‘Better than before.’ Despite tough pandemic year, Merced College to see new programs
For the first time in two pandemic-disrupted years, Merced College President Chris Vitelli spoke to an in-person gathering of community members Thursday for the eighth State of the College Address.
The address relayed advancements made by Merced College, despite roughly a year-and-a-half being defined by COVID-19-caused hardships.
Plus, Vitelli also highlighted new programs on the horizon to help widen the career options for local students
“I’m absolutely amazed at (students’) resilience,” Vitelli said to the socially-distanced crowd Thursday afternoon. “They’re all the proof we need that the future is worth our greatest effort.”
Those in attendance included Assemblymember Adam Gray, D-Merced, Merced Mayor Matt Serratto, Merced County District Attorney Kimberly Helms Lewis, County Supervisors and UC Merced officials, plus various members of the Merced College community.
“I really am so pleased we’re able to restore another annual tradition,” Vitelli said. ”We did not simply survive this pandemic, we’re emerging stronger and better than before,” he added.
What’s new at Merced College
Underscoring the college’s progress in the face of unparalleled adversity is its ability to innovate, Vitelli said. The community college president described several new and ongoing innovations coming to Merced College.
A full-fledged Merced College online campus will launch fall 2022, Vitelli announced. Online courses, while starting as a pandemic-caused necessity, are being transformed into a fully developed resource that will serve as a boon to working and adult students especially, he said.
“Our in-person and support services will always be a key pillar, but online is here to stay,” Vitelli said. “Students increasingly expect flexibility in how they learn.”
The college already has about a dozen online degree and certificate programs being offered next fall.
Vitelli also gestured to the work-in-progress on the Raj Kahlon Agriculture and Industrial Technology Complex situated behind the gathered assembly. The complex will be an asset to the college, its students and the community overall, he said.
The Agriculture and Industrial Technology Complex will host classrooms and laboratory space for programs like agribusiness, horticulture, crop science and animal science once completed.
The building was named for Kahlon after he received the President’s Medallion Award in 2019 for a record-breaking donation of $5 million to support agricultural programs at Merced College and the future 20,000-square foot complex. The award is given to recognize the Merced College’s greatest supporters.
Also inbound to Merced College next year is a paramedic training program. The idea was spurred when Merced Fire Chief Derek Parker and Battalion Chief Mickey Brunelli approached Vitelli during one of the college’s COVID-19 vaccination clinic events.
The two fire chiefs spoke to Merced’s need for more paramedics. Vitelli described the decision as a “no-brainer.”
Merced College is filling other regional needs with the addition of a truck driver program next year, plus the launch this semester of a new Hospitality Career Academy.
The hospitality program offers students hospitality and customer service training while earning college credits via a partnership with downtown Merced’s El Capitan, a JdV by Hyatt hotel, and the Mainzer theater.
“We’re working diligently to build the most innovative approaches to student learning,” Vitelli said. “This is not your mamma’s community college anymore. We have changed.”
Local couple honored for gift to Merced College community
This year’s President’s Medallion Award recipient was recognized on Thursday as well. Susie Downey took to the stage alongside Vitelli in recognition of a $1 million donation last year by her and her late husband, Col. Russell Downey, to support student success and access initiatives.
The Merced College Learning Resources Center is being renamed as the Downey Learning Resource Center in honor of the couple’s support. The remodeled two-story building recently saw new innovations and resources integrated into the center, made possible through the Downeys’ donation.
“Today we honor her, as well as the colonel,” Vitelli said of Downey. “Today, it is my absolute honor to bestow upon her the President’s Medallion.”
The late Col. Downey served as a Castle Air Force Base commander and ran several local ranches alongside his wife. The Downeys were married for 55 years and united by a mutual passion for education, Vitelli said on Thursday.
The couple’s work running several local ranches allowed the Downeys to eventually make the generous donation to Merced College, according to college news release.
