CVHEC BLOG: ‘WHAT THE CV-HEC IS HAPPENING’ (Dec. 2021)

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The opening panel discussion at the CVHEC/UC Merced Transfer Project convening Nov. 4 in Merced included Shirley Asher, Jennifer Johnson, Karissa Morehouse, Sonya Christian, Gregg Camfield and Chenoa Woods.

 

The beat – serving student success – goes on!

An inside look at the CVHEC/UC Merced Transfer Pathways Initiative and Mapper

By Tom Burke
CVHEC Transfer Project Coordinator

(Photo Gallery below)

In June, when I stepped down as chancellor of the Kern Community College District, many thought I would embark on the typical “retirement” life of fishing, hunting, traveling and just resting after a 40-year career.

While I did enjoy some of that, I also soon found myself right back in the saddle in a “new” role with KCCD as Deputy Chancellor and as a coordinator with the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium. So for those of you wondering: no I’m not officially “retired!”

Rather I am happy to report that the past few months have been quite a rewarding whirlwind as I plunged headlong into a new “assignment” as coordinator of CVHEC’s Transfer Project with the intent to enhance what has been my life’s work: serving students in general and in this case specifically, helping build effective pathways to our community colleges for a smoother, efficient transfer experience.

To that end, these past 45 days alone have seen the fruition of two great milestones.

First was the public celebration of the completion of Phase I of a joint program, the CVHEC/UC Merced Transfer Pathways Initiative, at a convening Nov. 4 on the UCM campus with community college partners Bakersfield and Merced Colleges.  Secondly, at that historic event, we also launched Phase II of this project that includes the participation of four more CVHEC member institutions: Porterville College, Reedley College, Clovis College and West Hills College-Lemoore.

 

Revolutionizing Positive Outcomes

The Transfer Pathways Initiative is the result of a $500,000 grant from the California Educational Learning Lab to Bakersfield College, Merced College and UC Merced for the development of 2+2 transfer maps that streamline and guide the transfer of community college students to the University of California system.

Last month’s convening, “Charting Better Maps to Degrees – Developing Transfer Pathways to UC Merced,” demonstrated how we can revolutionize positive outcomes across enrollment, completions and equity for students while emphasizing UC Merced’s commitment to significantly expanding transfer pathways for community college students within the San Joaquin Valley to UC Merced.

With about 172 participants representing all three segments of higher education, the hybrid convening itself was a hallmark of sorts being the first major gathering convened by CVHEC and its partners since the pandemic shut down the world in March 2020. The energy from seeing and hearing our colleagues in the flesh was very evident throughout the six-hour event that was also presented virtually via Zoom (130 virtual and 42 in person).

CVHEC member community colleges were well represented at the convening where we discussed how in Phase 1, our partner teams completed 14 Transfer Pathways from Merced College and Bakersfield College to UC Merced as well as Transfer Pathway work with California State University, Bakersfield.

The convening also further introduced interested colleges to the Pathway Mapper software program, particularly its ability to enhance the student transfer experience as well as early student success results from institutions utilizing the Pathway Mapper. Participants also received information on future Program Mapper software enhancements that are scheduled.

The topics of four breakout sessions portrayed the breadth and depth of our mission:

  • The Tech Behind Program Pathways Mapper
  • Student Impact of Program Pathways Mapper – On-path Percentage, Student Engagement
  • Getting Started with Program Pathways Mapper: Cleaning and Loading Your Curriculum
  • The Technology of Collaboration – How to set up effective intersegmental discipline faculty teams and develop 2+2 transfer Documentation of process and guidelines.

 

Implementation teams of faculty, staff working hand-in-hand

The second great milestone is the launch of Phase II which actually got its start in the summer when a convening of representatives from all 15 CVHEC community colleges included an update presentation on the aforementioned Phase I completion of the 14 Transfer Pathways from Merced and Bakersfield Colleges to UC Merced.

At that June 16 convening, significant interest was expressed for participation in Phase II project implementation so in the early fall CVHEC reached out to interested member community colleges with a call to form and submit their implementation teams.

The four Phase II community colleges mentioned above — Porterville, Reedley, Clovis and West Hills-Lemoore — established teams and scheduled convenings to commence the development of curriculum transfer pathways to UC Merced. They will now be individually convening in the next four months with the first held Dec. 2-3 at Porterville College.

That recent convening was my first as a coordinator and I was impressed with the commitment and excitement by the Porterville College, faculty, staff and administrators to develop nine transfer pathways directly to UC Merced including a new pathway in Spanish.

Perhaps the pinnacle of that enthusiasm was to observe, when a potential curriculum issue arose, how UC Merced staff collaborated and interfaced with community college faculty and staff for solutions on the spot.  They collectively brainstormed and developed options for resolving the issue.

In particular, the level of commitment by host Porterville College to fulfill this mission for their students was further demonstrated by the active involvement and attendance in the two-day convening by the Vice President of Instruction Thad Russell, Vice President of Student Services Primavera Arvizu and President of the Academic Senate Robert Simpkins.  In addition, Porterville College President Dr. Claudia Habib made an appearance at the convening impressing upon faculty and staff the importance of their contributions to this project for their students’ success and thanked them for their work on the pathways.

Equally, I was impressed with the Transfer Project planning team, especially CVHEC colleague Stan Carrizosa, a former College of Sequoias superintendent/president, and James Zimmerman, senior associate vice provost and dean for Undergraduate Education at UC Merced.

We hope this level of partnership by all parties will be emulated by all our members, which I am convinced will only lead to a great reward: positive outcomes across enrollment, completions and equity for students.

And that will clearly make for happier fishing, hunting and traveling days along the way (when I can squeeze them in)!

Happy Holidays to all!

See UC Merced press release: https://news.ucmerced.edu/news/2021/uc-merced-offer-simpler-transfer-pathway-central-valley-community-college-students

See Merced Sun Star story: UC Merced announces partnership to encourage Valley community college student transfers

Dr. Benjamín Durán, CVHEC executive director; Dr. Sonya Christian, Kern Community College District chancellor; Lark Park, director of the California Education Learning Lab; and Dr. Juan Sánchez Muñoz, UC Merced chancellor.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_images_carousel images=”6150,6118,6120,6119,6184,6171,6164,6162,6161,6147,6148,6149,6151,6144,6142,6141,6096,6140,6107,6170,6139,6138,6136,6135,6121,6122,6126,6127,6130,6131,6132,6133,6110,6109,6108,6143,6059″ img_size=”large” autoplay=”yes” title=”Gallery: CVHEC/UC Merced Transfer Pathways Initiative — UC Merced campus Nov. 4″][/vc_column][/vc_row]

MEMBER NEWS: CCO honors  8 CVHEC members with ‘Champions’ Awards

Campaign for College Opportunity honors 

8 CVHEC members with ‘Champions’ Awards

Eight CVHEC member institutions were honored as 2021 Champions of Higher Education and Equity Champions for Excellence in Transfer by the Campaign for College Opportunity.

Honored at CCO’s annual Champions of Higher Education for Excellence in Transfer virtual awards ceremony Nov. 16 were Bakersfield College; Clovis Community College; California State University, Bakersfield; College of the Sequoias; Fresno City College; Fresno State; Modesto Junior College; and Reedley College.

These colleges and universities are leading the state in: conferring the Associate Degree for Transfer (ADT); enrolling ADT earners on guaranteed pathways to a bachelor’s degree; and intentionally working to support Latinx and Black students on their path to a degree, said Michele Siqueiros, CCO president.

For a breakdown of specific awards, see the CCO announcement and video.

(CVHEC members are encouraged to submit items for this column: centralvalleyhec@gmail.com).

 

Dual Enrollment Success Stories: Celeste Galvan of McFarland

Celeste Galván of McFarland and her family celebrated her two degrees earned by the age of 19 thanks to dual enrollment courses through Bakersfield College before Fresno State. Here they pose with her at her high school graduation in 2018. She is now enrolled in CSU Bakersfield’s teacher credential program. All three campuses are CVHEC members.

CVHEC Dual Enrollment Spotlight:

Celeste Galván of McFarland

 

BY TOM URIBES
CVHEC Communications/Media Coordinator

From one end of the valley to the other, the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium continues to spotlight student dual enrollment success stories.

Like Nataly Frias featured in our first story in September, Celeste Galván of McFarland earned an associate degree at age 17 before she even graduated high school, marching alongside thousands of other Bakersfield College students at the commencement ceremony in Memorial Stadium in 2018.

Dual enrollment alumnus Celeste Galván graduated from Fresno State in December 2020.

Then just two years later, after transferring to Fresno State, she earned a bachelor of arts degree in Liberal Studies in May and now, at age 19, she is enrolled in the credential program at California State University, Bakersfield while serving an teacher internship at a nearby elementary school. All three institutions are CVHEC members.

In high school, Celeste participated in a Bakersfield College pilot program at the Wonderful College Prep Academy in nearby Delano that provided students with the opportunity to complete an associate of science in agriculture business from BC by the time they graduated from high school.

Before her senior year, Celeste’s family moved to Bakersfield and she chose to stay with her grandmother in McFarland to finish her BC degree work with the Wonderful Academy.

A typical day for Celeste would start at 4 a.m. to get ready for practice with the cross country team, where she took second place at the CIF Central Section Championships in Woodward Park in 2015. After classes, she would stay at the school library as late as 8 or 9 p.m. to finish her college and high school classwork since she didn’t have access to wifi at her grandmother’s house.

Celeste rode that Renegade/Bulldog/Roadrunner spirit through Bakersfield College, Fresno State and back to CSUB.

ROMEO AGBALOG — President of the KCCD Board of Trustees

Romeo Agbalog, president of the Kern Community College District Board of Trustees, wrote in a Bakersfied.com op-ed in January that the success of Celeste and other students prepared Bakersfield College to scale up its model by launching the Early College program in 2019, with the vision of providing a pathway for every high school student in   Kern County to earn between 12 and 60 units of college credit before graduation.

“Every incoming freshman at McFarland High School is enrolled in college-level courses alongside their regular classwork, developing the tools for college and career readiness. Today, over 23,000 students have completed a total of approximately 90,000 college credits at 36 high schools across the county” said Agbalog who also noted the program is successful in closing equity gaps.

“Early College has had a 93 percent student success rate across all high school campuses in the last academic year, consistently exceeding BC’s own institution-set standard for student success by 15 to 20 percent,” he wrote. “Most importantly, more than 85 percent of students from rural areas who were in an associate degree completion pathway went to college after high school.”

See Trustee President Agbalog’s column.

Background: 

The Central Valley Higher Education Consortium has been playing an increasing role in furthering Dual Enrollment as an equity-driven strategy to reduce disparities in student persistence and completion rates, which is the essence of the CVHEC mission, including

the creation of a task force in 2019, the Central Valley Dual Enrollment for Equity and Prosperity (CVDEEP).

With over 60 education leaders from the CVHEC region, CVHEC’s Central Valley Dual Enrollment for Equity and Prosperity (CVDEEP) Task Force is identifying and establishing the best elements of a sustainable strategy for dual enrollment that is intentional and aligns with Guided Pathways.

Made up of representatives from Central Valley K-12 districts, colleges, and universities, the task force developed a collaborative regional accord on an equitable delivery of dual enrollment, culminating in a Central Valley Higher Education Consortium white paper in July 2020, “Dual Enrollment in the Central Valley.”

This consensus framework document is designed to assist the nine-county region in the advancement of dual enrollment by reviewing where it has been, identifying the bright spots, identifying challenges and working together to develop solutions.

CVHEC efforts focus on policy implementation and delivery of support to faculty and administrators working on these efforts. The work focuses on regional strategic scaling of Guided Pathways; math pathways; corequisite support (AB 705 and EO 110 implementation); California College Guidance Initiative; and dual enrollment as strategies for equity and degree attainment.

CVHEC will continue to highlight stories about dual enrollment students like Celeste and Nataly in its e-newsletter, and social media platforms. Also, a showcase video conveying the value of dual enrollment for all students through the stories of individual valley students is currently in production and due to be released later this fall semester.

 

For CVHEC media inquiries, contact Tom Uribes at cvheccommunications@mail.fresnostate.edu or text 559.348.3278.

 

 

Dual Enrollment Success Stories: Nataly Frias

Nataly Frias and family: parents Anthony and Sabrina, both CSU Stanislaus alumni, are counselors at Modesto Jr. College and Merced College respectively. Older brother Anthony Frias, II, (far left) also took dual enrollment courses and graduated from MC in the spring with Nataly. Younger brother Isaiah, a Turlock High junior, (far right) turned 16 this month and is also taking dual enrollment courses at Merced College.

Dual Enrollment: success stories underscore equity-driven strategy

Reducing disparities in student persistence and completion rates

BY TOM URIBES
CVHEC Communications/Media Coordinator

The Covid-19 pandemic of the past 18 months cast a shadow over joyous occasions like graduation events for Class of 2020 and 2021 high school and college students everywhere, but one narrative emerged repeatedly in the Central Valley that provided a spark of optimism for our region’s college attainment rates: dual enrollment success stories.

One of those stories is 18-year-old Nataly Frias, who, during her pandemic senior year at Turlock High School (2020-21), had taken enough Merced College courses online to earn two associate degrees in May, even before receiving her THS diploma in June.

Like other students around the country over the years, California students such as Nataly have taken college-level courses while still completing their high school degree thanks to various options such as concurrent or dual enrollment.

“Recent legislation has opened the gates for far more students to take advantage of dual enrollment,” said Saundra McGlothlin, CVHEC’s central regional coordinator and dual enrollment lead “The CVHEC region is committed to stay engaged in developing solutions to overcoming persistent barriers to equity.”

Born to teen parents who themselves worked hard and returned to college (Stanislaus State alums Anthony and Sabrina Frias who are now counselors at Modesto Jr. College and Merced College respectively), Nataly is now enrolled at Fresno State for a bachelor’s degree in Psychology but with her sights set on the Nursing Program.

“Just do it,” Nataly said in a media account about her success and the challenge of dual enrollment courses. “It’s a lot of hard work but you’ll feel so accomplished.”

The pandemic actually had a silver-lining in that she had more time during the quarantine to focus on schoolwork.

“I probably wouldn’t have graduated as early without the pandemic because it really helped give me so much time where I was only focused on my online courses,” said Nataly who said she comes from a “dual enrollment family.”

Her older brother Anthony also took dual enrollment courses when he attended Turlock High and graduated from Merced College with Nataly last spring but is now enrolled at Modesto Jr. College where he plays football. And younger brother Isaiah, a Turlock High junior, is currently  taking dual enrollment courses thorough Merced College.

McGlothlin, who retired in 2017 as the vice president of Student Services for West Hills Community College – Coalinga, noted that not all students follow Nataly’s accelerated path of earning an associate degree while in high school. Many take just a few dual enrollment courses that help them get some college credit under their belt while providing a glimpse of the higher education academic curriculum.

“Most of dual enrollment students complete 12-24 units,” said McGlothlin. “This means — in addition to meeting graduation requirements — less money spent when working towards a degree in college, usually a semester or two free.”

See Nataly’s story in local news media accounts:

https://www.turlockjournal.com/news/education/turlock-high-senior-uses-pandemic-downtime-earn-college-degree/

https://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2021/05/21/turlock-teen-graduates-high-school-college/

 

Background: 

The Central Valley Higher Education Consortium has been playing an increasing role in furthering Dual Enrollment as an equity-driven strategy to reduce disparities in student persistence and completion rates, which is the essence of the CVHEC mission, including

the creation of a task force in 2019, the Central Valley Dual Enrollment for Equity and Prosperity (CVDEEP).

With over 60 education leaders from the CVHEC region, CVHEC’s Central Valley Dual Enrollment for Equity and Prosperity (CVDEEP) Task Force is identifying and establishing the best elements of a sustainable strategy for dual enrollment that is intentional and aligns with Guided Pathways.

Made up of representatives from Central Valley K-12 districts, colleges, and universities, the task force developed a collaborative regional accord on an equitable delivery of dual enrollment, culminating in a Central Valley Higher Education Consortium white paper in July 2020, “Dual Enrollment in the Central Valley.”

This consensus framework document is designed to assist the nine-county region in the advancement of dual enrollment by reviewing where it has been, identifying the bright spots, identifying challenges and working together to develop solutions.

CVHEC efforts focus on policy implementation and delivery of support to faculty and administrators working on these efforts. The work focuses on regional strategic scaling of Guided Pathways; math pathways; corequisite support (AB 705 and EO 110 implementation); California College Guidance Initiative; and dual enrollment as strategies for equity and degree attainment.

CVHEC will continue to highlight success stories like Nataly’s in its e-newsletter, and social media platforms. Also, a showcase video conveying the value of dual enrollment for all students through the stories of individual valley students is currently in production and due to be released later this fall semester.

 

 

Welcome Madera Community College!

The state’s 116th community college
celebrates accreditation, CCC  approval

Madera Community College made its official debut July 21 with a ribbon-cutting celebration after the California Community Colleges Board of Governors voted unan­imously the day before to recognize MCC as the 116th campus of the state’s community college system.

In June, the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges granted accreditation to what until then was known as the Madera and Oakhurst Community College Centers affiliated with Reedley College of the State Center Community College District.

With the new designation, the  Madera Community College (4,780 enrollment) is no longer a satellite campus and will now receive funding for additional programs and staffing.  Over 80 percent of Madera Community’s students are from historically underrepresented populations and the school has been recognized as a Hispanic Serving Institution.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”President Ángel Reyna” link=”” color=”#33ACFF” class=”” size=”18″]“As a new college we want to be an institution that is student- and community-centered, and provides equitable outcomes for each of our students.”[/perfectpullquote]

President Ángel Reyna takes a place on the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium board of directors, joining 27 other Central Valley presidents and chancellors.

“This accomplishment is something that our community has been waiting for a long time and much needed,” Reyna said in a CCC Board of Governors article.

“It has been a collective and collaborative effort, and we look forward to the continued work to better serve our students as a college,” he said. “As a new college we want to be an institution that is student- and community-centered, and provides equitable outcomes for each of our students. To that end, we commit towards transforming ourselves into an anti-racist institution while producing the future workforce our community needs.”
 
See the July 21 ribbon-cutting video.
 
News coverage of Madera Community College:

Board of Governors Recognizes Madera Community College as the 116th Community College in California — California Community Colleges (07/20/20)
Madera Center becomes California’s newest community college — Fresno Bee (07/21/20)
The Central Valley’s Madera Community College becomes California’s newest community college — Ed Source (07/20/20)

Stan State, Merced College celebrate improved transfer program

Stan State, Merced College celebrate improved transfer program

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

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

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:

  1. Allocating state general funds to backfill any remaining shortfall in apportionment funding to community college districts for 2018-19
  2. 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

West Hills College chancellor named new chair of Central Valley Higher Education Consortium

West Hills College chancellor named new chair of Central Valley Higher Education Consortium

Monday, November 18, 2019 – 11:22am
FROM WEST HILLS COLLEGE

The top administrator at West Hills Community College District was recently named to a key Central Valley higher education board. Dr. Stuart Van Horn, Chancellor of the West Hills Community College District, is the new chair of the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium Board.

The Central Valley Higher Education Consortium is a non-profit organization made up of members from private colleges, universities, and community colleges.

“I’m honored to serve in this role,” said Van Horn. “The consortium board does important work and has moved the needle on regional collaboration among and between two and four-year colleges, including private and independent universities, in the Valley. I’m looking forward to working with everyone on important initiatives that are designed to increase student success and completion for all valley communities and residents.”

The 27-member strong consortium brings together members serving over 250,000 students in the Central Valley.

Van Horn has been a part of CVHEC’s executive team since 2016 when he started serving as treasurer.

Dr. Benjamin Duran, Executive Director of CVHEC, said Van Horn brings a breadth of knowledge and experience to the role.

“We are delighted to have someone like Dr. Van Horn, with his experience and reputation in higher education, to serve as Chair of the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium (CVHEC),” he said. “He has the full confidence of the presidents and chancellors of the 27 member institutions to lead CVHEC, which is recognized as the organization in the Central Valley and the State that speaks with one voice for higher education in our region.  Dr. Van Horn will bring much to the dialogue about improving the well-being of our students in our Central Valley colleges and universities.”

Van Horn has served as the Chancellor of the West Hills Community College District since 2017. Before taking on the role, he served as the district’s Vice-Chancellor of Educational Services and Workforce Development.

He has an extensive history in higher education, including serving as Dean of Instruction at Folsom Lake College from 2005 to 2013 and as Associate Commissioner of the Community College League of California’s Commission on Athletics (COA) for nine years. Other experience includes serving as Director of Public Information Services of the California Association of Community Colleges (known today as Community College League of California), Director of Community Relations at Mt. San Antonio College, and Senior Vice President of The Resource Group, an economic development entity, where he consulted 42 community colleges in California in program development and labor market acquisition projects.

 

 

The original post can be found at http://www.mylemooreleader.com/167669

Giving children of farmworkers an education like that offered to children of doctors

Giving children of farmworkers an education like that offered to children of doctors

BY BENJAMIN DURAN

I grew up in a family of migrant farmworkers, working in the Central Valley fields with my parents and seven brothers and sisters. But since elementary school, I only ever wanted to be a teacher. My own teachers helped make this dream a reality. They believed in my potential and paved the way for me to become an educator and eventually Merced College president. They also inspired my lifelong mission to advance educational equity.

I’m heartened that a new report, Getting There, shows that changes underway in the Central Valley will help make sure children of doctors and children of farmworkers have the same shot at succeeding at a community college.

Getting There examines colleges’ progress in implementing Assembly Bill 705, a law that addresses the poor outcomes and inequities of traditional remediation. In the past, most California community college students were required to take remedial courses based on their performance on a standardized placement exam, and just 18 percent of students would complete a transferable, college-level math course in a year. Among students required to take remedial English or math, only 41 percent would transfer or complete a degree in six years, compared to 70 percent of students not required to take those classes.

AB 705 is overhauling these awful statistics because colleges must now employ multiple measures instead of a standardized exam, so as to place students into courses that give them the best chance of completing the gateway English and math courses required for a bachelor’s degree. The law is already doing more to close the achievement gap and bring equity to higher education than any public policy I’ve seen in decades, but to achieve its promise, colleges must implement AB 705 in the fullest possible spirit of the law.

That’s because students’ initial placement in English and math is the largest driver of racial achievement gaps in college completion. It is estimated to account for 50 to 60 percent of equity gaps in students’ completion of long-term goals like earning a degree, completing a certificate program, or transferring to a four-year university.

Among the three regions studied in Getting There, the Central Valley has the highest proportion of colleges deemed “strong implementers” of AB 705, meaning that remedial classes make up less than 10 percent of our introductory English and math offerings. Porterville College is offering 100% transfer-level classes in both English and math. At Reedley College, just 2 percent of introductory English and math offerings are below that level. West Hills, Lemoore and College of the Sequoias eliminated remedial English and are close to doing the same with math.

This is a big change from two years ago, when AB 705 was signed into law. In fall 2017, almost half of the region’s introductory English classes were remedial, with college composition comprising only 52 percent of introductory reading and writing courses. Fast forward to today, and that number has jumped to 93 percent.

These are incredible gains, but there’s more to do.

Central Valley colleges are still offering too many remedial courses, especially in math. Non-transferable courses make up 24 percent of introductory math across the region, and at a couple of colleges, they make up more than 40 percent of the schedule.

This matters — research shows ALL students are more likely to complete their coursework when they enroll directly into college-level courses than when they start in remediation. Plus, when colleges put their limited resources into maintaining so many remedial classes, there won’t be enough seats in transfer-level classes for the students who are legally entitled to take them.

Instead of continuing to hang onto ineffective remedial classes, Central Valley colleges need to continue their efforts to ensure that their course schedules meet the AB 705 standard of maximizing student completion. If we can’t identify any students who actually benefit from taking remedial classes, we shouldn’t be using our limited public dollars to offer them.

When we set high expectations for students, students will meet them. When we set low expectations, students will meet those, too. As a young boy, I was able to make my dreams come true because people believed in me enough to open the doors of opportunity. Let’s put our faith in our students’ capacity on full display — let’s go all-in on AB 705, and offer classes that give students the best chance of completing their degree and reaching their goals in a timely manner.

Dr. Benjamin Duran is the executive director of the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium, and president emeritus of Merced College.

 

Read Full Report Here | CAP Report v8

 

The original post can be found at https://www.mercedsunstar.com/opinion/article235281187.html

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