SPOTLIGHT – CVHEC on the road

Executive Director Benjamín Durán (third from left) led the CVHEC delegation at the Strategic Transfer Summit with Transfer Project Lead Stan Carrizosa, Jennifer Johnson of California Community Colleges Foundation and Dr. James Zimmerman of UC Merced. (Photo below): The California Economic Summit in October was attended by Ángel Ramírez, Elaine Cash, Tom Uribes (back), Priscilla Arrellano posing with Assemblyman Joaquin Arambula.

Strategic Transfer Summit provides showcase for

CVHEC’s Transfer Project as reps make the rounds

Central Valley Higher Education Consortium delegations are making the rounds this fall at several state and national conferences including the recent Strategic Transfer Summit presented by the California Community Colleges Nov. 8 at UC Merced.

Other destinations include the Complete College America National Conference in Indianapolis Nov. 18-20; the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges (AMATYC) in Atlanta Nov. 14-17 through the Dana Center with CVHEC Math Task Force members Jeremy Brandl of Fresno City College and Shelley Getty of Taft College; and the Community Colleges League of California Nov. 22 in Sacramento.

CVHEC also attended the California Economic Summit held Oct. 8-10 in Sacramento.

At the recent Transfer Summit, CVHEC’s Transfer Project team presented an update on its progress in partnering with the consortium’s 15 community college members using the Program Pathway Mapper software for a smoother transfer process for students. Leading the CVHEC delegation at the UC Merced event was Executive Director Benjamín Durán and Transfer Lead Stan Carrizosa along with James Zimmerman vice chancellor of UC Merced and Jennifer Johnson California Community Colleges Foundation.

Carrizosa said the summit, attended by the chief executive officers of the state’s three public higher ed segments – the University of California, the California State University and the California Community Colleges – provided a prime opportunity to showcase the consortium’s Transfer Project.

“The participation of the statewide CEOs of CCC, CSU & UC — coupled with powerful student testimony — makes this event an inflection point that sets our Transfer Project on its next upward trajectory,” Carrizosa said.

CVHEC’s Transfer Project has been designated as a California Community Colleges Demonstration Project by Chancellor Sonya Christian to serve as a model systemwide.

This month, Duran will also attend the CLCC in Sacramento as well as lead the CVHC delegation to the CAC national conference in Indiana. Attending the CAC with him will be Angel Ramirez, operations/finance director; Elaine Cash, grants coordinator; and Tom Uribes, communications/media coordinator.

For the CA Economic Summit in October, Ramirez, Cash and Uribes were joined by Priscilla Arrellano, administrative specialist.

SPOTLIGHT: CVHEC transitions – a new look

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CVHEC’s Mid-Year Review 2024

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SPOTLIGHT ON CVHEC: Priscilla Arrellano

CVHEC appoints Arrellano new admin specialist

 

Joining the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium  core team is Priscilla Victoria Arellano, who was named the consortium’s fulltime administrative specialist effective June 10.

She will oversee and provide high-level support in all consortium administrative needs, budgeting and special events/meetings, said Ángel Ramírez, CVHEC finance and operations manager, as well as provide support to Dr. Benjamín Durán, CVHEC executive director.

An experienced professional in medical administrative services, Arellano said she welcomes the challenges of translating her experience to the educational field and contributing to furthering the consortiums’ mission of increasing the degree attainment rate of the Central Valley’s nine-county  region from San Joaquin to Kern.

“I am especially enthusiastic about this new journey with an organization that brings together college executives and educators who are helping residents of our valley get a college education and improve their lives,” said Arellano. “I enjoyed working with medical professionals the past six years and all they do for healthcare. Now I look forward to applying that experience at CVHEC working with educators and all they do for higher education in our area.”

Ramirez said the addition of Arellano is a major organizational step as the consortium’s work continues to expand.“We are impressed with the extensive experience Priscilla brings from the medical field and look forward to her completing our team,” he said. “We are only a month in, and I can already feel the relief of having her onboard full-time.”

He also extended heartfelt gratitude to outgoing admin specialist Priscila Villanueva who worked parttime for the consortium since 2018.

“We now call her our first Priscila and we are forever grateful for the crucial role she played, even in a part-time capacity, helping launch the new direction CVHEC has undertaken in recent years,” Ramirez said. “I am sure we will continue to see her around, once a CVHEC-er always a CVHEC-er.”

 

See BIO-Priscilla Arrellano

SPOTLIGHT ON CVHEC: Farewell to Priscila – CVHEC search underway

Priscila Villanueva at the 2023 CVHEC Summit with Angel Ramirez and two student panelists, Hailee Guerra (left) and Jesús López Nuñez (right).

 

This issue brings another melancholy moment as we bid farewell to a key star of the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium team, Priscila Villanueva, our administrative coordinator since 2018.

Priscila will start a new position as community associate for Equitable Bank Standards, Beneficial State Foundation supporting community engagement for the Equitable Bank Standards initiative.

She has been instrumental in CVHEC’s mission with a focus on increasing educational equity in the Central San Joaquin Valley, said Dr. Benjamín Durán, CVHEC executive director.

“Priscila became an important part of our CVHEC family and will be dearly missed,” Durán said. “Her dedication and commitment to our mission was evident in all she did for us.  We wish her and her family all the best.”

Ángel Ramírez, director of operations and finance and Priscila’s immediate supervisor, credited her with playing a major role in the consortium’s increased growth the past eight years.

“Priscila always took care of the everything behind the scenes that most people don’t get to see, but her role with CVHEC allowed us to run smoothly, efficiently, and worry-free these last eight years,” Ramírez said. “I am eager to see where this new position takes her.”

Priscila said that from day one, “Dr. Durán and Angel set the pace for a dynamic and collaborative team. I have been privileged to have had a front seat to the CVHEC initiatives and all the good CVHEC has done in the Central Valley.

“I cannot thank Dr. Duran and Angel Ramirez enough for their leadership, constant support, care and love. I leave CVHEC having built invaluable relationships and connections. I will treasure and miss my work and team, but I am excited to see where they go next!”

CVHEC has announced a job search to fill the position as soon as possible, Ramirez said.

See Application.

 

CVHEC SPOTLIGHT: Consortium at national DREAM Conference with CVCF

Ángel Ramírez (right) represented CVHEC in the Central Valley Community Foundation delegation of area leaders attending the Achieving the Dream Conference in Orlando Feb. 19-22 (from left): Carlos Castillo; Phong Yang; Estefania Avalos Chavez; Vianey Barraza Chavez; Julie Vue;  Ángel. Not in picture: SCCCD Chancellor Carole Goldsmith.

The Central Valley Higher Education Consortium is participating this week in the 20th anniversary convening of DREAM, which brings together thousands of practitioners from hundreds of colleges “to exchange evidence-based approaches to accelerating student success in a manner that champions equity and drives economic vibrancy.”

Ángel Ramírez, director of operations and finance, is representing CVHEC in the Central Valley Community Foundation delegation of area leaders led by Julie Vue, CVCF senior program officer, attending the four-day event in Orlando, Florida

Other CVCF delegation representatives are Carlos Castillo, chief of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Fresno Unified School District; Phong Yang, associate vice president for Strategic Enrollment Management at Fresno State; Estefania Avalos Chavez, board member, Higher Education For All; Vianey Barraza Chavez, director of Education Programs and Special Projects for the Education and Leadership Foundation; and Dr. Carole Goldsmith, State Center Community College District chancellor who also led a SCCCD delegation to the conference.

The conference is presented by Achieving the Dream, a national organization of  more than 300 community colleges across the country partnering to build customized growth plans to address the unique challenges each institution faces.

It embodies Achieving the Dream’s longstanding belief in advancing community colleges as accessible hubs of learning, credentialing and social mobility that eliminate inequities in students’ educational and workforce outcomes.

Through plenary sessions with critically acclaimed scholars, educators, and activists and breakout sessions with higher education thought leaders at the Orlando gathering, a nationwide network of colleagues are sharing 20 years’ worth of lessons learned in the student success field and promoting a vision of higher education as an engine for equity and a catalyst for community transformation.

The Central Valley Community Foundation, the only accredited community foundation in the region, drives strategic investments and offers best-in-class charitable tools to connect donors to the causes they care most about with $140 Million in assets under management.

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