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“1MM Campaign” kicks off with SoCal reception this Friday
(July 26, 2010) The Campaign for College Opportunity will be hosting an event this Friday, July 30, at California State University, Northridge, to launch our “One Million More College Graduates by 2025” campaign and to recognize this year’s Save Me A Spot in College scholarship winners.
State Senator Alex Padilla, State Assembly Speaker John Perez, and The California State Student Association will also be honored as Champions for College Opportunity at the event, which takes place at the Orange Grove Bistro at the University Club (near the corner of Nordhoff and Zelzah). Please RSVP here. If you would like more information about this event, please contact Stephanie Romero-Crockett at 213-817-6034.
The Campaign launched its One Million More College Graduates by 2025 Campaign this month to raise awareness among Californians that an additional one million college graduates are needed in our state by 2025 to maintain our quality of life, remain competitive, and meet our workforce needs. The campaign will also serve to encourage the next Governor of California to put forward a specific plan that will prioritize and invest in higher education in order to keep our economy strong and produce jobs.
Conversation focuses on PPIC recommendations for updated Master Plan
The Campaign for College Opportunity hosted the latest in its series of Statewide Conversations on College Opportunity and Student Success on May 4 with a conference call focused on the future of the state’s Master Plan for Higher Education. Hans Johnson, Associate Director of the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) presented the findings of the PPIC’s new report, Higher Education in California: New Goals for the Master Plan, which proposes that the plan set explicit new goals in several key areas, including University of California and California State University eligibility levels, community college transfers to four-year institutions, and college completion rates.
Participating in the call with Johnson were state Senator Alex Padilla, a member of the Master Plan for Higher Education Committee; Denis Udall with the Hewlett Foundation; and Campaign Executive Director Michele Siqueiros.
Click here to listen to the complete briefing.
Latinos and STEM Degrees Conference Call
Improving completion for Latinos in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields was the focus of an April 6th phone briefing. The Campaign is hosting a statewide conversation with the Center for Urban Education (CUE) at the University of Southern California to coincide with the release of their report, "Improving Transfer Access to STEM Bachelor's Degrees at Hispanic Serving Institutions through the America COMPETES Act." The CUE report, which has a national focus, looks at transfer equity in states across the country as it applies to Hispanic-Serving Institutions.
In addition to Campaign Executive Director Michele Siqueiros, panelists on the call included Dr. Alicia Dowd, CUE Co-Director and an Associate Professor of Higher Education; Dr. Lindsey E. Malcom, Assistant Professor at the University of California, Riverside; Dr. Mark W. Rocha, President of West Los Angeles College; and Jennifer Cano, Director of Education Programs, Great Minds in STEM.
Click here to listen to the complete briefing.
Campaign Hosts Briefing Series
The Campaign anticipates hosting a minimum of four additional briefings in this series on a monthly or bi-monthly basis.
Potential topics include:
- Invest in the Future: California leaders make the case for investing in higher education. Business leaders and students share why the state should and must do better—even in tough budget times.
- Moving California Ahead: California has a real opportunity to access federal funding for higher education through HR 3221, but only if we take bold steps to position ourselves to be competitive. Learn more about the fund and the role that California can play in producing more college graduates.
- Assessment & Placement: A discussion on the current efforts underway to strengthen and streamline assessment and placement in California Community Colleges.
- Affordability: Ensuring that college costs are not an undue burden to access and student success—a discussion on college affordability, student debt, and how they hinder student success.
- Practices with Promise: A dialogue around initiatives that have already demonstrated success and that also hold promise for statewide implementation.
- Student Success: There are many voices in higher education clamoring to be heard, but it is time to take a student-centered approach to policy reform—a discussion on necessary reforms that could help ensure student success in higher education.
- 1 Million More Campaign: Spanning pre-K to baccalaureate degree completion, the 1Mº by 2025 Campaign promotes a clear path for California to produce one million more college degrees by 2025.
- Capacity Crisis: Economic downturn, budget cuts, restricted enrollment—educational opportunity is in grave danger of being truncated. The California Postsecondary Education Commission has some staggering projections for how many students may be turned away from California public institutions of higher education by 2019.
- Lessons from Other States: Having faced similar issues in the past that California now faces in higher education, Texas and Florida may prove valuable models for creating a more cohesive and efficient system and bringing new life to one of the crowning jewels of the Golden State.
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