AA/10/AS/21/UEPC - The Joint UEPC-1460 Ad Hoc Committee ES Implementation Resolution, Part I

Effective Fall 2021

“It is the intent of the Legislature that students of the California State University acquire the knowledge and skills that will help them comprehend the diversity and social justice history of the United States and of the society in which they live to enable them to contribute to that society as responsible and constructive citizens [and thus] commencing with the 2021-22 academic year, the California State University shall provide for courses in ethnic studies at each of its campuses,” and “commencing with students graduating in the 2024-25 academic year, the California State University shall require, as an undergraduate graduation requirement, the completion of, at minimum, one three-unit course in ethnic studies,” and 

Whereas, the CSU Council on Ethnic Studies has stated their determination that the requirement “cannot be fulfilled through a single CSU General Education area because…Ethnic Studies is an interdisciplinary field and, as a result, Ethnic Studies course cover multiple GE areas,” and “limiting the requirement to a single GE area would create problems with implementation and time to degree.” 

Whereas, the faculty of CSU Stanislaus supports the addition of an Ethnic Studies requirement to the Baccalaureate degree, as stated in 25/AS/19/UEPC, be it 

Resolved, that the 2021-2022 Academic Catalog have the following addition within General Education Requirements (Area F): 

Commencing with the 2021-22 catalog year, the California State University shall require, as an undergraduate graduation requirement, the completion of, at minimum, one three- unit course in ethnic studies. Courses listed below fulfill this requirement. 

and be it further 

Resolved, that the following (as approved by the CSU Council on Ethnic Studies) be adopted as the Student Learning Outcomes for the ethnic studies requirement: 

SLO 1: Analyze and articulate concepts such as race and racism, racialization, ethnicity, equity, ethno-centrism, eurocentrism, white supremacy, self- determination, liberation, decolonization, sovereignty, imperialism, settler colonialism, and anti- racism as analyzed in any one or more of the following: Native American Studies, African American Studies, Asian American Studies, and Latina and Latino American Studies. 

SLO 2: Apply theory and knowledge produced by Native American, African American, Asian American, and/or Latina and Latino American communities to describe the critical events, histories, cultures, intellectual traditions, contributions, lived- experiences and social struggles of those groups with a particular emphasis on agency and group-affirmation. 

SLO 3: Critically analyze the intersection of race and racism as they relate to class, 

gender, sexuality, religion, spirituality, national origin, immigration status, ability, tribal citizenship, sovereignty, language, and/or age in Native American, African American, Asian American, and/or Latina and Latino American communities. 

SLO 4: Explain and assess how struggle, resistance, racial and social justice, solidarity, and liberation, as experienced, enacted, and studied by Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans and/or Latina and Latino Americans are relevant to current and structural issues such as communal, national, international, and 

transnational politics as, for example, in immigration, reparations, settler- colonialism, multiculturalism, language policies. 

SLO 5: Describe and actively engage with anti-racist and anti-colonial issues and the practices and movements in Native American, African American, Asian American and/or Latina and Latino communities to build a just and equitable society. 

And be it further 

Resolved, that the UEPC and GE-sub committees, in collaboration with the Ad-Hoc Committee on the implementation of the Ethnic Studies requirement, work in the coming academic year to develop a structure for ongoing review and assessment of Area F courses, including addition of courses to area F and integration with existing curricular approval structures, and be it further 

Resolved, all courses in Area F will be determined by Ethnic Studies faculty as meeting the student learning outcomes above and will have an ETHS prefix. The courses to be listed in the 2021-22 catalog will be lower- and upper-division courses identified by the Ethnic Studies faculty, and be it further 

Resolved, Students can elect to list a specific course as fulfilling General Education area C, D, or F (given that designation in the Catalog), but cannot use the same course for multiple General Education requirements. Courses that fulfill both General Education and other requirements (Multicultural, major, or minor) may be used to fulfill both areas, as they do currently, and be it further 

Resolved, that students transferring into CSU Stanislaus in the fall of 2021-22, who have not been informed of this requirement in their time at a previous institution, be permitted to maintain their initial catalog rights, and encouraged through advising to take an Ethnic Studies course for General Education UD-D when possible. 

Rationale 

There has been no stated objection to the addition of an ethnic studies requirement to the 

Baccalaureate program at CSU Stanislaus. In fact, the Academic Senate of CSU Stanislaus passed a resolution in 2019 supporting such a requirement. 

The given catalog language mirrors that used in our current catalog for other requirements, ensuring that students will see the parallel between the ethnic studies requirement and other similar graduation requirements. The given learning outcomes were approved by the Council on Ethnic Studies and the Academic Senate of the CSU. 

In October 2020, the Academic Senate passed a Sense of the Senate resolution (31/AS/20/UEPC) that, in part, provided a timeline for implementation of the Ethnic Studies requirement. The stated goal for this academic year was: to develop and approve catalog language, after the CSU Council on Ethnic Studies developed core competencies for the requirement, and propose any further plans for implementation through governance channels. That resolution also stated our objection to the Title V changes and associated imposed restrictions. We were not the only campus to do so. Yet, despite overwhelming objections, the CO did not re-consider. Despite the continued objections of the Council on Ethnic Studies, the CO did not re-consider. It is the belief of UEPC that we must comply with the timeline given in the state law, but that it is time for this body, the Academic Senate, to stand up to the CO’s overreach in matters of curriculum, and to state clearly that the faculty have purview over the curriculum. 

UEPC hopes that even if President Junn chooses to not sign this resolution, and then implement the changes to Area D of General Education, she will also implement Area F as described in this resolution. 

Notes on SLOs from CSU Council on Ethnic Studies: 

Approved by Unanimous Consent on October 2, 2020 

Modifications or adaptations to these learning objectives are subject to the expert peer evaluation of Ethnic Studies faculty in Ethnic Studies departments, units, or programs (e.g. Native American Studies, African American Studies, Asian American Studies, and Latina/o Studies) on each campus. 

In addition, Ethnic Studies faculty in Ethnic Studies departments, units, or programs (e.g. Native American Studies, African American Studies, Asian American Studies, and Latina/o Studies) shall review, modify, and approve courses attempting to meet these learning objectives on each campus. 

Furthermore, any committee reviewing courses for the CSU Ethnic Studies Graduation Requirement must be chaired by Ethnic Studies faculty; and, such committees must have a majority representation from faculty in the following departments/units/programs: Native American Studies, African American Studies, Asian American Studies, and Latina/o Studies faculty. 

Finally, any modifications or adaptations must be guided by the fundamental principles that undergird the definition of Ethnic Studies, as birthed from the named core four disciplinary areas (Native American Studies, African American Studies, Asian American Studies, and Latina/o Studies). 

Rationale developed by the Ad Hoc committee on the implementation of AB1460 

As required under AB1460, CSU Stanislaus (Stan State) must implement the Ethnic Studies graduation requirement starting with the 2021-22 academic year. Under the revised Title V Statute approved by the Board of Trustees, CSU Stanislaus has the option to implement specific Ethnic Studies courses in Area F, while retaining Ethnic Studies courses in other GE Areas (e.g., Area D2 and Area C), including courses approved for inclusion in Area F. This option is compatible with both AB1460 and the recently amended Title V policy. Additionally, it fulfills the shared governance precedent delineated in AB1460 by going above and beyond the entities identified in the law as the Ethnic Studies faculty, the Chancellor’s Office and the Academic Senate through the continued leadership of the AB1460 Ad Hoc committee at Stan State comprised of key representation from the Ethnic Studies program, the Academic Senate, administration, and student government. The Ad Hoc committee has been meeting throughout the academic year, and should be afforded the respect to weigh in on how best to implement AB1460 at CSU Stanislaus. 

The key role of the Stan State AB1460 Ad Hoc committee is to fulfill the implementation process at CSU Stanislaus in a manner that ensures shared governance at the campus level, with the CSU Ethnic Studies Council (and by extension, campus Ethnic Studies programs) and the ASCSU collaborating in faculty governance as set forth in California Education Code 89032 section c: 

(c) The California State University shall collaborate with the California State University Council on Ethnic Studies and the Academic Senate of the California State University to develop core competencies to be achieved by students who complete an ethnic studies course pursuant to implementation of this section. The council and the academic senate shall approve the core competencies before commencement of the 2021-22 academic year. 

In particular, the AB1460 Ad Hoc committee would like to emphasize the responsibility for collaboration “pursuant to implementation of this section” described in California Education Code 89032 section c. The AB1460 Ad Hoc committee has established its scope of work and purview as directing the implementation of the ES graduation requirement that includes designating which ES courses will be placed in Area F, ongoing curricular review of courses, and establishing the parameters for meeting this university-level requirement. 

In January 2014, Chancellor White established the Task Force on the Advancement of Ethnic Studies. Also in January 2014, ASCSU resolution AS-3164-14 endorsed the efforts of the newly formed task force and encouraged campuses to review their Ethnic Studies programs, showing the support of faculty governance to move forward with the charge of the Task Force. 

Two years later, in January 2016, the Task Force released its report to recommend one, stand- alone Ethnic Studies course graduation requirement throughout the California State University System (CSU) in which approximately 65% of students are people of color. In January 2016, Chancellor White’s public response to the Task Force report stated that recommendations made regarding curriculum and faculty appointments were to be left to the individual campuses. He called for campus presidents to report to him on progress made on recommendations in the report. No further substantive action was taken by campus presidents or campus academic senates to exercise faculty governance regarding the implementation of Ethnic Studies as a graduation requirement. In fact, no significant action was taken until the ASCSU opposed Shirley Weber’s initial bill to mandate ES as a graduation requirement, AB2408, proposed in January 2018. 

In August 2021, Shirley Weber’s second bill to implement a stand-alone, three- unit Ethnic Studies course as a graduation requirement was signed into law. This brings about the culmination of more than 50 years of social justice, anti-racist, systemic change first championed by students in the CSU system in 1968. The opportunities for the ASCSU and campus academic senates to enact governance related to Ethnic Studies have been presented multiple times, most intensively and intentionally in 1969, in 2014, in 2016, and in 2018. Stan State is now acting in accord with shared governance and collaboration that goes beyond what AB1460 mandates. In the process, Stan State is taking decisive steps to introduce the greatest structural change made in a generation to dismantle white supremacy in higher education, throughout the CSU, and at CSU Stanislaus. 

Review History: Approved by President Junn on June 11, 2021.

Academic Affairs Division has the primary responsibility for this policy.

Attachment(s): AA/10/AS/21/UEPC The Joint UEPC-1460 Ad Hoc Committee ES Implementation Resolution, Part I  

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