Community colleges exist to serve the population, so why are we pushing finish?
The way that California community colleges are funded is deeply flawed, and the Guided Pathways (GP) project is a redundant effort that will only exacerbate these existing flaws.
The Collegian reported on GP and described the project as “a venture designed to substantially increase the number of students who earn a certificate or degree at California community colleges.”
Dr. Matt Wetstein, assistant superintendent/vice president of instruction and planning compared the project to pre-planned meals while speaking to The Collegian in 2017: “with the new model coming into place we give students a bundle deal. We give them only the food needed for their career and cut out the excess fat.”
This is precisely what is wrong with the Guided Pathways project, and the way GP will prioritize certificates and degrees while cutting out “the excess fat” is merely an extension of the flaws baked into the system of funding community colleges.
The mission statement for Community Colleges in the California Education Code states that, aside from its primary mission of preparing students for transfer to four-year schools school must provide “provision of remedial instruction for those in need of it , and in conjunction with the school districts, instruction in English as a second language, adult noncredit instruction…”
The mission statement places importance on adult noncredit instruction and community service courses, which is a good thing. Community colleges are for the community at large.
But Guided Pathways does not place any importance at all on this part of the mission. GP wants students to pick a career path the moment they enter college. Dr. Kathy Hart, Delta superintendent at the time, told The Collegian in 2017 “Guided Pathways helps clarify a framework for colleges to help students who face barriers to completing a college education. We want students to select a program and stay on the path. The Guided Pathways model will support each student from the point of entry to the attainment of high-quality postsecondary credentials and employment.”
But wait… wasn’t that always the goal? The “attainment of high-quality postsecondary credentials and employment”? If that is the goal now, what was it then? This is what I mean by redundant. What was the point of having counselors to guide students’ academic paths? Are their jobs less relevant now?
OK, let’s examine the “select a program and stay on the path,” part of things. Apparently, young students being indecisive about their futures is an issue that desperately needs solving. Dr. Matt Wetstein told The Collegian in 2017 “we have too many students coming into community college not knowing what they want to do. It’s good to look at your options for awhile, but at some point you have to settle down and decide what you want to do.”
How strange that 18 year-old kids don’t know that they want to do with the rest of their lives.
So Guided Pathways seems to put an emphasis on attaining paper trophies (degrees) and no emphasis on the adult learning or community service courses required by law in the mission statement. But this is an old problem, and one that is found baked into the way community colleges are funded in California.
How do community colleges get funded? Well, according to the Chancellor’s office website, funding is decided by the “Student Centered Funding Formula.”
This formula is supposed to ensure that colleges are funded “at least in part” based on “how well their students are faring.” The website goes on to explain that aside from base allocation and scholarship money, funding will also be based on a “student success allocation,” that rewards schools for completion rates of AAs, transfer to four year schools, and students who have achieved a “regional living wage,”and most upsettingly, the “student success allocation” rewards “the number of students who complete transfer-level math and English within their first year.”
Seriously? How out of touch is the top of the college’s hierarchy?
The problem with Guided Pathways and college funding is the same: it’s what is prioritized vs. what is not. The way our community colleges are funded reward schools will higher numbers of young, full time students who are preparing to transfer to a university. And bonus points if they are English and Math nerds. But get real! How many Delta College students do you know who fit that description? What about the adult learning? The undecided freshman? The part-time student doing what they can? Rural towns that economically and culturally don’t support the fantasy of the full time college student?
Another related issue is that the 20 school chosen for GP had to complete a competitive application process. Why? Why should schools serving working class California have to compete to participate in something that is supposed to help students?
This rigid, career planning system is not in the best interests of Delta College’s diverse student body.
The way our schools are funded don’t reflect the diverse needs and interests that our community college’s are supposed to serve. Schools should be funded based on student body size alone, like a public service. They should not be made to compete with one another like private companies in the same industry.
And while full time school is all well and good, community colleges should lean into what makes them different from university, and not try to be something they aren’t.