Welcome to your monthly newsletter for January!
WELCOME BACK and Happy New Year!
Welcome back after our winter break! It’s great to see the parking lot full again. We are welcoming students back with a “welcome week” booth and some fun activities. Faculty and staff, please join in!
Enrollment Updates
Enrollment for the spring semester has increased over last spring, but this is before the census date drops and before final registration for late start and second-half classes, so it is not our final count for spring. We are still below our target of pre-pandemic enrollment, but we are headed in the right direction.
| FTES | ||||||||
| 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | ||
| Summer | 347 | 344 | 248 | 211 | 244 | 292 | 333 | |
| Fall | 1183 | 1064 | 825 | 812 | 877 | 956 | 1005 | |
| Spring | 1075 | 928 | 708 | 665 | 799 | 895 | 965 | |
| Total 2605 | 2336 | 1781 | 1689 | 1920 | 2143 | 2303 | 0 | |
SERP: Still Available Through Today, Friday Jan. 23
As a reminder, the deadline to elect participation in the Supplemental Employee Retirement Plan (SERP) is Friday, January 23. If you have questions on the plan or need assistance with the form, please contact Heather del Rosario (x 7809) or Trudi Blanco (x 7727).
New “MyTC” Landing Page
The MyTC landing page will launch a new interface next week. As many of you may have already heard, this new MyTC landing page is designed to provide more information and a more user-friendly experience.
We encourage you to preview the new page here https://experience.elluciancloud.com/tc549/ and share your feedback. If anything is missing on the landing page, please send your feedback directly to ir@taftcollege.edu or xli@taftcollege.edu.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! For ACCJC Self-Study Report
It’s time to begin gathering evidence for our next ACCJC Institutional Self-Evaluation Report, and we need your help! The Accreditation Taskforce held its first meeting last week and formed subcommittees aligned with the four ACCJC standards:
- Standard I – Institutional Mission and Effectiveness: Co-Chairs: Dr. Rashitta Brown Elize and Dr. Xiaohong Li
- Standard II – Student Success: Chair: Greg Bormann
- Standard III – Infrastructure and Resources: Co-Chairs: Mike Giacomini and Heather de Rosario
- Standard IV – Governance and Decision-Making: Chair: Dr. Leslie Minor
Faculty and staff are encouraged to volunteer to serve on one or more subcommittees. Please reach out directly to the chair(s) of the standard you are interested in supporting. Your participation is essential to a successful self-study, and we appreciate your willingness to contribute to this important work.
Update from CCC Chancellor, Sonya Christian, on DEI Legal Status
A federal court has invalidated the February 2025 U.S. Department of Education “Dear Colleague Letter” on DEI and its related certification requirement, and the Trump administration has withdrawn its appeal, leaving both unenforceable. This resolves a year of legal uncertainty for colleges by reaffirming that the guidance violated the First Amendment and federal rulemaking procedures, reducing immediate compliance or funding risk. No action is required at this time; institutions should continue their existing commitments to equity and inclusion. If anything changes, we will hear from the CCCCO.
Resilient by Design: A Report from the American Association of Community Colleges
The National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS) has prepared a thoughtful and thorough report for the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) on the future of community colleges, stating community colleges “face an uncertain and rapidly changing future that will require resilience from both colleges and their students.” Read the full report here: https://www.aacc.nche.edu/programs/resilient-by-design/ and let’s discuss ideas that will work for us!
