v.4 in use
FINAL STORY TO COME
ART TO COME
Recruitment underway for North Valley English HS teachers cohort
The Central Valley Higher Education Consortium (CVHEC) Master’s Upskilling Program – now successfully scaled across three California K-16 Education Collaboratives regions throughout the consortium’s 10-counties — is now recruiting for 12 North Valley and three more Kern County English high school teachers interested in earning a master’s degree that will qualify them to teach dual enrollment college courses.
An online information session is set for April 22 with registration now available.
The program, which provides tuition funding support, is open to English Single Subject credential holders who are interested in pursuing a master’s degree in English with a specialization in rhetoric. In addition to dual enrollment courses, the degree also qualifies them to work as adjunct instructors in a community college.
The CVHEC Master’s Upskilling Program was first launched in 2021 with the Fresno/Madera K-16 Collaborative. In 2022, the program was funded for the South Valley by the Kern Regional K-16 Education Collaborative and in 2024 for the North Valley by the WE Will! K-16 Workforce and Education Collaborative.
The program is in partnership with two CVHEC-members — Fresno Pacific University (math) and National University (English) — along with CVHEC member community colleges and their service-area high schools.
In addition to covering a large part of the cost of the upskilling coursework, the program provides the high school teachers with community college mentors to support them in their academic journey and in their eventual role as college instructors, said Tom Burke, CVHEC’s Master’s Upskilling Program coordinator.
For the North Valley participants (San Joaquin, Stanislaus, & Merced counties), CVHEC’s We Will! Workforce and Education Collaborative grant provides $12,500 per student. National University provides a 20 percent tuition reduction scholarship per student also in partnership with CVHEC.
For the South Valley participants receive $14,400 each from Kern’s Regional K16 Education Collaborative and the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium (CVHEC).
They also receive a 20 percent ($3,978) employee tuition reduction each from the CVHEC partnership with National University.
Classes are scheduled to begin Spring/Summer 2025 for completion in 12-months or less with 10 courses (45 quarter units) that are fully online, asynchronous instruction in a one-course-per-month format. The program uses a cohort-based model with 12 students per cohort.
Similar to the Fresno and Kern initiatives, National and CVHEC are now working with Merced, San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties Superintendent of Schools Offices to recruit for the 12 slots open to high school English teachers in the three North Valley counties seeking this opportunity, as well as working with regional community colleges to identify mentors for the participating teachers.
The Kern program has been recruiting for 15 slots the past few months with 12 slots filled to date.
The April 22 info session webinar covers both North Valley and Kern participants, said Jessica Gladney, senior director of Educational Partnerships Workforce and Community Education (WCE) for National.
Burke said community college professors interested in serving as a mentor should contact the respective coordinators: Dr. Lori Bennett (math) at lori.bennett@csun.edu or Dr. Vikash Lakhani (English) at vikashlakhani@hotmail.com.
He provided this breakdown of the program’s progress since the it began in 2022 [or use the chart I made? Tom fills out.]: (USE THE CHART IF READY OTHERWISE OMMIT AND SAVE FOR A FUTURE STORY)
[NOTE: KERN data from NL-0924 – to be updated]
English MA Summary:
- In three cohorts to date, 32 students have graduated.
- Also from those first 3 cohorts, nine master’s candidates have received in progress grades and are working to complete their capstone course towards meeting their full degree requirements.
- A fourth cohort in English is being developed.
Math MA Summary:
- Sixteen (16) students from cohort 1 have graduated.
- Cohort 2 currently has 11 students on course to graduate in spring 2025.
- Cohort 3 commences this semester (fall 2024) with 22 master’s candidates and will complete in spring 2026.
[OR – using the chart I sent Tom B?]:
To date, ____ ? high school teachers have completed the postgraduate degree requirements for teaching California Community College courses in dual enrollment at their respective high schools. Through the Fresno K-16 funding, ____ have earned a Master’s in English and ____ in math; Kern K16: _____ English and _____ math; and North Valley K-16 (WeWill): : _____ English and _____ math.
QUOTE? Tom B or Ben?
For questions about the program, contact Kondwani Prater, National University outreach specialist at kprater@nu.edu or text (818) 214-9044.
- CVHEC questions: contact Ángel Ramírez, operations and finance manager, at CVHECinfo@mail.fresnostate.edu or 278.0576.
- Media inquiries:Tom Uribes, CVHEC communications coordinator, text 559.348.3278 or cvheccommunications@mail.fresnostate.edu
See:
- Fresno Pacific University Math MA Program
- National University English MA program
- Kern Masters Upskill Program update – Sept. 2024
- Kern Master’s Upskilling Program: 2nd cohort graduates – next cohort recruitment underway
- CVHEC Teacher Upskilling Program for Master’s Degrees Supports Dual Enrollment in South Valley via Kern K-16 Collaborative Grant(June 23, 2022)
- Rozell, Lakhani Named CVHEC’s Kern Faculty Mentor Coordinators(February 22, 2023)
- CVHEC IN THE NEWS: KBAK features Kern Master’s Upskill Program(November 17, 2022)
- Tom Burke Named Kern Master’s Upskill Lead(November 16, 2022)
- Herrera to Head Kern Regional K-16 Education Collaborative(July 13, 2022)
- KCSOS Dr. Mary Barlow Announces $18.1M Workforce Grant (KCSOS press release – June 9, 2022)
- “Blurring the Lines Between High School and College: Dual Enrollment in the Central Valley”(CVHEC video – March 2022)
