The main reason for this edition of the trailblazer is to draw your attention to the ACCJC Learning Seminar Series titled The Future of Learning. Using the Guided Pathways language, these conversations are focused on Pillar 1, Clarifying the Path, and Pillar 4, Ensuring Leaning.

I hope you’ll join us next week for the second half of our Future of Learning Seminar Series. You can register online for the webinars on December 7 & 8, which both will begin at 2 pm PST.

I was super thrilled after day 1 and day 2 of the ACCJC Seminar Series. The speakers were fabulous, the conversations rigorous, yet relaxed. The conversation style format seemed to resonate with the participants. In addition to the main stage discussions, the chat window was buzzing with comments and questions.

So if you have not registered, you really should not miss out on the last two days. Register now!

Here is the link to the websites: ACCJC website and BC’s conference page.

Day 3 begins at 2 p.m. on December 7 with Deb Bushway, President and CEO of Northwestern Health Sciences University, who will talk about competency-based education with Vice Chancellor Aisha Lowe.

Our second session on December 7 is with Concentric Sky CEO Wayne Skipper, who will discuss the future of microcredentialing and badging.

We’ll close out the seminar series with our last two sessions on Dec. 8. In the first session, Arizona State University President Michael Crow and Southwestern College professor and commissioner Randy Beach will break down Crow’s ambitious plan for higher education described in “The Fifth Wave: The Evolution of American Higher Education.”

For the final session of the series, we will hear from students Sam Clarke and Connie Jiang of Deep Springs College. Deep Springs College’s mission is to “prepare young people for a life of service to humanity”.

Commissioner Jennifer Vega La Serna will engage in this discussion.

You have probably noticed a buzz around the newly formed California Community College Women’s Caucus (CCCWC). So thankful for the leadership of Daisy Gonzales, Deputy Chancellor of CCCCO, and Linda Wah, trustee from Pasadena City College who are the co-founders of this organization. 

I ask you to become a member today – either an individual membership or an institutional membership. Here is the link: https://www.cccwomenscaucus.org/caucus-membership.html.

CCCWC launched in July of 2020 to nurture and celebrate women leaders in the largest system of public higher education in the nation. There are four overarching goals of the CCCWC: Recognizing women’s contributions, supporting leadership development, advancing career opportunities and pay equity, and expanding the pipeline for tomorrow’s leaders. Nan Gomez-Heitzeberg, Trustee for the Kern Community College District, and Erika Endrijonas, President of Pasadena City College, are the current co-chairs.

I invite you to attend our next CCCWC event scheduled for December 7^th. The keynote speaker is Dr. Lande Ajose, Senior Policy Advisor, Office of Governor Gavin Newsom.

Finally, plz follow us on Twitter: @CCCWomensCaucus

The California Learning Lab has announced their Grand Challenge grant program, which will award between $1 million and $1.5 million over three years to multi-segmental teams to improve the success rates for first year calculus students in STEM Pathways.

This grant program aims to improve the first-year math experience for students with an eye toward equity outcomes, innovative re-thinking of the calculus requirement, and powerful teaching practices.

This quote from the RFP sums up the mission of the program: Students often single out introductory mathematics courses as a primary reason for leaving, in addition to “ineffective teaching methods and uninspiring atmospheres” in introductory-level STEM courses. Retention and degree completion gaps are especially prevalent for Black/African Americans, Latinx, Native American, and Pacific Islander groups and women, despite showing high levels of interest in STEM. 

For more information on the Learning Labs Grand Challenge project, visit their web site:

Lark Park, Director,

California Learning Lab

The turnout was pretty impressive. We have 1,577 people from 285 institutions registered so far! We had wide geographic participation, from 31 States/US territories and 3 foreign countries.

To give you a taste of the conversations we had this week, I wanted to share an overview of the presentation from David French.

Our second session of Day 1 included a dialogue between two incredible scholars: Dr. David French and Dr. Ned Doffoney.

David is an attorney and the Senior Editor at The Dispatch, and Ned is a the Chancellor Emeritus at North Orange County Community College District, currently serving as an ACCJC Commissioner.

Our session was titled, “Learning to Stand Together: A Call for Higher Education to Bridge the American Divide Through Equity”, and was based on the writings of David’s most recent book, Divided We Fall. Through their dialogue, David and Ned addressed the challenge of establishing equity and national unity through the pursuit of pluralism, as espoused by the Founders in The Federalist Papers, especially James Madison’s Federalist No. 10.

In the face of a renewed peril to our national unity, we must diligently find solutions to bridge the ideological gaps that threaten to divide us. Examining the future of learning in higher education through an equity-minded lens includes the urgent conversation of restoring national unity through tolerance. In the words of Dr. French, “Reestablishing national unity will require the bravery to commit ourselves to embracing kindness, decency, and grace toward those we disagree with ideologically…If we want to remain standing, we must learn to stand together again.” Through our interactions with students and our local communities, faculty and leaders in higher education are uniquely poised to expedite the development of a just and stable society composed of free and equal citizens for generations to come.

If we’re not careful, this country that we know and love can be lost through divisive ideologies. Given recent social events, our renewed commitment to seeking racial equity, and remembering the passing of John Lewis earlier this year, David energized us to merge what appears to be diverging “Overton Windows.” David’s presentation addressed the destructive effects caused by the extreme division and polarization seeping into our societies and communities. As higher education practitioners, we are well-positioned to turn the tide in pursuit of equity and justice in every facet of society. If we are going to fight, David encouraged us to fight for and defend the same rights of others you wish for yourself. Interestingly, we learned that fighting for the rights of others produces a bond of fellowship with others through shared experiences, ideas, values and common struggles, thereby promoting unity. David said, “as a rule of thumb, it is our moral obligation to fight for and defend the rights of others.” For our individual rights are only protected to the degree that the rights of others are upheld and defended.

You can catch up on David & Ned's conversation at https://youtu.be/YYW7FU9_Cww.