(Including Cerro Coso Community College, Taft College, Bakersfield College, Porterville College)

Cerro Coso Community College

LITERARY JOURNAL: After many delays, Metamorphoses 2007-2008 (the college’s journal of literature and art) will be release at the end of April.

CC ONLINE: CC Online has officially adopted Moodle as its online course delivery method, phasing out its FrontPage-based classes. CC Online provides AA degrees online, and so the English Department continues to build its online course options to keep up with demand. Multi-Ethnic Literature and one Basic Skills Composition course have been added to the many online English classes.

BASIC SKILLS: The Basic Skills Committee is now chaired by English Department faculty member Corey Marvin. Online and physical meetings generate many new ideas on improving Basic Skills student success rates. Cerro Coso has six campuses altogether (including CC Online), and so the challenge in implementing changes involves looking at how all campuses will be served. Faculty are encouraged to attend regional and national conferences and training seminars.

The college now has a Learning Assistance Center on each of the campuses, providing trained tutors for students in need. In addition, some campuses now have graduate student learning assistants to provide further support for instructors and Basic Skills students. The Basic Skills Committee is currently debating a Smarthinking online tutoring subscription. However, the cost of this excellent service may be restrictive; using that money to continue improving the Learning Assistance Centers with new and better computer hardware/software, an improved tutor-to-student ratio, and more tutor and faculty training may be the better option.

Taft
(Update sent by Gary Graupman)

GUEST AUTHOR: Reyna Grande, award winning author, will be on the Taft College campus April 16, 2008. She will be discussing her novel Across a Hundred Mountains. She will have 2 sessions on campus and one at a local eatery, the Hacienda Grill. The public is invited to all sessions.

SPRING SOCIAL: The TC English faculty has been invited to the BC/CSUB English departments’ spring social to be held at McGee’s at the Ice House Friday, May 9, 2008.

NEW INSTRUCTOR: The Liberal Arts Division is planning to hire a full-time English instructor. This is a replacement position.

MORE CONSTRUCTION UNDER WAY: Construction continues at Taft College. The Administration Building is now completed and occupied. The new library is expected to open by June, and the Math/Science Building renovation is expected to be completed by summer. When Math/Science is completed, work on the Tech Arts Building will start. The project has been ongoing for some time, but the result will totally change the campus.

BASIC SKILLS: The Basic Skills Initiative report has been completed by the committee responsible. Also, TC is gearing up accreditation. Committees have been formed, surveys worked on, and evidence is being gathered.

Bakersfield College

NEW FACULTY: BC is currently interviewing for ESL and Reading/Basic Skills Writing specialists.

NEW BOOK TO BE RELEASED: Dave Moton continues to prepare for the upcoming release of his composition textbook planned for later this year.