CVHEC Master’s Upskilling Program making its mark

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 it began in 2022, with 188 high school teachers to date in the valley’s three K-16 regions completing the postgraduate degree requirements that will qualify them to teach California Community College courses in dual enrollment at their respective high schools:

• The Fresno/Madera K-16 completed eight cohorts in 2022 that produced 140 master’s degrees: four English cohorts resulted in 54 master’s degrees and in the math component, 86 degrees were conferred in four cohorts also.
• For Kern K16, 48 master’s degrees have been conferred: three English cohorts have been completed with 32 degrees and a fourth cohort will begin this spring for completion in May 2026 with 12 high school teachers currently recruited (recruitment is still open for three additional slots). In math, one cohort has been completed resulting in 16 degrees conferred and two cohorts are in progress with 12 students set to complete in May 2025 and 22 students in May 2026.
• The North Valley K-16 (WeWill) program began this year: one English cohort of 12 will begin this spring for completion in May 2026. Recruitment is still open with the April 22 information session.  One math cohort also begins this spring for completion in fall 2026 with 10 students enrolled (recruitment for this math cohort is closed).

For questions about the English program cohort openings, 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)