in celebration of National Minority Health Month, the College of Health Sciences and Human Services at Cal State University Monterey Bay will present three speakers for its diversity series:  Milton Bluehouse Jr.,JD, David Good & Bernardo Ca'amal Itza.

Milton Bluehouse Jr., JD is the owner of Tribal Consultation Resources. He has worked on tribal political campaigns and offered valuable guidance to the U.S. presidential and congressional campaigns as well.

David Good, MS is the owner of The Good Project and a public speaker who travels internationally to educate, raise awareness, and provide personal, unique insights on climate change, public health and economic issues facing the Yanomami of Venezuela and the Cabecar of Costa Rica.

Bernardo Ca'amal Itzá,Lic has served as the representative for the Maya for the United Nations. His radio shows articles documenting Mayan culture and health are listened to and read throughout the Americas. Professor Ca'amal Itzá was awarded the Atkins Prize for his work in defense of the economically poor and undeserved by the University of Toronto.

What: College of Health Sciences and Human Services Diversity Celebration Speaker Series: National Minority Health Month.
When: Thursday April 6, 2017 4:00-6:00 P.M.
Where: CSUMB Alumni & Visitor's Center, 5108 Fourth Avenue, Marina, CA 93933
Cost: Free public event
Information: Roraima Enriquez, corenriquez@csumb.edu (831)582-3736

Hartnell to honor two alumni during commencement ceremony

Gary Tanimura and Jeff Nessen Schmidt will be honored as this year’s Distinguished Alumni during Hartnell College graduation ceremony on May 27 at Rabobank Stadium in Salinas.

Tanimura will be the commencement speaker and Schmidt will be recognized posthumously.

This honor is conveyed to former students of Hartnell College who have made significant achievements in their field or in service to the community.

Gary Tanimura, vice president of production at Tanimura & Antle, graduated from Hartnell College in 1969 with an associate’s degree. He has remained involved in the college and is a founding member of the Ag Steering Committee and was President of the Foundation Board. Jeff Nessen Schmidt graduated from King City High School in 1941 and attended Hartnell College (then called Salinas Junior College). In January 1942, a few days after turning 18, Jeff enlisted in the U.S. Navy. He went on to attend the University of Texas and Midshipmen's School at Columbia University, and was the top student in his M.I.T. Radar Academy. Jeff ended the war studying at Bowdoin University in Maine and returned to California to earn his engineering degree from U.C. Berkeley. Mr. Schmidt died on January 2. For more information about the 2016 commencement for Hartnell College, click here.

In addition to a Gates Millennium Scholar, Everett Alvarez has a Questbridge scholar

One of the things I love about covering education is how much of an education I get on a regular basis.

For instance, I've never heard of the Questbridge scholarship before. This week I found out about it, thanks to Yasmin Marquez, a Everett Alvarez senior who just became a Questbridge scholar.

A Questbridge scholarship is not as generous as a Gates Millennium scholarship (awarded this year to two North Salinas High students and another from Everett Alvarez -- see my story here) but I would not say 'no' to it. It's worth over $200,000 for four years, and it covers room and board, travel, books, with a combination of federal grants and other assistance. Students have to be matched with a top university that will accept them, and Marquez will be attending the University of Southern California.

Marquez is a first generation student. At Alvarez she earned a 4.428 GPA and has participated in  volleyball, theatre, National Honor Society, California Scholarship Federation, Puente Club, Interact Club, Math and Science at Alvarez (MASA).

"Over the summer, in my community, I volunteer as a tutor for the migrant education program. Also, I participated in the CHAMACOS Youth Community Council, and I helped plan Ciclovia Salinas, totaling approximately 420 hours of service in my community.

She plans to major in Business Administration and Public Policy, and she plans to return to Salinas to help improve the community.

Love my fellow Trojans. Fight on!

Everett Alvarez teacher Jordana Henry flanked by scholarship winners Rebeca Escamilla and Yasmin Marquez

UCSC Chancellor visits North Monterey County High

As part of a yearly campaign to spread the UC message directly to students, UC Santa Cruz Chancellor George Blumenthal paid a visit to North Monterey County High School on Wednesday.

Blumenthal addressed students in grades 8-11 about the feasibility of a UC education and the importance of acquiring a college degree. The event also included workshops for seniors that are designed to address next steps for the various college systems, a workshop for parents, and a resource fair for students to get their questions answered.

UC leaders have been visiting schools that have lower than average college-going rates. The system-wide effort is targeted at schools that serve a high proportion of low-income and socioeconomically disadvantaged students. The effort has helped increase the numbers of students applying to UC by as much as 30 percent at participating high schools, officials said. It's unclear whether the effort has actually increased the number of students accepted from these schools.

Hartnell brings savings to taxpayers with refinance of Capital Appreciation Bonds

Hartnell administrators recently finished refinancing nearly $95 million in bonds, including some Capital Appreciation Bonds, which can carry a higher-than usual interest rate and could therefore be more costly for taxpayers.

As a result, taxpayers could end up saving $175 million in the long run, Hartnell officials said.

The bonds were approved in 2002 for Measure H to finance college renovations. The money was used to build the library, the student center, the Alisal campus, and the science center.

Capital Appreciation Bonds became an issue in 2012, when it was learned that the Poway Unified School District near San Diego approved issuing a $105 million bond that could ultimately cost local taxpayers about $1 billion to repay. The controversy led to legislation to modify their use, although school districts are still able to use them.

One of the bonds Hartnell used was a CAB, as it's commonly known. Officials always argued the bonds would be financed because their repayment would become too expensive. 

The new bonds were sold with an average interest rate of 4.25 percent with the final maturity of 2049. So at least until then, the taxpayers will be paying for those gleaming buildings.

Jacki Cruz is now vice president of advancement and development at Hartnell College

Jackie Cruz, who began working at Hartnell College in 2009 as director of development, has been promoted to vice president of advancement.

“Ms. Cruz's promotion ... is in recognition of her outstanding leadership for the Hartnell College Foundation and her outstanding contributions to innovation through her work in college advancement," said Superintendent Willard Lewallen in a statement. "She has emerged as one of the finest leaders in these areas and is known throughout the state for her creativity, collaboration, and achievements."

Cruz is credited launching a number of programs, including the Salinas Valley Health Professions Pathways Partnership, and two capital campaigns, one for the arts and one for athletics. Under her leadership the college has expanded the Agriculture Institute and worked to increase support for innovation through agriculture and STEM.

Cruz began her career in the non-profit sector 19 years ago at the United Way Monterey County. She was born in Watsonville, and raised in Salinas where she has lived all her life. She serves on the Board of Directors for the YMCA Salinas, Sun Street Centers, Youth Orchestra Salinas, Salinas City Elementary School District Foundation and the California International Airshow. She volunteers for The California Endowment Building Healthy Communities. The Salinas Valley Chamber of Commerce named her the 2009 Citizen of the Year making her the youngest recipient of this award.

Congratulations, Jackie! You're a hard worker and caring community member who deserves this recognition and more!

Lots of students want to get in CSUMB

A record number of students applied to attend CSU Monterey Bay in the fall 2016 semester, spokeswoman Joan Weiner said in an email.

The university received 16,182 freshmen applications by the Nov. 30 deadline to apply, an increase of almost 5 percent from the previous year.

About 4,180 transfer students applied to attend CSUMB in the fall, a 15.3 percent increase from a year earlier.

Because college officials ask CSU to allow them to limit enrollment, only  about 950 new freshmen and 850 new transfer students will be able to enroll, according to Ronnie Higgs, vice president of student affairs.

There are now 7,102 students enrolled.

Overall, the entire California State University system received a record number of applications for fall enrollment, with more than 830,000 applications submitted by prospective students, a 4.8 percent increase and more than 40,000 applications over last year’s total.

Happy New Year!!!!! Send 'The Birds' flying to Hawaii!

Happy New Year! I hope you're recharged and ready to take on the world of education by the horns!

Me? I've resolved to try to be more dutiful in posting to my blog. And to try to be a better-rounded human ;)

How's that for resolutions?

So here's me, posting my first post of the year, and it's about "The Birds."

You may remember that I wrote about a co-production of the Aristophanes classic by Hartnell and Millennium Charter High School Students. If you need a refresher, visit the story here.

Well, it turns out, "The Birds" has been chosen to be featured in the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in Honolulu, Hawaii in February.

"It is a great honor for the college, and the theater department, in particular," said in an email Steve Ettinger, Hartnell's music instructor.

"All of our actors are young students who hope to share their talent and passion with others and inspire creativity," writes Hanne Tonder on the groups fundraising page. "But we need your help to reach our fundraising goals and bring our production to Honolulu."

If you're feeling generous, here's the link to the fundraising page. Go Birds!

TEDdy Talks coming to CSUMB

The public is invited to TEDdy Talks – CSU Monterey Bay’s version of the popular TEDx talks now coming to campus.

Students from a variety of disciplines will make three- to five-minute presentations summing up their research during the presentation at 6 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 14 . The program will be held in the Alumni and Visitors Center, located on the corner of Gen. Jim Moore Boulevard and Inter-Garrison Road. Driving directions and a campus map can be found here.

The event is free but a parking permit must be purchased from the machine on the lot.

For more information, to request disability accommodations or to RSVP, email psychology@csumb.edu.

Consider donating to the Dream Academy for their busing needs

Touring college campuses may be a family activity for middle class families, but for many working class students it's not that easy.

That's why the Dream Academy has been driving students to some nearby colleges and universities so they can get an idea of how attainable they are. These academy students have great dreams for their lives and they understand that to achieve most of those dreams they're going to need a college education.

 But the buses are expensive and so is the food for the students. Each trip costs about $2,500 for meals and transportation of about 90 students, and organizer Ruben Pizarro just launched an online campaign to raise money.

These year, Pizarro is hoping to bring the students to UC Berkeley, Stanford, and UC Davis. Tax deductible donations can be made through this link. 

"Exposing our students to institutions of higher education, providing them the information regarding admissions criteria, and giving them an opportunity to meet and discuss college life with other students of color is an essential step in empowering our students to attend college," Pizarro said.

Student hackathon coming to CSUMB

College students! Sign up for the annual Startup Hackathon Monterey Bay, which this year will be held on the campus of Cal State Monterey Bay Nov. 20-22.

The hackathon is an intense three-day mobile app development competition where students design, develop and demonstrate innovative mobile applications using Android technology.

With help from mentors, teams of students produce a real, working prototype application for a local nonprofit or small business. The event kicks off on Nov. 20 at 4 p.m., when Monterey Bay organizations propose ideas for apps. Teams come together to choose an idea and have the rest of the weekend to build a working prototype app before presenting their work to the public on Sunday afternoon.

The competition is open to students from all colleges in the region. Students may enter as individuals and join a team during the event, or enter as already-existing teams.

The event will be held in the university’s new Business and Information Technology building, located next to the Tanimura & Antle library. Cost is $20. Food will be provided during the weekend.

Organizers are also looking for app ideas from local nonprofit organizations and small businesses. Last year, apps were created for Sun Street Centers and Save Our Shores.

For more information, to register, or to pitch an app idea, click here.

Great scholarship opportunity for Dreamers!

TheDream.US provides college scholarships to highly motivated DREAMers who want to get a college education but cannot afford it. The scholarships will help cover up to $25,000 of tuition and fees for an associate’s or bachelor’s degree at one of the organization's Partner Colleges.

The organization "Partner Colleges" are spread throughout the United States, but in California are University of La Verne, UC Santa Cruz, UC Merced, San Jose State University, San Francisco State, Mt. San Antonio College, Long Beach City College, De Anza Community College, Cal State San Bernardino, Cal State Long Beach, and Cal State East Bay.

No, no Hartnell, MPC, or CSUMB.

This scholarship is available to high school seniors or high school graduates with demonstrated financial need who are first time college students and be eligible for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA.

Deadline to apply is Feb. 15. For more information, click here.

Hartnell programs recognized by the White House

Four programs housed at Hartnell College have been selected as Bright Spots by the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics and will be part of a national online catalog that includes over 230 programs that invest in key education priorities for Latinos.

Alejandra Ceja, executive director of the initiative, made the announcement at the launch of Hispanic Heritage Month and in honor of the Initiative’s 25th anniversary in Washington, D.C.

“There has been notable progress in Hispanic educational achievement, and it is due to the efforts of these Bright Spots in Hispanic Education, programs and organizations working throughout the country to help Hispanic students reach their full potential," Ceja said.

The programs being recognized are:

CSin3 (CSIT-in-3), a three year bachelor's degree run in conjunction with CSUMB

STEM Internship Program, which provides internship opportunities in the sciences for students in neighboring science organizations such as MBARI.

MESA/STEM Umbrella of services, which encourages students to enroll in Science, technology, engineering and math careers through extensive support.

Women’s Education & Leadership Institute (WELI), which encourages college participation for girls and women.

The Initiative was established in 1990 to address the educational disparities faced by the Latino community. To learn more about the Initiative and to view the Bright Spots in Hispanic Education national online catalog click here.

Hartnell to celebrate full accreditation

From 12 to 2 p.m. Friday, September 18. They'll have Strawberry Shortcake and ice cream.

Two years after being put on probation, Hartnell College regained full accreditation in July. Accreditation is granted by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, and it signified that students can trust the education they receive at Hartnell will be transferable and accepted in other institutions of higher learning.

College officials will gather at the Student Center at 12:30 p.m. They'll hear from Board President Erica Padilla Chavez; President of the Academic Senate Carol Kimbrough; a CSEA representative; and President Willard Lewallen.

Got four minutes to support a CSUMB's college-preparedness program?

Educational Talent Search, a federally funded program that helps first-generation, low-income students prepare for college, is turning 50 this year.

To celebrate the occasion, ETS programs across the nation created videos to highlight the impact they've had on students, families, communities and schools. The video created by CSUMB, where the local Educational Talent Search is based, was selected as a finalist.

“Please take the time to watch our students’ stories,” said Clementina Macias, ETS program coordinator at CSUMB. “We will have until Friday, July 24, to get as many people as possible to LIKE our video on YouTube.”

Here's the video.

Talent Search gives first-generation, low-income students and their families information about college admissions and resources, provides students with academic advising, helps them explore careers, exposes them to cultural events and helps students become college-ready.
The federally funded program was part of President Lyndon Johnson’s Higher Education Act of 1965, established with the goal of seeing that “no American talent is wasted.”

Nearly 1,200 high school students start down the path to college each year through the Educational Talent Search program based at CSUMB. The students come from seven high schools in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties.

The winning video will be announced Aug. 5 and highlighted at the Council for Opportunity in Education’s annual conference Sept. 16-19 in Atlanta.

CSUMB's Capstone Festival, a chance for the public to see what students are working on

CSUMB students must complete a capstone project in order to graduate, and they will present them to their parents, peers and general public on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Capstone projects represent the skills, knowledge and abilities developed over the course of a student's education at CSUMB. They include research presentations, original poetry, oral histories, installation art, photography, tabletop exhibits, films and videos, multimedia works and computer visualizations.

Presentations will be held all day on Wednesday and Thursday and until noon on Friday at various locations around campus. A schedule is available here.

The Cinematic Arts and Technology students will show their work in the World Theater at 1 p.m., Thursday, May 14. The show will be repeated at 6 p.m. Twenty short films will be screened. Admission is free.

I love the capstone projects. They give you a sense of what students have been working on, a truly inspiring experience. Catch some if you can!

Hartnell College tops California for transfers to UC system

Hartnell College is leading in transfers of underrepresented minority students to the University of California, Hartnell officials announced Thursday.

The top three community colleges in the state to transfer minority students to UCs are: Hartnell College, Rio Hondo and West Los Angeles College, according to an analysis by UC.

“We are being asked by other colleges about our successful practices,” said Superintendent/President Willard Lewallen. “We have many, but the first thing I tell them is this: at Hartnell College we believe that our students are UC material. We lift them up in small and large ways.”

Lewallen was invited to moderate a panel in Los Angeles this week to talk about best practices Hartnell has implemented to have higher percentages of minority students transferring to UCs.

Hartnell College to host summit with K-12 leaders

Hartnell College trustees will hold a summit along with elected officials from the K-12 districts in its feeder area.

The summit will include a review of existing partnerships and collaborative efforts focused on student achievement and success. There will also be time to explore additional partnerships and collaborations that will contribute to student achievement and success. The Monterey County School Boards Association is co-sponsoring the event.

The Summit is scheduled to take place at 5 p.m. Tuesday, September 16, 2014, at Hartnell College Main Campus, Building C, Room 124 (Steinbeck Hall) 411 Central Avenue, Salinas.

UC Santa Cruz Chancellor George Blumenthal visits Seaside High School

UC Santa Cruz Chancellor George Blumenthal visited Seaside High School on Wednesday as part of Achieve UC, a series of events designed to inspire students to apply and attend college.

Blumenthal shared some personal history with about 200 students from all grades. He told them how he and his sister were the first to attend college, how college taught him about the world, and how he dreaded his English classes but ended up loving writing, according to Raul Ebio, interim director for early academic outreach at UC Santa Cruz.

Deciding whether to go to college "isn't really about jobs and money, but it is true that college graduates make a lot more money over the course of their lives than than students who stop after high school," Blumenthal said.

Chancellor Blumenthal also bragged about UC Santa Cruz's marine sciences, astronomy, and genome programs on campus. President Barack Obama awarded Professor Sandra Faber the National Medal of Science. Professor David Haussler was one of the first to crack the genomic code.

Blumenthal also made a deal with Seaside: if the school can pay for transportation to UCSC, the university will pay for dinner before attending the Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation, a favorite event on the City on a Hill.

Chancellor Blumenthal ended his intervention by urging students to go to college, regardless of which one they attend.

"Yes, I'm biased. I think UC Santa Cruz is a great school. But my message today is un-biased: Go to college, wherever you choose. What matters is that you go to college. If you choose a UC campus, we will help you in every way we can. So, work hard, keep your grades up, and realize your dreams!"

I hear the students were not the only ones impressed. The administrators were swooning. It's not every day that a university chancellor visits a high school, they said.

Pretty cool, huh?

High school students: wanna know how much more you can make with a community college degree?

In this day and age of "job satisfaction," I hear professionals advice students to follow their passion when choosing a career -- instead of letting the potential earnings be the guide.

While probably many students are following their bliss these days, for those who want to learn more about their potential earnings, the  California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office has just put out a nifty tool. It's called the "Salary Surfer" and it provides an estimate of how much students could expect to earn before and after they complete a program. Say, for instance, you want to learn how much you'd make with an administration of justice degree: median annual salary before $20,000; two years after receiving the degree, about $35,000; five years after, about $42,000.

The tool could provide a good incentive for high school graduates who are on the fence about going to college. Check it out here. I didn't find it very user friendly because it's grouped by area of study, not by community college. Thus, if I want to find a specific area of program at Monterey Peninsula College or Hartnell, I'd have to find the majors at the community colleges first, then find them in the salary surfer. Still, it's fun to check it out.