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September 1, 2019

Off to a Great Start!

You’ll see from my Fast Fact below that enrollments have increased! Enrollments typically go up when unemployment rises, but unemployment rates have not risen. What could be happening, you ask? It’s difficult to know for sure, but here are a few things that I believe attracted more students to CR:

  • Free First-Year Tuition Campaigns & Financial Aid Processing
    • Our Financial Aid Office started this year awarding almost a half million dollars more to students than this time last year! The summer schedule was adjusted to allow more time for award processing, and news about free tuition abounds.
  • Focused Career Education Marketing Campaigns
    • Several Career Education programs are experiencing enrollment growth following intensive marketing efforts made possible by the Strong Workforce program under the leadership of Kerry Mayer and Molly Blakemore.
  • Texting and Phone Campaigns
    • This summer, several departments united to develop a strategic plan for texting key info to students. Texting and calls to students at risk of being dropped for non-payment resulted in a far fewer students being dropped from classes.

eLumen for Curriculum

I want to thank Sean Thomas and Courtney Loder for providing a wealth of eLumen training for faculty and administrators. Curriculum will be accepted only through eLumen from this point forward. Sean Thomas has been appointed as eLumen Trainer for fall 2019 to provide faculty additional support using eLumen for curriculum, so please look to him if you need assistance.

Some faculty have already received emails routed through the eLumen system prompting them to review curriculum in their departments or divisions. We hope the system facilitates broader consultation across disciplines.

New Fully Online College Update

In 2018 the legislature approved the creation of a fully-online 73rd community college district. The new college has been named Calbright College. https://www.calbright.org/

Last month, the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC) leadership sent a message to legislators that described two conflicting issues that have led to confusion and that have inhibited the ability of the ASCCC to carry out its responsibility for assisting with the development and advancement of the online college.  The following excerpt is taken from the letter:

Given the conflicting mandates of accreditation status and lack of duplication, as well as the lack of a clear definition of duplication and the apparent plan for Calbright College to either operate outside of the regulations established in Title 5 for all community colleges or to simply rename and duplicate existing programs, the ASCCC’s efforts to advise the new district and to move the online college forward in a positive manner have been frustrated. We have recommended that the Calbright College Board of Trustees seek clarification from the legislature, and we have advised that board that the ASCCC would also seek clarification from the legislature as we fulfill our role.

Fast Fact

Enrollments are up! FTES is approximately 78 FTES higher than this point in time last year.

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