Student Senate for California Community Colleges (SSCCC) is a nonprofit corporation. It was formed under the California "Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation Law" on April 29, 2015.
SSCCC is organized for "charitable purposes" and for the "specific purposes" stated in its articles of incorporation. SSCCC endeavors to "improve student access, promote student success, engage and empower local student leaders, and enrich the collegiate experience for all California community college students".
The activities of SSCCC are conducted and its powers are exercised by or under the direction of a "board of directors", as required by law.
Video Student Senate for California Community Colleges
History
Establishment and incorporation
In 1996 the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges established a "Student Senate for the California Community Colleges". The Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges subsequently recognized "the Student Senate for the California Community Colleges as the representative of community college-associated student organizations before the Board of Governors and the Chancellor's Office". The operation of the Student Senate was funded by the State of California in accordance with California Education Code Section 71040.
On May 7, 2006 community college students established an "unincorporated association" named "Student Senate for California Community Colleges". That association solicited and received charitable contributions. It also solicited and received donations of student representation fees that had been collected in accordance with California Education Code Section 76060.5.
In 2013 the unincorporated SSCCC supported the amendment of Section 76060.5. Amendments to Section 76060.5 were enacted and became effective on January 1, 2014. The amendments provide, in part, that "a statewide community college student organization" must be "established as a legal entity registered with the Secretary of State" in order to qualify to receive distributions of student representation fees from the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. A nonprofit California corporation named Student Senate for California Community Colleges was established in 2015 as a means of fulfilling the "legal entity" requirement in Section 76060.5, as amended.
Predecessor organizations
The unincorporated SSCCC was established in May 2006. It was preceded by several similar organizations: the California Junior College Association; the California Community College Student Government Association; the Community College Student Lobby; and the California Student Association of Community Colleges (CalSACC).
CalSACC was established in 1987. In 1999, CalSACC's membership included 72 community college student body associations. By 2005, CalSACC's membership had dwindled to just 31 student body associations. And by 2007, CalSACC had become "virtually non-existent". In 2008 CalSACC's remaining assets were donated to the unincorporated SSCCC. The sum of $57,150.53 was transferred to the SSCCC on June 3, 2008.
CalSACC had ten organizational subdivisions, which were called "regions". During the gradual disintegration and ultimate dissolution of CalSACC, its regions continued functioning autonomously. On May 6 and 7, 2006, community college student leaders from throughout California gathered at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in San Diego, California. They considered several model constitutions for a new statewide student organization. They adopted constitutional model "E" by a vote of 59 in favor and 11 opposed. That model grouped the former CalSACC regions together under the name "Student Senate for California Community Colleges". Then, each of the ten former CalSACC regions selected two representatives, and those 20 representatives ratified the SSCCC constitution on May 7, 2006. The former CalSACC regions subsequently changed their names to reflect the fact that they had become regions of the SSCCC.
Noteworthy events
On March 5, 2012 the SSCCC, the California State Student Association, and the University of California Student Association sponsored a rally at the California State Capitol. About 8,000 people gathered on the western steps of the capitol and listened to speeches by student leaders and by state leaders, including Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, Assembly Speaker John Pérez, and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg. After the rally, protestors from the Occupy movement entered the capitol and refused to leave. Officers of the California Highway Patrol arrested 72 people for trespassing. These events generated dozens of news reports.
Maps Student Senate for California Community Colleges
Governance
SSCCC has Delegates. A meeting of the Delegates is known as a Delegate Assembly. A "Fall Delegate Assembly" is usually held during the month of October or November and a "Spring Delegate Assembly" is usually held during the month of April or May.
SSCCC has divided the territory of the State of California into 10 geographic regions. The Delegates in a region may hold regional meetings and may elect up to 3 Directors. SSCCC may therefore have up to 30 Directors. The Directors are voting members of SSCCC's Board of Directors.
A meeting of the Board of Directors may elect a Director to the office of president and may elect 6 other Directors to the office of vice president. These elections usually take place during the month of July. When a Director is elected to the office of president or vice president, that event creates a vacancy in the office of Director. The vacancy may subsequently be filled by a vote of the Delegates at a regional meeting. The president and vice presidents are voting members of the Board of Directors. The president presides over meetings of the Board. The president or vice presidents preside over the meetings of various committees of the Board. Meetings of the Delegate Assembly, the Board, and committees of the Board are all held in accordance with the California Public Records Act and the Ralph M. Brown Act.
Principal Office and Officers
A "Statement of Information" was filed in the office of the California Secretary of State on February 8, 2017. The statement indicates that the street address of SSCCC's principal office in California is: 1102 Q Street, 5th Floor, Sacramento, California, 95811. The statement also indicates that Courtney L. Cooper is the chief executive officer of SSCCC. Karen Patron is the secretary (Vice President of Communications) and Cheyne Strawn is the treasurer (Vice President of Finance).
Lobbying
Education Code Section 76060.5 authorizes the collection and expenditure of student representation fees. Subdivision (c)(1) of Section 76060.5 provides that such fees "shall be expended to establish and support the operations of a statewide community college student organization, recognized by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, with effective student representation and participation in state-level community college shared governance and with governmental affairs representatives to advocate before the Legislature and other state and local governmental entities".
SSCCC's representatives participate in state-level community college shared governance by serving as members of a "Consultation Council" established by the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges. SSCCC's representatives also engage in legislative advocacy by contacting members of the California Legislature and by testifying before committees of the Legislature. Efforts to influence the decisions of California legislators and officials must be conducted in accordance with the Political Reform Act of 1974 (commencing with California Government Code Section 81000). The provisions of that Act are administered by the Political Reform Division of the California Secretary of State's office.
Board of Governors' recognition of SSCCC
On March 20, 2017 the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges approved a "Memorandum of Understanding" which recognizes that SSCCC is a statewide community college student organization within the meaning of California Education Code Section 76060.5. That recognition makes SSCCC eligible to receive distributions of student representation fees from the Board of Governors. The Memorandum of Understanding provides that the Board of Governors may cancel the memorandum upon thirty days written notice to SSCCC.
The Board of Governors has also recognized SSCCC "as the representative of community college students in conjunction with the associated student organizations in the Consultation Process and before the Board of Governors and Chancellor's Office". This recognition makes SSCCC's officers and directors eligible to receive public reimbursements for the expenses that they incur while participating in community college shared governance processes. The total amount of such reimbursements may be up to $60,000 each year.
Having been recognized "as the representative of community college students in conjunction with the associated student organizations in the Consultation Process and before the Board of Governors and Chancellor's Office", SSCCC has the authority to nominate persons to serve as student members of the Board of Governors. SSCCC may periodically submit to the Governor of California a list of names of at least three persons who are eligible to be appointed to the Board of Governors.
Student Aid Commission nominees
The California Student Aid Commission has 15 members, including 2 student members. The student members of the Commission are nominated by student organizations and appointed by the Governor of California, with those appointments being subject to confirmation by the California State Senate.
The Student Aid Commission has delegated to its Director (its chief executive officer) the power to determine whether a particular student organization is "a composite group of at least five representative student government associations". The Director may invite student organizations that meet this standard to nominate three to five students to serve as members of the Commission. The Director has determined that SSCCC is "a composite group of at least five representative student government associations" and that SSCCC is eligible to nominate students to serve as members of the Commission. The Director periodically invites SSCCC to submit a list of nominees to the Governor.
References
External links
- Official website
- SSCCC's "Organization Profile" at the National Center for Charitable Statistics
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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