Education

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Written by: Editor

Published: 31 August 2010

MARYSVILLE, CA – The Yuba Community College District (YCCD) launched @go.yccd.edu last week, which is a new online communication service the District is offering to its students.

The service is more than just another email account with 10 gigabytes of email storage. The new @go.yccd.edu will also provide YCCD students with a number of productivity and collaboration tools, including 25GB of online file storage, group calendaring, shared online documents using Microsoft Office Applications, blogging tools and much more.

Since these tools are browser-based, students will be able to access these services from virtually any computer or mobile device with an Internet connection.

“This is a wonderful tool for our students to have,” said Karen Trimble, director of Information Technologies for YCCD. “Our goal is to make @go.yccd.edu our primary campus communication, calendar, and collaboration service. This can only be accomplished through a high adoption rate among our students first.”

This new communication service was made possible through a partnership between the district and Microsoft, using Live@edu.

More than 60,000 student accounts were created and are ready for use.

In essence, @go.yccd.edu will become the District’s new e-mail/online communication system replacing the old go.yccd.edu accounts. At a time when resources are limited, partnerships become very important in supplying students with maximum functionality.

Current students and those interested in learning more about @go.yccd.edu should visit www.yccd.edu/webmail.

All students are encouraged to log in today to begin accessing these new tools.

The Yuba Community College District spans eight counties and nearly 4,200 square miles of territory in rural, north-central California. It has colleges in Marysville and Woodland, an educational center in Clearlake, and will be adding outreach facilities in Sutter and Colusa counties as part of the Measure J facilities bond.

For more information about YCCD please visit www.yccd.edu.

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Written by: Lake County News Reports

Published: 29 August 2010

Lana Eberhard has joined the staff of the Mendocino College Foundation. Courtesy photo.

UKIAH, Calif. – Mendocino College Scholarship Coordinator Lana Eberhard is now a member of the Mendocino College Foundation staff.

Eberhard was selected for the foundation’s support specialist position, Mendocino College Superintendent/President Kathryn G. Lehner announced.

Eberhard continues in her capacity of scholarship coordinator for the college while taking on additional duties in the Foundation office.

“Because the foundation funds most of the scholarships awarded at the college each year, I’ve had a relationship with the foundation office since beginning my employment,” she said.

Speaking about her decision to apply for the support specialist job, Eberhard said it “seemed like a great opportunity for me to move into a position where I could better serve our students, the college’s programs, and continue in my role as scholarship coordinator. It’s a lot of fun to give money to our students and reward them for their hard work and dedication to their academic and career goals.”

“Lana brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to this position, which will be tremendously helpful in managing the foundation’s budget, maintaining its new website, helping to develop newsletters and other communication materials, and assisting in coordinating the efforts of a 22-member volunteer board,” said Lehner.

Eberhard replaces Kerry McMullen, who resigned earlier this year to spend more time with her family.

Hired in March 2008 as administrative assistant to the College’s Dean of Student Services and as scholarship coordinator, Eberhard has an extensive background in marketing and graphic design.

While attending Santa Rosa Junior College in the applied graphics program in 1993, Eberhard was employed as executive assistant to the Exchange Bank’s chairman of the board. In June the same year she graduated with a certificate in applied graphics. Soon after, she created the bank’s first web site and produced its monthly newsletter.

She continued using her skills when in 2000 she joined the bank’s marketing department as marketing specialist and in-house graphic designer. She produced ads and the daily electronic newsletter, designed brochures, collaborated with outside ad agencies and vendors, and was responsible for all the production on the bank’s external website.

“I retired from the bank in January 2008 after working there for 15 years,” said Eberhard, “so, really, working at the College is my ‘after-retirement’ job.”

Eberhard and her husband Steve reside in Willits, where they have made their home since 2002. Soon after moving there from Santa Rosa, Eberhard put her graphic and marketing skills to use designing and producing the 44-page printed program for the annual Willits Frontier Days. She was responsible for the program, with her husband’s assistance, for seven years. She also rebuilt the event’s Web site.

The couple remains active with the yearly celebration. Eberhard continues to design print ads, work on the Web site and design the cover for the program. In addition, she has created the event’s truck pull poster the last two years. Her husband has been the Frontier Days photographer since 2003.

Eberhard has family ties outside California. Her grown daughter lives in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and her parents and brother reside in Newport, Wash., where Eberhard was born.

The foundation’s support specialist can be reached by telephone at 707-467-1018 or by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The foundation office is located in Room 1065 in MacMillan Hall on the Ukiah campus, 1000 Hensley Creek Road. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, during the months of August through May. The office is closed Fridays during June and July.

For additional information about the Mendocino College Foundation, call or email Eberhard or visit the foundation’s Web site, http://foundation.mendocino.edu.

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Written by: Editor

Published: 27 August 2010

SACRAMENTO – On Friday, California Community Colleges Chancellor Jack Scott, along with California State University Chancellor Charles Reed and University of California President Mark Yudof held a briefing at the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce to discuss the impact of continued budget cuts on higher education in California.

“Crowded classrooms, waiting lists of thousands and fewer course offerings are some of the conditions students face as they arrive on campus ready to begin the fall semester,” said Chancellor Jack Scott. “You know things are bad when there are more students on our waiting lists than sitting in many of our classrooms.”

In the 2009-10 academic year, the California Community Colleges sustained $520 million in budget cuts which equates to roughly 8 percent of its overall budget.

The cuts forced campuses to reduce course offerings by as much as 20 percent at a time when more students than ever were seeking admission. This resulted in a greater number of students squeezing into fewer classes and wait-listed seats soaring in to the thousands.

While community college officials continue the struggle to meet student demand and do more with less, other budget issues are also causing concern. The 58-day delay in the California budget has resulted in a blockage of all state payments to the community colleges including $116 million that was due in July and $277 million due in August.

Deep budget cuts and more than $1 billion in funding deferrals have left the colleges vulnerable. The state’s September payment, scheduled to go out on Sept. 28, is one of the largest payments of the year at nearly $450 million.

If this payment is missed, it will bring the cumulative funding delay to $840 million, or roughly 15 percent of districts’ total annual funding.

As a direct result of the delayed and deferred payments, community colleges have been forced to borrow money at a system-wide cost estimated in excess of $5 million. This is money that the colleges could be using to educate students.

This fall, students are pouring on to community college campuses seeking many different types of services. The unemployed are in search of career training. Displaced students from the University of California and California State University are seeking general education courses to transfer. Returning veterans are hoping to supplement their skills with a college degree or certificate.

In 2010, California’s largest graduating class of high school seniors hit the streets. Many are turning to community colleges to begin their higher education plans. Data from fall 2009 indicates first-time community college student enrollments decreased by 12 percent. This means many recent high school graduates wanting to attend a community college will not be able to do so due to space constraints exacerbated by their lack of priority registration.

Community college leaders are encouraged by Chancellor Scott to protect core programs and preserve classes in the areas of career technical education, transfer and basic skills.

“Our colleges are doing the best they can to educate hundreds of thousands of students for which the state is providing no remuneration,” said Scott. “But the reality is with the delayed budget things are getting worse. The community colleges and California’s college students are at a greater risk than ever before.”

For more information about the community colleges, visit www.cccco.edu.