WHAT THE CV-HEC IS HAPPENING BLOG (September 2022): The ZTC/OER Movement

Let’s Join the OERevolution with
ZTC programs, Central Valley!

 

By JAMES PRESTON, President
West Hills College Lemoore
CVHEC Board of Directors

The California Community College Chancellor’s Office recently announced it is launching the Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) Program and supporting the system with $115 million to do the work in what we term the “OERevolution” (Open Educational Resources).

While the details are still rolling out in series of webinars, the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium CVHEC is forming a ZTC Taskforce to review/advise how its community college district members can access these funds to implement the program.

Each college in the system will receive a $20,000 planning grant designed to help colleges develop a team and devise a plan. The remaining funds will be available for colleges to fund ZTC degrees at their college. Applications are now available.

For the past six years, you have been hearing the OER and ZTC acronyms as our state community college system has been discussing the possibilities of a world without expensive textbooks. The time is now Central Valley to lean into the OERevolution! But before I explain its ingredients, let’s start with some basic definitions:

 

  • Open Educational Resources (OER) are free, openly licensed and accessible materials that faculty can retain, revise, remix, reuse, revise and redistribute. OER materials come in many forms such as open textbooks, videos, articles and ancillary support materials.

 

  • When creatively combined into a Canvas course shell, OER create what we now know as a Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) course. Teamwork between discipline faculty, an area administrator, library or instructional design support and student services personnel, along with the financial support for people to collaborate, can quickly move things from a ZTC course to a ZTC degree.

 

  • Add in a dose of creativity, strategy, policy, equity and guided pathways thinking and you are on your way to a full OERevolution!

 

Three Wins When You Join the OERevolution!

In 2016 , West Hills College Lemoore received a $100,000 grant from the Achieving the Dream (ATD) network to create a Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) degree for an Associate in Arts for
Transfer (AA-T) in Elementary Education and it started the college on our campus’ OERevolution journey!

Initially, West Hills College Lemoore jumped into the OERevolution as a way to eliminate textbook cost barriers for students; however, what started as a revolution against textbook publishers and outrageous prices quickly turned into an evolution of teaching and learning as faculty utilized OER materials in creative and powerful ways.

Thousands of hours of teamwork, a few additional grants and six years later West Hills College Lemoore has saved students over $8 million dollars, evolutionized teaching and learning and currently offers 62 percent of our courses in the ZTC format with a dozen degrees and certificates that students can complete without any textbook costs!

The ZTC program, like any new initiative or work, finds our Central Valley colleges in various stages while continuously fighting with competing priorities, but let me frame for you three guaranteed wins if you join the OERevolution!

 

Win #1: Affordability and Access

We have been fighting the affordability fight as a system for the past decade and are starting to see great movement in food insecurity, housing insecurity, financial aid reform and efforts to close the digital divide. These are all critical movements, but let’s talk about student success and how hard it is for students to succeed in their courses if they can’t afford the learning materials.

For years we at West Hills College Lemoore tried creative solutions like putting a textbook on reserve in the library or creating textbook checkout programs. Our college ran a very “successful” textbook checkout program for one of our categorical programs that checked out 250 textbooks a semester for 10 years which saved students about $500,000 over ten years (approximating $100 a textbook). But in the first year that we launched our OERevolution, we were able to save students $632,800 in textbook costs. Simple math: in one year with OER, West Hills College Lemoore saved students what took 10 years with other creative approaches.

Similarly, the California Community College Chancellor’s Office invested $5 million into the pilot program for ZTC degrees in 2016. West Hills College Lemoore served as the Co-Technical Assistance Provider (TAP) for this program and the savings for students were staggering: the 37 ZTC degrees and certificates that were created across the state saved students over $40 million dollars.

This chart shows the progress of West Hills College Lemoore the past six years and highlights the powerful combination of savings and Day One access for our students to their OER learning materials.

 

 

Win #2: Teaching and Learning

One major flaw in our community college system is that our new full-time and part-time faculty come into our system with minimal teacher preparation.

For decades, the onboarding of an individual who meets minimum qualifications with a M.A. degree or vocational experience in their discipline — but no teacher training — amounted to receiving a course outline, a sample syllabus and the course textbook with publisher materials. If your institution utilizes this formula, you most likely end up with a teacher who will lean heavily on the textbook and publisher materials out of pure survival the first few years in the classroom until they have had the chance to gain experience, receive mentoring and engage in professional development.

The move to Open Educational Resources at West Hills College Lemoore has led to an evolution in teaching and learning as the faculty focus has been freed from textbook dependency and shifted from teaching “chapters” to teaching concepts. Faculty have diversified their curriculum and identified relevant and engaging OER materials to create their ZTC course shells in Canvas.

One of our most recent examples is our math faculty who recently shifted from Pearson’s MyMathLab ($120 access code) to MyOpenMath (MOM).

MOM is an open and free product created by a group of community college math instructors in concert with some programmers and has resulted in high-quality open Math courses in the Canvas Commons with ancillary materials comparable to publisher materials.

Our math faculty have taken the base model of the MOM courses and added their own personalized videos, lecture notes and even programmed in some quizzes, tests and other support materials. Innovation and collaboration have become the norm as faculty use a “base model” course shell and then add in their own materials to personalize it for their students.

Across our college, you no longer hear faculty stating they are “covering chapter three this week.” Instead they are talking about concepts and themes.

Win #3: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion  and Access!

For years we have heard stories, completed surveys and conducted focus groups at our colleges that informed us that students either don’t purchase the textbooks because of cost, buy textbooks later in the semester when they are able to gather up funds, or just get creative and try to find workarounds to purchasing a textbook which takes time and compromises the quality of materials.

The most compelling win for OER is equitable access to course materials for all students on Day One of the class. Thanks to the ZTC course model, the majority of our faculty are able to open up their courses with introductory content and access to learning materials a week before the class starts so students are ready to succeed from Day One.  

The beginnings of an OERevolution are grounded in faculty working together with their OER librarian or instructional designer and fellow faculty to identify diverse, engaging and quality materials aligned to their outcomes.

The next level of the OERevolution can also include open pedagogy where students are also gathering and identifying materials for a course and faculty content creation where faculty help fill the gaps and create content to support learning either in the form of videos, articles or textbooks.

Our most recent college example of faculty innovation is a new textbook that was co-written by a team of faculty for an Introduction to Ethnic Studies course. This free and open textbook serves as a guide and the course shell includes additional learning and engagement materials.

Co-author Dr. Vera Kennedy proclaims, “We are excited to share our new OER book with original content titled Our Lives: An Ethnic Studies Primer with students and faculty. The text was developed as a stand-alone resource for Introduction to Ethnic Studies courses. However, students and faculty wanting discipline-specific voices or perspectives may choose the book as a supplemental resource.”

The textbook is available in three online format that are listed below and you can see how with just a click of a link our students have Day One access to their material:

Scaling Up the OERevolution!

West Hills College Lemoore, through the TAP role with the pilot ZTC program, offered OER bootcamps and professional development for faculty and delivered strategic sessions for college teams to address institutional elements around OER such as building infrastructure and integration of ZTC and OER through shared governance, policy and campus plans.

Our campus looks forward to working with CVHEC to provide training, support and resources to help our Central Valley colleges continue their OERevolution.  I invite you to check out our story and a plethora of resources at our OER website: https://www.westhillscollege.com/lemoore/oer/.

 

OER Embraced – California community colleges implement zero–textbook–cost (Inside Higher Ed 09/19/19) 

Presenting our renovated CVHEC Website: Meet our Board of Directors

The chancellors, presidents and superintendents of 30 institutions of higher education in the Central Valley nine-county region from Stockton to Bakersfield sit on the CVHEC Board of Directors. They meet quarterly in pursuit of CVHEC’s core mission to increase valley college-going rates and degree/certification attainment, providing a unified voice for their more than 250,000 students served jointly. See the board of directors section in our newly renovated website: https://cvhec.org/about-cvhec/ 

 

This fall, we unveil phase one of our renovated Central Valley Higher Education Consortium website which we hope will be easier to navigate as we showcase the work of the Consortium throughout the valley.

We will be featuring a different piece of our website as we continue to build it out in hopes of showcasing it as a resource for our members, colleagues and partners.

This month, we feature the professionals and experts who are carrying out the CVHEC mission. On the “About CVHEC” page, you can meet our CVHEC Board of Directors – the presidents and chancellors of our 30 members of higher education in the Central Valley’s nine-county region from Stockton to Bakersfield as well as the core staff that includes several former educational leaders who  now served as CVHEC regional coordinators/liasions,

Also, see our CVHEC News web page that is being finalized this fall featuring our newsletter stories and press releases where news media can connect with us as well as the members of our CVHEC PIO/Communicators Committee, consisting of the communications professionals handling media relations at each of the 30 campuses.

Our new calendar will keep you up-to-date on CVHEC and other higher education events on our radar. For considerations and modifications to our calendar please email centralvalleyhec@gmail.com.

CVHEC Member News: CLP Guidance Pathways

Four CVHEC Members Highlighted in Career Ladders Project
Look at Guided Pathways Redesign Challenges

The Career Ladders Project recently highlighted four CVHEC member organizations in stories illustrating how 15 California community colleges are redesigning their Guided Pathways programs and structures prompting college leaders across the state to share the stories to help clarify opportunities, spur conversation and motivate Guided Pathways redesign teams.

Founded by the California Community Colleges Board of Governors in 2002, Career Ladders Project is a nonprofit that operates under the fiscal sponsorship of the Foundation for California Community Colleges.

The project promotes equity-minded community college redesign by collaborating with colleges and their partners to discover, develop, and disseminate effective practices. CLP policy work, research, and direct efforts with colleges lead to system change—and enable more students to attain certificates, degrees, transfers, and career advancement.

The Guided Pathways stories are presented in one-page narratives — grouped into topics — produced by Career Ladders Project with funding from the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office.

The four CVHEC members highlighted are:

Bakersfield College

• Integrating Student Supports in Guided Pathways Redesign

• Aligning Redesign Across Campus

• Using Data in Guided Pathways Redesign

Madera Community College

• Centering Students in GP Design

West Hills College Lemoore

• Aligning Redesign Across Campus

• Supporting Students from a Distance

Reedley College

Managing Guided Pathways redesign and Engaging the College

 

See the CLP Redesign stories overview.

Interim Presidents Named at Bakersfield College, Columbia, West Hills Lemoore

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”5751,5790,5789″ img_size=”240×300″][vc_column_text]Congratulations to three interim presidents appointed recently and joining the CVHEC Board of Directors:

• Bakersfield College – Dr. Zav Dadabhoy was named to replace Dr. Sonya Christian who is now the chancellor of the Kern Community College District.

• Columbia College – Dr. G.H. Javaheripour, effective  July 1, to replace Dr. Santanu Bandyopadhyay, who is now president of Modesto Jr. College.

• West Hills College Lemoore – Dr. James Preston, effective July 1, following current President Kristin Clark’s selection as West Hills Community College District Chancellor.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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

Central Valley meets COVID-19 higher ed challenge

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

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

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

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

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

FOCI — Professional Learning Series for Faculty

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

STATS 2020 — Strengthening Statistics Teaching

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

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

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

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

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

Other Online Learning Activities

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

Summer 2020 Prep

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

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

 

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

West Hills College chancellor named new chair of Central Valley Higher Education Consortium

West Hills College chancellor named new chair of Central Valley Higher Education Consortium

Monday, November 18, 2019 – 11:22am
FROM WEST HILLS COLLEGE

The top administrator at West Hills Community College District was recently named to a key Central Valley higher education board. Dr. Stuart Van Horn, Chancellor of the West Hills Community College District, is the new chair of the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium Board.

The Central Valley Higher Education Consortium is a non-profit organization made up of members from private colleges, universities, and community colleges.

“I’m honored to serve in this role,” said Van Horn. “The consortium board does important work and has moved the needle on regional collaboration among and between two and four-year colleges, including private and independent universities, in the Valley. I’m looking forward to working with everyone on important initiatives that are designed to increase student success and completion for all valley communities and residents.”

The 27-member strong consortium brings together members serving over 250,000 students in the Central Valley.

Van Horn has been a part of CVHEC’s executive team since 2016 when he started serving as treasurer.

Dr. Benjamin Duran, Executive Director of CVHEC, said Van Horn brings a breadth of knowledge and experience to the role.

“We are delighted to have someone like Dr. Van Horn, with his experience and reputation in higher education, to serve as Chair of the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium (CVHEC),” he said. “He has the full confidence of the presidents and chancellors of the 27 member institutions to lead CVHEC, which is recognized as the organization in the Central Valley and the State that speaks with one voice for higher education in our region.  Dr. Van Horn will bring much to the dialogue about improving the well-being of our students in our Central Valley colleges and universities.”

Van Horn has served as the Chancellor of the West Hills Community College District since 2017. Before taking on the role, he served as the district’s Vice-Chancellor of Educational Services and Workforce Development.

He has an extensive history in higher education, including serving as Dean of Instruction at Folsom Lake College from 2005 to 2013 and as Associate Commissioner of the Community College League of California’s Commission on Athletics (COA) for nine years. Other experience includes serving as Director of Public Information Services of the California Association of Community Colleges (known today as Community College League of California), Director of Community Relations at Mt. San Antonio College, and Senior Vice President of The Resource Group, an economic development entity, where he consulted 42 community colleges in California in program development and labor market acquisition projects.

 

 

The original post can be found at http://www.mylemooreleader.com/167669

Preparing the Way for a Central Valley Renaissance

JUNE 04, 2019 BY STUART VAN HORN, ED.D.

Preparing the Way for a Central Valley Renaissance

Recently, Governor Newsom announced his new “Regions Rise Together” initiative. Launched in partnership with California Forward and the California Economic Summit, this initiative is in recognition of the fact that the substantial economic and job growth that the state has experienced since 2010 has been concentrated in the state’s coastal areas and has largely passed over the state’s inland regions.

In fact, by the Governor’s own calculations, residents of California’s inland regions have seen their per capita income drop dramatically while 70% of job growth in the state during this same period has occurred in the state’s coastal regions. With the Regions Rise Together initiative, Governor Newsom intends on turning his “California for All” slogan into a strategy to design a comprehensive economic plan that will ensure sustainable and inclusive growth across the state and benefit all parts of California.

The announcement of the Governor’s new initiative is welcome news for those of us who live and work in the Central Valley. West Hills Community College District covers nearly 3,400 square miles of Central California, primarily in the western portions of Fresno and Kings Counties. The District serves over 8,000 students with two accredited colleges: West Hills College Coalinga and West Hills College Lemoore. In addition to its main campus location in Coalinga, West Hills College Coalinga also operates the North District Center in Firebaugh, and the Farm of the Future located at the north end of Coalinga. We are very proud of our students and our graduates and we have an 87-year history of serving students in efficient, innovative practices such as Prior Learning Assessment that promote student success and completion.

We also know well that our students face more social, economic, and structural obstacles to student success. Many of the students that we serve are first generation college students that must balance work and family obligations with their educational goals. They are hindered by the region’s higher unemployment rates, fewer jobs, and one of the highest poverty rates in the country. While Fresno County is California’s single most productive agricultural region and one of the most productive in the world (providing more than half of the fruits, vegetables, and nuts grown in the United States), Census data show that it is also the poorest metro area in the state and the second most impoverished region in the nation.

This data also show that Valley areas (Fresno, Modesto and Bakersfield-Delano) are among the top five U.S. regions with the highest percentage of residents living below the poverty line (one of every four). In Fresno County, median income fell from $46,479 to $42,807 during the last Census period while unemployment rose to 16 percent. In addition, food stamp use climbed to nearly 18 percent.

Beyond these economic statistics, our students also suffer from the lack of broadband internet in much of rural Fresno County. This broadband inequity makes distance education impossible, severely limits tele-health and tele-medicine opportunities, and significantly hinders educational attainment and economic growth in the region. The inequity of broadband access is a key reason why poor communities stay poor, chronic illness manifests, and social mobility is stunted. This fact is borne out by statistics. Our district has 12% of the state’s population but only 6% of the state’s bachelor’s degree holders. In addition, only 11% of the population ages 25 and above possess an associate’s degree or higher. This compares to 41% statewide.

West Hills is not intimated by these statistics. We are working every day to close these achievement gaps and increase educational attainment in our region. We offer Career Technical Educational programs that build a skilled workforce for our regional employers. We assist our students financially through our President’s Scholars program and by offering free Open Educational Resources (OER) textbooks. And we are helping eliminate the broadband inequity and ensure that reliable, high-speed broadband service is available in our region by ensuring that broadband infrastructure is built throughout the West Side and by raising funds to augment the monthly internet subscription fees of our student-led households.

The Governor’s initiative promises to build on existing locally driven initiatives in our state’s diverse regions while also leveraging the investments and policy priorities of the state. West Hills looks forward to representing our students’ and our communities’ needs in this conversation and working toward a future in which educational attainment soars, infrastructure supports growth, skills gaps are eliminated, and the quality of life increases for all residents in Fresno County.

Stuart Van Horn is chancellor of the West Hills Community College District.

 

Original post can be found at https://caeconomy.org/reporting/entry/preparing-the-way-for-a-central-valley-renaissance

Contact Us

  • centralvalleyhec@gmail.com

  • 559.292.0576

Join Our Newsletter