CVHEC Board scenes May 11: outgoing CVHEC board members Dr. Ellen Junn (Stanislaus State president) and Dr. Sonya Christian (Kern Community College District chancellor); presenters Dr. Lynn Cevallos, College Bridge president, and West Hills College-Lemoore President James Preston.
CVHEC board to appoint ZTC/OER Task Force
Spring board meeting: strategic planning, Transfer Project/Math Bridge convergence
The Central Valley Higher Education Consortium’s new Zero Textbook Costs/Open Educational Resources Task Force will form in the coming months, West Hills College-Lemoore President James Preston reported to the CVHEC Board of Directors at its quarterly meeting May 11 in Fresno.
The action highlighted a full agenda of information for the board made up of the chancellors, presidents and campus directors of 28 institutions of higher education in the Central Valley’s nine-county region. Highlights included:
• Announcement of the development of a strategic plan with West Ed that will drive the organization’s work in the next 3-5 years;
• A presentation outlining the convergence of two CVHEC projects: the Central Valley Transfer Project and Math Bridge;
• A welcome and farewell of incoming and departing members of the board, signifying transition among the valley’s higher education campus leaders.
Dr. Kristin Clark, CVHEC Board of Directors chair, welcomed the 14 members who attended the meeting at the Wyndham Inn and another seven joining in virtually.
Winding down an extraordinary academic year in the Central Valley
Greetings,
As we welcome you to the May issue of our newsletter, we take this opportunity to thank, congratulate and salute all the CVHEC educators who have dedicated themselves to sending off another group of Central Valley students into the next phase of their academic and or professional lives. This annual commencement season is truly a magical time of the year and reminds us all why we chose careers in higher education.
In this issue we present more about Math Bridge, the math pathways initiative launched May 18 by bringing together representatives of six regional community colleges and their partner feeder high schools. At this kickoff held in downtown Fresno, these dedicated and determined professionals began the process to jointly create college level dual enrollment math courses targeted at underrepresented student populations that will allow them to complete a college math course before graduating from high school. This innovative project is unique because of the intersegmental collaboration between high school and community college math faculty members working together to ensure their students' success.
You will also have an opportunity to visit the CVHEC board meeting held May 11 in Fresno. Board members heard a joint presentation by Dr. James Zimmerman, senior associate vice provost and dean of Undergraduate Education at UC Merced, and Dr. Lynn Cevallos, president and founder of College Bridge. They addressed the evolution and overlap of two CVHEC endeavors, the Central Valley Transfer Project and the Math Bridge initiative, that helps clear pathways for students getting into and through community college and onto the university of their choice.
We also bid farewell to two dear colleagues although one will remain well in sight, Dr. Sonya Christian who served on our board as chancellor of the Kern Community College District but now moves up to chancellor of the California Community College system. And joining us one last time at the meeting was the esteemed Dr. Ellen Junn, Stanislaus State president whose retirement is effective next month. We know you join the board in thanking them for their service to higher education in general and the consortium in particular. And you may read about our newest board additions in the story and photo gallery about the board meeting.
Please enjoy this issue as well as the conclusion of this extraordinary semester.
Central Valley Math Bridge: kickoff event brings
K-16 partners to the table for stronger math programs
Representatives of the first cohort of 13 Valley high schools in the new Central Valley Math Bridge Program convened with nine community college members of the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium May 18 in Fresno to formally launch the program and plan for its implementation.
The event, presented by co-hosts College Bridge, Central Valley Higher Education Consortium and the Rand Corporation, drew 95 participants to kickoff the project that promotes equity and college-readiness in mathematics via dual enrollment courses for underprepared students at rural high schools in the region next fall. (See list of high schools below).
In a stirring keynote, “The State of Mathematics in California,” Dr. Lynn Cevallos, founder and president of College Bridge, presented the dire reality of academic disjuncture which has culminated in a pending crisis that could see “the doors to STEM careers closing for our students.
“Fortunately, the Math Bridge project is designed to keep those pathways open,” she said.
College Bridge recently completed an extensive four-month recruitment campaign to secure eligible high schools for the first of two cohorts. Recruitment of the second cohort will begin this summer, Cevallos said.
The first cohort of high schools to-date and their respective community college partners are (with three additional pending*):
CVHEC Executive Director Benjamin Duran with Orosi High School Principal Marlene Celaya and Owynn Lancaster, College Bridge vice president, during the administrators breakout session.
Cerro Coso College: Lone Pine, Tehachapi; Columbia College: Bret Harte*, Calaveras*; Madera College: Liberty, Madera, Madera South, Matilda Torres, Yosemite; Reedley College: Dinuba, Orosi, Parlier, Reedley*; Taft College: Taft High School; and West Hills Coalinga College: Firebaugh, Tranquillity.
High schools and community colleges interested in participating in the second cohort may contact Nicole Korgie at nicole.korgie@college-bridge.org.
The Central Valley Higher Education Consortium Higher Education Summit 2023 originally set for May has been rescheduled for Oct. 20, 2023. The CVHEC Board of Directors, which will meet the day before the summit (Thursday, Oct. 19), confirmed the new summit dates at its spring quarterly meeting May 11.
This month’s “What the CV-hec is Happening” guest blog is by Dr. Jessica Grimes, regional chair and interim associate vice chancellor of career education and workforce development for the Central Valley/Mother Lode Regional Consortium based at the Kern Community College District in Bakersfield. She reflects on CVML’s recent “Enrollment Growth and Pathways: A Strategy Session” held in Fresno last month that addressed pandemic recovery with emphasis on increasing dual enrollment as an equity strategy. Several organizations and agencies participated including CVHEC.
Enrollment Growth and Pathways: A Strategy Session
BY DR. JESSICA GRIMES
It is no secret that the pandemic resulted in seismic changes in higher education, most notably in the warp-speed transition to online learning and other hybrid modes of delivery for hard-to-convert career education courses.
The pandemic also revealed opportunity gaps among students experiencing a host of besetting challenges, such as homelessness, food insecurity and limited broadband.
The Central Valley/Mother Lode's15 colleges responded admirably by reimagining and redesigning programs with more flexibility and supports. It was in that innovative spirit of converting challenges to opportunities that the idea of the “Enrollment Growth and Pathways: A Strategy Session” was born.
Hosted by Fresno City College April 25, EGP was designed to address one of the most pressing challenges from the pandemic: recovering and bolstering enrollment ...
Broadband for All Digital Equity and BEAD Planning Workshops
CVHEC co-sponsors Broadband Planning Workshop; featured on Radio Bilingüe
The Central Valley Higher Education Consortium was featured nationally on Radio Bilingue April 13 as a co-sponsor of one of 20 Broadband for All Digital Equity and Broadband Equity, Adoption, and Deployment (BEAD) Planning Regional-Local Workshops being held throughout the state by the California Department of Technology.
Dr. Benjamín Durán, CVHEC executive director, served as a spokesperson at the Merced event held April 14 and was interviewed for the Spanish-language show Linea Abierta on Radio Bilingüe, the nation’s only daily Spanish-language talk show in public radio airing live Monday to Friday at noon.
At the workshops, attendees can learn more about the digital equity plan, provide feedback on how to make it more effective and connect with others who are passionate about digital equity in California.
Input shared during the workshops will help California develop the State’s Digital Equity and BEAD Five-Year Action Plans that will determine how future federal dollars are allocated to address digital inequities in the community.Future events are scheduled for Tuolumne, Santa Maria, Seaside and Oakland ...
Susan E. Borrego appointed Stanislaus State interim president
California State University (CSU) Interim Chancellor Jolene Koester has appointed Dr. Susan E. Borrego to serve as interim president of California State University, Stanislaus effective Aug. 2, 2023.
She will serve as interim president for approximately one year while the CSU Board of Trustees conducts a national search for the next regularly appointed president.
Dr. Borrego will also assume the Stanislaus State seat on the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium Board of Directors at that time replacing Dr. Ellen N. Junn, who retires Aug.1 after serving as the University’s 11th president since 2016. (She will be honored at Warrior Tribute for President Junn June 9).
Merced College father/sons dual enrollment grads featured - (ABC30)
Enroll every 9th grader in a college course, says California's incoming Community College Chancellor -EdSource
Fresno State math professor Tamás Forgács selected for top teaching award - [FresnoStateNews]
Merced College milestones: 60th Commencement and 1st in Los Banos. [MORE]
HIGHER EDUCATION NEWS
Cal State announces three new presidents and four interim Sonoma State, Chico State and Sacramento State universities will all see new presidents this year. The CSU Board of Trustees announced May 24 that Stephen Perez will serve as the new president of Chico State; J. Luke Wood will lead Sacramento State; and Ming-Tung “Mike” Lee has been appointed as the new president of Sonoma State. - EdSource (May 24, 2023). Also announced as interim presidents at four campuses were: Cal State LA; Vice Adm. Michael J. Dumont, CSU Maritime Academy, Sylvia Alva, Cal State Fullerton; and Susan E. Borrego, Stanislaus State University. -EdSource (May 24, 2023)
Interim CCC chancellor: 'significant changes needed' for transfer goals Amid a decline in the number of students earning an associate degree for transfer, the system's interim chancellor said significant changes are needed if the colleges want to reach their goals for increasing the number of transfers. -EdSource (May 24, 2023)
Report: men much less likely to earn a college degree than women After centuries of men eclipsing women in the halls of academia, in a world that has long favored male authority, men are now much less likely to earn a degree than women, new research suggests. In California, 56% of undergraduates at the state’s public universities and community colleges are women, as are 54% of undergraduates at nonprofit colleges and 63% at for-profit colleges, according to a new analysis from the Public Policy Institute of California.-EdSource (May 24, 2023)
California State University (CSU) Interim Chancellor Jolene Koester has appointed Dr. Susan E. Borrego to serve as interim president of California State University, Stanislaus effective Aug. 2, 2023.
