MEMBER NEWS: Tachi Yokut Tribe donates $3M to West Hills College Lemoore

Robert Jeff (left), vice chairman of the Santa Rosa Rancheria Tachi Tribe, and West Hills College Lemoore President James Preston discuss the local tribe’s 3 million gift.

Tachi Yokut Tribe will establish Native American Studies Program

The Tachi Yokut Tribe has donated $3 million to the West Hills Community College Foundation that will establish a comprehensive Native American studies program at West Hills College Lemoore, a member of the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium.

This “monumental and historic partnership” endowment signifies a commitment to education, cultural preservation and community enrichment, demonstrating the power of collaboration between the Tachi Yokut Tribe and West Hills College Lemoore, the college said in its announcement of the gift Aug 17.

The groundbreaking Native American studies program will delve into the rich history, traditions, and contemporary issues of Native American communities.

West Hills College Lemoore President James Preston said this program will provide students with an invaluable opportunity to engage deeply with the region’s cultural heritage, fostering understanding, respect and awareness.

“We are elated to embark on this journey to create a Native American studies program that not only celebrates the heritage of the Tachi Yokut Tribe but also enriches the lives of all our students,” President Preston said. “This endowment reinforces our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusivity, and we are excited to build bridges between our college and the Native American communities we serve.”

Rojelio Morales, director of Marketing at Tachi Palace, said the Tachi Yokut Tribe is honored to contribute to establishing the Native American studies program at the nearby college.

“We believe that education is a powerful tool for cultural preservation and dialogue,” Morales said. “This initiative aligns with our values of community, heritage and progress. By investing in this program, we hope to inspire future generations and facilitate meaningful exchanges between cultures.”

The Native American Studies program will engage students in academic exploration and extend its reach to the wider community through events, seminars and cultural activities, the college said in its announcement.

“West Hills College Lemoore looks forward to collaborating with the Tachi Yokut Tribe and other stakeholders to ensure the success and growth of this transformative endeavor,” the announcement said.

 

Media inquiries: Amber Myrick, district director of Marketing, Communications, and Public Information for the West Hills Community College District at  ambermyrick@whccd.edu  (559.934.2132).

 

See the WHCCD press release.

CVHEC DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE (Summer 2023): Affirmative Action challenge!

Supreme Court ruling is not the death of Affirmative Action but

rather a challenge to renew and reinforce its spirit and outcomes

 

NOTE: See the June 24, 2023  Fresno Bee Op-Ed version of this message: https://bit.ly/CVHECoped-RenewAffirmativeActionSpirit.

 

Greetings Colleagues and Friends of CVHEC,

As I was preparing to write the introduction for this special summer edition of our e-newsletter, the much anticipated, but still devastating, decision by the United States Supreme Court to strike down Affirmative Action burst into the national scene June 29 sending my phone into non-stop notifications from family and higher ed colleagues beset with disappointment and anger.

And, as the country was reeling from that monumental decision, SCOTUS took further action to declare unconstitutional President Biden’s efforts to bring some relief to those holding student loans.

In one week — after decades of progress — equity, diversity and access in higher education were simultaneously under attack.

However, I offer that this Supreme Court ruling is not the death of Affirmative Action but rather a challenge to renew and reinforce its spirit and outcomes.

Upon hearing the news and fielding those phone calls, I thought back to 1996 when California voters passed Proposition 209, effectively ending Affirmative Action in California; and even back to the University of California vs Bakke case in 1976.  Having spent decades in higher education first as a student and mostly as a professional educator, I reflected on and contemplated how California dealt with those landmark decisions.

I recalled that, despite the initial impacts from those decisions that have cost countless students of color the chance to earn a higher education, advocates and colleagues here in California have nonetheless long embraced the quest for equity in pursuit of student populations that reflect the rich diversity of our state despite legislation and court action to the contrary.

Following that elimination of Affirmative Action in our state 27 years ago, educators in our four segments of higher education — the University of California, the California State University System, the California Community College System and the Independent Colleges and Universities — initiated new strategies and initiatives to attract and enroll students from underrepresented groups that had been targeted by Proposition 209 and the Bakke case.

Yes we made some gains in the face of anti-Affirmative Action adversity here in California but there is still more work to do, especially as evidenced by these new Supreme Court rulings.

If we truly believe that all means all and everybody means everybody, it is appropriate that the impact of race, economic status and a person’s life experiences are all factors that should be considered as students pursue the dream and promise of a higher education.

Today, now more than ever, the equity efforts long in play here in California are essential nationwide. We must not let up in our quest to strive and reach goals that have not yet been met but are being pursued relentlessly by countless higher education professionals, policy makers, legislators, students and community supporters throughout our state and in other states similarly affected.

Locally, the work of Central Valley Higher Education Consortium members – made up of 28 colleges in the nine-county region from San Joaquin to Kern – under our equity umbrella aligns very well with reinforcing and renewing efforts to address the spirit and outcomes of Affirmative Action as it was intended when first conceptualized, not as it has been characterized lately.

I am confident that our Central Valley colleges and universities will continue to make their institutions open to all because it is the right thing to do, not because it is legislated.

So I invite and encourage my esteemed colleagues serving students throughout the Central Valley and beyond to once again rise to this new challenge, as we have always done, with a renewed vigor in continuing the good work you have done for our students.

Let us use the anger and disappointment we felt initially and get on with the work ahead of us. We must assure that the spirit of Affirmative Action, as it was originally intended, thrives for the good of our entire community.

Now, please do enjoy the rest of this historic summer!

CVHEC DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE (May 2023): Extraordinary times!

Winding down an extraordinary

academic year in the Central Valley 

Greetings colleagues,

As we welcome you to the May issue of our newsletter, we take this opportunity to thank, congratulate and salute all the CVHEC educators who have dedicated themselves to sending off another group of Central Valley students into the next phase of their academic and or professional lives.  This annual commencement season is truly a magical time of the year and reminds us all why we chose careers in higher education.

In this issue we present more about Math Bridge, the math pathways initiative launched May 18 by bringing together representatives of six regional community colleges and their partner feeder high schools. At this kickoff held in downtown Fresno, these dedicated and determined professionals began the process to jointly create college level dual enrollment math courses targeted at underrepresented student populations that will allow them to complete a college math course before graduating from high school.  This innovative project is unique because of the intersegmental collaboration between high school and community college math faculty members working together to ensure their students’ success.

You will also have an opportunity to visit the CVHEC board meeting held May 11 in Fresno.  Board members heard a joint presentation by Dr. James Zimmerman, senior associate vice provost and dean of Undergraduate Education at UC Merced, and Dr.  Lynn Cevallos, president and founder of College Bridge.  They addressed the evolution and overlap of two CVHEC endeavors, the Central Valley Transfer Project and the Math Bridge initiative, that helps clear pathways for students getting into and through community college and onto the university of their choice.

We also bid farewell to two dear colleagues although one will remain well in sight, Dr. Sonya Christian who served on our board as chancellor of the Kern Community College District but now moves up to chancellor of the California Community College system. And joining us one last time at the meeting was the esteemed Dr. Ellen Junn, Stanislaus State president whose retirement is effective next month. We know you join the board in thanking them for their service to higher education in general and the consortium in particular. And you may read about our newest board additions in the story and photo gallery about the board meeting.

Please enjoy this issue as well as the conclusion of this extraordinary semester.

PRESS RELEASE: Central Valley Math Bridge kickoff May 18 in Fresno

ADVISORY: For media coverage of the Central Valley Math Bridge Kickoff on Thursday, May 18 (9 a.m. to 3 p.m.), or for spokesperson availability, please text Tom Uribes at 559.348.3278. LOCATION: The Doubletree by Hilton Hotel/Fresno Convention Center (2233 Ventura St. – Fresno).  See Agenda.

(UPDATE May 26, 2023) – See Math Bridge coverage.

 

Central Valley Math Bridge: keeping the doors to STEM careers open for our students


13 rural high schools, six community colleges to convene for program kickoff May 18 in Fresno

(May 16, 2023) — The first cohort of 13 Valley high schools has been secured for the Central Valley Math Bridge Program that will promote equity and college-readiness in mathematics via dual enrollment courses for underprepared students at rural high schools in the region next fall (see list of high schools below).

The participating educators will convene this week with six community college members of the  Central Valley Higher Education Consortium in Fresno to formally launch the program and plan for its implementation at the Central Valley Math Bridge Kickoff from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, May 18, at Doubletree by Hilton Hotel Fresno Convention Center.

The launch is presented by co-hosts College Bridge, Central Valley Higher Education Consortium and the Rand Corporation.

Dr. Lynn Cevallos, founder and president of College Bridge, will deliver keynote remarks, “The State of Mathematics in California,” an analysis of intersegmental mathematics policies and practices statewide over the last 20 years that highlights a pending crisis now facing Valley students.

“The doors to STEM careers are closing for our students,” Cevallos warned. “The Math Bridge project is designed to keep those pathways open.”

In one morning session, “Collaborating Towards a Common Goal: Dinuba Success Story,” officials from Dinuba High School will share their experience with a previous College Bridge program — the Math Pipeline Readiness Project (M-PReP) — that provided the foundation for the current project.

Presenting will be DHS Principal Andrew Popp, Counselor Auggie Sanchez and Jim Gilmore, Math professor at Reedley College which was the DHS community college partner.

Dr. Benjamín Durán, CVHEC executive director, will deliver closing remarks along with Cevallos.

“The DE Math Bridge Project will prepare and guide students as they transition to college or university equipped with math credits and confidence,” said Durán, president-emeritus of Merced College who became CVHEC’s executive director in 2016.  “It creates a model for meaningful dual enrollment pathways and expansion that can be replicated in other regions of California serving underprepared students. This also supports CVHEC’s mission to increase degree attainment rates.”

The Central Valley Math Bridge project was initially funded by a $4 million five-year Education Innovation and Research (EIR) Program federal grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Education to College Bridge in late December.

College Bridge recently completed an extensive four-month recruitment campaign to secure eligible high schools for the first of two cohorts. Recruitment of the second cohort will begin this summer, Cevallos said.

The first cohort of high schools to-date and their respective community college partners are (with three additional pending*):

Cerro Coso College: Lone Pine, Tehachapi;

Columbia College: Bret Harte*, Calaveras*;

Madera College: Liberty, Madera, Madera South, Matilda Torres, Yosemite;

Reedley College: Dinuba, Orosi, Parlier, Reedley*

Taft College: Taft High School

West Hills Coalinga College: Firebaugh, Tranquillity.

High schools and community colleges interested in participating in the second cohort may contact Nicole Korgie at nicole.korgie@college-bridge.org.

For more information about the  May 18 event, contact Angel Ramirez, CVHEC operations manager at 559.292.0576 (centralvalleyhec@gmail.com). Media inquiries:  Tom Uribes at 559.348.3278.

 

NOTE: A parallel project funded by the state in February through the Central San Joaquin K-16 Partnership — made up of the Fresno/Madera and the Tulare/Kings K-16 Collaboratives — will serve an additional two colleges and seven high schools in the region (see https://bit.ly/CVHEC-DualEnrollmentMathBridge).

 

See background stories

https://bit.ly/CB-DualEnrollmentMathBridgeAnnounced

https://bit.ly/MathBridgeDualEnrollmentKickoff

UPDATES

ABOUT CVHEC and COLLEGE BRIDGE

The Central Valley Higher Education Consortium based in Fresno, made up of 28 institutions of higher education in the Central Valley’s nine-county region, is assisting the Dual Enrollment Math Bridge Project by using its role as a regional convener to bring the participating higher education and K-16 representatives together with College Bridge, a California non- profit based in Los Angeles County dedicated to creating a seamless K-16 pathway for students.

AGENDA-MathBridgeKO(051823)media

 

CVHEC DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE (April 2023): Blurring the lines!

‘Committed to the deeper work — blurring the line between high school and college

Greetings colleagues,

This April edition of our CVHEC e-newsletter ushers in the final month of a busy spring semester for many of our CVHEC member colleges and universities not to mention our own relentless team.

In spite of wrestling with all the challenges in just the second year of a post-pandemic world, faculty, staff and CVHEC partners have been working diligently on regional strategies that will shed light on the good work our Central Valley colleges and universities are doing collectively for the well-being of our students.

First, we alert you that the 2023 CVHEC Annual Summit originally set for May is being rescheduled to October.

This will give us the opportunity to deliver a more impactful and compressive summit that, in addition to bringing higher education leaders and policy-makers together, showcases the great work being done in the region.  Please be on the lookout for updates.

One of the things we continue to express is that passing the college math gateway courses can make the difference for a student between college completion or not.  In this month’s newsletter, please read about some of efforts going on throughout the region that aim to eliminate this barrier.

Specifically, we are pleased to announce our new state-funded Dual Enrollment Math Bridge Program in collaboration with the Central San Joaquin Valley K-16 Partnership.  This comes on the heels of our first venture with College Bridge announced in January that is in full swing with the recruitment of high schools and that was featured in valley news media (see related story in this issue).  CVHEC and its partners are committed to undertake this deeper work that can effectively blur the lines between high schools and its colleges in the Central Valley

In this issue’s What the CV-HEC is Happening Blog, Dr. Manjula Joseph from Fresno Pacific University speaks about some of the experiences these high school teachers are having while earning a Master’s degree that will not only qualify them to teach dual enrollment math courses at their high schools, but also make them even better teachers by humanizing mathematics.

Thanks again for taking some of your valuable time to peruse our e-newsletter.

CVHEC IN THE NEWS: College Bridge Dual Enrollment Math Bridge Project featured on KERO23

The College Bridge Dual Enrollment Math Bridge Project, in partnership with the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium , was featured by KERO23-ABC in Bakersfield with reporter/anchor Ava Kershner interviewing  Dr. Lynn Cevallos, founder and president of College Bridge, and Armin Rashvand, the Taft College dean of instruction.
Related links:

CVHEC DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE (March 2023): Spring forward!

Spring forward to our CVHEC summit, Math Bridge Kick-off and Kern Mentors!

 

Welcome to this month’s CVHEC e-Newsletter.  As we move into the spring of 2023 with a little more daylight on our hands, we are happy to share some timely items following our last issue.

First, as we in the Central Valley continue to bask in the pride and excitement of our own Dr. Sonya Christian, chancellor of the Kern Community College District, being chosen by the California Community Colleges Board of Governors to lead the California Community College System, we are delighted to feature her in this issue’s “What the CV-HEC Is Happening Blog.”

The Chancellor-select reflects on her time working in the valley with her fellow presidents and chancellors on the CVHEC Board of Directors and the strides we have made as a united voice for higher education in our nine-county region [or Kern Co if that is what the blog focuses on]. Please enjoy her guest blog in this month’s issue and, once again, congratulations Sonya!

Registration for the CVHEC Annual Summit is now open!

Please plan on joining us May 12 for this great event as well as our special CVHEC Welcome Reception the day before at Arte Americas. The summit – always historic in that it brings together the higher education leadership in our nine-county region – provides the opportunity to showcase the great work that is taking place in our Central Valley colleges and universities to provide meaningful pathways for our students seeking a higher education.

In furtherance of our mission to increase access to college for students, we are pleased to announce the Central Valley Math Bridge Kick-off May 18 in downtown Fresno with our partners College Bridge and the Rand Corporation. With this the formal launch, we are excited to shine a light on the great work that can come out of small colleges in the Central Valley that we will share with the rest of the state and eventually nationally as this project creates a model for meaningful dual enrollment math pathways and expansion that can be replicated in other regions of California.

This same spirit carries forth in the South Valley where our Kern Master’s Upskilling Project is now recruiting community college professors to serve as mentors for high school teachers enrolled in the project to earn master’s degrees in math or English. In collaboration with the Kern Regional K-16 Education Collaborative,  we are working to improve student progress from high school to postsecondary education and ultimately into the workforce by providing 100 South Valley high school teachers the opportunity to earn a master’s degree that achieves state qualifications for teaching community college dual enrollment English or math courses at local high schools.

We encourage Kern area community college math and English professors to join us in this innovative project.

And finally, as we close out March next week, let us acknowledge Women’s History Month by expressing our appreciation to the incredible women leaders who serve on the CVHEC Board of Directors as the presidents or chancellors of the colleges and universities in our region, led by board chairwoman Dr. Kristin Clark, chancellor the West Hills Community College District.

As you read through this issue, we hope you find inspiration in the many great higher education advancements taking place in the Central Valley. Thanks for being a partner and a friend of CVHEC.

CVHEC IN THE NEWS: College Bridge Dual Enrollment Math Bridge Project

The College Bridge Dual Enrollment Math Bridge Project, in partnership with CVHEC, was featured in several media outlets the past month including live interviews with Fresno (KSEE24-NBC) by Dr. Lynn Cevallos, founder and president of College Bridge. She was joined by Reedley College Math professor Jim Gilmore, who worked with high school teachers for College Bridge’s Math Pipeline Readiness Project (M-PReP).

CVHEC DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE (February 2023): CVHEC Summit 2023

Spotlight on Unique Approaches To

Transfer and Dual Enrollment in Central California

Greetings …

February ushered in what promises to be a very productive and exciting spring and that is well illustrated here in the final week of the month with the historic appointment of our esteemed colleague and CVHEC board member, Dr. Sonya Christian, as the 11th chancellor of the California Community College System.

From all of us at CVHEC: congratulations Chancellor-Select Christian! See our story in this issue.
 
Also, in this month’s e-newsletter, we are happy to announce a SAVE THE DATE for the annual CVHEC Education Policy and Legislative Summit May 12 in Fresno with our quarterly CVHEC Board of Directors meeting the day before.  

The annual summit provides an opportunity to showcase the impactful work being accomplished by our member colleges and universities in the Central Valley to our partners, friends and legislators who serve our region.  Please plan on joining us later this spring to learn more about this work, including the unique approaches to transfer and dual enrollment in the valley — just to mention a couple of topics that will be covered.  Registration info will be forthcoming in March.

In the South Valley, we are pleased to present the addition to the CVHEC family of two respected Kern County higher education professionals who will serve as faculty mentor coordinators for our Kern Master’s Upskilling Project: Drs. Vikash Likhan and Liz Rozell.

The Kern project, which assists high school teachers earn an MA in math or English qualifying them to teach dual enrollment, includes a mentoring component that joins high school teachers with community college professors. Drs. Likhan and Rozell will work with our project lead, Tom Burke (KCCD chancellor-emeritus), to identify and recruit South Valley community college professors to serve as mentors.

If you are interested in serving our students in this way, or know potential candidates, I invite and encourage you to connect with our team.

There is much more in this month’s edition.  Please read on and enjoy.

 

BOARD NEWS: CVHEC Board Reviews AB928, Eyes Retreat In 2023 and Bids Farewell to One of Its Own (Photo Gallery)

Outgoing Community College President Lori Bennett sat in on her final CVHEC Board meeting Dec. 8 and was honored by her colleagues including CVHEC regional coordinator John Spevak, who worked with her on special projects at CCC, and Executive Director Benjamin Duran. Jessie Ryan of the Campaign for College Opportunity presented on AB928 (Berman) and transfer reform. Bottom right: Board Chair Kristin Clark, chancellor of the West Hills Community College District, with West Hills College Lemoore President James Preston, Fresno City College President Robert Pimentel and State Center Community College District Chancellor Carole Goldsmith. See photo gallery below.

The Central Valley Higher Education Consortium Board of Directors held its final quarterly meeting of the year Dec. 8 highlighted by a discussion of Assembly Bill 928 regarding transfer reform and a farewell to a beloved colleague.

Dr. Lori Bennett, outgoing president of Clovis Community College, was presented a retirement gift during her final meeting sitting on the CVHEC board and representing her institution of higher education.

After a presentation by two dear friends and colleagues — Dr. Kristen Clark, CVHEC board chairperson  and chancellor of the West Hills Community College District; and Dr. Claudia Lourido-Habib, president of Porterville College — President Bennett expressed her appreciation for her CVHEC colleagues.

“There is nothing that I’ve done in my whole career that has been better than being president at Clovis Community College and part of that is being part of CVHEC,” said President Bennett whose retirement is effective Jan. 3.

“It’s amazing what we have here in this valley, all of you in this room, all of us getting to know each other and meeting up and talking and including all the different colleges,” she told the board. “It is beyond my wildest dreams that I could have been part of something like this. I want to thank all of you for the friendship and the work that we’ve done together over the last several years.”

The hybrid board meeting, only the second in-person session since the pandemic for the presidents and chancellors of CVHEC’s 30 member institutions in the nine-county Central Valley region, was hosted by the California Health Sciences University and board member Florence T. Dunn, CHSU president. Dr. John Graneto, CHSU dean pf the university’s College of Osteopathy Medicine, welcomed the academic CEOs with a presentation about the medical school.

Also presenting at the board meeting was Jessie Ryan, executive vice president of the Campaign for College Opportunity, who joined the meeting via Zoom. Discussing AB928 (Berman), Ryan acknowledged the role CVHEC has played in the transfer reform movement over the years, noting that the Central Valley is ahead of many in the state.

Ryan said the bill sought three things: to create an intersegmental transfer task force to talk about critical issues related to the production of the Associate Degree Transfer and improving the transfer process for students across the state; to create a common lower division general education pathway into the CSU and UC; and to more strategically ensure that the ADT became the preferred pathway for students where an ADT pathway for transfer existed

The board also heard CVHEC Executive Director Benjamín Durán report that the Consortium will be undertaking strategic planning measures in 2023 that include a program evaluation and a CVHEC Board Strategic Retreat next summer.

Several other CVHEC Projects were discussed; including a progress report on the CVHEC Transfer Project/Program Mapper, updates on the four CERF regions K-16 Collaboratives, and a discussion about the Online Educational Resources/Zero Textbook Costs (OER/ZTC). (See full agenda here – view details).

The CVHEC Board of Directors will meet again in spring 2023.

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