CVHEC DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE (Summer 2024): A break for reflection
Summer break provides pause for reflection
Greetings CVHEC friends and colleagues!
I welcome you to the mid-summer edition of our CVHEC newsletter. We hope you are having a restful and enjoyable summer and taking time to recharge and prepare for the upcoming fall semester.
This time of the year we try to step back, take a breath and highlight the great work that has been taking place on our member campuses by the dedicated faculty and staff.
As you visit the entries, you will get a sense of the efforts across the Central Valley in the last six months to improve access, retention and completion of students at our CVHEC member institutions in the region.
We also acknowledge ongoing transition in the region’s higher education scene with CEO changes at WHCCD, Porterville College, Fresno City College and Clovis Community College. One of those changes is the departure of Dr. Claudia Habib who left her Porterville presidency this month for the Ventura College presidency. We thank President Habib for her service to her students and to the CVHEC board.
All the best Claudia …as well as to Dr. Kristin Clark whose retirement as chancellor of WHCCD takes effect Aug. 8. We are especially appreciative of her service as the chair of the CVHEC board the past few years. We said our goodbyes to Kristin at our recent board executive committee meeting and also at a farewell reception for her July 26 at Lemoore College.
Speaking of the board, members should have received detailed info about our upcoming quarterly meeting in early September. If you have not received anything, please do contact Angel Ramirez at centralvalleyhec@gmail.com ASAP.
Finally, please allow me to close this summer message with a Happy Birthday greeting to … US! It was on Aug. 5, 2002 that CVHEC became formally incorporated under the leadership of then Fresno State President John D. Welty. Watch for more about our history in the near future.
We hope you enjoy our newsletter and continue enjoying your summer.
WHAT THE CV-HEC IS HAPPENING BLOG (Summer 2024): Why some colleges are worth it
In the “What the CV-HEC is Happening” Blog for our summer 2024 special edition, Dr. John Spevak presents an observation about the value of a higher education. Dr. Spevak, who is a vice president-emeritus of Merced College and currently a regional coordinator for CVHEC, coordinates the English and Math Task Forces for the consortium — all champions for student support through such measures as dual enrollment. Through the consortium task forces, the former English teacher and college administrator continues to work closely with educators in the field for the educational advancement of students.
Higher ed is still a good
investment … and attainable
BY DR. JOHN SPEVAK
CVHEC Regional Coordinator
Vice President-Emeritus – Merced College
According to the results of a recent poll by Gallup and the Lumina Foundation, Americans are losing faith in the value of a college education.
Overall, according to that poll as reported by the Associated Press, only 36 percent of adults say they have a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in higher education. What’s worse, the poll shows that 32 percent of Americans have little or no confidence in a college education.
That’s both misleading and misguided.
For one thing “college” can mean different things to different people. For another, having a degree from the right college can make a big difference in a person’s opportunity and income.
By “right college,” I don’t mean a prestigious private college. A right college often means, especially in California, a two-year community college, a state university, or a small private college which provides significant financial aid.
A two-year community college degree or a certificate of completion is indeed “college.” That degree or certificate can be very valuable, especially if it’s a career-technical program that’s in demand and pays well, like nursing or welding.
A four-year degree can be even more valuable, especially in fields like communications, business, health, information technology and engineering– to name a few. Their lifetime earnings are significantly higher than those with a degree.
As the Associated Press article pointed out, “For those who forgo college, it often means lower lifetime earnings, 75 percent less compared with those who get bachelor’s degrees, according to Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce. And during an economic downturn, those without degrees are more likely to lose jobs.”
One of the reasons many Americans are doubting the worth of a college education is the debt often incurred in getting one. As one person interviewed in the AP article put it, “You graduate out of college, you’re up to eyeballs in debt, you can’t get a job, then you can’t pay it off.
What’s the point?”
It’s true that many people over the past decades have incurred a significant debt from student loans, which is exacerbated by the exorbitant interest charged for these loans. I know several people who have long ago paid off the principal of their student loans but are still paying and paying the interest.
However — and this had to be noted, known and understood — a person today can get a college degree without going into significant debt. The cost, for example, of attending a California community college these days in terms of tuition (also known as enrollment fees) is often zero.
Many California community colleges are also working at reducing the cost of books by providing what’s called “open educational resources,” essentially free online textbooks, often created by the college’s faculty members.
Attending a California public university or small private college can also be financially available to most Californians, especially if they begin with a two-year associates transfer degree and then follow a plan of courses that get them to the bachelor’s degree in no more than two additional years.
I’m tired of so many Americans of all backgrounds thinking of “college” as only prestigious private institutions that charge $150,000 or much more for a four-year tuition. Those universities often have value for those who can afford it or who receive full scholarships. But the vast majority of people can’t afford that amount and can’t afford to take out loans to pay for it.
“College” for most people should not be an expensive private institution. If it were, I would also wonder if a college education was worth it. However, “college,” in California and especially in the Central Valley, is accessible, affordable and worth it.
Instead of young people (and their parents) asking, “Can I afford college,” I wish they would ask, “What are my college options? What are the real costs, not just according to pundits on TV or social media, but according to the colleges themselves.”
College personnel, more than ever, are ready and willing to talk with prospective students of all ages and the parents of younger students about the real cost of a college education. And they are also ready and willing to show prospective students the extensive personal help they will receive to succeed in courses and earn their degree.
Often television and social media pundits who say college is not worth it are people who themselves have benefited from a college education. There’s some hypocrisy in that.
It’s true that there are many hard-working Americans without a college degree who can support themselves and their families, but the odds of most people doing this are long.
In California’s Central Valley, where the median family income is below the national average, it’s especially important to dispel the myth that college is not worth it. A two-year or four-year college degree is one of the best ways to achieve an income that will sustain families — enable them to pay rent or a mortgage, purchase a reliable car, buy clothes and put food on the table.
Central Valley colleges from Stockton to Bakersfield are working harder than ever to show students the value of a college education and to streamline the paths to a degree.
Community colleges in the valley, for example, are offering more dual enrollment courses than ever where students can earn college credits in high school, which reduces their time to a college degree.
These dual enrollment courses can be taken by most high school students, not just those students who in the past were steered into advanced placement (AP) courses. Community colleges are also working harder than ever, in collaboration with their high school partners, to provide the academic support needed to successfully complete dual enrollment courses.
In addition, many Central Valley community colleges, including Merced College, are partnering with the University of California Merced and local California State University campuses to provide user-friendly guides or “maps” to students and their parents. “Pathways Program Mapper” is a tool these colleges have developed that is available to anyone with a cell phone (no login or password required).
PPM will show a student what degree is needed to enter a particular career (for example, biology, business, engineering, etc.), what range of salaries people in those careers earn and then provide a map of courses from the first semester at a community college to the last semester at a university to attain that degree in the shortest possible time.
So, please, pundits, stop telling people that a college education isn’t worth it. Moreover, I hope readers of this column spread the word that here in the Central Valley a college education is not only worth it, but it’s attainable for anyone willing to pursue it.
John Spevak’s email is john.spevak@gmail.com.
CVHEC DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE (May 2024): Medical Doctor degrees in the Central Valley
Among the many dignitaries participating in the historic UC Merced Medical Education Building groundbreaking May 14 with Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz were Dr. Ivan Gomez of UCSF Fresno, Dr. Angel Reyna, president of Madera College, Dr. Kenny Iban of UCSF Fresno and Dr. Rosa Manzo of UC Merced who will be the first faculty member hired for the B.S. to M.D. Pathway, SJV PRIME+ Program.
Special edition: medical education
CVHEC members delivering medical doctor degrees to
produce more healthcare professionals for our region
Greetings CVHEC friends and colleagues!
First, let me congratulate our consortium members – 28 colleges and districts across the Central Valley — for completing another spring semester highlighted by the always joyous commencement season. It has been delightful seeing all the media reports on your graduations.
Now, it is my pleasure to present you this month’s special issue of the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium e-Newsletter that focuses on the universities and medical schools in our membership delivering medical education and training leading to medical doctor degrees that will counter the shortage of healthcare professionals in our Central Valley region.
Our three main stories feature California Health Sciences University (CHSU), the University of San Francisco School of Medicine, Fresno Campus, (UCSF Fresno) and the University of California, Merced.
In the CHSU article, you will learn about the newest medical school in the Central Valley that just celebrated its first commencement, graduating 66 new Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine. Established in 2020, and based in Clovis, the medical school – now with 500 students – recently received a full seven-year accreditation. And fittingly, our CVHEC board member, Flo Dunn, was recognized with an honorary doctorate degree for her service as the CHSU founding and current president. Congratulations Dr. Dunn!
You will also read about the exciting initiatives being delivered by the University of California San Francisco Fresno campus creating pathways to the medical field for students in the Central Valley including an update on the California Medical Scholars Program. Among those initiatives are the new SJV-MedBridge pathway for community college students, the recently launched SJV PRIME+ Baccalaureate-to-MD pathway in collaboration with UC Merced, UCSF Fresno residency and fellowship training programs, and UCSF Fresno’s robust continuing medical education portfolio as well as its efforts in mental healthcare training.
In the UC Merced contribution, the medical education program has developed over the years to help breach the shortage of physicians and other health care professionals in the Central Valley with its most recent exciting development: the groundbreaking for the new Medical Education Building held earlier this month. Slated for completion in fall 2026, the new facility will house the SJV PRIME+ Baccalaureate-to-MD pathway mentioned above in addition to other efforts UC Merced is pursuing to create cohorts of students and direct many of them into the medical field in the region to help address the shortage of medical professionals.
And, as National Mental Health Awareness Month comes to a close this week, we are pleased to present a community perspective in this medical education movement with our monthly “What the CV-HEC is Happening Blog” by Juan Garcia, Ph.D, executive director of Integral Community Solutions Institute (known as Community Counseling Services). Dr. Garcia articulates this non-profit organization’s work addressing mental healthcare in underrepresented communities in partnership with CVHEC members UCSF Fresno and Fresno State through the Bienestar Wellness Early Intervention Program.
In closing, we extend a special thank you to West Hills Community College District Chancellor Kristin Clarke, Taft Community College Superintendent/ President Brock McMurray and Porterville College President Claudia Habib for their service to the students of the Central Valley during their tenure as higher education leaders in the region. Chancellor Clark and President McMurray will be retiring and entering the next phase of their lives while Dr. Habib will be taking the presidency at Ventura Community College. We wish them all well. They will always be part of the CVHEC family.
Thanks again to you and your institutions that have brought statewide and national attention to the Central Valley.
We look forward to meeting and welcoming new CEOs in the region at our next CVHEC Board of Directors meeting tentatively set for August when we also will introduce new intersegmental regional initiatives we will be launching in the near future.
Thank you for reviewing this special edition showcasing some of our CVHEC member institutions efforts combatting the historical shortage of health professionals in the Central Valley. Have a great summer 2024!
WHAT THE CV-HEC IS HAPPENING BLOG (May 2024): Bienestar and Mental Healthcare
As Mental Health Awareness Month winds down — and keeping in the theme of our special medical education issue — our CVHEC “What the CV-HEC is Happening” blog this month presents a community voice discussing how CVHEC members are participating in a unique project that promotes mental healthcare for Latinx families and how mental illness, like other diseases, can be managed: the Bienestar Wellness Early Intervention Program. Juan C. Garcia, PhD., executive director of the Integral Community Solutions Institute (Community Counseling Services), presents how a two-year $2 million grant from the California Youth Behavioral Health Initiative Round 5 will help reduce barriers in obtaining medical health care; provide a culturally congruent introduction to mental health care in the Central Valley; and provide unique medical education opportunities on partnership with UCSF Fresno and Fresno State. Dr. Garcia is a licensed family therapist, a professor-emeritus of Fresno State’s Marriage and Family Therapy program, and a member of the Latino Mental Health Concilio. He co-founded ICSI in 2011 to provide counseling services to the unserved, underserved and the inappropriately served populations in the Central Valley by promoting community health through advocacy and wellness of the body, mind and spirit.
Mental Health Awareness Month:
early psychosis in Latinx families
Bienestar Wellness Early Intervention Program for mental healthcare
services to Latino and underserved communities includes CVHEC members
BY JUAN C. GARCIA, PhD.
Executive Director — Integral Community Solutions Institute
Stigma is an overwhelming concern when seeking mental health services in any community. In the Latinx community it is even more of a barrier to services.
Early psychosis in Latinx families is a devastating psychological breakdown of a family member. In the past, Latino families did not know that their child had treatment options.
However, Latinx families can be educated to understand that mental illness is a disease like other diseases and that it can be managed. If they wait too long to receive services for themselves or for their children, the mental illness may become so severe that it would be difficult to manage in the coming years. The earlier they receive services the better for everyone. Prevention education of Latinx families using cultural strategies reduces the long-term severity of this chronic mental health condition.
It is to this end that our community-based, non-profit organization, the Integral Community Solutions Institute (publicly known as Community Counseling Services), has secured funding for the Bienestar Wellness Early Intervention Program to reduce those barriers and provide a culturally congruent introduction to mental health care in the Central Valley.
We are excited to gain the support of the University of California San Francisco-Fresno psychiatry residency program as well as support from Fresno State. Both are members of the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium which is made up of 28 institutions of higher education in its ten-county region.
We hope that soon the news will spread to the rest of the community that you don’t have to suffer to receive mental health services. We at ICSI believe in promoting community health through advocacy and wellness of the body, mind and spirit.
The need: services provided inappropriately may trigger more emotional and psychological damage
In California, based on 2019 data, almost four percent of adults were diagnosed with a serious mental illness (SMI) and 7.3 percent of children were diagnosed with severe emotional disorders. In the San Joaquin Valley the incidence rate was 4.8 for adults and 7.8 for children, both slightly higher than the state.
When taking into consideration the federal poverty line, the INCIDENCE rate increases to 8.5 percent for adults with SMI and 10 percent for children with severe emotional disturbance. For the Latinx population, the incidence rate was 4.1 percent for adults and 7.8 percent for children with severe emotional disturbance.
As you probably can surmise, there may be several barriers to mental health access. Some of them are structural such as distance, location and times services are available. Even in the schools the sparse counseling available is limited to the school hours of operation. Critical services are not available in rural areas such as may be needed by someone having a psychotic break in an emergency in Mendota or San Joaquin. To get to services takes time, transportation and availability.
Once you do get to services though, there are another set of problems. If the services are not provided in a language you can understand, that creates lack of access.
There are many indigenous dialects being spoken in the San Joaquin Valley that originate in Mexico and Central America. The cultural clashes are inevitable and the mental health issues ensuing shortly after may become insurmountable without appropriate help. The mental health provider may use interpreters, but many mental health concepts are not translatable creating a cultural and linguistic gap in services. As such, services are provided inappropriately and could trigger more emotional and psychological damage.
Like language, culture has a grammar, structure, and process for effective communication. The use of familiar phrases based on mutually interpretable cultural understanding is imminent in these critical cases. The use of dichos, cuentos, canciones and other cultural understanding components facilitated by familiar symbols and linguistic devices provides the framework for trust, care and healing.
If I see a picture of George Washington cutting the cherry tree in the lobby of a mental health clinic, it does not help me if I am a Latinx client. If I see the symbol of La Virgen de Guadalupe on the wall or even the Aztec Calendar, I can feel assured that someone here understands me.
Culturally responsive or congruent services are needed to reach the client in language and cultural terms that make sense.
Once Latinx families are informed about what mental illness is, the red flags, and that the symptoms are treatable whether through therapy or medication, Latino families and individuals will feel less concerned about stigma. Families need to know that the sooner they can get their loved adolescent or young adult to mental health services the better the outcome. Psychotic symptoms if untreated for more than 18 months makes it more chronic and the individual may be unable to recover their full functioning in their lifetime.
And who is going to attend to these needs?
San Joaquin Valley’s number of practicing psychiatrists is lower than any other region in California including the coast, Los Angeles, San Diego and Sacramento at 6.2 per 100,000, which is nearly half compared to other regions. (See California Health Care Foundation Quick Almanac 2022 ).
We are heartened that, in recent years, the medical education movement in the Central Valley has picked up steam. We applaud leaders at all levels who are making this happen, and especially those who were central in helping us secure our two-year $2 million grant from the California Youth Behavioral Health Initiative Round 5. The project implements a strategy of the Coordinated Specialty Care (CSC) First Episode of Psychosis Program. UC Davis Department of Psychiatry will provide technical support for this project.
In addition to providing services to our community, the ICSI Bienestar project hopes to provide unique educational and training opportunities for programs in the Central Valley including the UCSF Fresno Psychiatry Residency Program and two Fresno State programs: the Rehabilitation Counseling Department and the Department of Social work.
Our goal would be for these training practitioners to be introduced to individuals and their families, and provide treatment via medication and therapy. Importantly, we hope to guide residents and trainees in getting to know the Latinx community, learning to provide culturally competent services and perhaps develop a long-term relationship for care.
One of the current psychiatry residents, Dr. Cecilia Rangel-Garcia, grew up in the Central Valley and plans to practice in the area. An alumna of UC San Diego (Medical Doctor and Master’s in Public Health degrees), she works closely with her residency supervisor, Dr. Karen Kraus, professor of psychiatry in the UCSF Dept of Psychiatry, to finalize a collaborative relationship for this project. (Disclosure: Dr. Rangel-Garcia also is the daughter of the author and Josie Rangel, LCSW, so she is very familiar not only with the professional medical aspects but also cultural and familial aspects).
Enriched training for the Central Valley
“Training in a specific community, working with an organization that is committed to this specific population which makes up a significant portion of the residents, is crucial in training,” says Dr. Rangel-Garcia. “By working with an organization like ICSI, our training will be enriched and we would be able to take and apply the lessons learned wherever we practice in the future. For me, that is the Central Valley.”
The trainee interns from the Rehabilitation Counseling Department and Department of Social Work, who stay with us for 9 – 12 months, are mentored to see clients under the supervision of ICSI’s licensed professionals with weekly meetings to review their cases. They receive training in multicultural aspects of counseling, counseling skills, hypnosis, ACT, DBT, family structural therapy and Integral psychotherapy. ICSI also accepts internships from other universities such as Alliant.
Together through the Bienestar Wellness Early Intervention Program, we can implement cultural strategies to make a connection with the client and communicate with him/her/she/them thus providing a framework for mutual understanding that facilitates the trust, safety and therapeutic alliance process needed while helping train more healthcare professionals to tackle these shortages we face here in the Central Valley.
CVHEC DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE (April 2024): The math mission!
A mission of math continues in the Central Valley
Greetings CVHEC friends and colleagues!
Welcome to our April newsletter as we are a month or so to closing out another academic year in the Central Valley. We are particularly pleased to shine a spotlight on our community college board members for National Community College Month. Our Central Valley community college leaders are dedicated to serving our students with great pride.
You will note that this issue focuses on mathematics education activity in the Central Valley. Our CVHEC partners — College Bridge and the Charles A. Dana Center from the University of Texas at Austin — have been working with our regional partner community colleges and high schools to build pathways and eliminate barriers for our students looking to navigate the challenge of completing their gateway courses in college math.
You will get a glimpse of the work that the Central Valley Math Task Force members will be undertaking at their April 19 convening. Also, an update by Dr. Nicole Korgie highlights the progress College Bridge has made with implementing the Math Bridge project to enroll high school students in college level dual enrollment classes.
But our big news on the math mission front is the awarding of two grants to CVHEC from the Regional K-16 Education Collaboratives Grant Programs by the WE Will! K-16 Collaborative that will expand our Math Bridge and Master’s Upskilling projects into the north valley. Congrats CVHEC-members: University of California, Merced (WE Will’s lead agency); Merced College; Modesto Junior College; San Joaquin Delta College; and California State University, Stanislaus for your leadership.
And in our News section, we welcome new presidents to two of our CVHEC member institutions:
- Britt Rios-Ellis was named by the California State University Board of Trustees as the new president at CSU Stanislaus effective July 1.
- Dr. Rafe E. Trickey will begin his tenure as superintendent/president of Taft College May 3 after his appointment by the West Kern Community College District.
We look forward to having President-select Rios-Ellis and President-select Trickey join us on the CVHEC Board of Directors.
Thank you all, I hope you enjoy this April issue.
MATH BRIDGE UPDATE- April 2024
The road to Orosi, California typifies the rich rural areas of Central California where CVHEC and College Bridge are reaching
out to provide Math Bridge services that help prepare high school students for college. (Tom Uribes photo)
Math Bridge campaign identifies nearly
1,000 students for college-level math courses
BY DR. NICOLE KORGIE
Vice President of Operations – College Bridge
The Central Valley Math Bridge project is off and running as 13 committed high school partners with College Bridge and the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium are completing a student recruitment campaign that has identified nearly 1,000 students ready to take on college math and nearly half of those indicating their interest to participate.
The impact Math Bridge is having on education in the region is seen in one general characteristic of these students: they were likely NOT to have taken an advanced math course, or even math at all, in their senior year.
Now, as more high school students graduate with solid/advanced math skills though Math Bridge, more students will find success in college and career, filling vital local workforce needs.
The participating high schools stretching across the Valley’s nine-county region from Taft to Stockton are partnering with six community college members of CVHEC to offer the math dual enrollment courses at their respective campuses beginning next fall (student breakdown in parenthesis. The community colleges and their participating feeder schools are::
DELTA COLLEGE: Stagg High School, Weber Academy;
MERCED COLLEGE: Atwater High, Buhach Colony High School, Golden Valley High School, Livingston High School, Mariposa High School;
REEDLEY COLLEGE: Dinuba High School, Orosi High School, Sanger High School, Sanger West High School;
TAFT COLLEGE: Taft High School;
WEST HILLS COLLEGE LEMOORE: Riverdale High School.
The campaign: no longer running from math!
The nearly 1,000 Central Valley students from these high schools identified as great prospects to participate in Math Bridge have solid academic GPA’s — between 2.3 – 3.4 — but have struggled in high school math.
Beginning at Taft High School in January, the prospective students were presented with information about Math Bridge and the benefits of participating such as allowing these students to complete a college level math course before they graduate from high school.
While you may think that many if not all students who fear or dislike math would run screaming if presented with the opportunity to take a college level math course, you may now re-think that: of the nearly 1,000 students identified, NEARLY HALF completed a form AFFIRMING their interest in participating in Math Bridge. They expressed a desire to take on the challenge of college level math that the Math Bridge project provides the high school including extensive support to help students pass the course.
For the upcoming academic year, all Math Bridge partner sites will offer a statistics course though their local community college. Math Bridge will be working with the college faculty and high school math teacher at each site to ensure that appropriate support services are provided to the students in the course.
We are currently following up with the 500 students who completed the interest form in the recruitment sessions to ensure that they meet with their school counselor to confirm that Math Bridge is the correct option for them for senior year and their post-secondary goals.
To date, 230 students have signed up. And we’re not done yet as Dinuba and Stagg have yet to begin their student recruitment process so even more students will be given this opportunity by the time we provide a final enrollment number in a future update.
Prepping participant high schools for Math Bridge
As this student recruitment campaign wraps up this spring, we now move into the support phase for the educators from the high school participants with a special event May 3 in Fresno to help prepare teachers for the Math Bridge project’s launch in the fall semester.
On that day, College Bridge will host our Math Bridge Instructional Planning Meeting where college and high school math instructors and their support teams (math coaches, chairs, supporting faculty) will collaborate with our project team around the who, how, when, where and what for the Math Bridge courses to be taught in Academic Year 2024-2025.
Activities for the day will include reviewing curriculum, assessments and commonalities between college courses and any necessary local differences. We will also review the requirements for instructors to earn the project stipend as well as calendaring all future planning and collaboration times per college service area.
It is understandable that some feel the slight mention of math is enough to squash any conversation but the groundbreaking role these Central Valley high schools and their community college partners are taking on with College Bridge and CVHEC is a new level of excitement for educators seeking to arm their students for a successful higher education experience.
BACKGROUND: College Bridge’s mission is to identify and eliminate barriers that prevent underrepresented students from progressing to and through college specifically focusing on Black, Latino, low-income and rural students. One of its two objectives is to expand strategic dual enrollment partnerships to serve low-income, rural and Latino students in California’s Central Valley. In December 2022, College Bridge was awarded a five-year $4 million US Department of Education grant for the Dual Enrollment Math Bridge Project so six CVHEC community colleges could provide college-level math classes that will improve and support college readiness for underprepared students in the colleges’ respective service areas. In April 2023, the project received a $1,075,340 award from the California Regional K-16 Education Collaboratives Grant Program through two Central Valley K-16 programs – the Fresno-Madera K-16 Collaborative and the Tulare-Kings College & Career Collaborative. Then in December 2023, a $2,196,928 federal grant was awarded for expansion of the College Transition Bridge project that, among other features, will advance collaboration with CVHEC’s Central Valley Transfer Project and its college course-planning software, Program Pathway Mapper, as well as with consortium member colleges.
WHAT THE CV-HEC IS HAPPENING BLOG (April 2024): AB1705 – Dana Center analysis of CCCCO memo
This month’s “What The CV-HEC Is Happening” guest blog is presented by Joan Zoellner, M.A., Launch Years Initiative lead for the Charles A. Dana Center (University of Texas at Austin), co-facilitators of the CVHEC Math Task Force AB1705 Compliance Convenings held the past six months. She provides the task force with an analysis of the validation memo issued Feb. 27 by the California Community College Chancellor’s Office outlining options for community colleges to consider by a July 1 deadline. The memo and this analysis will be discussed at the upcoming MTF Convening April 19 in Fresno. The CVHEC blog features perspectives about the higher education community and issues. Submissions are welcome for consideration: Tom Uribes, cvheccommunications@mail.fresnostate.edu.
AB1705 Memorandum and CVHEC plan
The Feb 27, 2024, memorandum from the CCCCO (California Community College Chancellors Office) about validating STEM calculus prerequisites will have an impact on the plan to develop the “Central Valley Way” of complying with AB1705. To that end, key takeaways from the memo are listed below, followed by a suggestion for both the content of the April 19 workshop and the prep work assigned to campuses in advance.
According to the memo, no more than one transfer-level prerequisite shall be offered prior to calculus. The options for that prerequisite course are limited by the memo and validation options as well.
As of Jul 1, 2024, the only students that institutions can require to enroll in a validated STEM calculus prerequisite are those who (a) intend to pursue a STEM degree, and (b) have a high school GPA below 2.6, or (c) did not pass high school trigonometry, precalculus, or calculus with a grade of C or better. All discussion below is only about these students.
Institutions will have four options to comply with AB1705 and must select one by July 1, 2024. The least likely option for schools that are part of CVHEC, based on prior meetings and discussions, is Option B. In order to choose Option B, schools must show that their current prerequisite course meets the three requirements laid out in the law: (1) Students are highly unlikely (less than 15% throughput) to succeed if placed directly into STEM calculus, (2) taking the prerequisite course increases the student’s likelihood of passing STEM calculus, and (3) taking the class improves the student’s persistence to and completion of calculus 2 (if required for their program). The RP group did not find any institutions that met all three criteria. However, the Dana Center suggests that institutions review the reports provided by the RP group and work with their IR departments to check the calculations and results with the institution’s data.
Option C is also not a likely path for most institutions, as it requires that institutions first show that the throughput rate for a single existing prerequisite and calculus 1 is at least 50% over a 2-year period. These schools are then allowed to offer the prerequisite through July 1, 2027, to show that the prerequisite (now as a stand-alone prerequisite as opposed to one component of a multi-course prerequisite sequence) meets the three requirements of the law. While this work aligns with the work of the “Validating prerequisites” strand, the options for validation are now precisely described and do not permit several of the strategies under consideration by this strand.
Options A and D both align more closely with the bulk of the work in the central valley.
Option A removes all prerequisites for Calculus 1 and allows institutions to require a corequisite support course of up to two credits. This effort could include parts of the work happening in the “Math support outside the classroom” and “Building an AB 1705 campus team” strands.
Option D allows institutions to devise a new single-semester, 4-credit prerequisite course (with a possible 2 units of corequisite support) for STEM calculus. This course can be offered through July 1, 2027, at which point institutions must show that it meets the three requirements of the law. This work aligns with that of the “Designing Precalculus for 2025” strand.
Unfortunately, none of the options allow for validation using a survey or other measures.
In preparing for the April 19 event, the Dana Center proposes the following pre-work for institutions:
- Institutions review the individualized report provided by the RP group. They then work with IR to repeat and confirm the calculations using local data.
- Institutions will work with IR to calculate the 2-year throughput of the highest STEM calculus prerequisite and calculus 1 over the course of 2 years. If this is at least 50%, Option C may be available.
The agenda for April 19 will include a discussion of the validation memo, having institutions to pick the Option they wish to pursue, confirm the data they will need to submit (options B and C), begin collaboratively designing a corequisite (option A), or continue designing a new prerequisite (Option D) course. The goal is to have several institutions using a similar prerequisite course to enable continuous improvement, trouble shooting, and (potentially) larger sample sizes for evaluating the three requirements before July 1, 2027. Similarly, while not needing to meet the three requirements for the corequisite, schools can work together to design, implement, and improve the corequisite to support student success.
See:
CCCCO Validation Memo (Feb. 27, 2024)
Math Task Force resumes AB1705 curriculum planning April 19
Something extraordinary is happening in math in California’s Central Valley
WHAT THE CV-HEC IS HAPPENING BLOG (March 2024): Kern education leadership
This month’s “What The CV-HEC Is Happening” Blog takes a unique look at an unprecedented wave of leadership at five major Kern County education institutions: California State University, Bakersfield; Kern Community College District; Bakersfield College; Kern County Superintendent of Schools; and Kern County High School District. This perspective is provided by a Kern education leader who has been in the thick of the South Valley academic scene himself for many years including his own stint as KCCD chancellor and interim, Tom Burke who now is the Master’s Upskilling Lead for the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium. Chancellor-emeritus Burke provides a farewell of sorts to outgoing CVHEC Board of Directors members Dr. Sonya Christian and Dr. Lynnette Zelezny and welcomes new board members Dr. Vernon J. Harper Jr., Dr. Steven Bloomberg and Dr. Jerry Filger. The CVHEC blog features perspectives about the higher education community and issues. Submissions are welcome for consideration: Tom Uribes, cvheccommunications@mail.fresnostate.edu.
Unprecedented educational leadership
changes in Kern County
New leaders at largest Kern County educational institutions within one year
By TOM BURKE
Chancellor-emeritus, Kern Community College District
CVHEC Kern Master’s Upskilling Lead
The winds of change have swept over Kern County’s education leadership scene in the past year providing a unique opportunity to review and count our blessings while we look ahead to exciting growth for our region’s academic scene.
From the Kern County Superintendent of Schools to the presidency of California State University Bakersfield, we have literally seen the proverbial changing-of -the-guard at our five largest educational institutions in less than 300 days.
Perhaps the most unique situation was in the Kern Community College District where I had the privilege to serve as chancellor from 2017 to 2021 when I retired. At the time, the KCCD Trustees selected then-Bakersfield College President Sonya Christian to step up into its top position. However, so good is Dr. Christian as an educational leader, within two years she was tapped to step even higher when she was named chancellor of the California Community Colleges statewide system prompting KCCD’s second chancellorship search in 22 months.
Both of the positions she vacated have now been filled and her successors started this week so we welcome them here: KCCD Chancellor Steven Bloomberg and BC President Jerry Filger.
Both will also serve on the CVHEC Board of Directors that is made up of the chancellors, presidents and campus directors of 28 institutions of higher education in the Central Valley’s nine-county region. They will soon undergo an onboarding orientation by Dr. Benjamín Durán, executive director of the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium, and attend their first quarterly board meeting later this spring.
Here is a summary of the new leadership in Kern County, with a link to their bios, and a brief highlight of the outgoing leaders who all made significant contributions toward advancing education in Kern County:
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, BAKERSFIELD PRESIDENT
Dr. Vernon B. Harper Jr. began serving as interim president when Dr. Lynnette Zelezny retired Dec.31, 2023. Among many accomplishments, President-emeritus Zelezny — the first woman to lead CSUB — will be known for allowing the co-location of a Bakersfield College Outreach center on the CSUB campus fostering a smoother transition for transfer students and leading her campus to be the first CSU to partner with CVHEC’s Central Valley Transfer Project and its Program Pathway Mapper software that has now been adopted by the statewide California Community Colleges system.
KERN COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT CHANCELLOR
Dr. Steven Bloomberg began his term as KCCD chancellor March 1 after Dr. Sonya Christian became state chancellor for the California Community College System June 1, 2023. Dr. Christian is to be lauded for implementing early college and rural initiatives throughout Kern County as well as spearheading the development of the Program Pathway Mapper software used in the CVHEC Transfer Project.
BAKERSFIELD COLLEGE PRESIDENT
Dr. Jerry Filger reported to service as BC’s 11th president March 11 replacing Steve Watkins and Dr. Zav Dadabhoy who both ably served as interims after Dr. Christian was named KCCD chancellor and later CCC system chancellor.
KERN COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS SUPERINTENDENT
Dr. John Mendiburu began his term as the new KCSOS Superintendent July 1, 2023 replacing Dr. Mary Barlow who retired June 30 after making significant contributions to the local education scene through such measures as the Kern Education Pledge and K-16 Higher Education Collaborative Grant Program that includes CVHEC’s Kern Master’s Upskilling Project.
KERN HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT
Dr. Michael Zulfa began his term as KHSD superintendent when Dr. Bryon Schaefer retired on Feb. 1. Superintendent-emeritus Schaefer worked hand-in-hand with KCCD to expand dual enrollment programs throughout the Kern High School District.
Now it might seem a bit unsettling to see this much change in the leadership of an education sector over the course of a single year. However, several of these Kern institutions had deep benches providing a roster of new leaders to choose from immediately.
In fact, I can speak directly to the KCCD case in which the former chancellor — yes, that would be me – was available to step in and help provide a smooth seamless transition to the new leadership for KCCD. I was able to finally step back into retirement when Chancellor Bloomberg began his term this month (although not quite full retirement as I resume my regional coordinator position with the CVHEC here in the South Valley where I will have the opportunity to continue working with this new generation of Kern education leaders).
Speaking of these new leaders, I know each will provide significant continuity for their respective institutions and associated programs. Without question, they now have huge “shoes to fill.” I am confident that they, like their predecessors, are up to the task and will advance their respective institutions to greater educational accomplishments.
I believe one of the key strengths of education in Kern is that all of the institutions Pre-K thru 16 understand that to be successful in providing outstanding educational opportunities and success we all have to work together and communicate with each other regularly. The Kern Pledge is an outstanding model that provides the united platform needed to help Kern educational entities achieve educational excellence for their respective students throughout Kern County.
Kern is blessed to have had the talented and dedicated leadership who have moved on in the past 12 months but we are moreso blessed to have these fantastic new educational leaders stepping up. I encourage you to meet them and support their exciting visions for each level of education.
See:
Dr. Sonya Christian Named Eleventh Permanent Chancellor of the California Community Colleges
‘Honor of my career:’ President Zelezny announces retirement
Mary Barlow is a schools chief who ‘gets it’
Kern High School District Superintendent Dr. Bryon Schaefer Bids Farewell
Chancellor Emeritus Tom Burke December 16, 2021
CVHEC DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE (March 2024): The winds of a prospering education scene
The winds of a prospering education scene
Greetings CVHEC friends and colleagues!
Welcome to spring 2024 and our March e-newsletter.
This issue carries some interesting articles beginning with a very unique situation in the South Valley where our regional lead, Tom Burke, provides a perspective from his role as chancellor-emeritus of the Kern Community College District regarding the unprecedented winds of change in five major Kern County education institutions in the past year alone.
In previous issues, we have noted the appointments of Kern Community College District’s new chancellor, Dr. Steven Bloomberg, and Bakersfield College’s new president, Jerry Filger. Now we welcome them as both began their respective terms this month as well as their terms on the CVHEC Board of Directors. They are part of that transitioning educational leadership in Kern County that Chancellor-emeritus Burke presents in this month’s “What the CV-HEC is Happening” Blog.
Also, you will see our participation in the recent Digital Dual Enrollment Week campaign by the Dual Enrollment Coalition of California. We highlighted our Master’s Upskilling programs and recent graduates; one of the alumna of that program now teaching dual enrollment at Sanger West, Mrs. Jade Martinez and her students; our dual enrollment video with student success stories; and the work of our Math Bridge Program with partner College Bridge as they conduct student recruitment this spring.
We also congratulate and welcome two new members of the California Community Colleges Board of Governors who make their homes in the Central Valley and are associated with two of our CVHEC member colleges: congratulations Cirian Villavicencio of San Joaquin Delta College in the North Valley, and Kern Community College District trustee Nan Gomez-Heitzeberg in the southern San Joaquin Valley.
The latter represents the first South Valley representation on the highest governing body in California’s community college system that advocates for nearly 2 million students at 116 colleges across the state, including our 15 CVHEC community college members. We thank them for the service they will be performing for this community.
And last but not least, we bid “farewell” to a cherished team member, Ms. Pricila Villanueva, our administrative coordinator since 2018 who moves into a fulltime position with Equitable Bank Standards, Beneficial State Foundation where she will continue her work as a champion for equity. Pricila, we wish your and your family all the success in the world!
As you can see, there is so much more in this issue as our e-newsletter continues to grow and provide a communications platform for the great higher education work underway in the Central Valley. Please enjoy!