President/CEO Message

January 25, 2021

Campus Community,

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. I spent a considerable amount of time thinking about the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund II (HEERF II) and the $6,356,599 that the Compton Community College District is projected to receive. As mentioned in the President/CEO Message - January 14, 2021, the HEERF II was authorized by the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA) Act, 2021, Public Law 116-260, and signed into law on December 27, 2020. More information on the allocation of these funds is available here (see page 98).

I have also been reading and thinking about the national decline in enrollment at community colleges. Our 2020-2021 enrollment (i.e., headcount and Full-Time Equivalent Students) is down more than 20% compared to the 2019-2020 year, and as of today, our spring 2021 enrollment is down 30.1%. In April 2017, we predicted a decline in enrollment at Compton College due to the implementation of the Student-Centered Funding Formula, pg. 82-83 and the transition from El Camino Community College District. Although Compton College is held harmless at 5,980 Full-Time Equivalent Students (FTES) through 2025-2026 and will be funded as such, I am deeply concerned about the long-term effects the COVID-19 pandemic may have on Compton College's enrollment.

Now, understanding our decline in enrollment and COVID-19 consequences, from my perspective, Compton College must use the HEERF II funds wisely to:

Reengage former students who were enrolled at our institution before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reengage former students who left our institution because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Recruit individuals who are currently unemployed and assist them with enrolling at our institution.
Continue to support dual enrollment students.
Continue to support current students who have continued their enrollment at our institution during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We need to provide former students with emergency aid for completing certain enrollment milestones at Compton College, such as:

Completing their registration.
If they are enrolled in courses on census day.
If they are still enrolled in courses after the 14th week of instruction (or 75 percent of a term, whichever is less).
If they are still enrolled in courses through the end of the term/semester.
If they successfully pass their course(s).

We need to explore paying former Compton College students' outstanding fees with the HEERF II funds to release holds that may prevent them from registering for classes. And then, we provide those same students with emergency aid for completing the above milestones. Tomorrow, January 26, 2021, the President/CEO Cabinet will be reviewing the proposed Compton College HEERF II Budget. We will also review the 2024 Enrollment Management Plan for additional strategic initiatives that could be funded with HEERF II funds. Finally, we will review the regulations to ensure the recommendations comply with the CRRSA Act. In the meantime, if you have creative input regarding the usage of the HEERF II funds, please forward them to me at kcurry@compton.edu.

My goal is to finalize the proposed Compton College HEERF II Budget in the next couple of weeks. Following the Collaborative Governance process, the proposed Compton College HEERF II Budget will be reviewed at the Planning and Budget Committee meeting on Tuesday, February 23, 2021, and the Consultative Council meeting on Monday, March 1, 2021.

The President/CEO Message - January 25, 2021, includes COVID-19 information and other campus-related updates.

Compton College COVID-19 Update

Los Angeles County's current risk level is Tier 1 (widespread), according to California's "Blueprint for a Safer Economy." On January 24, 2021, there were 8,243 newly recorded confirmed cases in Los Angeles County. The county now has a total of 1,073,111 reported cases (including cases reported by Long Beach and Pasadena Health Departments). For more information, go to publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus/data/index. According to the Compton CCD Pandemic Outbreak - Emergency Operations Plan, Compton College continues to operate at Level Four - Severe Infection Rate.

Compton College 2024 Technology Plan

In the President/CEO Message - November 2, 2020, I mentioned that we will update our schedule for upgrading employee computers and that all employees would receive a laptop and have a docking station in their office - no more personal desktop computers. The first phase of the implementation is for all full-time faculty to receive new laptop computers. Working with our Information Technology Services Department, we will be setting up an on-campus distribution plan for full-time faculty during the first three weeks of February 2021. We anticipate the shipment of computers to arrive on campus very soon. Additional information will be provided in a future President/CEO Message.

This spring, a final schedule for the replacement of computers will be shared with the technology committee. Finally, in the next couple of weeks, we will be purchasing additional computers for Classified staff and managers/supervisors.

Spring 2021 Enrollment Update

As of today, January 25, 2021, Compton College has generated 948 FTES for the Spring 2021 semester; the fill rate is currently 38%, and our seats filled is 6,266. The Spring 2021 Enrollment Report is available here. Spring classes begin Tuesday, February 16, 2021.

Explore Employment Opportunities at the Compton College Job Fair

Compton College is hosting a Virtual Job Fair on Friday, February 5, 2021, from 10:00 a.m. to noon via Zoom. The Job Fair is free and open to the public and will provide individuals with an opportunity to explore employment opportunities and learn more about Compton College, as well as meet with Compton College administrators and deans. Free resume writing and employment application workshops will be available online.

Applications are being accepted for the following full-time positions at Compton College.

Faculty: History/Ethnic Studies, Journalism/English - Social Media, and Political Science
Counselor: Special Resources Center Guided Pathways

For information on the specific qualifications required for each position, and to apply online, visit the Compton Community College District (CCCD) Human Resources webpage www.compton.edu/district/administration/human-resources. For more information about the Compton College Job Fair, contact Pamela Wilkerson, Compton College Human Resources Representative via email at pwilkerson@compton.edu.

Achieving the Dream Institutional Capacity Assessment Tool

The deadline to complete the Institutional Capacity Assessment Tool has been extended until Thursday, February 4, 2021. The Institutional Capacity Assessment Tool will take approximately 30 minutes to complete. The results will help guide the college in our work with Achieving the Dream over the next three years. I emailed the link to the survey to all Compton College employees on January 13, 2021.

If you have already completed the Institutional Capacity Assessment Tool, you do not need to complete it again. For the Compton College faculty, Classified staff, and managers/supervisors, who complete the Institutional Capacity Assessment Tool, you may enter your name in an opportunity drawing, where four employees could win $200 each. The end of the survey should direct you to the drawing entry.

Student Data Sources Available

Data about Compton College is readily available from the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office (CCCCO) and its partner, the California Partnership for Student Success (Cal-PASS Plus). Below is a summary of some of the data tools that may help you understand student performance at Compton College.

The Data Mart is hosted on the CCCCO's website and provides many data tables of students/headcounts, student services, outcomes, courses/calendar, and faculty/staff. These data may be disaggregated in many instances, and the data tables may be downloaded for use in Excel.

The Cal-PASS Plus LaunchBoard website hosts a series of dashboards that focus on different aspects of community college student groups, cohorts, and outcomes. These powerful tools allow a user to see Compton College data and data from any other California community college or aggregate statewide data for comparison. Further, a user may customize the years of data in the display. Below are descriptions of two dashboards from this site:

The Student Success Metrics Launchboard provides data visualizations about student progression along various educational journeys, from recruitment to completion, transfer, and the workforce. A user may select all students, adult education/English as a Second Language students, short-term Career Education students, degree/transfer students, or undecided/other student cohorts and then view relevant outcomes on this dashboard. Also, once a general student population is selected, a user may disaggregate the visualization by specific groups, such as ethnicity, gender, age, gender identity/sexual orientation, College Promise Grant eligible or recipient, Pell recipients, Perkins Economically Disadvantaged, first-generation, foster youth, students with disabilities, and veterans.
Guided Pathways Launchboard provides data visualizations about student type, learning progress, and first-year momentum points for evaluating college redesign efforts, including the early momentum metrics that recent research has highlighted as being essential to understand and effect change to support long-term student success.

Final Thoughts

As outlined in the Compton College 2024 Comprehensive Master Plan, we are still working on securing funding for Compton College student housing. We are planning a Compton College Virtual Student Housing Legislative Briefing for Tuesday, February 23, 2021, at noon.

Finally, on January 24, 2021, Kamilo Ali Curry turned eleven years old. Yes, he is eleven years old. It feels like yesterday; he was attending the Abel B. Sykes Child Development Center. Every day, I am reminded by him of the impact Compton College has had on his life. He is truly our #1 fan. His dream is to attend Compton College, become the Director of the Abel B. Sykes Child Development Center, and then serve as the President/CEO of Compton College.

Please be safe, and once again, stay home if you feel sick, even if your symptoms are mild.

Keith Curry, Ed.D.
(preferred pronouns: he/him/his)
President/CEO
Compton College