Office of Student Services Update - January 2025
Happy New Year!
While December is typically a slower month, this one seemed incredibly busy with district and campus meetings, deadlines, and completion of my own first semester back in college. I am so thankful to have a month off from no evening class meetings, assigned readings, or papers to write!
I was able to attend the Historical Documentaries showing put on by the History Department and led by Dr. Patrick Fontes. The documentaries were very well done by students, which showcased the histories of various organizations in the Fresno/Clovis area. I also attended the Student Art Show and was amazed by all the great work, especially the adorable lanterns. They looked like something you would buy in a store! We had a Veterans Administration Compliance Audit, which resulted in no findings, and huge kudos to Natalie Minas for such accurate and clean certifications! And I participated in the campus holiday potluck and gift exchange, which is always a lot of fun.
After finals week, we held our Fall 2024 Student Services Division Meeting where we had the largest team attendance ever of approximately 80 participants! Our Mad for Plaid meeting opened with introductions of new employees, and we were excited to have guest speaker, Kathy Espinoza, present on Cultivating Relationships in an Ever-Changing Workforce. Ms. Espinoza was very energetic and had most of the team laughing and identifying with the different generational topics. We also covered our division goal of processes and procedures documentation, Cal-GETC and Common Course Numbering, Vision-Aligned Reporting (VAR), Student Services deadlines, Basic Needs Referral Application, and upcoming cross-training/collaboration among the different Student Services departments. Each month during 2025, every Student Services department will hold a special meeting/training with a different Student Services department to focus on increasing communication, collaboration, cross training, and community across departments.
Outreach
Outreach staff continue to recruit next Fall’s incoming class through the Reg-to-Go program. Last month’s orientation workshops were a success with over 80% of approximately 3,100 CCC feeder school applicants completing their required orientation. Later this month, Outreach will partner with Counseling to begin advising sessions where seniors will receive academic counseling and create Student Education Plans (SEPs). This is an important step in the matriculation process as students begin to envision themselves at a college by discussing their education and career goals. Outreach will continue to follow up with students who have not applied or completed their orientation to ensure that all students have the opportunity to attend a community college.
To build our spring enrollment, Outreach will be holding Extreme Registration on-campus on January 7 and 8 from 1 – 6 pm. The one-stop-shop event is a great opportunity for students who have never enrolled to complete their steps at the same time and register for Spring 2025 classes. Enrolled students who are new to the college are encouraged to attend Crush Days on Friday, January 10 from 10am – 2 pm to learn more about the campus and resources available.
Student Activities
Welcome back, and Happy New Year! As we prepare for the Spring semester, the Student Activities Team is here to support you in creating successful and engaging events for our students and community. If your department is planning any events for the upcoming semester, please let us know how we can assist you. Whether it is guidance through the event planning process, logistical support, or help with event details, we are happy to collaborate and ensure everything runs smoothly.
We are excited to kick off Crush Days, our New Student Orientation, on Friday, January 10, where we will welcome new students to our Crush Family!
Join us for Welcome Week starting January 13 to welcome students and guide them through campus.
Mark your calendars for a special event in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day on January 16. We are proud to host Denea Joseph, who will speak on The Intersection of Immigration and Civil Rights. The event is open to all and will begin at 11:30am.
Our events are listed in the Activities Calendar, which can be found on our website. We are also working on bringing more food trucks to campus—stay tuned for upcoming dates and tasty treats.
Crush Pantry
Our first Farmer's Market will be held on Thursday, January 16 from 10 am – 1 pm. We have also extended our Crush Pantry Hours: Mondays - 9 am – 4 pm; Tuesdays/Wednesdays/Thursdays - 9 am – 8 pm; Fridays - 9 am – 12 pm.
Basic Needs Center
Beginning Monday, January 13, staff and faculty will be able to refer students to the Basic Needs Center by completing a referral form. We encourage you to please use this link to help us streamline our intake process. Basic needs requests have increased tremendously, and we need your help to ensure that we are able to get to our students in a timely manner.
Financial Aid
The first Spring 2025 Financial Aid payment is going out 1/9/2025 totaling just under $2 million! We will also have make-up payments on 1/16/25 and 1/30/25 for those who did not get their paperwork completed in time for the 1/9/25 disbursement.
It is not too late to apply for 24/25 Financial Aid! Students who attended Summer/Fall 2024 or are incoming Spring/Summer 2025 should complete this application. Deadline is 6/30/2025.
The 25/26 Financial Aid Applications (FAFSA & CADAA) are now open for students attending Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Spring 2026, or Summer 2026.
The 25/26 Scholarship application is OPEN! Deadline is 3/2/2025. If you would like to schedule a workshop for the specific population you serve, please reach out to Rebecca Kinlow, rebecca.kinlow@cloviscollege.edu.
Counseling
Our Counseling Department has been very busy working alongside Outreach to advise our new and returning students and get them enrolled. This semester our counselors will begin advising on Cal-GETC, and they will work closely with Outreach to get the word out to incoming students.
DSP&S
An update has taken place to the DSP&S case management system AIM (now version 5!). DSP&S staff is available to help students and faculty with navigating the new dashboard experience. Visual resources were emailed to students and are available to them on Canvas via the DSP&S page.
Veterans Resource Center
This semester, our Veterans Resource Center will be moving from AC2-149B to AC2-176. We are just starting the room preparations. Keep an eye out for a grand opening in the near future.
Undocumented "Dreamer" Students
On December 17, the Central Valley Community Foundation held a meeting at Fresno State to address the needs of undocumented “Dreamer” students. President Jimenez-Sandoval urged central valley educators to collaborate given policy uncertainty around presidential administration transitions. SCCCD representatives attended the meeting, including CCC Counselors Carla Stoner and Tuyet Quach. A follow-up meeting will be scheduled with educators throughout the valley to proactively strategize to best assist Dreamer students and families.
Thanks,
Kira Tippins
Vice President of Student Services
