Office of Student Services Update - February 2024

Good Afternoon!

January was a very busy month for Student Services! I am still getting used to AC1 life after living in the same AC2 office for the last 7 ½ years and being used to Dean Jake Rosenbery keeping things lively by sharing quite the array of musical offerings in the Deans Suite.

Some highlights from January and upcoming activities include:

Pilots/Projects

Wellness Vending Machine Pilot

Clovis was selected as one of 18 CA community colleges to pilot a Wellness Vending Machine. The Wellness Vending Machine will provide health and wellness items to students at a reduced cost compared to pharmacies. Our machine arrived today and will hopefully be up and running in the next few weeks. It will be located in the downstairs hallway in AC2 near the Food Pantry. Huge thank you to Naomi Forey for leading this effort.

AB1705 Implementation

I participated in the AB1705 implementation meeting with the Math department where we modified the Work in Progress (WIP) process for Math 5A pilot students.

F3 / AgTEC

On January 23rd, I attended the F3 Drivers meeting at West Hills College, Lemoore to learn more about the AgTEC grant project and where student services will fit in. I also attended an adhoc meeting regarding the transcript piece of the project to review technical details that still need to be worked out in Colleague in order to meet the objectives of the grant. I wanted to ensure we have the right people at the table when these things are getting built, so I held a meeting with our key student services folks to begin discussions about implementation and add Clovis representatives to the various adhocs.

Virtual Care Group

I met with a consultant from the Virtual Care Group to discuss options for supplemental outsourced online health and psychological services. Unfortunately, these services are extremely expensive at over $20,000 a month for our current student population size.

Basic Needs

  • The January CCC Farmers Market served 205 students and their families, reaching 827 community members.
  • The Crush Pantry served 564 students and their families during January.
  • The Equity Book Vouchers program has served 261 students through textbook support for a total of $54k in assistance for Spring 2024.

Student Activities

Celebrating Black History Month and Upcoming Events

This February, Student Activities is celebrating Black History Month (more info below). We have a month filled with activities, art, and student engagement! March highlights our transformative and empowering women bringing guest speakers and interactive student experiences. April will bring together Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities. Mark your calendar for our Aloha Festival which will take place on April 2nd, make sure to purchase your meal ticket and enjoy the performances. Last but not least, join us for Spring Extravaganza on May 1st! We will bring vendors and lots of fun activities as we wrap up the Spring semester! 

African American Success Initiative/Black Student Success

Spring 2024 Welcome Black Mixer

The African American Success Initiative (AASI) & Black Student Success (BSS) hosted the Spring 2024 Welcome Black mixer on January 23rd.

Celebrating Black History Month

February 2024-CCC will come together for a month-long celebration to honor the tapestry of Black history and culture. The Black History Month workgroup has planned many events to recognize and highlight Black excellence, resilience, and achievement throughout the month.

Allensworth State Park Field Trip

On Saturday, February 11th, we will be taking a field trip with students and staff to Allensworth, the first town in California to be founded, financed, and governed by African Americans. Participants will engage in active learning experiences that highlight the cultural wealth of the Central Valley and provide an understanding of our local historical context. If anyone is interested in attending, please contact Sasha Fisher at sasha.fisher@cloviscollege.edu.

Commencement

Please mark your calendars for our 2024 Commencement Ceremony which will be held on Friday, May 17th right here on campus. You should have received an email from Jake about participating in this year’s ceremony. If you’d like to participate, please make sure you respond to Jake so he has an accurate count and can order regalia, if needed.

Counseling

Student Education Plan (SEP) Campaign & Texting

March 8th is the deadline for current students to obtain SEP’s.  In February, counselors will begin the “SEP Campaign.”  This includes outreach to all students who have not met with a counselor to obtain their SEP.  New this year, the team will utilize the texting software through Ocelot to create a campaign through texting to reach out to all students at CCC who need a SEP, including instructions and direct links to counseling drop-in and appointment services.  Counselors will also follow up with each student by phone and email.

Early Alert (see graphic below)

Shout out to the English department for being the most active discipline in the fall and Dennis Montejano for being the most active instructor! We encourage ALL faculty to participate even if it’s positive feedback to students via “KUDOS.” We had a 48% increase in items raised during Fall 2023 when compared to Spring 2023. The success Rate for EA referred students is 70% and retention rate is 93%.

The Counseling and Outreach teams began Registration to Go (RTG) at local feeder schools to provide advising to high school seniors.

Financial Aid

  • Financial Aid has disbursed $10,385,727 in aid so far this year!
  • Financial Aid staff has already helped 240 families with their FAFSA/CADAAs at local high schools. We have 16 more HS Workshops, 3 more Zoom workshops for current students, and our March 2nd on-campus event!
  • March 2nd is the scholarship deadline!
  • Processing for 24-25 FAFSA applications has been pushed back to March. There will be a delay in student’s receiving their award letters for 24-25.

DSP&S

  • DSP&S closed out the fall MIS report with 805 active students.
  • Currently DSP&S has roughly 1006 active students.Transition To College (TTC) has onboarded roughly 300 students from local CUSD high schools already.
  • DSP&S began the process of working with a student focus group to update our student resource handbook.
  • Tech Review approved seven DSP&S courses and two DSP&S certificates; DSP&S will be going to the Curriculum Committee on 2/5/24 for review.

Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander

  • The Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Workgroup has been meeting to discuss ways to increase support and belonging for our AANHPI students. They are also working on events to bring more awareness and celebration of AANHPI culture and community. Look for upcoming announcements!
  • Mark your calendars, author and historian, Dr. Catherine Ceniza Choy will be on campus on March 20th. There will be a presentation at 10am and at 6:30 pm in AC1-150.

Tutorial Center

The Tutorial Center is off to a very busy start. In addition to tutorial services, the center also hosts several events to increase engagement and awareness of the center. The next “Write Night” is scheduled for February 13th at 5:30 pm in AC1-141. Everyone is welcome to come by and enjoy a Valentine time of writing and reflection.

LGBTQ+ Taskforce

The taskforce has been preparing for several activities to help engage students and to create safe spaces on campus. The taskforce works closely with the GSA student organization to find best ways to ensure that our campus is welcoming to all students.

Behavior Intervention Team (BIT)

I continued to lead our weekly BIT meetings to discuss and assess student behavior related issues using the National Association for Behavioral Intervention and Threat Assessment rubric. Our team refers some of these matters to student conduct and provides supportive interventions where necessary. The beginning of the semester is always a busy time for these discussions, and I am continuously grateful for the care, collaboration, and commitment of our team to ensuring a safe and supportive learning environment.

Title IX

  • Clovis will be the first college in our district to host a Rape Aggression Defense course in partnership with our district police department. At this time, the course is limited to women and focuses on awareness, prevention, risk reduction, and avoidance. This is a 12-hour course and will be offered in 3-hour increments on Feb. 2, 9, 23 and March 1, 2024, from 4-7pm, in AC2-102.  To sign up, please contact Michael.Allison@scccd.edu.  Dress in comfortable clothing.
  • Beginning February 5, 2024, Marjoree Mason Center will be doing a Healthy Relationships series.  This series will take place every Monday from 11a-12p, in AC2-176.  This is an open forum, no need to sign-up.
  • February 12, 2024, Title IX Coordinator, Renee Garcia, will be presenting Dating 101:  Red Flags in Dating.  This will take place in AC2-178, from 9:00am-10:30am. 

Other

  • I met with the auditors handling the transfer audit for all California Community Colleges, CSUs, and UCs. Clovis was one of 10 sites selected for a visit between all three systems. We continue to provide requested information and expect their report to be complete by the end of summer 2024.
  • I attended the LA Hiring Fair on January 19th and 20th with HR staff and a few folks from our sister campuses. There was a lot of interest in our open positions, especially our English and Bio positions. I always love talking about how amazing Clovis is so hopefully we get some strong pools.
  • I participated in the meetings to review and discuss the process for my interim dean backfill. I appreciated the commitment, thoughts, and feedback from everyone who participated.
  • I spent time with the Student Services leadership team going over space needs for our various departments moving forward.
  • I wrapped up my remaining and upcoming classified evaluations so that whoever steps into my interim dean role will not have that burden and held initial meetings for spring tenured faculty evals.

Early Alert Program

Looking forward to a busy and exciting February!

Kira Tippins
Interim Vice President of Student Services