Transfer Project Update: from CCC ‘demo’ to national stage at CCA

 

 

 

CVHEC Transfer Project and PPM moves from ‘demo’ to

CCC ‘Vision 2030’ status; national presentation set

BY TOM URIBES
CVHEC Communications/Media Lead

The demonstration status that the Central Valley Transfer Project was conferred by California Community Colleges Chancellor Sonya Christian in 2023 has been elevated with the inclusion of the project into the CCC “Vision 2030,” the system announced recently.

Simultaneously, the Transfer Project became formalized when the California State Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom approved state funding for all colleges to align with the “Program Pathways Mapper” software platform that is the Transfer Project’s central feature.  

Now, CVHEC announces that its team will present the Transfer Project at the Complete College America national conference later this fall along with the Central Valley Math Bridge Program presented by College Bridge.

The Central Valley Transfer Project is the fruit of efforts by a small team of Central Valley higher education leaders convened by the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium (CVHEC) in 2022 who set out to break down the barriers between community college, California State University and University of California campuses to increase successful transfers from community colleges to four-year institutions.  

The project is supported through the PPM software platform, a Cloud-based, public facing application that rides independently on the internet and is accessible to all parties the same as all public applications.

CVHEC’s Transfer Project initiative is also helping eliminate the equity gap among historically underrepresented students, said Stan Carrizosa, president emeritus of College of the Sequoias who is now CVHEC’s Transfer Project co-lead with Tom Burke, chancellor-emeritus of the Kern Community College District

Now the CVHEC initiative will be shared on the national stage at the Complete College America national conference in Baltimore Nov. 18. A CVHEC team will share how the project originated with a pilot effort including UC Merced, Merced College and Bakersfield College.  (CCA line-up)

Chancellor-emeritus Burke will make the trek to Baltimore with Dr. Benjamin Duran, CVHEC executive director, and Jennifer Johnson of California Community Colleges Foundation.

“Our team will present how the process has been refined and streamlined to achieve effective collaboration between all entities,” Burke said.

They will share how CVHEC’s protocols were so successful that CCC Chancellor Christian adopted the Transfer Project as a statewide demonstration project in 2023, first announced at CVHEC’s Higher Education Summit in Fresno that October.

Carrizosa said the Transfer Project process that will be shared at the national conference includes intersegmental convening of faculty, advisors and guidance staff to engage in focused efforts to review, align and approve lower and upper division course sequences as transfer pathways from community colleges to four-year colleges

Through the ease of access to PPM, historically marginalized and underrepresented students have easy access to quality, accurate course sequences to help clearly map their pathway to degree completion, he explained.

“PPM also enables counselors, advisors, high school students and parents to engage with the same official information and start their college planning at any point along their K-12 experience,” Carrizosa said.

“And the Transfer Project is leveraging the implementation of dual enrollment courses in high schools across the system further enhancing timely completion of transfer-level requirements in English and Math and closing the student achievement gap.”

Perhaps just as important, he said, the project now has collected baseline data from 5,000 incoming freshman to Bakersfield College that presents the positive impact the project is having on eliminating the equity gap among historically underrepresented students.

Joining CVHEC at the national conference will be Owyn Lancaster of College Bridge who will discuss in a separate session, “Central Valley Math Bridge: Creating Seamless Pathways for Student Success.”

He will present how the Math Bridge Program, with support from   CVHEC and the Rand Corporation, is redefining math education by creating seamless, equity-driven pathways from high school to college and how, through strategic partnerships between high schools and community colleges, the program aligns curriculum, instruction and support to eliminate learning gaps and boost student success. (See related Math Bridge data article in this issue).

“With an 88 percent pass rate and 248 students earning college credit in 2024–25 alone, the initiative proves what’s possible when systems work together,” Lancaster said. “We will discuss with the national audience how Math Bridge isn’t just about curriculum alignment; it’s about reshaping outcomes, removing barriers and transforming how students experience math, paving the way toward educational equity and degree attainment.”

See CCA full lineup

 

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UPDATE: CVHEC increases transfers the Central Valley Way


Dr. James Zimmerman (center) on the CVHEC Summit panel, “What the CVHEC is Happening in the Central Valley,” May 9 demonstrated how the Central Valley Transfer Project addresses educational disparities in the region by fostering increased access to higher education for students in the Central Valley. Here he is flanked by Dr. Kristin Clark, chancellor-emeritus of the West Hills Community College District and now CVHEC’s dual enrollment lead, and Dr. Benjamín Durán, president-emeritus of Merced College and now CVHEC’s executive director.


Transfer student Araceli Tilley testified in the CVHEC summit student panel May 9 that the the Central Valley Transfer Program’s Program Pathways Mapper app not only  helped her, but she uses it to help other students in the Merced College Student Success Program where she now works. She has presented her Transfer Project/Mapper experiences at several conferences statewide.

Consortium Transfer Project moves from CCC

‘demonstration’ status to ‘Vision 2030

strategy

BY STAN A. CARRIZOSA, SR.
CVHEC Regional Coordinator
(President-emeritus, College of the Sequoias)

The Central Valley Higher Education Consortium (CVHEC) is renowned for its effectiveness in fostering regional collaboration among all of the Valley’s higher education institutions.

Most notable, as evidenced by the recent Central Valley Higher Education Summit, is the ability to bring intersegmental partners together from the University of California, California State University and California Community college systems as well as independent/private institutions for the purpose of increasing access and success of Central Valley students in their higher education experience.

At the summit, a more recent and very powerful example of this was the presentation by Dr. James Zimmerman on the panel, “What the CVHEC is Happening in the Central Valley,” where he discussed the success of the Central Valley Transfer Project initiated by CVHEC in partnership with UC Merced (UCM), backed in practice by the testimony of successful transfer student Araceli Tilley’s convincing testimony in the student panel earlier that morning.

Determined to overcome the low number of community college transfers to UCM, this partnership set out to carve a new path in accelerating successful transfers.

Fully launched in 2020 the project focuses on streamlining and enhancing the process of transferring from community colleges to four-year institutions within California’s Central Valley. This project seeks to address challenges faced by students in navigating complex transfer pathways and aims to increase the number of students successfully earning bachelor’s degrees.

Historic firsts: faculty input/ CCC implementation statewide

It was an historic first when CVHEC brought UC faculty to the table alongside community college faculty in convenings structured to review and approve lower-division course patterns for successful transfer to UCM.

Dr. Zimmerman recalled the dynamics of this collaboration at the summit re-telling the message UC Merced conveyed to Bakersfield College to lay what would be the foundation of the Transfer Project:

“ ‘Our faculty want to partner with your faculty to make sure that the courses that you have on your campuses, will transfer to UC Merced with no problems’,” he said. “ ‘Can we have a sit down where your faculty talk to our faculty, and we start having a course-by-course listing that shows if they spend their first two years on your campus, they transfer to our campus for two years and they finish with a bachelor’s degree?’ That’s what the goal was.”

He noted that “the cornerstone of what makes this so powerful is the Program Pathways Mapper,” software app students can use with ease to align classes for transfer.

Enter student Araceli. When Araceli speaks, college chancellors, presidents and university officials in the  Central Valley’s 10-county region – and throughout California — listen.

She first did so at the 2023 CVHEC Summit on the student panel testifying how the Central Valley Transfer Program’s Program Pathways Mapper helped her get from Merced College to the University of California, Merced the year before. We have also taken her to the California League of Community Colleges statewide conference to share her story.

“Because of the Pathways Program Mapper, I was actually able to graduate on time because I didn’t realize that the UC had different requirements for a communications class than the CSU system,” Araceli recounted during the student panel at the recent CVHEC Summit last month. “So on the pathways mapper, I saw that the class that I needed, I had to take my last semester at Merced College. If not, I wouldn’t have been able to transfer to UC Merced.”

But this time she had some new developments to share underscoring the Transfer Program’s growth and success in the 18 months since her first summit appearance.

“Now, I work at Merced College in the Student Success Program, and I’m able to use it to help other students that come for help,” Araceli said. “Just anyone that I run into, I’m able to help them navigate — maybe what college they want to go to, because they can look at different requirements at different colleges, or what the course load is going to look like, what classes they’re going to be required to take depending on where they go. I always recommend the Pathways Mapper to them because they’re able to see what the different courses are going to look like, what their path is going to look like. So I’ve utilized it not only for myself, but to help other students that I come into contact with.”

As CVHEC Executive Director Benjamin Duran said at the summit: it’s one thing when adults talk about its value, it’s another when you hear the youngsters vouch for its usefulness.

These protocols were so successful that California Community Colleges Chancellor Sonya Christian adopted the Transfer Project as a statewide demonstration project in 2023, announced at our CVHEC Summit that October.

One year later the “demonstration” label has been lifted, and this process is now embedded in the Chancellor’s “Vision 2030” initiative!

Goals of the Project

The Central Valley Transfer Project is designed to:

  • Simplify the articulation agreements between community colleges and universities.
  • Enhance academic advising to guide students through seamless transfers.
  • Improve the equity and accessibility of higher education opportunities.
  • Reduce the time and cost associated with obtaining a bachelor’s degree.

Key Features

The project incorporates several strategies to achieve its objectives:

  • Structured collaboration among faculty and staff from UC, CSU and community colleges.
  • Development of clear and comprehensive transfer pathways in high-demand disciplines.
  • Collaboration among multiple educational institutions to ensure alignment of curricula.
  • Use of technology software to provide up-to-date resources and tools for students.

Impact on the Region

See live links below.

Also at the CVHEC summit May 9, Zimmerman demonstrated how the Central Valley Transfer Project addresses educational disparities in the region by fostering increased access to higher education for students in the Central Valley. It is part of a broader effort to promote workforce development, improve the economic well-being, and elevate the economic and educational profile of the entire Central Valley region.  He urged community colleges to make the most of funding that is available to them for implementation of the Program Pathways Mapper.

The project has now expanded beyond the Central Valley and is being embraced by higher education statewide. 

 Conclusion

The power of CVHEC’s longstanding expertise in promoting regional collaboration is paying huge dividends for Central Valley community college students through this latest effort to increase successful transfers to upper-division institutions. This strong tradition has been the catalyst for faculty and staff from the UC’s, CSU’s and CC’s to work together like never before, dispelling historical stereotypes of each other and building new collegial relationships focused on student success.

By creating smoother transfer pathways and reducing barriers to higher education, the Central Valley Transfer Project plays a crucial role in helping students achieve their academic and professional goals, contributing to the overall advancement of the Central Valley region.

Table 1 below shows the current status of CVHEC membership implementation

Table 2 shows the impact on successful transfers to UC Merced since the project began in 2020.

Table 3 shows the change in percentage of successful completion of on-path courses to degree. The control factor among 5,000 incoming freshman to Bakersfield College is the use by students of the Transfer Project software platform, Program Pathways Mapper (PPM).

Table 4 shows how the use of the PPM closes the equity gap among all students in the increased percentages of completing on-path courses to degree.

Table 5 shows how participation in the Transfer Project keeps students on a clear pathway to completion and reduces the total number of units to degree.

Program Pathways Mapper

PPM Frequently Asked Questions

California’s four higher ed systems to present at CVHEC Summit 2025

May 9 summit also features legislative update

from the region’s five Congressional reps

 

SUMMIT UPDATES:

• Attorney General Rob Bonta’s “Higher Education & Justice Virtual Forum” at CVHEC Summit May 9

• REGISTRATION CLOSED (waitlist open)

BY TOM URIBES
CVHEC Communications/Media Coordinator

Representatives from California’s four systems of higher education will tackle pressing issues facing colleges across the nation in the keynote panel for the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium Summit 2025  next month in Fresno under the theme “Navigating Higher Education in a New Era – The Central Valley Way.”

Panelists – including a conversation with legislative members from the US House of Representatives, senate and state assembly – have been announced for the summit set for Friday, May 9, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel (2233 Cesar Chavez Blvd.).

At the summit, the chancellors, presidents and campus directors of 28 valley universities and colleges making up the consortium membership will convene with the higher education system representatives and Congressional representatives as well as other legislators, educators, partner representatives and policy makers to address pressing issues as well as hear from a student panel.

The keynote panel, “Stronger Together: Aligning Systems for Equitable Outcomes,” from 9:15 to 10:15 a.m., will feature key representatives of the state’s four higher education systems: California Community Colleges, California State University, University of California and the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities.

For the legislators update panel “The Path Forward: Higher Ed Policy and the New Administration” at 1:15 p.m., panelists will address issues surrounding abrupt changes and imperiled federal funding, said Dr. Benjamín Durán, CVHEC executive director.

He said this year’s event will have a different focus than previous years.

“With the dismantling of the Department of Education and wholesale severance of federal funds, higher education now faces perhaps its biggest challenge in the nation’s history,” Durán said.

“Now, as massive ongoing policy and program changes hit, we find it imperative that our region’s university and college leaders deliberate critically but thoughtfully with legislators, policy makers and other educators in general to share our perspectives in search of concrete solutions for the benefit of our student populations. We must act judiciously. Our 2025 summit, with leaders from the state’s higher ed systems and our Congressional representatives  sets the stage for this interaction.”

About 150 participants are expected to attend the summit that is open to the public with free registration compliments of the College Futures Foundation, event sponsor. Breakfast and lunch are included with the registration.

The quarterly meeting of the CVHEC Board of Directors – the chancellors, presidents and campus directors of the consortium’s 28 member colleges and universities in the ten-county region from San Joaquin to Kern – will precede the summit the day before along with the CVHEC Welcome Reception from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. featuring the Fresno State Latin Jazz Ensemble (Thursday, May 8).

The summit features five 45-minute sessions. Members of the CVHEC Board will provide panel introductions and serve as moderators.

Dr. Juan Muñoz, UC Merced chancellor and chair of the CVHEC Board of Directors, will open the summit at 9 a.m. with a board welcome followed by Durán reviewing the summit agenda.

The keynote panel, “Stronger Together: Aligning Systems for Equitable Outcomes,” from 9:15 to 10:15 a.m., will be moderated by State Center Community College District Chancellor Carole Goldsmith after CSU Stanislaus President Britt Rios-Ellis introduces the panel:

  • Rowena M. Tomaneng, California Community Colleges deputy chancellor;
  • Nathan Dietrich, California State University assistant vice chancellor of University Relations and Advancement;
  • Yvette Gullatt, University of California vice president for Graduate and Undergraduate Affairs, vice provost for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, and chief diversity officer;
  • Alex Graves, Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities vice president for Government Relations.

“This year’s CVHEC summit will give our systems panelists, as well as all the panelists, the opportunity to share their thoughts on these tumultuous times and help lay foundation to unite for formidable action,” said Durán, who is superintendent/president-emeritus of Merced College, serving on the CVHEC Board during that tenure from 1998-2012. He became the consortium executive director in 2015.

A panel featuring student testimony, “In Their Words: Real Students Talking about Central Valley Strategies,” follows from 10:30 to 11:15 a.m. facilitated by Lemoore College President James Preston. Columbia College President Lena Tran will introduce the student panelists.

The third panel, “Data at Every Level: Sharing National, State, and Local Insights,” will be moderated by Merced College President Chris Vitelli.  Kern Community College District Chancellor Steven Bloomberg will introduce the panelists:

After lunch, the legislative update panel, “The Path Forward: Higher Ed Policy and the New Administration,” from 12:30 – 1:15 p.m. will be moderated by Chancellor Muñoz after Porterville College President Primavera Monarrez introduces the panelists serving in the United States Congress and the State Legislature.

Congressmembers Jim Costa (21st District) and Adam Gray (13th District) and California State Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria (District 27) will present in-person updates regarding the elected officials’ efforts to address such issues as federal funding cuts and student concerns amidst deportation and other immigration actions by the Administration that took office in January.

At 2 p..m. Attorney General Rob Bonta will Zoom in for the “Higher Education & Justice Virtual Forum.”

The final panel before the closing session, “What the CVHEC is Happening in the Central Valley,” from 1:45 to 2:30 p.m. will be moderated by Durán after Fresno Pacific University President André Stephens introduces the panelists:

For the summit’s Closing Comments session, “Where Do We Go from Here?” from 2:30 to 3 p.m., Durán will discuss plans for a regional data project and a campaign to support former students seeking to complete degree requirements, the Central Valley Reconnect Project.

“This year’s CVHEC summit attendees will leave with a good understanding of the work Central Valley higher education institutions have been doing,” Duran said.  “They will also be introduced to some new initiatives like the Reconnect Project, which will reach out to those students who left their studies before completing their degrees and certificates.  This project alone will go a long way in lifting the economic and educational wellbeing of the Central Valley.”

 See:

Panelist bios

Welcome Reception May 8

 

 

 

ABOUT CVHEC

The Central Valley Higher Education Consortium (CVHEC) is a California non-profit made up of 28-instutitions of higher education in the ten-county region from San Joaquin to Kern that is the size of some states. Through CVHEC, higher education professionals and academicians in the Central Valley address difficult and complex initiatives, scaling them up across the region for mutual effectiveness to serve our students and communities.  

Higher Education Summit May 9, 2025 – topics set; CCA provides national data

Valley’s higher ed CEOs to convene at CVHEC Summit 2025

Complete College America will provide national perspective; summit topics announced

 

BY TOM URIBES
CVHEC Communications Coordinator

As educators across the nation face an urgency to re-imagine higher education to meet the needs of today’s students and society, the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium Summit 2025 this spring in Fresno is shaping up with topics that present voices from policy makers and practitioners nationally, statewide and from throughout the Central Valley’s 10-county region.

With the theme “Navigating Higher Education in a New Era: The Central Valley Way,” registration is now open for the CVHEC summit set for Friday, May 9 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel. The event is open to the higher education community who register in advance with breakfast and lunch included. Registration is free compliments of  the College Futures Foundation, event sponsor.

The CVHEC 2025 Summit will bring together chancellors, presidents and campus directors of 28 Central Valley institutions of higher education — who make up the CVHEC Board of Directors – with other educators and policy makers including elected officials who develop litigation that affect the region. Various CVHEC board members will moderate the panels that are planned.

CVHEC’s Welcoming & Networking Reception will be the day before the summit, May 8 from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m., at the convention center’s Valdez Hall Breezeway to provide an opportunity to connect with other attendees and the CVHEC Board of Directors in an informal relaxed setting.

Dr. Brandon Protas, Complete College America

One of the panelists participating this year will be Dr. Brandon Protas, assistant vice president for Alliance Engagement at Complete College America, a national alliance of higher education institutions and organizations including CVHEC in California,  Dr. Benjamín Durán, CVHEC executive director, announced.

“Join us as we convene with national, state and regional colleagues, partners and friends for a full day of discussions and showcases related to higher education in the valley that lead to degree completion for our students,” Durán said.

Topics to date include an overview of CVHEC efforts such as the Central Valley Transfer Project; the Master’s Upskilling Project, dual enrollment initiatives; and math alignment measures such as the CVHEC Math Task Force and the Central Valley Math Bridge Program with College Bridge.

Also featured will be a “Legislative Update” with federal legislators providing the latest about higher education laws; a student panel “What Does this Mean for Students?”  and a panel with the four segments of higher education in California.

Dr. Protas will be a panelist on the “The Central Valley Landscape: Honing in on the Data” panel.

The CCA vice president, who guides the planning and management of the CCA Alliance to support institutions, systems and states in their efforts to improve student success, will participate on the data panel providing insights to CCA’s nationwide data compilation efforts. CCA works with states, systems, institutions and partners to scale highly effective structural reforms and promote policies that improve student success.

Durán represents CVHEC as an alliance lead responsible for providing oversight and coordination for local initiatives as well as CCA-sponsored projects and in November, he led a consortium delegation to CCA’s three-day conference which drew 800 participants from throughout the country.  He said the CVHEC summit provides a regional and state version of CCA’s national gathering.

“The CVHEC annual summit always draws interest from our region’s higher education community, but this year brings a difference sense of urgency as we learned at the Complete College American national conference last fall,” said Durán, president-emeritus of Merced College, referring to the national conference’s keynote address delivered Nov. 19 by Dr. Jamie Merisotis, president of the Lumina Foundation, an independent, private foundation in Indianapolis committed to making opportunities for learning beyond high school available to all which also provides support to CVHEC.

“We both see the urgency of reimagining higher ed to meet the needs of today’s students and today’s society,” Dr. Merisotis’ said at the conference regarding the partnerships between Lumina and CCA. “And we both put special focus on reaching those who have too often been left out.”

CVHEC featured that keynote as the “What the CV-HEC is Happening Blog” in the consortium’s January newsletter and Durán said Merisotis’ message fuels the CVHEC summit as well as the CEOs of its member institutions from San Joaquin County in the North Valley to Kern County in the South Valley.

“I hope that this national education leader’s words generate some dialogue between you and your colleagues and we encourage you to share those conversations, as we will at our 2025 CVHEC Summit and on our various consortium social media platforms,” Durán said in setting the tone for the summit.

 

 

ABOUT CVHEC

The Central Valley Higher Education Consortium (CVHEC) is a California non-profit made up of 28-instutitions of higher education in the ten-county region from San Joaquin to Kern that is the size of some states. Through CVHEC, higher education professionals and academicians in the Central Valley address difficult and complex initiatives, scaling them up across the region for mutual effectiveness to serve our students and communities.  

 

TRANSFER PROJECT UPDATE — Persistence

Persistence: commitment with intelligence

With 2025 well into its second month, the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium presents here a look at the success of our Central Valley Transfer Project that was catapulted into the state limelight when it was declared a California Community Colleges Demonstration Project by Chancellor Dr. Sonya Christian in fall 2023. CVHEC’s Central Valley Transfer Project Lead Stan Carrizosa, president-emeritus of COS, reports that 12 of the 15 Central Valley Higher Education Consortium-member community colleges are now on board along with members UC Merced and our three CSU campuses: Bakersfield, Fresno and Stanislaus. Carrizosa updates how “the Central Valley Way” of collaboration and “working smarter, not harder” that characterizes CVHEC initiatives is spreading into a statewide effort to increase successful community college transfers with the implementation of the project’s software platform, Program Pathways Mapper (PPM). He notes that funding to implement the PPM software — which is increasing the rate of successful community college transfers who utilize it to efficiently navigate their journey to a degree or certificate — is available to any community college for their students.

BY STAN CARRIZOSA
CVHEC Central Valley Transfer Project Lead

In 2018, a group of community college leaders, meeting in the annual gathering of the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium Board of Directors, heard Dr. James Zimmerman, University of California, Merced senior administrator, share an update on the number of Central Valley community college students that had successfully transferred to UC Merced.

The results were dismal, Dr. Zimmerman reported, and UC Merced asked to meet with community college officials to enact a plan to increase successful transfers to UC Merced. The Central Valley Transfer Project was born.

A pilot for the project was funded through a state grant that engaged Merced College and Bakersfield College representatives in convenings with UC Merced staff to create successful transfer pathways from community college. In the beginning, the process was slow and arduous as many details and factors needed to be discussed and incorporated into creating those pathways.

UC Merced graciously broadened the scope of the project to review the already successful Associate Degree for Transfer (ADT) pathways for transfer to CSUs. One-by-one different majors were reviewed, and UC Merced began accepting the ADTs as fulfilling the lower division requirements for successful transfer.

The pilot project ended with both Merced and Bakersfield College having approved multiple ADTs that would fulfill requirements for successful transfer to UC Merced.

The tool for combing combining? these lower division courses with their upper division requirements at UCM is a software platform called Program Pathways Mapper (PPM). PPM is a public-facing, internet-based URL that is easily accessible for students, parents, teachers, counselors and advisors. It is an application that is uploaded on our smart phone that enables us to see the lower division courses required for an ADT and the upper division coursework at the four-year college to complete a degree in the corresponding discipline major.

Taking it statewide – PPM funding available for colleges

PPM has since expanded and is now used statewide by community colleges, CSUs and UCs. It became such an advantage for students that a request was made for the state budget to fund the one-time costs for joining PPM and was approved by the Governor Newsome and California Legislature in 2022. Any community college can receive funding if requested to implement PPM for their students.

This combination of highly efficient convening protocols combined with easily accessible mapping software has spread across the state. In the Central Valley, all but three of the 15 community colleges are now on board along with UC Merced, CSU Bakersfield, Fresno State and CSU Stanislaus.

State Community College Chancellor Dr. Sonya Christian declared the Central Valley Transfer Project a statewide Demonstration Project in her newly adopted “Vision 2030.” The CSU and UC system’s CEOs have also endorsed the Transfer Project and statewide effort to increase successful community college transfers.

Each step along the way, the Central Valley Transfer Team has tried to work smart by leveraging existing structures including ADTs and even dual enrollment for some community college’s by aligning and connecting these structures increasing their effectiveness for successful transfers. This type of intersegmental collaboration requires patience and, more than anything, persistence.

The natural resistance to change is ever-present. A feeling of “initiative overload” and fatigue exist, and the inertia inherent in any bureaucracy requires persistence which we have come to define as commitment with intelligence, often referred to as “working smarter, not harder.”

What the data shows

Baseline data on results are very encouraging. A control group of 5,000 incoming freshman to Bakersfield College were tracked comparing PPM users and non-PPM users over their first two semesters. Leaving all other recruitment services and outreach efforts in place the only variable that differed for these groups were those who used PPM to work their education plan and those who did not.

A review of the percentage of on-path course completion was measured among both groups to see if PPM provided any advantage in increasing students’ completion of required courses on-path to their degree. Both groups were reviewed for the number of units to degree in hopes that PPM would help reduce the number of unnecessary units completed.

Perhaps most importantly, tracking the differences in percentage of on-path course completion rates between subgroups of students by ethnicity addresses equity in success among different groups.

See our results in the graphics above.

Once Chancellor Christian designated this a Demonstration Project in her Vision 2030, the Central Valley way has begun to influence positive results for students statewide and beyond. The success of the project now reaches as far north as UC Santa Cruz all the way south to UCLA and UC Irvine. Community college transfer to the CSU system make up 50 percent of all their successful graduates.

Increasing successful transfers is a very effective strategy in the quest to increase four-year degree attainment!

INFO: Stan A. Carrizosa, Sr., –  scarrizosa44@gmail.com

Ángel Ramírez – 559.278.0576 or centralvalleyhec@gmail.com

CVHEC media inquiries: Tom Uribes – cvheccommunications@mail.fresnostate.edu or text 559.348.3278.

CVHEC’s Central Valley Transfer Project story:

What the CV-HEC is Happening Blog – December 2024: Year-In-Review

Read more

SPOTLIGHT – CVHEC on the road

Executive Director Benjamín Durán (third from left) led the CVHEC delegation at the Strategic Transfer Summit with Transfer Project Lead Stan Carrizosa, Jennifer Johnson of California Community Colleges Foundation and Dr. James Zimmerman of UC Merced. (Photo below): The California Economic Summit in October was attended by Ángel Ramírez, Elaine Cash, Tom Uribes (back), Priscilla Arrellano posing with Assemblyman Joaquin Arambula.

Strategic Transfer Summit provides showcase for

CVHEC’s Transfer Project as reps make the rounds

Central Valley Higher Education Consortium delegations are making the rounds this fall at several state and national conferences including the recent Strategic Transfer Summit presented by the California Community Colleges Nov. 8 at UC Merced.

Other destinations include the Complete College America National Conference in Indianapolis Nov. 18-20; the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges (AMATYC) in Atlanta Nov. 14-17 through the Dana Center with CVHEC Math Task Force members Jeremy Brandl of Fresno City College and Shelley Getty of Taft College; and the Community Colleges League of California Nov. 22 in Sacramento.

CVHEC also attended the California Economic Summit held Oct. 8-10 in Sacramento.

At the recent Transfer Summit, CVHEC’s Transfer Project team presented an update on its progress in partnering with the consortium’s 15 community college members using the Program Pathway Mapper software for a smoother transfer process for students. Leading the CVHEC delegation at the UC Merced event was Executive Director Benjamín Durán and Transfer Lead Stan Carrizosa along with James Zimmerman vice chancellor of UC Merced and Jennifer Johnson California Community Colleges Foundation.

Carrizosa said the summit, attended by the chief executive officers of the state’s three public higher ed segments – the University of California, the California State University and the California Community Colleges – provided a prime opportunity to showcase the consortium’s Transfer Project.

“The participation of the statewide CEOs of CCC, CSU & UC — coupled with powerful student testimony — makes this event an inflection point that sets our Transfer Project on its next upward trajectory,” Carrizosa said.

CVHEC’s Transfer Project has been designated as a California Community Colleges Demonstration Project by Chancellor Sonya Christian to serve as a model systemwide.

This month, Duran will also attend the CLCC in Sacramento as well as lead the CVHC delegation to the CAC national conference in Indiana. Attending the CAC with him will be Angel Ramirez, operations/finance director; Elaine Cash, grants coordinator; and Tom Uribes, communications/media coordinator.

For the CA Economic Summit in October, Ramirez, Cash and Uribes were joined by Priscilla Arrellano, administrative specialist.

CVHEC’s Mid-Year Review 2024

Read more

MATH TASK FORCE: ‘Something extraordinary’ (Jan. 26 wrap)

Modesto Junior College math professor Tina Akers-Porter discusses her strand group’s deliberations at “The Central Valley Way to AB1705 Success” Convening Jan. 26 where a call for a “principals task force” by Orosi High School Principal Marlena Celaya would bring more secondary education voices to the table.

‘Something extraordinary is happening in math in California’s Central Valley’

Math Task Force latest AB1705 session leads to calls

for more data, high school input, re-convene April 19

BY TOM URIBES
CVHEC Media/Communications Coordinator

Realizing that state guidance surrounding Assembly Bill 1705 remains elusive, valley community college math educators and officials forged ahead at “The Central Valley Way to AB1705 Success” convening Jan. 26 in Fresno with a determined and unified mindset to develop implementation plans that will serve the best interests of their students including a follow-up session set for April.

In addition, the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium (CVHEC) Math Task Force discussion centered around five strands of curriculum planning for implementation before the law goes into effect July 1, two aspects emerged at the lively day-long work session: the increased participation of institutional researchers for pertinent data-collecting and a call for a “principal’s task force” to bring upper secondary education voices to the table.

Presented by CVHEC, the convening — the latest in a series of deliberations since fall — was attended by 82 representatives from the consortium’s 19-member community colleges, one high school principal and campus research professionals.

They agreed to reconvene April 19 for reports on follow-up work that will occur as a result of this most recent event. Registration for that event will open next month with additional details forthcoming.

Facilitated by the Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas at Austin, the session last month reviewed five strands of curriculum planning: Validating Prerequisites; Designing Precalculus for 2025; Math Support Outside and Inside the Classroom; Building an AB 1705 Campus Team; and Guided Self-Placement.

“With tensions high and little guidance surrounding AB1705, the 19 community colleges and districts that comprise the CVHEC nine-county region are rolling up their sleeves and getting to work on this math movement the ‘Central Valley Way’,” summarized Tammi Perez-Rice of the Dana Center.

Perez-Rice, who co-facilitated the event, said the convening was solely dedicated to working and planning at a regional and institutional level in two parts. The first part was dedicated to expanding the five work groups that emerged from the Nov. 17 webinar and creating a plan to move forward.  The second half of the convening was devoted to institutional planning.

“The fruits produced from these convenings are already being felt around the region,” Perez-Rice said.  “The plans and implementations emerging from these convenings are more than just a response to AB705 and AB1705; they cultivate systemic reforms that will benefit all students in the CVHEC region and beyond.”

John Spevak, CVHEC regional coordinator who oversees the consortium’s Math Task Force and co-facilitator of the Jan. 26 gathering, said in the short-term, the five strands work groups will continue to communicate and provide updates in preparation for the April 19 convening. The strand leads are preparing summaries of their Jan. 26 breakout discussions and member college teams are preparing summaries of the tentative plans they developed in the afternoon breakout sessions for oral reports in April.

“In the longer term, our Math Task Force will continue to monitor what the California Community College Chancellor’s Office says, while mainly going forward with our own Central Valley approach to the five strands.”

That “Central Valley Way” stems from the work undertaken by the CVHEC Math task Force, first formed in 2019, in the past year that was intensified with four work sessions beginning Oct. 6 in a virtual convening with CCC vice-chancellor Eric Cooper. The first in-person session followed Oct. 13 in Fresno and another virtual session was held in two parts Nov. 17 before the Jan. 26 session.

These sessions may represent the only concerted effort by a region’s community college math community actively meeting to collaborate across campus boundaries for ways to unite as one voice and determine a curriculum course of action that meets the law’s intent, Spevak said.

“We at CVHEC, along with the Dana Center representatives and our College Bridge partners in the Math Bridge Program, feel that something extraordinary is happening in math in the Central Valley of California,” Spevak said.

After the Jan. 26 session ended, Perez-Rice reiterated a point she made the first time she visited Fresno for the first in-person convening last fall:

“This collaboration today was amazing. As I travel and talk to math faculty all over the country, what I see pulsating from the CVHEC community here in Central California is just compassion; caring about their students; putting their students first; understanding what their students need; and more importantly collaborating with each other working across institutions to make things happen.”

Inviting secondary ed voices to ‘align syllabi’

A key development of the convening was the assertion and agreement that a crucial next step is “to involve high schools in the discussion and determine how to breakdown barriers between systems for a cohesive collaborative effort to put students first across the state of California,” a message delivered by Marlena Celaya, principal of Orosi High School who was the only secondary education official in attendance.

Celaya’s comments, first in a strand session and later in general comments before the assembled group, resonated with the community college professionals as she offered to lead a task force of principals/administrators who would unify with the CVHEC community college math educators for implementation strategy — to listen and hear what the needs are and how to meet those needs.

“I’m willing to lead this work because I don’t want people to go through the wars I went through teaching algebra and volunteering all my time,” said Celaya, a former math teacher at Dinuba High School. “We would want to  hear from community colleges and say to them ‘what do you need?’

“We heard something from you today: ‘I want to know what courses are offered at the high school and what does that course description look like?’ Aligning syllabi is what I’d like to do,” Celaya said. “Mathematics is my passion.”

Perez-Rice said the April 19 convening promises more high school representation, with over twelve principals who are part of the Math Bridge Program by CVHEC and College Bridge being invited. Other secondary education officials from throughout the valley are welcome she said.  

Participant feedback: ‘great to see we’re not alone in this …’

After the event, several participants shared their assessment of the Jan. 26 convening.

“The conversations were amazing and we really appreciated being here,” said Joshua Lewis, chair of the Bakersfield College Mathematics Dept.

“There have been so many legislative changes and so many unknowns it’s nice to see the work that other campuses are doing and realize that we’re not alone, that we have shared values; that we have shared emphasis on student learning and really care about doing right by all of our students,” he added.

Nathan Cahoon, Taft college math professor, felt that the efforts of CVHEC’s Math Task Force as exhibited at the convening is strengthening the voice of the valley’s math community which will have an impact.

“It was amazing to work with incredible professionals who have some really amazing ideas,” he said. “I know I took many good notes about ideas to implement at our college.  The connections we are building here with each other will be powerful down the road as we build a cohesive effort to get some good research together that we can send to the state as one voice from all the colleges.”

Modesto Junior College math professor Marina Hernandez said coming together within the region is relished because when attending other statewide or national conferences, the focus is not as localized.

“It was very helpful to learn what other colleges in the Central Valley are doing because we share similar student population and resources characteristics and their best practices are applicable to us here in our region,” Hernandez said.

Tina Akers-Porter, Modesto Junior College math professor, said the Math Task Force work has helped her better understand what AB1705 is and what it means for her students.

“I feel like I have a better understanding of some of the challenges of the legislation and what others are worried about,” she said.  “We share some of those worries but it’s great to hear different points of view on that. A byproduct of this is we are seeing how we need to support underprepared students more, inside and outside the classroom, and sharing ideas to do that.”

Shelly Getty, Taft college math faculty and a strand leader, echoed Akers-Porter: “We left knowing we are going to start some specific tutoring and targeting students for tutoring. We will try to advertise it better and recruit so students get more access to the services we already provide which will greatly impact them.  We shared some good ideas on how to do that effectively.”

Marissa Martinez, Taft college math professor, said, “We have our work cut out for us. There’s a lot of things that we have to address with a lot of moving parts. Everything keeps changing but it was great to be able to see that we’re not alone in this, that we’re working together to better serve our students.”

She said this intercollegial collaboration and the feedback from the colleges helps “so we don’t have to reinvent the wheel — what worked, what didn’t work.”

Next steps? Data research

“I would say the next step is collecting our data to see how the numbers show where we are so we can prove that these courses are important for our student success,” Martinez said.

This data aspect was also a key part of the convening as institutional research professionals were invited and directly participated such as Arooj Rizvi, research analyst in the Office of Institutional research and Effectiveness at San Joaquin Delta College.

“Researchers have a monumental role in the implementation of AB 1705 because policymakers are going to depend a lot on what we are able to produce as a group or even as an institution,” Rizvi said. “Being a part of these conversations helps us to see the bigger picture, the context and the requirements of what exactly it is that we are looking for in the data.”

She said it was exciting to hear at the convening what area colleges are going through.

“I realized how similar our challenges are from institution to institution, “she said.  “Working through that together and being solution-oriented is something that’s going to take all of us towards a beneficial direction. Seeing us all here today was a defining moment in history.”

Owynn Lancaster, vice president of academic strategy for CVHEC partner College Bridge, said the event was “a huge success seeing folks come together from math to talk about math and really pool their resources to address actual challenges.

“The most powerful focus of change in education is always the educator,” Lancaster said. “I know everything’s heaped on them but in a lot of ways they have the greatest power of the greatest agency for this.”

For more info: centralvalleyhec@gmail.com

For CVHEC media inquiries: Tom Uribes – cvheccommunications@mail.fresnostate.edu (or text 559.348.3278).

See also:

Math Task Force

https://bit.ly/MTFconveneKSEE24

Valley’s math ed experts unite to address AB 1705 challenge for student success

The CVHEC Way to Math Success — Implementing AB1705

Math Task Force begins discussion of AB1705 implementation – Nov. 17 next
CVHEC Math Task Force meets in-person Oct. 13 for AB 1705 follow-up

NEWS RELEASE – CVHEC Math Task Force: Impactful legislation (AB 1705) Convenings Oct. 6 & 13

CVHEC Website Feature: Math Task Force Page

PHOTO GALLERY  

Central Valley Transfer Project: valley’s four-year colleges collaborating

Fresno State, a founding CVHEC member, joined CVHEC’s historic Central Valley Transfer Project in January with (from left): Dr. Kent Willis, vice president of Fresno State Student Affairs and Enrollment Management; University President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval; Dr. Benjamin Duran, CVHEC executive director; Tom Burke, CVHEC regional coordinator; and Dr. Sergio La Porta, associate dean of the Fresno State College of Arts and Humanities.

Fresno State joins in transfer ‘centerpiece’ with

11 CVHEC community colleges, 3 CSUs, UCMerced

 The Central Valley Transfer Project is now partnered with the region’s three California State University campuses after Fresno State signed on in January joining Bakersfield and Stanislaus in the historic Central Valley Higher Education Consortium initiative designed to open new doors for students’ successful transfer from community college.

Along with founding partner University of California, Merced, this means the valley’s four public institutions of higher education are working in unison with 8 community colleges currently through CVHEC’s project using the groundbreaking Program Pathways Mapper software. The project has also gained the full support of the California Community College Chancellor’s Office.

The community colleges already in the CVTP, with several more expected to sign on this year, are: Bakersfield College, Clovis Community College, Madera Community College, Merced College, Porterville College, Reedley College, West Hills College-Coalinga and West Hills College-Lemoore.

The Transfer Project is also expanding participation in the north end of the Central Valley with Modesto Junior College, Columbia College and San Joaquin Delta College scheduled to begin onboard this spring for a total of 11 community college partners said Stan Carrizosa, CVHEC regional coordinator and consortium lead for the project.

All Transfer Project partners are members of the consortium with their respective chancellors and presidents serving on the CVHEC Board of Directors.

“The Transfer Project is now a centerpiece for students to both enter and transfer from community college to their four-year universities,” said Dr. Benjamín Durán, CVHEC executive director. “We are excited to share this latest progress of the project which has been featured statewide and nationally at conferences such as the Community College League of California and Complete College America.”

He added, “This innovative approach is the only one in the state that includes a University of California campus collaborating with partner California State University and community colleges in establishing transfer pathways for Central Valley students to get them to and through college in a timely manner.”

Dr. Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval, Fresno State president and CVHEC board member, said,  “I’m proud that Fresno State will be a dynamic partner in the Central Valley Transfer Project, as this pathway will empower community college students to become visionary Bulldogs.”

The Fresno State agreement was finalized Jan. 17 between Durán and President Jiménez-Sandoval, with Tom Burke, CVHEC regional coordinator and Transfer Project team member; Dr. Kent Willis, vice president of Enrollment Services; and Dr. Sergio LaPorta, associate dean of the College of Arts and Humanities.

At CVHEC’s Higher Education Summit last fall, CCC Chancellor Sonya Christian announced that the statewide system has designated the Transfer Project as a demonstration project as set forth in her Vision 2030 for all California community colleges. The Transfer Project’s participating community colleges are serving as the pilot campuses with plans to implement statewide.

Carrizosa said the state budget continues to support and fund the onboarding costs for all community colleges to subscribe to the Program Pathways Mapper.

Established in 2021 with UC Merced, Merced College and Bakersfield College, the project is designed to open new doors for students to successfully transfer from community college with its Program Pathways Mapper, Carrizosa said.

He said the Program Pathways Mapper — a public facing, internet-based app that can be downloaded and accessed by the public software platform — provides unprecedented ease of access for students, counselors, advisors and parents much more so than other existing platforms.

“There are no typical requirements for access to PPM such as other internal college systems like Degree Works, Assist.Org and the CSU Transfer Planner,” he said. “These are all course tracking systems but in order to use them, students need to be successfully enrolled in college and have a student email address or other form of login to try and plan. Through PPM students simply upload the public PPM app to their devices and have immediate access.”

Carrizosa said the PPM helps simplify the transfer planning process which can be the most difficult task for many students.

“In much of our Central Valley region, as many as seven out of 10 incoming college freshmen will be first generation students to attend college,” he said. “Research shows that the most difficult task for them is often the application process itself and completing the required steps for enrollment. Systems like Degree Works and others do nothing to remove this common barrier because these systems cannot be accessed until a student successfully enrolls.”

He explained that a high school student can start the Transfer Project journey as a junior or senior by enrolling in college dual enrollment courses enabling them to complete their transfer level English and Math courses while still in high school. These units roll up with them as they enter community college and track the completion of their lower division requirements for their Associate Degree for Transfer in their chosen major via PPM.

“Students can easily select a community college they wish to attend and a major they want to pursue and the lower division courses required are sequentially laid out for them through the Program Pathways Mapper software.”

In addition, the PPM then links those lower division courses to an upper division institution of the student’s choice and shows a clear sequence of upper division courses needed to complete the degree, Carrizosa added.

“The PPM contains clear and accurate information directly from course catalogues from all participating colleges,” Carrizosa said.  “The Central Valley Transfer Project is becoming an alternative continuum of courses to the traditional high school A-G or Career Technical Education continuums and is unprecedented in the state’s community college system. We call it ‘The Central Valley Way!’”

“Through the use of PPM, students complete exactly what is required of them to successfully transfer to their four-year university and they follow PPM through their last two years to degree/certificate completion,” Carrizosa said.

Baseline data results also demonstrate the promise that PPM delivers in the Transfer Project.

In a sample of 5,000 incoming freshmen to Bakersfield College in 2022 the students using the PPM increased their “percentage of on-path course completion” to over 80 percent which also closed the equity gap in this statistic for ethnic minority students when compared to their white counterparts, Carrizosa said.

“The same sample showed students using the PPM reduced the ‘number of units-to-degree’ from an average of 87 down to 67,” he added.

The project is now gearing up to expand the partnership with the College Bridge Math Project and to onboard community colleges from the northern region of the Central Valley.

For more information about the CVTP, contact Carrizosa at centralvalleyhec@gmail.com.

 

CVHEC media inquiries: Tom Uribes – cvheccommunications@mail.fresnostate.edu or text 559.348.3278.

Fresno State media inquiries: PIO Lisa Bell – lbell@csufresno.edu.

See:

·  Pilot CVHEC/UC Merced Transfer Project improves process for students  

·  CVHEC Web Site Feature: Transfer Project

·  Historic Transfer Project spurs statewide movement to increase transfer rates

·  WHAT THE CV-HEC IS HAPPENING BLOG (January 2024): CVHEC 2023 — surging forward for Central Valley students

·  HIGHER ED NEWS: College Bridge to expand Math Bridge; CVHEC Transfer Project

•  A-G

·   Career Technical Education

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