June 29, 2023, Santa Rosa, CA —The California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office has selected Santa Rosa Junior College as one of 20 colleges to establish the Native American Student Support and Success Program (“NASSSP”) to develop local Native American student support and success programs. The $1.5 million grant will be distributed to the college over five years. A full-time Native American Program Coordinator will be hired to ensure the educational success of Native American students, through the building of stronger ties to the Native community and robust programming for support of SRJC’s Native students.
These efforts will further contribute to the diversity of perspectives and experiences among the SRJC community, enriching the educational experience and improving communication and problem-solving skills. SRJC was selected for this pilot program based on the evaluation of six criteria, including the average number of Native community members and students in the district service area, course success rates, and specific educational success rates for Native students.
SRJC has also received a one-time grant of $300,000 under the competitive Equal Employment Opportunities Innovative Best Practices Grant. Funds will be provided over two academic years, 2023-25, with the majority of funds to be used to provide training and coaching to deans, department chairs, and faculty mentors in order to promote effective retention practices for Black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) faculty members. Studies have shown that colleges with greater diversity among faculty have better retention and graduation rates for students of color.
Catherine Price, dean of Instruction and Strategic Program Development stated that, “The funding will support three strategic interventions: multi-level support team training; “just in time” stakeholder coaching; and equity-centric mentor partnerships. These initiatives will strengthen retention efforts at SRJC and form the basis for a successful retention plan for future hires.”
The college is also proud to announce its collaboration with the Career Technical Education (CTE) Foundation Sonoma County in a new College and Career Access Pathways Initiative. The initiative will deepen partnerships with six area high schools to enable high school students—who may not be immediately college-bound, or who are from communities historically underrepresented in higher education—to earn college credits and acquire career skills.
The programs provide opportunities for marginalized students who may not see themselves on the college path, helping them to gain job skills, confidence, and knowledge that may lead them to a future career certificate or college education. Each of the six participating high schools received a $100,000 grant to participate in the initiative; those schools are Casa Grande, Petaluma, and San Antonio High Schools in Petaluma, Santa Rosa’s Elsie Allen High School, Credo High School in Rohnert Park, and Windsor High School.
“We are excited to launch this exciting new partnership to strengthen linkages between K12 institutions and SRJC,” said Amber Figueroa, VP of Strategic Partnerships, CTE Foundation. “This work will create structures that help young people earn meaningful early college credit in alignment with career aspirations and local workforce opportunities, and illuminate clear pathways to successful futures here in Sonoma County.”
