College of the Redwoods’ Trustees Approve New Education Master Plan

College of the Redwoods trustees voted to approve a new Education Master Plan (EMP) at their January meeting. The EMP is reviewed and updated by the college every five years to set organizational priorities that reflect the needs of students, employees, and the community. For this development cycle, the college challenged itself to look beyond their normal 5-year planning horizon and imagine initiatives and priorities that would endure for 10 years and beyond.

While the planning process was informed by historical data, emphasis was given to real-time feedback from CR’s faculty, students, and community. Not only was the entire CR community invited to attend several EMP discussions at division meetings, all-faculty meetings and meetings of the Academic Senate, EMP Committee lead, Professor Chris Gaines, and an outside consultant also gathered input from the community in fall 2020 through a series of 28 interviews.

Erin Wall, President of CR’s Academic Senate, expressed appreciation for the inclusive nature of the process, stating, “The Senate appreciated the chance to engage faculty broadly across the District in reviewing and discussing the draft that came out at the end of the summer. We are all looking forward to moving forward under this new educational master plan.”

The meetings produced the following themes that emerged with regard to the educational opportunities the College should pursue in the future to strengthen regional workforce and to better align with community needs:

• Prioritize learning opportunities deeply rooted in Humboldt County’s unique natural, cultural, and economic ecosystem.
• Expand hands-on, experiential, and project-based learning that embraces interdisciplinary collaboration amongst faculty, students, and community partners.
• Strengthen partnerships with local industry, government, nonprofits, and tribal communities to support the above activities – including internships, apprenticeships, and mentoring.
• Prioritize activities that lead to living wage jobs in our community and continue to strengthen the HSU / CR partnership.

“A brave community of College of the Redwoods dreamers embarked on a long collaborative and inclusive process to develop a new Education Master Plan that will guide our path forward,” said CR President Keith Flamer. “As President, I had the pleasure of working with several faculty who committed themselves to thoughtfully framing a critical plan that represents the shared goals of our community. I want to express my gratitude to the Education Master Plan Guiding Coalition, Professor Chris Gaines, and the College of the Redwoods Board of Trustees for their commitment and support throughout this process.”

The full Education Master Plan and addendum can be found here: https://www.redwoods.edu/Portals/0/2022-2032.CR.EMP.pdf

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