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MEMBER NEWS: North Valley, East Sierra CVHEC members partner for K-16 Collaboratives

November 16, 2022

State Planning Grants Could Lead to Expansion of CVHEC’s Dual Enrollment Initiatives

Two more Central Valley regions – North San Joaquin and Eastern Sierra – have each been awarded $250,000 state planning grants for the establishment of Regional K-16 Education Collaboratives Grant Programs as part of the statewide drive to strengthen the K-16 education-to-career pipeline. Both collaborative efforts are headed by Central Valley Higher Education Consortium member institutions.

The Department of General Services announced Nov. 9 that the state is awarding the planning grants to the two Central Valley regions as well as the Bay Area and the Central Coast for a total of $1 million. The one-year planning grants will help establish the collaboratives in those areas which will eventually seek additional funding to provide more streamlined, equitable pathways that can help local students transition from high school to college or career training and into the workforce.

In the Northern San Joaquin Region, the University of California, Merced is the lead agency for the newly formed North Valley tri-county Workforce and Education (WE Will!) Regional Collaborative that includes four other fellow CVHEC-members: Merced College, Modesto Junior College, San Joaquin Delta College and California State University, Stanislaus.

They are working in collaboration with partners from Merced, Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties through the WE Will! Collaborative.

For the Eastern Sierra Region, CVHEC-member Columbia College is heading up the K-16 collaborative planning along with several school districts, colleges and employer groups.

These partners will use the planning year to establish their collaborative and to apply together for up to $18 million in state funds available to the region for a three-year “cradle-to-career” pathway project.

These allocations amount to a total of four such collaboratives involving CVHEC members that will help bolster dual enrollment initiatives like the consortium’s successful Master’s Upskilling Program that has already been implemented in the mid valley region through the Fresno-Madera K-16 Collaborative and in the south valley area through the Kern K-16 Collaborative.

The program recruits and helps fund tuition for high school math and English teachers to earn a Master’s so they can teach dual enrollment courses in those subjects on the high school campus.

Dr. Benjamín Durán, CHVEC executive director, said the south and mid valley efforts have laid a solid foundation for the program to succeed when scaled and replicated in the North Valley and Eastern Sierra regions to better serve all Central Valley students.

“As we continue to equitably expand dual enrollment efforts in the Valley, we know one of the barriers for high school teachers to teach these classes is the lack of a master’s degree,” said Duran, president-emeritus of Merced College who was named to lead CVHEC in 2016. “With the new formation of both the WE Will! Regional Collaborative and the Eastern Sierra collaborative with this latest state funding, we will be able to expand our efforts throughout the Valley to increase dual enrollment opportunities for our students.”

In its announcement Nov. 7, UC Merced said the WE Will! Regional Collaborative – which was formed “to address streamlining and accelerating students preparing to enter the priority industry fields that would better serve our region, students and families” — will use the year to assess, design and create a work plan for the phase two application in the fall of 2023, which will be over $18 million.

“UC Merced is committed to helping break workforce barriers,” said Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz who serves on the CVHEC Board of Directors that is made up of the presidents and chancellors of its 30 consortium members from San Joaquin to Kern counties.

“The WE Will! Collaborative between our campus and surrounding counties will be an essential pipeline to build a more equitable future for all students and provide the resources they need to reach their career goals,” the UCM chancellor said.

Dr. Ellen Junn, Stanislaus State president and CVHEC board member, said, “As the California State University serving this region, Stan State is committed to preparing our graduates to address and meet the needs of our regional workforce. We are dedicated to working collaboratively to aggressively pursue equity and diversity in degree and credential attainment as we work to ensure the best possible preparation for student success in the workforce.”

WE Will! provides collaboration between all education partners and the workforce to design ways for students to experience connected learning experiences, acceleration opportunities and successful transition into locally available careers.

“We know employers don’t stop at the county border when they are expanding,” said San Joaquin Delta President Lisa Aguilera Lawrenson, also a CVHEC board member. “We are looking forward to collaborating with our workforce partners and educational partners to get beyond the ‘border’ and plan for the region. Together we can provide a workforce for the needs of today and the future.”

The Eastern Sierra project will also include UC Merced and Stanislaus State as well as K-12, postsecondary, and industry partners, including the superintendents of schools in each participating county, several K-12 districts; and workforce investment boards, including Mother Lode Job Training. Those counties are Tuolumne, Calaveras, Amador, Mariposa, Alpine, Inyo and Mono.

“This is the first step toward a very exciting opportunity for our rural counties,” said Dr. Lena Tran, Columbia College president who is also on the CVHEC Board.

“We are very honored to serve as the lead for a project that will be designed specifically by and for our rural mountain communities. This planning year gives us a chance to build our collaborative and find what works for our students, our schools, and our employers.”

Earlier this year, the state awarded full implementation grants to the Central San Joaquin Valley and Kern County, as well as the North State, Redwood Coast, Orange County, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Border and Inland Empire regions totaling approximately $163 million.

The state grant was awarded through the 2021 Budget Act, which allocated $250 million to the Department of General Services and is being administered through the Foundation for California Community Colleges.

 

See the UC Merced press release (includes a full list of WE WILL partners).

For CVHEC media inquiries contact Tom Uribes: tom@uribes.com (559.348.3278)

For UC Merced media inquiries, contact PIO Desiree Lopez: dlopez298@ucmerced.edu (209.746.5137)

 

https://cvhec.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/NorthVSierraK16-art.png 719 1630 Tom Uribes https://cvhec.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/CVHEC_logo_315.png Tom Uribes2022-11-16 16:46:062022-11-20 12:09:03MEMBER NEWS: North Valley, East Sierra CVHEC members partner for K-16 Collaboratives

Presenting our renovated CVHEC Website: Meet our Board of Directors

August 12, 2022

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.

https://cvhec.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/BOD-collage-AR.png 3456 6912 Tom Uribes https://cvhec.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/CVHEC_logo_315.png Tom Uribes2022-08-12 12:29:462022-08-18 16:43:53Presenting our renovated CVHEC Website: Meet our Board of Directors

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

December 16, 2021

Campaign for College Opportunity honors 

8 CVHEC members with ‘Champions’ Awards

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

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

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

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

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

 

0 0 Pablo https://cvhec.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/CVHEC_logo_315.png Pablo2021-12-16 00:49:412021-12-16 00:49:41MEMBER NEWS: CCO honors  8 CVHEC members with ‘Champions’ Awards

Dr. Santanu Bandyopadhyay Named Modesto Junior College President

June 7, 2021

Dr. Santanu Bandyopadhyay, named president of Modesto Junior College effective June 1, said growing enrollment and forging meaningful alliances with regional employers are among his immediate goals.

The Yosemite Community College District Board of Trustees selected Bandyopadhyay, who was serving as interim president since January at its May 12 meeting. Previously, Bandyopadhyay had served as president of Columbia College in Tuolumne County, YCCD’s other  institution, since July 2018 when also he joined the CVHEC Board of Directors.

Marking its centennial anniversary this fall, MJC serves about 22,000 students at MJC’s East and West campuses in Modesto.

President Bandyopadhyay takes over at a critical moment for California’s 16th-oldest community college as it focuses during its centennial on reconnecting with students after a year of mostly online learning forced by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“My short-term priority is to re-open the campus — paying particular attention to equity — build the enrollments we have lost during the pandemic, develop centers of excellence to cater to the need of our  local businesses and ensure long-term fiscal stability,” he said.

“The effect of the pandemic was most severe on students who need us the most — therefore, an equity-focused recovery is critical for long- term economic growth of the region. Developing a deep connection with local businesses and partnering with them to understand and satisfy their needs in innovative ways continues to remain our priority.”

Bandyopadhyay has more than 23 years of experience in higher education.  He was first the director of institutional research and planning and then as executive vice president  Cypress College in Orange County.  He also served at Zane State College in Ohio and Ohio University and taught computer science at theNational Institute of Information Technology.

In addition to his college administrative and teaching experience, Bandyopadhyay has been involved innational initiatives such as Achieving the Dream, Foundations of Excellence and Survey of Entering StudentEngagement.

Bandyopadhyay earned a doctorate in higher education from Ohio University, an M.B.A. from Ohio   University and a bachelor of science in physics from Kolkata University in India.

See Modesto Junior College announcement.

https://cvhec.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/CVHEC_logo_315.png 0 0 Pablo https://cvhec.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/CVHEC_logo_315.png Pablo2021-06-07 15:58:362021-06-07 15:58:36Dr. Santanu Bandyopadhyay Named Modesto Junior College President

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