(a) The Native American Student Support and Success Program is hereby established under the administration of the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to accomplish all of the following:

(1) To strengthen K-12 pathways to and through the California Community College system for Native American students, including student transfer to the University of California and the California State University systems.

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(2) To ensure the educational success of Native American students.

(3) To develop Native American leaders.

(4) To increase the number of Native American mentors to empower future generations.

(b) A grant provided to a community college pursuant to this article is intended to establish a local Native American student support and success program to provide all of the following services to support Native American students:

(1) Integration of peer mentorship with other student success services.

(2) Development of clearly structured, coherent course-specific cohorts.

(3) Building capacity for counseling and wraparound student services offering culturally responsive resources.

(4) Development and integration of faculty and staff professional development training.

(c) (1) The chancellor’s office may enter into agreements with up to 20 community colleges to provide grants to those participating colleges for the purpose of developing local Native American student support and success programs and delivering the services described in Section 78212 to Native American students. A community college that receives a grant shall consult with California tribes in their service and surrounding area to design their local program.

(2) Each local program shall provide the services described in subdivision (b) and may direct financial support to enrolled first-time Native American students before their courses have commenced, and who have completed required matriculation activities as described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 78212, if those services are necessary to enable the student to be successful upon the commencement of the academic term.

(3) In addition to the services provided in subdivision (b), the local program may also provide additional services to Native American students, including program outreach and recruitment, program consultation and eligibility verification, career development, basic need service coordination, offering culturally responsive resources, transfer and career counseling, book and supply grants, tutoring, and other related services to ensure the educational success of Native American students.

(4) A community college that receives a one-time grant pursuant to this article shall use a portion of the grant to establish a full-time program coordinator and tribal liaison position for the purpose of implementing the services described in this article. The coordinator shall also act as a liaison between the community college and local Native American tribes for the creation and implementation of the program. In hiring this position, preference shall be given to qualified candidates of Native American or Alaska Native heritage in a manner similar to preference provided in the federal Indian Preference Act of 1990.

(d) (1) A community college may apply for a program grant by submitting a letter of interest to the chancellor’s office pursuant to this article. An applying community college shall certify that its services provided pursuant to this article to Native American students are coordinated with, and do not supplant, other services provided by the county or state.

(2) If the number of requests to participate exceeds the amount of available grant funding for the program, the chancellor’s office shall prioritize awarding grants to community colleges with the highest number of Native American students. Identifying Native American students eligible for the program should be based on state and federal tribal recognition, linear descendancy, and community involvement. A participating community college is encouraged to request additional data to determine the eligibility of student participants and potential student participants from local tribal communities and local educational agencies.

(e) (1) A community college that receives a grant pursuant to this article shall annually report to the chancellor’s office, on or before July 1 of each year following receipt of the grant, information, including, but not limited to, all of the following:

(A) A summary of services supported with the grant.

(B) The number of students supported by services provided with the grant.

(C) Academic progress and outcomes of students who received support services provided with the grant, including course completion rates, persistence data, transfer rates, and career placement outcomes.

(2) The chancellor’s office shall develop and submit to the Governor and the Legislature, pursuant to § 9795 of the Government Code, on or before September 1, 2024, and each year thereafter, a report based on the data and information reported by participating community colleges pursuant to paragraph (1) and information on the use of funds made available for the program.

(3) A report submitted pursuant to this subdivision shall include information from the academic year immediately preceding the reporting deadline.

(f) As used in this section, unless the context requires otherwise, the following definitions apply:

(1) “Chancellor’s office” means the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges.

(2) “Program” means the Native American Student Support and Success Program established pursuant to this article.

(Added by Stats. 2022, Ch. 54, Sec. 35. (AB 183) Effective June 30, 2022.)