FACCC President Joins National Panel on The Costs of Completion

 

We're proud to share that FACCC President, Wendy Brill-Wynkoop, was invited to participate in a prestigious panel discussion on the book, The Costs of Completion: Student Success in Community College, by Robin G. Isserles. The event was hosted by the National Center for Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions at Hunter College, City University of New York.

The panel brought together higher education leaders from major community college systems across the country, including California, New York, and Connecticut. The discussion centered around the themes and ideas presented in Isserles' groundbreaking work, which examines the complex factors impacting student completion rates and redefines how we measure and support genuine student success.

As the panel weighed in from their varied roles and perspectives, Wendy Brill-Wynkoop represented the voice of California community college faculty. She shared the history and consequences of remediation reform and AB 1705 in California, cautioning that reforms with the best intentions can be hijacked by the neoliberal agenda and end up as one-size-fits-all reforms that leave students out of higher education, eventually jeopardizing their educational goals and path to socioeconomic growth.

FACCC strongly encourages all California community college faculty to read The Costs of Completion and engage deeply with its analysis. We suggest forming campus or department book clubs to discuss this important work. By better understanding the systemic barriers and misguided metrics that can impede true student achievement, we can advocate more effectively for policies and practices that create equitable opportunities for our students to thrive. 

This national panel exemplifies FACCC's commitment to elevating the faculty voice on crucial issues of academic quality, equity, and the community college mission. We will continue amplifying the perspectives of working instructors as influential stakeholders in the ongoing dialogue around student success.