How did the Academic Senate get started?
In 1989 the California State Legislature passed the historic Assembly Bill 1725 which reformed the California community college faculty’s role in governance. Previously, our governance structure was based on the high school model. And like high school faculty, we community college faculty played little part in governing the institutions in which we worked. By passing AB1725, the State Legislature reformed the community colleges to make them comparable to the first two years of universities. Consequently, the community college faculty were given the authority to participate professionally in the governance of their institutions in ways university faculty have traditionally enjoyed.
