Cecilia Rios-Aguilar Named To New California Committee with Oversight of College Pathway and Transfer Process
UCLA Professor of Education and Associate Dean for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Cecilia Rios-Aguilar has been appointed to California’s newly created 16-member Associate Degree for Transfer Intersegmental Implementation Committee. Rios-Aguilar was appointed to the Committee by California Speaker of the Assembly Anthony Rendon.
“I am so honored to be appointed to this committee and am committed to serving my state in these crucial and complex times,” said Rios-Aguilar.
“We have a lot of work to do in our state to better serve low-income students of color. We need to provide them with real and concrete pathways to a baccalaureate degree so they can improve their lives, the lives of their families and of their communities.
The Associate Degree for Transfer Intersegmental Implementation Committee was established in 2022 to serve as the primary entity charged with oversight of the associate degree for transfer with the sole purpose of strengthening the pathway for students and to ensure it becomes the primary transfer pathway in California between the campuses of California Community College, the University of California, and the California State University. The Committee was established by Assembly Bill 928 to consolidate the CSU and UC systems’ general education transfer pathways into a singular path by December 31, 2023. The intent is to simplify and strengthen the associate degree for transfer pathway and provide equitable access to all students enrolled in the 116 community college campuses across California.
Rios-Aguilar is well prepared for service on the committee. Rios-Aguilar’s work focuses on improving the educational and occupational trajectories of underrepresented and marginalized groups of students. She has done extensive research on issues confronting community colleges and the students they serve.
Among other publications, she is the author of “I Had to Figure It Out”: A Case Study of How Community College Student Parents of Color Navigate College and Careers,I Had to Figure It Out”: A Case Study of How Community College Student Parents of Color Navigate College and Careers, with Adrian H. Huerta and Daisy Ramirez.
She is also the author of a research brief published with colleagues for Policy Analysis for California Education, Empowering the intersegmental agenda: Opportunities for research, policy, and practice. The research explores the need for better alignment and coordination between high school and college, between systems of higher education, and between education and economic development sectors. The research summarizes lessons for effective collaboration and highlights opportunities for bridging research, policy and practice to increase student success in college and career.
Rios-Aguilar serves as a faculty Co-Director of Policy Analysis of California Education (PACE), and is a Board Member of the Spencer Foundation. She is also a research affiliate of Wheelhouse: The Center for the Community College Leadership and Research at UC Davis. Previously, Rios-Aguilar served as the Director of the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA.