📊 Mapping Inequity: Dr. Duran-Cerda's Accreditation Report Unveiled

Shining a light on educational disparities and systemic issues facing students at Pima Community College.

😽 Keepin’ It Simple Summary for Younger Readers
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Pima Community College's recent board meeting addressed critical issues around 🌍 land acknowledgment and ⚖️ inequities in education. Faculty and student voices 📣 highlighted the need for real transparency 🔍 and shared governance 🤝, with reports revealing systemic challenges 🏛️ and showcasing innovative strategies 💡 that foster student success 🎓. The call for collective action ✊ emphasizes the importance of community engagement 👥 in overcoming barriers to educational equity 📚.

🗝️ Takeaways

• 🏞️ Land Acknowledgment: Recognizes the Tohono O'odham and Pascua Yaqui Peoples.

• 💬 Public Comment: Faculty president critiques governance and calls for transparency.

• 📉 Accreditation Report: Systemic educational inequities revealed through the review.

• 👩‍🏫 Enrollment Growth: Notable increase in student enrollment and persistence rates.

• 🎓 Innovative Support: New initiatives aimed at enhancing student inclusion and retention.

• 🔍 Financial Transparency: Unanimous consent on significant spending, including security upgrades.

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Pima Community College's February 5th Board Meeting

Land Acknowledgment: Confronting Colonial Violence

The board's land acknowledgment wasn't mere ritual, but a complex negotiation of ongoing colonial occupation:

We want to acknowledge that Pima Community College is on the original homelands of the Tohono O'odham People and the Pascua Yaqui who have stewarded this land since time immemorial. The practice of acknowledging the land of these sovereign Nations brings to the forefront their enduring connection to this land regardless of historical and current colonization practices.

Context of Displacement

• Pima County sits on ancestral Tohono O'odham and Pascua Yaqui territories

• Acknowledgment highlights ongoing Indigenous sovereignty

• Educational institutions as sites of both oppression and potential liberation

Public Comment: Micaela Hayes Breaks Institutional Silence

Makyla Hays, PCCEA president, delivered a razor-sharp critique of institutional governance:

I want to officially offer the support of the faculty as you do your work, and the faculty at Pima are some of the most amazing people with strong institutional knowledge and a wealth of ideas and information.

Governance Critique Breakdown

1. Historical Context

   • Historically, representative groups negotiated policy directly

   • Current system limits direct worker input

   • Quote: "In the past, these representative groups negotiated college policy on behalf of their employee class and served as partners with the college to ensure equitable and fair working conditions."

2. Demands for Transparency

   • Call for written shared governance definition

   • Emphasis on clear institutional expectations

   • Goal: Transform performative acknowledgment into genuine power-sharing

Accreditation Report: Mapping Educational Inequity

Dr. Dolores Duran-Cerda's Higher Learning Commission report exposed systemic educational violence:

Systemic Inequality Indicators

1. Academic Rigor Inconsistency

   • Uneven learning goals across different campus locations

   • Direct quote revealing the issue:

Concerns about alignment of learning goals across locations and oversight processes.

1. Assessment Fragmentation

   • Gaps in communication and learning assessment

   • Explicit acknowledgment:

They indicated there were gaps in communication and coordination of assessment processes, especially across the multiple locations.

Institutional Response

• Appointed Dean Emily Halverson to address oversight

• Planned corrective action by April

• Systemic racism requires systemic intervention

Enrollment and Retention: Survival as Collective Action

Dr. Irene Robles Lopez presented data of hope and struggle:

• Enrollment: 44,579 → 45,471 (2% growth)

• Persistence rates: 63.7% → 65.2%

Innovative Strategies of Inclusion

1. Priority Registration Pilot

   • Targeted support for marginalized students

   • Breaks traditional first-come, first-served models

2. Personal Outreach

   • Direct quote on approach:

We actually looked at students that had graduated this last prior year that were not enrolled in higher education and called them personally.

1. Material Support

   • Five $300 education certificates

   • Five Lenovo laptops

   • Material support as a form of educational justice

Student Power: Miguel Sepulveda's Grassroots Report

Highlights of student resistance:

1. Racial Justice Initiatives

   • International Day of Racial Healing

   • Direct engagement across campus locations

2. Comprehensive Student Support

   • First-year experience programs

   • 155 students in live orientation sessions

   • 1,067 completed online self-based orientation

3. Multicultural Engagement

   • Club fairs across multiple campuses

   • African American History Month celebrations

Financial Transparency: Tracing Institutional Power

Unanimous Consent Agenda Approvals

• Security system: $2.3 million

• Dental insurance: $3,243,165 (5-year contract)

• Life insurance: $2,114,971

• Short-term disability: $791,716

Security System Analysis

• Cloud-based management

• AI-driven analytics

• Remote monitoring capabilities

Quote from justification:

Replacing the card system will not replace existing card readers, but will upgrade the controllers managing door access.

Labor Voices: Precarity and Resistance

Faculty Senate Report (Rita Lennon)

• Potential federal education restructuring

• First internal audit of representative groups

• Push for improved communication channels

Adjunct Faculty Testimony (Sean Mendoza)

• No automatic pathway to full-time positions

• Ongoing professional development initiatives

Call to Action: Community Engagement

Immediate Steps

1. Attend board meetings

2. Review mission review survey

3. Support student-led initiatives

4. Challenge educational inequities

5. Build cross-classification worker solidarity

Community Discussion Provocation

We demand your analysis!

Drop a comment and spark collective consciousness:

1. How can we transform shared governance from performative acknowledgment to genuine power redistribution?

2. What concrete strategies would you propose to dismantle educational apartheid across campus locations?

Compiled with revolutionary love and unbreakable hope.

Lands acknowledged: Tohono O'odham and Pascua Yaqui Territories Solidarity is our most potent weapon.

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Informative Quotes

1. Land Acknowledgment Context

   • "We want to acknowledge that Pima Community College is on the original homelands of the Tohono O'odham People and the Pascua Yaqui who have stewarded this land since time immemorial."

   • Significance: Explicit recognition of indigenous sovereignty and colonial displacement

2. Makyla Hays on Institutional Governance

   • "In the past, these representative groups negotiated college policy on behalf of their employee class and served as partners with the college to ensure equitable and fair working conditions."

   • Significance: Revealing the erosion of worker power and collective bargaining

3. Dr. Dolores Duran-Cerda on Accreditation Challenges

   • "Concerns about alignment of learning goals across locations and oversight processes."

   • Significance: Exposing systemic educational inequities across different campus locations

4. Dr. Irene Robles Lopez on Student Outreach

   • "We actually looked at students that had graduated this last prior year that were not enrolled in higher education and called them personally."

   • Significance: Personalized approach to addressing educational access and retention

5. Chancellor Nasse on Federal Education Uncertainty

   • "We've heard about dismantling parts of or the entirety of the United States Department of Education."

   • Significance: Highlighting the precarity of public education funding

Key Participants and Their Memorable Moments

1. Board Members

   • Greg Taylor (Board Chair)

     • Emphasized meeting efficiency and board member engagement

     • Highlighted desire to streamline board processes

     • Quote: "We're trying to figure out how to use our time as efficiently we can."

2. Dr. Dolores Duran-Cerda (Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor)

   • Presented Higher Learning Commission accreditation report

   • Revealed two critical areas of institutional concern

   • Announced her upcoming retirement

   • Quote: "We completed and we met all of the criteria for review, which is excellent."

3. Makyla Hays (PCCEA President)

   • Powerful advocate for shared governance

   • Math faculty and AERC co-chair

   • Demanded transparent institutional processes

   • Quote: "Having a well-defined written definition with clear expectations college-wide would provide a strong foundation of collaboration moving forward."

4. Dr. Irene Robles Lopez (Vice Chancellor for Student Experience)

   • Presented enrollment and retention strategies

   • Highlighted innovative student support approaches

   • Quote: "We're continuing to look ahead as well... how can we better serve our students?"

5. Miguel Sepulveda (Student Senate Representative)

   • Presented comprehensive student activities report

   • Highlighted racial justice and student engagement initiatives

   • Quote about student diversity: "Pima is very open to kind of teaching everybody the same thing, no matter who you are, no matter what level you are."

6. Diana Cadena (Film Arts Student)

   • Emmy Award-winning alumna

   • Highlighted hands-on educational experience

   • Quote: "When I transferred to the U of A, and I've heard this from other students that did the same as me, went to Pima first and then transferred to the U of A, we like Pima way better."

7. Robert Loomis (Digital Film Arts Department Head)

   • Introduced Diana Cadena

   • Proud of department's hands-on approach

   • Quote about Cadena: "That kind of student that makes it all worthwhile, the one that pays attention, that is serious, that you just know is going to make you proud of the program and proud of the school."

8. Chancellor Nasse

   • Discussed federal education funding challenges

   • Emphasized community partnerships

   • Quote: "We're very closely monitoring those proposals to restructure those programs."

Systemic Context and Calls to Action

The meeting revealed:

• Ongoing challenges in educational equity

• Precarity of public education funding

• Importance of student-centered approaches

• Need for transparent institutional governance

Community Call: Attend board meetings, support student initiatives, demand transparent governance, and challenge educational inequities.

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