March 2022

CalFresh Outreach Week 

Mendocino College (MC) organized a series of events to promote CalFresh Outreach Week February 22-24 to increase awareness about the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the food insecurities college students and the community face.  

On Wednesday, February 23, MC staff handed out DIY food kits to students so they could prepare a healthy and easy Quinoa Bowl dish at home. The recipe, provided by Culinary Arts Instructor, Nicholas Petti, went along with the meal and a demo video was posted to the college website. 

On Thursday, February 24, cars lined up as MC staff and volunteers from MC athletic programs helped distribute food to students and the community at the Ukiah campus. The food was generously provided by the Redwood Empire Food Bank (REFB) and included a variety of grocery items such as fruit, vegetables, rice, lentils, milk, peanut butter, pork loin, bread, cereal, diapers, and more.  

Students who are eligible for CalFresh are able to receive a maximum of $250 each month to purchase groceries at the grocery store, Farmers’ Markets, and online. Thank you to our CalFresh Outreach Team Naoto Horiguchi and Kat Escobedo for helping facilitate the week of events!

Financial Aid Awareness Week 

The Financial Aid Office hosted Financial Aid Awareness Week starting the week of February 22nd at the Ukiah Campus and at each Center location. Financial Aid staff were available to answer financial aid related questions, provide resources and assist students with completing the 2022-2023 FAFSA, CA Dream Act application and Foundation Scholarship application.

Women's History Month

Thank you to the Mendocino College Library staff for once again putting together resources and information related to Women's History Month to create a LibGuide highlighting the contributions of women in medicine, science, and technology throughout history: https://libguides.mendocino.edu/womenshistory

The staff aso created an Open Ed Week LibGuide: https://libguides.mendocino.edu/openedweek

Submitted by Suzanne Hewit:

We just completed the last of four Pre-Application Nursing Workshops. Approximately 120 prospective nursing students attended these workshops. The workshops were designed to inform and educate prospective RN students about the program: admission requirements, an overview of the curriculum, the rigors of attending an ADRN program, and how best to prepare for success as a student in this program. We have already received almost 150 applications for 20 spots in the upcoming 2022-2024 class. The application period will close on March 11, 2022. Despite the pandemic, nursing school applications continue to increase across the country.

The South Ukiah Rotary Club has asked for nominations for their Outstanding Student Recognition Awards. Each year, 8 or 9 students from the community are recognized by the Rotary club and recognized with a gift of tools or accessories that will assist the students in their future trade. Presentation of the gifts will take place at the May 12, 2022 Rotary meeting.

Lisa Leonard, the second-year nursing program coordinator, has put together six mock interview sessions that will take place in late March and early April. Each nursing student will be “interviewed”, in person, as though they were applying for a job in nursing, by a panel of professionals comprised of nursing faculty and select personnel from our clinical partners. The interviews will take place over six days, with four students interviewing each day.

Congratulations to our 2022 Faculty Tenure Class which includes Gregory Allen (Chemistry), Fernando Calderon (Phsychology), Vincent Poturica (English), Jason Davis (English), Phillip Lenberg (Music), and Nicholas Wright (DSPS Counselor/Coordinator). A PowerPoint with information about this group of amazing faculty members was presented to the board Wednesday by VP Polak can be found HERE.

Biology Instructor Rachel Donham co-coordinated the Potter Valley Elementary School Science Fair again this year. Roger Ahders, Leslie Banta, Marcus Fredrickson, and Brianna Zuber also contributed in judging project submissions from the 3rd through 6th graders. "The connection these students experience with MC Faculty is inspiring and motivating," says Donham. "I hope that by interacting with college professors, the students will know that they will be welcomed and supported at college. The students who our MC colleagues nominate will be moving forward to the County Science Fair."

Our year-over year numbers continue to improve. We have 12% more students and 38% more section than in Spring 2021. However, we are still below pre-pandemic numbers. Compared to our last pre-pandemic semester, spring 2020, the decline is 16 % number of students, 14% number of sections, and 22% total FTES.

Instructional Deans, faculty and key staff members have been working to develop our upcoming summer and fall 2022 class schedules. While summer sessions, even pre-pandemic, have been scheduled heavily online, we will be bringing back more in person classes, in particular at the Centers.

Planning for fall 2022 is exciting and daunting. We are excited to think about continuing to grow the numbers of students taking classes at all of our locations. At the same time, we recognize that we will need to continue to provide instruction in the delivery modes students have become accustomed to, including online, hybrid, and Zoom. Our challenge will be to find a new balance between these different modes that recognize the increased accessibility offered to students without sacrificing the value of face-to-face instruction.

At the Centers, in collaboration with FT-Faculty and instructional deans, we continue to explore ways to enhance the breadth of courses being offered and are taking advantage of learned technology to increase the number of synchronous Zoom courses available on site. This way, a course being taught at the Lake Center, for example, can also be made available at our Coast Center. This reduces the overall number of students needed at each location to meet enrollment requirements to maintain fiscal responsibility and opens disciplines that may not have previously been available at that location. We are also continuing to build our dual enrollment partnerships, with planned College Days at both our Lake Center on March 17th, and North County Center on March 31st. Between the two sites, we hope to have 11 high schools in attendance for an outdoor event focused on bringing student services and academic departments to high school students, to inspire them to continue their educational journey with the support of Mendocino College. We have also finalized our 11th CCAP agreement with Willits Charter School, and Legett Valley Unified, and look forward to offering our first on site dual enrollment courses in both Legett and Whale Gulch in the upcoming academic year.     

Spring 2022 commencement ceremony plans are under way for an in-person ceremony to be hosted May 20th in the Stadium Field. Students from the 2020 and 2021 classes, in addition to the class of 2022, are invited to join. Staff will be calling students to invite them to participate in the first in person ceremony in two years. Final decisions and plans are still to be determined as we wait for changing guidelines and recommendations from local health officials regarding gatherings.

The Veteran Resource Center (VRC) has re-opened to students for the spring semester. The VRC is open to students Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, 10am-4pm. Wednesdays are reserved for academic counseling appointments.

The Native American Student Resource Center (NASRC) has been re-establishing services this apring semester. Staff member Bonnie Lockhart has been offering limited in-person services during this time as she works to restore in-person support and is currently in the process of hiring student mentors to assist with center operations. 

On February 4, 2022, the CAMP director and counselor visited Anderson Valley High School and presented on the CAMP program (recruitment presentation) and Mendocino College, to a total of 22 students. The program has also mailed out 2022-2023 applications to all target high school counselors in Mendocino and Lake counties. Additionally, CAMP staff is working with local high schools to visit and present on the program. These efforts, in addition to new mailing campaigns, are intended to help increase the number of students in the program, which has seen a decline during the pandemic. 

Mendocino College will be hosting the virtual 2022 CA CAMP Statewide Leadership Student Conference April 8-9, 2022. 14 CAMP scholars will be participating in the conference. The purpose of the CA CAMP Statewide Leadership Student Conference is to serve as a platform for students to receive tools in leadership, teamwork, and overall academic and professional inspiration for success.

Mendocino College is working with Sonoma State University to finalize a 2+2 Pathway that would facilitate students' ability to obtain a Bachelor’s Degree. Utilizing Mendocino College’s Liberal Arts and Sciences Associate of Arts Degree would then lead to Sonoma State’s Bachelor’s Degree in Liberal Studies. Faculty Mark Osea and Rachel Donham have been working jointly with SSU partners on this pathway. Under this pathway, students would complete two years at Mendocino College and two years at SSU. When finalized, this pathway would lead students to the completion of an AA in Liberal Arts and Sciences with an emphasis in Education with a transfer to SSU in Liberal Studies.