Publish Date: Oct 2, 2017
Hartnell receives $2,749,795 grant for Cultivamos initiatives
SALINAS, Calif. – Hartnell Community College District (HCCD) was selected to receive funding under the Developing Hispanic Serving Institutions Program at the United States Department of Education. This is a $2,749,795.00 funding plan for five years. The first $549,997.00 for the first year will be dispersed on October 1, 2017.
“The Governing Board is 100% behind Hartnell's efforts to improve college readiness and college completion for our high school students and this grant will provide resources to support those efforts,” said President of the HCCD Board of Trustees, Manuel Osorio. “Additionally, the Board is acutely aware of the teacher shortage for our K-12 partners in the Salinas Valley and we look forward to expanding partnerships with other institutions to prepare the next generation of teachers.”
In the United States, there are 470 Hispanic Serving Institutions and Hartnell College is one of only 20 to receive this grant award.
Superintendent/President for Hartnell College, Dr. Willard Lewallen, is excited with the news. “The Cultivamos Project (We Cultivate) will strengthen Hartnell's already exemplary outcomes for degree completion and transfer to four-year institutions. We will expand our dual enrollment program for high school students that accelerates college completion. We will expand our teacher talent incubator program recently launched with CSU Monterey Bay whose goal is to grow our own teachers to address the severe teacher shortage in the Salinas Valley.”
The purpose of the Cultivamos Project is to build institutional capacity to increase the number of Hispanic and low-income students attaining postsecondary degrees and facilitate transfer along the entire pipeline. Project Goals include:
- Expand Dual Enrollment and other alternative pathways that familiarize students in Hartnell’s feeder schools with higher education opportunities and the culture of higher education
- Regularly evaluate all academic programs and student services and determine how they will be improved to increase student retention rates and to close existing achievement gaps
- Establish formal articulation agreements between Hartnell College and identified four-year institutions that provide simplified, guaranteed transfer processes for transfer students
- Provide continuous professional development using student success data and the adoption of new learning systems and methods to improve student learning and student services outcomes
The Project will have measurable and significant outcomes in dual enrollment agreements with service area high schools, persistence, high school graduations, degree completion, transfer rates, and an overall increase in Hispanic and low income students successfully attending Hartnell College and transferring to baccalaureate Teacher Education programs. In addition, 100 Cultivamos Project faculty and staff will participate in cohort-based and pedagogy-focused professional development activities.
Hartnell Community College District – established in 1920
The Hartnell CCD serves over 17,000 students annually through its main campus in Salinas, the Alisal Campus in East Salinas, the King City Education Center, and various outreach learning centers throughout the Salinas Valley. Hartnell College, a Hispanic Serving Institution, provides associate degree and certificate programs, workforce training, courses in basic skills, and prepares students for transfer to four-year colleges and universities. Hartnell College is recognized for its innovative public and private partnerships that support world-class education for STEM, career technical education, fine and performing arts, humanities/social sciences, nursing/healthcare, and athletics. We are proud to be the winners of the 2015 Innovation Award for CSin3 – a Computer Science bachelor’s degree in three years . We are growing leaders through opportunity, engagement, and achievement. For more about Hartnell CCD, visit www.hartnell.edu .
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