At a recent hearing of the California Senate Subcommittee on Education, Calbright’s President Ajita Talwalker Menon joined California Community Colleges Chancellor Sonya Christian to talk about the significant work Calbright is doing to develop flexible education and career pathways for more Californians, and the ways the College makes higher education accessible to working-age adults.
“Our learners start 52 times a year, not twice a semester,” Menon shared with Senators. “Our learners have moments in which they’re dealing and contenting with life’s responsibilities and so they find themselves needing to take a break or a pause. We never want that to be an offramp from their educational experience.” Instead, Calbright works with students to turn what would be obstacles into opportunities.
Menon referred to three Cabright graduates to show how Calbright’s flexible, competency-based model is creating opportunities and results for Californians: Chris from Sacramento, Luana from Sunnyvale, and Richard from Redding. Each is a student who has needed a specific kind of support that Calbright provides, and who has been able to use the education and job skills training that Calbright offers to improve their lives.
College had never worked for Chris: “I’d been an on-again-off-again community college student for a really long time,” he said. “I went to school because that’s what you have to do, and it just never really stuck with me.”
Instead he made a life without a degree, becoming a retail director. It worked for many years. But then the economy shifted, he got laid off, and he wanted to move into a better career.
In finding Calbright, he found a college that finally worked for him.
He joined the IT Support program, and used the flexible schedule not to go slowly the way many students do, but to accelerate his program and finish fast. Working with Calbright’s career support team to update his resume, his new certification in hand, he applied for a job in IT and got it, beginning a new career.
“I sing the praises of Calbright and tell people: ‘Man, if I can do it, anybody can do it. I was down and beat, and now I feel turned around. I got laid off, but I’ve got a new job and I’m still in it to win it,” he said.
Luana went back to school for herself and for her two young daughters: She needed to show them that drive and hard work can improve your life. Living in Silicon Valley, she had often wondered if the tech world could be for her. But there were obstacles: College and job skills training couldn’t come between her and the daughters she was doing it for.
“If it wasn’t for the program being free, and if it wasn’t for the flexibility to raise my children, I couldn’t do this,” Luana said. “I really enjoy the opportunities to huddle and study with friends I’ve never met in person. Calbright has a very strong community.”
Richard needed to make a career change in a tough economy, but as an older worker he kept facing employers who didn’t believe he could really understand technology. He needed a credential that could show them he had mastered the technical skills they were hiring for, and he needed it soon.
He enrolled in the Data Analysis and IT Support programs at Calbright, and immediately noticed a difference.
“While my extensive work history provides a lot of information, these certificates from Calbright serve as a contemporary shorthand, immediately signaling to employers that I possess up-to-date skills in modern technology and data management,” he said. “It bridged the gap between my extensive learning and experience and the current demands of the workforce, demonstrating not just my willingness, but my proven ability to master new digital tools and systems.”
Today, Richard is a Program Specialist for the United Way of Northern California. He works with the Homeless Management Information System team for the NorCal Continuum of Care, and is charged with converting data into reports the nonprofit can use for federal and state grant and reporting requirements, among other nonprofit business operations needs.
This is the difference Calbright makes for students today across California. The College’s flexible, competency-based model works and it’s growing because of demand among working-age adults. As California Community Colleges Chancellor Sonya Christian told members of the California Senate Subcommittee on Education:
“Calbright is a new, innovative, statewide, online college to support our low-income working Californians. When you look at the enrollment growth, it’s significant. It’s off the chart,” she said. “We’ve been looking at low-barrier entry points for these working Californians to get their foot in the door and start on that pathway to their own economic mobility. This is an innovation that we have invested in over the years, and we are at a point in time where that commitment and solidifying that investment is going to place us as a model nationally for our commitment to working Californians, low-income Californians, and advancing our equity agenda.”
