In This Issue

• President's Message
• CCCAOE Launches a New Professional Training Certification
• Employment Opportunity
• Where's the Good News?
• Pre-Conference Workshop
• Here's Some Good News: 75 year-old Grandmother

President's Message

John Means Kern CCD

The mission of CCCAOE is "To provide leadership for occupational education and economic development professionals involved in workforce development and the enhancement of California's position within a global economy."My intention is to continue the work necessary to achieve two important goals of our organization which are to "Advocate for the needs of occupational education and economic development," and to "Promote member involvement in the development and implementation of policies."

CCCAOE began its legislative advocacy initiative three years ago by providing testimony at budget hearings to weigh-in on the impact of the proposed state legislation regarding Community Colleges, Economic and Workforce Development. Your input and expertise is regularly disseminated in Sacramento, Regional Consortia as well as the bi-annual conferences. Your involvement as a member is the key to our success and organizational advocacy.

The CCCAOE Board has been working to develop strategic goals, create a vision for our membership, advocate on behalf of CTE and EWD as well as recruit and nurture future leaders. CCCAOE will add direct e-mail blasts to the membership on time-sensitive and, critical issues; and in spring 2012, CCCAOE will launch a CTE/EWD Leadership Certificate program at the conference.

Speaking of conferences ...CCCAOE is celebrating 40 years of meeting the education and training needs of California's workforce. This year's theme is Innovate, Collaborate, and Integrate: Revitalizing CTE & Economic Development. The conference is taking place at the Westin Hotel at Emerald Plaza, San Diego, October 19-21. A pre-conference will feature WestEd and the Chancellor's Office discussing the current and future focus of CTE Collaboratives/SB70 grants. The breakout sessions will focus on the theme and feature best practices from around California. CCCAOE will celebrate our 40 years at the President's Reception. Don't miss this great opportunity to network and learn about the history of CCCAOE.

Take a moment to visit our website at www.cccaoe.org to register for the Fall 2011 conference. See you in San Diego!

CCCAOE Launches a New Professional Training Certification Series

Employment Opportunity - Instructional Designer
RFP - Professional Certification Training

Currently CCCAOE is seeking an independent contractor (Instructional Designer) to develop a series of workshops designed to enhance the professional knowledge, skills and abilities of community college practitioners in career/technical education and workforce and economic development (see article above.) The Instructional Designer will work under the direction of the CCCAOE Board President and may collaborate with the CCCAOE Executive Committee and other experts to develop the curriculum and dissemination strategies. All materials developed will be the intellectual property of the California Community College Association for Occupational Education (CCCAOE). For more information, click here. Deadline for applications is October 1, 2011.

Where's the Good News?

Jonathan Lightman, FACCC Executive Director

It's pretty clear there's not much to celebrate. Rising fears of a double-dip recession is being played out by Wall Street's roller coaster ride. Our national unemployment rate is stuck at 9.1 percent with California's climbing back to 12 percent. It's fairly clear that toxic gridlock in both Washington and Sacramento will preclude a genuinely helpful economic recovery initiative for the next year.

In the midst of this, community colleges may endure another round of fee hikes and budget cuts. If California fails to hit the magic $4 billion additional revenue built into the 2011-12 budget assumption, a tiered series of cuts is automatically triggered.

Tier 1 cuts occur if revenues fall within $2 billion of the projected $4 billion increase. Community colleges could see a General Fund reduction of $30 million offset by a hike in student fees to $46 per unit. Tier 2 cuts happen if revenues fall below $2 billion of the projected $4 billion. At this point, community colleges could receive a reduction to apportionments of up to $72 million beyond Tier 1.

The bad news doesn't stop there as the $10 per unit student fee increase cannot practically be implemented for the spring 2012 academic term. This creates an additional revenue shortfall which may result in another workload reduction (fewer students, fewer classes, fewer faculty, etc.) or other cuts to programs. As much as we hope to avoid the Tier 1 or Tier 2 reductions, the weak economy is not producing the anticipated revenue. On August 9, State Controller John Chiang released his monthly report covering California's July cash balance, receipts and disbursements. It revealed an overall shortfall of $538.8 million (10.3 percent) below projection, categorized by the following:

• State income taxes fell above projection by $89 million;
• State sales and use taxes fell below projection by $139.4 million;
• State corporate taxes fell below projection by $69.5 million;
• "Other revenue" category fell below projection by $419 million.

So where's the good news?

First, we need to acknowledge ... click here for more news.

Pre-Conference Workshop: "The Future of SB 70 & Beyond"

During the WestEd statewide evaluation of the Career Technical Education Pathways Initiative (SB70), grantees were asked what information or resources would be helpful as they implement their programs. Many grantees answered, "We want to know and learn about what other grantees are doing."

In response to this need from the grantees, a CCCAOE Fall 2011 pre-conference seminar in San Diego will focus on "The Future of SB70 & Beyond" specifically demonstrating how administrators support CTE efforts; providing strategies for leveraging multiple sources of funding; sharing how to build meaningful and lasting collaborative relationships with a wide range of K-12, industry, and other partners; and establishing a how-to plan for sustainability.

Additionally, participants will learn about a wide range of SB70 grantees such as Statewide Pathways, Hubs, Teacher Preparation Pipeline, Young Entrepreneurs Program, and Community Collaboratives.

We hope you will join us from 8:30-11 a.m., Wednesday, October 19, as we define the future of CTE pathways.

Register online along with your CCCAOE Fall 2011 Conference registration click here for registration.

75-Year-Old Grandmother Graduates from Nanotechnology Program

San Bernardino resident and former social worker is ready for a new career

Margaret D. Villegas, a 75-year-old grandmother, recently was graduated after completing a 90-hour technician training program through the Center for the Advancement of Nanotechnology (NanoCenter) in San Bernardino.

The San Bernardino resident describes herself as a life-long learner. She decided to sign up for the nanotechnology program after a friend mentioned it to her.

"I don't believe age is a number," Villegas said. "Your brain is the last thing to age. You can keep learning and learning. I believe it keeps you younger."

Villegas said she has no background in the hard sciences, but she was interested to learn how nanotechnology has been able to make scientific devices cheaper and smaller, using new materials.

In 1973 Villegas graduated from Cal Poly Pomona with a degree in social services and later studied deviant behavior at Pitzer College. She worked as a counselor for a number of community organizations in San Bernardino, leading support groups for battered women, recovering alcoholics, drug addicts, former gang members and recent parolees. Villegas is a widow who raised four children and has seven grandchildren.

An avid reader with unbounded curiosity, Villegas is a strong educational advocate who believes in contributing to society. She speaks Spanish fluently and is currently learning Hebrew.

She brought her 18-year-old grandson to some of the nanotechnology classes, hoping it would inspire him to pursue nanotechnology as a career path. Instead, she was the one who developed a passion and curiosity for all things nano. She is pursuing some job leads in San Diego and Irvine. Born in 1936, Villegas has worked since she was 13, and says she plans to do so for the rest of her life. "I don't believe in retiring," she said. "I love to learn."

. . . Desert Regional Consortium news release