Spring 2024
WHEREAS, The Student Senate of California Community Colleges (SSCCC) holds the value of educational equity, declaring that the organization will “pursue its mission by ensuring stances and support for programs and legislation that removes barriers and ensures access and success for underserved and marginalized communities” [1] and the SSCCC recognizes that basic needs insecurities constitute a growing struggle for California community college students who face everyday barriers in obtaining their educational goals;
WHEREAS, Basic needs insecurities are severe, pervasive, and widely-felt by students across the California Community College System with 68% of RealCollege Survey [2] respondents experiencing at least one form of basic needs insecurity, with 58% of respondents being housing insecure, 47% being food insecure, and 24% being unhoused [3], which reflects a longstanding pattern wherein California community college students have not had their basic needs met, as in 2019 70% of RealCollege Survey respondents experienced at least one form of basic needs insecurity, while 60% were housing insecure, 50% were food insecure, and 19% were unhoused [4], furthermore, students at California Community Colleges are more likely than their peers in the CSU and UC Systems to be food and housing insecure [5]; and
WHEREAS, basic needs insecurity is associated with negative impacts to student success[6,7], and there is a direct relationship between student’s academic success and their basic needs security, as “the proportion of [RealCollege survey respondents] reporting non-passing college grades [who were] experiencing basic needs insecurities is 20-25 percentage points higher than students earning As and Bs [who faced these basic needs insecurities]” [8]; now, therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the Student Senate of California Community Colleges collaborate with system partners and the Board of Governors to establish the following framework for an universal basic needs definition, such that this definition is adopted and implemented by the California Community College System: “The term ‘basic needs’ means the needs of students that support their success while enrolled at an eligible institution, including needs such as: food, housing, transportation, childcare, healthcare, and technology”[9];
RESOLVED,, That the Student Senate of California Community Colleges make it a priority to work to see the mission of the California Community College system, laid out in California Education Code Section 66010.4 [10], amended to include the provision and support of universal basic needs for students as an explicit part of this mission, as defined in the guidance by the Board of Governor’s.
WHEREAS, Basic needs insecurities are severe, pervasive, and widely-felt by students across the California Community College System with 68% of RealCollege Survey [2] respondents experiencing at least one form of basic needs insecurity, with 58% of respondents being housing insecure, 47% being food insecure, and 24% being unhoused [3], which reflects a longstanding pattern wherein California community college students have not had their basic needs met, as in 2019 70% of RealCollege Survey respondents experienced at least one form of basic needs insecurity, while 60% were housing insecure, 50% were food insecure, and 19% were unhoused [4], furthermore, students at California Community Colleges are more likely than their peers in the CSU and UC Systems to be food and housing insecure [5]; and
WHEREAS, basic needs insecurity is associated with negative impacts to student success[6,7], and there is a direct relationship between student’s academic success and their basic needs security, as “the proportion of [RealCollege survey respondents] reporting non-passing college grades [who were] experiencing basic needs insecurities is 20-25 percentage points higher than students earning As and Bs [who faced these basic needs insecurities]” [8]; now, therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the Student Senate of California Community Colleges collaborate with system partners and the Board of Governors to establish the following framework for an universal basic needs definition, such that this definition is adopted and implemented by the California Community College System: “The term ‘basic needs’ means the needs of students that support their success while enrolled at an eligible institution, including needs such as: food, housing, transportation, childcare, healthcare, and technology”[9];
RESOLVED,, That the Student Senate of California Community Colleges make it a priority to work to see the mission of the California Community College system, laid out in California Education Code Section 66010.4 [10], amended to include the provision and support of universal basic needs for students as an explicit part of this mission, as defined in the guidance by the Board of Governor’s.