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

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

 

The beat – serving student success – goes on!

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

By Tom Burke
CVHEC Transfer Project Coordinator

(Photo Gallery below)

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

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

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

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

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

 

Revolutionizing Positive Outcomes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Happy Holidays to all!

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

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

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

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

Mini-Grant Success Story: CHSU Pre-Med Pathway Bootcamp

Pre-Med Bootcamp Helps Local Students
with CHSU-COM Med School Applications 

NOTE: For the past three years, CVHEC Mini-Grants have been awarded to member institutions in support of CVHEC’s mission to increase degree attainment rates. We are highlighting how our member institutions’ innovative uses for the grants are positively impacting students. 

A Pre-Med Pathway Bootcamp helped 25 local students prepare to apply to California Health Sciences University College of Osteopathic Medicine (CHSU-COM) thanks to funding from Central Valley Higher Education Consortium’s Mini-Grant project.

CVHEC’s $6,000 mini-grant offset course fees for students so they only had to pay $25 to reserve their seats. The grant also provided all MCAT prep supplies and instruction, T-shirts, certificates of completion and a catered lunch for the attendees.

“Our local pre-med students greatly benefited from only having to pay $25 for this in-depth Pre-Med Pathway Bootcamp,” said Dr. Kevin Steed, assistant professor of Biomedical Education who served as program director with Samuel Kadavakollu, PhD, chair of the Biomedical Education Department and associate professor at CHSU-COM.

“We appreciate CHSU’s and CVHEC’s commitment to keeping this program affordable for local students, many of whom would not have been able to participate if they had to pay thousands for a program of this caliber,” Dr. Steed said.

CHSU’s four-weekend bootcamp held in October was divided into three main categories with sessions that provided the aspiring pre-medical students an opportunity to prepare for the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT), learn about the medical school application process and experience the medical school environment.

In addition to classroom learning, pre-med students experienced HoloAnatomy using the Microsoft HoloLens; participated in a culinary workshop in the CHSU-COM Teaching Kitchen where they practiced cooking healthy recipes; and stepped into the shoes of a current medical student by participating in medical simulation scenarios in the CHSU Simulation Center with manikins and real Standardized Patients.

Graduates of the bootcamp were presented with certificates by John Graneto, DO, dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine and Lisa Chun, DO, associate dean of Osteopathic Clinical Education and Simulation.

CHSU is now planning for its next Pre-Med Pathway Bootcamp in spring 2022.

The CVHEC Mini-Grants project, currently funded by the College Futures Foundation, provides awards up to $10,000 each which faculty from consortium member institutions have creatively used for individual projects that help achieve CVHEC’s strategy of increasing degree attainment rates.

Previous mini-grants have supported assistance and professional learning associated with Guided Pathways, Math Pathways, implementation of Corequisite English and math, course development and advancement of Pathways for Associate Degrees for Transfer.

The 2021 funding cycle also sought to additionally incentivize basic needs and equity, race and social justice work. Details about applications for the 2022 funding cycle will be announced in January.

For more information about CVHEC Mini-Grants, contact Angel Ramirez at angelr@mail.fresnostate.edu.

See CHSU press release.

Students prepared to apply to California Health Sciences University College of Osteopathic Medicine (CHSU-COM) at the Pre-Med Pathway Bootcamp with funding from the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium Mini-Grant project.

Boot camp students participated in a culinary workshop in the CHSU-COM Teaching Kitchen where they practiced cooking healthy recipes.

Dual Enrollment Success Stories: Celeste Galvan of McFarland

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

CVHEC Dual Enrollment Spotlight:

Celeste Galván of McFarland

 

BY TOM URIBES
CVHEC Communications/Media Coordinator

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ROMEO AGBALOG — President of the KCCD Board of Trustees

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

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

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

See Trustee President Agbalog’s column.

Background: 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

 

Mini-Grants – COS Equitable Teaching Institute Supports Faculty Learning

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Mini-Grant Success Stories

COS Equitable Teaching Institute supports faculty learning

NOTE: For the past three years, Central Valley Higher Education Consortium Mini-Grants have been awarded to member institutions in support of CVHEC’s mission to increase degree attainment rates. We are highlighting how our member institutions’ innovative uses for the grants are positively impacting students. 

The Equitable Teaching Institute at College of the Sequoias this summer engaged 10 faculty in an innovative four-week interdisciplinary cohort-based summer learning session that studied equitable pedagogy and how to apply it to gatekeeping courses at COS thanks to a $7,500 Central Valley Higher Education Consortium Mini-Grant.

The CVHEC Mini-Grants project, currently funded by the College Futures Foundation, provides awards up to $10,000 each which faculty from member institutions have creatively used for individual projects that help achieve the consortium’s strategy of increasing degree attainment rates. Previous mini-grants have supported assistance and professional learning associated with Guided Pathways, Math Pathways, implementation of Corequisite English and math, course development and advancement of Pathways for Associate Degrees for Transfer.

The 2021 funding cycle also sought to additionally incentivize basic needs and equity, race and social justice work.

At COS, ten faculty selected a different gatekeeping course and examined ways to reduce equity gaps for that specific course. This occurred in two phases done over four weekly themed sessions led by project coordinators Megan Baptista and Matthew C. Nelson, English professors at COS.

The Equitable Teaching culminated with the ETI Faculty Presentation Showcase Aug. 11 as part of the college’s Faculty Development Workshop Series attended by over 40 faculty colleagues during Fall 2021 Convocation Week.

At the culminating showcase, the ETI participants shared their findings, proposed changes and new pedagogy insights, reported Nicole Bryant Lescher, Far North regional coordinator for the California Community College Success Network (3CSN) who served as observer for the project’s first phase in June.

“The presentations were received well with many staying more than 30 minutes over the scheduled two-hour time slot to engage their colleagues about this work,” reported Lescher, who is a professor of English at the College of the Redwoods. “Faculty who attended this workshop left very positive comments in their evaluations and often remarked on changes they hope to make in their courses as a result of these presentations.”

Dr. Benjamin T. Duran, CVHEC executive director, said the COS Equitable Teaching Institute is “a perfect example of how Mini-Grant funds can support faculty learning toward equitable teaching.”

The faculty participants had three learning outcomes for the institute, Lescher reported: review equity concepts and identify local contexts driving equity gaps; explore culturally relevant teaching pedagogy; and use culturally relevant teaching and other equity frameworks to developed student-centered practices, policies, language and assignments for each cohort member’s identified gatekeeping course.

They also had three deliverables as a result of the program: a detailed reflection on their learning that outlined the changes they intend to make for their gatekeeping course; a proposal for a project inspired by the institute (the deliverables for each project varied, but typically these deliverables were tied to ETI faculty presentations during convocation week); and the final presentation at the ETI Faculty Presentation Showcase.

“One key takeaway many instructors found in the data was that small changes in how we teach can help us reduce and even close gaps,” Lescher said. “For example, in English 1, we observe equity gaps for African-American and Hispanic students.

“Between 2014 and 2021, those students were significantly less likely to succeed in English 1,” she explained. “However, the minimum number of students from those groups who would have needed to pass to shrink the gaps is 13 and 80, respectively. If we could get 31 more African American and 181 more Hispanic students to pass English 1, the equity gap disappears.”

She said there are 116 sections of English 1 being offered in fall 2021 and “each of us, making small changes focused specifically on disproportionately impacted student groups, can help close these gaps. If we can help just one more disproportionately impacted student meet the learning outcomes and pass in each English 1 section, we will have almost closed these gaps.”

The participants observed similarly achievable goals in all the gatekeeping classes examined during the institute, Lescher noted.

Nine out of the ten faculty members who presented and their topics are:

  • Randy Villegas – “Students in Political Positions of Power”
  • David Jones – “Grading Systems and Income Inequality”
  • Jenny Heaton – “Reducing Student Anxiety and Fostering Student Agency”
  • Samantha Sousa – “Creating a more equitable syllabus”
  • Tracy Redden – “Syllabus Updates for Equity”
  • Lisa McHarry – “Freeman, Engaging Diverse Voices with Social Annotation”
  • Melissa Myers – “Creating Equitable Math Content Courses for Pre-Service Teachers”
  • Courtney Traugh – “Student Learning Teams”
  • Victoria Rioux – “Using UDL to Make Fieldwork More Equitable”

The project also provided an additional outcome: faculty participants engaged in learning together and found ways to apply what they learned to their courses, said Baptista.

“The grant money allowed us to pilot a project that engaged faculty in equity work, improving both our understanding of the work and how that work appears in our classrooms,” she said. “In the words of one of the participants, ‘I was unsure of this equity work, but after finishing the course, I am fully onboard.’”

The COS project’s $7,500 funding was proposed in the two phases with two main categories: stipends (6,500) and materials (1,000). For stipends, $1,000 each was earmarked for the two coordinators and $2,250 each for the nine participants.

The remaining $1,000 was used to purchase texts to facilitate continued faculty learning and engagement with equity conversations in their discipline and in their courses.

Applications for the next Mini-Grant cycle will be accepted beginning November 1, said Angel Ramirez, CVHEC operations manager (angelr@mail.fresnostate.edu).[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Mini-Grants – Reedley College’s Motivational Poster Project 

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Mini-Grant Success Stories

Reedley College’s Motivational Poster Project 

seeks equitable, inclusive spaces on campus

NOTE: For the past three years, CVHEC Mini-Grants have been awarded to member institutions in support of CVHEC’s mission to increase degree attainment rates. We are highlighting how our member institutions’ innovative uses for the grants are positively impacting students. 

More than 70 motivational posters profiling a diverse range of student success stories were produced by the Reedley College Academic Senate thanks to funding from Central Valley Higher Education Consortium’s Mini-Grant project.

Currently funded by the College Futures Foundation, the Mini-Grants project provides awards up to $10,000 each which faculty from member institutions have creatively used for individual projects that help achieve the consortium’s strategy of increasing degree attainment rates. Previous mini-grants have supported assistance and professional learning associated with Guided Pathways, Math Pathways, implementation of Corequisite English and math, course development and advancement of Pathways for Associate Degrees for Transfer.

The 2021 funding cycle also sought to additionally incentivize basic needs and equity, race and social justice work.

At Reedley College, Rebecca Al Haider in the Communication and Languages Department undertook the Motivational Poster Project as part of the college’s Academic Senate’s anti-racism action plan “to create campus spaces that are equitable inclusive and diverse” by producing 70 posters that were printed in various languages, framed and displayed on campus.

The posters contained messages in English, Spanish, Arabic and Punjabi representing 33 students and 12 faculty, staff and administrators from various ethnicities/races, genders, sexual orientations, ages, religions, abilities, educational achievements and goals.

One of the posters highlighted Business Administration student Alejandra Reyes Enriquez, who began her higher education at Reedley College in the English as a Second Language program where she earned her high school diploma and enrolled in Business Administration classes. She transferred to Fresno State where she is pursuing a degree in accounting. Al Haider said Alejandra’s posters highlight her great achievements as a mother, immigrant and first-generation college student.

“What started out as a desire to simply learn a new language, turned into a desire to build a better future for myself and my family,” Alejandra said. “It is never too late to achieve your goals and change not only your story, but your family’s story for generations to come.”

In addition to poster printing and frames costs, Reedley College’s $8,100 grant provided two monitors and computers installed in the cafeteria and Math/Science Building to display videos of twelve profiled students and employees sharing their educational experiences and achievements as well as offering advice.

For more information about the Mini-Grant process, contact Angel Ramirez at angelr@mail.fresnostate.edu.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Dual Enrollment Success Stories: Nataly Frias

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

Dual Enrollment: success stories underscore equity-driven strategy

Reducing disparities in student persistence and completion rates

BY TOM URIBES
CVHEC Communications/Media Coordinator

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

See Nataly’s story in local news media accounts:

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

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

 

Background: 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

Mini-Grant Success Stories – MJC’s Faculty Mentor Plan Supports AB705

Adjunct Faculty Embedded Into Accelerated/Co-Requisite English, Math 

Modesto Junior College recently used its Central Valley Higher Education Consortium Mini-Grant to support compliance with California Assembly Bill 705 by funding a faculty mentor program that embedded adjunct faculty into accelerated/co-requisite English and math courses during the Spring 2021 semester, addressing the key elements of persistence; time to degree; and decreasing equity gap.

“Modesto Junior College’s use of the grant funds is the epitome of the benefits we seek when distributing the mini-grants,” said Dr. Ben Durán, CVHEC executive director. “The grants are intended to spur up creative approaches to institutionalizing equitable systems. Modesto College has done just that.”

Now in its third year, the CVHEC Mini-Grants program, currently funded by the College Futures Foundation, provides awards with a maximum $7,500 each which faculty from member institutions have creatively used for individual projects that help achieve the consortium strategy of increasing degree attainment rates.

Last year, the grants awarded for projects in various amounts provided assistance and professional learning associated with Guided Pathways, Math Pathways, implementation Corequisite English and math course development, and advancement of Pathways for Associate Degrees for Transfer. The 2021 funding cycle also sought to additionally incentivize basic needs and equity, race and social justice work.

With its $7,500 grant, Modesto Junior College eyed a plan to enhance its approach to AB705. The goal of MJC’s project was to expand the courses in highest demand — English 100 (transfer level English) and Math 34 (statistics) — by mentoring adjunct faculty in the pedagogy and andragogy used in the co-requisite and accelerated courses. While being mentored, the adjunct faculty were embedded with an experienced mentor, a faculty member who teaches accelerated and co-requisite courses.

At MJC, changes were made to both English and math using best practices from the California Acceleration Project leading to significant gains in transfer-level completers, and throughput for both departments, reported Dr. Laura Maki, dean of Science, Math and Engineering.

Comparing 1-year throughputs in fall 2017 to fall 2019, English 1 year throughput increased from 45.2 percent to 51.9 and math 1 year throughput more than tripled from 10.7 percent to 34.2, Dr. Maki said in MJC’s final mini-grant report.

In English and in math, two adjunct faculty were embedded into the accelerated composition course (English 100), and into the statistics co-requisite courses (Math 34) respectively in Spring 2021, she reported.

During the semester, each mentee received hands-on experience in the activities and lessons being used in the course, with the goal of increasing their understanding of the acceleration pedagogy and andragogy.

In math, faculty also discussed and reviewed the impact of AB705, equity gaps and disproportionate impact with their mentor adjunct faculty. Adjunct participants were provided with a stipend and FLEX credit during Spring 2021.

In fall 2021, with Modesto Junior College’s high demand for the co-requisite statistics courses, both adjunct faculty mentees will teach a section of Math 34, a 28 percent increase in the number of sections offered.

The co-requisite mentor program has given the instructors the confidence and preparation needed to independently teach the co-requisite statistics course emphasizing the ability to identify equity gaps and provide support for students with a variety of academic and social backgrounds, Dr. Maki reported.

Mini-Grant Success Stories – Brandman University’s Textbook Award Program

For the past three years, Central Valley Higher Education Consortium Mini-Grants have been awarded to member institutions in support of CVHEC’s mission to increase degree attainment rates. We will highlight how members’ innovative uses for the grants are positively impacting students in our CVHEC e-Newsletters. We begin telling this story with Brandman University which created the Textbook Award Program for 50 students.



CVHEC Mini-Grants support Brandman students in pandemic  

In an innovative use of the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium Mini-Grants Program, CVHEC member Brandman University funded the Textbook Award Program, reaching out to its students at three Central Valley campuses for immediate relief to about 50 participants during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The CVHEC Mini-Grants, in various amounts up to $7,500 each funded by partner College Futures Foundation(CFF), are intended to support activities providing assistance and professional learning associated with Guided Pathways, Math Pathways, implementation Corequisite English and math course development (implementation of AB 705 and EO 1110), and advancement of Pathways for Associate Degrees for Transfer.

For this year’s cycle, in response to the COVID Pandemic and racial unrest last summer, the criteria was expanded to incentivize basic needs and equity, race and social justice work.

This led Brandman to use its Mini-Grant funds to create $150 book vouchers for undergraduate, first-generation students, reports Sonia Gutierrez-Mendoza, director of the Visalia and Lemoore campuses.

“When CVHEC expanded its criteria this year and called for initiatives that could help students during the pandemic, we asked our students ‘what are some of your pain points during this difficult time?’” she said.

“Over and over, we heard them say ‘we can’t buy textbooks because Financial Aid is not in yet’ so with CVHEC’s expanded criteria for the mini-grants, we created this program and notified recipients of their award right before the winter break, when expenses add up for their families.”

Richard Carnes, director of Brandman’s Modesto campus, credited Gutierrez-Mendoza for the Textbook Award ideaand its innovative appeal since the grants are usually applied to long-term pathways projects.

“Those long-term projects are good and necessary, but students need help now,” Carnes said.

“We told our students that CVHEC projects like the Mini-Grants demonstrate to them, and to our university team, that the higher education community here in our Central Valley is united and supportive of your endeavors and want to help make a positive impact on your success and persistence,” he added.

Gutierrez-Mendoza agrees. “Students can’t walk those pathways very well if they have pebbles in their shoes, or worse,” she said.  “When we told our students how CVHEC was there with its CFF partner to lend a hand, they were so grateful. To know that, even in a small way, this grant helped students persist in their college education is an amazing feeling.”

That gratitude was reflected in a letter campaign the students undertook thanking Dr. Ben Duran, CVHEC executive director, his team and CFF. The Brandman students, who are adult-learners, shared how the textbook awards positively impacted them during a difficult year.

Bethany Burnes

Bethany Burnes of Brandman University’s Visalia campus, who reported she has been off work for “what seems like forever due to COVID restrictions” while also welcoming her third child born on Christmas Day, said, “Things have been really tight with our household budget and with your assistance some of the pressure is now off of me and frees up some money for my babies. I appreciate this grant so much!”

Karla Melgar of the Modesto campus said the Textbook Award “was such a big help for me and my family since I’m the only one currently working full time.  Once again thank you!”

For Marybel Herrera, also a Visalia campus student who plans to graduate this spring with a bachelor’s degree in Liberal Studies, the award is “like the icing on the cake to my last semester at Brandman University. In a time like this, and all the changes that COVID has brought to everyone, this award is a nice change. Once again thank you!”

Duran commended Brandman University for responding to this year’s Mini-Grant program criteria expansion, which was intended to encourage CVHEC member institutions to create innovative ways to help students when the pandemic was having the greatest impact, and creating the Textbook Award Program to help fulfill that need with the grant funds.

“We applaud Brandman for identifying a basic need that was just in time especially during this period in our history when there has been so much uncertainty,” Duran said.  “We definitely want to see more students complete degrees and this simple use of our grant dollars shows the great impact a small grant can have when our members are allowed to use their creativity to connect with their students whose immediate needs they know best.”

CVHEC Mini-Grants support degree attainment strategies

The Central Valley Higher Education Consortium Mini-Grants have been creatively used by faculty from member institutions for individual projects that help achieve the consortium strategy of increasing degree attainment rates.

Now in its third year, the CVHEC Mini-Grants program, currently funded by the College Futures Foundation, provides awards with a maximum $7,500 each.

Last year, the grants awarded for projects in various amounts provided assistance and professional learning associated with Guided Pathways, Math Pathways, implementation Corequisite English and math course development, and advancement of Pathways for Associate Degrees for Transfer. This new funding cycle is seeking to additionally incentivize Basic Needs and Equity, Race and Social Justice work.

One project last year funded a four-day workshop for faculty learning, strategies and techniques that have made the institution’s English coreq model successful.

Another produced a video capturing student voices for Guided Pathways and funded professional development for student services personnel to redesign student services for Guided Pathways.

A third grant supported faculty stipends for researching effective supplemental learning models/services and development of recommendations as well as travel to colleges to investigate supplemental learning models.

“These grants provide great incentive for faculty to undertake measures that will help their students pursue courses relevant to attaining their degree,” said Dr. Ben Durán, CVHEC executive director.

The filing period is now open for the CVHEC Mini-Grants and while there is no set deadline to apply, the funds must be expended prior to April 30, 2021 so applicants are encouraged to submit their request as soon as possible to get started on their respective projects.

For more information or to receive another application packet (first distributed in October), contact Duran (bduran@csufresno.edu) or Angel Ramirez (angelr@csufresno.edu) in the CVHEC office.

CVHEC Mini-grants are back!   

The Central Valley Higher Education Consortium Mini-Grants for member institutions will be offered again in 2021 with an eye towards pandemic and equity-related activities.

Applications are now being accepted. This round of grants will be capped at $7,500 per institution and must be expended by April 30, 2021.

As a result of COVID impacts, CVHEC was able to adjust its budget and offer another round of CVHEC Mini-grants forinstitutions to meet needs on their campuses.  The mini-grants are intended to fund activities of faculty and staff for implementation, assistance and professional learning associated with Guided Pathways, Leading from the Middle, Math Pathways, implementation of AB 705 and EO 1110 and advancement of Pathways for Associate Degrees for Transfer. New to the list are basic needs and equity.

“In response to the COVID Pandemic and calls for equity and racial justice, we are adding Basic Needs and Equity, Racial and Social Justice to the list of activities the dollars can provide assistance toward,” said CVHEC Executive Director Ben Duran.

He urged CVHEC members to get the word out and encourage their staff to submit applications as soon as possible.

“The last round of grants were well received and impactful in assisting our member campuses to improve student success and completion,” Duran said.

Application forms with details were sent to members in October. For any questions, contact Duran (bduran@csufresno.edu) or Angel Ramirez (angelr@csufresno.edu) in the CVHEC office.

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