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- Written by: California Community Colleges
“This spring we congratulate the first bachelor degree earners in the California Community Colleges. With this pilot program we are furthering the mission of providing tomorrow’s workforce with the education and the skills needed to earn solid middle-class wages and realize the promise of upward social mobility,” said California Community Colleges Chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley. “We are proud of these graduates for breaking new ground and proud of all graduates at all 114 colleges who earned certificates and degrees.”
The Baccalaureate Pilot Program was created after Gov. Jerry Brown on Sept. 28, 2014 signed legislation authorizing the California Community Colleges Board of Governors, in consultation with representatives from the California State University and University of California systems, to establish a baccalaureate degree pilot programs meeting workforce needs at no more than 15 campuses as long as they did not duplicate existing options at the state’s public universities. Several of the 15 colleges began offering bachelor degree programs in the fall of 2015.
The Public Policy Institute of California projects that the state will face a shortage of 1.1 million workers with a bachelor’s degree unless it ramps up college access and completion.
That would mean a population that is less skilled, relegated to working in jobs with less pay, resulting in more people relying on social services, with less tax dollars to fund those services.
Each baccalaureate program is uniquely designed for colleges that were carefully chosen based on the workforce demands in each region.
A respiratory care baccalaureate program at Skyline College, for example, will help replenish a labor force in which up to half of respiratory therapists – who earn an average of nearly $76,000 annually statewide and more than $90,000 annually in the Bay Area – are nearing retirement age, and it will serve an area projected to add 2.1 million people by 2040.
A bachelor’s degree in interaction design from Santa Monica College is preparing students for the skills required to work in a growing technology sector with an anticipated 47,000 job openings in 2019 alone.
“The first week we started the baccalaureate program, Sharp Healthcare called me to collaborate in creating an employment pipeline straight from our college,” said Associate Professor Connie Renda, director of the health information management program at San Diego Mesa College, where 16 students graduated with a bachelor’s degree.
Similar dynamics are playing out elsewhere in the state. At Bakersfield College, for example, five of the seven students earning a bachelor’s degree in industrial automation have job offers, and the other two have internships that promise to evolve into full-time opportunities.
Virtually everyone graduating with a bachelor’s degree at Mesa College is looking at career advancement opportunities once they pass a national certification exam sponsored by the American Health Information Management Association that marks the last step needed before becoming a registered health information administrator.
“A bachelor’s degree goes a long way in the health information management field, especially on the information technology and systems analysis side of things,” said Mesa College graduate Henry Cunningham. “This being a community college where the cost is next to nothing compared to some of the online programs that are out there, I’m saving a lot of money and I’m not going into debt, all while having a lot of doors opening for my career.”
Indeed, the average cost of earning a bachelor’s degree through the pilot program is $10,000, a fraction of what students are paying elsewhere.
Community Colleges with a 2018 graduating class earning bachelor’s degrees include:
• Bakersfield College – Industrial Automation (seven graduates);
• Cypress College – Mortuary Science (five graduates);
• Feather River College – Equine and Ranch Management (15 graduates);
• Foothill College – Dental Hygiene (23 graduates);
• San Diego Mesa College – Health Information Management (16 graduates);
• Santa Monica College – Interaction Design (18 graduates);
• Shasta College – Health Information Management (two graduates);
• Skyline College – Respiratory Care (20 graduates);
• West Los Angeles College – Dental Hygiene (29 graduates).
The California Community Colleges, the largest provider of workforce training in the nation, offers Career Education programs at 114 community colleges across the state. With more than 200 programs taught by instructors and professionals in their field of study, Career Education programs allow students to learn by exploring, collaborating and doing with hands-on training and skills for the jobs of today and the future. The colleges also provide basic skills education in English and math, and prepare students for transfer to four-year institutions.
To learn more, please visit www.CaliforniaCareerEducation.com. Visit www.doingwhamatters.cccco.edu for information on the system’s workforce initiative.
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- Written by: Editor
To mark the occasion, the Intrepid Museum is putting out a coast-to-coast “all call” for former Intrepid crew members to be reunited in a special 75th Commissioning Anniversary Celebration Weekend from Thursday, Aug. 16, to Sunday, Aug. 19, on board Intrepid.
The museum is also accepting donations of personal artifacts and memorabilia from former crew members and their families.
Each item added to the museum’s collection helps express and interpret Intrepid’s stories of service, and serves to educate and inspire more than one million visitors each year.
To learn more about this weekend and for registration information, former crew members and their family members can visit www.intrepidmuseum.org/75 or email
The homecoming weekend will feature a special ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of Intrepid’s commissioning on Thursday, Aug. 16, honoring Intrepid former crew members who will reunite and share stories of their tours of duty.
Throughout the weekend, the museum will offer guided tours of the ship and behind-the-scenes curator-led tours of the museum’s collection storage facility, and a special former crew member dinner event with the United States Secretary of the Navy, Richard V. Spencer. For some former crew members, this will be the first time they have been aboard their beloved ship since the completion of their service.
Intrepid’s 75th Commissioning Anniversary Celebration Weekend is open to the public, and will feature programs and events specifically tailored for former crew members and their families, as well as opportunities for members of the public to interact with our visiting former crew members. Over 280 former crew members are currently confirmed to attend with their family members.
Now a museum and national historic landmark, the aircraft carrier Intrepid (CVS-11) was one of the most successful and stalwart ships in US history. Nicknamed “The Fighting I” by its crew, Intrepid served in the Pacific during World War II, surviving five kamikaze attacks and one torpedo strike.
Intrepid later conducted submarine surveillance in the North Atlantic during the Cold War and served three tours of duty off Vietnam. It was also one of the primary recovery vessels for NASA during the Mercury and Gemini missions, and retrieved astronauts Scott Carpenter, Gus Grissom and John Young after their respective orbits and splashdowns in the Pacific.
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- Written by: Department of Veterans Affairs
The board is currently on track to meet and exceed its FY 2018 total goal of reviewing a historic 81,000 appeals by Sept. 30, 2018.
This pace paves the way for implementation of the Appeals Modernization Act, which has a target implementation date of Feb. 14, 2019, and will offer Veterans more choice and control over their claims and appeals process.
“I’m proud of the board for its dedication and commitment toward resolving appeals decisions for Veterans, and striving to reach a historic fiscal year goal of 81,000 appeals decisions delivered to Veterans,” said VA’s Acting Secretary Peter O’Rourke. “The board’s significant increase in results for Veterans and their families serves as another strong example of the department’s commitment to getting it right for veterans.”
In FY 2017, Congress allocated the board approximately $42 million, which was used to hire additional staff, primarily more than 200 decision-writing attorneys and 24 veterans law judges. The increase in staff, along with streamlining several processes, contributed to the result.
VA’s Board of Veterans’ Appeals’ mission is to conduct hearings and decide appeals in a timely manner.
VA’s disability appeals process is a complex, multi-step adjudication process that uses “open records,” which allows veterans to submit medical and lay evidence at any point from the beginning to the end of the process, including while the claim is pending on appeal; this may, in turn, require VA to develop further evidence on the Veteran’s behalf.
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- Written by: Editor
For information about the association and it 97th annual reunion in Jacksonville, Florida from Sept. 19 to 23, contact Mike Davino at
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- Written by: Department of Veterans Affairs
The 2018 theme, “InnoVAtion to Implementation,” highlights VA researchers’ role in identifying and testing new ways to prevent and treat illness and disease, and translating those ideas into everyday health care for veterans and other Americans.
“Most veterans will be familiar with the slogan ‘improvise, adapt and overcome,’ said Acting VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. “This captures the forward-leaning spirit of the VA research community.
For more than nine decades, VA’s researchers have eagerly taken on problems affecting the health of our veterans and searched for new solutions and better ways of addressing those health issues.
The results of VA’s research have improved health care dramatically – not only for veterans, but for all Americans and people around the world.”
VA medical centers will mark Research Week with special events such as tours of research facilities, lectures, poster displays and luncheons to honor the veterans who participate voluntarily in VA studies.
Events at VA medical centers nationwide will showcase the work of VA researchers in areas ranging from drug discovery, informatics, rehabilitation technology to mental health, caregiving and complementary and integrative health.
One focus of the events will be VA’s Million Veteran Program (MVP), now one of the world’s largest genomic databases, with well over 650,000 veterans enrolled.
More than 20 research studies using MVP data are already underway, on topics ranging from heart and kidney disease to mental health.
To learn more about the contributions of VA researchers, past and present, visit www.research.va.gov.
For more information on local and national events marking National VA Research Week, visit www.research.va.gov/researchweek.
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- Written by: Department of Veterans Affairs
Previously, it was unclear whether VA providers could furnish care to veterans in other states through telehealth because of licensing restrictions or state-specific telehealth laws.
This new rule exercises federal preemption to override those state restrictions, paving the way for VA to expand care to veterans using telehealth.
VA worked closely with the White House Office of American Innovation and the Department of Justice for implementation of the new rule.
“This new rule is critical to VA’s ‘Anywhere to Anywhere’ initiative,” said VA Acting Secretary Robert Wilkie. “Now that the rule has been finalized, VA providers and patients can start enjoying the full benefits of VA’s telehealth services.”
By enabling veterans nationwide to receive care at home, the rule will especially benefit veterans living in rural areas who would otherwise need to travel a considerable distance or across state lines to receive care.
The rule also will expand veterans’ access to critical care that can be provided virtually — such as mental health care and suicide prevention — by allowing quicker and easier access to VA mental health providers through telehealth.
VA first announced the proposed rule, titled “Authority of Health Care Providers to Practice Telehealth,” at a White House event last August, during which VA and President Donald Trump launched the “Anywhere to Anywhere” initiative.
In the announcement, VA also unveiled VA Video Connect, a video conferencing app for veterans and VA providers.
Through this new rule, VA providers will be able to use VA Video Connect and other forms of telehealth to furnish care to Veterans anywhere in the country, including in the veteran’s home.
To learn more about VA’s telehealth “Anywhere to Anywhere” initiative, visit VA’s Office of Connected Care at www.connectedcare.va.gov.
- Details
- Written by: Department of Veterans Affairs
Previously, it was unclear whether VA providers could furnish care to veterans in other states through telehealth because of licensing restrictions or state-specific telehealth laws.
This new rule exercises federal preemption to override those state restrictions, paving the way for VA to expand care to veterans using telehealth.
VA worked closely with the White House Office of American Innovation and the Department of Justice for implementation of the new rule.
“This new rule is critical to VA’s ‘Anywhere to Anywhere’ initiative,” said VA Acting Secretary Robert Wilkie. “Now that the rule has been finalized, VA providers and patients can start enjoying the full benefits of VA’s telehealth services.”
By enabling veterans nationwide to receive care at home, the rule will especially benefit veterans living in rural areas who would otherwise need to travel a considerable distance or across state lines to receive care.
The rule also will expand veterans’ access to critical care that can be provided virtually — such as mental health care and suicide prevention — by allowing quicker and easier access to VA mental health providers through telehealth.
VA first announced the proposed rule, titled “Authority of Health Care Providers to Practice Telehealth,” at a White House event last August, during which VA and President Donald Trump launched the “Anywhere to Anywhere” initiative.
In the announcement, VA also unveiled VA Video Connect, a video conferencing app for veterans and VA providers.
Through this new rule, VA providers will be able to use VA Video Connect and other forms of telehealth to furnish care to Veterans anywhere in the country, including in the veteran’s home.
To learn more about VA’s telehealth “Anywhere to Anywhere” initiative, visit VA’s Office of Connected Care at www.connectedcare.va.gov.
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- Written by: Editor
Event registration is at 4:30 p.m. with the walk at 5 p.m. at the Clearlake VA Clinic, 15145 Lakeshore Drive in Clearlake. The event will begin at the rear of the building.
The walk and roll benefits homeless veterans and promotes health and wellness.
Donations of socks and personal hygiene items will be accepted for homeless veterans.
A raffle will be held after the walk. A raffle entry comes with donation.
For more information call 707-995-7225.
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- Written by: Department of Veterans Affairs
“The RAND study adds to a growing list of research confirming what many veterans and VA employees believe – VA provides high-quality care,” said VA Acting Secretary Robert Wilkie. “We are constantly striving to improve our care at VA, but this should encourage veterans and the public that VA care is in many instances as good as or better than the private sector.”
The study, which was published online April 25, compared each VA facility to three non-VA facilities with similar geographic settings (rural/urban,) size (number of beds) and complexity of care.
The analysis focused on three of the six “Domains of Quality of Care” as defined by the Institute of Medicine, (now known as the National Academy of Medicine) including safety, effectiveness and patient-centered care.
The authors of the RAND study analyzed inpatient and outpatient performance measures used by VA and non-VA hospitals.
On inpatient care, VA hospitals performed on average the same or significantly better than non-VA hospitals on 21 of 26 measures.
VA performed significantly better than commercial and Medicaid Health Maintenance Organizations on 28 of 30 measures, with no difference on the other two. There was a wide variation in performance across VA, but an even wider variation among the non-VA hospitals.
For more information, see the quality data available on VA’s Access to Care website at www.accesstocare.va.gov.