Academic Senate

The passage of AB 1725 in 1988 and the omnibus reform legislation confirmed the Academic Senate's role as the college's primary voice in academic and professional matters. The Academic Senate is a representative body, and we actively solicit your input and questions.

Vision for Success Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
State Chancellor's Website Links
- Vision for Success Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 2020 Report (PDF)
- California Community Colleges Family Letter (PDF)
Other Resources
- 21 Days of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice (PDF)
- Umoja Indaba Series (PDF)
Academic Senate California Community Colleges (ASCCC)
Formed in 1970, the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC) is a 501(c) 6 nonprofit organization. Created for the promotion and advancement of public community college education in California, its general purposes are:
1. To strengthen local academic senates and councils of community colleges;
2. To serve as the voice of the faculty of the community colleges in matters of statewide concern;
3. To develop policies and promote the implementation of policies on matters of statewide issues;
4. To make recommendations on statewide matters affecting the community colleges.
The Academic Senate gets its authority to strengthen local senates on California community colleges statewide from the California Code of Regulations Title 5 Section 53206, which says: (a) An Academic Senate for the California Community Colleges has been established through ratification by local academic senates or faculty councils so that the community college faculty of California may have a formal and effective procedure for participating in the formation of state policies on academic and professional matters.(b) The Board of Governors (BOG) recognizes the Academic Senate of the California Community Colleges as the representative of community college academic senates or faculty councils before the Board of Governors and Chancellor's Office.

The Orange Coast College local Academic Senate serves as the official voice of the OCC faculty in academic and professional matters. Under Title 5, Section 53200, the Academic Senate is a faculty organization whose primary function is to make recommendations to the Board of Trustees on 10+1 academic and professional matters. Each local Academic Senate works with its Board of Trustees to establish policy determining which of the 10 + 1 responsibilities the Board with rely primarily upon the advice of the Senate and which of those 10 + 1 responsibilities the Board will reach mutual agreement with the Senate.
10+1 Academic Senate Responsibilities
10+1 Academic Senate Responsibilities Include
1. The development of curriculum, including the establishment of prerequisites and placing of courses in disciplines (Rely Primarily)
2. The determination of degree and certificate requirements (Rely Primarily)
3. The establishment of standards and policies regarding student success (Rely Primarily)
4. The development of new educational programs (Rely Primarily)
5. Faculty roles/involvement in accreditation processes and the self-study/annual reports (Rely Primarily)
6. Policies for professional development activities and the appointment of faculty members to District and College committees (Rely Primarily)
7. The development of processes for program review (Rely Primarily)
8. District and college governance structures, as related to faculty roles (Mutual Agreement)
9. Establishment and review of grading policies (Mutual Agreement)
10. Processes to be utilized in institutional planning and budgeting (Mutual Agreement)
+1 Other academic and professional matters (Mutual Agreement)

In Addition to 10+1

The Education Code assigns additional responsibilities to Academic Senates:
- Minimum qualifications and equivalencies processes
  Section 87359 (b) Requires the local Board of Trustees to rely primarily upon the advice of the senate regarding faculty meet minimum qualifications.
- Faculty hiring
  Section 87360 Requires the local Board of Trustees to develop hiring criteria, policies, and procedures for new faculty members.
- Faculty evaluation and tenure review
  Section 87610.1 (a) Requires that collective bargaining agents, or faculty unions, consult with the academic senate prior to negotiating tenure evaluation procedures.Section 87663 (f) Requires that collective bargaining agents, or faculty unions, consult with the academic senate prior to negotiating faculty evaluation procedures.
- Administrative retreat rights
  Section 87458 (a) Requires the local Board of Trustees to rely primarily upon the advice and judgment of the academic senate regarding procedures regarding administrative retreating into faculty positions.
- Faculty Service Areas
  Section 87743.2 Requires that collective bargaining agents, or faculty unions, consult with the academic senate prior to negotiating Faculty Service Areas (FAS).

MEETING AGENDAS & MINUTES

About Agendas, Supplemental Docs, and Minutes

The meeting agendas, supplemental documents, and meeting minutes for the current semester will be posted below once they have become available. Click on the text & PDF icons that are hyperlinked to access the documents.

The Academic Senate transitioned all agendas and supplemental documents to BoardDocs on May 7, 2019. Select “OCC Academic Senate” from the dropdown menu in the upper right corner to view agendas and minutes. When you follow a link to access an agenda on BoardDocs you will be prompted to view or print the agenda. Please choose the "View Agenda" button to view all agenda items and click on individual agenda items on the left hand menu to view more details and any supplemental documents associated with that item.
AGENDAS

In accordance with the Brown Act, a physical copy of the agenda is posted outside of the Faculty House at least 72 hours before the meeting. The Academic Senate administrative assistant posts a copy of the agenda and also e-mails a copy to the faculty. Faculty can review the current agenda and related meeting documents, as well as approved minutes from previous meetings, by clicking on the link in their meeting notification.

The Academic Senate transitioned all agendas and supplemental documents to BoardDocs on May 7, 2019. Select “OCC Academic Senate” from the dropdown menu in the upper right corner to view agendas and minutes. When you follow a link to access an agenda on BoardDocs you will be prompted to view or print the agenda. Please choose the "View Agenda" button to view all agenda items and click on individual agenda items on the left hand menu to view more details and any supplemental documents associated with that item.
SUPPLEMENTAL DOCUMENTS

These documents are distributed during the Senate's Regular Meeting by presenters. These documents need to be submitted by presenters via email to the Senate administrative assistant at occacademicsenate@occ.cccd.edu by the close of the meeting which they were distributed. Documents submitted will be posted as supplemental documents to agendas on BoardDocs.
MINUTES

The Academic Senate administrative assistant prepares the first draft of the Academic Senate Regular Meeting minutes. The final draft of the Academic Senate Regular Meeting minutes receives final edits by the Senate Secretary after Senators review the draft for approval. The Senate Secretary then sends the finalized and approved version of the Regular Meeting minutes to the Senate Staff Aide for posting to the OCC website and the OCC Portal.

The Senate Secretary prepares the Executive Board minutes and sends them to the Senate Staff Aide for posting after Executive Board approval. A courtesy copy of the approved minutes is sent by the Senate Secretary to the Board of Trustees, CCCD Chancellor/Vice Chancellor, College President, and CFE Union President. Faculty may download minutes from either the OCC website or the OCC Portal.

How To Documents

**Instructions to Navigate the Meeting Packet**
Application	Instructions
In your web browser
In your desktop PDF viewer	2 ways to navigate to specific pages in the meeting packet: Choose the document title form the bookmarks bar on the left menu Click on the page # in the table of contents. See example (JPG)

2025-2026 Meeting Agendas & Minutes

Spring 2026 Meeting Agendas & Minutes

**Spring 2026 Meeting Agendas & Minutes**
In accordance with the Brown Act, a physical copy of the agenda is posted outside of the Faculty House at least 72 hours before the meeting. The Academic Senate administrative assistant posts a copy of the agenda and also e-mails a copy to the faculty. Faculty can review the current agenda and related meeting documents, as well as approved minutes from previous meetings, by clicking on the link in their meeting notification. The Academic Senate transitioned all agendas and supplemental documents to BoardDocs on May 7, 2019. Select “OCC Academic Senate” from the dropdown menu in the upper right corner to view agendas and minutes. When you follow a link to access an agenda on BoardDocs you will be prompted to view or print the agenda. Please choose the "View Agenda" button to view all agenda items and click on individual agenda items on the left hand menu to view more details and any supplemental documents associated with that item.
#	Date	BoardDoc Agendas & Meeting Documents	Meeting Minutes	Executive Board Minutes	Location
17	Tue 1/13/26	Executive Board Meeting			Faculty House
18	Tue 2/3/26	Regular Meeting Executive Board Meeting			Faculty House
19	Tue 2/10/26	Regular Meeting Executive Board Meeting			Faculty House
20	Tue 2/17/26	Regular Meeting Executive Board Meeting			Faculty House
21	Tue 2/24/26	Regular Meeting Executive Board Meeting			Faculty House
22	Tue 3/3/26	Regular Meeting Executive Board Meeting			Faculty House
23	Tue 3/10/26	Regular Meeting Executive Board Meeting			Faculty House
24	Tue 3/17/26	Regular Meeting Executive Board Meeting			Faculty House
25	Tue 3/24/26	Regular Meeting Executive Board Meeting			Faculty House
26	Tue 3/31/26	Spring Break - No Meeting
27	Tue 4/7/26	Regular Meeting Executive Board Meeting			Faculty House
28	Tue 4/14/26	Regular Meeting Executive Board Meeting			Faculty House
29	Tue 4/21/26	Regular Meeting Executive Board Meeting			Faculty House
30	Tue 4/28/26	Regular Meeting Executive Board Meeting			Faculty House
31	Tue 5/5/26	Regular Meeting Executive Board Meeting			Faculty House
32	Tue 5/12/26	Regular Meeting Executive Board Meeting			Faculty House
33	Tue 5/19/26	Regular Meeting Executive Board Meeting			Faculty House
34	Tue 5/26/26	Regular Meeting Executive Board Meeting			Faculty House

Fall 2025 Meeting Agendas & Minutes

**Fall 2025 Meeting Agendas & Minutes**
#	Date	BoardDoc Agendas & Meeting Documents	Meeting Minutes	Executive Board Minutes	Location
1	Tue 8/26/25	Regular Meeting			SU 214
Executive Board Meeting
2	Tue 9/2/25	Regular Meeting			SU 214
Executive Board Meeting
3	Tue 9/9/25	Regular Meeting			SU 214
Executive Board Meeting
4	Tue 9/16/25	Regular Meeting			SU 214
Executive Board Meeting
5	Tue 9/23/25	Regular Meeting		No meeting held	SU 214
Executive Board Meeting
6	Tue 9/30/25	Regular Meeting			SU 214
Executive Board Meeting
7	Tue 10/7/25	Regular Meeting			SU 214
Executive Board Meeting
8	Tue 10/14/25	Regular Meeting			Faculty House
Executive Board Meeting
9	Tue 10/21/25	Regular Meeting			Faculty House
Executive Board Meeting
10	Tue 10/28/25	Regular Meeting			Faculty House
Executive Board Meeting
11	Tue 11/4/25	Regular Meeting			Faculty House
Executive Board Meeting
12	Tue 11/11/25	Regular Meeting	Veterans Day	Veterans Day	Faculty House
Executive Board Meeting
13	Tue 11/18/25	Regular Meeting			Faculty House
Executive Board Meeting
14	Tue 11/25/25	Regular Meeting			Faculty House
Executive Board Meeting
15	Tue 12/2/25	Regular Meeting			Faculty House
Executive Board Meeting
16	Tue 12/9/25	Regular Meeting			Faculty House
Executive Board Meeting

Summer 2025 Meeting Agendas & Minutes

#	Date	BoardDocs Agendas & Meeting Documents	Meeting Minutes	Executive Board Minutes	Location
1	Tues 7/29/25	Executive Board Meeting			COL CTR 214
2	Wed 8/20/25	Academic Senate Retreat			Sailing Center

In This Section

MEETING AGENDAS & MINUTES

2025-2026 Meeting Agendas & Minutes