WHAT THE CV-HEC IS HAPPENING GUEST BLOG (May 2023): Enrollment Growth and Pathways: A Strategy Session

This month’s “What the CV-hec is Happening” guest blog is by Dr. Jessica Grimes, regional chair and interim associate vice chancellor of career education and workforce development for the Central Valley/Mother Lode Regional Consortium based at the Kern Community College District in Bakersfield.  She reflects on CVML’s recent “Enrollment Growth and Pathways: A Strategy Session” held in Bakersfield that addressed pandemic recovery and bolstering enrollment with emphasis on increasing dual enrollment as an equity strategy. Several community organizations and agencies gathered for the day-long event including the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium.

The way forward is together …

 

BY DR. JESSICA GRIMES

 

It is no secret that the pandemic resulted in seismic changes in higher education, most notably in the warp-speed transition to online learning and other hybrid modes of delivery for hard-to-convert career education courses.

The pandemic also revealed opportunity gaps among students experiencing a host of besetting challenges, such as homelessness, food insecurity and limited broadband.

The Central Valley/Mother Lode‘s  15 colleges responded admirably by reimagining and redesigning programs with more flexibility and supports. It was in that innovative spirit of converting challenges to opportunities that the idea of the “Enrollment Growth and Pathways: A Strategy Session” was born.

Hosted by Fresno City College April 25, EGP was designed to address one of the most pressing challenges from the pandemic: recovering and bolstering enrollment. Given that the community colleges have always been integral in offering pathways out of poverty through career technical education (CTE) programs and work-based learning opportunities, the EGP strategy session explored ways to increase dual enrollment as an equity strategy, an idea developed by Dr. Sonya Christian, incoming California Community Colleges chancellor who served as keynote speaker.

Dr. Robert Pimentel, FCC president, welcomed over 100 people from the CVML Regional Consortium and beyond. The one-day planning session started with setting the context around equity and dual enrollment where Dr. Christian spoke about “Ninth Grade to Baccalaureate: The Critical Eight Years” and  howthe convergence of Guided Pathways, Vision for Success, the Governor’s Roadmap, the Student Centered Funding Formula and Completion Metrics have made it possible to accelerate student access and equity, aided by policy reform and system reform.

I poke about reimagining the student journey as one that reflects the myriad educational policies that have progressively included more students from diverse backgrounds — suggesting that, just as the Vocational Education Act imagined Lyndon B. Johnson’s “Great Society,” the Strong Workforce Program also imagines more students having access to careers regardless of background.

Michelle Stricker from the Foundation of Community Colleges spoke on the ecosystem that supports dual enrollment, i.e. Guided Pathways and the support that regional coordinators provide to ensure that dual enrollment students benefit from pathways that lead to good, quality careers. Stricker touched on the Guided Pathways Toolkit as a resource for developing pathways rather than “random acts of dual enrollment.”

Angel Ramirez and Elaine Cash of the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium — made up of 28 colleges from Stockton to Bakersfield and a statewide leader in dual enrollment advocacy with several initiatives — spoke on consortium progress accomplished through its Central Valley Dual Enrollment Equity & Prosperity (CVDEEP) Task Force, regional coordinators and communications team.  Strategic planning involves convening K-12 partners and community colleges to collaborate on creating pathways for students as well as communications outreach with a video, media features and student involvement.

They also discussed CVHEC’s Master’s Upskilling initiative to address one of the challenges of expanding dual enrollment: meeting minimum teaching qualifications. CVHEC is piloting this MA program with 112 teachers from Fresno County (56 in math and 56 in English) and 100 in Kern County (50 in math and 50 in English).

Following the CVHEC session, Dr. Craig Hayward provided data decks on the 15 colleges in the CVML and explained the correlation between students who are dual enrolled and those students attending community colleges: “Overall, college attendance increases with the number of dual enrollment units earned; moreover, four-year college attendance increases significantly with the number of dual enrollment units earned and, conversely, two-year college attendance decreases as the number of dual enrollment units increases.”

The last session, co-presented by Dr. Naomi Castro (Career Ladders Project) and Kylie Campbell (Kern Community College District), was an interactive session that honed in on dual enrollment expansion in the CVML.

Beginning with legislation that made dual enrollment possible, Castro and Campbell defined the types of dual enrollment that can be offered – early college and middle college (offered at the college), CCAP and non-CCAP offered at the high school and concurrent enrollment offered at the college. Then they circled back to Dr. Christian’s presentation on the eight-year journey for ninth graders and asked participants who were organized in different college teams to present .

Campbell asked participants to strategize DE pathways through three activities: (1) planning an educational pathway for all ninth graders based on the incoming headcount and from the data decks that Dr. Hayward provided; (2) using a pathway mapping tool, outline course and pathway offerings that would increase student access; and (3) set short-term goals for 2023-2024 and long-term goals for the next three years using the previous two activities.

I began this post about our “Enrollment Growth and Pathways: A Strategy Session” with a reflection on the pandemic being a mixed bag of blessings for education. Also, I noted how the CVML region rose to the challenge and is continuing to do so locally, sub-regionally and regionally as exemplified in the Enrollment Growth and Pathways. While this convening isn’t unique for the region — we come together annually to plan projects in June — it was the first of its kind for us in spearheading a planning session around a singular goal: increasing equity and access via dual enrollment.

This also serves another purpose: increasing enrollment.

The CVML mission focuses on decreasing equity gaps that perpetuate generational poverty. The way to bring about more opportunities for prosperity for all is to co-construct strategies together and to dismantle what isn’t working so that pathways to prosperity become more and more accessible for students living in rural as well as urban or suburban areas.

The way forward is together. While that might sound like a pithy sentiment, it’s true.

For me, the Enrollment Growth and Pathways session is a template to continue addressing other challenges that we face in education, so I look forward to expanding partnerships and bringing together thought partners from K-16, adult education consortia,  industry, economic development corporations, workforce development boards, chambers of commerce, nonprofits and community-based organizations, centers of excellence and the like to keep moving forward toward our shared goals.

Central Valley Math Bridge kickoff May 18

Read more

CVHEC Board to appoint  ZTC/OER Task Force

Spring board meeting features strategic planning,
Transfer Project/Math Bridge convergence

The Central Valley Higher Education Consortium’s new Zero Textbook Costs/Open Educational Resources Task Force will form in the coming months, West Hills College-Lemoore President James Preston reported to the CVHEC Board of Directors at its quarterly meeting May 11 in Fresno.

The action highlighted a full agenda of information for the board made up of the chancellors, presidents and campus directors of 28 institutions of higher education in the Central Valley’s nine-county region.

In addition to the ZTC Task Force, the agenda also included:

  • Announcement of the development of a strategic plan in concert with Ed West that will drive the organization’s work for the next 3-5 years;
  • A presentation outlining the convergence of two CVHEC projects: the Central Valley Transfer Project and Math Bridge;
  • A welcome and farewell of incoming and departing members of the board, signifying transition among the valley’s higher education campus leaders.

Dr. Kristin Clark, CVHEC Board of Directors chair, welcomed the 14 members who attended the meeting at the Wyndham Inn and another 7 joining in virtually.

Dr. Juan Munoz, University of California, Merced chancellor who is the board treasurer, reported  the consortium’s $2.9 million budget shows a carry-forward of $855,000.

Dr. Benjamín Durán, executive director, confirmed the annual CVHEC Higher Education Summit has been rescheduled for Oct. 19-20 and announced that the consortium’s Central Valley Dual Enrollment for Equity and Prosperity (CVDEEP) Task Force will convene in September.

But the three major presentations underscored the value the consortium provides the higher education community from Stockton to Bakersfield.

OER / ZTC Task Force Forming

For the ZTC project, CVHEC board members were asked to begin selecting a representative for their respective institutions to serve on the new local task force to strategize about pursuing state funding available for this movement that has led to significant savings for students as well as improved materials quality.

President James Preston, who serves on the statewide California Community Colleges ZTC Task Force, explained the project and funding streams as well as strategic follow up steps to his fellow CVHEC board members.

“The Zero-Textbook-Cost Degree Grant Program reduces the overall cost of education for students and decreases the time it takes students to complete degree and certificate programs,” he said. “We call it the ‘OER revolution’ because it really was kind of a revolution against the price gouging of textbooks. It has become an evolution of teaching and learning.”

He said funding is coming from the K-16 collaborative grant; statewide ZTC funding from the CCC Chancellors Office; and California State University or private university funding, noting that $90 million will be available for phase three.

“As a small college, West Hills College – Lemoore averages between 3,500 and 5,000 students and we have saved our students about $6.5 million since 2017,” Preston said. “We’ve got up to 15 ZTC degree pathways now with 70 percent using zero textbook cost and about another five percent that are low textbook cost.”

He outlined several pluses for the use of ZTC/OER including that “it’s a huge win for diversity and equity” and it allows for “culturally responsive relevant materials” that can be updated in a timely fashion.

CV Transfer Project and Math Bridge Overlap

In a presentation about the convergence of the Transfer and Math Bridge projects, the uniqueness of the CVHEC concept was recognized when Dr. James Zimmerman, UC Merced provost, and Dr. Lynn Cevallos, president of College Bridge, recounted the successes of their respective projects to date as well as some of the challenges faced.

Zimmerman noted that while the transfer project — in implementing its Program Mapper software — helps students plan out courses leading to successful community college admissions and then to four-year, they discovered the need for student planning to start much earlier in high school. In discussion with fellow CVHEC partner Cevallos, they realized CVHEC’s dual enrollment projects provide that missing piece.

“In our conversations about our good work, we’re thinking why in the world aren’t we trying to take these two silos and integrate them in a way that’s going to be best for your institutions and best for CVHEC’s mission,” Zimmerman told the board.

“So we’re calling it an evolution,” he said. “We’re hoping that we can move this forward. We’re excited about what’s been happening and just wanted to give you a sense of what we’re thinking.”

Cevallos said the Central Valley is ripe for this forward thinking due to more consistency among the CVHEC collaborators than in other areas of the state, noting that the consortium’s role in bringing together its community college members with school district partners provided the foundation for the College Bridge success that will extend to this merger.

Zimmerman said MOUs are in the works for state funding to carry the merger idea forward.

Duran told the board that “this melding represents two unique elements we don’t see around the state” — the collaboration between intersegmental faculty literally sitting down in a room together and the intersegmental institutional collaboration between its members.

“The University of California Merced is the only UC campus in the state that is collaborating with community colleges and CSU’s to create this model transfer project,” he said.

He reported that the CVHEC Transfer Project team is in communication with other UC campuses around the state as well as higher education institutions nation-wide interested in trying something similar.

“This is a unique organization that you folks have brought together,” Duran told the board.

Strategic Planning and Evaluation

The third presentation is designed to strengthen CVHEC strategies: virtual guests were Laura Lara-Brady and Kathy Booth of West Ed which CVHEC has contracted to conduct an evaluation that will help develop a strategic plan to drive the organization’s work for the next 3-5 years.

Ed West is presently surveying board members and stakeholders to establish strategic themes and follow up interviews. The results will be used by the CVHEC board’s executive committee at its working meeting in September to propose a strategic plan for full consideration at the board’s fall meeting in October, Duran reported.

One example of some of the comments shared in this preliminary discussion touched on the CVHEC’s uniqueness in bringing together the four segments of California’s higher education system to speak as a collective voice for the Central Valley.

“That’s very unusual. We’re kind of a Unicorn in that respect, we’ve heard that said several times,” said Dr. Clark. “And I come from outside the Central Valley. I know that people do not play nice together in other pockets. I mean you can’t even talk to the high school down the street much less talk to regional partners like this so I think that we get a lot of attention because we’ve made it work and people want to replicate that.

Transitions

In the transitions portion of the board meeting, four new campus CEOs were welcomed to the board: President Kim Armstrong, Clovis Community College; Interim President Steve Watkins, Bakersfield College; Interim President Chad Redwing, Modesto Junior College; and Interim Chancellor Tom Burke, Kern Community College District.

Two board members were bid farewell: Dr. Ellen Junn, whose retirement as Stan State President is effective August 1; and Dr. Sonya Christian, Kern Community College District chancellor who left that position April 30 to become chancellor of the CCC effective June 1.

Chancellor Christian was unable to attend her final meeting but she plans to reconnect at the summit in October when she returns in her new role.

President Junn attended, returning to the city where she served as provost at Fresno State prior to Stan State. She echoed the satisfaction of serving with “remarkable” valley CEO colleagues noting “it is unusual for college leaders to have so much camaraderie” as the CVHEC board enjoys. She will be honored at  Warrior Tribute for President Junn June 9.

The next CVHEC board meeting will be Oct. 19, the day before the summit.

CVHEC DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE (May 2023): Extraordinary times!

Winding down an extraordinary

academic year in the Central Valley 

Greetings colleagues,

As we welcome you to the May issue of our newsletter, we take this opportunity to thank, congratulate and salute all the CVHEC educators who have dedicated themselves to sending off another group of Central Valley students into the next phase of their academic and or professional lives.  This annual commencement season is truly a magical time of the year and reminds us all why we chose careers in higher education.

In this issue we present more about Math Bridge, the math pathways initiative launched May 18 by bringing together representatives of six regional community colleges and their partner feeder high schools. At this kickoff held in downtown Fresno, these dedicated and determined professionals began the process to jointly create college level dual enrollment math courses targeted at underrepresented student populations that will allow them to complete a college math course before graduating from high school.  This innovative project is unique because of the intersegmental collaboration between high school and community college math faculty members working together to ensure their students’ success.

You will also have an opportunity to visit the CVHEC board meeting held May 11 in Fresno.  Board members heard a joint presentation by Dr. James Zimmerman, senior associate vice provost and dean of Undergraduate Education at UC Merced, and Dr.  Lynn Cevallos, president and founder of College Bridge.  They addressed the evolution and overlap of two CVHEC endeavors, the Central Valley Transfer Project and the Math Bridge initiative, that helps clear pathways for students getting into and through community college and onto the university of their choice.

We also bid farewell to two dear colleagues although one will remain well in sight, Dr. Sonya Christian who served on our board as chancellor of the Kern Community College District but now moves up to chancellor of the California Community College system. And joining us one last time at the meeting was the esteemed Dr. Ellen Junn, Stanislaus State president whose retirement is effective next month. We know you join the board in thanking them for their service to higher education in general and the consortium in particular. And you may read about our newest board additions in the story and photo gallery about the board meeting.

Please enjoy this issue as well as the conclusion of this extraordinary semester.

CVHEC DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE (April 2023): Blurring the lines!

‘Committed to the deeper work — blurring the line between high school and college

Greetings colleagues,

This April edition of our CVHEC e-newsletter ushers in the final month of a busy spring semester for many of our CVHEC member colleges and universities not to mention our own relentless team.

In spite of wrestling with all the challenges in just the second year of a post-pandemic world, faculty, staff and CVHEC partners have been working diligently on regional strategies that will shed light on the good work our Central Valley colleges and universities are doing collectively for the well-being of our students.

First, we alert you that the 2023 CVHEC Annual Summit originally set for May is being rescheduled to October.

This will give us the opportunity to deliver a more impactful and compressive summit that, in addition to bringing higher education leaders and policy-makers together, showcases the great work being done in the region.  Please be on the lookout for updates.

One of the things we continue to express is that passing the college math gateway courses can make the difference for a student between college completion or not.  In this month’s newsletter, please read about some of efforts going on throughout the region that aim to eliminate this barrier.

Specifically, we are pleased to announce our new state-funded Dual Enrollment Math Bridge Program in collaboration with the Central San Joaquin Valley K-16 Partnership.  This comes on the heels of our first venture with College Bridge announced in January that is in full swing with the recruitment of high schools and that was featured in valley news media (see related story in this issue).  CVHEC and its partners are committed to undertake this deeper work that can effectively blur the lines between high schools and its colleges in the Central Valley

In this issue’s What the CV-HEC is Happening Blog, Dr. Manjula Joseph from Fresno Pacific University speaks about some of the experiences these high school teachers are having while earning a Master’s degree that will not only qualify them to teach dual enrollment math courses at their high schools, but also make them even better teachers by humanizing mathematics.

Thanks again for taking some of your valuable time to peruse our e-newsletter.

CVHEC to lead California delegation at CCA Day on the Hill May 16- 17

Dr. Benjamin Duran, executive director of the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium, will join Complete College America for its CCA Day on the Hill in Washington, D.C.  May 16- 17 where “a network of higher education experts share strategies and lessons for the implementation of higher ed strategies at scale.”

Complete College America, a national non-profit organization founded in 2009 to raise postsecondary attainment in the United States, is a national alliance of state and higher education leaders .

Alliance partners collaborate to introduce bold initiatives that help states and institutions confront inequities, close institutional performance gaps and increase college completion rates, especially for marginalized and historically excluded students.

At the CCA Day on the Hill event, Alliance members directly engage in the federal legislative process with their federal representatives and share best practices in states and regions that can be translated into federal policy while advancing CCA’s legislative agenda at the federal level, said Charles Ansell, CCA vice president for Research.

“As Congress looks to reauthorize the Higher Education Act next year, CCA Alliance members who participate in this opportunity will bolster the organizations’ efforts to make a lasting federal policy impact to support students seeking to complete college,” Ansell said.

The event starts on Tuesday, May 16 when Alliance members will attend an in-person training for the Day on the Hill with CCA’s federal lobbyists, Arnold & Porter (A&P). A&P will set up all member meetings while in DC and will provide a schedule for their Hill visits, which will take place between 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, May 17.

Dr. Duran is the Alliance lead for California’s central region, serving as the go-to resource as members work to advance student success.

Dr. Brandon Protas, assistant vice president for Alliance Engagement, said CCA recognizes CVHEC — made up of 28 institutions of higher education in the Central California’s nine-county region with the presidents and chancellors of each member institution serving on its board of directors — as the convener and facilitator of education, community and legislative representatives as well as technical support experts as needed by members in carrying out the CVHEC board’s key policy objective:  to increase the Central Valley’s degree attainment.

The consortium works with legislative leaders as an advocate of the higher education policy positions of its board, he noted, fortifying the Central Valley as an “educational powerhouse.”

“We are thrilled that Executive Director Durán is partnering with CCA leveraging his visionary leadership and commitment to equitable degree attainment to influence federal policy that ensures higher education accessibility for all,” Dr. Protas said.

“This strategic collaboration not only strengthens the Central Valley community but empowers its diverse student population to see policy work that helps them to achieve their fullest potential, thereby promoting the Central Valley as an educational powerhouse for generations to come.”

Duran said the CCA, which CVHEC joined in 2016, shares many of the consortium objectives.

“CCA is a valuable partner because it provides a network of higher education experts who share strategies and lessons for the implementation of higher ed strategies at scale,” Duran said.  “The CCA alliance advocated for work in corequisite support and math pathways projects, working with multiple states to create the conditions for change required to implement the strategies at scale.”

For more information, visit www.completecollege.org.

UPDATE – CVHEC 2023 Summit re-scheduled for Oct. 20

(UPDATE MAY 26, 2023) – CVHEC SUMMIT RE-SCHEDULED:  The Central Valley Higher Education Consortium Higher Education Summit 2023 originally set for May has been rescheduled for Oct.  20, 2023. The CVHEC Board of Directors, which will meet the day before the summit (Thursday, Oct. 19), confirmed the new summit dates at its spring quarterly meeting May 11.

As we get closer to the May 12, 2023 date we had set aside for our annual CVHEC Summit, it has come to our attention that a number of conflicts not apparent when we first identified that date have arisen.  After considerable reflection and mixed feelings, we have decided that it would be in the best interest of our CVHEC family and friends to postpone and re-schedule the annual summit to coincide with the fall CVHEC Board of Directors meeting in October 2023.

The quarterly CVHEC Board of Directors Summit remains scheduled for Thursday, May 11. The board of directors will confirm the October summit dates at this quarterly meeting.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused and look forward to seeing you later this year. Thank you for your continued support and collegiality. Watch our monthly e-newsletter and social media platforms for updates.

CVHEC IN THE NEWS: College Bridge Dual Enrollment Math Bridge Project featured on KERO23

The College Bridge Dual Enrollment Math Bridge Project, in partnership with the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium , was featured by KERO23-ABC in Bakersfield with reporter/anchor Ava Kershner interviewing  Dr. Lynn Cevallos, founder and president of College Bridge, and Armin Rashvand, the Taft College dean of instruction.
Related links:

WHAT THE CV-HEC IS HAPPENING BLOG (March 2023): CCC Chancellor-Select Sonya Christian

The role of higher education in the Central Valley is increasingly recognized by our state’s elected officials and the public at large. So it carries a particular significance that on Feb. 23, the California Community College Board of Governors appointed Dr. Sonya Christian, chancellor of the Kern Community College District, as the incoming chancellor of the state’s community college system. Dr. Christian is a proven champion of the under-represented populations served by the community colleges in the San Joaquin Valley. For this month’s “What The CV-HEC Is Happening”  blog, CVHEC’s Executive Director Benjamin Duran connected with Dr. Christian to capture her thoughts about her work in the Central Valley, and the California Community College system as a whole, before she formally steps into her new role this June.

Higher Ed in the Central Valley

A look at a tenure of accomplishments by KCCD Chancellor chosen to lead the CCC System – Part 1

 

Benjamin Duran: Thank you, Sonya, for taking the time to speak with us here at CVHEC, and congratulations again on your appointment to the state Chancellor’s office. We are elated to have an administrator from the Central Valley representing higher education in such an important office. What are your thoughts on the work being done in the valley, and how that ongoing work will inform your work statewide?

 

Sonya Christian: Thank you for inviting me, Ben. My focus will be to continue to advance student success and student access with equity … without distractions.  This has been my work as president of Bakersfield College (BC), as chancellor of the Kern Community College District (Kern CCD), and it will continue to be my focus as the statewide chancellor.

The critical challenges we face in the Central Valley are emblematic of the challenges and opportunities we face in California – e.g. the enrollment decline during the pandemic and the basic needs of our students. The challenges are magnified in the Central Valley’s populations with higher levels of poverty, lower educational attainment levels, larger proportions of first-generation college students… and I believe the work we have been doing and will continue to do in the Central Valley should serve as a model for advancing student success with equity in the rest of the state.

Let me take a moment to brag about the innovation that has happened in the Central Valley, and acknowledge the leadership role that CVHEC has had in this work.

Dual Enrollment and Early College

I see Dual Enrollment and Early College as being essential. High school students need to know that they are on the path to college and can succeed on that path. This is all the more important for our first-gen students.

I believe that all our work should be supported by the data. Let me share with you some of the data for the Dual Enrollment/Early College sections in the Central Valley.

  • Total special admit enrollments increased by 25% in 2021-2022; from 74,629 enrollments in 2020-2021 to 93,248 enrollments 2021-2022 (CA state growth was 5%)
  • 21% (93,248 out of 441,691) of all special admit enrollments in California in 2021-2022 were from the Central Valley Region
  • 5 out of the 9 high schools that received the CDE’s California Dual Enrollment Exemplary Award were from the Central Valley Region
    • Arvin High School- Bakersfield College
    • Delano High School- Bakersfield College & Cerro Coso Community College
    • Robert F. Kennedy High School- Bakersfield College & Cerro Coso Community College
    • McFarland High School- Bakersfield College
    • Avenal High School- West Hills College, Coalinga

Transfer

The Central Valley has done remarkable work supporting the detailed institutional clarification and creation of transfer pathways, including the implementation of Program Pathways Mapper.  E.g., about two years after UC Merced, Merced College and Bakersfield College began collaborating on clarifying transfer pathways as part of a Learning Lab grant, enrolling transfer students took a big jump relative to the overall UC system.  In fall 2021 they enrolled 19% more transfers, and in fall 2022 it was 14% more.

In all, UC Merced has published 27 vetted transfer pathways with Merced College and another 29 with Bakersfield College. UC Merced has also been engaging all Central Valley community colleges in linking their program maps to UC Merced to establish a network of transfer pathways for the region.

CSU Bakersfield has also been a leader in transfer pathways mapping with 39 transfer program maps currently linked to Bakersfield College programs.

And CSU Stanislaus has just begun onboarding onto the Program Pathways Mapper, adding more transfer momentum to the region’s guided pathways efforts.

Workforce Development

The 15 colleges in the Central Valley/Mother Lode (CVML) Regional Consortium have been advancing equity and access for students in many areas:

  • Increased the number of students who earned a degree, certificate, or apprenticeship by 5%
  • Decreased the average number of units accumulated by First-Time Associate Degree Earners by 4%
  • Developed over 120 programs in high-priority industry sectors to address skills gaps in the workforce

Here are some examples of great work from our colleges:

  • Fresno City College and its sister institutions, Clovis, Madera, and Reedley, are pioneering an apprenticeship program called the California Tribal Environmental and Cultural Equitable Vocational Training to close equity gaps for indigenous residents in two programs: Environmental Science and Protection Technician and Cultural Protection Technician/Monitor. This project is a collaboration with the California Tribal Emergency Response and Relief Agency (CTUAC) and the California Tribal Unilateral Apprenticeship Committee (CTUAC). The purpose of the project is to recruit 25 apprentices from tribal communities.
  • Bakersfield College hosted the first CVML Apprenticeship Forum in December 2022 to provide best practice strategies in meeting Governor Newsom’s equity goal of having 500,000 apprenticeships by 2029. Additionally, it received the California Apprenticeship Initiative: New & Innovative grant to develop apprenticeship programs in Information and Communication Technology as well as Perioperative Nursing for underrepresented students.
  • West Hills College Lemoore is leading a regional project called Jumpstart for rising seniors to learn about Industrial Automation and gain work experience in an accelerated summer bridge program with Reedley College, College of the Sequoias, and Porterville College.
  • Recently, 9 of the CVML colleges (Columbia, Fresno, Bakersfield, Cerro Coso, West Hills College Lemoore, Madera, Merced, San Joaquin Delta, Modesto, College of the Sequoias, Porterville, and Taft) received the second largest award for the Regional Equity and Recovery Partnership (RERP) grant, a partnership among the Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA), the California Workforce Development Board (CWDB), and the California Community College Regional Consortia via the California Community College Chancellor’s Office. These colleges are coordinating a regional effort to improve job quality and access for women and underrepresented populations to help meet economic, social, and environmental needs of the community.
  • Bakersfield College, Fresno City College, Merced College, Modesto College, San Joaquin Delta College and West Hills College Coalinga are part of the Rising Scholars Network, a CCCCO DEI initiative, that serves justice-involved and formerly involved students earn certificates and degrees to either transfer or to attain a mid- to high-wage job.
  • Fresno City College and Modesto Junior College are two of 14 California community colleges participating in the 3-year College Homeless Housing Insecure Pilot Program to address the 19% of unhoused students.

These selected initiatives make visible the scope of committed work in the Central Valley to support access with equity, and success with equity.

 

Ben: Whoa, that is a lot of data!  I guess that is what you get when you have a conversation with a former math faculty.  Now, Early College and Dual Enrollment has a lot of potential in the Central Valley, and Kern CCD has been one of the leaders in that space for several years. How has your work in this area as President of Bakersfield College and Chancellor of Kern CCD prepared you for this new role?

 

Sonya: It has been the greatest pleasure of my career to be able to give back to the district where I started in higher education as a math instructor. I came to USC as a foreign graduate student and was first hired as a math faculty at BC.  The President at that time, Rick Wright, and the Chancellor Jim Young, sponsored me for my green card.  And now I am a citizen of this amazing country.

The 25,000 sq miles of Kern’s Service area includes rural communities with lower economic and educational attainment levels, and includes a range of strong industries like agriculture, energy, defense and aerospace, healthcare and logistics. The work done by the three colleges in the Kern district – Porterville College, Cerro Coso College, and Bakersfield College – has focused on advancing equity in access to a college education, equity in completing a degree or certificate, and equity in placement in good jobs.  Various initiatives that were started as innovative projects have been institutionalized and are now a part of how we do our work.

The Early College efforts started with our rural communities of McFarland, Delano, Wasco, Shafter and Arvin/Lamont.  Kern has also see

n rapid growth in our health care programs and we are working closely with industry and community-based organizations to move our energy-

related work.

With the Governor’s ambitious climate agenda, I see community colleges as providing the necessary infrastructure and engagement for all of our communities, offering educational attainment with equity, and creating economic mobility with equity. Kern has established a satellite presence of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory called the California Renewable Energy Laboratory (CREL).

And I have to mention the deep work that Kern has done using the Guided Pathways framework, work that has resulted in significant improvements in student success outcomes with equity.

This work was done to meet the needs of students of the colleges of the Kern Community College District (KernCCD)and the Central Valley. But of course the fundamental needs are in common to students at colleges across the state. In that regard meeting the needs of the populations we serve at the Kern CCD and the Central Valley has prepared me well for the work ahead.

 

Ben: Throughout your career as an administrator, you’ve demonstrated a forward-thinking, outside-the-box approach. What are some of your other big priorities as you step into your new role as state chancellor this June?

 

Sonya: At the February 23rd, Board of Governors meeting where I was appointed, I made the following comment:

The Board of Governors is tasking the 11th Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to be both implementer and visionary, all at once, to further advance the next frontier of student success with equity.  Our work then is twofold:  (1) Implement the Vision for Success with equity, fidelity, at scale, using the identified metrics, and (2) expand the canopy of community college learners , to accelerate the socio-economic mobility for our most marginalized communities through partnerships that will reach working adults, disconnected youth and others left behind.

Let me call out a few specific pieces of work:

One of my first priorities will be to work alongside the Cal State and UC systems to improve intersegmental transfer from the community colleges into four-year institutions. We’ve talked previously about implementing the Vision for Success and the Governor’s Roadmap with equity and at scale, and that includes the community college transfer students moving to a four-year university and completing their bachelor’s degree.

Workforce Development has been on the top of my mind the last few years.  Systematically providing opportunities for working adults, disconnected youth and other learners who previously have been bypassed, is the next wave of our Guided Pathways work.  Our work today is creating the future of learning where there are many more flexible onramps to educational pathways that lead to quality jobs.

The Governor’s Roadmap calls out four priority sectors – healthcare, climate action, education and early education. Community colleges – together with our partners – must lead the way to meet these goals.

At Kern, I have been working on the Climate Action agenda specifically in the areas of Carbon Capture and Sequestration, Clean Transportation, and Grid Resilience.  I believe that Community Colleges are essential in advancing the state and federal goals for decarbonization and climate action, and it will be especially important to support the clean energy transition in the Central Valley.

Last and certainly not least, supporting our students with their basic needs by providing customized support for the diverse students we serve.  This includes the work we have started with mental health support, affordable student housing and the Cal Grant Reform.

 

Ben: Sonya, I am glad you mentioned transfer.  You know that CVHEC has identified this as a priority and has done great work on transfer pathways.  How do you see this playing out at the state level?

 

Sonya: Increasing baccalaureate attainment has always been a priority for me, ever since I started as President of BC.  Many of the underserved rural communities in Kern’s service have low educational attainment levels – this is why we launched, with urgency, the Rural Initiative as an equity imperative to advance educational attainment levels with the goal of advancing the socio-economic standing of these communities.  In this work, we specifically focused on: (i) increasing baccalaureate completion by creating transfer pathways from high schools through the community college to a four-year university as well as (ii) bringing bachelor’s degrees closer to home by developing local Community College Baccalaureate programs that lead to high-wage jobs.

The transfer legislation SB 1440 and the creation of the Associate Degree for Transfer (ADT) helped Kern increase completion rates of the transfer degree.  The graph shows the number of ADTs awarded at Kern increased from just over 1,000 five years ago in 2017-2018 to just over 2,500 in 2021-22; that is an increase of 146%.

And for California Community Colleges as a whole, the five-year increase from 36,101 ADTs conferred in 2016-17 to 62,934 in 2020-21 represents a 74% increase.

As more and more students complete the ADT, we need to ensure that the number of applications to our transfer institutions is increasing, as well. This will be a priority for me as I transition to my new role.

The Community College Baccalaureate is important to me.  I remember the excitement that rippled through California’s Community Colleges in 2015 when SB 805 passed that launched the 15-college baccalaureate pilot program.  And later in 2021 with AB 927 institutionalizing the pilot.  In the Central Valley, Bakersfield College is providing high-wage, workforce-focused baccalaureate degrees and has two baccalaureate degree programs: Industrial Automation and Research Laboratory Technician. Also, Modesto Junior College offers a Respiratory Care B.S. degree, and other Central Valley colleges are developing baccalaureate degree programs.  The Community College Baccalaureate will be a priority as I transition to my new role.

 

Ben: As always, it looks like you have an ambitious agenda, and I’m excited to see how the community colleges evolve to support students with equity under your leadership. The Central Valley stands ready to support you in your new role.  Thank you again for speaking with us. I know you’ll continue to make the Central Valley proud!

CVHEC DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE (March 2023): Spring forward!

Spring forward to our CVHEC summit, Math Bridge Kick-off and Kern Mentors!

 

Welcome to this month’s CVHEC e-Newsletter.  As we move into the spring of 2023 with a little more daylight on our hands, we are happy to share some timely items following our last issue.

First, as we in the Central Valley continue to bask in the pride and excitement of our own Dr. Sonya Christian, chancellor of the Kern Community College District, being chosen by the California Community Colleges Board of Governors to lead the California Community College System, we are delighted to feature her in this issue’s “What the CV-HEC Is Happening Blog.”

The Chancellor-select reflects on her time working in the valley with her fellow presidents and chancellors on the CVHEC Board of Directors and the strides we have made as a united voice for higher education in our nine-county region [or Kern Co if that is what the blog focuses on]. Please enjoy her guest blog in this month’s issue and, once again, congratulations Sonya!

Registration for the CVHEC Annual Summit is now open!

Please plan on joining us May 12 for this great event as well as our special CVHEC Welcome Reception the day before at Arte Americas. The summit – always historic in that it brings together the higher education leadership in our nine-county region – provides the opportunity to showcase the great work that is taking place in our Central Valley colleges and universities to provide meaningful pathways for our students seeking a higher education.

In furtherance of our mission to increase access to college for students, we are pleased to announce the Central Valley Math Bridge Kick-off May 18 in downtown Fresno with our partners College Bridge and the Rand Corporation. With this the formal launch, we are excited to shine a light on the great work that can come out of small colleges in the Central Valley that we will share with the rest of the state and eventually nationally as this project creates a model for meaningful dual enrollment math pathways and expansion that can be replicated in other regions of California.

This same spirit carries forth in the South Valley where our Kern Master’s Upskilling Project is now recruiting community college professors to serve as mentors for high school teachers enrolled in the project to earn master’s degrees in math or English. In collaboration with the Kern Regional K-16 Education Collaborative,  we are working to improve student progress from high school to postsecondary education and ultimately into the workforce by providing 100 South Valley high school teachers the opportunity to earn a master’s degree that achieves state qualifications for teaching community college dual enrollment English or math courses at local high schools.

We encourage Kern area community college math and English professors to join us in this innovative project.

And finally, as we close out March next week, let us acknowledge Women’s History Month by expressing our appreciation to the incredible women leaders who serve on the CVHEC Board of Directors as the presidents or chancellors of the colleges and universities in our region, led by board chairwoman Dr. Kristin Clark, chancellor the West Hills Community College District.

As you read through this issue, we hope you find inspiration in the many great higher education advancements taking place in the Central Valley. Thanks for being a partner and a friend of CVHEC.

Contact Us

  • centralvalleyhec@gmail.com

  • 559.278.0576

Join Our Newsletter