ARTICLE 2. Minimum Qualifications and Hiring Criteria [87355. - 87359.5.]

Cal. Education Code - EDC 2.

in effect

Cal. Education Code - EDC § 87355. Section 87355.

Notwithstanding Section 87356, every person authorized to serve as a community college instructor, librarian, counselor, student personnel worker, supervisor, administrator, or chief administrative officer under a credential shall retain the right to serve under the terms of that credential, and, for that purpose, shall be deemed to possess the minimum qualifications specified for every discipline or service covered by the credential until the expiration of that credential. The board of governors shall adopt regulations as necessary to implement this requirement.

Cal. Education Code - EDC § 87356. Section 87356.

(a) The board of governors shall adopt regulations to establish and maintain the minimum qualifications for service as a faculty member teaching credit instruction, a faculty member teaching noncredit instruction, a librarian, a counselor, an educational administrator, an extended opportunity programs and services worker, a disabled students programs and services worker, an apprenticeship instructor, and a supervisor of health. (b) The Legislature finds and declares that this section does not create a state-mandated local program because compensation of faculty will continue to be determined through the collective bargaining process or meet and confer sessions.

Cal. Education Code - EDC § 87357. Section 87357.

(a) In establishing and maintaining minimum qualifications pursuant to Section 87356, the board of governors shall do all of the following: (1) With regard to minimum qualifications for faculty, the board of governors shall consult with, and rely primarily on the advice and judgment of, the statewide Academic Senate. With regard to minimum qualifications for educational administrators, the board of governors shall consult with, and rely primarily on the advice and judgment of, an appropriate statewide organization of administrators. With regard to minimum qualifications for apprenticeship instructors, the board of governors shall consult with, and rely primarily on the advice and judgment of, appropriate apprenticeship teaching faculty and labor organization representatives. In each case, the board of governors shall provide a reasonable opportunity for comment by other statewide representative groups. (2) The board of governors shall establish a process to review at least every three years the continued appropriateness of the minimum qualifications, and the adequacy of the means by which they are administered. The process shall provide for the appointment of a representative group of community college faculty, administrators, students, and trustees to conduct or otherwise assist in the review, including particularly, representatives of academic senates, collective bargaining organizations, and statewide faculty associations. In addition, the group shall be broadly representative of academic and vocational programs in the curriculum from both urban and rural districts, and representative of ethnic minority communities. (b) The board of governors, relying primarily upon the advice and judgment of the statewide Academic Senate, shall prescribe by regulation a working definition of the term “discipline” and shall prepare and maintain a list of disciplines that are “reasonably related” to one another, as that phrase is used in the minimum qualifications. The initial list shall be distributed to the community college districts by July 1, 1989, for their use in applying the minimum qualifications for hire. In formulating advice and recommendations to the board of governors regarding the definition of the term “discipline,” the statewide Academic Senate shall consult with appropriate statewide organizations representing administrators and faculty collective bargaining agents. The statewide Academic Senate shall incorporate the advice of those groups into its recommendations to the board of governors, particularly as it relates to the practical ramifications of any proposed definition of the term “discipline” on issues of reassignment, transfer, and reduction in force. The board of governors, relying primarily upon the advice and judgment of the statewide Academic Senate, shall prepare and maintain a list of disciplines in which the master’s degree is not generally expected or available. The initial list shall be distributed to the community college districts by July 1, 1989, for their use in applying the minimum qualifications for service.

Cal. Education Code - EDC § 87358. Section 87358.

The board of governors shall periodically designate a team of community college faculty, administrators, and trustees to review each community college district’s application of minimum qualifications to faculty and administrators.

Cal. Education Code - EDC § 87359. Section 87359.

The board of governors shall adopt regulations setting forth a process authorizing local governing boards to employ faculty members and educational administrators who do not meet the applicable minimum qualifications specified in the regulations adopted by the board of governors pursuant to Section 87356. Unless and until amended pursuant to the process described in Section 87357, the regulations shall require all of the following: (a) No one may be hired to serve as a community college faculty member or educational administrator under the authority granted by the regulations unless the governing board determines that he or she possesses qualifications that are at least equivalent to the minimum qualifications specified in regulations of the board of governors adopted pursuant to Section 87356. The criteria used by the governing board in making the determination shall be reflected in the governing board’s action employing the individual. (b) The process, as well as criteria and standards by which the governing board reaches its determinations regarding faculty members, shall be developed and agreed upon jointly by representatives of the governing board and the academic senate, and approved by the governing board. The agreed upon process shall include reasonable procedures to ensure that the governing board relies primarily upon the advice and judgment of the academic senate to determine that each individual faculty member employed under the authority granted by the regulations possesses qualifications that are at least equivalent to the applicable minimum qualifications specified in regulations adopted by the board of governors. The process shall further require that the governing board provide the academic senate with an opportunity to present its views to the governing board before the board makes a determination, and that the written record of the decision, including the views of the academic senate, shall be available for review pursuant to Section 87358. (c) Until a joint agreement is reached and approved pursuant to subdivision (b), the district process in existence on January 1, 1989, shall remain in effect.

Cal. Education Code - EDC § 87359.2. Section 87359.2.

(a) The instructor of record for a course of instruction shall be a person who meets the minimum qualifications to serve as a faculty member teaching credit instruction or a faculty member teaching noncredit instruction established pursuant to Section 87356 or the qualifications to serve as a faculty member established pursuant to Section 87359. (b) A community college instructor, librarian, counselor, student personnel worker, supervisor, administrator, chief administrative officer, extended opportunity programs and services worker, disabled students programs and services worker, apprenticeship instructor, or supervisor of health shall be a person who meets the minimum qualifications to serve in that position established pursuant to Sections 87355 and 87356 or the qualifications to serve in that position established pursuant to Section 87359. (c) This section does not prohibit community college staff from using artificial intelligence tools to assist in the operations of a community college or in providing services to community college students.

Cal. Education Code - EDC § 87359.5. Section 87359.5.

By May 1, 1989, the board of governors shall have reviewed or contracted for review of, the job relevance of the requirements of Sections 87408, 87408.5, 87408.6, and any other physical fitness tests or examinations, and other conditions of employment, applicable to community college personnel.

Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026