WHEREAS, California community college students face severe and compounding financial pressures due to persistent inflation, rising housing and food costs, and declining job availability, with statewide and national research indicating that nearly half of community college students experience food insecurity, over half experience housing insecurity, and a majority must work while enrolled—often exceeding 30 to 40 hours per week—thereby creating structural conditions in which unpaid student leadership roles are increasingly inaccessible [2][4][7][15][16];
WHEREAS, These economic barriers disproportionately impact low-income, first-generation, undocumented, disabled, parenting, and system-impacted students, and extensive research demonstrates that excessive work hours and financial strain reduce student engagement, leadership participation, persistence, and retention, particularly among historically marginalized populations,
thereby limiting equitable student voice and representation in participatory governance and campus decision-making [1][3][6][17];
WHEREAS, Significant inconsistencies across California Community College districts—where some student body associations provide leadership stipends while others provide none—have produced statewide inequities in representation, leadership continuity, and participation capacity, resulting in structurally uneven engagement within statewide governance bodies such as the Student Senate for California Community Colleges (SSCCC), legislative advocacy efforts, and participatory governance processes [8][9][10][11][12][13][14]; and
WHEREAS, Prior SSCCC efforts addressing student leadership compensation and equitable pay have demonstrated that, without a technically precise, equity-aligned, and implementation-supported framework, adoption, sustainability, and systemwide impact remain limited, thereby necessitating a clearly defined statewide model policy—accompanied by guidance tools—that protects long-term access to student leadership roles while respecting local governance authority [11][12][13][14]; Now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges, in consultation and partnership with the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, create, adopt, implement, publish, and distribute a Statewide Model Student Leadership Stipend Policy applicable internally to SSCCC-recognized student leadership roles and elected and appointed SBA/ASG officers, establishing clear eligibility criteria, structured compensation tiers, and minimum accountability requirements, including but not limited to mandatory attendance and timely officer reporting, and shall disseminate the Model Policy to all California Community College districts and student body associations as a recommended statewide standard for equitable student leadership compensation, strongly encouraging voluntary adoption, alignment, or reference by colleges and districts when developing or revising local SBA/ASG stipend structures to promote consistency, equity, and accessibility across the system [2][4][7][11][12][13];
RESOLVED, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges advocate that any Statewide Model Student Leadership Stipend Policy include compensation tiers aligned with differences in responsibility, time commitment, governance workload, and positional duties, with stipend ranges developed, reviewed, and periodically updated by SSCCC leadership outside of the General Assembly to ensure flexibility and responsiveness to inflation, economic conditions, and evolving student needs, recognizing the documented relationship between compensated leadership engagement, student persistence, and equitable access to high-impact educational practices [1][3][6][15][16][17]; and
RESOLVED, That Student Senate for California Community Colleges develop and disseminate a stipend implementation toolkit, including sample resolutions, budget justification language, administrative guidance, and template correspondence for engagement with college administrations, district leadership, and, where appropriate, the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, and shall periodically review and update the Model Policy and toolkit to maintain alignment with student equity mandates, basic needs data, labor-market trends, and prior SSCCC governance actions and resolutions, ensuring that student government participation remains financially accessible, professionally accountable, and structurally equitable across the California Community Colleges system [2][5][8][9][10][14].
Citations:
[1] Astin, Alexander W. What Matters in College? Four Critical Years Revisited. Jossey-Bass, 1993.
[2] Community College League of California. Real College Survey Shows Escalating Student Basic Needs Crisis. Community College League of California, 30 Jan. 2025.
[3] Center for Community College Student Engagement. The Intersection of Work and Learning. CCCSE, 2019.
[4] Cooper, Melanie, and Marisol Cuellar Mejia. How Many California College Students Work? Public Policy Institute of California, 2025.
[5] Goldrick-Rab, Sara. Paying the Price: College Costs, Financial Aid, and the Betrayal of the American Dream. University of Chicago Press, 2016.
[6] Kuh, George D. High-Impact Educational Practices: What They Are, Who Has Access to Them, and Why They Matter. Association of American Colleges and Universities, 2008.
[7] New America Foundation. Working Students and the Financial Realities of Community College Enrollment. New America, 2024.
[8] Student Senate for California Community Colleges. Board Agenda. 17 Apr. 2021.
[9] Student Senate for California Community Colleges. Board of Directors Meeting Minutes. 21 June 2025.
[10] Student Senate for California Community Colleges. Advisor Newsletter: Spring 2025 Edition.
[11] Student Senate for California Community Colleges. Resolution S24.03.19: SSCCC Stipend Reform. SSCCC Resolutions, Spring 2024.
[12] Student Senate for California Community Colleges. Resolution S24.03.22: Fair Student Trustee Pay. SSCCC Resolutions, Spring 2024.
[13] Student Senate for California Community Colleges. Resolution S25.24.37: Ensuring Student Trustee Rights and Equitable Pay. SSCCC Resolutions, Spring 2025.
[14] Student Senate for California Community Colleges. Student Stipend Resolution. SSCCC Resolutions Archive, Fall 2007.
[15] The Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice. #RealCollege Survey: California Community Colleges, 2016–2018.
[16] The Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice. #RealCollege Survey: California Community Colleges, 2019.
[17] Tinto, Vincent. Leaving College: Rethinking the Causes and Cures of Student Attrition. University of Chicago Press, 1993.