College Goals

Cerro Coso Community College 2025-2030 Strategic Plan

Student Access, Success, and Equity

Goal 1 - Improve Persistence

“Persistence” is the measure of students re-enrolling in subsequent semesters. “Persistence Term 1 to Term 2” refers to the rate at which first-time students enroll in a second semester (e.g., fall to spring). “Persistence Term 1 to Term 3” refers to the rate first-time students enroll in the third semester (e.g., fall to fall). Although Cerro Coso serves many students who enroll in only one class, our persistence rate remains noticeably lower than both the state average and the rates at Bakersfield College and Porterville College, even when accounting for this factor. A low persistence rate means students are not staying on the path to an educational outcome.

Metrics

• % of students attempting English and math by the end of the first year
• % of students persisting from term 1 to term 2
• % of students persisting from term 1 to term 3

Alignment with “Future Forward: Elevating Student Achievement Together, Kern Community College Strategic Plan 2025-2030”:

• Student Experience: Student Culture

Goal 2 – Cultivate the College’s HSI Identity and Engage Other Underserved Populations

Although Cerro Coso has been a designated Hispanic Serving Institution since 2012, it is only within the last four years that the college now serves more Hispanic/Latino students than any other ethnic group. In 2023-24 Hispanic/Latino students additionally became the majority earners of degrees and certificates. A Child Development program recently offered in Spanish has been hugely popular. Meanwhile, the college continues to see lower rates of course success and award attainment from first generation, part-time, African American, and Native American students.

Metrics (the following are to be disaggregated by ethnicity, first generation status, and full-time/part-time status)

• FTES
• SCFF Supplemental
  • # of Pell grants awarded
  • # of CCPG awarded
  • # of Dreamers served
• SCFF Student Success Metrics
  • # of Associate Degrees for Transfer awarded
  • # of Associate Degrees awarded
  • # of Certificates awarded
  • # of students achieving CTE 9+ units
  • # of English and math completed in the first year

Alignment with “Future Forward: Elevating Student Achievement Together, Kern Community College Strategic Plan 2025-2030”:

• Student Experience: Student Culture

Goal 3 - Establish the Tehachapi Campus and Optimize Enrollments at Other Sites

In October 2024, the college took possession of land for the next big step in its evolution: its own physical campus in Tehachapi. Getting this vision turned into reality through a phased approach of locating buildings on the ground, establishing instructional and administrative spaces, promoting the new campus, and building enrollments—all while being a good community partner—are crucial tasks to get accomplished in the next five years. In addition, while in-person enrollments at the other campuses have rebounded from Covid, it has been uneven and tentative in some cases.

Metrics (the SCFF Supplemental and Student Success Metrics are to be disaggregated by the student’s service area as identified by residential zip code):

• FTES disaggregated by the campus location
• SCFF Supplemental
  • # of Pell grants awarded
  • # of CCPG awarded
  • # of Dreamers served
• SCFF Student Success Metrics
  • # of Associate Degrees for Transfer awarded
  • # of Associate Degrees awarded
  • # of Certificates awarded
  • # of students achieving CTE 9+ units
  • # of English and math completed in the first year
• % of responses on KCCD Wellbeing Survey

Alignment with “Future Forward: Elevating Student Achievement Together, Kern Community College Strategic Plan 2025-2030”:

• Student Experience: Student Culture
• Student Experience: Physical Environment
• Employee Experience: Physical Environment

Goal 4 – Innovate Instructional Offerings

We are at a particularly rich time for instructional innovation. Given that Cerro Coso prides itself on its ability to meet the technological moment - Innovate” being one of our core values - the task force felt it is extremely important to focus particularly on this ability in the next five years. “Innovate” is understood here in all ways - programmatic design and improvement, new program creation, non-traditional awarding of credit, adoption of cutting-edge technology for instruction and services - and at all levels: what is exciting and right for instructors in their own classes, programs, departments, units, divisions, and campuses.

Metrics

• FTES
• SCFF Student Success Metrics
  • # of Associate Degrees for Transfer awarded
  • # of Associate Degrees awarded
  • # of Certificates awarded
  • # of students achieving CTE 9+ units
  • # of English and math completed in the first year
• % of responses on KCCD Culture Survey

Alignment with “Future Forward: Elevating Student Achievement Together, Kern Community College Strategic Plan 2025-2030”:

• Student Experience: Student Culture
• Student Experience: Technological Environment
• Employee Experience: Technological Environment

Community Connections

Goal 5 – Elevate the College’s Standing as a Community Cultural Hub

After a decade of upheaval - main building modernization, earthquake reconstruction, and Covid - the Ridgecrest campus is poised to return to its role of being a gathering place for community cultural events and activities. We have been doing more and more of this in the past year or two. But doing even more - especially in a systematic way - will not only connect the college more directly to current students but also to prospective students (and parents) as well as raise its visibility in the community in general. Moreover, it creates good will and enhances energy on campus. Further, this goal need not be limited to Ridgecrest, as ESCC and Tehachapi are also poised to be cultural hubs of their communities.

Metrics

• # of events designated cultural events in Event Manager
• % of responses on KCCD Culture Survey

Alignment with “Future Forward: Elevating Student Achievement Together, Kern Community College Strategic Plan 2025-2030”:

• Student Experience: Student Culture
• Employee Experience: Workplace Culture

Organizational Effectiveness

Goal 6 – Support Employees for Success

For several years Cerro Coso Community College has been focusing on improving workplace climate and culture. Doing so has also been a priority of the new Chancellor for all three colleges at KCCD. Climate and culture surveys have gone out, and recently a workplace well-being survey also went out, with the goal of identifying areas of improvement and developing workplans with the goal of making the KCCD a highly sought-after place to work. This is true not only for new employees but also long-standing employees, not only for faculty but for classified staff and managers, not only for front-line staff but all staff. The next five years are crucial to the success of these implementations.

Metrics

• % of responses on KCCD Climate Survey
• % of responses on KCCD Culture Survey
• % of responses on KCCD Wellness Survey

Alignment with “Future Forward: Elevating Student Achievement Together, Kern Community College Strategic Plan 2025-2030”:

• Employee Experience: Workplace Culture
• Employee Experience: Technological Environment
• Employee Experience: Physical Environment

For more details see the complete 2025-2030 Strategic Plan.