Conference: Enhancing CCC-CSU-UC Collaboration (EC3)

Fresno City College, Fresno CA

Investigators

Abstract

The project, Enhancing CCC–CSU–UC Collaboration (EC3), mobilizes knowledge across the State of California’s public higher education environment. It seeks to create systematic pathways for the exchange of knowledge, resources, and talent across California’s three higher education systems. The State’s public higher education environment is composed of the University of California (UC, 10), California State University (CSU, 23), and Community Colleges (CC, 115) campuses. By creating systematic pathways across UCs, CSUs, and CCs, the project expands collaborations, diversifies voices in research-agenda building, and engages non-research institutions (CSUs, CCs) as stakeholders in the new or enhanced vectors for collaboration. Increased collaboration can have an immense equity and diversity impact because under-represented populations are disproportionately large in the CCC and CSU systems. The goal of EC3 is to create systematic and open pathways to deploy inert knowledge, talent, and resources between and among the CCC – CSU – UC higher education segments. Nine community colleges, the Foundation for California CCs, five CSU campuses, and five UC campuses will forge pathways for collaboration that create more opportunities for faculty and students to thrive. The effort has three objectives: (a) identify best practices that enhance intersegmental collaboration; (b) identify best practices that can help to shape future NSF GRANTED funding opportunities; and (c) form a community of professionals ready to apply to those new opportunities. The work addresses domestic shortages in both STEM professionals and STEM higher education in the U.S. The majority of students, and among them a disproportionate amount of low-income and/or underrepresented, enter the postsecondary education system in California through its community colleges. Strengthening the pipeline from community colleges into CSUs and UCs will increase and diversify talent in the scientific enterprise. Every state in the country has two-year colleges, four-year colleges and universities, and flagship research universities, so the results of this project could serve as a model and will be of national interest. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.