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Featured stories in the Spring 2019 WE:
Music to the Ears
San Diego City College mathematics professor Dr. Roberto Rubalcaba isn't afraid to think outside the box. He's chopped up sushi to reinforce the concept of Riemann sums, incorporated music to hit the right notes in explaining the squeeze theorem, and used spray paint to illustrate continuous fractions. His latest venture, Math Jam, is proving a hit both with math geeks and those who struggle with the subject.
Held before mid-terms and finals, Math Jam is a giant study session aimed at improving math outcomes that attracts more than 200 students at a time and features Rubalcaba, who moonlights as a DJ at Bluefoot Bar and Lounge in North Park, using his skills at the turntable to reduce stress before the learning begins.
"Math Jam is a community event where we come together and help each other pass math," Rubalcaba said. "We have calculus 3 students, calculus 2 students, calculus students helping out each other."
Building the Economy
The numbers don’t begin to tell the story, at least not when it comes to the economic impact of the San Diego Community College District. Sure, the District was responsible for contributing an estimated $4.4 billion to the regional economy during the 2017-18 fiscal year, an amount equal to 1.9 percent of the county’s gross regional product and enough to support nearly 46,000 jobs. But the District’s footprint can best be seen through the programs offered through San Diego City, Mesa, and Miramar colleges and San Diego Continuing Education.
Opening the Doors of Opportunity
San Diego Continuing Education’s Gateway to College and Career program serves so-called opportunity youth, defined as ages 16 to 24 who are neither in school nor working. The initiative offers paid internships, connections to industry, support in securing a high school diploma or equivalency, and an intensive, 40-hour college and career readiness course aimed at determining and creating viable pathways to a productive future.
In only its second year, San Diego Gateway to College and Career is having a profound impact. Eighty-six students enrolled in the inaugural year, and all were facing overwhelming barriers that included hunger and homelessness. Many were former foster youth. Some were former gang members. Yet, of those original 86 students, 45 are now employed, 37 are taking part in paid internships, 31 have earned a credential, and 19 are now college students.
"A student’s academic success can be tied to the support available to them beyond the classroom." said Continuing Education President Carlos O. Turner Cortez, Ph.D. "We do everything we can to ensure that our students are ready for the workforce and we help them establish career pathways that pay living-wages."
A Dual Enrollment Turning Point
Since former California Governor Jerry Brown in 2015 signed a bill into law significantly expanding dual enrollment by allowing tuition-free, community college courses to be taught on high school campuses, the number of high school students taking college classes taught by San Diego Community College District professors has nearly doubled to more than 4,100.
But dual enrollment is at a crossroads, as the 2015 legislation included a sunset date of January 1, 2022. New legislation, Assembly Bill 30 authored by Chris Holden, D-Pasadena, would keep the successful program in place indefinitely, but it is hardly a sure thing.
Dual enrollment in California is provided through three avenues, including the College and Career Pathways program authorized by Assembly Bill 288 in 2015, which enables high school students to take college courses taught by college professors at their high school campus. Assembly Bill 30 would allow the 36 existing College and Career Pathway partnerships, including a partnership between the San Diego Community College District and the San Diego Unified School District, to continue.
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