Monthly Archives: July 2013

BC Team at Curriculum Institute – July 18, 2013

Staff at Curriculum Institute

Co-Chairs Billie Jo Rice and John Carpenter, Nan Gomez-Heitzeberg, Sharon Bush, who provides support for curriculum

You may have thought the world of curriculum stopped spinning in the summer but our BC Curriculum Team attended a three-day intense Curriculum Institute last week.

Sharon Bush, BC’s curriculum specialist, pointed out that, ‘The Curriculum Institute is a great forum to discuss hot topics that are at the forefront in the ever-changing world of curriculum. State resources include information about the Bakersfield College student success scorecard to the wage tracker, which shows a students salary before and after completing a program at Bakersfield College’.

The team attended workshops presented by members of the State Academic Senate Curriculum Committee, various college curriculum chairs and State Chancellor’s office staff. So what is “hot” in the world of curriculum? Repeatability and the new guidelines that came out just last week; prerequisites, monitoring for disproportionate impact; aligning state curriculum regulations about physical education courses with athletic conference rules (CCCAA); using data to make tough curriculum decisions; high school core curriculum and TMCs, AA-T and AS-T degrees are still on the radar.

From Billie Jo Rice:

“In brightest day, in blackest night,
No curriculum shall escape our sight,
Let those who suffer the curriculum plight,
Beware our power…the Curriculum Support Teams’ light!

In the immortal words of the Green Lantern, we as your Curriculum Support Team (Nan, John, Sharon, and I) spent three days learning from the best and gaining the knowledge and skills necessary to help move us forward as a college.”

We all look forward to sharing what we have learned throughout the upcoming year.

Here are some of the vast resources available on the State Academic State and State Chancellors’ website:

Academic Senate California Community College check out Institute Presentations (e-materials)

http://www.asccc.org

BC scorecards:

http://collegecost.ed.gov/scorecard/UniversityProfile.aspx?org=sr&id=109819

http://scorecard.cccco.edu/scorecardrates.aspx?CollegeID=521

Wage tracker:

http://datamart.cccco.edu/Outcomes/College_Wage_Tracker.aspx

Chancellor’s Office Data Mart (a bunch of different data report links are here, including wage tracker):

http://datamart.cccco.edu/Outcomes/Default.aspx

Dept of Education, college affordability and transparency center:

http://collegecost.ed.gov/catc/Default.aspx

http://collegecost.ed.gov/

BC STEM Student Receives $30,000 PG&E Scholarship

Image

Bakersfield College STEM student, Aaron Sproul, received PG&E’s $30,000 Bright Minds Scholarship which provides a $30,000 renewable scholarship each year.

PG&E presented Sproul with the scholarship in a surprise ceremony.

Congratulations, Aaron!

Aaron was a math tutor at BC and graduated with honors in 2012.  He then transferred to California State University Bakersfield (CSUB) where he is studying applied mathematics.

BC transfers students to the CSU system, the UC system and other four-year colleges across the nation.  Among the CSU transfers, CSUB gets the largest percentage.  In 2011-2012 approximately 73% of CSU transfers were to CSU Bakersfield.  Among the UC transfers, Davis, LA, and Berkeley more consistently had the largest number of transfers with Santa Barbara and Riverside making the top three periodically.

BC has a strong STEM program.  Check out previous blog posts at:

The NASA project:

http://tinyurl.com/ph76h53

http://tinyurl.com/mjuuv8s

National Society of Black Engineers:

http://tinyurl.com/jvwdrht

High School students enjoying Engineering at BC:

http://tinyurl.com/nyx4g3p

Industrial Tech at BC:

http://tinyurl.com/md24okj

From Camp to Campus. Winners from our Delano campus.

“Camp to Campus” is a 90-minute documentary which focuses on first-generation college graduates who come from a migrant labor background. This is the reality for many Bakersfield College students, and for two in particular.

As part of “Camps to Campus” students could submit essays about their own college-going experience for the opportunity to receive a $1000 scholarship to attend CSUB. Two Bakersfield College students who attend class at the Delano Campus were the winners!

CamptoCampusDeissy Ibarra received a scholarship for her essay titled “The Light at the End of the Tunnel.” You can read Deissy’s submission online. Deissy related her own college-going experience to one of the students featured in “Camp to Campus” and received a $1000 scholarship for her effort.

Raji Rivera created a video essay for his submission.

Congratulations to these two students. Their success stories and pursuit of higher education are why Bakersfield College has worked for the last 100 years to provide access to quality higher education!

Bakersfield College in Kern Business Journal

Bakersfield College in Kern Business Journal

Amber Chiang

Amber Chiang

Bakersfield College was featured in the April issue of Kern Business Journal for our excellent work in training x-ray technicians and nurses to put to work right here in Kern County. The article, written by our own Amber Chiang, talks about the importance of these specialized training fields, and the students and faculty who work tirelessly to support the community.

If you’ve been in a local hospital or clinic recently, it is likely you’ve met one of our students. They’re the ones in the vibrant red scrubs, wearing a friendly smile, and ready to help you with your health needs.

Look for an upcoming story in the Kern Business Journal on our careers which support Kern’s thriving oil industry!

Culinary Arts Team Prevails in Mammoth…Again!

ImageBakersfield College’s outstanding Culinary Arts students have prevailed yet again at the Mammoth Food & Wine Experience, which is a fundraising event for Cerro Coso Community College Foundation. This is the team’s third straight year of taking the championship at this premier culinary event, which awards a $1000 scholarship to the winning team.

The team is comprised of Branden Slichter, Stephanie Warnock, Tori Menna, Travis Murray, Imageand Philip Mygatt, and was coached by Bakersfield College Chef Suzanne Davis. The dish which secured the win was designed by the student team: Creamy Crab Cakes with Roasted Corn, Cucumber, and Tomato Salad, topped with Red Pepper Sauce.

Bakersfield College’s team competed against top culinary schools: Art Institute of Santa Monica, Le Cordon Bleu of Los Angeles, Le Cordon Bleu of San Francisco, and Le Cordon Bleu of Sacramento.

Not only did our excellent team win the People’s Choice Award, but it was a landslide victory. To make the competition even more challenging, Chef Suzanne Davis wasn’t with the team during the event; Chef Davis was assisting Le Cordon Bleu of Los Angeles due to the fact that team has lost two team members just prior to the event.

ImageFor their championship, the team was presented with a $1000 scholarship, and a hand-carved bear, which will be prominently displayed in Bakersfield College’s Renegade Room. The team’s success was featured in the July 10 edition of The Bakersfield Californian.

If you’ve not had the opportunity to visit Bakersfield College’s amazing Renegade Room, I encourage you to make some time in the fall to do so. The Renegade Room will open up a few weeks into the Fall semester, and menus/dates will be posted online.

With Culinary Student at Sterling Silver

Sonya Christian with a Culinary Student at Sterling Silver

Sonya Christian's Blog