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Oct. 6, 2022 - Vision in Action No. 90 

California Community Colleges The California State University CSU University of California

CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY COLLEGES, CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY AND UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA ISSUE JOINT STATEMENT ON DACA RULING

California Community Colleges Interim Chancellor Daisy Gonzales, PhD., University of California President Michael V. Drake, M.D., and California State University Interim Chancellor Jolene Koester, PhD. Today released the following joint statement after the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision upholding the State of Texas, et al., v. United States (2021) ruling that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program is unlawful:

“We are deeply troubled by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision, which holds that the DACA program violates federal law. We support the decision to allow current DACA recipients to avoid immediate disruption to their lives and also to seek extensions of their DACA status. Even as we hope that this decision is overturned, the uncertainty it creates is untenable. DACA recipients deserve to have their status as equal Americans protected from court decisions like this one.

We remain fully committed to working with California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Attorney General Rob Bonta and our students, faculty, and staff to advocate for permanent pathways to citizenship so undocumented Californians can pursue their academic and professional goals without fear of deportation…”

Read the full statement here.

All three systems urge DACA students, faculty and staff to make a free appointment with a legal services provider as soon as possible to renew their DACA application:

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System Guidance/News/Webinars

The sixth annual Undocumented Student Action Week (USAW) kicks off the week of Oct. 17.

USAW is a joint effort by the Board of Governors, the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, Foundation for California Community Colleges, and Community College League of California, in partnership with many statewide advocacy organizations. 

This year’s theme is “Juntos Podemos (Together We Can): Collaborative Ecosystems that Support Undocumented Students,” which recognizes that we must continue to advance best practices, ensure authentic, campuswide collaboration and advocate for policy solutions to support long-term success.

Registration for the USAW webinars is now open. Register here to participate in the series of daily webinars. If you are unable to attend, you will be able to access recordings of the daily webinars in the Vision Resource Center. 

More information regarding USAW systemwide webinars can be found on our website.

Please join John Burton Advocates for Youth for two “how-to” webinars to assist those working with homeless youth and foster youth to successfully complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or California Dream Act Application (CADAA). The webinars will review the FAFSA and CADAA, page by page, including detailed instructions on how eligible students experiencing homelessness and eligible foster youth can qualify as independent students for the purposes of maximizing financial aid. 

The webinar to help support homeless youth is Wednesday, Oct. 19 from 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. - Register here.

The webinar to help support foster youth is Wednesday, Oct. 26 from 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. - Register here.

The next Chancellor’s Office System Webinar is set for Wednesday, Nov. 2 from 9:00 – 10:00 a.m.  

If you haven’t registered for the 2022 System Webinar series, please register via this link. If you have already registered there is no need to register again. 

The inaugural annual COLEGAS Conference, Pa'delante Juntos Podemos (Together We Move Forward), will be held Nov. 3-4, 2022, in Long Beach and will focus on providing a Latina/o/x affirming space for California community college professionals to build community, share emerging practices and exchange resources in the service of Latina/o/x students and their communities. This year's theme calls on us to build solidarity as a collective through group learning, critical consciousness and shared agency to ensure that Latina/o/x people can thrive in higher education. 

Find a full list of events, prices and registration information at this link. 

Student Supports

On Friday, Oct. 7 the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office will join California Volunteers and thousands of college students from across the state to celebrate the first ever #CaliforniansForAll College Corps Fellows. The event will feature Gov. Gavin Newsom, student speakers, entertainment and music - culminating in students from the University of California, California State University, California Community Colleges and private colleges being sworn in as the first ever College Corps Fellows. Learn more about #CaliforniansForAll College Corps here. 

The California University and College Ballot Bowl, developed by the California Students Vote Project (SVP), is a friendly competition in which all of California’s major higher education institutions—the California Community Colleges, California State University, University of California and the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities —are invited to compete to register the most students to vote.

The process is simple and takes only five minutes to complete. Students must visit registertovote.ca.gov in order for the registration to count towards the competition. 

For more information on the Ballot Bowl, visit the Secretary of State’s website or access the Ballot Bowl outreach toolkit.

Items of Interest

The California Education Learning Lab recently announced the release of a new grant opportunity to promote the buildout of critical data science educational infrastructure. Through this RFP, Learning Lab’s Grand Challenge seeks to incentivize public higher education institutions to embrace data science as an opportunity to build new pathways, modernize majors, attract historically underrepresented students into STEM, and deepen both civic and interdisciplinary learning. Through this RFP, Learning Lab intends to award the following categories of grants:

  • Pathways Development (Up to 3 awards)
  • Faculty Development (Up to 5 awards)
  • Interdisciplinary Collaboration (Up to 9 awards)
  • Grand Challenge Cohort Coordinator (1 award)

Find more information on the application process, timeline and FAQs at the Grand Challenge website.