Shining light

As we approach spring 2026, we welcome you to our March CVHEC newsletter. 

We are excited to share with you the shout-out our Central Valley Transfer Project received in a national report released this month, “Set Up to Succeed: Meeting California’s Postsecondary Education Attainment Goal.”

Complete College America and the Campaign for College Opportunity compiled this report as a comprehensive playbook outlining the policy and system reforms California needs in order to reach Governor Newsom’s goal of 70 percent postsecondary attainment by 2030.  I hope you find this report as compelling as I did especially for shining a light on the historic extraordinary collaboration and leadership provided by consortium member institutions and our Transfer Project team leaders.

Additionally, on the topic of the Transfer Project, see our story updating us on the rollout of the California Community Colleges’ Program Pathways Mapper (PPM) 2.0 platform that is providing students with a unique tool that helps smooth their transfer pathways. Again, CVHEC’s team, in collaboration with representatives of member institutions, trailblazed a path for the entire CCC system to follow when it set up the PPM as its software. More than 90 ? percent of the state’s 116 CCC campuses are onboard or in progress of onboarding, including all 14 of our CVHEC members. (check this number with Tom B.)

This month is also important to us because, after a lengthy and diligent effort, we present in this issue the Central Valley Dual Enrollment Guide/Playbook that will be unveiled at the California Dual Enrollment Equity Conference in San Diego during our CVHEC session there March 17.  This publication was developed to assist colleges and high schools with practical and proven strategies for delivering dual enrollment courses to students in rural areas of the Central Valley by showcasing eight case studies of CVHEC members partnering with high school/district feeders.  This playbook will serve as a resource for similar rural areas in the rest of California and other parts of the country to implement and deliver this important initiative that gives high school students a big leg up in pursuing a higher education.  

Of course, we also want to bring your attention to our upcoming Central Valley Higher Education Summit set for Friday, April 24 and invite you to register for the event if you have not done so already.  

The summit agenda is coming together nicely under the theme “Evolving Higher Education for an Emerging Future.” In this issue we announce the session topics as well as confirmation that all four of the state’s higher education systems — the University of California, the California State University system, the California Community Colleges and the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities – will send a top leader to join us in a joint conversation:  CCC Chancellor Sonya Christian, CSU Chancellor Mildred Garcia, AICCU President Kristen Soares and UC Provost Katherine S. Newman.

Also, we are finalizing a panel of four Central Valley legislators to discuss upcoming national and state legislative efforts amidst the challenges facing higher ed. Finally, I call your attention to our “What the Cv-HEC is Happening” Blog this month by CVHEC friend, attorney Ashley Emerzian,  who looks at the role artificial intelligence is commanding in higher education from the legal perspective.  She brings a personal and light-hearted approach to a current pressing topic.