Stan State, Merced College celebrate improved transfer program

February 28, 2020

Stan State, Merced College celebrate improved transfer program

Feb 28, 2020

Stanislaus State and Merced College signed a historical agreement on Friday, Feb. 21, at the Merced College amphitheater. The agreement — which will ease the transfer process for Merced College students who plan to attend California State University, Stanislaus — symbolizes a renewed support of educational success between the two institutions.

The “Warriors on the Way” celebration began as Chris Vitelli, president of Merced College, took the stage to welcome students, faculty, and community members in attendance.

“This is a very exciting opportunity and event for both of our institutions,” he began. “This will provide the streamlined support and wrap-around services for our students that want to transfer to our largest receiving institution, Stanislaus.”

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between Vitelli and Ellen Junn, president of CSU Stanislaus, permanently acknowledging the agreement. The partnership will allow Merced College students guaranteed priority admission to Stan State when they complete their Associate Degree for Transfer (ADT) at Merced College and meet all application deadlines.

“This is an agreement that can be seen as a renewal of our commitment to work together and further cements the relationship that began when Merced College was established 58 years ago,” Junn said.

As Merced College provides Stanislaus State with the greatest student admission, it is only seen fit for the two institutions of higher education to work together to provide better resources for their students.

The program will not only make the transfer process run smoother, but will also provide the Central Valley with more educated residents as the years roll out. As the population grows in both Merced and Stanislaus Counties, a greater transfer and graduation population can be predicted for both schools.

“We recognize the tremendous partnership between two institutions that believe in the future of many of the students that are here, and the hundreds of thousands in this community that will benefit from the relationship that we have been forging over the last several years,” Vitelli continued.

The MOU calls for a counselor at each campus, guaranteed up to 32 hours per week, that will be available to the disposal of its transfer students. This role will be beneficial as students are made aware of the different opportunities that are available to them at the Stan State campus.

Briana Sanchez, a Merced College student graduating in the fall, stood at the podium as she emphasized how important the Warriors on the Way program currently is for her.

“I am a first generation college graduate,” Sanchez began. “I had to learn my own steps. Learning everything on my own wasn’t easy. Many people told me I shouldn’t apply to transfer out of Merced College because it wasn’t going to happen for me.”

Thanks to determination and the Warriors on the Way program, Sanchez says she is now able to see her dreams within reach. Sanchez will be graduating with her ADT in communications, social and behavioral psychology, and administrative and office professional.

“Thanks to Merced College and Stanislaus, I am now a Warrior on the Way,” Sanchez concluded.

The original post can be found at https://mercedcountytimes.com/stan-state-merced-college-celebrate-improved-transfer-program/

CAP’s ‘Honey Badger Award 2020’ honors CVHEC for pre-AB 705 success

February 28, 2020

CAP’s ‘Honey Badger Award 2020’ honors CVHEC for pre-AB 705 success

The Central Valley Higher Education Consortium was honored in February 2020 with the California Acceleration Project’s Honey Badger Award for its early role in implementing Assembly Bill 705 that helped remove barriers to college completion by transforming placement and remediation practices at 14 of its member community colleges.

Presented at the California Acceleration Project (CAP) regional conference February 28 in Sacramento, the award acknowledged CVHEC’s early implementation efforts even prior to enactment of the bill.

Enacted in 2018, the state legislation restricts colleges from requiring students to enroll in non-transferable English and math courses that lengthens their time to attain a degree. AB 705 guides colleges toward corequisite models in which students receive additional concurrent support during the same semester that they take a transfer-level English or mathematics course.

At its annual summit in October 2016, the CVHEC Board of Directors, which is made up of the region’s 27 college and university presidents and chancellors, launched its move to implement corequisite measures at member valley community college campuses as documented in a report by CAP commissioned by the Campaign for College Opportunity, “GETTING THERE: Are California Community Colleges Maximizing Student Completion of Transfer-Level Math and English?” This regional progress report examined AB 705 implementation at 47 community colleges in the Central Valley, the Inland Empire and greater Los Angeles.

“The CVHEC board came to understand that transforming placement and remediation was critical to their larger effort,” the report said. “They set goals for implementing corequisite models and enlisted partners like Complete College America, the Charles A. Dana Center, and the California Acceleration Project to lead summits and workshops for Central Valley faculty and administrators.

“By the time AB 705 came along, the region was primed for action,” the Campaign report declared.

Dr. Benjamin Duran, CVHEC executive director and Merced College President Emeritus, said in the Getting There report, “More and more colleges in the Central Valley are realizing the importance of AB 705. They’re recognizing that, because of these changes, children of doctors and children of farmworkers could all have the same shot at succeeding at a community college or CSU.”

Duran credited Central Valley faculty and administrators for their work in implementing corequisite measures before and after AB 705 with the support of CVHEC, which was founded in 2002 to improve the college-going culture in the consortium’s nine-county region from San Joaquin to Kern counties.

The consortium’s corequisite movement also took center stage at its 2018 CVHEC Education Policy and Legislative Summit featuring discussions about AB 705 and the California State University Executive Order (EO) 1110. Issued in 2017, CSU Chancellor Timothy White’s order eliminated non-credit-bearing developmental courses in written communication and math/quantitative reasoning and required campuses to provide new types of course models to help students succeed in entry-level college courses. EO 1110 also eliminated the use of the English Placement Test (EPT) and Entry-Level Mathematics (ELM) exam.

CVHEC media contact: Tom Uribes • tom@uribes.com • 559.348.3278

BACKGROUND

The Central Valley Higher Education Consortium (CVHEC) is a 501(c)3 incorporated non-profit organization comprised of 27 accredited public and private colleges, universities, and community college district members in California’s nine-county region (San Joaquin to Kern counties). CVHEC serves as the convener and facilitator of technical support experts as needed by its members and executes the policy objectives of the CVHEC Board that is made up of the presidents and chancellors of the member institutions. A key CVHEC objective is to increase the Central Valley’s certificate and degree attainment rates.

The Campaign for College Opportunity is a California nonprofit organization devoted to ensuring that the next generation of college-age students in California has the chance to go to college and succeed. The goals of The Campaign are to substantially increase the number of students attending two- and four-year colleges in the state and to significantly impact the rate that students succeed and achieve their postsecondary education objectives. The Campaign was founded by the California Business Roundtable, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) and the Community College League of California in 2003.

The California Acceleration Project was founded in 2010 by two community college teachers who wanted to do something about the poor outcomes of students placed into remediation. The faculty-led professional development network supports the state’s 114 community colleges in the campaign to implement reforms that substantially increase student completion of transferable, college-level English and math requirements, a critical milestone on the path to degrees and transfer. These include using high school grades in placement, replacing traditional remedial courses with corequisite models, tailoring math remediation to students’ program of study and teaching with high-challenge, high-support pedagogy in English, math and ESL. CAP is funded through grants from the James Irvine Foundation, the College Futures Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The Foundation for California Community Colleges is CAP’s fiscal sponsor.

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Central Valley Community College Leaders Form Caucus to Advocate for Full Funding

February 26, 2020

Central Valley Community College Leaders Form Caucus to Advocate for Full Funding

FEBRUARY 26, 2020

When the California Economic Summit was held in Fresno late in 2019, it helped shine the light on the need for more investment in services in inland California.

State legislators can expect to hear more from some Central Valley community college leaders due to shortfalls after a new statewide funding formula was put in place. Concerned about the impact on their work, the college leaders decided to organize a caucus.

The Student-Centered Funding Formula (SCFF), covering all of the California Community Colleges, was intended to provide additional resources to districts serving large numbers of low-income and disadvantaged students and districts experiencing high graduation and transfer rates. This move to fund student success was one of the core commitments of the Colleges’ Vision for Success, pairing high expectations with high support.

“The community colleges have a simple goal—put the students first. For many of our students in the Central Valley, they are the first of their families to attend college. If we are going to be successful in lifting them up and into California’s middle class—it makes no sense to reduce investments now,” said Dr. Stu Van Horn, CEO of the West Hills Community College District. “We believe drawing attention to this shortfall through our caucus will help us make the case that our students deserve the attention and investment of their peers elsewhere in California.”

A full one-fourth of this statewide funding shortfall occurred within the Central Valley: $27 million in unrealized funding. All community college districts in the Central Valley have been underfunded to some degree, according to a letter issued by the community college leaders:

Kern Community College District ($10.5 million underfunded)
West Hills Community College District ($4.7 million underfunded [10% of operating budget])
Merced Community College District ($4.2 million underfunded)
Yosemite Community College District ($3.0 million underfunded)
Sequoias Community College District ($2.1 million underfunded)
State Center Community College District ($1.4 million underfunded)
West Kern Community College District ($0.5 million underfunded)
San Joaquin Delta Community College District ($0.3 million underfunded)

The Central Valley Community College Caucus, composed of CEOs, is calling for fiscal stability for the districts and the future viability of the funding formula:

Allocating state general funds to backfill any remaining shortfall in apportionment funding to community college districts for 2018-19
Ensuring the Student-Centered Funding Formula is fully funded for future years by authorizing adjustments to state General Fund apportionment to match the true cost of the SCF.

The leaders say these measures will contribute to fiscal stability for districts and the future viability of the funding formula as a tool for California Community Colleges to carry out the goals of the Vision for Success and help California stay competitive.

“Our first unified message of advocacy for the funding formula is being distributed to all members of the San Joaquin Valley delegation, as well as selected other individuals and entities,” Dr. Van Horn wrote. “West Hills continues to spearhead collaboration among the region’s colleges, and I remain committed to stand shoulder to shoulder with you to ultimately improve the funding formula to align with the state’s Vision for Success.”

The California Economic Summit’s vast network continues to work on leading and promoting regional, inclusive strategies in advance of the 2020 Summit scheduled for Monterey on December 3 and 4. Read more about the Summit’s priorities in the 2020 Roadmap to Shared Prosperity, including lifelong learning strategies that will help prepare the workforce of tomorrow.

The original post can be found at https://cafwd.org/reporting/entry/central-valley-community-college-leaders-form-caucus-to-advocate-for-full-f