More degree choices at PC
College begins planning for new health careers building
The new calendar year brings with it several changes and improvements at Porterville College, including a new degree program and new state legislation that simplifies incoming student placement.
Students enrolling at the college this fall will have more degree choices to choose from. Last fall, Porterville College was one of only 20 institutions in the country to receive a grant from the highly competitive Title V Developing Hispanic-serving Institutions (DHSI) Program.
The college will use the $2.4 million, five-year grant from the Department of Education to create a new education degree program, increase online learning options, and fund more tutoring opportunities for its students.
“There’s a huge demand for teachers in California, especially in the K-12 system, and the new grant is going to help us in that process,” said Bill Henry, PC interim president. “We are in the process of developing the curriculum right now in order to have that degree ready next year.”
PC is in the process of getting the degree curriculum approved by the state, but Henry said that process is expedited by their existing Associate of Arts-transfer degree programs.
The grant will also establish partnerships with California State University, Fresno and CSU Bakersfield to supplement their current partnership with National University, who rents facilities on campus for evening and weekend classes.
“We’re excited about it. It’s a good thing for the community and the campus,” said Henry. “A student can graduate from PC and jump into a bachelor’s program and never leave the campus.”
The college is also in the process of prioritizing a list of projects that they want to pursue with revenue from Bond Measure J, which was approved by voters in Tulare, Kern, and San Bernadino counties in November of 2016.
Under the bond, over $502 million will be allotted to the Kern Community College District to repair, construct and acquire school facilities.
“The very first project coming up will be the health careers building, which we’ve been waiting on for several years,” said Henry. “That is the big project on our priority list and it will go in a location on campus just east of the fitness center, replacing portable classrooms that are the current home of the program.”
The college will probably not break ground for at least another 18 months on the project as it must undergo a lengthy approval process, but it has already been approved by the Division of the State Architect.
PC is already seeing the effects of legislation that became effective with the new year, and one measure has had an immediate impact on how incoming students are placed in English and mathematics courses.
Assembly Bill 830, which went into effect on Jan. 1, eliminates the high school exit exam, which was instituted statewide beginning with the Class of 2006 to ensure that students demonstrated a minimum proficiency in English and math before graduating.
Tens of thousands of California students never passed the exam, and consequently never received a diploma. Last year, lawmakers suspended the requirement to rewrite the test, and now they have simply eliminated the test altogether.
As a result, PC will be placing more students in college level classes based on their high school GPAS and previous work instead of relying on a single assessment test.
“A lot of students get placed in pre-collegiate level classes when actually they could do college level work, but their assessment scores didn’t show that,” said Henry. “We’re already seeing some differences in the language arts courses. Fewer incoming students are assessing in the pre-collegiate level.”
The college is also anticipating the state’s implementation of the College Promise program. Assembly Bill 19 establishes the initial stage of a “free college” program in California, waiving the first year of fees for any first-time student who enrolls fulltime at one of California’s 114 community colleges.
That promise, however, depends on the state setting aside enough money in its 2018-19 budget to cover the fee waivers.
“They don’t know how they’re going to pay for it yet, but they’ll let us know in upcoming budget revisions,” said Henry. Henry has an agreement with PC to stay on as interim president through the 2018-19 academic year. He said the college will likely begin a nationwide search for candidates to fill the presidency in the fall, and that the selection process will take four to five months.
In the meantime, Henry is pleased that PC is growing in a time when other community colleges in California are not.
“KCCD is one of the few districts in the California Community Colleges’ 114 campus system that isn’t showing a decline in students. We’re actually holding our own and showing growth, so we’re hoping to hang on to that.”
The college plans to host a ribbon cutting ceremony for their Veteran’s Memorial in the center of campus later this month.