Southwestern College was recently named a 2021 Equity Champion of Higher Education for its exceptional work in awarding associate degrees for transfer to Black and Latinx students by The Campaign for College Opportunity.
SWC Superintendent Dr. Mark Sanchez said the award was centered around the work that has occurred at the college over the last several years through the Office of Equity and Engagement, in collaboration with faculty, classified professionals, and administrators embedding intentional efforts to ensure a campus culture that is welcoming to all students, in particular its students of color. He said the reason on focusing on students of color is it is seen through data analysis that students of color tend to have a higher attrition rate for a host of reasons.
“The college has built strategic programming through our Advancing Equity and Teaching Academy, through our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion work in supporting students,” he said. “We have food pantries, basic needs resources, mental health support. We have created a whole continuum of care for students based on whatever needs they may have to make sure they stay enrolled in their courses. That has been a critical approach that we have been doing with students.”
Sanchez said the Academy works with faculty to highlight the student experience in the classroom with professional facilitators working with professors. He said it is a one-year program centered on today’s students, student issues, and how the college can better support the student’s success in the classroom. He said for example, if a student missed class on a day that an assignment is due and comes to the professor and says that they missed it because a family member had COVID and had to take them to the hospital, the traditional approach would be regardless of excuse, the assignment is late, and docked points against the grade.
“Under the Academy, we are working with professors to understand how much that type of circumstance might have brought mental stress to the student’s experience and if they are taking the time to communicate with you, how can we work with the student to not penalize the student for having a life issue,” he said.
“But how we can encourage them on turning in the assignment at all, and what that interaction looks like between a professor and a student. It is reimaging the student experience, while taking time to listen to the student perspective on how we serve them in our classrooms.”
Sanchez said the college has faced challenges in equity and inclusiveness in the past.
“What we have done as a college is acknowledge what those challenges are, and then created spaces to bring people together through professional development activities, cross-cultural training programs,” he said. “We have brought in some of the highest level and most talented speakers to talk about race, diversity, and inclusion on a college campus. We addressed the issue head-on regarding some of our college climate issues. Particularly, working with our students and employees to create a more welcoming college culture for everyone.”
Southwestern College was awarded funding to explore the feasibility of affordable student housing for each of its four campuses, with receipt of planning grants of nearly $1 million.
Sanchez said the state made $2 billion available over the next two years for student housing and the first phase of the funding is around planning grants.
In October 2021, SWC submitted five planning grants for affordable student housing on campus sites, including the Chula Vista, Otay Mesa, San Ysidro, and National City campuses
“We were funded for $618,000 to explore affordable student housing on our campus centers,” he said. “We were just notified last week that our proposals were accepted for funding, so now we are waiting for the California Department of Finance to let us know when we can expect the funding, at which point we will bring on architects to begin looking at design concepts for affordable student housing. It is very much in its infancy, but the intent is to create affordable housing options for students who are attending Southwestern College. We are really looking forward to being able to be part of a solution to a major social issue in San Diego County. It will make a huge difference. It is an exciting time at Southwestern. I am so pleased with all the teamwork. We have an amazing team of professionals here that really care about the students and the community.”
