Your monthly update for December 2022 | |
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Dear Pirate Crew,
The holidays are here...hurray! I want to wish each of you a peaceful and happy holiday and new year. As we are finishing up the semester, I thought I would focus my letter this month on a few of the accomplishments and successes which have occurred at VC this Fall.
Ventura College has many exciting happenings and awards to celebrate:
- Campus Camaraderie:
- Holiday Gathering and Socktacular
- Friendsgiving Lunch
- Welcome back burrito breakfast for employees
- Monthly celebrations with Pirate Booty and candies delivered to offices
- Campus Healing and Safety:
- Multiple mental health groups sessions have been held for employees and students
- VC Campus Retreat focused on campus safety and preparedness was held with Mike Ketaily leading training
- Monthly Incident Management Team training and education
- Safety audit of Ventura College facilities completed by Ketaily Technical Consulting
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EdSmart named Ventura College as the fourth best college in California 2023.
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Veterans Emergency Grants for students in Jordana Ybarra-Telias’ honor was announced by the Ventura College Foundation.
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American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Committee on Veterinary Technician Education and Activities (CVTEA) granted initial accreditation to the VC Veterinary Technology Program.
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Two Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Summits have been held on campus exploring strategies, best practices, and asset-based approached to the development of VC’s capacity to serve Latinx and historically marginalized students.
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VC East Campus Open House with tours of the new Anatomy Lab bring life science labs to this site.
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VC Dream Center Open House and support for Dreamer/AB540 students, including meeting with UFW Foundations legal team for free immigration legal services.
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Recognized again for The Aspen Institute Top 150 Community College for Academic Excellence.
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December Events:
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Nursing Pinning Ceremony honoring 25 student graduates in December.
- Sixteen students completed the first Veterinary Tech program.
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Jordana Ybarra-Telias Emergency Scholarship Event
- High School Counselor Exchange
- Basic Needs Drive-Thru Event with hot tamales from Peter (yum!)
- VCCS Lunch & Learn with the Chancellor
- New Faculty Mixer
- Sail into STEM Adjunct Faculty Mentorship Celebration
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Captain’s Chat discussion of the college’s Vision and Guiding Principles and to receive input on Student Housing. Please click on the Student Housing link to add your input, thanks. The Captain’s Chat presentation is available here.
With the holidays, all Pirates have a few days off to help each of us rest and re-energize. I want to wish each of you a peaceful and happy holiday and a hopeful new year.
Happy Holidays,
Kim
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Koffee with Kim
- Wednesday, January 25 at 9 a.m.
- Tuesday, March 21 at 3 p.m.
- Thursday, April 20 at 9 a.m.
Captain’s Chat
- Wednesday, February 8 at 2 p.m.
- Tuesday, April 18 at 2 p.m.
Open Executive Team Meeting
- Monday, March 13 at 2:30 p.m.
Celebration of Successes
- End of Year Celebration & Retiree Recognition – Thursday, May 4 at 11:30 a.m.
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Highlighting the amazing Administration, Faculty, Classified Professionals, and Students that make up our Pirate family. This month's highlights include: Claudia Solorzano (Financial Aid Specialist), Dr. Aaron Jones (Dean of the Science Division), James Vega (Academic Coach), and Alina Ruby Leos (Student). | |
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Claudia Solorzano
Financial Aid Specialist
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Dr. Aaron Jones
Dean of the Science Division
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James Vega
Academic Coach, Learning Resource Faculty
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Alina Ruby Leos
ASVC Public Relations Officer
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Gabriel Aragon
Office Assistant, Civic Center
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Sara Fenlon
Senior Accounting Technician
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Christian Johns
Accounting Technician
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Anais Libunao
Costume Designer
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Alejandra Ildefonso
Student Outreach Specialist (Bilingual)
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Margaret (Meg) Phelps
Instructional Technologist/Designer
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VC Veterinary Technology Program Granted Initial Accreditation
Ventura College received news this November 2022 that the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Committee on Veterinary Technician Education and Activities (CVTEA) granted initial accreditation to the college’s Veterinary Technology Program. The program completed an accreditation site visit on August 24-25, 2022 and submitted a post-site visit response. The accreditation is effective August 25, 2022 and will allow program graduates to sit for the Veterinary Technician National Examination. This is a huge milestone for the program, which was launched in spring 2021 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The first cohort will graduate this December 2022. This effort was a result of the hard work of the entire Veterinary Technology team, with special thanks to Mckenzie Rasmussen, Jill Lim, Dorothy Farias, Karen Ashcraft and Sharon Schieltz, and the continuing support of the Executive Team.
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Adjunct to Tenure Mentorship Program: Mock Interviews
On Friday, December 2, Project S:AIL in STEM’s Professional Development Initiative finished up its Adjunct to Tenure Faculty Mentorship Program with a set of Mock Interviews. Presenting in front of a panel of faculty and staff, six of our part-time faculty were able to display their interviewing skills and get feedback to improve their chances of obtaining a tenure position. Huge thanks to Kamelia Algiers, Oscar Rivera, and to the Faculty Mentors for their commitment to increasing our capacity to serve students.
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Adjunct to Tenure Program Celebration
Project S:AIL in STEM is proud to celebrate our inaugural cohort of faculty participants in the Adjunct to Tenure Mentorship Program. Fourteen faculty from five different STEM academic disciplines participated in a semester-long professional development program led by Kammy Algiers. Topics included learning more about the Community College system, VC student services, assessments, using equity data to identify opportunity gaps, and navigating and preparing for the full-time tenure track hiring process. The grant team and campus administrators had a wonderful time celebrating the faculty. Thank you to all who came to celebrate our inaugural cohort!
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Automotive's Christmas Tree
To celebrate the holiday season, the Automotive ILTs, Rudy Gonzalez and Oscar Quintero, along with ideas from students, created their own Christmas tree using materials that you would find in an auto shop. Happy Holidays!
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Jordana Ybarra-Telias Emergency Grant
The Foundation officially announced the Jordana Ybarra-Telias Emergency Grant at a legacy celebration event on December 13. The scheduled guest speakers shared their experience working with Jordana, her impact on campus, and their own journey while at Ventura College and in the Veterans Center. During the ceremony, hosted by the VC Veterans Resource Center, a memorial plaque was unveiled. The plaque will hang in the Veterans Center so that future military-connected students can learn about Jordana's impact on campus.
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Dual Enrollment Workshops
Admissions & Records held in-person dual enrollment workshops at Buena High School and Foothill Technology High School this November. We had the privilege of helping over 60 high school students and several high school counselors with the application process, registration dates, and system updates for Spring 2023 registration.
We also have follow-up workshops in December to assist with dual enrollment form submission at Foothill and Oxnard High Schools.
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Graduation Update
Recently, Admissions & Records had the privilege of awarding 300 associate degrees, 112 associate degrees for transfer and 260 Certificates of Achievement for Summer 2022 term. A huge thank you to everyone in Admissions & Records and Counseling who assist the graduation application process.
The deadline for Graduation Applications for the Fall 2022 semester was November 10. The Admissions & Records office has received over 1,400 applications for over 700 unique students. Those applications will be reviewed once all of the final grades have been posted for the Fall 2022 semester.
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Nursing Pinning Ceremony
The Pinning Ceremony honoring the graduates of The Ventura College School of Nursing Class of Fall 2022 was held Monday, December 12, 2022 at 5 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center. This semester we honored 25 graduates.
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Successful Career Education Open House
The Career Education Open House on October 27 was a success! On the main campus, we had more than 15 Career Education programs showcase their classrooms, offer lab demonstrations in their facilities, and share information about their programs. Several student services offices also offered information and giveaways about their programs. We were joined by current Ventura College students, prospective high school students and their families, K-12 teachers and administrators, as well as faculty & staff who were interested in learning about our programs.
We would like again to thank all faculty, student services, and student workers who assisted with the open house. Peter and his team from L&T Catering for their burritos and wonderful service as always. We appreciate the support and collaboration from Admissions & Records, Basic Needs, the Career Center, Financial Aid, HSI STEM Project S:AIL in STEM, Outreach, and the VC Foundation! We thank you for your time in tabling at the open house and hope to have you join us again at the next one.
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Athletic Championships
Ventura College Athletics just completed another outstanding fall sports season with six of our seven teams qualifying for post-season play. The VC volleyball team recorded the second-most wins in school history and won its third Western State Conference title in four seasons and advanced to the Southern California Regional Finals for the second straight year. Football captured their third SCFA Northern Conference in the past 12 years. They also made their 11th straight post-season appearance and played in the SCFA playoffs for the seventh time since 2012. Women's Water Polo finished runner-up in the WSC and made their fourth straight playoff appearance. Men's and Women's Cross Country both qualified for the state championships, the men their second consecutive trip and the women's 10th straight visit to the final meet of the season.
We look forward to the announcement of individual awards for our fall athletic teams soon as basketball gets going in full swing over the next month. Additionally our 10 spring sports will begin practice in January with competition starting soon after.
For news and information about VC Athletics, visit our website. Follow us on social media @VCPirateAthletics.
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Deals & Discounts with Dell
Looking for a holiday gift? Our Ventura College staff, faculty and students receive great discounts and deals from Dell.
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A Pirate Treasure is a way to recognize colleagues and say thank you for outstanding support to our college community. | |
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