President/CEO Message

JuLY 8, 2021

I hope you had a wonderful holiday break and, for some of you, a great start to the summer 2021 second six-week session. This week I had a couple of days off, including today. However, as most of you know, I want to maintain my twice-a-week schedule for the President/CEO Messages, and since Monday was a holiday, today's message is essential. As a part of my vacation day, I decided to visit Instructional Building #1 (please don't tell Linda Owens, Chief Facilities Officer) to see the progress toward completion. It's coming along, and we are pushing to open the building before the beginning of the fall 2021 semester. I also visited the cafeteria to see the progress of the construction in that location. More information on the cafeteria is included in this President/CEO Message.

Over the next couple of weeks, you will be receiving a lot of information from me in the President/CEO Messages about fall 2021 enrollment and updates on our recruitment activities. This week, I spent time working on our Outreach and Recruitment Strategies for 2021-2022 to make sure we are targeting as many prospective and former students as possible for fall 2021 enrollment. Each department and program on campus should be discussing enrollment. I cannot stress enough how important it is to contact our current students and encourage them to register for fall 2021 classes. I am also asking faculty, who are teaching this summer, to remind their current students about fall 2021 classes. And if you are scheduled to meet with me over the next six weeks, I will begin our conversation talking about enrollment, so please be prepared. My focus and your focus should be enrollment, enrollment, and enrollment.

The President/CEO Message - July 8 2021, includes COVID-19 information and other campus-related updates.

Compton College COVID-19 Update

Los Angeles County's Daily COVID-19 Data webpage reports 422 newly recorded confirmed cases in Los Angeles County as of 6 p.m. on July 7, 2021. The county now has a total of 1,250,240 reported cases (including cases reported by Long Beach and Pasadena health departments). For more information, go to publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus/data/. Compton College is operating at Level 3 - Moderate Infection Rate according to the Compton CCD Pandemic Outbreak - Emergency Operations Plan.

Summer and Fall 2021 Enrollment Update

As of today, July 8, 2021, Compton College has generated:

414 FTES for the Summer 2021 term. Our fill rate is currently 70%, and our seats filled is 3,040.
485 FTES for the Fall 2021 term. Our fill rate is currently 18%, and our seats filled is 3,044.

Today's enrollment snapshots are available here.

The fall semester begins Saturday, August 21, 2021, with weekday classes beginning on Monday, August 23, 2021. Please encourage students to apply and register as soon as possible as some sections are already full.

Career Education Marketing Campaign Update

In the President/CEO Message - April 26, 2021, I introduced the approved contract with Graduate Communications, who are currently providing short-term marketing and recruitment assistance to increase enrollment for fall 2021. Webpages and videos have been developed for 16 of our career education programs. The new webpages will be used as landing pages for the paid marketing campaign and are available here. Go to the Compton College YouTube channel and click on the Career Education playlist, to watch the videos. Digital ads will go into effect next week, targeting current Compton College students in career education majors who have not yet registered for the fall 2021 semester and prospective students who have applied to Compton College but did not enroll in any classes.

Please note, the Career Education Marketing Campaign Update is one of the items included in the Outreach and Recruitment Strategies for 2021-2022 document.

Cafeteria Update

As mentioned in the President/CEO Message - May 27, 2021, and the President/CEO Message - June 21, 2021, we were scheduled to open the cafeteria, which will be operated by Everytable, on Monday, June 21, 2021, and then on Tuesday, July 6, 2021. Completing the cafeteria remodel has been delayed due to three broken pipes that the contractor encountered during the final construction phase. Today I visited the facility to see for myself the status of the project. First, the facility looks amazing. Second, the opening will be postponed by at least two weeks as construction is completed and new equipment is delivered. The cafeteria will open after final inspections. I will not communicate a date for opening until the facility is completed and food is available in the cafeteria. Until then, we will continue to have a food truck on campus for students and employees.

My photos from today's cafeteria visit are available here.

New Certified Nursing Assistant Program

As outlined in the Compton College 2024, Comprehensive Master Plan, in Strategic Initiative #4:

Workforce Development: Compton College will offer excellent programs that lead to certificates and degrees in allied health and technical fields to supply the needed employees for the prevailing job industry.

Compton College has established a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) Program, an eight-week course that prepares students to enter into allied health as health care workers. Emphasis is given to safety principles, infection control, methods for providing physical care, emotional and social support, and meeting the basic human needs of elderly and compromised residents living in long-term care facilities. The course consists of lectures, hands-on clinical skills lab practice, and clinical training experiences. Upon successful completion of the course, students are eligible to sit for the State of California CNA certification examination.

The Compton College CNA Program will begin in fall 2021 for mid-term classes, beginning on Saturday, October 16, 2021. A new CNA webpage is in progress and will be available from the Health and Public Services Guided Pathway Division webpage. For more information on the Compton College CNA program, please contact Dr. Carol DeLilly, associate dean of nursing at cdelilly@compton.edu.

Compton College Virtual Tartar Talks

I will host a special virtual Tartar Talks on Tuesday, July 20, 2021, at 1:00 p.m. via Zoom Meeting. The focus will be on enrollment and recruitment. Please register here to participate.

The remaining 2021-2022 Tartar Talks are scheduled for September 21, 2021, November 23, 2021, February 22, 2022, and April 19, 2022. Please mark the 2021-2022 Virtual Tartar Talks on your calendars.

Compton Community College District Board of Trustees Meeting

The next Compton CCD Board of Trustees meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, July 20, 2021. The closed session begins at 4:00 p.m., with the open session commencing at 5:00 p.m. via Zoom Meeting. Information on how to access the Compton CCD Board of Trustees meeting is available here.

Final Thoughts

This week the University of California, Davis - Wheelhouse: The Center for Community College Leadership and Research, released the following two research briefs:

There is a lot of information in these studies, and I would be interested in knowing your thoughts after reading these research briefs.

A mentioned in the President/CEO - December 21, 2020, and the President/CEO - January 28, 2021, the #Real114 Leadership Academy is scheduled for next week, July 12-15, 2021, via Zoom. Special thanks to Pilar Huffman, professional development manager, for planning the #Real114 Leadership Academy.

In closing, please be safe and have a wonderful weekend.

Sincerely,

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