INTRODUCTION

History of the institution

Located in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley in Central California, College of the Sequoias (COS) rests at the foot of the Sequoia Mountains. Founded in 1926, COS serves the residents of Tulare and Kings Counties as a center for higher education and vocational training. COS has occupied its current location since 1939. The campus is continuing to change and in the last six years has seen the completion of new buildings on the Visalia Campus (The Porter Fieldhouse Gymnasium, Hospital Rock, track, Softball Team room and dugouts) renovations to Sequoia Building-north wing, John Muir, Moro Gymnasium, Kern, Tule, the Theater, and the completion of the Hanford Educational Center. (probablyneed to expand history)

COS Mission

College of the Sequoias is a comprehensive community college focused on student learning that leads to productive work, lifelong learning and community involvement. College of the Sequoias affirms that our mission is to help our diverse student population achieve its transfer and/or occupational objectives and to advance the economic growth and global competitiveness of business and industry within our region. College of the Sequoias is committed to supporting students' mastery of basic skills and to providing programs and services that foster student success.

COS Philosophy

The Philosophy of the College of the Sequoias is based upon a belief that all individuals are innately valuable and entitled to develop their full potential; that a healthy and vigorous society benefits from an informed appreciation of the cultural, racial and socioeconomic variations among its members; that a democracy depends upon a critical, questioning and informed citizenry, and that through its programs the college serves the individual, the community and society.

COS Goals

2011 College of the Sequoias Board Priorities

  1. Attain center status for the Hanford College Center.
  2. Plan for a three campus District.
  3. Follow through on the plans for strengthening the Ag program and on bringing the Tulare JUHSD Ag program to the COS Tulare College Center.
  4. Stay fiscally stable and maintain a 5% minimum general fund reserve.
  5. Maximize reimbursements for the Tulare College Center and secure agreements with the City of Tulare.
  6. Have program review presentations to the Board annually by faculty chairs and/or other program leaders.

New Board Priorities for 2011

  1. Report regularly to the Board on outcomes in the Strategic Plan, especially related to student success.
  2. Set up a process for updating the Education and Facilities Master Plan.
  3. Receive a report on existing and potential activities with the high schools to improve college attendance.

COS Vision

The entire College of the Sequoias community works in an environment of mutual respect to realize the following vision:

  1. COS students achieve their full educational potential. The College provides an educational pathway for every student without regard to background, disability, location, culture, learning modality, and preconceived time frames.
  2. COS has an environment that creates a positive attitude among COS employees that carries over to the students and into the community.
  3. COS is a community leader whose contributions positively impact the lives of the population it serves.
  4. Educational programs at COS are aligned to meet the rapidly emerging economic and workforce development needs of the community through partnerships with business, government, industry and labor.

COS offerings

  • Associate in arts and associate in science degrees and certificates
  • Preparation for transfer to another college, university or postsecondary institution
  • Career education, training and services
  • Basic skills, English as a Second Language
  • Leadership skills, student development and student support services to promote student success
  • Business and community development and training

COS Success Measures and Institutional Outcomes

In 2009, the Institutional Planning Committee (now the Committee on Institutional Planning and Effectiveness) adopted the following Institutional Outcomes for COS students:

  • Quantitative Reasoning: Apply quantitative and symbolic reasoning to obtain objective solutions to problems and equations.
  • Writing and Reading: Write coherently and effectively, adjusting to a variety of audiences and purposes, while taking into account others' writings and ideas.
  • Creative/Analytical Thinking: Use appropriate creative and analytic methods to interpret ideas, solve problems, and present conclusions.
  • Oral and Listening Skills: Communicate effectively for a given purpose within the specific context of a communication event.
  • Informational Literacy: Locate, evaluate and use information from a variety of sources to take action or make a decision.
  • Social Interaction: Demonstrate effective self-management and interpersonal skills with people from a variety of backgrounds to seek consensus, resolve conflicts and take responsibility.
  • Health and Wellness: Participate in active living and self-care practices that support health and wellness.
  • Cultural Competency: Demonstrate awareness, respect, sensitivity and understanding needed for participating successfully in a diverse local and global society.

COS Commitment to Diversity

The College of the Sequoias is committed to providing an educational environment that will enable our diverse student population to achieve their transfer and/or occupational objectives. The Student Equity Plan focuses on the goals for access, retention, degree and certificate completion, English as a Second Language (ESL) and basic skills completion, and transfer for each historically underrepresented group. Since the initial development of the Student Equity Plan in 1994 and the analysis of its progress in 1996, and again as recent as the 2010-11 Academic Year, the college community has been involved in planning activities to achieve its student equity goals, resulting in success for students. These planning efforts have not been limited only to achievement of student equity goals but to achievement of the Strategic Plan, as well as the Institutional Master Plan.The goals of the student equity plan center around access, course completion, ESL and basic skills completion, degree and certificate completion, transfer and campus climate.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Advisory Committee (EEOAC), formerly known as the “Faculty and Staff Diversity Committee”, was established in 2010. The mission of the EEOC is to assist the College of the Sequoias Community College District in implementing the Equal Employment Opportunity Plan. The EEOAC assists in promoting an understanding and support of equal employment opportunity and nondiscrimination policies and procedures. The committee may also sponsor events, training, or other activities that promote equal employment opportunity, nondiscrimination, retention and diversity. When appropriate, the advisory committee shall make recommendations to the governing board, the Superintendent/President, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Officer. The EEOACmeets a minimum of four meetings per fiscal year, with additional meetings if needed to review Equal Employment Opportunity and diversity efforts, programs, policies, and progress. The EEOAC includes a diverse membership, composed of three faculty members, three classified members, three administrators, two students, and two community members.

COS commitment to the community

COS plays a central role in education, training and support for the community. The COS strategic plan focuses on six major areas: student access, students’ success in completing their education, students’ mastery of basic skills, efficient and effective college practices, students as citizens of a global community, and economic growth of Tulare and Kings counties.

Major developments since the 2006 Educational Quality and Institutional Effectiveness Review

Facilities

COS has undergone massive building, expansion and restructuring since 2006. Facilities expansion include______.

Hanford Center

The COS Hanford Educational Center which was opened in Fall 2010, was made possible by Measure C, a $22 million bond which Hanford voters approved on November 7, 2006. The campus is part of a joint project of the City of Hanford and Hanford Joint Union High School District. Transfer, job preparation, developmental, and community education courses are offered at COS Hanford. Faculty and staff work collaboratively to assist students both inside and outside the classroom. Currently, COS Hanford serves about 1,700 students each semester.

Once a walnut orchard, today the property houses Sierra Pacific High School, a softball complex, and the COS Hanford Educational Center. It is about more than sharing the land; the three entities regularly share the facilities as well. There are several examples of the partnership on a smaller scale, as well. One of those is the Chemistry lab. Because Chemistry labs are very expensive to build, it was not efficient to build two Chemistry labs–one for the High School and one for the College. As such, Sierra Pacific built the chemistry lab and COS upgraded the lab to so that college level chemistry classes can be taught there.

Tulare Educational Center

Construction is nearing completion of the Tulare Center which will be opened for classes in the spring 2013 semester. The Center is funded by the 2008 Measure J bond. Initial course offerings will include the entire agriculture, architecture, graphic design, drafting and welding programs along with a full complement of general education courses. The state and local bonds funded the $128 million dollar project which is designed with four phases and will eventually consist of a 120 acre campus serving 20,000 students from the southern portion of the COS District.

Hospital Rock (Visalia Campus)

Hospital Rock opened in spring 2010 funded through State budget. This new building houses the expanded registered nursing program with approximately 300 students. It also houses a number of continuing allied health programs as well as new health programs. These programs include nurse assistant, emergency medical technician, pharmacy technician, and the newest degree program, physical therapy assistant. Until the 2011-2012 year it was home to health care interpreter and phlebotomy programs. This building provides state of the art skills labs including simulation, a large computer classroom, large lecture room, and numerous standard classrooms.

Porter Field House (Visalia Campus)

The Porter Field House opened in fall 2010. This state of the art building was primarily budgeted through state funds anda donation from the local family of the late Dr. Thomas Porter. This field house is an improvement from the previous gym by providing an increased seating capacity, court dimensions following standard regulations, men and women’s locker rooms, treatment rooms, and concession and ticket office capabilities.This facility also houses physical education classes and is available to the community organizations.

Track and Field(Visalia Campus)

The new track and field was opened in fall 2011 budgeted through local passage of Measure I. The old track and field was a safety concern as well as not suitable for competition. The new facility includes quality artificial turf, new all-weather track, new lighting, fencing, and equipment. Though the funding did not allow for expansion of the track for competition, the field is now in compliance for soccer games. The track is available to community members during established times and is well utilized by many physical education classes, football practice, soccer practice and games, and practice for the track and field teams.

Theater (Visalia Campus)

The grand opening of the newly remodeled theater was in fall 2009. The remodel was funded through local Measure I for $800,000. The lighting and sound systems were overhauled and upgraded along with new seating, motors for the electrics and grand drapes, and a remodel of the bathrooms and greenroom.

John Muir Building (Visalia Campus)

The Science Division occupied the John Muir building (JMB) in July of 2008. The JMB offers many new and improved facilities including a much larger storage and laboratory preparation area, modern greenhouse, improved lecture halls with advanced AV, much needed lab support equipment such as fume hoods, deionized water apparatus, instrumentation rooms and specimen storage. Upgraded equipment and supplies have assured that students have access to state of the art instructional experiences. The lab preparation area allows the science technicians easy access to all labs to assist with both setup and live laboratory support. More efficient HVAC systems allowed for a healthier learning environment. New JMB safety features include eyewashes, showers and well ventilated chemical storage. Science faculty offices are in proximity to the lecture halls and labs, allowing students easy access to instructor help. Two computer labs are available to students for laboratory statistical and graphical analysis or for online research. Additionally, the Mathematics Engineering and Science Achievement program (MESA) is housed in the JM building.Over the last two years, the south side of the building has been converted to a botanical garden. To date over 60 native California plant species have been planted in the botanical learning lab. Future plans include the addition of geological specimens in the garden for geology as well as soil science and geography laboratories.

Grants and program funding

Achieving the Dream (ATD)

In 2009, College of the Sequoias was selected as the first California community college to participate in the Achieving the Dream initiative.The College’s selection for participation in this long-term national initiative was with the goal to help more college students success—particularly those students who traditionally face the most significant barriers to success. The COS CORE team participated in the national strategy institute in February 2010 and developed five challenge questions including topics of mandatory orientation, mandatory student success courses, On-Course curriculum, policy on no-late registration, and enhancing the research capacity. The campus underwent and year-long discussion focused on these five issues and alignment with the strategic plan.

Essential Learning Initiative (ELI)

The Essential Learning Initiative (ELI) was established in 2007 with support of the Statewide basic skills funding. During the 2007-08 academic year, the entire campus participated in an in-depth self-study focused on four areas of basic skills education: organizational and administrative practices, program components, staff development, and instructional practices. The ELI self-assessment has been aligned with the COS strategic plan. The ELI steering committee meets monthly to discuss challenges and progress with improvement in basic skills education and to assess current projects.

TRIO

COS received its two first TRIO grants with Upward Bound Math and Science (UBMS) in 2007 and Student Support Services (SSS) in 2010. The UBMS program is funded from 2007-2012 and supports 50 high school students in the amount of $250,000 per year to ensure the smooth transition from high school to college. Students participate in workshops and counseling and attend summer classes at the college. SSS is funded from 2010 through 2015 to support 140 COS students with $220,000 annual funding. First-generation, low income and under-represented students receive advising and counseling support to ease the transition to the first year of college and to assist in the transfer process to four-year colleges and universities.

Nursing and Allied Health Grants

Over the last 6 years, millions of dollars in state and federal grants have given this division the ability to increase capacity, provide student support services, recruit faculty, purchase state of the art equipment, and provide seed money to plan and implement new health careers programs. The following are only a few examples of the positive outcomes from these grant awards: Implemented a Physical Therapy Assistant associate degree program, implemented a Health Care Interpreter certificate program, increased capacity of the Registered Nursing and Pharmacy Technician programs, purchased high fidelity and state of the art simulation equipment, provided tutors for students as well as computer assisted support. These grants have made a tremendous positive impact on this division, our students, and the health care community.

Mathematics, Engineering and Science Achievement (MESA)

The Mathematics, Engineering and Science Achievement (MESA) program is a statewide initiative designed to assist underrepresented and low income students in the completion of STEM degrees. COS was granted an unendowed program in August of 2007. The COS MESA program consists of a study center (JM124) that provides tutoring, group study facilities, supplemental instruction, enrichment opportunities and science counseling. The students in the program also participate in the Science, Engineering, Technology Association (SETA), a student body club open to all students interested in meeting bimonthly to exchange ideas in STEM fields. In addition to transferring many science majors to California Universities, both MESA and SETA have been instrumental in assisting COS students in attending National Conferences (SACNAS, SHPE, AAAS) and in applying for and participating in internships. MESA has also been the recipient of a technology award that provides all of the students with a laptop. COS-MESA recently won recognition at the State level as the winner of the MESA Mathematics Competition campus award in 2010 and an individual top performance award for 2011. Four MESA students have been awarded NSF S-STEM scholarships; two MESA students have also been recipients of the $30,000.00 Jack Kent Cooke scholarships to UC Berkeley and Merced.