CVHEC Equity, Race and Social Justice Taskforce established

 

The Central Valley Higher Education Consortium has launched its Equity, Race, and Social Justice Taskforce which includes a three-pronged strategy to assess and recommend action for its member institutions – 29 colleges in a nine-county region.

Findings and recommendations will be presented as part of the CVHEC Higher Education Fall 2021 Summit Series that is now being planned, said Dr. Benjamin T.  Duran, CVHEC executive director, in announcing the roster and the need.

“The Equity, Race and Social Justice Taskforce was convened in response to the social unrest of the summer 2020 and the impacts of the pandemic,” Duran said. “For too many students, the pandemic exacerbated already existing problems. The taskforce is seeking to rebuild and improve higher education outcomes for the Central Valley region.”

CVHEC is mission-focused on improving certificate and degree completion rates for students and the Equity, Race and Social Justice Taskforce will strengthen that mission.

An intersegmental undertaking, the 17-member task force consists of representation from Clovis Community College; Fresno City College; Reedley College; Fresno Pacific University; Fresno State; California State University, Stanislaus; University of California Merced; Foundation of California Community Colleges (Guided Pathways); and K-16 Collaborative. Members also represent faculty, equity and institutional research leaders.

 The taskforce includes three workgroups: the Regional Scan Workgroup, the Equitable Recovery Workgroup and the Framework and Integration Workgroup.

“Integral to this work will be a collection of pertinent data to drive the findings,” Duran said.

As the regional convener, CVHEC convenes and manages the work of the taskforce and has tasked its strategies lead, Virginia Madrid-Salazar, to serve as its chair.

The charge of the three subgroups:

  • The Regional Scan Workgroup will identify best practices and barriers currently occurring in the Central Valley around equity, race and social justice in higher education. An expected outcome of this workgroup is to design and implement a regional scan tool (i.e., survey) for the region.
  • The Framework and Integration Workgroup will develop the Central Valley Equity Statement and Operational Definition of Equity in Higher Education and the pursuit of a regional framework for addressing equity, racial and social justice.
  • The Equitable Recovery Workgroup will explore the question, “Which students were pushed out during the pandemic and how do we bring them back?” This effort will focus on equity and equitable outcomes for Central Valley students and the implementation of new policies and practices for this purpose. An expected outcome will be to collect and disaggregate regional data to highlight current gaps and needs in our combined systems.

“Taskforce members represent the Central Valley’s expertise in education leadership and have spent a considerable number of years in leading equitable change in the Central Valley,” said Virginia Madrid-Salazar. “They bring thoughtful consideration to the issues facing Central Valley students as a result of the pandemic. They are committed to Central Valley students.”

The CVHEC Equity, Race and Social Justice Taskforce members include:

Alex Adams, Ph.D.
Director – Institutional Research, Planning, and Effectiveness
Clovis Community College
Equitable Recovery Workgroup / Regional Scan Workgroup

Benjamin T. Duran, Ed.D.
Executive Director
Central Valley Higher Education Consortium
Framework and Integration Workgroup Lead

Laura Gonzalez, Ed.D.
Assistant Professor, School of Education
Liberal Arts Program Director
Fresno Pacific University
Equitable Recovery Workgroup

Karri Hammerstrom
Executive Director
The Fresno K-16 Collaborative
Regional Scan Workgroup

Virginia Madrid-Salazar, J.D.
Strategies Lead
Central Valley Higher Education Consortium
Taskforce Chair / Co-Lead Equitable Recovery Workgroup
 
Ricardo Marmolejo
Guided Pathways Regional Coordinator
California Community Colleges Foundation
Regional Scan Workgroup

Larissa Mercado-Lopez, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Dept. of Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies
Fresno State
Equitable Recovery Workgroup

Darlene Murray, Ed.D.
Student Equity Coordinator
Reedley College
Regional Scan Workgroup

Alex Nottbohm, M.A.
Research and Data Analyst – Office of Institutional Effectiveness
Fresno State
Equitable Recovery Workgroup

Francine L. Oputa, Ed.D.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Consultant
Director (retired) – Cross Cultural and Gender Center (Fresno State)
Framework and Integration Workgroup

Robert Pimentel, Ed.D.
Vice President, Educational Services & Institutional Effectiveness
Fresno City College
Regional Scan Workgroup

Onar Primitivo, M.Ed.
Executive Director, Equity & Justice – Office of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
University of California Merced
Framework and Integration Workgroup

Raymond Ramírez, Ed.D.
Director, Student Equity and Success, Educational Services and Institutional Effectiveness
Fresno City College
Lead – Regional Scan Workgroup

Neisha D. Rhodes
Director for Presidential Initiatives
California State University, Stanislaus
Framework and Integration Workgroup

Dmitri Rogulkin, Ph.D., M.B.A.
Executive Director, Research and Institutional Effectiveness
State Center Community College District
Equitable RecoveryWorkgroup

Michelle Stricker, M.S.
Guided Pathways Lead Regional Coordinator, Central/Far South
California Community Colleges Foundation
Co-Lead Equitable Recovery Workgroup

Soua Xiong, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Counselor Education and Rehabilitation
Coordinator, Student Affairs & College Counseling
Fresno State
Regional Scan Workgroup

CVHEC eyes recommendations by state equity taskforce for implementation

Post-secondary systems seeking to emerge from the pandemic stronger and better able to help all learners thrive can look to a new report by California’s Recovery with Equity Taskforce that provides recommendations the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium will explore during an upcoming Higher Education Fall 2021 Summit Series.

Recovery with Equity: A Roadmap for Higher Education After the Pandemic, submitted recently to Governor Gavin Newsom and the Governor’s Council for Post-Secondary Education, includes a series of interconnected, interdependent recommendations developed by the state taskforce to help post-secondary systems.

Dr. Lande Ajose, who chairs the Governor’s Council for Post-Secondary Education and created the taskforce, said, “Student success in higher education is critical to the health of our state and regional economies. We need to ensure that California’s systems of higher learning fully recover from the pandemic and thrive, while keeping students our number one priority. Their success is inextricably tied to the future of California.”

The report’s 11 recommendations are organized to advance four guiding principles:  Fostering Inclusive Institutions, Streamlining Pathways to Degrees, Facilitating Student Transitions and Simplifying Supports for Student Stability.

It concludes with actions that leaders in California can pursue to support California’s post-secondary institutions recover from the pandemic more equitable and resilient than before, and more aligned with the economic needs of the state.

Dr. Benjamin Duran, CVHEC executive director, said the consortium, which consists of the leaders of 29 colleges in the nine-county Central Valley region, will review the recommendations and begin collaborating for implementation.

“We look forward to sharing out the Central Valley’s equity, dual enrollment and transfer efforts and aligning them with the Recovery with Equity recommendations,” Duran said. (See the story in this issue about the CVHEC Equity, Race, and Social Justice Taskforce).

Read the full story and report recommendations.

 

 

 

 

Three Fresno-area colleges search for new leaders. You can help decide who gets hired

Three Fresno-area colleges search for new leaders. You can help decide who gets hired

BY ASHLEIGH PANOO
FEBRUARY 05, 2021 07:59 AM

As several of the Fresno-area’s top college leaders retire or move on this year, it has put the central San Joaquin Valley in a position of searching for three people who will shape the future of higher education in the region.

Fresno State, State Center Community College District, and West Hills Community College District are already in different stages of the hiring process.

Former Fresno State President Joseph I. Castro left in January to become chancellor of the 23-campus California State University. Paul Parnell, chancellor of State Center, will retire in July. And Stuart Van Horn will retire in June after serving four years at West Hills.

It’s not uncommon to have several higher education positions up for filling, according to Benjamin Duran, executive director of the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium.

“They can come in clusters,” he said. “In this particular case, it was just kind of a perfect storm, if you will, where the three of them all left at the same time.”

But it could be an important time for the public to have input about the qualities these next leaders should possess.

“It goes without saying, but anytime a leader of higher education or K-12 education is going to be replaced somewhere locally, the public should have their voice heard,” Duran said. “I think that those leaders should reflect, to some extent, the kind of profile that the public and the institutions think are important.”

Across the Valley, several other college leaders were hired in 2020, including U.C. Merced Chancellor Juan Muñoz, and Madera Community College President Angel Reyna.

FRESNO STATE SEARCHES FOR NEW PRESIDENT
California State University will hold a virtual forum from noon to 2 p.m. on Tuesday, outlining the search process. Community members wishing to speak must register online by 5 p.m. Friday. The open forum will be livestreamed to the CSU website.

The community can also fill out a survey which asks which professional qualifications, experiences and personal attributes the next president should have.

Members of the search committee are:

Joseph I. Castro, Chancellor

Lillian Kimbell, Chair, CSU Board of Trustees

Jane W. Carney, Trustee and Chair, Search Committee

Diego Arambula , Trustee

Wenda Fong, Vice Chair, Board of Trustees

Krystal Mae Raynes, Trustee

Robert S. Nelsen, CSU Sacramento, CSU President Representative

Paula Castadio, Fresno State Vice President for Advancement, Administration Representative

Thomas Holyoke, Chair, Fresno State Academic Senate

Joy J. Goto, Faculty Representative

Jenelle S. Pitt, Faculty Representative

Georgianna Negron-Long, Staff Representative

Jacqueline Campos Ledezma, Student Representative

Elizabeth Rocha Zuñiga, Student Representative

Edgar Blunt, Alumni Association Representative

Nicole Linder, University Advisory Board Representative

Carol Chandler, Community Representative

Clint Williams, Community Representative

The search is expected to take six months to a year, the university has said. In the meantime, Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval, the university’s provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, has stepped in as interim.

STATE CENTER COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT

State Center is the parent district of Fresno City College, Reedley College, and Clovis and Madera Community colleges. The board of trustees could appoint an interim as soon as its next meeting on March 2, which they say would allow for a smooth transition when Parnell departs on July 6.

It’s early on in the process, but the district is gearing up to collect public input soon, according to board president Annalisa Perea.

“I think one of the first important steps is to hold (a) virtual forum in the next couple months and really have an opportunity to hear from our faculty and students,” Perea said, “and really just give people an opportunity to tell us what they want to see in the next Chancellor.”

And although it may not be uncommon to have several higher ed leader spots open, it could create competition in the search process, according to Julianna Mosier, the vice chancellor of Human Resources.

There are “a number of other chancellor and superintendent (and) president searches already underway across the state,” she said during a board meeting on Tuesday, “including Kern (Community College District) and West Hills locally, and San Diego (Community College District), and then El Camino (College) and many others, which will impact the pool of candidates we are able to attract.”

The district is looking to hire a search firm to garner a greater pool of national candidates.

A preliminary timeline shows the job posting could go up in August/September, applicants could be screened and a public forum held in November/December, and the appointment could be made in January/February 2022. The chancellor would start in spring or summer 2022.

WEST HILLS COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT
A national search to replace Van Horn began in October, and candidates are being interviewed at this time, said spokesperson Amber Myrick.

Public forums will be held the week of March 15, she said.

West Hills has campuses in Lemoore, Coalinga and Firebaugh.

The board of trustees is expected to appoint the new chancellor at their April 20, 2021 meeting, with a start date of July 1.

 

View story here –https://www.fresnobee.com/article248967874.html

COS student featured in Lumina photojournalist project

Miguel Contreras, a 22-year old student majoring in nursing at College of the Sequoias (COS), was featured in a special year-long project by photojournalist Rachel Bujalski for The Lumina Foundation (Lumina), a partner of the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium.

For the past year, Bujalski has followed and documented the lives of a handful of California students whose lives reflect that of many of today’s students. Her work, including compelling photos and narrative that depict a candid, close up look at the lives of five low-income students and the immense college challenge they face during the COVID-19 pandemic, was recently published on Lumina’s website.

“Rachel is an accomplished photojournalist that has worked with Time, the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, National Geographic and more,” said Dakota Pawlicki, Lumina’s strategy officer for Community College and Workforce Education. “She recently was part of a team that earned an Emmy for their undercover reporting.”

CVHEC, a Lumina-designated Talent Hub, and other California Talent Hubs hosted Bujalski and connected her to the students she featured including Miguel, a cancer survivor and an amputee who grew up in foster care.

He works full time as a hospital aide at Kaweah Delta Medical Center while attending CVHEC-member institution COS in Visalia full-time in search of a nursing career — all while preparing for fatherhood.

Miguel’s right leg was amputated below the knee after a cancer diagnosis at age 18 and the care he received from his nurses inspired him to become a nurse himself. But his classes have moved online because of COVID-19 and he says the work has become much harder without in-person help.

View his and the other photo stories here: https://www.luminafoundation.org/news-and-views/photo-essay-the-college-climb-steepens/ )

See Guardian.com story: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/07/college-students-coronavirus-pandemic-california

CVHEC Pedagogy and Continuous Improvement Workshops

 

The Charles A. Dana Center of the University of Texas at Austin will offer two virtual workshops series to CVHEC member institution faculty and staff. Participants are welcome to participate in all six workshops or the workshop that best fits their schedule.

Registration deadline for the workshops is Jan. 27 at 1 p.m. 

• Pedagogy Workshops (support faculty in implementing student success strategies)

Helping Students Transition to Learners 
February 23, 2-4 p.m.  REGISTER

This session will explore several structural and psychosocial course design principles that can help students develop from passive receivers of knowledge to independent learners in an online setting.

Introduction to Psychosocial Factors: Belonging
February 24, 2-4 p.m. REGISTER

Psychosocial factors and their importance in supporting students in a heterogeneous virtual classroom will be introduced. The Belonging Mindset will be explored, including tools to help students develop a Belonging Mindset that can be incorporated into any course, whether face-to-face or virtual.

Differentiated Instruction Online
February 25, 2-4 p.m. REGISTER

Participants will actively experience instructional techniques that, by their design, meet individual needs within a diverse online student classroom while providing instructors with immediate formative assessment. These “low-floor, high-ceiling” strategies include all students, giving them the opportunity to understanding through discourse. The purpose, construction, and recommended facilitation strategies for each technique will be discussed and examples and templates will be provided.

• Continuous Improvement of Corequisite Models

This series of workshops will focus on the continuous improvement of corequisite models and is appropriate for both English and math instructors and department chairs. Participants will explore a continuous improvement framework for identifying, implementing and evaluating incremental changes to increase the efficacy of the corequisite models at their institution. Participants who are unable to attend all three workshops are advised that the “Continuous Improvement Planning” workshop (March 11) makes more sense if the “Introduction to Quality Improvement” is attended.

Promoting Continuous Improvement 
Tuesday, March 9, 2-4 p.m.  REGISTER

Participants will explore the characteristics of a department culture that supports Continuous Improvement.

Introduction to Quality Improvement 
Wednesday, March 10, 1-4 p.m. REGISTER

Participants will receive an overview of the Quality Improvement continuous improvement process that can be used in their departments to support implementation of corequisite courses.

Continuous Improvement Planning
Thursday, March 11, 2-4 p.m. REGISTER

Participants will model the process of continuous improvement and how it could be used to address a current challenge they are dealing with at their institution.

‘Dual Enrollment Upskilling Teachers Master’s Program’ Advances Equity

An innovative master’s degree program is underway to incentivize dual enrollment delivery at Central Valley high schools with the “Dual Enrollment Upskilling Teachers Master’s Program in English and Math.”

This approach addresses an equity concern raised by the Central Valley Dual Enrollment for Equity and Prosperity (CVDEEP) Task Force that was convened by the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium (CVHEC) in March 2020 when educators asserted that not enough Central Valley teachers are available to teach dual enrollment resulting in fewer opportunities for students – an equity gap.

“Although dual enrollment has been a tool for students to get ahead for college, not every student has been exposed to its benefits and still others who may not view themselves as ‘college material’ lose out on the benefits of its early exposure,” said Dr. Benjamin Duran, executive director of CVHEC. “By broadening dual enrollment opportunities for both rural and urban students, where they didn’t previously exist, more students are able to develop their collegiate confidence.”

CVHEC decided to tackle this equity issue head on when the Fresno K-16 Collaborative made funding available to its local partners. The Fresno K-16 Collaborative is the recipient of a $10 million investment Governor Gavin Newsom announced at the November 2019 California Economic Summit with the intent that the program will take innovative approach to improve student experience and create opportunities for success. Duran said dual enrollment is an effective strategy to help Central Valley students accelerate their college learning.

“Dual Enrollment is key to student access, success and equity. The reality is that dual enrollment only works when students can participate,” said Duran.

CVHEC received grant funding from the Fresno K-16 Collaborative for the Dual Enrollment Upskilling Teachers Master’s Program for English and Math in partnership with CVHEC-member institutions National University and Fresno Pacific.

CVHEC is coordinating two grants: one that is specifically for K-16 Collaborative partners in the Fresno area and a second one that allows for an expanded regional reach. In all, teachers from Fresno, Madera, Merced, and Kings counties will benefit from the Dual Enrollment Upskilling Teachers Master’s Program for English and Math 1.0 and 2.0.

“CVHEC’s two Dual Enrollment Upskilling Teachers Master’s Programs meet the Fresno K-16 Collaborative’s accessible equity-focused mission of creating an integrated, replicable, regional K-16 educational system foundation to address race equity and inclusion of our most vulnerable student populations,” said Karri Hammerstrom, executive director of the Fresno K-16 Collaborative.

This teacher upskilling program serves as a model to scale the program throughout CVHEC’s nine-county region as funding becomes available.

“CVHEC’s mission in all of our work is to create scalable innovations among our intersegmental higher education member institutions,” said Duran. “Although we are starting with a smaller scaled region, our commitment is to scale this program to all nine-counties as soon as we are able.”

The first cohorts of master’s degree students began their studies the first week of January 2021 and the second round of cohorts will begin in May 2021.

Students will have tuition supplemented, in some cases books will be paid for as well and students participating will be paired with college instructors from State Center Community College District who will serve as mentors. In total, the Upskilling Teachers Master’s Programs (1.0 and 2.0) provide for 115 teachers to participate in the program.

About CVDEEP

In Spring 2019, Central Valley community college leaders approached CVHEC to provide convening assistance surrounding dual enrollment that led to a gathering in July 2019 where over 60 education leaders from the CVHEC region began exploring the issue in follow up sessions.

From those convenings, CVHEC created the Central Valley Dual Enrollment for Equity and Prosperity (CV DEEP) Task Force consisting of Central Valley colleges and K-12 partner district educators collaborating to develop a strategy for effective dual enrollment programs regionally.

In March 2020, CVHEC held a comprehensive convening of the CVDEEP taskforce where over 100 community college and K- 12 partners gathered to share best practices, identify ongoing challenges and propose viable solutions.

“One of the top challenges that emerged is the need for more instructors qualified to teach college math and English to meet the increased demand for course offerings in dual enrollment (DE) programs,” said Virginia Madrid-Salazar, CVHEC strategies lead who developed a white paper documenting the organization’s DE initiatives and providing the foundation for the master’s attainment program proposal: “Dual Enrollment in the Central Valley: Working Toward a Unified Approach for Equity and Prosperity”.

“The most desired solution was a partnership with universities for streamlined programs so that interested high school faculty could earn their master’s degree in these two high-need disciplines,” she said. “This would enable them to meet the minimum qualifications set forth by the State Chancellor’s office required to teach college-level courses and providing this opportunity for students as part of their regular high school instructional day.”

CVHEC is a one of 15 Collaborative Partners that comprise the pilot Fresno K-16 Education Collaborative established in 2020 with funding by California Governor Gavin Newsom,  reporting to his Council on Post-Secondary Education, to develop four dual enrollment-related  educational pathways that help Fresno-area students move from high school to college and into the workforce.

“The outcomes from the ongoing dialogue between community colleges and their K-12 partners in the valley will continue, as will advocacy efforts, to institutionalize dual enrollment as a strategy,” Duran said. “A strategy to blur the lines between high school and community college for those students who can benefit from taking college courses and get a leg up on their quest for a college degree or certificate.”

 

Central Valley’s new medical school opens July 21 with 75 students

Central Valley’s new medical school opens July 21 with 75 students

CHSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine granted pre-accreditation; virtual ribbon-cutting June 30

With its new pre-accreditation status in order, California Health Sciences University announced its grand opening for the Central Valley’s new medical school, the College of Osteopathic Medicine (COM), will be July 21 when instruction begins for its inaugural class of 75 medical students.

As the university finalizes preparations to open its new state-of-the-art, three-story medical school building located at 2500 Alluvial Avenue in Clovis, a virtual ribbon-cutting video will post at 11 a.m. June 30 and can be seen on CHSU’s social media platforms after that.

The university also announced recently that the college has met all standards and requirements for Pre-Accreditation status by the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation.

“Pre-Accreditation is a milestone achievement and the highest level awarded to COMs that have not yet graduated their first class,” said Dr.  John Graneto, COM dean, in his accreditation announcement June 10.  “We are encouraged by the diversity of the initial cohort and the representation by Central Valley students.”

Founded in 2012 and envisioned by the Assemi family, CHSU is addressing the shortage of healthcare providers in the Valley amidst statewide projections showing that California will need 8,800 more physicians by 2030 to serve healthcare needs.

“It’s gratifying to see California Health Sciences University fast-tracking its growth and trajectory toward becoming a nationally recognized institution and to help remedy this long-standing problem,” said Dr. John Welty, President Emeritus of Fresno State and chair of the CHSU Board of Trustees, when he wrote about the valley’s new medical school in several local newspapers recently.

Dr. Welty is also a founding member of CVHEC.

Dr. Graneto said 75 percent of the inaugural 2020 cohort are from California and 28 percent are local students from the Central Valley.

“Sixteen different languages are spoken by this diverse group of students, which is critical to help bridge the language barrier that many underserved populations experience when seeking health care,” Dr. Graneto said. “35 percent of the class speaks Spanish.”

In January, the CHSU-COM leadership, faculty and staff moved into the new facility following an expedited 18-month campus expansion project that was prepped and ready for students before the COVID-19 shelter in place orders were enacted.

CHSU opened the first pharmacy school in the Central Valley in 2014. Dr. Graneto also added that recruitment is now underway for the second cohort that will begin in fall 2021.

See video of the CHSU virtual ribbon-cutting June 30 at 11 a.m. on the university’s social media platforms.

The new College of Osteopathic Medicine (CHSU-COM) building on the California Health Sciences University campus at 2500 Alluvial Avenue in Clovis, CA.
 The emergency/intensive care unit in the in-patient wing of the new CHSU Simulation Center on the CHSU campus.
The first floor main lobby of the new College of Osteopathic Medicine (CHSU-COM). The second floor showcases some of the student rooms and areas for CHSU-COM medical students.
The CHSU-COM Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM) Laboratory.
The operating/birthing room in the in-patient wing of the CHSU Simulation Center on the CHSU campus.
The Deans’ Suite and conference room on the third floor of the College of Osteopathic Medicine (CHSU-COM).

Valley higher education leaders discuss ‘COVID-19’ plans for fall semester

Valley higher education leaders discuss ‘COVID-19’ plans for fall semester

(JUNE 26, 2020) – The Central Valley’s 27 college and university presidents and chancellors reported today that
most of them will resume the remote education environment they implemented in the spring semester when the
coronavirus pandemic swept the world.

The Central Valley Higher Education Consortium (CVHEC) board of directors met Friday morning via Zoom to share
their respective fall 2020 campus plans.

Overall, remote instruction will continue as a necessity to keep students, faculty and staff safe until a COVID-19
vaccine is available, said Dr. Benjamin T. Duran, executive director of CVHEC, a non-profit organization
representing a 27-member strong consortium of accredited public and private colleges, universities, and
community college district members from San Joaquin to Kern counties.

“Some campuses will use a hybrid of remote and in-person courses for certain cases such as required labs,” said
Duran, who also is President Emeritus of Merced College. “All campuses will continue to practice COVID-19 safety
protocols as recommended by local health departments, California Department of Public Health and Centers for
Disease Control for on-campus instruction and for those working on campuses.”

Today’s call was similar to other calls the presidents and chancellors have shared throughout the COVID-19 crisis,
and have helped to stabilize educational delivery in the Central Valley during this academic upheaval. The CVHEC
Board COVID-19 meetings have given the presidents and chancellors an opportunity to reflect and confer on the
decisions being made throughout this crisis.

“As they have done on many issues in the past, these CEOs are pulling together to make sure their current
students’ academic needs and general well-being, as well as faculty and staff, are not compromised,” Duran said.

See the CVHEC COVID-19 resources page with links to each campus update.

The Central Valley Higher Education Consortium (CVHEC) is a 501(c)3 incorporated non-profit organization comprised of all 27 accredited public and private colleges, universities, and community college district members in California’s Central Valley nine-county region (San Joaquin to Kern counties). CVHEC serves as the convener and executes the policy objectives of the CVHEC Board that is made up of the presidents, chancellors and other administrators of these institutions of higher education. A key CVHEC objective is to increase the Central Valley’s degree attainment rate. The organization also works closely with legislative leaders as an advocate for the higher education policy positions of the CVHEC board).

 

Dr. Duran was invited to participate in “Línea Abierta” to discuss the local impact. Hear a Radio Bilingue interview with Dr. Ben Duran (Spanish) : Starts at 46:10

Statement in Solidarity with the African American Community

Statement in Solidarity with the African American Community

Benjamin T. Duran Ed.D.

Executive Director

Central Valley Higher Education Consortium

 

The Central Valley Higher Education Consortium (CVHEC), a consortium of 27 colleges and universities serving the Central Valley of California, ordinarily works with its consortium members to enhance opportunities for valley students to access college and realize their life’s dreams.

However, these are not ordinary times. We find ourselves in dark times looking for the light we know lies out there for our nation.  Our country has been through dark times before and we have always emerged as a better people.  Once again, as we see our America in these historic times, engulfed in tumultuous scenes of strife and danger, I am compelled to join my CVHEC colleagues in denouncing the resurgence of the racism and bigotry that many have fought, for decades, to quell and eliminate from the America we all strive to create.  Today, we stand by, and with, our African American students, faculty, staff and communities of our Central Valley colleges and universities as they join others in the country to grieve and endure the pain of yet another senseless killing of an African American man, who like many of us, was a beloved father and friend. When he left home on that fateful day his family never imagined that they would never see him again.

In the killing of George Floyd, I, along with millions of Americans, witnessed yet another hateful and graphic act of violence against an African American in today’s America.  Perhaps as tragic and horrific as this killing was, is the fact that a simple act of humanity and compassion by other police officers present could have prevented the taking of his life.  Instead, we saw a complicity that was deaf to the anguished pleas of witnesses on a public street voicing their alarm at what they were witnessing.  Sadly, George Floyd’s death was preceded by the recent deaths of Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, two other African Americans who suffered the same fate, not because they were violating any laws, but because they were African Americans.  These deaths, as tragic as they are, are symptoms of a much larger systemic problem of injustice and equality that the protesters are striving to shed light on through their actions.

As I witness the images of Americans and people throughout the world who join them in using the voice of national protests to convey their anger and anguish at the injustices that are disproportionately thrust upon the African American community, I like many Americans was saddened and sickened by the violence and destruction that we witnessed in media reports, perpetrated by those opportunists whose motives should be questioned and who are not acting on behalf of the vast majority of those on the streets.  For many of us, it awakened old wounds and memories from another time when our country faced similar anger and rage. Though these acts of violence may be partially responsible for compelling authorities to file charges against those responsible for George Floyd’s death, I pray that the violence, against all, will begin to subside. I fear, continued violence will detract from the message of those protesting racism and bigotry while also dishonoring the memory of Mr. Floyd and the others who have suffered similar fates.  Senseless spurious violence, focused on police officers, protesting citizens or businesses and community centers has no place in the search for solutions that protesting Americans are pursuing.

As I dialogue with friends, family, and colleagues, I am struck by the compassion and solidarity they feel with those on the streets fighting the inhumanity and barbarity that has risen up again in our country and breeds the racism and bigotry that is the antithesis of America.  It is times like these when all Americans must join together to address the institutional racism that prevents our African American colleagues, students, and neighbors from successfully addressing the challenges and barriers they encounter, not only in our Central Valley region, but throughout the United States of America.

To that end, I am committed to ensuring that the umbrella of equity, under which CVHEC works, will encourage an ongoing and meaningful conversation on the difficult topics of racism and intolerance in our institutions of higher education in our communities.  We must strive to reflect the human values, ethics, and morals that lead to treating everybody equally regardless of our diversity and political differences.  We must walk together, side by side, to lead this country out of these dark times to create a more enlightened nation, where truly there will be liberty and justice for all.

UC Merced’s new leader is son of Mexican immigrants

‘For me, it became very important to make a contribution to working-class people and working-class families to continue their education, to improve not just their
economic vitality but the impact they can make on their community…’
-Dr. Juan Sánchez Muñoz, new UC Merced chancellor

 

The son of immigrants from México has been given the job as the fourth chancellor of UC Merced, the youngest and fastest-growing of the UC’s 10 campuses.

Dr. Juan Sánchez Muñoz, 53, whose appointment was approved by the University of California Board of Regents on Wednesday (May 20), returns to the UC family where he and his wife each earned bachelor’s and doctorate degrees.

He served as president of the University of Houston-Downtown since 2017, where he launched the university’s largest capital campaign and oversaw increases in enrollment, retention and graduation rates. The campus has an enrollment of about 15,000.

He previously worked at Texas Tech University in Lubbock as a vice provost and senior vice president.

The chance to be “four hours from my mother” and closer to family was a draw,” said Muñoz.

His mother, who grew up in La Estancia, Zacatecas, México, never stepped inside a classroom. His father, who picked grapes in the Valley after arriving from León, Guanajuato, México, later settled in Los Angeles as a factory worker.

Muñoz remains the only one of six children to have earned a college degree. He is the youngest of three boys.

“What I learned from my parents is integrity, ethics to work hard and to understand your obligación to your family,” said Muñoz during a telephone interview from Houston on Thursday.

UC President Janet Napolitano praised Muñoz’s accomplishments as a “testament to the power and opportunities created by public higher education.

“I am certain he will build on his valuable experience to lead Merced, UC’s newest campus,” said Napolitano in a statement, “so that it continues to grow and thrive.”

News of Muñoz’s appointment was welcomed by Valley education leaders, including Fresno State President Joseph I. Castro, who spent time in a leadership position at UC Merced.

“His unique skill set and life experiences prepare him well for this vitally important leadership position,” said Castro. “Dr. Sánchez Muñoz and I have already begun discussing strategies to strengthen the partnership between UC Merced and Fresno State in service to the Central Valley and California.”

Benjamín Durán is executive director of the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium, a 27-member organization of accredited public and private colleges, universities, and community college district members in the San Joaquín Valley.

“I have received phone calls from colleagues who are very interested in welcoming him and supporting him and doing everything that we possibly can,” said Durán. “I think it is it is a wonderful, wonderful tribute that we now have two Latinos leading two of our leading institutions here in the Central Valley.

“I just think that it is a sign of the times. And they are both very, very, very well qualified and very, very good for their selections, obviously.”

John A. Pérez, the former state Assembly Speaker and now chair of the UC Board of Regents, said Muñoz’s experience and qualifications made him “an outstanding choice to lead UC Merced.”

“Add to that his passion for ensuring the success of all students, especially public school students from underrepresented and underserved communities, and it is clear that he is the perfect match for UC Merced as the campus moves forward on its impressive journey,” said Pérez in a press release.

Muñoz, a former Marine Corps sergeant, said it is up to UC Merced and other partners to improve educational attainment levels in the Valley that are stubbornly lower than most of the state.

A 2018 study showed that between 20 percent and 30 percent of adults over the age of 25 in the Valley did not have a high school diploma. That also results in overall lower average wages and income.

“If we fail to educate students in K-12, very few of them can matriculate to higher education,” he said.

Education, he said, is the only ticket out of poverty. Attorneys, doctors, anesthesiologists, many elected officials, bankers, investment officers, superintendents, and principals all have a higher education in common, he said.

“For me, it became very important to make a contribution to working-class people and working-class families to continue their education, to improve not just their economic vitality but the impact they can make on their community, ” said Muñoz, who will assume his new position in July.

Muñoz, an all-league football defensive end at Salesian High School in L.A., will step into a job where higher education funding cuts are a certainty because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“I haven’t been read into the discussions that have taken place on campus, or relative to the budget,” said Muñoz. “So, speaking about those particular points at this time would be a bit premature.”

UC Merced, which opened in 2005, had an enrollment of 8,151 this school year with 55.5 per cent of them Latino. The university was designated an Hispanic Serving Institute in 2010, the second UC campus to get that status by having at least a 25 percent Latino enrollment.

The campus is expected to accommodate 10,000 more students after the completion of Merced 2020, a public-private partnership that will double capacity.

Muñoz earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology at California State, Fullerton; a bachelor’s in psychology from UC Santa Bárbara; a master’s in Mexican-American Studies at Cal State Los Angeles; and, a doctorate of philosophy from UCLA.

He has worked as a secondary school teacher, community college adviser, and, instructor.

Muñoz succeeds Dorothy Leland, whose mother was Latina, as chancellor. He becomes only the third Latino to serve as chancellor at a UC campus.

Muñoz’s wife is Dr. Zenaida Aguirre-Muñoz, another first-generation college graduate. She is an associate professor of psychology, health, and learning sciences of the University of Houston.

The couple has three sons.

The regents approved his salary at $425,000.

 

Original story can be found at:https://www.mercedsunstar.com/news/local/education/uc-merced/article242908566.html

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