Two critical sets of federal regulations, AHEAD and AIM, signal a profound and existential shift in higher education policy that threatens the comprehensive mission of community colleges. Both of these regulations establish new punitive accountability metrics that judge institutions strictly by workforce-aligned return on investment (ROI) across all academic programs, not just Career and Technical Education (CTE). For faculty, these metrics are not abstract policy debates; they are a direct threat to job security, academic freedom, and the survival of programs that serve our communities' most vulnerable populations.

The weight of these regulations cannot be overstated. The AHEAD regulations rely on an inflexible "earnings premium" metric that will likely force the closure of programs in essential but chronically underpaid fields, specifically early childhood education, human services, and the visual and performing arts. Recent data from American University indicates that students in traditional transfer-oriented degree programs, specifically liberal arts and general studies, are also highly concentrated in the set of programs at risk of losing federal loan eligibility under these tests. Meanwhile, the upcoming AIM regulations will weaponize and fundamentally disrupt the accreditation process as we know it, stripping away historical peer evaluation models and mandating that accreditors enforce these same narrow ROI and program-level workforce outcomes.

In 1988, AB 1725 (Vasconcellos) required that minimum qualifications be established for faculty at California’s community colleges.  The process for establishing the minimum qualifications must be jointly agreed upon by the academic senate and the governing board.  As early as the second edition of the Minimum Qualifications for Faculty and Administrators in California Community Colleges handbook (Jan. 1994), and perhaps earlier (I was unable to locate a copy of the first edition), the minimum qualifications for mathematics have included the option of a bachelor’s degree in mathematics or applied mathematics and a master’s degree in math education.  This year, faculty from Bakersfield and Saddleback Colleges requested a revision to the minimum qualifications for mathematics that would require those meeting these qualifications to also complete an additional 18 units of graduate-level mathematics.

Given that the master’s in mathematics education has long been included in the minimum qualifications handbook, and that the discipline itself has not changed significantly at the community college level, it is worth considering what professional organizations have to say on the matter and whether this proposed change is in the best interests of the discipline and our students. 

After over 30 years of attending my students' graduations, I recently had the profound honor of witnessing a commencement ceremony like no other. As my term as FACCC President was coming to an end, I was thrilled when the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office extended an invitation to attend the Rising Scholars graduation at the California Rehabilitation Center, celebrating the achievements of incarcerated students from Norco College and other community colleges across the state.

On the day of the ceremony, we arrived hours early, leaving our phones behind in our cars. As I waited to enter the enclosed yard where the outdoor event would be held, I met dedicated faculty who had made the long drive from colleges like Palo Verde to support their Rising Scholar students.