A draft of the Student Equity Plan was presented at the College Planning Council meeting which outlined the use of over $1 million allocated to City College for helping disadvantaged students succeed academically.

Some groups of students face more difficulty than others, and the goal of the Student Equity Plan is to close these gaps in success. New programs were added to this year’s plan that assist African-Americans and students from foster care.

“We have a job to do, a call to action in regards to student equity and student success,” Superintendent-President Dr. Lori Gaskin said.

The college identified the areas where there are discrepancies in success by looking at data from certain aspects of the education system, and created programs based on that.

A total of $1,359,530 was allocated to the college to fund these new programs, as well as the continuation of previously funded programs that support Hispanic students. The plan is structured after other colleges who have been successful with similar goals.

Part of the plan is to hire a director of equity, social justice, and multicultural education to be an adviser regarding diversity across curriculum, and to act as an advocate for faculty facing difficulties with diversity. The council intends to look to fill these positions as soon as possible, said Marilynn Spaventa, the executive vice president of educational programs.

“The pressure on this state… is pretty significant,” said Gaskin in regards to being culturally aware and diverse. She also stressed the importance of this position so that the faculty could better educate themselves on the matter.

“It’s not just the hiring process, it’s educating all of us,” Gaskin said.

In regards to making transferring more accessible, Matthew Marino, associated student government’s vice president of internal affairs, brought up the issue of students having to take intro level courses to complete an associate degree, even if they are already going for an advanced degree.

“It ends up making student pay more money for classes they don’t need,” said Marino.

The allocated funds for the plan will be tied to enrollment, so that they will decrease or increase based on the number of students.

The draft will be edited for the second reading and approved at the next College Planning Council meeting.