Eight career technical education (CTE) regional consortia exist across California, serving “as a regional framework for communicating, coordinating, collaborating, promoting and planning career and technical education, and workforce and economic development initiatives” (Orange County Regional Consortium, n.d.). Although each of the California community colleges is aligned to a CTE regional consortium, many faculty are not familiar with or involved in the consortia’s work or goals. In an effort to expand faculty connection to the regional consortia, the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC) passed Resolution 21.01 in Spring 2021, stating that the ASCCC would
collaborate with the regional consortia and the state and regional directors to empower and engage regional faculty leaders by working with the faculty leaders on regional boards, providing professional learning for career technical education faculty, sharing and developing new and emerging curriculum, and discussing how to streamline curriculum processes to move at the speed of industry and business so that students can be prepared for the jobs of tomorrow. [1]
To address this resolution, the ASCCC is partnering with each of the eight regional consortia to hold customized professional development days in order to provide regionally specific conversations between faculty and the regional coordinators.
CTE Regional Consortia
California is a large and diverse state. Community college curriculum aims to meet the workforce needs of local communities. Although many industries are statewide, each region has its own specialties.
The CTE regional consortia were designed to provide opportunities for each region to do the following:
- Facilitate CTE program investments;
- Create opportunities for community college, K-12, and adult education collaboration with a focus on high-wage job creation;
- Engage and connect colleges with industry partners with a goal of meeting the regional workforce needs;
- Advocate for career education policy and funding (Bay Area Community College Consortium, n.d.).
All of these goals require faculty input and participation as part of the local academic senate’s role in academic and professional matters.
The California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO) has divided up California into eight regions, including
- Bay Area
- Central Valley/Mother Lode
- Inland Empire/Desert
- Los Angeles
- North Far North
- Orange County
- San Diego/Imperial
- South Central Coast
Historically, college collaboration with the consortia has been done through CTE deans or upper-level administrators. Rarely do faculty participate in liaising with the consortia, but an opportunity exists to have more faculty involvement. Each of the regional coordinators or directors has been open with the ASCCC about wanting more faculty involvement.
Each regional consortium has regional goals and a Strong Workforce plan. Each consortium has its own budget and solicits for collaborative proposals to support regional workforce needs. The consortium goals align to the CCCCO Vision 2030 goals of increasing equitable student access, success, and support, including the specific workforce outcome of “increasing with equity the number of California community college students who earn a living wage” (CCCCO, 2023). Faculty and the regional consortia have the opportunity to work more closely together to support this goal.
Regional Consortia and Curriculum
Many faculty are most familiar with the regional consortia in their role of reviewing CTE program development. “Proposals for credit CTE programs must include a recommendation from the appropriate CTE Regional Consortium as per title 5, section 55130(b)(8)E” (RegionalCTE , n.d.). This statement does not mean that the regional consortium can restrict curriculum development at an individual campus. The consortia are responsible for reviewing the courses in two contexts. The first and primary context is to determine the need for the proposed program in relationship with those offered at other community colleges in the area; in other words, the consortium will have a regional view of what all colleges in the region offer. The second purpose is to assure program originators that the proposed curriculum is aligned with current good practices as determined by professional experts. Faculty are encouraged to work with their regional coordinators in advance of submission of programs for review. Ongoing dialog and collaboration are essential for curriculum review. Colleges can still submit programs to the CCCCO without approval of the local regional consortium, but collaboration can lead to additional regional support with educational partners and employer and budgetary support for new and revised programs.
The ASCCC and Regional Consortium Collaboration
In an effort to address Resolution 21.01 SP 21 to expand the faculty role with CTE regional consortia, the ASCCC is making an intentional effort to work directly with the regional consortia. In 2023-24, the ASCCC has committed to hosting eight CTE regional events, one in each of the CTE regions. These events are designed to be co-hosted with each of the CTE regional consortia and focus on the specific CTE needs of that region.
Each one of these events is tailored to the professional development needs of the area and highlights the CTE work in that area. In Orange County, one of the focus areas was competency based education (CBE). The event highlighted the work being done at Coastline College with the CBE pilot. The South Central Coast Region highlighted the LEAP Program and work experience. The Inland Empire/Desert Region highlighted the credit for prior learning work at Norco College. Other topics shared at multiple events included the CTE role in Vision 2030, CTE minimum qualifications, dual enrollment, CTE faculty engagement, and the role of faculty in working with regional consortia. Although these events are marketed to faculty, everyone—including classified staff, students, and administrators—is invited to attend. Two events were held in the fall of 2023, and six are scheduled for Spring 2024. Information on the location of events and registration is available on the ASCCC website at asccc.org. These events are just the beginning of the collaboration. The ASCCC, and specifically the ASCCC CTE Leadership Committee, will continue to collaborate to support faculty professional development related to academic and professional matters and the regional consortia.
Working with the Regional Consortium
Faculty should coordinate and collaborate with their local CTE regional consortium. Both CTE faculty and local senate leaders can be active in CTE regional work. The following suggestions may help to facilitate that involvement:
- Find out to what consortium your college is aligned, review its website, and attend meetings and professional development opportunities;
- Find out who on your campus is the local lead to your local regional consortium;
- Attend your local ASCCC CTE regional event;
- Learn more about K-12 and adult education partnerships available through the consortium;
- Share stories and college highlights with your regional consortium;
- Collaborate with your regional consortium on grant and Strong Workforce applications;
- Support discussions across colleges and the region with faculty in role-alike or program-alike conversations;
- Work with your regional consortium at gathering and assessing CTE and labor market data;
- Invite the regional consortium to come to your local academic senate and share what it is working on;
- Invite the regional consortium to local curriculum committee meetings to discuss collaboration for curriculum and trends;
- Attend California Community College Association for Occupational Education conferences and other CTE events to interact with CTE regional coordinators and staff.
CTE regional consortia are eager to engage more with faculty to support shared goals of student access, support, and completion as well as meeting the labor market needs of each of the eight regions in California.
References
Bay Area Community College Consortium. (n.d.). Who We Are.
California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office. (2023) Vision 2030.
Orange County Regional Consortium. (n.d.). Orange County Regional Consortium.
RegionalCTE. (n.d.). California Regional Consortia CTE Program Recommendation.