In a partnership with the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium, the CV Transfer Pathways -- modeled after CVHEC's Transfer Project -- entails developing and publishing 2 + 2 transfer pathways using the Program Pathways Mapper software to clarify the path to four year colleges for transfer students as well as for campus staff.
The new demonstration project, which begins immediately with Central Valley community colleges, will build on the strong intersegmental relationships developed by CVHEC's project that was first launched in 2021, Chancellor Christian said in an announcement that energized the summit audience.
Chancellor Christian reflects her commitment to California students
We are delighted to report that we are coming off a very successful Central Valley Higher Education Consortium Summit 2023 held at the Fresno convention Center Oct. 20 when we were joined by over 150 of our friends and colleagues to showcase the work of consortium member colleges and universities over the last year.
The highlight of the summit was welcoming our new California Community Colleges Chancellor, Dr. Sonya Christian, home to the Central Valley to serve as our keynote speaker. As expected, her presentation was inspiring and reflected her commitment to students in the state. Dr. Christian took this opportunity at the summit to announce and launch the CCCCO Central Valley Transfer Pathways Demonstration Project that will build upon the progress of our own Transfer Project partnership between the community colleges, the CSUs and UC Merced here in the valley. The CCCCO project is unique in California in that it includes the three segments of public colleges and universities and will eventually include the independent universities as well.
In this issue’s “What the CV-HEC is happening” blog, you will read an update about CVHEC’s innovative approach to delivering college dual enrollment math courses for high school students throughout the region via our Math Bridge project in partnership with CVHEC partner, College Bridge. The project, designed to get high school students through their first gateway college math course, will serve as a springboard for completing their degrees.
Also please plan on attending the virtual zoom San Joaquin Valley Affordable Internet Adoption Summit on Thursday, Nov. 9, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The deadline to register is Nov. 7 at: https://bit.ly/SJVSummitRSVP. Bringing affordable broadband internet services to the most vulnerable populations in the Central Valley is an important part of the work CVHEC does in the valley.
Finally, enjoy our summit photo galleries where we share images and comments about the recent CVHEC summit as well as the board meeting and reception they day before. I am sure you will see many familiar faces..
Have a great November and a wonderful and restful Thanksgiving Holiday with family and friends!
Math Task Force begins discussion of AB1705 implementation – Nov. 17 next ‘The math education professionals in the CVHEC region are showing up for the task’
With an eye towards ensuring the success rates of their students enrolled in corequisites to gateway math courses, community college members of the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium Math Task Force kicked off a series of convenings in October to begin preparing for implementation of Assembly Bill 1705 in the 2024-25 academic year.
CVHEC announced that follow up meetings are set for November and January to continue a year-long discussion of ideas and options with the task force members and other educators in an ongoing quest for equitable mathematics under AB705 and AB1705.
To accommodate faculty schedules, two one-hour virtual sessions have been set for Nov. 17: 10-11 a.m. and 1-2 p.m. A follow-up day-long session is set for Jan. 26 in-person in Fresno.
These sessions will continue discussions initiated Oct. 6 (virtual) and Oct. 13 (in person), when CVHEC convened more than 30 math educators, counselors and administrators to begin exploring their existing respective implementation data and follow-up measures.
Dr. John Spevak, CVHEC regional coordinator who oversees the consortium’s Math and English Task Forces, said the agenda for the two November Zoom meetings will cover the same topics so math professors can choose the meeting time that fits their schedule. But they are welcome to attend both he said ...
Araceli Tilley (left), who served on the CVHEC Summit student panel with Jesús López Nuñez, Hailee Guerra and Alondra Veloz, will travel with the CVHEC Transfer Project team to Indian Springs this month to provide her experiences with the Program Pathway Mapper as a transfer student.
CVHEC Summit leaves myriad of takeaways for participants
Student panelist ‘earns’ a trip to CCLC to share her transfer experiences statewide
For Araceli Tilley, an alumna of Merced College, the Program Pathway Mapper used by the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium Transfer Project proved to be not only useful for her transfer to UC Merced in fall 2022, it provided her an easy way to map her college courses for her final two years of college at UC Merced that is leading up to graduation in May 2024 with a degree in psychology.
Araceli shared her experiences on the student panel at the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium Summit 2023 held in Fresno Oct. 20 where the breadth and depth of CVHEC activities such as the Transfer Project were showcased. She was joined by four other students who shared their experiences in activities CVHEC has sponsored and how much their success could be attributed to those initiatives.
“The mapper provided a straight path that really helped me out, especially because counseling and advising is super impacted at many colleges and you don’t always get to meet in-person with advisors so it was nice that I was able to self-direct using it,” Araceli said ...
This month’s “What The CV-HEC Is Happening” guest blog is an update of the Math Bridge program presented by Owynn Lancaster, vice president for Academic Strategy with College Bridge, a California non-profit based in Los Angeles County dedicated to forging a path towards both college access and success for underrepresented students. College Bridge is a partner with the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium in this innovative program designed to improve math outcomes for struggling 11th and 12th graders and streamline Math pathways into college. Funded by a five-year $4 million grant through the US Department of Education’s Education Innovation and Research (EIR) Program in January, this ambitious endeavor was kicked off in May with a convening of more than 150 valley K-16 educators in Fresno to begin the onboarding process for this historic intersegmental collaboration between CVHEC member community colleges and high schools in their respective service areas. That initiative was followed in April with a $1.1 million state grant to CVHEC/College Bridge partnership through the Central San Joaquin Valley K-16 Partnership creating the Dual Enrollment (DE) Math Bridge that will provide equitable access to transfer-level math courses with embedded support for high school students who are disproportionately impacted, and/or are not traditionally college-bound. This fall, the College Bridge and CVHEC Math Bridge teams have been visiting campuses to continue the onboard process in preparation for the program’s launch next fall.
Expanding the Reach of the Central Valley Math Bridge
BY OWYNN LANCASTER
College Bridge
After our successfulCollege Orientation meetings in September, the College Bridge team has been darting up and down the San Joaquin Valley, meeting with interested feeder highs schools to onboard and launch them for the coming academic year’sCV Math Bridge Project.
Inspiring our efforts, two amazing CVHEC member colleges have “jumped to lead the pack” as Dr. Lynn Cevallos, our College Bridge president, often says. The first of those with an impressing showing come from Merced College where their team has helped us garner interest from seven possible high schools! Showing the region’s commitment to opening options for their students in math and the impressive connecting power of the college’s administration.
In equally exciting efforts, San Joaquin Delta College helped to secure two committed high school partners from Stockton Unified, with interest from others in their region. Those two Stockton schools, Amos Alonzo Stagg High School and Captain Charles M. Weber of Applied Science and Technology have been two of the smoothest schools to onboard so far! More importantly addition of these schools and the partnership with Delta College now helps us open the CV Math Bridge Project across the breadth of the Valley ...
The San Joaquin Valley Broadband Summit
Nov. 9 seeks affordable internet across the region
The San Joaquin Valley Affordable Broadband Summit Nov. 9 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 pm via Zoom will bring key community leaders together to strategize for the adoption of affordable internet across the region.
The California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF) is hosting the virtual summit with the deadline to register set for Nov. 7 at: https://bit.ly/SJVSummitRSVP.
A pre-summit held Nov. 1 addressed broadband barriers, resources and solutions such as the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP).
At the summit, a diverse group of experts, community leaders, and advocates will share their insights and experiences in addressing Broadband Access in the San Joaquin Valley as they seek to bridge the digital divide in the San Joaquin Valley.
The Central Valley Higher Education Consortium is a partner with the Central Valley Regional Broadband Consortium which has joined the California Department of Technology (CDT) and the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to collaborate with other state agencies and local partners working towards creating an equitable digital future ...
Bee panel examining decline of Latino higher ed enrollment features CVHEC leaderDr. Benjamín Durán, executive director, of the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium, will participate on a virtual panel presented Nov. 8 (6-7 p.m.) by The Fresno Bee's La Abeja staff, "Central Valley Latinos and higher education completion: Is there a growing gap?" The hour-long panel, presented in three 20-minute breakouts, features state and Central Valley education leaders examining the barriers to Latino student success and opportunities available. Dr. Duran will be in the second breakout joined by Michele Siqueiros, president of the Campaign for College Opportunity. The first breakout features Olga Rodríguez, director of the Public Policy Institute of California Higher Education Center who recently presented at the CVHEC summit in Fresno, and Carlos Nevarez, interim provost and vice president of academic affairs at Sacramento State. Fresno State students Crystal Navarro and Joseph Aquino will discuss their experiences in the closing breakout. (MORE)
CETF helps Planada establish digital community Together with Comcast, California Emerging Technology Fund provided a $15,000 grant for the Planada Elementary School District to replace 3 laptop carts and purchase 40 Chromebooks for their students. Dr. Benjamín Durán, executive director, of the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium and Merced College president-emeritus, returned to his hometown for the presentation. (MORE)
Community College CEOs first caucus: area state legislators address policy issues
The newly-formed Central Valley Community College CEO Caucus held its first convening Oct. 26 with valley legislators to discuss a variety of policy issues facing community colleges. The CVCCCC Policy Summit and Legislator Convening, which brought together Central Valley state legislators, chancellors and presidents, was hosted at Madera Community College by President Ángel Reyna and led by Merced College President Chris Vitelli, chair of the Central Valley Community College CEO Caucus, and West Hills Community College District Chancellor Kristin Clark, board chair for the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium. (MORE)
KCCD receives ACCT 2023 Pacific Region Equity Award
The Kern Community College District was awarded the 2023 Pacific Region Equity Award from the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) at ACCT’s annual conference in Las Vegas, Nevada last month. ACCT is an organization representing more than 6,500community college trustees throughout the United States.(MORE)
Comcast pledges $100,000 in scholarships to 5 CVHEC CCs Comcast California presented a $100,000 donation to five Central Valley Higher Education Consortium-member community colleges ($20k each) to support the next generation of students eager to pursue careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM): Fresno City College, Clovis Community College, Madera College and Reedley College all in the State Center Community College District and College of the Sequoias. (MORE)
Panel discusses how to reduce textbook costs for California college students Dr. Carole Goldsmith, chancellor of the State Center Community College District and a Central Valley Higher Education Consortium board member, served on an EdSource panel that examined how California’s public institutions of higher education have launched efforts to dramatically reduce or eliminate the cost of course materials, which can sometimes rival the price of tuition. (MORE)
WHC-Lemoore Visual Arts building groundbreaking is Dec. 1 West Hills College Lemoore will celebrate breaking ground for its new Visual Arts and Applied Sciences Building Dec. 1, from 9 to 10 a.m. Registration.
SCCCD: panel discussion with formerly incarcerated students
A panel discussion, "A Community Supporting Formerly Incarcerated (System-Impacted) Students," will offer the opportunity to learn from formerly incarcerated (system-impacted) students, staff and faculty who continue to advocate for equitable access for all students. The free event will be Wednesday, Nov. 15 from 4 to 5 p.m. at Clovis Community College AC1-150. This diverse panel engages in dialogue through their experiences to offer best practices for supporting, creating a sense of belonging and education access for our formerly incarcerated (system-impacted) student population. Open to the public. Info: Edgar Parrilla at edgar.parrilla@cloviscollege.edu. (Registration).
November marks Native American Heritage Month November is “National American Indian Heritage Month” to honor contributions the first Americans made to the establishment and growth of the United States. CVHEC-member Fresno State will present several events to recognize Native American members of the campus community. (MORE)
HIGHER EDUCATION NEWS
• The need for student services at community colleges has changed dramatically since the 1960s. Has state law kept up? - CalMatters • Fresno-Madera K-16 Collaborative cited in story: collaboration key to student success from school to college to career - EdSource • Tuition-free access expanding across California community college campuses - EdSource • Feeling adrift drives anxiety, depression in young adults - Inside Higher Ed • Debunking perceptions about value of humanities degrees- Inside Higher Ed
• CCA releases lineup for annual convening Dec. 10-12 At Future Ready, Complete College America’s 2023 Annual Convening Dec. 10-12 in Las Vegas, respected higher education leaders, practitioners and policymakers will share how they are looking to the future on affordability, equity, emerging technologies, changing political landscapes and more. CVHEC reps will present on the consortium's Transfer Project that is serving as the model for the Central Valley Transfer Pathways Demonstration Project recently announced by the California Community College Chancellor’s Office at CVHEC's Higher Ed Summit in October. (Late CCA registration is open from Nov 2 – Dec. 10 at www.completecollege.org/future-ready ). - See Complete College of America
MEDIA NOTE: Connect with CVHEC’s campus communicators/PIOs Higher education journalists are invited to use our Central Valley Higher Education Consortium PIO/Communicators Commiteepage that features contact info for media relations professionals at our 28-member campuses across the Central Valley, from Stockton to Bakersfield including links to their respective news websites.
For CVHEC media inquiries: Tom Uribes, 559.348.3278 / cvheccommunicatons@mail.fresnostate.edu (or button below).
The Central Valley Higher Education Consortium (CVHEC) is a California non-profit
made up of 28-instutitions of higher education in the nine-county region from San Joaquin to Kern
that is the size of some states. Through CVHEC, higher education professionals and academicians in the Central Valley address difficult and complex initiatives, scaling them up across the region for
mutual effectivenessto serve our students and communities.
This month’s “What The CV-HEC Is Happening” guest blog is an update of the Math Bridge program presented by Owynn Lancaster, vice president for Academic Strategy with College Bridge, a California non-profit based in Los Angeles County dedicated to forging a path towards both college access and success for underrepresented students. College Bridge is a partner with the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium in this innovative program designed to improve math outcomes for struggling 11th and 12th graders and streamline Math pathways into college. Funded by a five-year 
Comcast pledges $100,000 in scholarships to 5 CVHEC CCs
Panel discusses how to reduce textbook costs for California college students
SCCCD: panel discussion with formerly incarcerated students
MEDIA NOTE: Connect with CVHEC’s campus c
