The Associated Students of Moorpark College held a meeting on Sept. 19 during which the ASMC Board of Directors was presented with the 2022-2025 Student Equity Plan by Johnny Conley and Dr. Khushnur Dadabhoy.

The Student Equity and Achievement Committee works to recommend, coordinate and support programs and services that promote student equity. The SEA plan is renewed every three years and is set to be renewed this year, which is why Conley and Dadabhoy presented their updated plan to ASMC.

Conley, the director of SEA, presented a PowerPoint that went over the recent achievements of the committee’s 2019-2022 Student Equity Plan and emphasized how the plan assisted students looking to transfer to a four-year academic institution.

According to Conley, the plan helped assist over 600 disproportionately impacted students by giving them comprehensive education plans, helping with the application process for transferring and helping them apply for graduation.

The committee has a framework to help students plan out their education. The plan works step by step. Each time a student hits 15, 30 or 45 units, the plan triggers another goal for the student to work towards.

“This is to make sure that we are continuously working with all of our students at specific momentum points, and really be intentional in the work that we do to make sure that our students are passing their classes,” Conley stated in the presentation.

The SEA Committee’s main focus is helping Latinx and Black students with the transfer admissions process; however, this does not mean that other students won’t reap the benefits of its equity plan. The SEA Committee is choosing to specifically support Latinx and Black students as they are significantly more taxed by the equity gaps in education. By directing their efforts primarily towards marginalized students, SEA leadership hopes to build a model of success that can be pursued by any student that chooses to attend Moorpark College.

Dadabhoy, the dean of student support and counseling at Moorpark College, was available throughout Conley’s presentation to answer any questions that the ASMC Board had.

“The ASMC Board of Directors is the college’s officially elected student government and exists to voice concerns and opinions on matters impacting Moorpark College students,” Dadabhoy said. “This was an opportunity to share our plan with the Board.”

ASMC President Karina Arteaga voiced excitement and hope for the SEA plan and was also thankful for the fact that the board was given the presentation.

Arteaga stated, “I am excited to see the great things we are able to accomplish since we now are clearly seeing areas we need to improve on.”

Abbey Austin-Wood, the ASMC budget and finance director, also expressed support for the 2022-2025 Student Equity Plan. Austin-Wood said she enjoyed the presentation and was happy to give the presenters feedback in order to help them better prepare their plan for the final approval stage.

ASMC hosts weekly meetings on Mondays at 3:30 p.m. Meetings can be attended in-person at the ASMC Conference Room or virtually through Zoom. For more information on ASMC’s meetings and activities, click here.