Office of Instruction and Student Development Update-Week 3-September 11, 2015
Fall enrollment
Good news. We are only about 22 FTES below last year at this time. Two weeks ago I reported
that we were 134 FTES below last year’s figures. We’ve had a remarkably stable enrollment
since the beginning of classes suggesting improved counseling and advising as well as better
efforts by faculty and staff to keep the students enrolled. Thank you for your efforts!
Education master plan
Last Friday, President Snow-Flamer announced the beginning of the Education Master Plan
(EMP) process that will be the District’s blueprint for 2017-2022, and will “…guide instructional
and service program development, decisions about growth, resource allocation at both the
District and campus/site levels, and continue to link budget to planning.” His email also
encouraged all employees to visit the EMP website at http://evoq.redwoods.edu/empc/Home
An important part of the EMP development process is creating a robust and representative
steering committee and subcommittee structure. Individuals are currently being recruited as
representative stakeholders and will be identified at the following EMP site
http://evoq.redwoods.edu/empc/Members
Two year scheduling
Last year, the College took an important step in publishing a “two-year schedule-by-semester” of
classes, helping students plan their pathways to degrees or certificates. This year the “two-year
schedule-by-semester-and-day-and-time” will be created to further assist students in their
planning. Working closely with faculty, the instructional deans will begin, next week, the
challenging process of developing detailed schedules for the 2016-18 academic years.
EOPS #1
Last year, among the 114 California Community Colleges, CR had the highest percentage of
students (headcount) participate in Extended Opportunity Programs & Services (EOPS). At
nearly 12%, our EOPS was well above the State median of 3.6% and served more students than
our nearest neighbor, Shasta College, with nearly twice the general student population as CR. I
have two possible explanations. First, we may have an inordinate number of students who come
from disadvantages environments. This interpretation is supported by some of the demographic
data describing our service area. A second interpretation is that we have an exceptional staff of
outreach and eligibility people. Anyone who listened, as I did, to Assistant Director Kintay
Johnson’s interview on KHSU’s Thursday Night Talk on “Education Behind Bars” knows that
CR’s EOPS is #1. Congratulations to the Director Cheryl Tucker and all of the EOPS staff!
Spotlight on Staff
Jason Brewer started working at College of the Redwoods in April 2008 and hired on as a
Technology Specialist I. When he started, his role was to maintain the computers and software
used by the DSPS department. Since then his role has expanded to a Jack-of-All-Trades. In
addition to computer and software maintenance he also maintains the DSPS website, provides
tutoring in the LIGHT Center, and gives advice on accessibility design and technology.
Jason graduated from CSU Chico with a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science and a
minor in math. He has had no formal education in disabilities or accessibility technology, so
everything he knows he’s learned on the job. Before working at CR, Jason worked 6 months as a
part time Network/Systems Administrator at Redwoods Community Action Agency.
In his off time he enjoys photography, video games, and learning new things. Recently most of
his off time has been taken up with business classes and if all goes to plan, he should get an AS
degree in business by the end of Spring 2016. After that he may work towards earning some
technology certificates. http://www.redwoods.edu/_staff/sql/staff.aspx?search=Jason%20Brewer
Spotlight on Associate Faculty
Brad Morin currently teaches Math 120 (intermediate algebra and lab) and Math 30 (college
algebra) for the Mathematics program. Before starting at College of the Redwoods in 2009, he
spent ten years in software development with his own product. Before that, he taught math at two
universities and as a tenured faculty at Utah Valley State College in Orem, Utah.
Brad and his wife are the parents of three teenage boys. Since moving to Humboldt in 2005, his
most significant distractions have been working with young people with chess classes, chess
tournaments, mini-math camps, and coaching math teams and basketball teams. Almost every
spring, he takes a middle school math team to Stanford for the state Mathcounts tournament. His
biggest vices are chess, Go (a profoundly intriguing game), dancing, basketball, throwing
Frisbees, and woodwork. Also, math has grown more intriguing over the years to the point of
becoming a vice.
Have a warm and sunny weekend!