MARTINEZ, CA – The Contra Costa Community College District (District) has received nearly $1.5 million in competitive grants for distance education at Contra Costa College (CCC), Diablo Valley College (DVC) and Los Medanos College (LMC).
The three grants, two for the maximum of $500,000 and one for $461,000, were awarded as part of the California Community Colleges’ effort to improve opportunities for online career technical education (known locally as career education).
The grants were provided by the Improving Online CTE Pathways Grants program, which is administered by the California Virtual Campus – Online Education Initiative (CVC-OEI) and funded by a one-time $35 million budget augmentation under the state’s Budget Act of 2018.
“Without access to online classes, many of our students who are working, parenting, disabled, or without transportation would be unable to complete their educational goals,” said Joanna Miller, the District’s Dean of Distance Education. “These grants support our District’s efforts to increase online course offerings and ensure that our courses are equitable and accessible to all of our students.”
Districtwide, the grants will be used to increase support for faculty who are developing new or current online career education classes, certificates or programs. The grants will also fund faculty mentorship programs aimed at improving online course design, practice and pedagogy.
The colleges’ existing career education courses will also receive a boost with an increase in online general education selections designed to help the more than 14,000 online students in the District earn their certificates and degrees faster. Among the degree and certificate programs being expanded to fully online are CCC’s Associate Degree for Transfer in Business Administration, DVC’s new certificate in Digital Marketing and LMC’s Associate Degree for Transfer in Spanish.
The Contra Costa Community College District (CCCCD) is one of the largest multi-college community college districts in California. The CCCCD serves a population of 1,019,640 people, and its boundaries encompass all but 48 of the 734-square-mile land area of Contra Costa County. The District is home to Contra Costa College in San Pablo, Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, Los Medanos College in Pittsburg, as well as educational centers in Brentwood and San Ramon. The District headquarters is located in downtown Martinez.
The California Virtual Campus – Online Education Initiative (CVC-OEI) is a collaborative effort among California Community Colleges (CCCs) to ensure that significantly more students are able to complete their educational goals by increasing both access to and success in high-quality online courses. The CVC-OEI is sponsored by the Foothill-De Anza Community College District as the recipient of a $56.9 million five-year grant disbursed by the California Community College Chancellor’s Office.
