The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC) has made faculty diversification part of an overarching inclusion, diversity, equity, antiracism, and accessibility goal over the past six years. While an initial focus was placed on hiring practices, this concept also includes the diversification of faculty leadership locally and statewide. Various encouraging practices can help local academic senates to develop a faculty leadership pipeline that is inclusive of diverse faculty.
Hiring
Diversification of leadership begins with hiring. Several colleges have developed a faculty internship program: the College of the Siskiyous Faculty Diversity Internship Program and the San Diego Imperial County Community College Association (SDICCCA) Faculty Fellowship Program [1] are two examples. The ASCCC has various papers, archived presentations, Rostrum articles, and tools that have been extensively developed and are readily available online to address equitizing the hiring process and achieving faculty diversification. Whether the hiring involves full-time or part-time faculty, future leadership is impacted. Very few faculty job descriptions outline the leadership opportunities—e.g., department chair, academic senate president—available to faculty or in some cases expected of them. More commonly, the responsibilities outlined on the job announcement indicate a requirement to provide institutional service, such as participating in shared governance. If leadership were more explicitly outlined in a job announcement, questions could be developed for the job interview that assess a faculty candidate’s leadership skills.
Some good practices for diversification involving hiring are as follows:
- Develop a faculty internship program to help train the next generation of diverse faculty for leadership roles.
- Establish a bank of leadership-focused questions from an equity-minded perspective in collaboration with local academic senate and faculty association leadership to be used in all faculty searches, develop a guiding rubric for these questions, and help train search committees on how to use the rubric.
Mentoring and Onboarding
Once faculty are hired, local academic senates have a role in developing a process for leadership growth and development. Both formal and informal mentoring are necessary to help create a sense of belonging for all faculty members, especially those from minoritized backgrounds. Colleges might establish employee affinity groups and a formal mentoring program for new faculty, both full-time and part-time, and invest in helping new faculty members gain orientation to the job, the college and district, and the community college system. This effort may include support through the tenure process. Participation in shared governance and institutional service may have several benefits, including meeting new colleagues, service-advocating, learning about other services and areas, understanding college and district decision-making processes, and expanding one’s sphere of influence. New faculty should be mentored on how to navigate the choices of how to serve and guided in understanding the politics that are at play in departments, divisions, and college-wide. Faculty are more likely to step into roles of leadership if they feel a certain level of comfort and knowledge of what is required of them in the role.
Mentorship can help answer concerns and provide a different perspective for consideration. The ASCCC has created and implemented a Faculty Empowerment Leadership Academy (FELA) [2] to enhance local mentoring efforts to connect diverse faculty with experienced mentors across the state and further support the development and growth of faculty.
Some good practices for diversification involving mentoring and onboarding are as follows:
- Include and support minoritized faculty in developing informal and formal mentoring programs to help foster a community of belonging.
- Establish a formal mentoring program for new faculty that includes an emphasis on faculty leadership development through institutional service and shared governance. This mentoring program should be developed in collaboration with local academic senate leadership and other faculty leadership such as department and committee chairs.
Opportunities to Engage Locally
Colleges generally have many established committees that support the decision making and operation of the college and district, such as shared governance committees, advisory committees, ad hoc committees, and departmental committees. Selecting a committee and serving outside of one’s comfort zone can be a daunting task. With purposeful mentoring, a faculty member should be able to select a committee strategically where that person’s expertise can be valued and can make the biggest impact, while the faculty member learns and expands a personal network. Each college committee should have and make public a succession plan, analyze how its membership can become more diversified, and advertise the opportunities for growth and development within the committee. Part-time faculty members must also have paid opportunities to participate in shared governance. Local academic senates should look for ways to address all of these issues.
Some good practices for diversification involving faculty engagement are as follows:
- Develop succession plans for each committee that are inclusive of diverse faculty membership and leadership.
- Engage in proactive recruitment of diverse faculty and support their growth and development within each committee.
Local Leadership Appointments and Academic Senate Elections
On most campuses, formal leadership opportunities involve local academic senate appointment or some other specific process such as an election. To ensure that the academic senate considers a diverse pool of candidates, it should demystify the local elections process so more faculty may participate. If good practices for diversification involving hiring, onboarding, and creating opportunities are implemented, then succession planning and mentoring can support the diversification of leadership positions. Training or professional development should be available for faculty members to learn about leadership opportunities, including clarifying the knowledge and skills needed. The ASCCC offers several leadership and professional development opportunities such as plenaries, the annual Faculty Leadership Institute, the Curriculum Institute, the FELA, and others. Providing meaningful and paid opportunities for part-time faculty will also help expand leadership.
Part of being a leader is to help nurture and develop the next generation of leaders. Local academic senates should consider their own diversity as well as succession plans and opportunities for greater diversification and how leaders are supported when they are elected. Planting the seeds for faculty leadership starts early in a faculty member’s career and is nurtured through mentorship and collective support. If the academic senate is not diverse in composition, diversifying leadership will be difficult without intentional succession planning.
Some good practices for diversification involving appointments and elections are as follows:
- Clearly and widely communicate the requirements for eligibility and the process for applying for elected positions.
- Clearly and widely communicate the requirements and eligibility for leadership appointments as far in advance as possible.
- Encourage diverse faculty to apply for appointed positions and run for elected positions.
- Invite academic senate and other faculty leadership to attend trainings and workshops on the importance and impact of diversifying leadership.
Statewide Committee Service and ASCCC Elections
Various opportunities exist to engage with colleagues across the state of California. The ASCCC provides a plethora of opportunities to engage with colleagues and develop leadership skills that will enhance any faculty member’s contributions locally. One way to contribute is to volunteer as a member on a statewide committee. [3] These committees are typically small in size and are only a one year appointment, with the majority of meetings conducted online. At many colleges, volunteering for statewide service can substitute for some portion of local service requirements. By participating in a statewide committee, the faculty member gains a wider perspective of issues that impact the entire system and how local impacts may differ from college to college. The ASCCC works with local academic senate leadership to identify and appoint liaisons.[4] These volunteer opportunities establish critical links between ASCCC work and local senates. Caucuses [5] also provide faculty an opportunity to connect with leaders across the state that are aligned around an affinity identity and senate issues. Less time-consuming commitments include attending events and professional learning opportunities, such as webinars, regional meetings, institutes, plenaries, and academies. Additionally, all faculty members can submit Rostrum articles and write resolutions that are debated and voted on at fall and spring plenary sessions. Faculty members may apply for and receive professional development funding to participate in ASCCC activities that require a cost. [6] Local academic senates should be certain that opportunities are communicated to all faculty, especially faculty of diverse backgrounds.
The ultimate faculty body regarding academic and professional matters is the ASCCC, and elections for open positions on the ASCCC Executive Committee happen during the spring plenary session of every year. Delegates attending the spring plenary and current and recent past local academic senate presidents represent the usual pool of candidates for the executive committee, including both officers and representatives, but any faculty member can qualify to run for a position with an endorsement from a local academic senate. [7]
Some good practices for diversification involving statewide service are as follows:
- Regularly and widely disseminate statewide opportunities to all faculty.
- Provide professional development funds for faculty to participate in statewide events.
- Invite emerging leaders and experienced diverse faculty to participate and engage in ASCCC plenary sessions to network and gain more confidence in becoming local academic senate leaders.
In the end, timing is as important as willingness to serve. A faculty member considering service must take many factors, both professional and personal, into account. Local academic senate leaders should be strategic and intentional in order to develop diverse faculty leaders and succession planning.
1. The College of the Siskiyous program
2. The Faculty Empowerment Leadership Academy
3. The ASCCC’s application for statewide service form
4. For more information on local liaison positions, see the November 2021 Rostrum article “Liaising with the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges” at https://www.asccc.org/liaisons.
5. A list of current ASCCC caucuses
6. Academic Senate Foundation scholarships for events.
7. Information on ASCCC Executive Committee election processes and eligibility