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.
Congratulations to 
Congratulations to Dr. Lisa Aguilera Lawrenson who was named 
Congratulations to Dr. André Stephens who will assume the Fresno Pacific University presidency on July 1. He will join the 
Congratulations to Dr. Robert Pimentel who was appointed president of Fresno City College Tuesday by State Center Community College District trustees effective July 1, replacing former President Carole Goldsmith who became chancellor for the district in January. Dr. Marlon Hall was serving as interim president (see Goldsmith and Hall stories below).
Congratulations to 
Congratulations to 
Congratulations to 
Dr. Carole Goldsmith, who was named the 11th chancellor of the State Center Community College District last month, was confirmed by the SCCCD Board of Trustees Dec. 14 and begins her new position on Jan. 1. She fills the position vacated when Dr. Paul Parnell retired on July 6.
Dr. Carla Tweed, a Central Valley native, will lead her alma mater as the 6th president of West Hills College Coalinga effective January 14, 2022 when she also becomes a member of the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium board of directors.
Mr. James Preston, former vice president of Educational Services who was serving as interim president of West Hills College Lemoore, was selected earlier this month to serve as the college’s 4th president effective January 1, 2022.
Congratulations to Sonia Gutierrez-Mendoza, director of UMass Global’s Visalia Campus, (formerly Brandman) on her appointment as assistant vice chancellor for Admission Operations of the independent university. The appointment was effective Nov. 29 when Sonia moved to her new office in the Irvine central office. She participated in her final CVHEC Board meeting during the recent quarterly Zoom call Dec. 2. Gutierrez-Mendoza joined UMass Global in 2009 and the CVHEC board in 2018. She has led multiple university campuses in the Central Valley since 2012 and in 2018-2019 she spearheaded the initiative for a new campus location established in Visalia.
