Student petition for faculty, staff, and administration to be held accountable for Race and Equity incorporated compliance and to receive meaningful consequences in the event a compliance violation occurs.

We have all been told that attending college is important for many reasons. In order to be financial stability, have job/career stability, and overall success in life, we the students see at San Diego Community College see that we need to aid the college in making some changes. With more and more careers requiring advanced education, a college degree is critical to our success and for those of us that attend San Diego Community College, this is a necessary step to getting to that four-year college or university. There are students who are struggling with so many things right now.  In the face of a global pandemic, many of us are rising to the challenges we face every day. We as students are rising and we are trying, but SDCC is not holding everyone to the same standards. This pandemic has shed light on the ugliness that has been happening at SDCC for some time now. Faculty, Staff, and Administrators have not upheld their end of the bargain and it must stop. Students come to SDCC to learn and to complete the necessary steps to reach their education goals and dreams. Over the last few years, students have had to deal with less than ideal learning conditions and with faculty, staff, and administrators who do not foster a supportive learning community and this must stop now.

We, the students of San Diego Community College, require the following:

1.      It is time for San Diego Community College District to revise all policies to include twenty first century definitions of race acknowledged equity.

2.      Each of the below must include a race relevant advocate chosen by the student. All decisions must be made with equitable representation of a student’s culture and fair committee balances. Students must be safe by having at least equal representation of culture at each stage of the process. No cultural supremacy, white or otherwise shall dominate the values beliefs of any decisions.

3.      All faculty, staff, and admiration must adhere to the California Community College System and the San Diego City College District code of conduct, policies, procedures, and protocol AT ALL TIMES or immediate action will be taken in accord with the other provisions in this document.

4.      There will/must be accountability for each of these that are noted below on professors, instructors, faculty, staff, and administrators. Mandatory evaluations will be conducted each semester which can lead to improvements, monitoring, and/or termination.

5.      Any faculty, staff, or administrator employed by the California Community College System and the San Diego Community College District with two or more violations and/or complaints must take a MANDATORY training course of 16 weeks in personal growth, equity, diversity, sympathy, empathy, and sensitivity-based training as well as training on DSPS student rights and accommodations before returning to work or instruction. A report MUST be sent to the President of San Diego City College, the Vice President who oversees the Dean of Equity, the current or acting compliance officer, the 504 Title IV person, the district office, a race and equity defined student review board, any employee union and the Board of Trustees.

6.      Any faculty, staff, or administrator employed by the California Community College System and the San Diego Community College District with three or more and/or complaints shall be placed on a MANDATORY leave of absence. During this leave, the employee shall also have additional mandatory training courses of over 16 weeks course in personal growth, equity, diversity, sympathy, empathy, and sensitivity-based training as well as training on DSPS student rights and accommodations before returning to work or instruction. A report MUST be sent to the President of San Diego City College, the Vice President who oversees the Dean of Equity, the current or acting compliance officer, the 504 Title IV person, the district office, a race and equity defined student review board, any employee union and the Board of Trustees

7.      San Diego Community College must uphold a zero-tolerance policy for racism, bullying, discrimination, ableism, condescending or belittling tones of voice, derogatory statements, stereotype threats and pre-conceived biases towards all marginalized peoples and communities. Continued failure to do so shall result in additional compliance violation reports. This will be monitored procedures acceptable to the City College Black Studies and Chicana/o Studies departments.

8.      San Diego Community College must add additional student seats to Board of Trustees as well as establish a Student Review Board. It shall be the responsibility of the San Diego Community College District to share information electronically through student email accounts as well as physically via visible and accessible signage on how to contact the students on the Board of Trustees and well as the Student Review Board EACH semester. This will be monitored procedures acceptable to the City College Black Studies and Chicana/o Studies departments.

9.      All Faculty, Staff, and Administration must adhere to the support, honor, and enforcement of ANY AND ALL DSPS policies, procedures, protocol, civil rights and accommodations AT ALL TIMES. If any employee violates or witnesses the violations of these civil rights and does not make an informal or formal complaint, will be terminated. Violations of DSPS student rights and accommodations is breaking the law and leaves San Diego Community College District liable to a civil rights lawsuit. This will be monitored procedures acceptable to the City College Black Studies and Chicana/o Studies departments.

10. San Diego Community College will recognize the creation of a Student Union, similar to the faculty union (AFT), as a body of power on campus to be sure student’s voices and needs are heard.

11. All Faculty, Staff, and Administration MUST behave in a polite and respectful manner with all students, including DSPS students, as well as fellow employees, in accordance to the with standards of San Diego Community College District code of conduct. Continued failure to do so shall result in misconduct charges as well as additional compliance violation reports.

12. All faculty, staff, and administration will communicate in a respectful way and should not use demeaning and degrading words (no yelling or screaming), whether with each other or with students. Equity panels as described through this document will evaluate this behavior.

13.  All Professors and Instructors will respect their students and not demean any students and should respond to situations in an appropriate manner.

14. All faculty and staff will be responsible for knowing, in depth, the problem that needs to be resolved so that students can be successful in their endeavors. The college/District will resolve those problems or they and the student will seek help by a team of people approved by the student to equitably resolve the inequitable learning factors in a time enough to meet the requirement of a course or other college procedures. Extra time will be provided to the student to account for time lost due to institutional delay or inability to resolve the inequitable circumstances.

15. City College will/must should notify the students as soon as possible or ahead of time of any opportunities that can help students succeed.

16. All Professor and Instructors will/must be required to add an additional clause to their syllabi that covers protocols should the delivery of instruction and grading need to be changed based on any type of emergency.

17. All Professors and Instructors will/must be clear in their feedback to students about their course work and material. All student and Professor/Instructor expectations shall be clearly stated in the course syllabus.

18. Professors will/must have good quality content to help students learn the material taught in the class. A committee of student accepted racially represented and equity minded as defined by the City College Black and Chicana/Chicano Studies departments who will approve curriculum as to equity and cultural relevance including teaching methods.

19. All Professors and Instructors will/must uphold and respect class policies and procedures written in their own syllabi. Should any changes occur, the Professor/Instructor needs to notify students within 24 hours, with new changes being enacted 48 hours AFTER students have been notified.

20. All Professors and Instructors will/must act in a way to provide the best education and educational support to ensure student success. This includes being SOLUTION oriented. Should a Professor/Instruction and Student not be able to come to an agreement a NEUTRAL THIRD PARTY shall be contacted to help aid in a solution that supports the best student outcome.

21. All Professor and Instructors will/must be required to give students adequate notice should they, the Professor/Instructor, be absent from teaching their course. If the Professor/Instructor and/or appointed third-party are not able to notify students in a timely fashion, students have the RIGHT to leave the class 10 minutes after the start of the course with the understanding that no penalty will be given to students once the 10 minutes has elapsed.

22. All Professors and Instructors will/must respect students’ time and SHALL not keep students longer than the agreed upon time for class as given at the time of class registration. They will adjust curriculum to fit within the time allotted. Should a class go past the agreed upon time, students have the RIGHT to leave and are not responsible for knowing any material taught outside of the agreed upon class time. Professors/Instructors testing students on this material and/or penalizing students for any reason related to such matter is grounds for a compliance violation.

23. San Diego Community College District  will/must IMMEDIATELY update all equity-based forms, grade challenges, and petition to be accessible for all students regardless of ability. All materials MUST be uploaded in multiple formats to accommodate students of all ability levels. Failure to comply is a violation of the ADA.

24. San Diego Community College District will/must IMMEDIATELY overhaul its equipment loan protocols. Each and every time equipment is loaned and/or returned, there needs to be a step-by-step procedure to ensure the equipment is functioning properly. It is unacceptable to loan students non-functioning equipment.

25. All faculty, staff, and administration will/must notify students of any and all information shared about the student with ANY other person. In the effort of transparency for student confidentiality, there shall be NO blind copying of emails, text, or any other form of correspondence/communication especially as it pertains to the student’s performance and/or conduct without the student being informed.

26. All faculty, staff, and administration will/must adhere to all points as laid out in this petition in order to create an educational environment that fosters acceptance, learning, support, and success for everyone involved. In any one semester, if any employee has two or more violations and/or complaints, they WILL take a MANDATORY training course of 16 weeks in personal growth, equity, diversity, sympathy, empathy, and sensitivity-based training as well as training on DSPS student rights and accommodations before returning to work or instruction. A report MUST be sent to the President of San Diego City College, the Vice President who oversees the Dean of Equity, the current or acting compliance officer, the 504 Title IV person, the district office, a race and equity defined student review board, any employee union and the Board of Trustees. This will be monitored procedures acceptable to the City College Black Studies and Chicana/o Studies departments.