Greetings friends and colleagues of CVHEC,

I am excited to welcome you to the November issue of our CVHEC Newsletter.  This past month has been a busy and exciting time, and we take great delight in telling you all about it.

In October, CVHEC held two outstanding events that speak to the very mission of the consortium.

Early in the month, 25 of the 28 CVHEC CEOs joined their colleagues for the fall Board of Directors meeting at Modesto Jr. College hosted by MJC President Brian Sanders.  In addition to board business and updates on the four new CVHEC priorities underway, a highlight of the day was the board’s action to grant CVHEC membership to Teachers College of San Joaquin (TCSJ) as the 29th member of the consortium.  TCSJ President Dr. Hale will be seated at the Board’s February meeting.

On the heels of that October meeting, we were fortunate to co-host The Golden Ticket convening in the Central Valley with our partners, the College Futures Foundation (CFF) and the Central Valley Community Foundation (CVCF).  I was honored to join CFF President Eloy Oakley and CVCF President Ashley Swearengin in introducing this statewide public engagement campaign focused on higher education and economic mobility in California.  Stay tuned, because this collaborative effort will serve as the main thrust of our work for the foreseeable future.  

You will see other items in the newsletter as you continue to read on but I want to call your attention to CVHEC’s participation at the upcoming Complete College America Conference scheduled for early December in San Diego.  We are happy to share that the consortium will be featured in the CCA’s 2026 Gallery Walk featuring CVHEC and our Master’s Upskilling Program — one of the many initiatives undertaken by our Central Valley colleges and universities as they unite in one voice to raise the wellbeing of our students in the region.  

The CCA gallery features one of the graduates of the upskilling program, Sunnyside High School teacher Ginny Sandhu, as an example of how we addressed the shortage of qualified teachers for dual enrollment courses. To date, over 250  high school teachers have earned their master’s through the program funded by the California K-16 Collaboratives and are available to provide this opportunity for their students to take college courses while still in high school as Ms. Sandhu does.

Please enjoy this edition of our newsletter.