CV-HEC VLOG – August 2022: Dr. Mike Farr, CHSU Alumnus
This month’s “What The CV-HEC Is Happening” Blog features a guest vlog with Dr. Mike Farr, an alumnus of CVHEC-member California Health Science University when he was featured on GVWire’s “Unfiltered” weekly virtual talk show May 24 hosted by Darius Assemi, president of Granville Homes in Fresno.
Dr. Farr shared his experience as one of the first medical students in the CHSU leading to his career in two positions presently: as a retail pharmacist for Walgreen’s and as a clinical pharmacist for Integrated Prescription Management. He served as CSHU student body president and was conferred the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree with 62 graduates at CHSU’s first Graduation Ceremony May 19, 2018. Dr. Farr touts the value of having a medical school in the Central Valley.
(Note: the show was the second part that followed a debate featuring two Fresno County sheriff candidates in the June election).
Presenting our renovated CVHEC Website: Meet our Board of Directors
The chancellors, presidents and superintendents of 30 institutions of higher education in the Central Valley nine-county region from Stockton to Bakersfield sit on the CVHEC Board of Directors. They meet quarterly in pursuit of CVHEC’s core mission to increase valley college-going rates and degree/certification attainment, providing a unified voice for their more than 250,000 students served jointly. See the board of directors section in our newly renovated website: https://cvhec.org/about-cvhec/
This fall, we unveil phase one of our renovated Central Valley Higher Education Consortium website which we hope will be easier to navigate as we showcase the work of the Consortium throughout the valley.
We will be featuring a different piece of our website as we continue to build it out in hopes of showcasing it as a resource for our members, colleagues and partners.
This month, we feature the professionals and experts who are carrying out the CVHEC mission. On the “About CVHEC” page, you can meet our CVHEC Board of Directors – the presidents and chancellors of our 30 members of higher education in the Central Valley’s nine-county region from Stockton to Bakersfield as well as the core staff that includes several former educational leaders who now served as CVHEC regional coordinators/liasions,
Also, see our CVHEC News web page that is being finalized this fall featuring our newsletter stories and press releases where news media can connect with us as well as the members of our CVHEC PIO/Communicators Committee, consisting of the communications professionals handling media relations at each of the 30 campuses.
Our new calendar will keep you up-to-date on CVHEC and other higher education events on our radar. For considerations and modifications to our calendar please email centralvalleyhec@gmail.com.
CVHEC Director’s Message (August 2022): Here’s to an Engaging Fall Semester 2022
Greetings to you all and welcome to the fall semester as students, faculty and staff return to in-person learning at our CVHEC campuses throughout the Central Valley.
As we all approach the 2022-23 academic year with renewed energy and enthusiasm, we are dedicating a portion of this edition of the CVHEC e-newsletter to the good work of the medical healthcare partners in the Consortium.
We are delighted to announce the establishment of the California Medicine Scholars Program (SJV-CMSP) hub in Fresno, one of four hubs in California authorized by the Senate Bill 40, authored by our very own Senator, Melissa Hurtado, (D-Sanger Hurtado). The budget bill, signed in June by Governor Gavin Newsom, includes $9,975,000 to establish a regional pipeline system for community college students who want to go to medical school.
Dr. Kenny Bahn of the UC San Francisco Medical School – Fresno headed a team to develop the application for funding and collaborated with CVHEC partners, California Health Sciences University and regional community colleges that will feed the medical pathways in the valley. Valley wide collaborative efforts will hopefully lead to more physicians and allied health professionals settling in the region.
In keeping with the medical theme, please see the video in our “What The CV-HEC Is Happening” Guest Blog featuring Dr. Mike Farr, an alumnus of CVHEC member California Health Science University, in an interview on GVWire’s “Unfiltered” virtual talk show. Dr. Farr was conferred the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree in CHSU’s first Graduation Ceremony in 2018 and touts the value of having a medical school in the Central Valley.
Please join us in welcoming to the CVHEC Board of Directors Dr. Brock McMurry, newly appointed interim superintendent/president of the West Kern Community College District (Taft College). He will be seated at our next quarterly meeting this fall along with two new members also recently appointed to their posts: Dr. Robert Pimentel, president of the historic Fresno City College (the oldest Community College in California) and Dr. Andre Stephens, president of Fresno Pacific College (see our May issue).
This fall, CVHEC will push forward with several exciting developments that will be featured in future issues including the resumption of in-person convenings to address issues of higher education relevant to our mission. Be on the lookout for our continuing work in Dual Enrollment and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA). In collaboration with the three K16 Collaboratives in the Central Valley, CVHEC will also be pushing for improved transfer pathways and a valley wide dialogue on creating meaningful STEP and math pathways for our students.
Also this fall we unveil our renovated website which we hope will be easier to navigate and showcase the work of the Consortium throughout the valley.
The 2022-23 academic year stands to be another exciting and productive year. We hope you will stay engaged with us and join us for the in-person convenings we will hold as the pandemic wanes.
CV-HEC Photo Blog: Higher Education Policy and Legislative Summit May 5-6, 2022
For this issue, our What The CV-HEC Is Happening feature is a “photo-blog” capturing scenes from the CVHEC Higher Education Policy and Legislative Summit held May 5-6 presented under the theme “Post Pandemic World: Recovering with Equity and Inclusion in the Central Valley” in Fresno.
Dr. John D. Welty, Fresno State President-emeritus who left the CVHEC board nine years ago when he retired, returned to join founding board members Dr. Frank Gornick, West Hills Community College District chancellor-emeritus, and Dr. Benjamin Duran, Merced College president-emeritus and current CVHEC executive director, in recalling the early days of the consortium.
At the rare gathering of the presidents and chancellors of 30 Central Valley higher education institutions and other leaders, summit participants engaged in four panel presentations exploring challenges faced by colleges and universities during the pandemic with these topics:
- Looking at Recovery Through a Lens of Equity and Inclusion
- Dual Enrollment as an Equity Strategy for Valley High School Students
- Creating the Central Valley Transfer Model – A Pathway for Valley Students
- Broadband for All – Taking Broadband to the Next Mile in the Central Valley
A student panel once again provided the voices of those served by higher education professionals including several who “starred” in two CVHEC videos made in the past year:
- “Pursuing the Last Mile: Broadband in the Central Valley”
- “Blurring the Lines Between High School and College: Dual Enrollment in the Central Valley”
During the CVHEC Board of Director’s quarterly meeting held the day before the summit, the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine Fresno regional campus was seated as the 30th member institution of the consortium.
Following that board meeting, CVHEC presented a Cinco de Mayo Reception featuring Las Hermanas Medina (Sofia, Bela and Paulina) of Hanford and theme decorations by the Kings Cultural Center in Armona. (Special thanks to Dr. Juan Medina, KCC Director, and wife Chely)
CVHEC In The News: Infrastructure Bill – Broadband
Dr. Benjamin Durán, executive director of the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium, was interviewed by ABC30 reporter Elisa Navarro for her story on passage of the Biden Infrastructure Bill in early November and what the broadband portion means to area students and colleges. See the ABC30 news clip.