The Environmental Scan, made filterable
Spring 2025 baseline — 8 regions, 122 colleges, 3 entries, 16 notes · updated scan (latest: June 2026) adds 16 source-verified findings (10 new). Every entry is tagged with one or more Vision 2030 domains: People · Policy · Systems · Resources.
Los Angeles
filter to regionEngaged People
- 🆕Standing Instructional Technology & AI Committee. The Academic Senate now has a standing Instructional Technology & AI Committee (chair Gary Huff, vice chair Matthew Kiaman) charged with leadership on the ethical, effective, and innovative use of technology and AI, covering policy/planning, professional development, equity/access, integration, and innovation; it meets monthly with sessions scheduled through Spring 2026 (Mar 11/25, Apr 8, May 13, 2026). 2026 · high confidence — source
- 🆕Institutional AI Workgroup under Technology Planning Committee. Per the Fall 2025 IT Newsletter, SMC established an Institutional AI Workgroup under the Technology Planning Committee to promote AI literacy, develop guidance for responsible/ethical AI use, and create an AI adoption and policy roadmap, coordinating with the Academic Senate's Instructional Technology & AI Committee. 2025 · high confidence — source
- 🆕SOAR Academy AI peer-coaching (SMC + Glendale CC). A Spring 2026 Professional Development Day session, 'Curious, Cautious, or Overwhelmed? Meet the AI Coaches,' featured the SOAR Academy (Strategies for Optimal AI Resilience), described as a joint initiative of Santa Monica College and Glendale Community College offering peer coaching on practical AI use in teaching and course design. 2026 · high confidence — source
- 🆕AI sessions at FLEX / Professional Development Days. SMC has featured AI in faculty FLEX/Professional Development Day programming: Fall 2025 (Aug 28, 2025) included 'Opportunities for faculty to learn more about AI in teaching and learning' (Lynn Dickinson and Kas Metzler), and Spring 2026 (Mar 17, 2026) included 'Generative AI in California Community Colleges' (Don Daves-Rougeaux, Senior Advisor to the Chancellor) and an AI app security session. 2026 · high confidence — source
- AI Ad Hoc Committee final recommendations (Dec 2024). The Academic Senate's AI ad hoc committee (co-chairs Lynn Dickinson and Kas Metzler) issued 'AI and the Path Forward at Santa Monica College' on Dec 15, 2024, recommending an AI Policy Task Force, an AI Literacy Collaboration, protocols for 'bot students,' integrating AI across all college functions, and positioning SMC as an AI leader; faculty surveys found 94% want AI policies and 87% want AI teaching training. 2024 · high confidence — source
PeoplePolicy
Team/Lead: Santa Monica College/Senate Professional Ethics & Responsibilities Committee/Artificial Intelligence Committee
- Academic Senate and Professional Development (EpiCenter)
- 2023-24 academic year Artificial Intelligence Committee
- Develop a faculty leadership framework to assist each department/division in the area of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- The committee’s work is in response to the ongoing development of AI and its impact on the working and learning environment.
- The Ad-Hoc AI committee will make recommendations to the Senate for approval through established shared governance processes according to Senate bylaws by the conclusion of the 2023-24 academic year or the conclusion of its business and be dissolved at that time.
- AI and SMC: Recommendations from the AI ad hoc committee
- Membership
- Co-Chairs: Lynn Dickinson and Kas Metzler
- Voting members: Gary Huff, Sara Brewer, Angie Misaghi, Alberto Romero
- Interested parties: Keith Graziadei, Matt Larcin
- Recommendations
- “The AI Ad Hoc Committee’s recommendations outline a comprehensive, equity-focused, and collaborative path forward for SMC. By establishing thoughtful policies, fostering AI literacy, addressing challenges like "bot students," and embedding AI into all facets of the college, SMC can lead the way in leveraging AI for transformative impact. We encourage the Academic Senate to endorse these recommendations and begin implementation.”
3 linked resource(s) — show status
- https://admin.smc.edu/administration/governance/academic-senate/committees/documents/artificial-intelligence/AIadhocRECCs.pdf fetched
- https://admin.smc.edu/administration/governance/academic-senate/committees/professional-ethics-responsibilities.php fetched
- https://admin.smc.edu/administration/governance/academic-senate/committees/ai-committee.php fetched
Policies
- 🆕Board Policy 3775 / AR 3775 on AI in development. Following direction from Superintendent/President Dr. Kathryn Jeffery, the Institutional AI Workgroup is partnering with the Community College League of California to develop Board Policy (BP) 3775 and Administrative Regulation (AR) 3775 to provide a framework for responsible/ethical AI use; reported as in development in the Fall 2025 IT Newsletter and not yet finalized. 2025 · high confidence — source
- No college-wide AI academic-integrity policy (instructor-set). As of reporting, SMC had no centralized AI policy; individual professors set their own syllabus standards (some banning AI, others embracing it) and used TurnItIn for plagiarism/AI detection, per the student newspaper; subsequent governance work (AI Workgroup, BP/AR 3775) is aimed at establishing institutional policy. 2024 · medium confidence — source
PolicyPeople
Team/Lead: Santa Monica College
- Not yet found. Appear to rely on student conduct code academic honesty.
- June 2023 Professional Ethics & Responsibilities Committee: AI in the Syllabus
1 linked resource(s) — show status
Resources
- 🆕Community College League of California policy partnership. SMC's AI Workgroup partnered with the Community College League of California to assist in developing its AI Board Policy 3775 and Administrative Regulation 3775. 2025 · high confidence — source
- 🆕Education 50: Teaching in the Age of AI. SMC created a 3-unit online course, EDUC 50 'Teaching in the Age of AI,' co-taught by Education chair Gary Huff and Media Studies professor Lynn Dickinson (based on Dickinson's book on using ChatGPT as a teaching assistant), preparing educators across disciplines to use AI ethically while preserving academic integrity; initial 45-seat section filled within hours and was doubled to two full sections for Spring 2025. 2025 · high confidence — source
- 🆕IT data-protection guidance on AI tools. The Fall 2025 SMC IT Newsletter (Chief Director of IT Calvin Madlock) frames the department around 'leveraging artificial intelligence to promote responsible and ethical progress' and warns users to never input sensitive information into AI tools because entered data could be retained for model training. 2025 · high confidence — source
- 🆕Artificial Intelligence Department Certificate (effective Fall 2026). SMC's Computer Science department certificates page lists an 'Artificial Intelligence (Effective Fall 2026)' department certificate for students in any field interested in AI applications and the ethical considerations of adopting AI and generative AI; detailed catalog requirements were not yet published in the current catalog as of the scan. 2026 · medium confidence — source
- 🆕Corsair A.I. student club. SMC has a student-run Corsair A.I. club that cultivates a community of students interested in AI, offering guest speakers, debates, and workshops on practical AI applications; it meets Tuesdays at 1 p.m. in BUS 263. undated · medium confidence — source
- Credit CS courses in machine learning / data science. The college catalog lists credit Computer Science courses CS 79F 'Machine Learning on AWS' (3 units) and CS 79X 'Data Science on Azure' (3 units) as electives; a separate 'Robotics and Artificial Intelligence' department certificate is listed as temporarily suspended. 2025 · high confidence — source
- Non-credit / workforce AI courses (Career Education). SMC's Career Education / continuing-education arm offers non-credit, online AI workforce programs including 'AI for Business: ChatGPT & Copilot,' a 'Data Science & Artificial Intelligence' course, and an 'Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Suite' (delivered via ed2go), covering generative AI tools, machine learning, and AI ethics. 2026 · high confidence — source
- Equity-centered AI framing in committee recommendations. SMC's AI ad hoc committee recommendations explicitly center equity, calling for equitable access to AI tools (free/low-cost pro subscriptions, AI-equipped labs/libraries, beginner-friendly and asynchronous training) and an equity-centered approach mitigating bias and ensuring accessibility across all college functions. 2024 · high confidence — source
- Library 'Level Up: AI in Research' workshop. The SMC Library offered a student workshop, 'Level Up: AI in Research,' on generative AI and AI-assisted searching featuring ChatGPT and Keenious; it is now archived with a recorded version available, and the current schedule listed no active AI sessions at scan time. undated · medium confidence — source
ResourcesPeople
Team/Lead: Santa Monica College