Spevak: The Los Banos Campus of Merced College expands opportunities for students
Classes at the Los Banos Campus of Merced College began on August 16, but the campus continues to create new ways to achieve student success.
Campus dean Jessica Moran, named to that position on April 13, is working hard to strengthen the campus for the benefit of students.
Among her tasks in the next few months is to help plan for the November 5 celebration of the campus’s 50th anniversary. As a Los Banos native and longtime resident, she has observed how the Los Banos Campus has evolved over the past decades.
Recently, she was appointed to a committee formed by Merced College President Dr. Chris Vitelli, which includes staff members from the Los Banos and Merced campuses. The committee is planning a campus festival on the first Friday afternoon in November to celebrate the anniversary of its opening in 1971.
Moran, however, is currently focusing on the campus today. She has started a new free noncredit medical assisting program at the campus to complement the existing certified nursing assistant program and expand career opportunities in the healthcare field.
She continues to nurture the welding program, which is located off campus at 60 West G Street, a program that draws students eager to complete a short-term program leading to a career that pays good wages.
Moran would like the Los Banos Campus to have a strong balance of courses that transfer to a university (which has long been the campus’s strength) and a wide range of compressed career technical education courses which prepare students for a job in as little as six months.
During the summer she has also been working with multiple college teams to upgrade the campus, expanding reliable wi-fi into every classroom and office. The teams also plan to install outdoor furniture for the campus’s grassy quad area, including lounge chairs and tables with umbrellas.
Moran has also been working with the college to plan for new synchronous (or “hi-flex”) technology, enabling instructors to teach not only students in their classroom but also students at home and at the Merced Campus via videoconferencing.
This advanced technological approach will increase course offerings. For example, the last course in a four-semester course sequence often doesn’t have enough enrollment of in-person LBC students to justify offering the class. With synchronous technology, students from throughout the college district could enroll, creating an enrollment large enough to enable the local campus to offer the course.
Synchronous technology currently being incorporated at the Merced Campus would also reduce Los Banos students’ traveling to Merced to take specialized classes not offered at their campus. Soon these students would be able to stay in Los Banos and take the class via a video connection.
She is also building on connections she made with other Merced College deans when she worked in Merced to increase course offerings in Los Banos, including courses in agricultural business, art and music.
Moran is also making it a point to reach out to the Los Banos community and connect personally with individuals and organizations. She has already made presentations to the Los Banos Veterans and to the Los Banos Rotary Club.
She has participated in the Merced County Office of Education’s “Parent Leadership Training Institute,” which works with Spanish-speaking parents throughout the county to show them the many educational opportunities available to their children.
The Los Banos dean has also reached out to city officials, including interim City Manager Gary Brizzee and Parks and Recreation Manager Joe Heim, to find new ways for the city and the college campus to work together for the benefit of students, including working jointly to offer classes. She plans on speaking during the public forum to the City Council at its September 1 meeting.
The local campus has participated in the city’s “National Night Out” and “Movie Night in the Park.” Moran has also been part of “Neon Night Pop-up,” reaching out to small businesses in the city, and of “Breaking Barriers,” a Los Banos pilot program to help persons coming out of probation transition to civilian life by increasing their educational opportunities.
Meanwhile, Moran continues to think about the future---hers and the campus’s. She is currently working on her doctoral degree in educational leadership through Texas Tech University, learning about approaches used in other parts of the country to improve and expand higher education.
Jessica encourages residents of Los Banos and Dos Palos to stop by the campus, now that restrictions have eased regarding in-person visits, to see how it continues to improve and expand.
She encourages all persons of any age who want to start, return to or continue their college education to call the campus and make an appointment to see a counselor and create a plan for their future.
In working to strengthen the campus and in reaching out to the community, Dean Moran’s main goal is to provide new and expanded horizons for all of the campus’s students.
In memoriam: Los Banos lost two people who provided much joy to their community. Don Guerra always brought smiles to people he met, especially while working at Espana’s. Dorlie used her bright mind, caring heart and community involvement to uplift the spirits of hundreds of appreciative Los Banosans. Don and Dorlie will be deeply missed.
John Spevak wrote this for the Los Banos Enterprise. His email is john.spevak@gmail.com.