Student Equity and Achievement (SEA) Committee
Meeting Minutes

MEETING DATE: 10/15/2026

1. Call to Order For information

2:46pm

2. Review & Approve Agenda

 

• Dani MacArthur moves to approve 

• VP Gagnon seconds 

• Motion passes, agenda approved 

3. Recap of Previous Meeting

 

• Most recent data overview 

• Specific examples about how we are working on student success outcomes 

• The LPC website has shifted to an accessible format for committee agendas and minutes 

• -Nadiyah moves to approve the minutes 

• -Jill Oliveira seconds the motion 

• -Motion passes, previous minutes approved 

4. Old Business

  
Counseling 

• Counseling is moving forward with draft SEPs for students who do not attend their scheduled meetings 

• The hope is to encourage students to return for a counseling appointment to complete a comprehensive SEP, utilizing the draft as a starting point. 

• Everything is going well so far; will continue with updates as time passes. 

5. New Business

Equity Innovation Grant 

• SEA Co-chairs are launching the Equity Innovation Grant Application (2026-2027). 

• Applications open November 1st through February 1st (tentative; date may need to be pushed to account for compressed calendar/winter intercession changes to schedule). 

• Classified, faculty, administrators, and student clubs can apply to support their short-term projects that aim at advancing student equity across the college. 

• Funding is awarded for one year, but previously funded projects may be renewed for an additional year through a new grant application submission. 

• Applicants will be notified by February 28th, 2027. 

• Applicants may be invited to present their proposed project to the SEA committee. 

 

Feedback from committee: 

• Nadiyah asks whether there is required collaboration across departments. 

• Amanda Castelli confirms that collaboration is not required. 

• Dani MacArthur raises that some questions on the internal grant application can be combined for brevity. 

• Savannah Richardson agrees that the internal grant application is quite long; it can be condensed. 

• Savannah asks whether there is a limit to the number of applications a particular person/area can submit;  

• Dean Sidela confirms there is no limit if a staff member/area has multiple project ideas or collaborations that they would like to request funding for. 

• VP Gagnon stresses the importance of measurable outcomes on students, particularly disproportionately impacted students. 

• VP Gagnon suggested reconsidering or rewording the requirement for a “clear” demonstration of student impact in the grant application scoring rubric to ensure funding decisions prioritize actual student impact rather than an applicant’s ability to effectively communicate that impact. 

• LPC Ambassadors ask which metrics are being utilized to measure student impact. 

• Dean Sidela proposes student surveys as a possible measure. 

• Ambassadors have some concerns about surveys being tedious and having limitations; they would like to see more metric options. 

• Dr. Samra shares that in Fall of 2023, 84% of students agreed or strongly agreed that they felt a sense of belonging at LPC. 

•  December proactive groups (You are almost there; here is what to do in your final semester). 

• Excused withdraw policy change- more equitable if they extend to change of grade policy to add 1 more term. 

• A&R Canvas Course: 

• Could be particularly helpful for online students who have questions about navigating Admissions & Records. 

• Suzanne shares a change from CCCapply: To combat fraudulent applications, students will now be required to verify I.D. to complete application. 

• Students can use DMV wallet; ID.me; or come to college in person. 

• Many students had their applications flagged due to a flare in their I.D. documents, like passports. 

• A&R is considering approaches to proactively reach out to these students to support them in completing their applications. 

• A&R is also considering doing application workshops on campus 

• Particularly for undocumented students, reclassifying residency, providing a safe space for them to receive support. 

• Expand and support the week before the 1st week of the semester. 

• SSB9 drop questions. 

• Increase application interpreters and provide more language options (as of now, only available in Spanish). 

• Suzanne shares that there is a need for translation support with Chinese dialects. 

• Grad Check Fest- would combine multiple departments to support in checking requirements for graduation (counseling, A&R, learning communities, etc). 

• Suzanne shares that A&R is committed to working toward equity action plan goals, with the help of other departments, particularly considering the capacity of A&R staff given their existing duties. 

• She shares that there is a large risk in making exceptions where students can verify I.D. via Zoom, so this option is not being utilized, despite the limitations of the new I.D. verification process. 

• Jin asks which manual processes would be most impactful if support was given from SEA committee/other departments. 

• Suzanne shares that the concurrent enrollment period is particularly demanding. Still, she would love to see our staff given information related to the most frequently asked questions, so that if students ask a staff member from another department, they can be guided in the right direction without having to see an A&R staff member specifically. 

• 3 days a week: A&R has drop-in Zoom hours. 

 

 

AI Board Policy Review and Discussion 

• Jin Tsubota raises questions about what the AI policy in the equity action plan draft means; he shares that simple exposure to AI does not necessarily guarantee an increase in AI literacy for students. 

• Dean Sidela shares concern about the differences between the free ChatGPT account and the premium account (which staff have access to).  

• Paul Simpson agrees; expresses that premium accounts can be expensive and inaccessible to our students. 

• Amanda Castelli shares that DSPS is using AI for note-taking; however, she agrees that an important follow-up question would be what “AI equity” actually means. 

• For example: whose responsibility is it to “promote equitable access,” as stated in the draft? 

• Faculty Dani MacArthur and Nadiyah Taylor agree that there is a lot of work involved in these changing AI policies, and students are not feeling trusted by instructors. 

A&R Equity Action Plan 

• Proactive follow-up with students with 60+ units; offer support with COMP SEP, transfer applications, applying for a degree, etc. 

• Registration workshops 

6. Reports/Updates

•  DEIABCT 

• Michelle Gonzales shares the DEIAB Canvas course that is now published. 

• Reflection session meetings for each college will be held both in-person and on Zoom. 

• All those being evaluated will need to attend reflection sessions. 

• For those who have not yet completed their 4-hour DEIAB training, the Canvas course includes a course with activities for completion (5 modules, varying lengths). These provide asynchronous opportunities for faculty to complete the training. 

 

•  Basic Needs 

• Fresh Success Contract has officially been completed and is on the October board agenda for approval.  

• Working on school supply and hygiene welcome packs for our scholar cohort members. 

• BND has partnered with the Foundation to distribute $15,000 in funds to our housing justice scholars, allowing us to support our unhoused students here at LPC. 

• Growing partnership with Open Heart Foodbank:  

• Smoothing out weekly limits on items, so that students can visit the market daily. 

•  Received a pallet of diapers to give out. 

• 1 of 2 Open Heart sites to receive non-food items from Costco (fire pit, coolers, strollers, car seats, etc.) Paul is still navigating the best way to give these items out. 

• Partnering with Caring Campus to locate local produce vendors; this will allow us to buy produce on a regular basis and keep the market stocked throughout the week for both students and staff. 

• Dean Sidela asks how we can refer students over for diaper pickup. 

• Paul shares that they are available upon request at the checkout station, so long as they have registered at the Mini Market to shop (only requires a student I.D. to confirm registration). 

 

 English, Math, and ESL 

 

Math:   

• Michael Peterson shares that he has authored two resolutions that will be moving to the statewide Academic Senate plenary.  They are related to math classes and AB 1705.  One is to address GPA bands used for placement in concurrent support classes (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1J9SYutc0CNvG2tvK_BoWRW7VFr5zqHS_omSaZVTxDOE/edit?usp=sharing ) and the other is for addressing the Intermediate Algebra prerequisite in our CORs (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qArIOFeeDJzdaMnjPm219Lc1ZZteFX-fWpd7qQWv_oI/edit?usp=sharing 

 

 

English/ESL 

• Dean Mattern shares that the Computer Center will be utilized for the next round of registration support in completing ESL self-placements to allow for more space for students. 

• Shoutout to Adria and Enrollment Services for helping with self-placement and registration. 

• Conversations in the English department are continuing around A.I. 

• The English Center is staying busy; students are enjoying the space. 

• Additional thank yous to DSPS and Tutoring Center for continuing to collaborate with English and ESL. 

 

 Guided Pathways 

• Jill C. and Nadiyah are partnering with Dr. Gomez to investigate what student success teams will look like. 

• There are lactation rooms and diaper changing rooms now included on the Campus Map. 

• Lilibeth Juarez will be the new Tri-Chair on the Guided Pathways Committee. 

 

 

 HSI Grant 

• Grant has come to an end as of September 30th 

• Reframing what support the Student Ambassadors provide; transitioning to focus on Guided Pathways and student success teams. 

• Ambassadors continue to do carting and calling campaigns. 

• Ambassadors plan to continue attending both SEA and Guided Pathways Committees. 

 

Other Updates and/or Reports? 

 

EOPS/CARE/CalWORKs/NextUp: 

 

• “Adopt-a-Family” has rebranded to “Season of Giving” 

• The program is expanding to include children of students in all 4 programs, beyond CW and CARE. 

• This event will now serve many more children and seeks to alleviate some of the financial pressure our students may experience during the holiday season. 

• Students in the cohorts have been given until the end of October to sign up; however, the team will be checking in with those who have not signed up as the deadline approaches

7. Good of the Order

For information

8. Adjournment

For information

Meeting adjourned at: 4:33pm

Next meeting: November 19th