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- Written by: Dixie State University
In a display of academic achievement, 21% of Dixie State University students earned President's and Dean's List recognition for the Fall 2021 semester.
Nord was among 2,627 students who were included on the university's honor rolls, with 1,212 students on the President's List and 1,415 on the Dean's List.
Inclusion indicates students' strong commitment to their academic pursuits, as they must achieve a semester GPA of 3.9 or higher to be included on the President's List and a GPA of 3.5 to 3.89 for the Dean's List. Both lists require students to complete a minimum of 15 credits.
"Congratulations to our amazing DSU students who worked diligently this past fall to achieve the highest levels of learning and classroom performance," Dr. Michael Lacourse, vice president of academic affairs, said. "We are proud of their accomplishment and recognition as members of the Fall 2021 honor roll."
With more than 200 academic programs, 29 of which were added over the last year alone, Dixie State provides a comprehensive education in a variety of fields to prepare students for rewarding careers and enriched lives.
Outside of the classroom, students have the opportunity to enjoy the unparalleled opportunities for an active life that accompany DSU's location in beautiful Southern Utah.
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- Written by: Bundle of Joy Nature Preschool Childcare
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Jean Goulart, founder of Bundle of Joy Nature Preschool Childcare established in 2000, announced the opening of a 100% outdoor nature classroom for preschool age children.
A Nature Explore Classroom is a dynamic, nature-based outdoor space developed by research-based, field-tested design principles focusing on youth education and whole child development.
Scientific literature supports that children benefit from spending extended time outdoors. While having fun, the whole child is nurtured, encouraging social and emotional development, self-regulation, and physical development.
Outdoor play also supports children's problem-solving skills and nurtures their creativity, as well as providing rich opportunities for their developing imagination, inventiveness, and resourcefulness.
Bundle of Joy provides children with memorable adventures while they learn and grow.
“My goal is to connect with my community to raise awareness of the learning potential our earth gives us when we play outside in a no walls nature-based environment from early childhood and throughout our lives,” said Goulart.
Bundle of Joy Nature Explore offers Mornings in Nature, an adventure designed for preschoolers. It is a seven-week session, three mornings per week. Mother Nature serves as both our teacher and classroom. Continuous enrollment is available to experience the seasons of northern California.
“There is no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing,” Goulart said, quoting Alfred Wainwright from his 1973 book “Coast to Coast.”
Goulart added, “Layering, long sleeves plus a hat for sun protection, and rainboots for puddle jumping are the best California weather safeguards.”
Bundle of Joy Nature Explore is accepting enrollment for 2022 March-April session Mornings in Nature at Bennett Ranch in Hidden Valley Lake Ranchos.
“I always wanted to grow something at Bennett Ranch, my family home. One day I realized that I do, and the something I grow is children, from infancy through childhood!” Goulart said. “Additionally, I help parents discover the joyous side of parenting.”
Families are invited to explore together at Bennett Ranch during weekend excursions.
Jean Goulart, M.A., an Early Childhood Educator, California Naturalist, Outdoor Classroom Project Specialist II. Bundle of Joy Nature Explore is an OCP Network Demonstration Site, and a Certified Nature Explore Outdoor Classroom since 2015. It is Lake County’s first early learning and care program to score the highest Tier 5 star rating with Quality Counts California Consortium.
For more information, visit
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- Written by: Mendocino College
NORTH COAST, CAlif. — The Physical Therapist Assistant, or PTA, program at Mendocino College has been granted full accreditation status by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education, also called CAPTE.
“In addition to being granted full accreditation status in December, we also celebrated the very first cohort to complete the PTA program course of study. It was a trailblazing experience for all of the 16 pioneering students,” said Dean of Career Education, Dennis Aseltyne. “We are the first PTA program of this kind in California to partner with another Community College (Shasta), to share instructors regionally in a hybrid delivery model. We are now the only CAPTE accredited PTA program between San Francisco and Mt. Hood College near Portland, Oregon serving the northern California coast.”
The Mendocino College PTA Program applied for and was granted Candidate for Accreditation status by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education on Oct. 29, 2019.
Candidate for accreditation is an accreditation status of affiliation with the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education that indicates the program may matriculate students in technical/professional courses.
The first cohort of students began classes in January 2020 and completed in December 2021 under the fully accredited program.
"It is a great opportunity to have an accredited physical therapist assistant program at Mendocino College,” says Program Director Sara Bogner. “This program provides another avenue for education and career training at Mendocino College. As the population ages, there is a great need for physical therapist assistants not only in our area but statewide and nationally. The program recently received national accreditation and the first cohort of students has completed training. These students are preparing to take the national licensure exam this month and will be a welcome asset to the workforce."
“The Mendocino College Physical Therapist Assistant Program has been such a blessing! These past two years in the program have taught me so much”, says Matthew Arlich, one of the graduating PTA students. “I have wanted to pursue being a Physical Therapist Assistant for years, and it has been such a privilege and honor to be part of the cohort class. All of my instructors have been so supportive and have taught us all so much these past two years. I would highly recommend this program to anybody. This career is so rewarding, and has many excellent benefits. It is 110 percent worth all of the hard work that you put into it. Looking forward to seeing many more future PTAs graduate and benefit from this program at Mendocino College!”
The PTA program is a hybrid design with theory courses offered online and laboratory courses offered at the Mendocino College Ukiah campus. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the program directors and faculty have been able to modify face-to-face instruction in order to continue to hold labs on campus, giving students the best possible education experience. The program requires that students be on campus in Ukiah at least two days per week for laboratory courses during the spring and fall semesters.
The PTA program is a five-semester program with students earning an Associates of Science degree and eligibility to take the National Physical Therapy Exam for licensure as a PTA upon completion. Applications are accepted each year between August 15 and October 15, with a new cohort of students beginning the program each January.
For a list of prerequisites and other information about the program, please visit www.mendocino.edu/pta.
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- Written by: California Attorney General’s Office
The settlement includes $95 million in restitution for student loan borrowers and $1.7 billion in private student loan debt cancellation, including $11.5 million in direct restitution and approximately $261 million in debt cancellation for California borrowers.
Many of these borrowers took out private student loans to attend exploitative for-profit schools with low graduation and job-placement rates.
As part of the settlement, Navient will also be required to comply with significant injunctive terms governing its student loan servicing.
“Today’s settlement is a victory for student loan borrowers in California and in our sister states who were exploited by Navient and trapped by poor servicing conduct into expensive loans that they couldn't afford,” Bonta said Thursday. “Navient has been one the worst actors in the student loan servicing market, and this settlement is a step toward accountability, providing direct relief for many of our most vulnerable student borrowers. The broader fight, however, is far from over. There is a $1.7 trillion student loan debt crisis in this country – and we need decisive action from Congress and the Department of Education to solve it."
In June 2018, the California Attorney General’s Office filed a lawsuit alleging that Navient violated California's Unfair Competition Law and False Advertising Law by steering vulnerable borrowers into costly forbearances and failing to advise them on the benefits of income-driven repayment programs, among other claims.
Thursday’s settlement resolves these allegations and requires Navient to make $95 million in restitution payments of about $260 each to approximately 357,000 harmed consumers, including 43,000 Californians.
Navient will also cancel more than $1.7 billion in subprime private student loans owed by approximately 66,000 borrowers nationwide. Californians will receive around $261 million of that debt cancellation, going to approximately 7,400 borrowers.
Borrowers who will receive restitution or forgiveness span all generations: Navient’s harmful conduct impacted everyone from students who enrolled in colleges and universities immediately after high school to mid-career students who dropped out after enrolling in a for-profit school in the early-to-mid 2000s.
Consumers do not need to take any action to receive the benefits required under the settlement. Consumers receiving private loan debt cancellation will receive a notice from Navient, and they will receive refunds of any payments made after June 30, 2021.
Consumers who are eligible for a restitution payment will receive a postcard in the mail from the attorney general’s settlement administrator in spring 2022. Consumers can find more information about the settlement by visiting www.NavientAGSettlement.com.
The settlement against Navient also includes substantial injunctive terms to prevent future misconduct. Specifically, Navient must:
• Ensure that call agents discuss the benefits of income-driven repayment with all borrowers seeking to lower or stop their payments;
• Create a new cadre of repayment specialists trained to advise at-risk borrowers;
• Stop compensating call agents in a manner that encourages them to handle calls quickly, and instead ensure agents give thorough and accurate information to borrowers;
• Implement significant changes to its payment-processing procedures that will benefit borrowers;
• Limit or reduce certain fees for late payments or entering forbearances; and
Improve its billing statements and other communications to better inform borrowers of their rights and obligations.
Navient must also notify borrowers of the Department of Education’s important changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness, or PSLF, program, which offers millions of qualifying public servants a waiver that may count past payments, or previously non-qualifying periods of repayment, towards loan forgiveness.
Attorney General Bonta encourages all Californians working in the government or non-profit sectors to review the PSLF website to determine whether they might qualify for loan forgiveness.
Borrowers seeking loan forgiveness under the Department of Education’s recent changes must take action by Oct. 31, 2022.
Attorney General Bonta is committed to holding predatory actors accountable and protecting California’s student loan borrowers.
Last month, trial concluded in Attorney General Bonta’s lawsuit against Ashford University, an online for-profit school, and its parent company Zovio, for engaging in false advertising and unlawful business practices.
The same month, Attorney General Bonta announced the successful resolution of litigation against the U.S. Department of Education after the Biden Administration committed to fixing the broken Public Service Loan Forgiveness and Temporary Expanded Public Service Loan Forgiveness programs.
Attorney General Bonta is also involved in several ongoing lawsuits against the Department of Education relating to its failure to discharge the loans of former students from for-profit and now-defunct Corinthian Colleges, its unlawful repeal and replacement of the 2016 “borrower defense” regulations, and its effort to ease oversight and accountability on for-profit colleges at the expense of students and taxpayers.
Attorney General Bonta joins the attorneys general of Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin in the settlement.
The settlement is subject to court approval.