leaders from historically underserved backgrounds, including undocumented students, former foster youth, and justice-impacted individuals, to lead outreach, build community, and advocate for institutional transformation. Participants will hear directly from student ambassadors and program leaders on how the initiative amplifies student voice, raises awareness of safety net resources, and promotes leadership rooted in lived experience. This session is ideal for educators, administrators, and student services professionals committed to strengthening support systems and partnering with students to lead meaningful, equity-centered change on their campuses.

Presenters: Yuriko Curiel and Marisela Hernandez, Foundation for California Community Colleges

 - Loyal to the Soil: Cultivating Experiences for Men of Color
Strand: Strategic Planning to Create Caring, Equitable, and Race-Conscious Campuses
Room: Regency B

Men of color in higher education face unique challenges, including feelings of isolation, low self-efficacy, and a lack of mentorship, all contributing to equity gaps in retention and completion rates. At the San Mateo County Community College District (SMCCD), programs like Black and Brown Scholars at Skyline College and Brothers Empowering Brothers at College of San Mateo have been designed to intentionally address these challenges.

Presenters: Andy Gomez, College of San Mateo; Joseph Jaballa, Albin Lee, Adam Rodriguez, and Manny Verdin, Skyline College

Work-Based Learning Improves Student Outcomes: Replicate Our Methodology Using ChatGPT
Strand: Achieving Equity in the Classroom
Room: Regency C

Work-based learning (WBL) enhances student success through internships, clinical placements, and on-the-job experiences. In the San Diego Community College District, WBL students achieved higher completion and success rates. This session explores the WBL data dashboard, student outcomes data, key terms, methodology, and the SG21 framework, adaptable for any college. Presenters will demonstrate a customized GPT tool loaded with SG21 resources. One of the presenters will be a faculty member who will share how they use WBL to improve their outcomes. Participants will complete a hands-on tutorial to begin planning their own WBL data process. Attendees will leave with tools and a roadmap to replicate SDCCD’s model to drive improved outcomes in their own colleges or districts using effective data practices and faculty-engaged data collection strategies.

Presenters: Edward Matthews and Sunny Xu, San Diego Community College District

From Insight to Action: Embedding Student Voice in Designing Student Supports
Strand: The Compassionate Campus: Creating Support Systems for Students and Employees
Room: Harbour

Effective student supports must be designed with students, not for them. This session will explore how colleges can integrate student voice into support systems, featuring an example from an institution that successfully used student input to improve their programs. Attendees will engage in facilitated discussions to brainstorm challenges and co-create strategies for more student-centered support.

Presenters: Cristina Sandoval-Lazaro and Sherry Shojaei, Career Ladders Project

CREATing a Culturally Responsive College Through Faculty Development: Data, Reflection, and Collaboration
Strand: Professional Learning and Leadership Development: Building Culturally Relevant, Humanizing Practices
Room: Sandpebble C-E

This session highlights one college’s faculty development program, which is called the Culturally Responsive Educators Academy & Training for Equity (CREATE). The program features will be provided, such as its purpose, outcomes, structure, initial student outcomes data, and participant survey results. Core CREATE activities will be shared, such as faculty-driven data analysis, self-assessment of curriculum, literature study, and informal peer teaching feedback. The session will also include space for interaction and discussion among attendees and presenters so that participants can consider their own college’s faculty development programs for equity and race-consciousness, adapt ideas, and cultivate connections for best practices.

Presenters: Nessa Julian, Denise Maduli-Williams, Stefanie Johnson Shipman, and Xi Zhang, San Diego Miramar College

Analyzing Equitable Pathways: Strengthening K12 Dual Enrollment & CTE With DataVista
Strand: Redressing Structural Inequities
Room: Bayside

This session explores how K12 Dual Enrollment and Career Technical Education (CTE) create equitable pathways to college and career success. Using DataVista, California’s new statewide longitudinal data system, we will examine student outcomes by demographics to identify success gaps and opportunities for improvement. Participants will learn how to leverage data to strengthen Dual Enrollment and CTE programs, ensuring they serve as structured, accessible pathways for historically underserved students. Through real-world examples and interactive discussions, attendees will reflect on their local contexts, compare trends, and explore strategies for enhancing student access and achievement. This session provides practical tools and insights to build robust, equity-driven programs that prepare students for both postsecondary education and workforce opportunities.

Presenters: Terrence Willett, California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office; Erik Cooper and Adriel Garcia, WestEd

Revolutionizing Institutional Effectiveness Through Hands-On Digital Collaboration
Strand: Professional Learning and Leadership Development: Building Culturally Relevant, Humanizing Practices
Room: Grand Peninsula E

In this highly interactive session, participants will explore how digital collaboration tools can accelerate strategic planning, enhance student success initiatives, and foster an equity-minded campus culture. Attendees will engage in a live, hands-on demonstration, experiencing firsthand how these tools support student journey mapping, holistic well-being initiatives, campus inclusion efforts, and alumni engagement. Real-world case studies will illustrate how institutions have used visual collaboration to break down silos, amplify marginalized voices, and drive meaningful change. Participants will leave with customizable templates and practical strategies to implement at their own colleges, ensuring more effective planning, stronger stakeholder engagement, and data-driven student support solutions. Join us to discover innovative approaches that streamline decision-making and create more inclusive, student-centered institutions.

Presenter: Gregory Stoup, Cuyahoga Community College

  7:30 – 8:30  Breakfast Buffet

  8:30 – 10:15Morning Plenary and Keynote Address by Rafael Agustín

10:15 – 10:40Coffee Break

10:45 – 12:00Breakout Session 4

12:00 – 1:00Lunch

  1:10 – 2:25Breakout Session 5

  2:30 – 2:55Coffee and Snack Break

  3:00 – 4:30Closing Plenary and Keynote Address by Dr. Cynthia Olivo

 Thursday, October 9 | 8:30–10:10 am

The Stories We Tell: Rewriting Student Success

In this powerful keynote, author, performer, community college alumnus, and television writer Rafael Agustín shares his personal journey from undocumented student to nationally recognized storyteller. With humor, heart, and candor, he reflects on how community college shaped his path, the role of belonging in overcoming impostor syndrome, and why representation matters for every student’s future. Drawing on lessons from his acclaimed memoir Illegally Yours and his work in Hollywood, Agustín challenges faculty, staff, and administrators to remove barriers, embrace students’ stories, and see every learner as capable of greatness. This keynote is an invitation to reimagine what student success means—and to help students believe it for themselves.

 Thursday, October 9 | 10:45–12:00 pm

 - Cross-Institutional Collaborations for Latine Student Success
Strand: Race-Conscious Partnerships and Networks
Room: Regency A

Riverside City College (RCC) has been successful in securing National Science Foundation Hispanic-Serving Institution (NSF HSI) awards and a Department of Education Title III award to support innovations in our STEM Division and better serve our Latine students. Our first NSF HSI award resulted in increased retention and persistence (even during the pandemic) and served as the foundation for the second NSF HSI and Title III proposals. Among the activities in the new grants are faculty learning communities and the expansion of summer research experiences for students. A Faculty Learning Community (FLC) among the STEM Departments at RCC was the first activity to be implemented with mentorship from colleagues at California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB). CSUSB faculty also host both one-week and 10-week summer research experiences for STEM students. Because of the summer research projects hosted at CSUSB, RCC is now working on cross-institution FLCs where STEM faculty can collaborate.

Presenters: Melissa Harman, Wendy McEwen, Virginia White, and Kristi Woods, Riverside City College

Are You Really a Two-Year College?
Strand: Redressing Structural Inequities
Room: Regency B

Are your college’s two-year degrees completable in two years? In three years? How do you know? How many of your degrees are completable completely asynchronously? Students—particularly historically marginalized students—may be working one or more jobs, caring for family, and have little time to waste waiting for a class they need to be offered. Come learn how one college answered these questions and is now able to schedule classes more strategically and transparently, and how these new practices have contributed to closing equity gaps in degree and certificate completion.

Presenters: Adam Lange, Alcove Insights: Alexander Claxton, Karen Engel, Chialin Hsieh, Danny Lynch, and Ameer Thompson, Cañada College

Launching Basic Needs Centers: Findings and Recommendations From the Chancellor’s Office Early Implementation Evaluation
Strand: The Compassionate Campus: Creating Support Systems for Students and Employees
Room: Regency C

The California Community Colleges are early in the implementation of systemwide Basic Needs student supports and centralized centers. This session will feature a panel of researchers and college practitioners, highlighting the Chancellor’s Office mixed methods evaluation findings and recommendations on what has been working for colleges, especially in supporting Indigenous, Black, Hispanic, Pacific Islander, and LGBTQIA+ students. Audience members can expect to learn how Basic Needs supports have impacted students’ academic experiences, as well as evidence-based strategies and recommendations for emerging implementation efforts across the system. The session will include opportunities for interactive dialogue so audience members can react to evaluation findings and share additional insights that participants can take back to their campuses.

Presenters: Allison Beer and Hawk McFadzen, California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office; Hope Dixon, Contra Costa Community College; Emery Webster and Justine Wolitzer, Public Profit

Dreams of Joy: Re-Defining and Co-Designing Black Futures in Higher Education
Strand: Professional Learning and Leadership Development: Building Culturally Relevant, Humanizing Practices
Room: Harbour

Black students in California Community Colleges face systemic barriers that hinder their success and limit their joy in educational spaces. This interactive workshop challenges traditional approaches by centering Black students as co-creators of curriculum, programs, and student support. Using the framework of “Black Joy,” students, educators, and administrators will learn to design conditions that amplify student voice, cultivate belonging, and promote joy as a strategy for academic success. Participants will collaborate with students to develop actionable projects for their campuses, such as creating joyful General Education pathways, student advocacy boards, and mentorship programs. Through reflection, group work, and creative exercises, this session will equip attendees to reimagine education as a joyful, affirming, and culturally sustaining experience for Black students.

Presenter: Tommy Reed, Chabot College

 - Beyond Bars: Creating Pathways to Higher Education for Justice-Impacted Students
Strand: Strategic Planning to Create Caring, Equitable, and Race-Conscious Campuses
Room: Sandpebble C-E

How can community colleges transform the lives of justice-impacted students? This session explores how the Rising Scholars Program at San Diego Mesa College has developed innovative partnerships to provide educational access for formerly incarcerated individuals and youth in juvenile detention. Through our established collaboration with WestCare’s Female Community Reentry Program and a pilot program with Children’s Initiative Juvenile Center, we offer wraparound support, academic counseling, and structured pathways to degree completion. Participants will gain practical strategies for forming partnerships, engaging system-impacted students, and building equitable, race-conscious programming that fosters educational persistence and success.

Presenters: Nellie Dougherty, Ava Gill, and Ginger Mankins, San Diego Mesa College

No PreCalc Required: Supporting Students with a Redesigned Calculus Sequence
Strand: Achieving Equity in the Classroom
Room: Bayside

No precalculus? No problem! Learn how Cuyamaca College is supporting students who have never taken precalculus before to succeed in Calculus I and beyond! Through just-in-time instruction of precalculus topics and an interactive classroom, students at Cuyamaca College have drastically increased their success rates in Calculus I with support. But the success doesn’t end there—students are going on to complete other Calculus & STEM courses. Come learn how Cuyamaca College is supporting students throughout their STEM pathway using just-in-time instruction of precalculus skills.

Presenters: Annalinda Arroyo, Rachel Polakoski, and Lamia Raffo, Cuyamaca Community College

Why They Stay: Second-Year Persistence in LA College Promise
Strand: Redressing Structural Inequities
Room: Grand Peninsula E

The Los Angeles College Promise (LACP) is a two-year success and completion program that has served over 30,000 students representing 76% Latinx, 48% first generation, and 54% Pell recipients. Although fall-to-fall persistence among LACP students is significantly higher than their non-promise peers, we recognized that second-year persistence continues to be a challenge. To address this concern, the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) partnered with the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University to implement an enhancement to our existing success coaching model and a self-evaluation of successful second-year students. Through a qualitative and quantitative review, the LACCD discovered what variables are key in keeping students enrolled, and the district has created a practice guide aimed at both students and practitioners.

Presenters: Elise Swanson and Rachel Worsham, Harvard University Graduate School of Education; Deborah Harrington and Joanna Zimring Towne, Los Angeles Community College District

 Thursday, October 9 | 1:10–2:25 pm

Community Centering Practices for Liberatory Transformation: Adult School and ROP Early College Credit Wisdom
Strand: Redressing Structural Inequities
Room: Regency A

Can dual enrollment policy and practice be not just equitable but also liberatory? In our regional early college credit capacity building, a model of regional support infrastructure emerged from a collaboration between the Chancellor’s Office-funded Bay Area Community College Consortium and the Foundation for California Community Colleges’ technical assistance capacity builders: liberatory human-centered design to engage the most impacted students, faculty, and classified professionals in equity-minded, student-centered pathway redesign, including dual enrollment.

Building on the Bay Team’s collaborative K16 pathway-building approach, come learn from our Bay-wide transformative inquiry with adult schools and regional occupational programs on how Vision 2030’s equitable dual enrollment policy implementation can center adult learners and non-comprehensive high school students, particularly racially minoritized students, to their dreams and family-sustaining wages.

Presenters: Mallory J. Stevens and Luis Ruelas, Bay Area Community College Consortium Hosted by Cabrillo College; Maeve Katherine Bergman and Lisa Gwyn, Foundation for California Community Colleges; Pratibha Adamo and Christine Saloom, MetroEd/San Jose ROP 

 - Outliers No More: Empowering Students To Be Equity-Focused Researchers
Strand: Strategic Planning to Create Caring, Equitable, and Race-Conscious Campuses
Room: Regency B

This session explores how project-based and team-based learning enhances student success through a collaborative campus initiative between students, faculty, and institutional researchers. In research methods courses, students work in teams investigating equity issues from their lived experiences, developing key research skills while shaping institutional understanding of student needs. Through mentorship from “campus coaches” (e.g., institutional researchers, program leads), students engage minoritized communities, elevating voices often missing from institutional research. Attendees will gain insight into strategies that support student agency, critical consciousness, and institutional impact. Through interactive discussions and real-world examples, participants will explore how to implement similar models at their own institutions. The session will also feature student presenters and reflections on their experiences and the broader implications for equity and student success.

Presenters: Danielle Graham, Samantha Homier, and Vinnie Wu, San Bernardino Valley College

Data Coaching: It’s Not What You Think
Strand: Redressing Structural Inequities
Room: Regency C

This session will highlight the Data Coaching program at Pasadena City College and its race-conscious approach to data and inquiry. Less about traditional data literacy and more about diving deeper with the data, this session will help colleges implement their own coaching program that empowers faculty to start with data rather than end with it though practices such as their sphere of influence and appreciative inquiry.

Presenters: Que Dang and Robert Gomez, Pasadena City College; Hannah Lawler, Santa Monica College

From Caseload to Careload: Navigating Case Management With Limited Resources
Strand: Strategic Planning to Create Caring, Equitable, and Race-Conscious Campuses
Room: Harbour

High caseloads don’t have to mean low-impact support. With creativity, data, a commitment to caring, and a little Google magic, Success Coaches at this mid-size public community college have transformed case management into a student-centered, relationship-driven approach. In this session, they’ll share how they implemented a First-Year and Second-Year Case Management model across nine Career and Academic Communities (meta-majors), ensuring that students feel seen, supported, and set up for success, even with limited staff. Presenters will explore how they leverage institutional data, Google Docs, Canvas, and strategic outreach to provide just-in-time interventions while prioritizing holistic, high-touch support for the students who need it most. Join us to learn actionable strategies for turning caseloads into careloads and making every student connection count.

Presenters: Gurpreet Bhatia, Ea Edwards, Katherine Mize, Choua Vue, and Houa Vue, Cosumnes River College

Understanding Corequisite Support in Math and English Classrooms
Strand: Achieving Equity in the Classroom
Room: Sandpebble C-E

This session delves into the critical role of corequisite support in enhancing student success and closing equity gaps in transfer-level course completion. We’ll explore the evolving landscape of corequisite models, examining their potential to accelerate student pathways and transform traditional remedial approaches. Math and English faculty from De Anza College will share their firsthand experiences refining English and Precalculus corequisite courses, detailing their curriculum evolution and community of practice model. Attendees will gain a comprehensive understanding of corequisite principles and practical strategies for implementation across these disciplines.

Presenters: Mallory Newell, De Anza College; Lauren Ilano and Daisy Segovia, The RP Group

Summer of Success: Strategies for Effective Financial Aid Student Training
Strand: The Compassionate Campus: Creating Support Systems for Students and Employees
Room: Bayside

Join us to learn about El Camino College’s innovative Financial Aid & Advocacy Student Training (FAAST) program, launched in response to California's Seymour-Campbell Student Success Act. This initiative aimed to reduce the number of students on satisfactory academic appeal by providing critical support and resources. Discover how FAAST achieved remarkable results, with 78% of participants meeting satisfactory academic progress, compared to 58% of non-participants. Explore the program’s strategies and takeaways, and learn how to replicate this success at your own institution.

Presenters: Selene Ortiz Aguilar and Cynthia Mosqueda, El Camino College

Building Liberatory Spaces Through Institutional In-Reach: Equity Programming From City College of San Francisco
Strand: Professional Learning and Leadership Development: Building Culturally Relevant, Humanizing Practices
Room: Grand Peninsula E

Liberatory design dictates that to build liberatory spaces, there are six elements: awaken awareness, root in context, build community, encourage healing, inspire imagination, and grow agency. Join us as we explore how the City College of San Francisco (CCSF) Office of Student Equity builds college-wide programming aligned with liberatory design elements. Explore how the CCSF Listen & Learn and Equity Talks Series aims to contribute to employee agency in service and student agency in access. Learn about the Show Up for Equity series, a Zoom workshop series designed to support the CCSF community in aligning and institutionalizing their equity efforts in a variety of contexts (student learning outcomes, tutoring, mental health) and to inspire dialogue, innovation, and disruption of CCSF policies and practices, with an eye to closing opportunity gaps and ensuring that we are doing everything we can to see our students thrive.

Presenters: Kanishae Benton, Tessa Brown, Coco Donovan, and Mitra Sapienza, City College of San Francisco

 Thursday, October 9 | 3:00–4:30 pm

Nepantla Education: Finding Power in the Space in Between

In Nahuatl, the word Nepantla means “in-between space”—a place of transition, tension, and transformation. Today, we are living through such an in-between time, navigating dystopian realities alongside our quest for educational liberation; hope and hardship; constraint and possibility. In this closing keynote, Dr. Cynthia Olivo, President of Fullerton College, will reflect on how educators, students, and communities are drawing on deep wells of cultural wisdom and navigational capital to resist division, sustain hope, and fight for liberation. She will call on us to recognize that power does not always surface in obvious ways—and that as educators, we must be closer to our students, colleagues, and communities to witness and uplift these stories of resistance. Together, we can reimagine belonging, advance justice, and emerge from this period stronger, more united, and ready to transform education.

  7:30 – 8:30  Breakfast Buffet

  8:30 – 12:00Post–Conference Workshops

 Friday, October 10 | 8:30 am–12:00 pm

Find details about each workshop SSC25 Post-Conference Workshops page.