If you have signed up for classes through Self-Service, you may have wondered why you can register for classes at either Grossmont or Cuyamaca colleges. You may have guessed through the campus website that your GCCCD email extension stands for Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District, but why are these specific colleges connected?
California is divided into 73 community college districts, each with its own independent governing board. According to the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, 23 districts are multi-college like Grossmont-Cuyamaca, meaning their boards make decisions for all of the colleges in their district.
The colleges have decision-making authority, but final approval rests with their governing boards.
“The district is the legal entity, and the colleges are under the district umbrella,” District Chancellor Lynn Neault said.
East County voters approved the formation of the formerly known Grossmont Junior College District in November 1960. In 1962, the Governing Board acquired the Fletcher Hills property, which is now the site of Grossmont College. Cuyamaca College did not come into the picture until 1972, when the Governing Board acquired the Rancho San Diego site.
Today, Grossmont-Cuyamaca serves students from all over San Diego, with the district’s full borders encompassing a population of 498,019, according to the 2020 census.Census data and Geographic Information Systems are used to help define the boundaries of each district when they are redrawn or “redistricted” every 10 years.
According to the website for the Foundation for California Community Colleges, redistricting is a crucial practice to ensure compliance with the California Voting Rights Act: “In order to meet the law’s requirements, districts were required to redraw their lines or restructure their regions to reflect their changing demographics and ensure one representative for each region.”
A 2015 amendment to the act made community colleges change the way their governing representatives are chosen. Before the amendment, college districts elected Governing Board members via an “At-Large” system, in which any district resident could vote for a trustee running to represent any area.
Each board member represents one of the five regions or “areas” of the district. For example, the most recent board member on the Grossmont-Cuyamaca board, Cindy Page, represents Area 1, which includes Santee, Winter Gardens and Lakeside.
The amendment shifted from the “At-Large” voting system to the “By-Trustee” voting system, in which only residents of a given area can vote to elect a board member for that area. In this system, a resident of Area 1 could vote to re-elect Cindy Page, but they could not vote to re-elect Elena Adams, who represents Area 4.
As required by AB 182, the bill that instituted these changes, the aim is to prevent “dilution” and “discrimination” in the trustee election process. In addition to redistricting, “By-Trustee” voting ensures that each board member acts in accordance with the needs of the people they represent.
Clarification: This story has been updated to clarify that institutions within multi-college districts have decision-making authority, with final approval resting with the districts’ governing boards.
