Del Norte Area Workgroup 3
College of the Redwoods, Del Norte Campus
July 11, 2014, 12 Noon
Room DM 15
Workgroup 3: Career Technical Education, Short Term & Apprenticeships
Action: The Del Norte Workgroups will meet again on July 24th with the same schedule
and format. The agenda will focus on MOUs and Data Collection.
Data Collection and Reporting
Review of the Excel templates (Julia)
Questions:
How do we get the spreadsheet data back? (Coleen)
If it’s impossible to separate data generated from a single source, do we use
percentages to estimate? (Athena)
Observations: Departmental separation of records means that it’s best to work from the
top down.
Data requests can to go to the County Director in order to receive attention, if other
avenues are not effective. (Rick)
Going Forward (Housekeeping)
The consensus is that combining Workgroups seems to be working.
One agenda will address all 3 Workgroup areas.
The Workgroups will meet again on July 24th at Noon.
Discussion
 There is a need to identify facilities for CTE and Apprenticeship training.
 Currently, in Del Norte County, CTE is offered only at the high school. The
programs are long term and cover transportation, metal working, and building
trades. Currently, there are no adult programs.
 There is need for short term training and stackable certificates in Hospitality,
Back Office, Front Office, Healthcare, and Child Development.
 CTE is considered very effective for Child Development (Athena).
 Discussion of Hospitality 101 Institute and stackable certification. Half-day class
certificates which added up to a Master Certificate and employment.
 Auto Repair industry requires stackable certificates.
 Noncredit stacks are designed as bridges to Credit education and/or living wage
jobs.
 For a very small investment, students are able to get in, get out, and come away
with something of value to themselves and to employers.
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
Possibilities for future certification trainings include Hospitality, Customer
Service, and Food Server. Serve Safe is prohibitively expensive. The text alone
is about $85, and students who don’t have the book have a much lower pass
rate.
CR is planning Credit CTE classes at the high school for Spring 2015, which may
include Welding, Manufacturing, and Cabinet Making. The adult students can share
facilities with the high school students. Credit CTE typically builds toward an Associate’s
degree, which is good thing for people to be working toward. However, if they’re not
ready for that, then the Noncredit CTE (no tuition, no transferable units, shorter term
(less than 4 months) and focused on mastering skills) is the better alternative.
Entry level Healthcare is another area suitable for short term CTE and stackable
certification (CNA or Phlebotomy to Medical Assistant to LVN to RN). CR will be adding
a “wet lab” facility to this campus for RN classes. ETPL listing is in process at CR.
Christy will email Julia on the status of ETPL. CNA could be offered for Credit at Del
Norte. It doesn’t matter what we train people in if jobs are not available. There is a need
to look at what rural communities will need in 10 years (Randy). We need to be more
proactive in anticipating career training needs. People need to learn to use technology
in order to telecommute and participate fully in modern life. Basic touch-typing skills and
Excel are still in high demand from business, as well as IT and computer networking.
We need to identify and establish business and technology education needs in order to
secure future funding, especially skills that transfer across multiple industries.
Entrepreneurship and small business development training are needs in this area. CR is
currently working in partnership with the Small Business Development Center to
establish curricula for short-term, stackable, Entrepreneurship and Small Business
Development classes.
Current legislation in California mandates environmental objectives which will drive the
need for electric car technicians, biomass, wind, and solar power workers.
The need persists for Office Administration training, entry level Healthcare, Hospitality
Services, and all the Basic Skills which support those careers.
Customer Service and Computer Skills training might work best as components of other
certification programs, as opposed to stand-alone classes and credentials. Hospitality
101 is a good place to start, or perhaps Retail Sales. The key takeaway from all of
this is the clear need for a common set of skills which transfer broadly across
careers: “Universal skills packaged in the name of an occupation.”
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Natural Resources and Forestry Technician training are employer needs in this area,
but traditionally require course work to the Associate level, which is offered in Hoopa.
However, the difficulty has been in filling classes. Perhaps Del Norte could seek grant
funding which would allow for smaller, fillable classes. We need to give students the
credential employers are looking for.
Other possibilities for short term CTE include Agriculture Technician and Vegetable
Gardening certifications, which lead to CR Credit programs. Programs currently exist
under Credit Agriculture, and it is important not to duplicate curricula and compete for
students. Credit Agriculture includes general education requirements and is a pathway
to a four-year degree. Landscape Maintenance and Greenhouse Technician are short
term training that could lead to further credentials in Agriculture.
Corrections
The current Del Norte County Jail population is about 100. Del Norte jail classes are
currently parallel, both in-custody, and out-of-custody. Learning is self-study, through
packets. Community Colleges can provide actual classroom instruction on site. CR
Eureka provides classroom instruction in Humboldt County Jail. Barriers to classroom
education in Del Norte include inmate conflict, class size, teacher availability, and
prisoner classification issues. Certain categories or classifications of inmate are not
allowed to mix within the jail, and other classifications may not be suited to outside
instructor contact. Del Norte County Jail has a classroom, but it is not currently in use.
Other barriers include a need to subsidize costs in order to decrease class size, and
instructor safety concerns.
There is a need to help probationers and parolees continue their education upon
release, and, perhaps, make the transition from Noncredit to Credit courses and degree
programs. CR Eureka is considering whether it is feasible to allow a small percentage of
released inmates, who qualify (non-violent offenders, non-sex offenders), and who have
no other housing options, to transition into the dormitories on the CR Eureka campus,
including all necessary financial aid.
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