Cerro Coso to Restructure Services in the KRV

In the face of declining enrollments at its Lake Isabella campus, Cerro Coso Community College announced on Tuesday, September 28, 2020 its intent to restructure services to area residents. 

“Cerro Coso Community College is not leaving the valley,” stated Vice President for Instruction, Dr. Corey Marvin.  “We have been looking for ways to sustain our services, and the time has come to give up the large facility we currently lease, which unfortunately sits mostly empty from its heyday fifteen years ago.” 

Doing something different at KRV was one of the strategies now retired president Jill Board recommended to the Board of Trustees last October to address the declining enrollment.  In 2019-2020, the average class size, not counting dual-enrollment classes at Kern Valley High School, was fewer than 7 students. A much-reduced schedule was originally built for this fall semester, and then the pandemic hit and all instruction moved online.

After months of discussion, an agreement to terminate the college’s lease with the property owner of the current KRV facility was finalized and is on the Kern Community College Board of Trustees agenda for October.

“It was a tough decision,” said Marvin. “Despite the best efforts of faculty and staff and the continued loyalty of KRV students and the community, enrollment has been in a state of near continual decline. Some of it can be traced back to specific hits like the Erskine Fire of 2016 and some of it is because of long-term demographic trends like a population that largely does not fit well with the California Community College Chancellor’s Office recent focus on degree and certificate completion over lifelong learning,” he said.

“The direction from the KCCD Board of Trustees to remove the college from its reserves and operate on a balanced budget made it clear the ongoing needs of the college and its students are not best served by maintaining a large facility in Lake Isabella.” This is especially important, he noted, as state revenues are highly uncertain in the near future.

No faculty or staff positions are being eliminated.

The college will continue to offer area high schools students dual and concurrent enrollment classes that provide them with both college and high school credit and gives them a head start in their higher education journeys. 

The change will allow the college to adopt a more modern look in a smaller office location so that the KRV community will still be provided educational assistance for Cerro Coso’s robust distance education programs.

Thanks to technology supported by the new location, getting an education will be easier than ever. Cerro Coso has been a pioneer in distance education since 1997, the first community college in the state to offer an entire degree online, and offers the ability for students to take classes in a variety of modalities including scheduled Zoom, hybrids, and fully online courses. This gave the college an advantage when all colleges were forced to move their classes to remote delivery during the spring 2020 semester due to COVID-19. This fall semester, over 120 KRV students are taking distance education classes with Cerro Coso. These students are averaging over 2 classes each, noted Marvin, as they make progress toward their educational goals.

“We want to provide our students with as stable as possible education during these times of uncertainty,” stated Marvin. “Restructuring our services is a necessity to preserve college opportunities for future generations of valley residents and Cerro Coso students,” he concluded.     

The college has also implemented a number of strategies to assist students with laptop loans and remote delivery services for counseling, tutoring, financial aid, library, Access Programs, student engagement, and more.       

Offering a comprehensive program of classes in the Kern River Valley since 1986, it may not be business as usual, but Cerro Coso Community College remains committed to serving the higher education needs of the valley. 

View on the Cerro Coso College website.

Core Ensemble to Perform Tres Vidas Virtually in Honor of Hispanic Heritage Month

On Tuesday, October 6, 2020 the Core Ensemble will perform the chamber music theatre work Tres Vidas virtually at 6 p.m.

Chamber Music Theatre is a unique performance format developed by the Core Ensemble featuring a marriage of theatrical narrative to chamber music performance.

A chamber music theatre work for singing actress and trio (cello, piano, and percussion) based on the lives of three legendary Latin American Women: Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, Salvadoran peasant activist Rufina Amaya, and Argentinean poet Alfonsina Storni. Text is by Marjorie Agosin. The show features a wide stylistic range of music, including popular and folk songs of Mexico, El Salvador, and Argentina, vocal and instrumental tangos by Carlos Gardel and Astor Piazzolla, and new music written especially for the Core Ensemble by Osvaldo Golijov, Orlando Garcia, Pablo Ortiz, and Manuel DeMurga.

Open to the public, participants must register in advance of the performance at https://www.cerrocoso.edu/news/2020/0918-celebrating-hispanic-heritage-month  Those who register will receive an email about an hour before the start of the performance with the link to the performance, and to the Zoom Q&A with the performers which follows.

Since 1993, the Core Ensemble has toured in every region of the United States and internationally to Australia, England, Russia, Ukraine, and the British Virgin Islands. The Core Ensemble has received support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, The Palm Beach County Cultural Council and the Aaron Copland Fund for Music,

In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month the performance is FREE and open to the public. 

View on the Cerro Coso College website.

CCCC Students Host Lotería Game Night Oct. 7

Three Cerro Coso clubs are celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month by hosting a virtual Lotería night on Wednesday, October 7^th at 6 p.m. 

“Lotería” meaning “lottery” is a traditional game, similar to Bingo.

The event is open to the public and all those interested are asked to register in advance via Zoom at https://www.cerrocoso.edu/event/celebrate-hispanic-heritage-month-loteria-night  

The Latinos Unidos (United), International, and Rainbow Clubs of Cerro Coso join in commemorating the long-standing and remarkable contributions that Hispanics and Latinos Americans have made during “Hispanic Heritage Month” which takes place September 15 to October 15 every year.

Hispanic Heritage Week was approved by president Lyndon Johnson in 1968 and the length of it was expanded by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 to cover a 30-day period (September 15 – October 15).  It was enacted into law on August 17, 1988 on the approval of Public Law 100-402.

September 15 was chosen as the starting point for the celebration because it is the anniversary of independence of five Latin American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. They all declared independence in 1821. In addition, Mexico, Chile and Belize celebrate their independence days on September 16, September 18, and September 21, respectively.

Hispanic Heritage Month also celebrates the long and important presence of Hispanic and Latino Americans in North America, starting with the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus on the morning of October 12, 1492.

The college Library has created an ebook resource on Hispanic and Latinx culture available at Library libguides   An information campaign via the College website, internal communications, and social media seek to educate others in a diverse and inclusive environment of the importance of the month long celebration. 

View on the Cerro Coso College website.

Faculty save CCCC students more than $850,000 on textbooks

Cerro Coso faculty implemented a strategy to support student success by reducing educational costs for students by adopting Open Education Resources (OERs) to replace costly textbooks. 

OERs allow students to have access to their textbooks on the first day of class –no waiting for financial aid or textbooks to arrive; and they don’t just provide free textbooks either, students also have access to video resources, software, labs, and an enhanced textbook experience with hyperlinks to many other resources. 

The college conducted a Student Textbook Survey that revealed: 40% of Cerro Coso students had dropped a course because they couldn’t afford the textbook. 35% were not able to afford all the textbooks they needed within the first three weeks of classes. 52% had borrowed a textbook from a classmate, faculty, or used library reserves because they couldn’t afford the textbook. 42% have avoided enrolling as a full-time student (12 units or more) because of the cost of textbooks. 65% said that financial aid never or rarely arrives on time to purchase the required textbooks for the first day of classes.

“There are many reasons why college students do not buy recommended and required textbooks, but fundamentally the biggest reason is they cannot afford them,” said Heather Ostash, Vice President of Student Services.  “It is very important that students have access to these OER textbook alternatives.”

Students agree. One student wrote, “I had to drop a class this semester because the cost of a book was $200 and I could not afford that as a single mother. I had already paid over $200 for the two classes I had.” Another student said, “After paying rent, utilities, groceries, car insurance, there isn't enough money to buy all my books at the start of class.”

“When you have a student sitting in class and they don’t have a text, which is often an essential learning tool, then you put students at academic risk.”

Cerro Coso was one of 26 California Community Colleges and 19 CSUs to receive a grant to save students money by empowering professors to adopt high quality, free, and open educational resources for course materials in 2016.

“During the first round of grant funding, we anticipated 22 course sections would reduce textbook costs by at least 30% by replacing a traditional textbook with an OER. We more than doubled this, and ended up with 45 courses that had adopted OERs, saving our students almost $175,000,” said Librarian Sharlene Paxton.  With Round 2 funding, the college was awarded $43,000 and had committed to further reduce textbooks costs in at least 44 new course sections that reduced textbook costs by 30% or more with the adoption of at least one OER replacing a traditional copyright-protected textbook. “Once again, we have more than doubled the deliverables, the number of courses we committed to OER adoptions, but this time we more than tripled our new course conversions with 152 new course sections adopting OERs and reducing textbook costs for our students. We saved students $681,970 in textbook costs during this second round of grant funding, and combined with our first round of funding, we have now saved students at least $856,970 in textbook costs as a result of OER adoptions from fall 2016 to spring 2020,” she said.

“This is great news. But we're not done yet! We have a goal to further increase adoptions in additional courses and save students even more money.” The ultimate goal is a Z-degree, “which means the ability for a student to complete a degree with zero textbook costs,” continued Paxton.

The hard work and efforts of the faculty are working.  A student said, “It’s getting better. This semester I did not need to buy books for two of my classes.  A couple semesters ago I spent more on books than tuition and I don't buy new books.”

“Moving towards open education resources (OER) in most of our courses has reduced the financial burden students face when enrolling in college. By providing access to course materials at zero-cost, students have a better chance of reaching course completion and increased rate of success.” 

“Our small college has made some big changes that have had an immensely positive impact on our students’ lives and college success, and we look forward to continuing our work in this important component of student equity and student success,” Paxton concluded. 

SB 1359 requires colleges to include a symbol for low-cost courses on their online schedule, so students are able to identify courses that have low-cost or no-cost for textbooks.

View on the Cerro Coso College website.

Cerro Coso honors the cultures and contributions of both Hispanic and Latino Americans as we celebrate heritage rooted in all Latin American countries during National Hispanic Heritage Month. 

 

 

Check out all the great activities taking place:

 

Tres Vidas by Core Ensemble

A chamber music theatre work for singing actress and trio (cello, piano, and percussion) based on the lives of three legendary Latin American Women: Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, Salvadoran peasant activist Rufina Amaya, and Argentinean poet Alfonsina Storni. Text is by Marjorie Agosin. The show features a wide stylistic range of music, including popular and folk songs of Mexico, El Salvador, and Argentina, vocal and instrumental tangos by Carlos Gardel and Astor Piazzolla, and new music written especially for the Core Ensemble by Osvaldo Golijov, Orlando Garcia, Pablo Ortiz, and Manuel DeMurga.

You will receive an email about an hour before the start with the link to the performance, and to the Zoom Q&A with the performers which follows.

THE CORE ENSEMBLE
Rosa Rodriguez, Actress
Ju Young Lee, Cellist
Mikael Darmanie, Pianist
Michael Parola, Percussionist

View on the Cerro Coso College website.

Bowen Earns Doctorate in Educational Leadership

Cerro Coso Community College Administration of Justice Professor, Jarrod Bowen, has earned his Doctorate Degree in Educational Leadership with Specialization in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Phoenix. 

Bowen successfully defended his dissertation titled: Qualitative Exploratory Case Study of the Efficacy of Stress Inoculation Training in California Law Enforcement Academies.  His research focused on the perceptions of incumbent law enforcement officers on the efficacy of stress inoculation training that they receive in the academy in the development of the critical thinking skills necessary to make adequate decisions concerning the use of force.  

Bowen joined the Cerro Coso faculty in September of 2013 and was granted tenure in 2017. 

He holds an Associate of Arts Degree from Tyler Junior College, a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Texas, and a Master’s Degree from the University of Phoenix. 

Congratulations!

View on the Cerro Coso College website.

Cerro Coso offering Spanish for Native Speakers

Were you brought up in a Spanish-speaking home? Cerro Coso Community College is offering SPAN C180 for you. 

This course is designed for native Spanish speakers, who already speak, read, and write the language but wish to develop their fluency further through vocabulary building, spelling, and accentuation rules, cognates, grammatical structures and composition.  Cultural topics will also be in order for students to have a deeper understanding and awareness of their cultural heritage. 

C180 Spanish is being offered Online with instructor Lucila Gonzalez-Cirre and will begin October 10.

There are many reasons for heritage speakers to study Spanish, said Instructor Gonzalez-Cirre “You may need the coursework as part of a degree program you’re enrolled in, or you might want to learn how to write the language without slang or "sloppy" grammar; or to gain an appreciation and pride of the diverse cultures of Spanish.  The class is offered through specialized instruction and materials that build on the student’s existing language skills and cultural knowledge.”

Research shows that students who take Spanish for Native Speakers are better equipped, and feel more confident in developing English writing skills.

For more information or assistance with registration contact the College Counseling Department at counseling@cerrocoso.edu .

View on the Cerro Coso College website.

Late Start Child Development Classes this Fall

There is rising demand for educators and social workers who specialize in working with children.  This fall, Cerro Coso Community College is offering a variety of late start Child Development classes online designed to prepare students for employment in the field.

All three 12 week Child Development classes will begin September 21, 2020 and end December 12, 2020 and will require students to observe children in a group setting.

CHDV C102 (72950) – Introduction to Materials and Curriculum- will present an overview of knowledge and skills related to providing appropriate curriculum and environments for infants and young children.  Students examine the teacher’s role in supporting development by using observation and assessment strategies and emphasizing the essential role of play. An overview of content areas include, but is not limited to: language and literacy. Social and emotional learning, sensory learning, art and creativity, math and science.   Mark Jacobs will instruct the course.

CHDV C104 (72954) Child, Family, and Community will be taught by Assoc. Professor Tyrone Ledford. The class is an examination of the developing child in a societal context focusing on the interrelationship of family, school, and community and emphasizes historical and social-cultural factors.  The process of socialization and identity development is highlighted, showing the importance of respectful, reciprocal relationships that support and empower families.

CHDV C125 (72965)  Diversity in Education – will examine the development of social identities in diverse societies including theoretical and practical implications of oppression and privilege as they apply to young children, families, programs, classrooms, and teachings.  Students will explore various classroom strategies, emphasizing culturally and linguistically appropriate anti-bias approaches supporting all children in becoming competent members of a diverse society.  The class include self-examination and reflection on issues related to social identity, stereotypes and bias, social and educational access, media and schooling.  Assoc. Professor Tyrone Ledford will instruct the class.

A career in Child Development can be challenging and rewarding.  Working with children brings many rewards, it is a chance to see children flourish in their development and become confident, independent learners.  For many in the field it an opportunity to make a real difference in a child’s life.

Cerro Coso is offering a variety of late start classes this fall. Complete registration and class information is available on the web at www.cerrocoso.edu.

View on the Cerro Coso College website.

CNA Class at Cerro Coso Starts Sept. 21

Are you interested in a career as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA)? Cerro Coso Community College is offering a Certified Nursing Assistant course this fall that can help you develop the skills necessary to pass the state-mandated test to become a Certified Nurse’s Assistant.

HCRS C055 – Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) will meet with instructor Matt Wanta, Monday through Thursday from 3:30 to 8 p.m. starting September 21, 2020 in Ridgecrest. This class will include a one-day orientation at the start of the course. The first 4 weeks will be online through Canvas. At the 5th week, students will begin rotations and/or skills lab experiences as indicated on the schedule.  Course topics include legal and ethical responsibilities, bedside care, moving and positioning a resident, general observation of a resident’s condition, and responsibilities related to care of the elderly resident. Practical bedside skills are practiced by the student in the nursing skills lab. Students gain experience in a long-term care facility and must pass the course with a grade of “C” or better to be eligible to take the California CNA exam.

Nursing assistants can work in a wide variety of settings: nursing homes, adult day care centers, personal homes, and assisted living facilities. A CNA fulfills basic quality-of-life needs for patients of any age, ethnicity, or gender in residential nursing care facilities or outpatient clinics.

Interested individuals must see a counselor or educational advisor to register for this course. No registration is available through Admissions and Records or by using online registration services for this class. Contact the Counseling Department today at 760-384-6219.

CNA certification is an excellent preparation for students desiring to pursue a Vocational Nursing or Registered Nursing License.

Cerro Coso is offering  a number of late start classes this fall.  Complete schedule available on the web at www.cerrocoso.edu .

View on the Cerro Coso College website.

Cerro Coso offering late start classes this fall

Cerro Coso Community College is offering a number of late start classes this Fall.

In addition to taking late start classes to pursue a degree, students can also opt to take late start classes for professional development and personal enrichment. 

Most of these classes will be completely online with a few hybrid, schedule Zoom, or on campus.

With a variety of start dates, the college is offering an array of classes in Administration of Justice, Business, English, Kinesiology, Music Appreciation, Spanish, Welding and so much more.

A complete listing of late start classes is available on the college website at www.cerrocoso.edu/class-schedule . 

Do something for yourself this fall and register for late start classes at Cerro Coso Community College. 

More information available on the web at www.cerrocoso.edu.  Contact a counselor today at 760-384-6219. 

View on the Cerro Coso College website.