WHC Coalinga Mission Statement
West Hills College Coalinga is committed to achieving student learning through the
provision of educational, cultural, and economic development opportunities to our
current and future students and the local and global communities that we serve.
VOL 6, NO. 6
DECEMBER, 2012
This newsletter is brought to you by the West Hills College Coalinga president’s office and is meant to
give you the latest and greatest news and information from around the organization.
WEST HILLS COLLEGE COALINGA
INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS PROGRAM
International Education Week | November 12-16, 2012
This year’s International Education Week was definitely one to remember! Monday through Friday flags from all over the
world were displayed in the West Hills College library. On Tuesday students from India, Japan and Mexico did a superb
cooking demonstration in the quad. All those who tasted these great treats left with a happy tummy. Wednesday’s
activities included a campus wide scavenger hunt hosted by the Associated Student Body and Thursday the first annual
International Lounge took place in the WHC Student Lounge.
The International Students Program staff wants to thank all who came out and joined them. They are looking forward to
next year!
300 Cherry Lane - Coalinga, CA 93210 - (559) 934-2000
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International Students | Thanksgiving Dinner
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November 16 , 2012 the International Students Program celebrated the exciting holiday of Thanksgiving. Many
international students came to eat great food and learn about this national holiday. Thanks go out to all the students and
staff that came to enjoy this dinner.
Six Flags Magic Mountain
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What a RIDE! The WHC international students loved their trip to Six Flags Magic Mountain on November 17 , 2012 and
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are ready to spend lots of money on their trip to the Gilroy Outlets on December 1 , 2012. Spring field trips are around the
corner. Keep an eye open for them!
TRIO – STUDENT SUPPORT PROGRAM (SSP), UPWARD BOUND (UB), AND
UPWARD BOUND MATH & SCIENCE (UB MATH & SCIENCE)
UC Santa Barbara
UB staff conducted a field trip to UC Santa Barbara on October 20. A tour of the campus was facilitated by two former UB
Coalinga students currently in the Engineering program-Stacey Barrera and Mariana Alvarenga. The campus visit
followed with a tour of the Santa Barbara mission and a stop at the beach. The students were ecstatic to see former UB
peers in action at the prestigious UC Santa Barbara.
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2012 Halloween Festival
The TRIO club spearheaded the 2012 Halloween Festival on October 31. This is an annual event co-sponsored with the
ASB, EOPS/CARE, Cal Works, and the Career Center programs. The students, faculty and staff joined in on the event to
just have fun. The students volunteer to help out on a variety of games and a costume competition. The TRIO club sold
nachos, drinks, and popcorn.
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CSU Fresno Educational Leadership Foundation
The college hosted CSU Fresno Educational Leadership Foundation (ELF) on October 31. ELF and the TRIO programs
featured Raul Moreno who presented the latest information to help AB 540 eligible students access benefits and meet
requirements. Mr. Moreno’s team assisted students with the application and addressed questions from the audience. The
participants requested the workshop be repeated with additional evening events.
Association of Mexican American Educators
TRIO Director Dr. Bertha Felix-Mata co-chaired activities planned for the Association of Mexican American Educators
(AMAE) Statewide Conference, Saturday, November 2-3. The conference was held in Fresno, at the Holiday Inn Airport.
West Hills Community College District Chancellor Frank Gornick was the featured speaker on Saturday, November 3. The
theme of this year’s conference was Educating Students for a World of Opportunities
Lunch to Learn Workshops
On Tuesday, November 6 and Wednesday, November 14 the TRIO/SSP sponsored Lunch to Learn (LtL) monthly
workshops in conjunction with the Career Center. Dominica Sanchez, Technician coordinated the workshop activities. The
featured speaker Jennifer Solis, FAST Federal Credit Union representative presented information on basic money
management, credit card handling, and holiday financial planning.
NDC Pie on the Face Event
Dr. Bertha Felix-Mata TRiO Director volunteered to get a pie on the face on November 13. The
Pie on the Face event was sponsored by NDC ASB to raise funds for thanksgiving baskets.
Science Academy
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The WHC UB program along with the UB College of the Sequoias (COS) program conducted a science academy on
November 17. Ricardo Marmolejo, COS UB Director and Juan Rubio, UB Coalinga Advisor spearheaded the day’s
activities. This is a new collaborative that our programs embarked to leverage funding and resources across community
colleges. Joshua Sexton, UB Coalinga Instructor lead the students on an exercise to experiment on the mechanics of
constructing hot air balloons. Jim Grant, West Hills College faculty facilitated a workshop on leadership development. The
UB Coalinga program also conducted a financial aid workshop for parents. Veronica Rosales, Housing Coordinator met
with the parents and provided a tour of the residence halls.
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HIGH SCHOOL EQUIVALENCY PROGRAM (HEP)
Pictured: Javier Cazares and Anita Wright along with members of the CA HEP Consortium and Lisa Ramirez from the Office of Migrant Education.
National HEP/CAMP Association Conference
November 11-14 WHCCD HEP staff travelled to South Padre Island, TX for the National HEP/CAMP Association
Conference. Workshop topics included GED testing on the computer and the 2014 GED Test, Deferred Action For
Childhood Arrivals, and the HEP Annual Performance Report. Anita Wright and Javier Cazares, along with members of
the CA HEP Consortium, presented on the value of working with fellow HEP projects to better serve students.
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The panel presentation outlined the development of the California HEP Consortium and the benefits of such an alliance.
Five years ago California HEP Directors recognized the advantages of coming together to share best practices and
discuss and clarify issues in many areas of the HEP Program. Subjects included eligibility, recruitment, placement,
instructional practices, and administrative support. Three years ago it became evident that it was essential to provide all
staff members the opportunity to meet and learn from their counterparts across the state. In September 2011 the First
Annual CA HEP In-service Training took place at Hartnell College. The Second Annual CA HEP In-service Training was
hosted by West Hills Community College on August 3-4, 2012. The positive impact of the two sessions on HEP staff, and
overall program implementation were highlighted during the workshop. Suggestions for initiating similar alliances were
also presented.
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Ms. Jessie Blanhir
Ms. Jessie Blanhir has been a student at WHC-NDC since 2011. She is
majoring in Software Engineering and plans to transfer to UC Merced or
California State University, San Luis Obispo after she graduates in May
2013.
During her time at NDC, Jessie has been a member of the Leadership
class where she has learned a great deal about the way she can become
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the best possible leader. On November 15 of this year, she helped put on
our talent show which attracted many students that demonstrated their
talents in singing, reading poems, comedy and art work. Most recently she
has organized the Thanksgiving Food Drive project, and this has resulted in
over 50 families receiving canned foods, turkeys, and other food
supplements for Thanksgiving dinner.
Jessie parents were both born in Ensenada, Mexico. They moved with
Jessie and one of her sisters to Kerman in 2000. The other two older
sisters were married and stayed in Mexico. Jessie attended Tranquillity
Elementary School and then Tranquillity High School. She decided that she
would begin her college education at West Hills College North District
Center to complete her general education courses and earn an A.A. Degree.
Ms. Blanhir finds herself babysitting her niece and nephew the whole week while juggling her homework and housework.
She loves volunteering at her church and in her community, as well as being involved with events that go on at the North
District Center.
Jessie has met some wonderful students and instructors who have influenced her life at West Hills College. “I really like
being tutored by Tiffany Hernandez because she has helped me so much in English and Geography 3. She is like a
counselor to me because she truly cares about academic progress. Mr. Wilson was a great Math teacher. I learned so
much from him because we reviewed many concepts that I had forgotten about, and with his instruction, I was able to
recall many of them and progress with other concepts.”
We look forward to seeing Jessie graduate in May and continue her academic endeavors in the years to come.
Congratulations to Jessie Blanhir - West Hills College North District Center Student of the Month.
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ATHLETICS
Fall 2012 Football
Final record (1-3, 3-7)
Golden Gate All Conference Selections
OFFENSE
Lovell Joy
Zachery Mauga
Cameron Boyd
DEFENSE
Dylan Bakker
Leo Watkins
Douglas Tauta
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Fall 2012 Volleyball
Final record (3-17)
Central Valley Conference
1st Team
Angel Soutsavang
17th Annual Thanksgiving Dinner for ALL Students
On Thanksgiving day the West Hills College Coalinga Athletic Department served a full traditional Thanksgiving meal to
more than 30 college students that were unable to get home for the long holiday weekend. After all the students had had
their fill eight less fortunate families were delivered a full meal as well. A big thank you to all who donated whether it was
their time, money or food.
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2012 Basketball Schedule
Current record (0-0, 3-3
DAY
DATE
OPPONENT
SITE
F
12/14
Canada College
Redwood
5:00 PM
W
12/19
West Valley College
Coalinga
5:00 PM
F-Su
12/28
San Diego Mesa College
San Diego
TBA
W
01/09
*Porterville College
Coalinga
7:00 PM
W
01/16
*Merced College
Merced
7:00 PM
S
01/19
*Columbia College
Coalinga
5:00 PM
W
01/23
*College of the Sequoias
Coalinga
7:00 PM
S
01/26
*Fresno City College
Fresno
7:00 PM
W
1/30
*Reedley College
Reedley
7:00 PM
S
02/02
*Porterville College
Porterville
7:00 PM
W
02/13
*Columbia College
Sonora
5:00 PM
S
02/16
College of the sequoias
Visalia
7:00 PM
W
02/20
*Fresno City College
Coalinga
7:00 PM
S
02/23
*Reedley College
Coalinga
7:00 PM
*CONFERENCE GAMES
TIME
HOME GAMES IN BOLD
WHCC Fitness Lab Hours Spring 2013:
Monday thru Friday
5am—6:30am
11am—1pm
Monday thru Thursday
6—9pm
Membership Dates and Cost:
Monday, January 14, 2013 through Friday, May 24, 2013
COST $50 PER PERSON ($25 for WHCC students & staff)
(cost includes use of fitness lab equipment, workout towel, locker room and shower facilities)
For more info come by the athletic offices on campus
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STUDENT SERVICES
Tranquillity High School and Faith Christian Academy visit WHC Coalinga
Approximately 70 seniors from Faith Christian Academy and Tranquillity High School visited the Coalinga campus. Prior to
the visit, all seniors were required to complete the WHC admissions application. During the campus visit, they were
provided with a student orientation, placement testing, campus tours, and lunch in our cafeteria. The highlight of the day
was the WHC student panel, where eight of our current students shared their college experiences and encouraged them
to attend WHC Coalinga. This is the first of seven high schools that are scheduled to visit WHC Coalinga and NDC.
Tranquillity High School Seniors
Football captain Quavondo Hartsfield “Hart”, addressing
students about his experience as an out-of-state student athlete.
FALL 2012 CARE/CAREER CENTER WORKSHOPS - November Workshop
The topic for the month of November was “Learn How to Budget Your Money.” The workshops were presented in
Coalinga and NDC on two different dates in November and sponsored by the EOPS/CARE & Career Center. Between
both campuses there were 35 students who attended the workshops. The presenter for both places was Jennifer Solis the
Vice President for FAST Federal Credit Union. Students learned how to figure out where their money is going and where
they want it to go. How to dream big and have anything they want the smart way of saving money. Make savings a
priority! Thanks to the president’s mini grant program, students were provided with free lunch at both workshops
WHCC Transfer Center
WHCC Transfer Center is pleased to bring transfer workshops and university representatives to interested students.
Please sign up in advance for workshops – lunch is provided at most workshops. Walk-ins welcome but appointments are
preferred for university representatives. Contact the WHCC Transfer Center at 559.934.2174 or inquire at Student
Services.
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UNIVERSITY
DeVry
University
DATE
TUESDAY
December 4
TIME
LOCATION
12:00PM - 4:00PM
Transfer Center
Quad
Columbia
College
THURSDAY
December 6
8:30AM - 12:00PM
Transfer Center
Quad
CONTACT INFO
Jason Pritchard
Admissions Advisor
559.437.5302
jpritchard@devry.edu
www.devry.edu
Joseph J. Savopolos
jjsavopolos@ccis.edu
559.998.8570
www.ccis.edu
FINANCIAL AID
Joseph Koroma
FARM OF THE FUTURE
AIS
The semester is drawing to a close. All of the AIS students are working hard to finish projects for their classes.
Below the Heavy Equipment class is working on Phase III of the grading project at the Coalinga State Hospital. This
project is assisting CSH to flatten the grade in several of their settling basins South of the main hospital complex. The
student surveyed the field. The students then calculated the cut and fill requirements to bring the field to the desired
grade planned by hospital personnel. The finished project will allow the water to slow down as it travels across the field
allowing. It also allows the water to spread out more evenly for better soak-in and evaporation.
The real value of this project is that the student get to hone their skills on “live work” while helping the out our community
partners.
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The students use a variety of equipment in accomplishing their task. Below is only a portion of the equipment being used
on this project.
Phase IV of this project will continue next fall. This spring Heavy Equipment class is not being scheduled this spring to
allow Instructor Merlin Welch to instruct in the new Industrial Maintenance Technology Program starting this January.
This is a C6 grant initiated program that will be replicating the work week with classes running eight hours a day and five
days a week. This scheduling format is one of the guiding principles required by the grant. The new Welding Technology
Program and the Alternative Energy Program will follow this same format.
The Ag and Industrial Science (AIS) are working hard to get everything ready for the start of the new programs in January
2013.
PERSONNEL
Juana Tapia, WHCC Student Services Assistant is happy to
announce the birth of her beautiful baby boy named Bryan Tapia.
He arrived on November 5, 11:38pm. He weighed 9 lbs. 6oz, and
is 19″ long.
Bother mother and baby are doing great.
Congratulations to the Tapia family!
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STAFF DEVELOPMENT, RECOGNITION, AND INVOLVEMENT
Cencal PDS Conference
Michelle de Ochoa, Interim counselor and Juan Rubio UB Advisor attended the annual Cencal PDS Conference at CSU,
Fresno State, on November 1-2. They attended a variety of workshops which included information on submitting an
annual performance report, updates provided by the Council on Education (COE), preparing for an audit, writing the
perfect grant, and nutrition and health information. Michelle commented that “the Central California is fortunate to have a
large presence of TRiO Programs and it was beneficial to meet with colleagues and discuss the best practices for
increasing college going rates in our area.” Experts in TRiO Programs shared their wealth of knowledge with the TRiO
community.
SOEOPPP Conference
Hector Arredondo, TRIO Program Assistant attended the Southeastern Association of Educational Opportunity Program
Personnel (SOEOPPP) Annual Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, November 5-7. The topics included Annual Program
Reporting guidelines, student tracking, and regulations pertaining to grant obligations and compliance. Hector stated that
“overall it was a great experience professionally. I learned a lot of facts I thought I already knew.”
WHCCD FOUNDATION
Welborn Donation
There is very exciting news at the foundation. During November, we received the final installment of the estate gift left to
the foundation by Dixie and Brian “Guy” Welborn. The WHCCD Foundation has received more than $500,000 from the
Welborn estate and the board of trustees voted at its November meeting to name the wellness center at WHCC the
Welborn Wellness Center. A naming ceremony will be held on Valentine’s Day to honor the Welborns. If you don’t know
their story, please visit: http://whcgift.org/?pageID=3&storyNum=3. It’s a wonderful love story about two people who loved
each other and West Hills College Coalinga.
President’s Scholars Program
One of the major roles of the WHCC Foundation is sponsorship of our President’s Scholars Program. The program is
supported by donors with many of them helping sponsor our annual President’s Scholars Golf Tournament, which will be
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Monday, May 6 at Kings County Club. Employees can also direct their employee philanthropy contributions to the
program.
In the early years of the program, the Foundation would generally have between 17 and 25 President’s Scholars starting
each fall. In 2009, we had 60. In 2010 we had 48 and in 2011 we had 56. This fall, more than 80 students came to us as
President’s Scholars. As CSU and UC tuition increases, more and more top students are turning to WHCCD to complete
their first two years of college at a very low cost thanks to our donors (the program pays for tuition and $250 a semester in
books). Clearly, we are going to have to step up our fundraising efforts if we want to continue to be able to offer this
comprehensive scholarship. ALL qualified students are accepted and we are working hard to make sure that does not
change.
Recently, with the help of Kyle Crider, Keith Stearns and the campus financial aid departments, we were able to put
together some demographic information on President’s Scholars since 2000, when our records were first kept in Datatel.
The 369 students in the program since 2000 graduated from 32 different high schools and have accomplished some very
impressive numbers. Between 2000 and 2011, they transferred to more than 50 universities with 73 transferring to
Fresno State and 19 going to Fresno Pacific. By 2009, 89 of them had earned four-year degrees. Their course success
rates (completed class with an A, B, C, Pass or Credit) were in the 80+ percent rate in all but one year. In 2002-2003,
they successfully completed 95 percent of their classes. These rates are generally about 20 percentage points higher
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than the general student population. Course retention rates are generally in the 90+ percent range—about 10 percent
higher than the general student population. Women make up about 70 percent of the program and the ethnicity is 49
percent White and 34 percent Hispanic.
As I read the applications and interview students in the program, I am more committed than ever to making sure we are
able to continue to offer this program to ALL qualified students. We need your help. If you are not currently contributing,
please consider doing so. If you know of WHCCD vendors who might be willing to help sponsor the program, please send
their contact information to FrancesSquire@whccd.edu and we will take it from there.
You can download the electronic version of this newsletter at:
www.westhillscollege.com/coalinga/about/presidents_pen_newsletter.asp
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