The Environmental Scan, made filterable
Spring 2025 baseline — 8 regions, 122 colleges, 2 entries, 1 notes · updated scan (latest: June 2026) adds 9 source-verified findings (7 new). Every entry is tagged with one or more Vision 2030 domains: People · Policy · Systems · Resources.
Bay Area
filter to regionEngaged People
- 🆕SMCCCD AI Community of Practice (district, co-led by Cañada faculty). The San Mateo County CCD District Academic Senate approved an AI Community of Practice framework at its September 2025 meeting, offering a Faculty Gateway with ethics guidance, flex-day AI presentations, Google AI training, and AI-resistant assignment resources; Cañada College faculty member Sarah Harmon is credited as author of the district plagiarism/AI guidance feeding this effort. 2025 · high confidence — source
- 🆕Cañada faculty representation in statewide ASCCC AI/GenAI Caucus. Sarah Harmon of Cañada College is associated with the statewide Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC) Artificial Intelligence and Generative AI Technologies Caucus, which provides a faculty voice on AI/GenAI implications for California community colleges. 2025 · medium confidence — source
People
Team/Lead: Professor Sarah Harmon, Chair, District Academic Senate Teaching and Learning Committee & Distance Ed Advisory Committee, Spanish/Linguistics, OER/ZTC Coordinator
Policies
- 🆕District 'Plagiarism and Artificial Intelligence Guidance' cites Cañada policy. SMCCCD District Academic Senate's 'Plagiarism and Artificial Intelligence Guidance' (approved Dec 9, 2024; last updated Jan 8, 2025) explicitly states Cañada College's existing academic integrity policy covers AI content generators when supplemented by syllabus/section-specific policies, and advises against relying on AI-detection tools as sole evidence. It was developed by the District Teaching and Learning Committee with Cañada faculty Sarah Harmon as a contact/author. 2025 · high confidence — source
- Catalog academic integrity policy (no explicit AI language). Cañada College's 2025-2026 catalog academic integrity policy prohibits using unauthorized materials/study aids but does not explicitly name AI, ChatGPT, or generative AI; district guidance interprets these existing policies as covering AI content generators when supplemented by course-level syllabus policies. 2025 · high confidence — source
- Faculty expected to state GenAI policy in section-specific syllabus info. District guidance applicable to Cañada faculty directs instructors to clearly communicate their position on generative AI in their course syllabi / Canvas section-specific information, including whether GenAI tools are allowed and to what extent. 2025 · high confidence — source
Policy
Team/Lead: SMCCCD/Canada/Academic Senate
- Per District guidance, Cañada College already [has] academic integrity policies that prohibit the use of unauthorized resources. The use of AI content generators is covered by these academic honesty policies if supplemented by course-level policies that are explained in a course syllabus and/or assignment instructions.
Resources
- 🆕Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (AI) at Menlo Park Site. Cañada College's Menlo Park Site offers a six-week 'Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (AI)' course covering AI history, basic concepts/terminology, ethics, and hands-on exercises using AI for writing, research, and image generation for career development; the documented run was Feb 24 - Apr 2, 2025, 6-8pm. The course was developed by an instructor (Garcia) in partnership with the college. 2025 · high confidence — source
- 🆕Library 'Artificial Intelligence (A.I.)' research guide (LibGuide). The Cañada College Library maintains an 'Artificial Intelligence (A.I.)' LibGuide with multiple pages including Generative AI / ChatGPT, Generative A.I., IBM Watson, AI in the News, and recommended databases; the guide was last updated September 11, 2025. 2025 · high confidence — source
- 🆕Library guidance on citing AI-generated content (MLA/APA). The Cañada College Library citation guides include a page 'Citing A.I. Generated Content including ChatGPT' under its MLA 9th Edition guide, providing students guidance on properly citing generative AI tools. undated · medium confidence — source
- 🆕Cañada writing instructor Anna Mills is a national AI-in-writing voice. Anna Mills, a writing instructor at Cañada College, is a prominent advocate for critical/ethical AI literacy in writing instruction; she authored 'AI Text Generators and Teaching Writing: Starting Points for Inquiry' and has served on the MLA-CCCC joint AI task force, providing AI pedagogy resources used by faculty. 2025 · medium confidence — source