Hello friends and colleagues,

I hope you are enjoying the great spring weather here in the Central Valley as you explore our latest newsletter while we finalize preparations for our upcoming annual CVHEC Summit Friday, April 24, with the theme, “Evolving Higher Education for an Emerging Future.”

Earlier this month, we proudly declared the event is sold out. A special thank you to all who signed up … we look forward to seeing you! 

Following up last month’s issue when we presented titles and descriptions of the summit’s sessions as well as our legislative and higher ed panelists, we are happy to announce in this edition the power line-up of panelists for the remaining sessions and the event’s official agenda.  

While all the panels and topics are crucial discussions that will help us advance our higher education mission in the Central Valley, I call out here the panel, “A Conversation with Central Valley Presidents: New Priorities for Higher Education in the Region.” 

This session features the presidents of four CVHEC member institutions who will present and discuss the new initiatives the Consortium will be pursuing in the next three years or so: AI, Workforce Alignment, Data Sharing and Enrollment/Reconnect. Thank you to Presidents Saúl Jimenez Sandoval (Fresno State); Kim Armstrong Clovis Community College); Jerry Buckley (Reedley College); and Sean Hancock (Cerro Coso Community College) for leading the charge on these initiatives and serving as the session’s panelists.

I would also like to note our appreciation for the summit’s sponsors beginning with our major funding partner every year since 2016, College Futures Foundation, whose mission to “rebuild the California Dream for everyone” is in lockstep with CVHEC’s mission to improve our 10-county region’s college-going culture and degree/certificate attainment rates. The foundation’s support of the consortium summit reinforces its belief that “the most effective postsecondary education systems and structures center equity and need to be designed to meet learners’ needs and support their aspirations.”

Additionally, for the first time this year, we created sponsorship levels and are pleased to welcome as the inaugural class of summit sponsors: Emerzian Law Group PC, Kern County Superintendent of Schools, Teachers College of San Joaquin, Merced School Employees Federal Credit Union, Golden 1 Credit Union, Fresno DRIVE, and EECU.   Please join me in expressing our appreciation to all these vital partners in our drive to achieve academic success for more than 250,000 students served by our 28 institutions of higher education.

In addition to the summit, this newsletter issue touches on these two great accomplishments of the last several years: 

• the CVHEC Math Task Force most recent convening April 10 tops off its success in transforming the way college math is delivered in Central Valley colleges;

• and the Central Valley Transfer Project is featured in a national report by Complete College America showcasing how this CVHEC initiative with its groundbreaking PPM software provides valuable support to the increasing number of Valley students who are transferring to our local universities from our partner community colleges.

Speaking of PPM, what better way to prove its success than with the direct words of a student who not only discovered how to utilize the software to guide her successful academic journey but is also showing other students how to follow her lead with it? In this issue’s “What the CVHEC is Happening” Blog, Ms. Araceli Tilley shares how she used PPM through the consortium Transfer Project to overcome initial community college admission concerns enroute to earning associate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees, all leading to entering a doctoral program next fall. Araceli has previously served on panels for CVHEC sharing her story which seems to be producing new results every year! 

These are some of the highlights of our April issue and the upcoming summit.  I close by reminding our summit participants to be sure and join us for the CVHEC Summit Reception the night before (April 23) where we can informally connect before the big day while once again enjoying food, beverages and the remarkable music of the Fresno State Latin Jazz Ensemble.