When surveys revealed that students faced a host of financial challenges during the pandemic, they were supported by the District with a variety of laptop and Wi-Fi hot spot distribution events, as well as regular food distribution events at each of the colleges. Specifically, the SDCCD surveys showed that students at San Diego City College (18%), Mesa College (16%), and Miramar College (13%) reported not having enough food at home.
As Acting Dean of Student Affairs at City College, Adan Sanchez, Ed.D., helps with the coordination of Hunger Action Days where students and college community members can stop by to receive bags of fresh fruits and vegetables and other nonperishable foods, thanks to partnerships with the San Diego Food Bank and Feeding San Diego. The District’s other colleges continued to host similar events throughout the year, as well.
Within the Office of Student Affairs, Sanchez is applying his knowledge as the former Title V activity director to lead equity-minded, campus-wide efforts to intentionally support students by taking the time to better comprehend their lived experiences, and by making them feel “understood, validated, and uplifted through multifaceted services.”
“The pandemic has given us an opportunity to reflect on how we better serve our students,” Sanchez said. This includes finding more efficient online resources, such as using Google voice numbers to text with students or identifying where Zoom can support in-person events to offer hybrid options.
Financial Support for Students
Direct aid to students went far beyond the regular distributions of food and thousands of laptops.
During the 2020-21 academic year, the District received $7,779,070 in Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funds and Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds (HEERF), some of which directly supported more than 17,300 students.
Additionally, in July 2020, the United Way of San Diego provided $267,000 in grants in the form of $200 payments to some of the approximately 24,000 SDCCD students initially denied CARES Act funds.
On top of COVID-19-related relief funds, the District and its four colleges distributed nearly $720,000 to students in the form of scholarships during the 2020-21 academic year.
Continued Commitment to Equity and Access
- The Board of Trustees, during its April 8 meeting, passed resolutions denouncing xenophobia and anti-Asian/Asian Pacific Islander sentiment arising from mischaracterizations regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, and reaffirming the District’s commitment to the well-being and safety of the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, as well as established April as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion month.
- The District, the day after Congress adopted the June 19 federal holiday, announced its observance of the Juneteenth National Independence Day.
- As part of Phase II of the Preparing Accomplished Transfers to the Humanities (PATH) Integrated Internship Initiative, UC San Diego Arts and Humanities Ph.D. students, through an additional $2.7 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, were introduced to a range of academic leadership positions within the SDCCD. The efforts are part of the District’s goal to expand the diversity of students interested in teaching or working at community colleges.
- For the first time, all three District credit-colleges, City, Mesa, and Miramar, were included in The Hispanic Outlook on Education Magazine’s list of Top 100 Colleges and Universities for Hispanics. The data for the recognition, included in the October 2020 issue, was based on the 2018-19 academic year.