On Aug. 25, I joined my higher education colleagues and friends across the Central Valley, the state, and the nation in expressing my feelings of sadness, yet tranquility, at the loss of a great human being, friend and former CVHEC colleague Dr. Joseph I. Castro, former chancellor of the California State University system, former president of Fresno State and former chair of the CVHEC Board of Directors, who died the day before after battling cancer.

A sense of tranquility prevails in seeing the great outpouring of sentiment extended the past few weeks to Dr. Castro and his wife Mary and children Issac, Bella, Jess and daughter-in-law Marilyn by many friends, and most of his colleagues and students past and present.

On behalf of CVHEC, I joined those expressions with a statement memorializing a man we all knew — to put it simply and directly — as truly one of the good guys. Keeping it down to earth, Joe was a valley kid who, after conquering higher education earning his doctorate at Stanford, returned home to serve the Valley and make history as Fresno State president and CSU chancellor.

Along with CVHEC’s statement, we presented a Zoom clip from the Dec. 7, 2020 CVHEC Board of Directors meeting — Joe’s last as a member representing Fresno State when he moved on to the CSU chancellorship – where his board colleagues at the time, fellow Valley higher ed CEOs, wished him well and saluted him for championing student success, social mobility and first-generation students. Fittingly in that video, upon hearing the admiration of his CEO colleagues from across the valley, Joe ends his closing comments with what had become his signature battle cry during his Fresno State tenure – one that will inspire us well into the years ahead as we face any challenge: “KEEP BEING BOLD.”

With that bold spirit of Dr. Castro guiding us, I hope your fall semester is off to a great start and that you are all continuing the great work accomplished in the spring semester before your summer break (and of course I know many, if not all of you toil through the summer on your great academic endeavors as well).

And now, welcome to our September e-newsletter with the latest on the higher ed scene in the Valley.

First, as we head into a new academic year, you may read about CVHEC launching a new three-year strategic plan born from a hybrid planning retreat attended by the entire 28-member consortium board of directors held Aug. 20 at UC Merced.  Watch future newsletters for more details about initiatives that came out of the retreat.

In this edition, however, we touch on the ongoing positive progress of our current successful projects.

For instance, you will read about our Central Valley Transfer Project that is getting national attention after already gaining statewide prominence when the California Community Colleges made it a demonstration project in 2023 and now has become part of Chancellor Sonya Christian’s Vision 2030  Transfer Plan announced this summer.

Now our CVHEC Transfer Project team will present at the Complete College America Annual Convening in Baltimore, Maryland in November where, on a nationwide stage, we will collectively reframe challenges as opportunities and set a decisive agenda for change.

Another initiative that moves into higher gear is our Masters Upskilling Project’s Mentor Program. Math and English community college faculty have joined forces with us by serving as mentors for high school teachers enrolled in the Master’s Upskill Project to earn a post-bac degree that qualifies them to teach dual enrollment courses. Some of the community college math mentors met face-to-face recently in Fresno to solidify their mutual mission and share with their colleagues and the CVHEC team what’s working for them.

Also, in this issue we share data on the Central Valley Math Bridge Project implemented in our region by CVHEC partner College Bridge with support from the Rand Corporation and California’s K-16 Collaboratives.  College Bridge reps will also join us at the CCA national conference in Baltimore to present the Math Bridge Project and this data highlighting our region’s positive results.

The College Bridge data demonstrates that a targeted program like Math Bridge is very impactful in getting rural high school students to successfully complete gateway college level courses before graduation.  Research shows that programs like these with wrap-around services for targeted student populations serve as springboards towards college completion for these students.

And last but never least, our “What the CV-HEC is Happening” blog provides a response of sorts to the argument about the value of higher education in today’s world.  The author, our own Dr. John Spevak, makes a very strong case for the effectiveness of higher education and its impact not only on our students but on the return on investment (ROI) for colleges and universities and the community in general. We would love to hear feedback regarding how this plays out in your neck of the woods.

As always, thank you for taking the time to read our CVHEC e-newsletter that shares the successes and efforts of dedicated educators in the Central Valley.

Have a great fall semester!