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.

Equity FOCI Spring 2021 Series and Workshops – Registration

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Equity FOCI Series 5: ‘Driving Equitable Student Outcomes:
Implementing Equity-Minded Teaching and Learning’ Feb. 4 – April 15

The Dana Center Charles A. Dana Center of the University of Texas at Austin will facilitate its Focused Online Collaborative Interactions (FOCI) Series 5 on equity, “Driving Equitable Student Outcomes, Implementing Equity-Minded Teaching and Learning,” Feb. 4 – April 15.

This six-part series, in partnership with the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium, will provide faculty in the nine-county region the opportunity to engage with the research-based ideas and strategies that are most compelling for addressing equity gaps while meeting the needs of college students from diverse backgrounds.

Participants will experience collaborative activities, relevant readings, videos and research summaries. They will personalize their learning by planning for and enacting modest changes in their classrooms (including remote settings) and professional learning communities that have the potential for transformative change in learning environments and student outcomes.

Early registration is encouraged as the cohort is limited to 25.
REGISTER HERE (closes 2 p.m. PT Jan. 28, 2021). Dates & Times: Thursdays, 2-4 p.m. PT

• Feb. 4, Feb. 18,
• March 4, March 18,
• April 1 and April 15
For more information: (FLYERS)

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]SAVE THE DATE 
… for these additional Professional Development Opportunities facilitated by the Charles A. Dana Center scheduled for Spring 2021:

Counselor FOCI Series 6 – Supporting Academic Advisors to Scale Math Pathways: Guiding students’ math journey to and through math pathways (FLYERS) 

CVHEC Cohort Dates & Times:
Wednesdays (1-3 p.m. PT)
• Feb 3, Feb 17
• March 3, March 17, March 31
• April 14

REGISTER HERE for FOCI Series 6
(Registration Deadline: Jan. 27, 2021 at 12:00 pm PT)

 

Pedagogy Virtual Convening (FLYER) 
Feb. 23-25, 2021 (2-4 p.m. PT)
Topics include:

• Helping Students Transition to
Learners REGISTER
• Introduction to Psychosocial Factors:
Belonging REGISTER
• Differentiated Instruction Online REGISTER

 

Continuous Improvement of Corequisite Supports Virtual Convening (FLYER) 
March 9-11, 2021

• Tuesday, March 9 (2-4 p.m. PT): Promoting Continuous Improvement REGISTER

• Wednesday, March 10 (1-4 p.m. PT): Introduction to Quality Improvement REGISTER

• Thursday, March 11 (2-4 p.m. PT): Continuous Improvement Planning REGISTER

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Equity FOCI 5 Spring 2021 Flyer (3 pages)

FOCI Series 6 – Math Pathways Counselors Workshop Sp 2021 Flyer (3 pages)

FOCI – Continuous Improvement of Corequisites Sp2021 Flyer

Congratulations CSU Chancellor-select Castro!

Congratulations CSU Chancellor-select Castro!

September 24, 2020

 

On behalf of the CVHEC Board of Directors, I extend a hearty congratulations to one of our board members, Dr. Joseph I. Castro, president of Fresno State, on his appointment yesterday as chancellor-select of the California State University 23-campus system.

A native Californian born and raised in Hanford here in the Central Valley, Dr. Castro exemplifies the very success story that we at CVHEC strive to realize by increasing the degree attainment rate in our nine-county region. Upon graduation from Hanford High School in 1984, Joe earned degrees at UC Berkeley and Stanford before serving 23 years in the University of California (UC) system.

Then in 2013, this grandson of Mexican immigrants raised in a single-parent home made history when he was named the eighth president of Fresno State becoming the first Latino and valley native to hold that position in its 100-plus year history. Now, he once again makes history as the first California native and first Mexican-American to be appointed CSU chancellor, effective January 4, 2021.

We at CVHEC have come to count on President Castro for his bold leadership and unwavering encouragement of our shared goals and the strong show of support he often extended to his college leader colleagues on the board. During the last six months, as he and other Central Valley higher education have struggled with the challenges of continuing to serve students during this historic pandemic, Dr. Castro provided a strong calming voice. His down-to-earth style that listens to all voices has served him well in the valley and will serve him well as he leads the California State University system and continues the progress of the seven chancellors preceding him.

We especially salute his immediate predecessor, outgoing Chancellor Timothy P. White, also a product of the Central Valley and member institution Fresno State for a job well-done during his eight-year tenure that ends in December with retirement.

We will miss Joe on our board, but we are heartened that a great ally will be just a little further south in Long Beach as we continue to work together to serve our students with the three CSU campuses in the Central Valley: Bakersfield, Fresno and Stanislaus.

Felicidades Chancellor-select Castro …. we look forward to continuing our strong partnership with the CSU.

Benjamin T. Duran, Ed.D
Executive Director
Central Valley Higher Education Consortium (CVHEC)

CVHEC turns college age!

CVHEC’s 18th year symbolizes continued strength
speaking in a single voice for Central Valley students

The Central Valley Higher Education Consortium (CVHEC) turns “college age” this month with its 18th anniversary today, August 5.

And despite enduring perhaps its most uncertain year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the consortium of 28 colleges and universities from Kern to San Joaquin County has persevered, providing a support mechanism for the valley’s institution presidents and chancellors.

The occasion symbolizes the consortium’s strength and value of speaking in a single voice for the benefit of Central Valley students.

CVHEC spent the early years setting its foundation and building strategies to help reach a dual goal of improving Central California’s college-going culture while bridging the nine-county region’s higher education institutions into a collaborative, collective voice advocating for policies to achieve that first goal.

The concept of a Central Valley collaboration was first envisioned by Fresno State President-Emeritus John D. Welty in the late 1990s.

In 2000, funding was secured with a $110,000 grant from The James Irvine Foundation so the consortium could develop a comprehensive action plan to increase the number of Valley high school students entering college as well as community college students transferring to four-year schools. In 2001, the Consortium was awarded a two-year $850,000 grant also by The James Irvine Foundation.  Incorporation papers were approved Aug. 5, 2002.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”Dr. John D. Welty” link=””color=”#33ACFF” class=”” size=”18″]“CVHEC made it possible for institutions to begin cooperating and to seek solutions to issues surrounding the college-going rates…”[/perfectpullquote]

Welty was CVHEC’s first board president who worked closely with then-UC Merced Chancellor Carol Tomlinson-Keasey and area community college officials to create the consortium, including then-Merced Community College President Dr. Benjamin T. Duran, who is now CVHEC’s executive director.

“The notion of a collaborative intersegmental higher education organization with an active board of directors composed of member institutions’ presidents and chancellors was unthought of at the time,” said Duran who bestowed president-emeritus of Merced Community College in 2012 and was brought out of retirement to lead CVHEC in 2016.

“Under President Welty’s leadership, the consortium developed into an organization made up of equals where the president of a small 3,000 student community college holds the same stature and respect as that of a president or chancellor of a large 29,000 student university,” Duran said.  “This unique culture allows regional leaders to speak with a single voice about higher education issues and challenges facing the nine-county region of CVHEC.”

Welty recalls both the frustration that led to the formation of the novel idea and the satisfaction of seeing the fruits of like-minded higher ed leaders from San Joaquin to Kern County embracing the concept.

“In the late 1990’s it was clear that the California Master Plan for Higher Education was not serving Central California very well,” Dr. Welty said in a recent interview for the 18th anniversary milestone. “College-going rates were among the lowest in the state. There was a lack of professional programs which was leading to shortages in health care professionals along with several other areas.”

In its first 15 years, CVHEC’s focus was to bring together postsecondary institutions to improve the college-going rate especially for underserved students and to make transfer among institutions easier.

“The task was not easy because there was not a culture of collaboration at the time,” Welty said. “CVHEC made it possible for institutions to begin cooperating and to seek solutions to issues surrounding the college going rates along with other critical issues facing post-secondary institutions.”

Today, CVHEC has become a higher education organization well-respected nationally and throughout California as it works to equitably increase certificate and degree attainment rates with its success supported by the College Futures Foundation in California and The Lumina Foundation nationally. The Consortium also has partnered with advocacy and policy groups like the Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas, Austin, Complete College America, California Acceleration Project and the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office.

“The consortium has become known for assisting Central Valley colleges and universities to become state leaders in the implementation of legislation and executive orders leading to the elimination of developmental courses in English and mathematics while implementing co-requisite support courses that changed the lives of many students for the best,” Duran said.

“Now, in the midst of this historic pandemic, a new powerful role is emerging for the consortium: providing an ongoing dialogue between member institutions to face the challenges of converting to a virtual platform for the delivery of instruction and student services,” said Dr. Stu Van Horn, West Hills Community College District chancellor and current CVHEC Board of Directors president.

“As CVHEC enters its 18th year in the Central Valley, students and communities in the region will continue to benefit from the work of the consortium and its board of directors,” he said.

Welty concurs.

“It has been very gratifying to see the progress that has been made in postsecondary institutions during the past eighteen years,” said the former president who retired in 2013 following a 20-year tenure as Fresno State’s 7th president. Welty oversaw his institution’s centennial celebration the year before.

“In addition to additional community colleges, UC Merced was founded and the California Health Sciences University has launched a medical school,” Welty added. “Congratulations to all of the post-secondary leaders in Central California who have demonstrated that collaboration among all sectors can make a difference.”

Dr.  John D. Welty, Fresno State President-Emeritus who founded and steered CVHEC to incorporation on Aug. 5, 2002, was presented a painted portrait upon his retirement in 2013.  The portrait, which hangs in the Henry Madden Library on campus alongside paintings of the university’s past presidents, was created by artist Joel Beery, a Fresno State graphic designer and alumnus.

 

• August 5, 2020 • CVHEC Digital Newsletter August 2020 issue.

Central Valley meets COVID-19 higher ed challenge

CVHEC offers remote learning opportunities
for faculty with FOCI, STATS 2020

If anything can be said about higher education in the historic Spring 2020, it is that colleges and universities stood up to the challenge posed by the COVID pandemic including Central Valley institutions responding with urgency, care and foresight.

Not only were they able to pivot to a virtual platform for instruction within a matter of days to complete the semester, but they geared up by providing students with the necessary technology, Wi-Fi hot spots and, in some cases, even met students’ basic needs. Even still, behind the scenes Central Valley leaders were looking ahead to prepare for a fall semester that would very likely continue with remote delivery of instruction.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”Dr. Chad Houck” link=”” color=”#33ACFF” class=”” size=”16″]“Some of the ideas were big concepts and others were small details, all of which the participants were excited to share with the class … It has been one of the best online professional development experiences.”[/perfectpullquote]

In that spirit, the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium (CVHEC) provided support this summer by cultivating two opportunities to help faculty build online teaching capacity:  The Focused Online Collaborative Interactions (FOCI) series and the Summer Teaching Academy for Teachers of Statistics (STATS) 2020.

FOCI — Professional Learning Series for Faculty

In collaboration with the Charles A. Dana Center, University of Texas at Austin, CVHEC offered a no-cost six-part FOCI professional learning series to a cohort of 25 multi-disciplined faculty May 8 to Aug. 4. This series provided guidance on using evidence-based methods to support each student’s needs while maintaining consistency in the class.  A by-product of this initiative was the creation of a support group of peers that can be networked to discuss the implementation of the teaching tools.

Dr. Chad Houck, dean of Instruction at Cerro Coso Community College, said the FOCI’s Virtual Teaching and Learning session has been powerful for instructors who are both comfortable with teaching remotely and for those who are brand new to using technology to reach students.

“The power of the FOCI was the interaction with other college instructors throughout the region through the use of topics that are highly relevant to the technology available today, and through breakout sessions that allowed for small group investigation and sharing,” Houck said.

[perfectpullquote align=”left” bordertop=”false” cite=”Dr. Benjamin Duran” link=”” color=”#33ACFF” class=”” size=”16″]“That ‘back to school feeling’ may not be the same as in traditional years, but students should know and feel that just as much energy, if not more, went into ensuring their needs will be met.”[/perfectpullquote]

The format of the sessions also modeled strong practices for teaching via Zoom.  By the end of the FOCI sessions, every participant was able to share many new ideas and techniques that they implemented in their classes right away with positive outcomes.

“Some of the ideas were big concepts and others were small details, all of which the participants were excited to share with the class,” Houck said. “It has been one of the best online professional development experiences.”

As a result of this successful undertaking, CVHEC will offer more FOCI series during the 2020-2021 academic year. One series will focus on Equity and another on Counseling for Math Pathways. If more teaching instruction is needed another FOCI series on teaching in the online environment will be offered. More information on the upcoming FOCI series will be forthcoming.

STATS 2020 — Strengthening Statistics Teaching

CVHEC’s Mini-Grants campaign supported the Summer Teaching Academy for Teachers of Statistics (STATS) 2020 convening that was presented June 8 to 12 by West Hills College Lemoore in collaboration with CVHEC and the California Community College Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO).

The concept of the week-long STATS 2020 emerged from regional Central Valley educator conversations sharing concerns of inadequate preparation as they are being asked to teach statistics due to implementation of AB705. In the last year, statistics course offerings have increased 150 percent at many campuses (from 20 percent of the math courses offered to 50 percent). STATS 2020 provided instruction to 48 math faculty representing colleges from CVHEC’s 9-county region.

Math faculty joined the conference seeking additional insights for teaching statistics effectively in the online/remote modality presented by Roxy Peck, professor emerita of statistics at California Polytechnic State University  where she served as chair of the Statistics Department for six years and as associate dean of the College of Science and Mathematics for 13 years. Her STATS 2020 workshop modeled the process by which to engage students synchronously using organized materials and applets in addition to Zoom technology features such as breakout rooms, polling and whiteboards. Many participants had previously attended workshops featuring Peck’s work and they looked forward to learning from her how to transfer engaging face-to-face activities into the online world.

“I entered the STATS 2020 conference wondering how fall was going to be much different from the transitional spring semester so many of us struggled through,” said Tina Akers-Porter, a 10-year math instructor at Modesto Junior College.

“But I left the conference armed with new websites, modeled experience using synchronous online teaching tools, fun content driven activities that translated to the virtual realm and lots of confidence about the new teaching possibilities for the fall,” she said. “I am very grateful for the STATS 2020 conference, as it helped fill in the virtual gaps for me.”

Other Online Learning Activities

Beside these two examples of CVHEC efforts to assist Central Valley colleges, many other teacher-learning opportunities have sprung up from systems offices and on individual campuses throughout the valley, such as Porterville College’s “Quick Tips for Online Success” webinar series. This weekly 20-minute presentation for faculty by faculty has gone so well that it will continue through the fall semester.  In addition, other CVHEC-member colleges and universities individually have addressed professional learning opportunities for their faculty and staff to deliver high level instruction and student services through their own efforts.  The response in the region to the challenges brought on by the pandemic have indeed been impressive.

Summer 2020 Prep

The summer of 2020, which in a normal year would have been a time for rest and renewal, saw a response in earnest by Central Valley higher education leadership and faculty who  invested hours in teacher and staff training to ensure they could confidently welcome students back. Instruction was a key summer focus, but so was creating solutions to provide students with as much support as possible. In addition to filling the broadband gaps, campus teams spent the summer on aggressive outreach, contacting students by phone, finding financial aid solutions on compassion grounds and upscaling as much support as possible.

That ‘back to school feeling’ may not be the same as in traditional years, but students should know and feel that just as much energy, if not more, went into ensuring their needs will be met.

 

• August 5, 2020 • CVHEC Digital Newsletter August 2020 issue.

Welcome Madera Community College!

The state’s 116th community college
celebrates accreditation, CCC  approval

Madera Community College made its official debut July 21 with a ribbon-cutting celebration after the California Community Colleges Board of Governors voted unan­imously the day before to recognize MCC as the 116th campus of the state’s community college system.

In June, the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges granted accreditation to what until then was known as the Madera and Oakhurst Community College Centers affiliated with Reedley College of the State Center Community College District.

With the new designation, the  Madera Community College (4,780 enrollment) is no longer a satellite campus and will now receive funding for additional programs and staffing.  Over 80 percent of Madera Community’s students are from historically underrepresented populations and the school has been recognized as a Hispanic Serving Institution.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”President Ángel Reyna” link=”” color=”#33ACFF” class=”” size=”18″]“As a new college we want to be an institution that is student- and community-centered, and provides equitable outcomes for each of our students.”[/perfectpullquote]

President Ángel Reyna takes a place on the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium board of directors, joining 27 other Central Valley presidents and chancellors.

“This accomplishment is something that our community has been waiting for a long time and much needed,” Reyna said in a CCC Board of Governors article.

“It has been a collective and collaborative effort, and we look forward to the continued work to better serve our students as a college,” he said. “As a new college we want to be an institution that is student- and community-centered, and provides equitable outcomes for each of our students. To that end, we commit towards transforming ourselves into an anti-racist institution while producing the future workforce our community needs.”
 
See the July 21 ribbon-cutting video.
 
News coverage of Madera Community College:

Board of Governors Recognizes Madera Community College as the 116th Community College in California — California Community Colleges (07/20/20)
Madera Center becomes California’s newest community college — Fresno Bee (07/21/20)
The Central Valley’s Madera Community College becomes California’s newest community college — Ed Source (07/20/20)

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  • 559.292.0576

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