CCC College District Ward 5 Trustee Sandoval issues report on the district
I thought I would update our communities. In this day and age it’s so important that we continue to provide accessible quality education for our communities so we can build and sustain a skilled and educated workforce.
Heading into 2024 and final year of my term as a Trustee for Ward 5 in Contra Costa Community College District I would like to underscore my role and the successes of the District.
Coming onto the board I brought my experiences as a positive collaborator, consensus builder, positions in Technology and Finance and understanding the issues in the communities we serve. Coming out of the pandemic my role is to contribute to support increasing enrollment, oversight of policies, helping set priorities, educational quality, financial review’s for approval of budget, selection of our Chancellor and approve key leadership positions.
Education is a key to helping our communities improve as valued members of our workforce. Beyond Associate Degree Transfer programs we continue to support pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs as part of our wide array of CTE programs with valuable skills certifications.
Some of our priorities included Leadership Stability, Educational Quality and Equity, Workforce Development and Community Partnerships. I am sharing the results of these efforts as the recent President of the Governing Board of Trustees and overall, as a key member of the board.
I worked to create a respectful approach in building relationships with fellow board members and restoring the trust of the 3 Academic Senate bodies as we together moved forward in a shared governance model.
Our faculty and staff are the heart of the District and we worked closely with United Faculty and Local 1 on new contract agreements to ensure the needs of its members were addressed and aligned with our priorities and ensuring financial stability for the future.
Leadership Stability: Having a transformative leadership team drives our mission, prepares us to meet the challenges of the future and provides stability for our faculty, staff and for student success. Approvals completed for the following key positions:
Chancellor – Mojdeh Mehdizadh
Executive Vice Chancellor – Micaela Ochoa
Chief Finance Officer – Tony Wold
Director of Human Resources – Dan Cueva
President Los Medanos College – Pamela Ralston
President Contra Costa College – Kimberly Rogers
Educational Quality and Equity: Our Colleges continue to receive recognition and here is a snapshot of these recognitions. The commitment of our faculty and classified professionals are underscored in the way students thrive and rise to succeed.
Los Medanos College – Aspen Institute Award – Recognized as 1 of the top 150 colleges for Community College excellence. The 6 critical areas reviewed for this award are teaching and learning, transfer and bachelor’s attainment, workforce success, access, and equity for students of color and students from low-income backgrounds. Received 2021 Equity Champion Award for transferring students.
Diablo Valley College – Ranked as #1 in the state in transfers to UC Berkeley, Saint Mary’s College, and Cal State Maritime Academy.
Additionally, DVC ranked in the top 5 for large schools Community Colleges in California based on graduation and transfer rates.
Contra Costa College – Chosen as one of the 10 US Colleges to participate in Achieving the Dream (ATD), a program that uses high-level coaching and other resources to help community colleges collect and analyze data, then use those findings to help students succeed.
Recognized for their Center for Science Excellence and Green Energy Programs and also offering the only Hybrid Technician Certification in the Bay Area. CCC continues to be a leader in Culinary Arts and Journalism.
Equity– The District was awarded a grant by the State Chancellor’s office to research and create the framework for a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging framework as part of an Institutional Effective Plan to improve our culture of belonging and improve student success.
Los Medanos College and Contra Costa College are recognized as Hispanic Serving Institutions with robust STEM programs. The Puente, Umoja, and African American Male Leadership programs thrive in the District and lead to a unique experience for students and faculty.
Partnerships and Community Engagement: I diligently provided the details needed to have Diablo Valley College partner with United Latino Voices and the Mount DIablo School District to increase enrollment and pilot an augment outreach and enrollment through culturally and linguistically diverse approaches.
The pilot may lead to DVC submitting and receiving a Hispanic Service Institution (HSI) designation allowing for additional grant proposals. LMC and CCC are existing HSI colleges in our District.
Working on partnerships with the East Bay Leadership Council, Contra Costa School Board Association, Dual Enrollment, Concurrent Enrollment and Non-profits continue to reap benefits.
Workforce Development: The Colleges offer unique leadership opportunities and continue to innovate in the area of workforce development for future jobs to support the growing needs of the county. Our new Learning Aligned Education Program (LAEP) offers for-profit employers 50% reimbursement and non-profits 90% reimbursement for the cost of internships if they invest in our students. Our advanced robotics program in which we partner with Tesla provides the skills for immediate employment.
Certifications for Firefighting, Process Power Technology, Nursing, Early Childhood Education and Police Services continue to provide valuable skills.
Graduates and Certificates: The most recent graduating class in 2023 conferred completions for 7,702 degrees and certificates, including 2,133 Associates in Science,2,204Associates of Arts and 3,365Certifications across our District.
Enrollment: The efforts of the colleges to regain students as part of outreach and enrollment associated with the pandemic and economy continues to show results. Year to year enrollment has continued to increase FTE’s enrollment is up by 9.3% across the district prior year point in time.
Our work is not done. We need to keep our bar raised to improve enrollment and provide educational services for our communities to support our labor needs.
Financial Stability: The recent audit just completed showed strength in our finances and no issues with our Bond Oversight continuing to ensure that our expenditures are in alignment with policies and practices and align with the voters expectations as we invest in our facilities and as we review future needs.
Modernization: Bonds passed by our residents resulting in a new Science Building at Contra Costa College, a new Student Union and Kinesiology Building at Los Medanos College as well as modernizing facilities at Diablo Valley College. This investment will support the future needs of our students.
Advocacy: We continue to work with our legislators to aid in support and this resulted in a $1,000,000 grant by Congressman DeSaulner and Senator Padilla to the District for driving our Open Educational Resources program to reduce the cost of books for our students.
Thank you, again for support in my role
Fernando Sandoval
Ward 5 Trustee
Past President- Governing Board of Trustees
Contra Costa Community College District
the attachments to this post:
Fernando Sandoval & 4CD logo
