Category Archives: Home

Governor Brown’s Department of Finance yesterday presented the first draft of performance targets for the state’s public four-year universities, tied to budget increases.  The seven measures are described on these slides, with data (when available) showing the historical trends and … Continue reading →

We recently sent the California Community College Chancellor and Board over 100+ pages of evidence and 50+ examples highlighting the illegal regulations that are leading to confusion about authority and are harming our students and schools. Read our letter to … Continue reading →

A well-functioning community college is one of the best ways to help students succeed by providing access to degrees and technical credentials that are crucial in today’s economy. But right now, California’s community colleges are burdened by an only-in-California decision-making … Continue reading →

Robert Shireman was a keynote speaker at the annual conference of The Association of California Community College Administrators.  He addressed issues relating to “faculty primacy” and spoke to the confusion around Academic Senate “10+1 academic and professional matters.” View the … Continue reading →

Read Bob Shireman’s latest op-ed on CCSF’s continuing struggle to make the changes it needs to keep its accreditation and stay open in the face of a looming deadline. Read the op-ed

On December 12, 2012, California Competes filed L.C. 1 – a legal challenge with the California Community College (CCC) Board of Governors seeking to repair the broken decision-making process at the 112 local colleges in the system.  The challenge sought … Continue reading →

Leaders agree that changes are needed to fix regulations that invite discord. “Robert Shireman, executive director of California Competes, blamed the regulation, which he alleged gives excessive power to academic senates representing faculty on individual campuses, for contributing to a … Continue reading →

California Competes filed a legal challenge with the California Community College (CCC) Board of Governors asserting that the regulations that provide veto power to academic senates are invalid, illegal and should be reversed. Our legal challenge calls for CCCs to … Continue reading →

Bob Shireman addressed the CCSF faculty to urge them to make it possible to hold trustees fully accountable. His statement shows that the regulations that grant veto power to academic senates: plainly conflict with AB 1725 and other provisions of … Continue reading →

A report by the Fiscal Crisis and Management Team, a state agency tasked with assisting public colleges and schools through fiscal crises, released a 150-page report warning that CCSF is in “a perilous financial position”: “Under this organizational and cultural … Continue reading →

In a San Francisco Chronicle commentary, Bob Shireman explains how an obscure rule adopted 22 years ago leads to community colleges that too often cannot adapt to reduced budgets and to the changing needs of the state.  The flowchart below … Continue reading →

August 28, 2012 Bob Shireman laid out California Competes’ recommendations around enhancing accountability and creating a Higher Education Investment Board at the Little Hoover Commission’s public hearing on the issues facing California’s higher education system. Read Bob Shireman’s testimony

In a letter to California Competes, Executive Director Diana Fuentes-Michel of the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC) mentioned that CSAC is aligned with many of the California Competes report’s core priorities but believes that some of the implementation, as proposed, … Continue reading →

For Release: June 7, 2012 California Competes is pleased to share with you our Council’s report, The Road Ahead: Higher Education, California’s Promise, and Our Future Economy. Before reading the report, take a look at our Press Release

The Campaign’s news report shows that for every $1 California invests in public higher education, the state will reap $4.50 from taxes on the increased earnings of college graduates and lower costs for providing other state safety net services and … Continue reading →

February 22, 2012 CSU Fullerton held a symposium about the evolving future and rising costs of higher education. At this symposium, Bob Shireman discusses California’s need to reboot our expectations around higher education and argues for certain actionable policies to … Continue reading →

February 1, 2012 At a time when California needs to make choices about its priorities, Lande points to some of the steps that must be taken to ensure that our institutions of higher education are improving their effectiveness. See her … Continue reading →