An independent research preview · covering the California Community Colleges
Environmental Scan
AI Landscape by Region
Spring 2025 baseline · June 2026 update
← All colleges & districts

Sacramento City College

Region: North Far North

At a glance

Sacramento City College has moved from faculty-by-faculty AI responses to coordinated institutional action, led by AI Coordinator Don Button and a cross-disciplinary team selected for the 2025–26 AAC&U Institute on AI, Pedagogy and Curriculum. The college maintains an AI Resource Hub in Canvas, runs regular faculty webinars on pedagogy and ethics, and has published a Writing Center AI statement for students, though no formal collegewide policy has been adopted. SCC also offers a Data Science degree with machine learning coursework and deploys an AI chatbot (Hughie) for student support.

Updated Scan Findings

6 new 🆕· 10 source-verified findings from the updated web scan
AI-Engaged People, Processes & Timelines · 5
  • 🆕Selected for AAC&U Institute on AI, Pedagogy and Curriculum. SCC was selected as one of 192 teams from 176 U.S. institutions for the yearlong, online AAC&U Institute on AI, Pedagogy and Curriculum (kickoff September 2025, capstone April 6-7, 2026). The team includes President Albert Garcia, Don Button, Francisco Cantillo, Laura Gillies-Doherty, Holly Piscopo, and Brian Pogue. 2025 · high confidencesource
  • 🆕Fall 2025 AI webinar/training series. The October 2025 newsletter lists a series of AI professional-development webinars (Oct-Nov 2025) for faculty, including 'The Opposite of Cheating' (Dr. Tricia Bertram Gallant), sessions on AI feedback, Universal Design for Learning, GenAI and teaching values, and advanced reasoning models. 2025 · high confidencesource
  • AI Coordinator role (Don Button). SCC has a designated AI Coordinator, Don Button (Design and Digital Media professor), who maintains the collegewide AI Updates hub and provides regular updates on AI resources and webinars for faculty and staff. 2025 · high confidencesource
  • AI Task Force report to Academic Senate (April 2024). An SCC AI Task Force prepared an April 2024 report exploring the applications, benefits, risks, and ethical implications of AI in teaching, research, student services, and administration, with recommendations for responsible and informed use of AI such as ChatGPT. 2024 · high confidencesource
  • Faculty workshop: Crafting a Student-Centered AI Policy. SCC offered a faculty workshop, 'AI in Education: Crafting a Student-Centered AI Policy for Your Program and/or Courses' (Aug 20, 2024), led by Don Button, Marlene Steele, Roberto Chacon-Gutierrez, and Jeff Lee, covering AI policy development, rethinking assessments, and ethical AI use. Fall 2024 · high confidencesource
AI Policies · 1
  • Writing Center AI Statement for Students. The SCC Writing Center publishes an AI Statement for Students stating that most instructors do not allow generative AI/LLMs to fully write assignments, that doing so is usually academically dishonest, and that students must follow each syllabus and disclose AI use if their professor requires it. undated · high confidencesource
AI Courses, Tools & Resources · 4
  • 🆕AI in Education Resource Hub (Canvas) and newsletter. SCC maintains an 'AI in Education Resource Hub' as a self-enroll Canvas shell for LRCCD faculty/staff (curated AI news, tools, webinars, books, podcasts) and publishes an AI in Education Newsletter; weekly AI items also appear in the Cityscape employee newsletter. 2025 · high confidencesource
  • 🆕Google Gemini for Education (systemwide CCC-Google partnership). As one of California's 116 community colleges, SCC is covered by the Sept 2025 California Community Colleges-Google partnership providing free Gemini for Education, NotebookLM, Guided Learning, and training; SCC's own newsletter promotes Google's 'Generative AI for Educators with Gemini' self-paced course to faculty. 2025 · high confidencesource
  • 🆕Data Science degree/certificate with machine learning coursework. SCC offers an A.S. in Data Science and a Data Science Certificate of Achievement (catalog effective Aug 1, 2026) that include 'Data Modeling and Machine Learning' (CISD 359/CISP 359), 'Introduction to Data Science' (CISD/CISP 357), and 'Data Analysis' (CISD/CISP 358), teaching supervised machine learning methods. 2026 · high confidencesource
  • 🆕Hughie AI website chatbot. SCC's website features an AI-powered chatbot named Hughie, described as designed to offer clear, personalized responses based on student needs; listed under campus technology resources. undated · medium confidencesource

Spring 2025 baseline

AI-Engaged People, Processes & Timelines

V2030: PeopleV2030: PolicyV2030: Resources
Team/Lead: Sacramento City College/Senate AI Taskforce/Listed Faculty and Staff
  • Fall 2023
  • AI Student and Faculty Survey (Opt-in, qualitative)
  • 2024 Academic Senate, task force
  • Members
  • Don Button, co-chair, Technology & Innovation Duane Leonard, co-chair, ESL/SRC Roberto Chacon Young, Humanities & Fine Arts Joel Hwang, Natural Sciences Bryan Krofchok, Business/Computer Information Science/Distance Learning Anh Nguyen, Engagement & Completion Marlene Steele, Education & Health Professions Nicole Woolley, Language Arts & Library Brandon Youngblood, Behavioral & Social Sciences
  • Many faculty were complaining about the misuse of AI in their classes, so the Academic Senate took up the issue.
  • A very small task force is looking at how AI can be used to create OERs.
  • Report on AI at SCC
  • August 2024 Flex PD
  • AI in Education: Crafting a Student-Centered AI Policy for Your Program and/or Courses
  • Don Button, Design and Digital Media
  • Marlene Steele, Occupational Therapy Assisting
  • Roberto Chacon-Gutierrez, Theatre Arts/Film
  • Jeff Lee, English

AI Policies

V2030: Policy
Team/Lead: Sacramento City College
  • Not yet. Appear to rely on student code of conduct and faculty-by-faculty approach
  • “SCC faculty (and district-wide) have so far been left on their own to address AI tools on a class-by-class individual basis. Over the last three and half semesters, many cobbled together their own class policies and added them to their syllabi. While use of AI, both positive and negative, can pose very different concerns from one academic program to another, to our knowledge, no individual program has created their own departmental policy. There are some faculty who have embraced AI, from allowing its limited use in specific assignments to fully integrating AI as a teaching tool. There are likely many faculty who have attempted to fully prohibit it only to find that an increasing number of students are ignoring class policy and using it regardless.“

AI Courses, Tools & Resources

V2030: ResourcesV2030: People

Entities from the knowledge graph

college: Sacramento City Collegeinitiative: AI Student and Faculty Surveyinitiative: AI in Education: Crafting a Student-Centered AI Policy for Your Program and/or Coursesinitiative: Using AI to Help with College Writinginitiative: AI is Coming to Destroy Education or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Artificial Intelligenceinitiative: Basics of AIinitiative: Using AI to Create OERorganization: Sacramento City College Academic Senateorganization: Senate AI Taskforceorganization: Sacramento City College Writing Centerperson: Brandon Youngbloodperson: Jeff Leeperson: Marlene Steeleperson: Anh Nguyenperson: Don Buttonperson: Bryan Krofchokperson: Joel Hwangperson: Roberto Chacon Youngperson: Duane Leonardperson: Nicole Woolley

Links & artifacts

Contacts at this college

Name / RoleEmailPhone
DB
Don Button
Co-chair, Technology & Innovation; Design and Digital Media
(916) 558-2415
DL
Duane Leonard
Co-chair, ESL/SRC
leonard@scc.losrios.edu(530) 848-7953
RY
Roberto Chacon Young
Humanities & Fine Arts; Theatre Arts/Film
JH
Joel Hwang
Natural Sciences
hwangj@losrios.edu
BK
Bryan Krofchok
Business/Computer Information Science/Distance Learning
krofchb@scc.losrios.edu
AN
Anh Nguyen
Engagement & Completion
nguyena2@scc.losrios.edu(916) 558-2071
MS
Marlene Steele
Education & Health Professions; Occupational Therapy Assisting
steelem@scc.losrios.edu(916) 558-2111
NW
Nicole Woolley
Language Arts & Library
woollen@scc.losrios.edu
BY
Brandon Youngblood
Behavioral & Social Sciences
JL
Jeff Lee
English
jeff.lee@losrios.edu
CL
Cassidy Larkin
larkinc@scc.losrios.edu
BU
buttond@scc.losrios.edu
RG
Rebecca Goodchild
GoodchR@scc.losrios.edu