CR's September 19, 2025 Times Standard Education Matters Article

Published on Sep 17 2025

College of the Redwoods has a history of attracting outstanding students, brilliant faculty, resolute staff, and strong, stable leadership resulting in an exceptional institution that meets community needs. Over the last several years, we have worked hard to ensure that we prioritize student access and success, maintain organizational flexibility, and deliver timely, engaging and valuable education to our students. 

As we consider what CR should emphasize in the coming five years, the Board of Trustees and I think about how we must build on our accomplishments in creative, meaningful, and innovative ways to prepare for the future and navigate successfully through the challenging times we find ourselves in. It is clear that we do not have the luxury of waiting for ideal circumstances to innovate. We must do it now.

Vision 2030: A Roadmap for California Community Colleges, the Chancellor’s Office’s call to action for all 116 California community colleges, outlines several system-wide goals. Those goals include expanding access to four-year degrees by allowing more community colleges to offer baccalaureates, simplifying transfer pathways through common course numbering, using artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance learning, recognizing prior learning and experience outside of the classroom, supporting staff and faculty professional development, addressing climate action, and strengthening workforce pathways to high-demand careers. 

College of the Redwoods will continue to center all our actions and the resulting policies and procedures on advancing the Vision 2030 goals with a focus on equity in access, equity in success, and equity in support. To ensure that all current and future students in our region are successful, we must ensure that CR is positioned to: 

• Scale Credit-for-Prior Learning, which is a way for students to receive college credit for the knowledge and skills they have gained outside of the classroom, helping them earn a degree faster. 
• Integrate climate action work into our curriculum, facilities, infrastructure, and workforce, by focusing on the green and blue economies that are both growing and lucrative.
• Improve access, success, and support for quality online course offerings that satisfy certificate and degree requirements and provide flexible course scheduling.
• Increase bachelor’s degree attainment and transfer opportunities by streamlining pathways into California State Universities, the University of California, and the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities and investigating opportunities for offering four-year degrees at CR. 
• Offer new and innovative healthcare pathway programs with a concentrated focus on nursing, allied health, and mental/behavioral health. 
• Investigate and, when academically appropriate, expand access to education in Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI) for students, faculty, administrators, and staff to better understand the opportunities and challenges of these tools.  
• Focus on increasing enrollment, student completion, and providing support in associate and baccalaureate degree pathways for dual enrollment students, foster youth, veterans, and working learners such as apprentices, journeypersons, and student parents.
• Meet the needs of the various communities we serve by continuing to be a nimble and collaborative partner in the educational, civic, cultural, and economic development of our region.
• Foster an environment of belonging that respects the dignity of all people.

All of these initiatives will expand access to high-demand career pathways and increase socioeconomic mobility for low-income workers. 

As we look to the future, we realize that artificial intelligence is revolutionizing industry and daily life and has the potential to reshape education. We have already convened a task force to examine both the opportunities and the risks of technologies like GenAI which will guide our path forward thoughtfully. With the huge potential impact of AI on the horizon, we believe that it is important for all students, faculty, and staff to have the fundamentals of GenAI literacy. We are hopeful that it may allow us to leverage innovative information systems to enhance our ability to provide students with timely, proactive support and guidance, modernize our institutional structure, strengthen our online education, and provide faculty access to emerging technologies.

College of the Redwoods’ dream is to be our region’s premier center for dynamic teaching and learning, strategic partnerships, and community engagement that advances knowledge, economic equity, and lifelong personal engagement. 

We want to be extraordinary. 

I know that extraordinary looks different for everyone and the path to it is a continuous refining process. However, we have a responsibility to ourselves, our students, and our community to take a stand to be extraordinary in everything we do—one person and one initiative at a time. 

I believe in the future of College of the Redwoods, and I hope our community does as well.  I believe in our commitment to accountability and the opportunity before us to elevate. I also wholeheartedly believe that what lies ahead for CR holds the promise of being greater than our past and present.