Spring – a renewal of our resiliency and celebrations

Benjamin T. Duran, Ed.D. CVHEC Executive Director

Greetings Colleagues and Friends of CVHEC,

There is plenty to celebrate this Spring. As the celebration is underway, Central Valley’s resiliency during this pandemic is on full display. We are delighted to highlight some of those efforts in this month’s issue of the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium’s newsletter.

Please join us in congratulating two CVHEC board members who have been selected to serve their districts as chancellor. Dr. Kristin Clark has been selected as the third West Hills Community College District Chancellor and Dr. Sonya Christian was selected as Kern Community College District Chancellor. Congratulations!

University officials and family party-planners alike have been busy preparing for Spring commencements. Although the pandemic is impacting traditional commencement celebrations, our region is bustling to honor student success. With fewer restrictions than last year, creativity abounds as campuses are finding new ways to commemorate student success. We are highlighting the variations and look forward to a joyous commencement season. Congratulations graduates and everyone who helped them get to that next step in their lives.

Finally, in this issue, we look at how our member campuses have stepped up to support vaccine distribution to help our economy come back, and eventually, assist in face-to-face learning on campuses. Our Central Valley campuses are serving as strong partners.

Benjamin T. Duran, Ed.D.
Executive Director – Central Valley Higher Education Consortium (CVHEC)

KCCD selects sixth chancellor: Dr. Sonya Christian

Dr. Sonya Christian

Dr. Sonya Christian, Bakersfield College president, has been selected as the sixth chancellor of the Kern Community College District succeeding Dr. Tom Burke who is retiring, the KCCD Board of Directors announced April 19.

Dr. Christian, a former Mathematics instructor who earned an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from UCLA, has served in a variety of roles in the community college setting for over thirty years. During that time, she’s served in academic positions, administrative and senior administrative positions. In 2013, she was named the 10th president of Bakersfield College.

Dr. Christian will oversee KCCD’s three campuses: Bakersfield College, Cerro Coso Community College in eastern Kern County and Porterville College in Tulare County.

The chancellor-select will continue to serve on the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium board of directors moving from her Bakersfield College president seat to the KCCD chancellor seat.

See Bakersfield.com story.

The Central Valley’s 2021 Commencement spur creative celebrations




 

A Mix Of Live, Virtual, Drive-By Parades And ‘Cut-Out Fans!’

 

Central Valley student success — and perseverance — is about to be on full display.

As commencement season unfolds and pandemic restrictions abate, university and college members of the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium are planning to celebrate their students’ degree attainment with either in-person events or variations of virtual celebrations that will honor the Classes of 2021 and 2020.

Some CVHEC colleges and universities have begun to announce their plans but true to pandemic-era planning, those celebrations continue to be modified – with changes possible right up to the event date: 15 will hold in-person events and six will hold virtual celebrations.  Some of the in-person will include virtual elements, live streams and another will air commencements on live TV.

“Planning committees are to be commended for their thoughtful consideration to meet public health guidelines and creativity to consider student’s desire to celebrate their accomplishments with family,” said Dr. Ben Duran, CVHEC executive director.

“But also to be commended, and rightfully celebrated, are the Class of 2020 and 2021 grads who have shown great determination, perseverance and adaptability in the face of many challenges during this pandemic. It’s great to see them being saluted,” he added.

Planning variations range from multiple date smaller-scales, in-person commencement ceremonies with live stream, virtual presentations, drive-thru vehicle parades, custom fan photo cut-outs to help provide crowd excitement and local television partnerships to air ceremonies for the public.

Here are links to CVHEC members for commencement details and information updates:

Brandman University – Visalia and Modesto campuses

California Health Sciences University

California State University, Bakersfield

California State University, Fresno

California State University, Stanislaus

Cerro Coso Comm. College 

Clovis Community College  

College of the Sequoias 

Columbia College

Fresno City College

Fresno Pacific University

Madera College

Merced College

Modesto Junior College

Porterville College

San Joaquin Delta College

Taft College

West Hills College Coalinga

West Hills College Lemoore

University of California, Merced

CVHEC members provide COVID-19 vaccine clinics on campus

Central Valley colleges and universities are serving California and their respective communities as key partners in the state’s plan to provide safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines by lending their campuses as mass COVID-19 vaccination sites.

One of the first mass vaccination sites in the Central Valley was Reedley College. This opened the door for 10 fellow CVHEC members to follow suit and provide locations for local community residents to get the necessary treatment needed in the fight against the deadly virus.

“We are proud of our higher education member campuses who stepped up to the plate for their respective communities during the pandemic by providing vaccinations sites,” said Dr. Ben Duran, executive director of the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium, noting that many also provided testing sites.

“Academic institutions are a vital part of the communities they serve and this is one way to expand that service.”

Campus vaccination clinics were held at (see link for details):

Bakersfield College

College of the Sequoias

Fresno City College (UCSF COVID-19 Equity Project)

Merced College

Porterville College

Reedley College  

San Joaquin Delta College

West Hills College Lemoore

California State University, Bakersfield

California State University, Stanislaus

California State University, Fresno (for employees)

 (Also see: California’s Vaccination Plan)

Dr. Angel Reyna, president of Madera Community College and CVHEC Board member, gets his vaccine shot.

Dr. Kristin Clark is next WHCCD chancellor

Dr. Kristin Clark was named West Hills Community College District’s third chancellor April 20  by the WHCCD Board of Trustees, culminating a nationwide search begun last fall for a successor to Dr. Stuart Van Horn who retires June 30.

Dr. Clark, who has served the Central San Joaquin Valley’s Westside as president of West Hills College Lemoore (WHCL) since January 2016, will begin her new duties July 1.

Dr. Clark holds a Doctorate in Higher Education Management from the University of Pennsylvania, a Master’s in Educational Technology, and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.

She was already serving on the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium  board of directors representing WHCL but will now do so as KCCD chancellor.

See KCCCD announcement

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