Madera Community College Center is one vote away from becoming California’s 116th community college, now that it has received initial accreditation from the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges.

Nancy Price

School Zone

The Madera center has been operating as a satellite campus of Reedley College while undergoing reviews to determine if it was ready to be accredited independently.

The commission notified Madera President Angel Reyna in a letter dated Monday that the center had addressed compliance issues, met standards, and been granted initial accreditation.

The next step is for the California Community Colleges Board of Governors to formally recognize Madera as a community college, the college said in a tweet.

31 Years Later

The Madera college center began in 1989 at Madera High School with 158 students.

In 1996, a 114-acre site on Avenue 12 southeast of the city of Madera was selected as the new home for the center. Today it serves more than 7,000 students.

One step closer towards becoming the 116th community college in California! #GoMountainLions pic.twitter.com/I8ftGL9hLt

— MaderaCCC (@MaderaCCC) June 29, 2020

Need Help Studying at Home?

After COVID-19 closed the Fresno State campus in March, many students were forced to do their school work from home.

They might have had access to the internet and a laptop or tablet, but peace and quiet? Not so much.

The university’s Henry Madden Library Technology Lending Program can help with that. In addition to laptops, tablets, calculators, and other equipment, the program has added noise canceling headphones to its inventory.

Using federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act money, the library purchased 50 pairs of noise-canceling headphones that students and faculty can check out starting with the fall 2020 semester.

“Such a simple piece of equipment as headphones could create a huge impact for students,” said Arnel Ordonio, library services specialist and head of Tech Lending. “They are sticking with it to earn their degree and transform their lives. We want to help however we can.”

Kudos to Clovis College for Transfers

The Campaign for College Opportunity, a coalition that aims to increase college availability and graduation rates in California, named Clovis Community College as a “Champion for Higher Education” for exemplary work in awarding associate degrees for transfer  in 2018 and 2019.

According to California Community College’s Student Success Metrics, Clovis is ahead of the state’s other 114 community colleges in a couple of key areas:

• No. 1  for the number of transfer students to UCs and CSUs (per 1,000 students)
• No. 1 in associate degrees for transfer earned (compared to similarly sized community colleges)
• No. 1 in associate degrees earned with the fewest units accumulated by students