Julianna M. Asperin Barnes

The 2025-2028 Student Equity Plan for Saddleback College is a comprehensive roadmap to advance racial equity and address systemic inequities for disproportionately impacted student populations, including Hispanic/Latinx, Black/African American, and First Generation students. The plan focuses on improving outcomes across five key metrics: successful enrollment, completion of transfer-level math and English, persistence, overall completion, and transfer to a four-year institution. Strategies are integrated across Instruction, Student Services, and Administrative Services, emphasizing data-driven decision-making, culturally responsive practices, and collaborations with various support programs to eliminate equity gaps, foster transformational change, and ensure equitable access, support, and success for all students.

This Student Equity Plan outlines strategies to advance the college's mission by analyzing and addressing equity metrics for disproportionately impacted student groups. The plan identifies Black/African American, First-Generation College Students, and Hispanic/Latinx students as key focus areas, with goals to eliminate achievement gaps in successful enrollment, persistence, completion of transfer-level Math & English, overall completion, and transfer rates. It builds upon previous initiatives, organizing strategies across instruction, student services, and administrative services, while emphasizing ongoing assessment and accountability.

The strategic plan for Saddleback College is a roadmap to empower its diverse student body for personal, academic, and economic advancement through equitable and innovative educational experiences. It is built upon four overarching goals: ensuring student equity in access and achievement, transforming lives through learning and achievement, engaging with the community to create economic prosperity, and optimizing institutional design and structure with a student-centered focus. Key priorities include closing equity gaps, expanding pathways to success, strengthening community partnerships, and enhancing student support and institutional effectiveness.

The Board of Trustees meeting addressed the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. It included discussions and recommendations regarding the approval of ERP implementation costs, piggyback agreements with Ellucian Company LP and Robert Ferrilli, LLC, and the reallocation of funding from basic aid projects to the ERP project. The agreements cover the purchase of Ellucian cloud and web-based integrated products, software, support services, and associated professional, implementation, and integration services, as well as technology professional services for project management, change management, and technical advisory services during the ERP implementation project. The board also reviewed the District-wide Technology Strategic Master Plan (DTSMP) and the selection of Banner as the new ERP solution.

Saddleback College's Economic and Workforce Development (EWD) plan aims to connect programs and services to the community. It inventories existing programs, identifies areas for expansion, and proposes new initiatives. The plan focuses on student success, aligning college offerings with workforce needs, and becoming a regional leader in EWD. Key areas include strengthening partnerships with businesses, improving program alignment with labor market information, infusing critical skills into the curriculum, enhancing student support services, building sustainable administrative structures, increasing the market value of certificates and degrees, developing fee-based programs, improving responsiveness to workforce needs, developing a robust contract education program, and expanding pathways for students. The plan uses a three-theme framework: Student Success, College Connection to the Community, and Being a Regional Leader. It addresses challenges such as the marginalized CTE mission, insufficient focus on program outcomes, and the need for collaboration among colleges.