An independent research preview · covering the California Community Colleges
cccco.edu ↗
Environmental Scan
AI Landscape by Region
Spring 2025 baseline · June 2026 update

The Environmental Scan, made filterable

Spring 2025 baseline — 8 regions, 122 colleges, 3 entries, 22 notes · updated scan (latest: June 2026) adds 13 source-verified findings (11 new). Every entry is tagged with one or more Vision 2030 domains: People · Policy · Systems · Resources.

Reset

Los Angeles

filter to region

El Camino College

focus
Engaged People
  • 🆕Selected for 2025-2026 NAAIC Mentorship Program to build AI degree. El Camino College was named (announced in NAAIC's September newsletter) as one of eight California community colleges in the National Applied Artificial Intelligence Consortium (NAAIC) 2025-2026 Mentorship Program, through which it will develop and launch an associate degree in Artificial Intelligence and build stackable certificates in Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, Computer Vision, and AI Ethics. CIS Professor Hac Le and Acting Dean Ketmany Sundara are cited as leads. 2025 · high confidence — source
  • 🆕President Brenda Thames announces AI degree at State of the College. At her 7th Annual State of the College address (Nov. 14, 2025), President Dr. Brenda Thames announced a new Artificial Intelligence degree program as part of a workforce-development strategy, citing the World Economic Forum 2025 Future of Jobs Report and positioning AI as a centerpiece of pathways to South Bay jobs. 2025 · medium confidence — source
  • 🆕Academic Senate advancing AI usage policy / resolution on AI grading tools. In October 2025 the Academic Senate moved plans forward on new AI usage policies, with VP of Academic Technology Stephanie Burnham presenting options to either pass a resolution or amend AP 3775; the Senate later (March 2026) raised concerns about faculty use of AI grading tools. 2025 · medium confidence — source
  • 🆕ed2go continuing-education AI courses for teachers and students. El Camino College's Community/Continuing Education portal (ed2go) offers AI-focused courses including 'Introduction to Artificial Intelligence,' 'AI for Teachers: Increase Productivity & Improve Instruction,' and 'AI for Students: Ensuring Appropriate & Effective Use.' undated · medium confidence — source
PeoplePolicySystemsResources
Team/Lead: El Camino College/Senate/OoI/ Academic Senate President Charlene Brewer-Smith/Vice President of Educational Policies Darcie McClelland/Director of the Student Development Office Ricky Gonzalez/Dean of Counseling and Student Success Dipte Patel
8 linked resource(s) — show status
Policies
  • 🆕Administrative Procedure 3775 governing generative AI under development. El Camino is developing/implementing Administrative Procedure 3775 to regulate use of AI technologies districtwide; per The Union, faculty may require evidence or citation of how generative AI was used in coursework, and specific rules vary by department. 2026 · medium confidence — source
  • Academic Senate-approved sample AI syllabus statements. The El Camino College Academic Senate approved (9/17/2024) two sample AI syllabus statements for faculty: Option 1 'Encouraging General Use' (requires citation/documentation of Generative AI such as ChatGPT/DALL-E) and Option 2 'Restricting Specific Use' (AI barred except where assignment directions allow); unauthorized use is treated as academic misconduct under Administrative Procedure 5500. Fall 2024 · high confidence — source
Policy
Team/Lead: El Camino College
  • April 2024 Board revised AP 5500 Code of Student Conduct
  • “Dishonesty….
  • Representing the words, ideas, or work created by another person or generated using Artificial Intelligence as one’s own in any academic exercise including the use of commercial term paper companies or online sources for essays, term papers, or research papers, whether free or paid….
  • Using unauthorized electronic or non-electronic aids (e.g. notes, calculators, smartphones, generative AI, etc.) unless explicitly permitted by the instructor or District personnel.”
  • Sept 2024 Senate Sample Syllabus Statements to Support Student Success
  • Option #1: Encouraging General Use
  • Option #2: Restricting Specific Use
Resources
  • 🆕$596,954 NSF grant for data science (K-14 pipeline). El Camino College won a $596,954 National Science Foundation grant under the Innovation in Two-Year College in STEM Education (ITYC) program (announced Sept. 23, 2024) to support dual-enrollment data science courses, faculty professional development in data science, and student-industry connections; PI is Computer Science Professor Dr. Solomon Russell. 2024 · high confidence — source
  • 🆕Two AI courses approved for Fall 2026 (AI Fundamentals, AI and Ethics). El Camino's student newspaper (The Union) reports that two AI courses, AI Fundamentals and AI and Ethics, were approved to roll out in Fall 2026 through the Computer Information Systems department as part of building toward an AI associate degree. 2026 · medium confidence — source
  • 🆕Applied AI for Advanced Manufacturing certificate in development. El Camino is developing a certificate program in Applied Artificial Intelligence for Advanced Manufacturing, funded through an Industry Driven Regional Collaborative (IDRC) grant, per the President's State of the College remarks. 2025 · medium confidence — source
  • 🆕Nectir AI adopted for accessible course materials / AI tutoring. To meet ADA Title II accessibility requirements (April 2026 deadline), El Camino is an early adopter of Nectir AI, a platform letting instructors build course-specific AI assistants/tutors trained on syllabi and materials, with accommodations for students with disabilities. 2026 · medium confidence — source
  • 🆕LightLeap AI used to detect enrollment/financial-aid fraud. The ECC Board of Trustees approved a $54,000 subscription to the LightLeap AI Fraud Detection Module (introduced Spring 2025); for Spring 2026, more than 4,000 applications were flagged as fraudulent, per an Acting Dean of Enrollment Services presentation to the Board. 2026 · medium confidence — source
  • 🆕2024-2027 Technology Plan addresses AI. El Camino College's 2024-2027 Technology Plan (published on the college's comprehensive integrated planning site and on BoardDocs) addresses the institution's approach to emerging technologies including AI. 2024 · low confidence — source
  • Faculty discussions framing AI around equity in online classrooms. El Camino's distance-education professional development has included faculty discussion sessions on generative AI covering how AI affects equity in the online classroom, AI and online assessment design, and ethical use/managing misuse. undated · low confidence — source
ResourcesSystems
Team/Lead: El Camino College
  • In May 2024, El Camino College introduced Microsoft Copilot, a free generative AI service accessible through college email accounts, utilizing ChatGPT-4 and DALL-E 3 for text and image creation.eccunion.com
  • The 2024-2027 Technology Plan emphasizes fostering AI education and literacy among faculty, staff, and students.
4 contacts →