BUILD is watching SB5194

Short title: Providing for equity and access in community and technical colleges
Hearing: January 21, 2021 at 1:30 pm in Committee on Higher Education and Workforce Development

SB 5194 Providing for equity and access in the community and technical colleges. 

This legislation creates an education skills training, mentoring, and student advising program in all community and technical colleges for low-income and students of color. These students that receive Washington college grants, college bound scholarships, or federal Pell grants will receive mentoring and support to help improve the completion rate for workforce training certification and degree programs at community and technical colleges. 

This bill creates methods of accountability, provides student services, and requires progress reports to be submitted to the student board of community colleges. 

Services for eligible low-income and students of color include:
Mentoring, advising, stipends for educational material, transportation, medical care and housing resources, including childcare services for those students in need. 

Accountability:
Effective July 30, 2022, all community and technical colleges are required to develop and submit an annual strategic plan that includes diversity, equity, and inclusion achievable methods to the state board for community and technical colleges. The strategic plans shall gather input from stakeholders, classified staff and faculty, administrative staff, students, community organizations. They are also required to develop surveys to capture results to integrate into future strategic plans.

Establish a student-peer mentoring and advising accredited base program and a faculty diversity program. 

This policy will be known as “our colleges, our future act 2021".