Transfer Prep Grant Newsletter
Title V
Volume 1, Issue 3
Transfer Center Location Chosen
Last
mo n t h
President Gloria
Harrison announced
to the Crafton campus community that
after careful review
the President’s Cabinet had chosen the
old Crafton Center (now SSC201) as the site of both the
Transfer Center and the Honor
Lounge, home to the College
Honors Institute (CHI). In
making its decision, the cabinet weighed a number of concerns against each other, such
as the need to create a unique
identity, available space for
staff offices, the centrality of
the location, the possibility of
co-locating the Honors Center,
the proximity to counseling,
and the impact on other parts
of campus.
They also considered the
results of the many campuswide and department-specific
discussions facilitated by Debbie Bogh, by Title V Project
Director (see Table 1).
The
following
were identified as
compelling reasons for the decision:
• Input from two
open-campus forums and various
campus
staff
meetings.
• Close proximity to Student
Services such as Student Life,
Financial Aid, EOP&S, Admissions and Records and
relative proximity to Counseling.
• Close proximity to the Cafeteria and student social interactions.
• A large enough space to both
comfortably and functionally
manage the Transfer Center
and Honors Center activities,
seating, computers and office
spaces. There will be two
office spaces in the Transfer
Center and one office space
in the Honors Center.
• Relatively simple remodel of
the existing area to accommodate both centers.
• A great space that is aesthetically pleasing and welcoming
to students. It will also pro-
vide two balcony spaces for
possible activities; one outdoors and the other overlooking the cafeteria.
• Relatively simple relocation
of existing math classes in
the Crafton Center to the
newly acquired Portable
classroom space (Fall 2011).
The Transfer Center will
serve as the central location
for all transfer information and
activities for the college and
will house the office for the
Transfer Center Coordinator/
Counselor. In addition to information, the Transfer Center
will also offer students computers for transfer-related
searches and a space to meet
with representatives from
transfer institutions.
The Honors Lounge will
also offer members of the College Honors Institute computer
stations for their academic
projects, as well as couches
and chairs for Honors studying. The Honors Director will
also have her also there.
Vice-president of Administrative Services Mike Strong
reported that bids have already
started coming in for the re-
Table 1. Results of Informal Polling of Preferred Location of Transfer Center
Totals
April 2011
modeling, which will include
constructing a wall between the
Transfer Center and the Honors
Center; installing 8 computer
work stations, work spaces for
transfer representatives, and
offices for the Transfer Center
Coordinator and the Director of
the Honors program. Both centers will open sometime in fall
2011.
Title V Core Team
The Title V Core Team—
comprised of Project Director
Debbie Bogh, Administrative
Secretary Ginger Sutphin, Activity 1 Lead Daniel Bahner,
Activity 2 Lead Keith Wurtz,
Research Assistant Michelle
Riggs, and the soon-to-be
hired Grants Program Manager
and Transfer Center Coordinator/Counselor—meets every
Wednesday at 2:00 in LRC
135.
As the core team for The
Transfer Prep Grant, we are
committed to promoting student success through transfer,
resource development, and
evidence-based decisionmaking. We value integrity,
honesty, respect, and collaboration.
Assessment
Center
CL-216
Portable
Crafton
Center
14 – 1st
5 – 2nd
32 – 3rd
9 – 1st
31 – 2nd
3 – 3rd
1 – 2nd
5 – 3rd
45 – 4th
28 – 1st
12 – 2nd
10 – 3rd
Page 2
Transfer Prep Grant Newsletter
Discover CHI at CHC: The Honors Lounge to Become a Reality
Five years ago, a small cadre of determined faculty submitted a proposal for
a College Honors Institute at Crafton to
the CHC Academic Senate. Discussions
about creating an honors program at Crafton had come and gone since the 80s, but
this time the faculty were determined to
make it happen. Envisioning the mission
of CHI as offering “enhanced educational
opportunities to an enriching community
of Crafton Hills College students in a
multi-dimensional program that challenges and deepens students’ scholarship,
creativity, and commitment,” the faculty
also intended the program “to provide
highly motivated students who have demonstrated outstanding academic achievements the opportunity to:
•
•
•
Pursue their individual scholarly interests
Participate in an intellectual community of students with a shared purpose of advancing scholarship
Enhance their ability to transfer to
their preferred college/university and/
or their participation in an honors
program in their transfer institution.
Because of the time-consuming process of curriculum development and articulation agreements, the program has
needed to grow slowly, but grow it has, so
much so that we now have 18 courses
offering Honors options, all of which
have been fully articulated with CSU and
UC. In fall, honors options will be offered
in English, History, Geology, Oceanography, Psychology, Religious Studies,
Speech, and Theatre Arts.
“Building something is always challenging,” explained Gwen DiPonio, the
CHI Director. “People are already doing
so much that it’s difficult to build the
cooperation necessary among the various
groups on campus. Still, it’s a rewarding
experience establishing ourselves as a
regular part of the campus.”
Honors Research
Members of the College Honors
Institute will also be encouraged to participate in the annual Honors Research
Conference of the Honors Transfer Council (HTCC) held each spring at UC Irvine.
This March, for example, over 300 students from 30 different community colleges in southern California convened to
present their research either through a
poster presentation or an oral presentation
on topics ranging from Asperger’s Disorder to the Electoral College to Human
Trafficking. Participants are not only eligible for possible publication but also for
research grants and achievement scholarships. Director DiPonio is particularly
excited about taking students to this conference, or “having them take us to show
off the great work they’ve been doing.”
CHI Membership
To become members of the College
Honors Institute, entering students must
have earned a 3.0 GPA in high school and
current students must have completed 12
units with a GPA of 3.0. All students
must also be eligible for ENGL 101, as
well as for a transfer-level mathematics
course (MATH 102 or above). To become CHI graduates, students must complete 15 units of Honors courses with a
grade of A or B with a 3.25 GPA or better, perform approved community service,
and satisfy the requirements for transfer
or an Associate degree.
Currently, any student willing to
meet the increased demands of the honors
options can choose to enroll. This semester 50 students are enrolled in one or more
of the 9 different honors sections offered.
Starting in the Fall 2011 Semester,
however, only students who have been
accepted as members of the College Honors Institute will be allowed to select the
honors option. At that time, CHI members
will also have the opportunity to use the
Honors Lounge as well, to meet with
other Honors students and to pursue their
Honors projects.
Honors Director Gwen DiPonio conThe vision of Crafton Hills College is to be the
premier community college for public safety
and health services careers and transfer
preparation.
siders this the coolest thing about the developing Honors program. “The Honors
Lounge adds a new element to the campus enabling us to compete with other
colleges for students who want to go
above and beyond what they’re asked to
do.”
Transfer Benefit
The most significant benefit of becoming part of the College Honors Institute is the opportunity to take advantage
of the transfer agreements CHC has with
a variety of prestigious universities. As a
result of the college’s membership in the
Honors Transfer Council of California
(HTCC), students who successfully complete College Honors Institute requirements are eligible for priority admission
and scholarship consideration at many
public and private four-year institutions.
Some universities, including UC
Berkeley, UC Irvine, and Chapman University offer CHI graduates priority consideration for admission. Other schools
including Cal State Fullerton and La Sierra University offer priority consideration for honors program admission. Special scholarships for students completing
honors program requirements are also
available. For more information regarding
the transfer benefits of participating in the
College Honors Institute, visit the HTTC
website at www.honorstcc.org.
What You Can Do
CHI Director DiPonio encourages all
CHC faculty to become involved in the
College Honors Program by doing any or
all of the following:
1. Send her the names of any highachieving students who you think might
benefit from the challenging rigor the
CHI program.
2. Encourage such students to join the
Honors program (applications are available from Gwen DiPonio or online).
3. Write honors curriculum for your
courses to expand the opportunities for
our brightest, most eager students.