Tag Archive for: Transfer
Dr. Sonya Christian, California Community Colleges chancellor (second from left), and Central Valley Higher Education Consortium executive director Benjamin Duran (third from left) greeted high school student panelists at the Dual Enrollment In the Central Valley Convening 2025 – CVHEC/CVDEEP where she delivered keynote Feb. 3: Jonathan Alfaro and Ailyn Morales of Mendota High School with Principal Travis Kirby; and Isaac Dircio and Andres Medina Zapien of McFarland High (McFarland Unified School District) with Jill Jimenez and Jordynn Jimenez of McFarland High School Dual Enrollment.
CVHEC: power of collaboration – the ‘Central Valley Way’
Greetings CVHEC friends and colleagues …
This February edition of our Central Valley Higher Education Consortium newsletter continues sharing with you the great work that the boots-on-the-ground folks at our member institutions are doing to serve our students.
You will read about two convenings, the recent Central Valley Dual Enrollment Convening with 140 attendees and the Central Valley Math Task Force Convening scheduled for March 28. These two high-powered collaborations showcase the work our colleges and universities are doing in both the expansion of dual enrollment providing opportunities for high school students to take college courses while in high school, and addressing the challenging college level math courses that are essential for them to be successful in college.
Also, please make sure you read about our unique-to-California Central Valley Transfer Project. The project has provided academic transfer pathways for Central Valley community students from our regional community colleges to the three California State Universities in the valley and UC Merced. The outcomes from these efforts have been impressive in terms of dramatically improving transfer rates while closing the gaps between the general student population and valley students of color. The project was designated a California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office Demonstration Project in 2023, by Chancellor Sonya Christian. We are proud to report to her that it is now ready to be disseminated to the rest of the state as a model that is ready to be replicated.
This month’s “What the CV-HEC is Happening” blog is an entry by a local attorney, Ashley Emerzian, about the legal aspects around hazing on higher education campuses. Please enjoy her entry and we hope you learn more about the topic as you peruse the article. Ashley has graciously offered to submit articles highlighting higher education legal issues relevant to our region for future CVHEC newsletters as well.
This CVHEC Board of Directors also has a busy schedule this spring as its members – the chancellors, presidents and campus directors of our 28 member institutions of higher education in the valley — prepare for the spring quarterly board meeting and a strategic planning retreat.
Additionally, as they move forward under the leadership of CVHEC Board Chair, UC Merced Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz, we look forward to the annual CVHEC Higher Education Summit scheduled for May 9. Please mark your calendars and stay tuned for further details. We look forward to having you join us to continue collaborating “the Central Valley Way!”
Please enjoy our newsletter and feel free to share it with your colleagues and friends and encourage them to subscribe.
Summer break provides pause for reflection
Greetings CVHEC friends and colleagues!
I welcome you to the mid-summer edition of our CVHEC newsletter. We hope you are having a restful and enjoyable summer and taking time to recharge and prepare for the upcoming fall semester.
This time of the year we try to step back, take a breath and highlight the great work that has been taking place on our member campuses by the dedicated faculty and staff.
As you visit the entries, you will get a sense of the efforts across the Central Valley in the last six months to improve access, retention and completion of students at our CVHEC member institutions in the region.
We also acknowledge ongoing transition in the region’s higher education scene with CEO changes at WHCCD, Porterville College, Fresno City College and Clovis Community College. One of those changes is the departure of Dr. Claudia Habib who left her Porterville presidency this month for the Ventura College presidency. We thank President Habib for her service to her students and to the CVHEC board.
All the best Claudia …as well as to Dr. Kristin Clark whose retirement as chancellor of WHCCD takes effect Aug. 8. We are especially appreciative of her service as the chair of the CVHEC board the past few years. We said our goodbyes to Kristin at our recent board executive committee meeting and also at a farewell reception for her July 26 at Lemoore College.
Speaking of the board, members should have received detailed info about our upcoming quarterly meeting in early September. If you have not received anything, please do contact Angel Ramirez at centralvalleyhec@gmail.com ASAP.
Finally, please allow me to close this summer message with a Happy Birthday greeting to … US! It was on Aug. 5, 2002 that CVHEC became formally incorporated under the leadership of then Fresno State President John D. Welty. Watch for more about our history in the near future.
We hope you enjoy our newsletter and continue enjoying your summer.
Among the many dignitaries participating in the historic UC Merced Medical Education Building groundbreaking May 14 with Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz were Dr. Ivan Gomez of UCSF Fresno, Dr. Angel Reyna, president of Madera College, Dr. Kenny Iban of UCSF Fresno and Dr. Rosa Manzo of UC Merced who will be the first faculty member hired for the B.S. to M.D. Pathway, SJV PRIME+ Program.
Special edition: medical education
CVHEC members delivering medical doctor degrees to
produce more healthcare professionals for our region
Greetings CVHEC friends and colleagues!
First, let me congratulate our consortium members – 28 colleges and districts across the Central Valley — for completing another spring semester highlighted by the always joyous commencement season. It has been delightful seeing all the media reports on your graduations.
Now, it is my pleasure to present you this month’s special issue of the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium e-Newsletter that focuses on the universities and medical schools in our membership delivering medical education and training leading to medical doctor degrees that will counter the shortage of healthcare professionals in our Central Valley region.
Our three main stories feature California Health Sciences University (CHSU), the University of San Francisco School of Medicine, Fresno Campus, (UCSF Fresno) and the University of California, Merced.
In the CHSU article, you will learn about the newest medical school in the Central Valley that just celebrated its first commencement, graduating 66 new Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine. Established in 2020, and based in Clovis, the medical school – now with 500 students – recently received a full seven-year accreditation. And fittingly, our CVHEC board member, Flo Dunn, was recognized with an honorary doctorate degree for her service as the CHSU founding and current president. Congratulations Dr. Dunn!
You will also read about the exciting initiatives being delivered by the University of California San Francisco Fresno campus creating pathways to the medical field for students in the Central Valley including an update on the California Medical Scholars Program. Among those initiatives are the new SJV-MedBridge pathway for community college students, the recently launched SJV PRIME+ Baccalaureate-to-MD pathway in collaboration with UC Merced, UCSF Fresno residency and fellowship training programs, and UCSF Fresno’s robust continuing medical education portfolio as well as its efforts in mental healthcare training.
In the UC Merced contribution, the medical education program has developed over the years to help breach the shortage of physicians and other health care professionals in the Central Valley with its most recent exciting development: the groundbreaking for the new Medical Education Building held earlier this month. Slated for completion in fall 2026, the new facility will house the SJV PRIME+ Baccalaureate-to-MD pathway mentioned above in addition to other efforts UC Merced is pursuing to create cohorts of students and direct many of them into the medical field in the region to help address the shortage of medical professionals.
And, as National Mental Health Awareness Month comes to a close this week, we are pleased to present a community perspective in this medical education movement with our monthly “What the CV-HEC is Happening Blog” by Juan Garcia, Ph.D, executive director of Integral Community Solutions Institute (known as Community Counseling Services). Dr. Garcia articulates this non-profit organization’s work addressing mental healthcare in underrepresented communities in partnership with CVHEC members UCSF Fresno and Fresno State through the Bienestar Wellness Early Intervention Program.
In closing, we extend a special thank you to West Hills Community College District Chancellor Kristin Clarke, Taft Community College Superintendent/ President Brock McMurray and Porterville College President Claudia Habib for their service to the students of the Central Valley during their tenure as higher education leaders in the region. Chancellor Clark and President McMurray will be retiring and entering the next phase of their lives while Dr. Habib will be taking the presidency at Ventura Community College. We wish them all well. They will always be part of the CVHEC family.
Thanks again to you and your institutions that have brought statewide and national attention to the Central Valley.
We look forward to meeting and welcoming new CEOs in the region at our next CVHEC Board of Directors meeting tentatively set for August when we also will introduce new intersegmental regional initiatives we will be launching in the near future.
Thank you for reviewing this special edition showcasing some of our CVHEC member institutions efforts combatting the historical shortage of health professionals in the Central Valley. Have a great summer 2024!
A mission of math continues in the Central Valley
Greetings CVHEC friends and colleagues!
Welcome to our April newsletter as we are a month or so to closing out another academic year in the Central Valley. We are particularly pleased to shine a spotlight on our community college board members for National Community College Month. Our Central Valley community college leaders are dedicated to serving our students with great pride.
You will note that this issue focuses on mathematics education activity in the Central Valley. Our CVHEC partners — College Bridge and the Charles A. Dana Center from the University of Texas at Austin — have been working with our regional partner community colleges and high schools to build pathways and eliminate barriers for our students looking to navigate the challenge of completing their gateway courses in college math.
You will get a glimpse of the work that the Central Valley Math Task Force members will be undertaking at their April 19 convening. Also, an update by Dr. Nicole Korgie highlights the progress College Bridge has made with implementing the Math Bridge project to enroll high school students in college level dual enrollment classes.
But our big news on the math mission front is the awarding of two grants to CVHEC from the Regional K-16 Education Collaboratives Grant Programs by the WE Will! K-16 Collaborative that will expand our Math Bridge and Master’s Upskilling projects into the north valley. Congrats CVHEC-members: University of California, Merced (WE Will’s lead agency); Merced College; Modesto Junior College; San Joaquin Delta College; and California State University, Stanislaus for your leadership.
And in our News section, we welcome new presidents to two of our CVHEC member institutions:
- Britt Rios-Ellis was named by the California State University Board of Trustees as the new president at CSU Stanislaus effective July 1.
- Dr. Rafe E. Trickey will begin his tenure as superintendent/president of Taft College May 3 after his appointment by the West Kern Community College District.
We look forward to having President-select Rios-Ellis and President-select Trickey join us on the CVHEC Board of Directors.
Thank you all, I hope you enjoy this April issue.