Action & Accountability: CCA’s ongoing commitment to anti-racism, equity, and social justice

Student Affairs, Academic Affairs, and Human Resources will regularly assess the reporting process and, with student involvement, develop an improved process and interface. This includes revision of the CCA Care form. (implemented)

The provost and assistant dean of students met regularly over the summer of 2020 and piloted several approaches to reciprocal communication between BIPOC students and CCA senior leadership in the fall of 2021. These forums continue to be iterated upon, since spring 2022 with leadership from the vice president of diversity, equity, inclusions, and belonging. (implemented)

This staff committee, led by Associate Provost Dominick Tracy with staff representation from across the college, began meeting in July 2020 and continues to meet. (implemented)

DEIB Task Force charged with researching restorative justice models and thinking about what a restorative justice model might look like at CCA. (implemented)

DEIB Task Force reviewed the CCA results of the 2020 National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and the additional Inclusiveness and Engagement with Diversity module both individually and as a team. Rather than making specific recommendations for actions based on the results of this survey, the Task Force proposed that CCA consider any actions the college is already undertaking or proposing to take to support its DEIB goals against these results as a way of supporting or challenging our plans. These results can serve as an ongoing check of the likelihood of our decisions to achieve the results we aspire to. This recommendation was submitted to the PDSG, President, and Provost. (implemented)

• Academic Affairs re-established the $10,000 curriculum grant awarded to support the pedagogical initiatives, faculty development, and academic programming led by the Decolonial School. (implemented)
• Funding has been designated to compensate two faculty co-leaders of the Decolonial School for their ongoing work on the initiative. (implemented)

• Demographic information for staff is updated regularly on Portal (implemented)
• Demographic information for students, faculty, and staff is updated each fall and published online (implemented)
• Process established for updating information annually (implemented)

• The CCA Indigenous Land Acknowledgment appears in the footer of every CCA webpage: CCA campuses are located on the unceded territories of Chochenyo and Ramaytush Ohlone peoples. (implemented)
• Information and usage guidelines are published on the CCA website and Portal. (implemented)
• Option to automatically include the land acknowledgment in email signatures added to all cca.edu email accounts (implemented)
• The president, provost, and chair of the Board reached out to the leaders of local indigenous groups to further engage them in our ongoing land acknowledgment efforts. (implemented)

Two Black faculty members were hired as visiting scholars beginning in fall 2020 in the DMBA and MFA Design programs. (implemented)

• Reviewed current Board practices and policies and identified areas for improvement (implemented)
• Organized an anti-bias workshop and facilitated discussion with Dr. Sonia Mañjon, executive director of LeaderSpring and former director of the Center for Art & Public Life, for the Committee on Trustees (implemented)
• Drafted a Board statement of commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, the first of its kind at CCA (implemented)
• Updated the trustee service guidelines to promote DEIB values (implemented)
• Updated the Board matrix to better understand how diversity is currently represented on the Board (implemented)
• Recruit and elect new trustees with diverse backgrounds, identities, cultures, and ethnicities (ongoing)
  • Three new trustees, including two women of color, appointed in FY21.
  • Eight new trustees, including five people of color, appointed in FY22.

Tricia Brand hired as inaugural vice president of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in April 2022. (implemented)

Provost Carland met with staff responsible for space planning and the assistant dean of students and identified a specific space by the start of the fall 2020 semester. Unfortunately the space cannot be launched and utilized until we can safely return to campus. In the meantime, students will have opportunities to contribute to the charter and mission of this designated space. (upcoming)

BIPOC scholarship-recipient CANVAS students will participate in a year-long, for-credit class as part of their first year at CCA experience. The course includes goal-setting, mentorship, networking, and leadership preparation as well as robust programming led by CCA faculty, visiting artists, designers, and scholars. The class has a course budget for an immersive introduction to the Bay Area’s vibrant community of BIPOC leaders, makers, and educators and historical and cultural sites in our region. (implemented)

• CCA’s Admissions Office partners with many local high schools, community colleges, and community-based organizations that support BIPOC students. Beginning in fall 2020 we expanded the number of these partnerships with a focus on:
  • Extra support for portfolio development, especially in the context of remote learning for both high school and community college students.
  • Developing additional 2+2 agreements and transfer articulation agreements to streamline enrollment at CCA
  • Promoting inclusiveness of diverse backgrounds and experiences by developing portfolio alternatives and expanding portfolio requirements
• Increase total need-based funding to support first-generation and low-income students to continue to support a diverse student population. (Note: State law and federal court decisions limit the use of race or ethnicity in college admissions and financial aid awarding.) (implemented)

• DiversityEdu anti-bias training (accessible through Workday) is currently required for all incoming staff, faculty, and students and all residential students. Human Resources, Academic Affairs, and Student Affairs are working to ensure all continuing staff, faculty, and students have completed the training as well, with a goal of 100% compliance. (in progress)
• A consultant with expertise in providing diversity, equity, and inclusion training to leadership teams has been engaged to work with CCA’s Board of Trustees and senior leadership team. (implemented)
• Staff Advisory Committee (SAC) launched DEIB Community Talks sessions available to all staff. (implemented)
• DEIB training integrated within newly launched Skillstudio professional development program for staff (implemented)

• President Stephen Beal and Advancement staff are actively fundraising to secure new dollars for this initiative and funds have also been redirected from the operating budget for this priority. (implemented)
• CCA has designated additional funding for scholarships to support BIPOC students. In 2019-20 the college distributed $25 million in scholarships with $16.1 million of that supporting diversity students. CCA set a fundraising goal to secure an additional $1.5 million for scholarships in FY21, and raised $3.98 million.
• New diversity scholarships created: Sandra Vivanco Scholarship, Diversity in Design Scholarship. Both scholarships were launched in FY21 with $31,000 raised for the Vivanco Scholarship and $84,000 raised for Diversity in Design Scholarships. Fundraising and awarding of these scholarships is ongoing.
• Kalmanovitz Scholarship renewed with a gift of $500,000 in late FY20 to be spent in FY21 and FY22. The scholarship was renewed again in late FT22.
• Advancement conducted an audit of CCA fundraising practices and policies and developed a draft Statement of Principles to foster a culture of philanthropy at CCA that is just, equitable, respectful, and welcoming to all. (implemented)