June 2024

NFN News Center

Taking CTE Outside

K-12 ‘Tahoe Science’ Pathway Seeds Sustainable Careers

South Tahoe High School “Tahoe Science” K12

While Lake Tahoe’s waters are hailed as one of the purest in the world, that clarity has been steadily decreasing, partly due to its staggering 15 million annual visitors. That’s why local high school students are wading in to keep Tahoe blue as they cultivate greener careers.

“I’m helping out my community and learning something at the same time,” says South Tahoe High School junior Sayers Tanner. Every Thursday, his Tahoe Science class tests the water quality from Kiva Beach and the Truckee River. Their data is helping the environmental research organization The Great Basin Institute and the US Forest Service control invasive aquatic plants.

“It’s basically a mini field trip in one hour,” says Tanner, who puts on fishing waders, stands among the spawning salmon, and takes samples to collect vital data. At the end of the semester, students will present their findings to the Forest Service to help keep the aquatic weeds out of the water.

“Getting an opportunity to do field research as a high schooler is pretty unique,” says industry partner Cameron Meikle, Education Coordinator for The Great Basin Institute. He says Tahoe Science instructor Richard Kinnett encourages students to consider high-demand careers in natural resource management.

“Richard’s class tends to be low-income or potentially at-risk students, so getting them involved is important … to deal with the problems that are challenging their community,” says Meikle.

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Mendocino College Fire Science Academy Marks a New ‘First’ in First Response

Mendocino College Fire Academy

Nearly 320,000 acres burned throughout California last year, with more than 6,700 wildfires recorded across the state. Given the state’s vulnerability to these devastating fires, it may be surprising to learn that most fire responders work on a volunteer basis.

“Mendocino County is one of the largest counties in California, and also one of the least populated,” says Carl Magann, Fire Science instructor at Mendocino College and retired Fire Chief for the Little Lake Fire Protection District in Mendocino County. “Our county fire protection is provided by CalFire and twenty plus local fire departments, many of them strictly volunteer.”

Up until 2022, the Mendocino County Fire Chiefs hosted their own local volunteer firefighting academy, wherein local departments provided students with equipment, training facilities, and experienced instructors.

“The program provided students with an accelerated program with technical knowledge, and valuable hands-on experience and training,” notes Magann. “Unfortunately, with the increase of demands on all local fire agencies, the volunteer academy became less of a priority.”

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News

California releases $470 million to put students on track for college and career

Both the state and federal governments previously made big investments in preparing students for college or career at the K-12 level, but the Golden State Pathways program is different in that it challenges school districts, colleges, employers and other community groups to create “pathways” — or a focused series of courses — that prepare K-12 students for college and career at the same time. These pathways aim to prepare students for well-paying careers in fields such as health care, education and technology, while also ensuring that they take 12 college credits through dual enrollment courses and the A-G classes needed to apply to public four-year universities.

“By establishing career technical pathways that are also college preparatory, the Golden State Pathways Program provides a game-changing opportunity for California’s young people,” State Superintendentof  Public Instruction Thurmond said in a statement.

The Golden State Pathways are an important part of the new master plan for education — Newsom’s vision to transform career education in California — which is expected by the year’s end.

https://edsource.org/2024/california-releases-470-million-for-program-that-puts-students-on-track-for-college-and-career/713057

Information

Cal-GETC Infrastructure and

Operational Alignment

Please see this memo for information regarding Cal-GETC Infrastructure and Operational Alignment, which can also be found on the Chancellor’s Office website.For questions regarding this memo, please contact transfer@cccco.edu.

Opportunities

Recruiting Now for the Deputy Director-NFNRC

Butte College is currently recruiting for the Deputy Director position of the North Far North Regional Consortium.  Please help spread the word by sharing it out for us.  

More Details and Apply here

Recruiting Now!

NFNRC Coordinating Council

For the July 1, 2024-June 30, 2026 term!

• Nominate or Apply here- Application

  • Please apply if you are still interested in continuing in your position you hold now.

• Still Need Applications for the following positions:

  • Economic & WorkforceDevelopment Advisory Committee (EWDAC) - representative from the NFNRCregion

  • CEO- North

  • CIO-North & Far North

  • CSSO-North & Far North

  • Voting Member -North

  • Faculty CE Liaison-North

  • Student orAlumni-North & Far North

NEW GRANT OPPORTUNITIES FOR AI-INTEGRATED INNOVATION

California’s colleges and universities play an important role in leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to close equity gaps and create more inclusive campuses statewide. This vision is becoming a reality with two new grant opportunities announced by the California Education Learning Lab (Learning Lab).

These new funding initiatives aim to position California’s higher education faculty as leaders in integrating AI into teaching and learning. By utilizing the full capabilities of AI, educators can develop cutting-edge teaching methods, create more engaging and effective learning environments, and address evolving educational challenges. These grants will offer California community colleges, University of California, and California State University campuses the resources needed for greater innovation and excellence.

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

AI Grand Challenge

• Amount: Awards up to $1.5 million

• Focus: Integrate AI into teaching and learning to close equity gap

• Goal: Explore transformative approaches in education through AI

AI FAST Challenge

• Amount: Awards up to $150,000 for individual faculty/institutions or up to $200,000 for cohorts of institutions

• Focus: Accelerate innovative AI projects in teaching and learning

• Goal: Enable implementation and scaling of AI-driven educational initiatives

An initiative of the California Governor’s Office of Planning and Research in partnership with Foundation CCC, the Learning Lab provides grants to projects that use technology and the science of learning to improve online and hybrid learning. These grants allow faculty and administrators to drive change and innovation within California’s higher education system.

Sign up via the links below to stay informed on grant application updates. Forany questions, please email info@calearninglab.org.

Chancellor’s Office

Student Equity Plan Feedback Survey

As we approach the last year of the current Student Equity Plan2022-2025 (SEP 2.0), it is important for us to obtain field feedback and reflect on the structure of the Student Equity Plan 2.0 (2022-25) Template.  The California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office partnered with the San Diego State University CCHALES Research Collective in developing the StudentEquity Plan Feedback Survey.

The Student Equity Plan Feedback Survey is intended to be filled out by the individual who directly oversees the Student Equity and Achievement (SEA) Program. They should facilitate a campus-informed and team-based approach in responding to the survey, where the voices, experiences, and feedback from equity team members (e.g., equity coordinator, faculty, administrative specialist) or division leads (e.g., CIO, CSSO, CBO, Chief Diversity Officer) are included. Once these questions are reviewed, there should only be one response per campus to the survey.

While Student Equity Plan Feedback Survey is optional for colleges to complete, we encourage all colleges to participate. The goal of collecting data from the survey is two-fold: 1) to gather feedback from the field regarding the of SEP 2.0 Plan and areas for improvement as the system moves to SEP 3.0 Plan (2025-2028); and 2) to inform a year-long professional development series focused on supporting campus educators involved with the SEA Program. The results will be shared with an upcoming CCCCO SEP Task Force for consideration as we develop the next plan.

Please click on the following hyperlink to complete the StudentEquity Plan Feedback Survey by July 12, 2024.The survey does not have to be completed in oneattempt. Colleges have the option to save their responses and return to thesurvey as often as needed. The survey will close at 11:00pm on July 12, 2024.

For questions related to the survey, please contact seaprograminfo@cccco.edu.