Amador County - The Board of Supervisors last week heard a presentation on what progress has been made towards developing a community college program in Amador County. Amador Community College Foundation Vice-President Richard P. Vinson gave a brief history of development, describing it as “a long and arduous journey.” He said Amador County is only one of two or three counties in California not aligned with a Community College. Efforts to erase that statistic include a generous offer by Sacramento County’s Cosumnes River College, or CRC, to allocate 40 percent of its marketing budget towards advertising and promoting the newly established Amador Learning Center. Vinson called this “quite a generous offer”, considering that Amador County currently has 1 percent of the student population of CRC. That’s roughly 140 students compared to 140,000. Stephen McGloughlin of CRC said “140 students may not seem like an awful lot, but from zero it’s quite an increase.” Officially established last year, the “learning center will establish a formal community college presence in Amador County”, according to the Amador County website. Vinson said the much-needed funding will be used to grow and promote the local community college presence. He said it is essential that they fill classes. Currently, Learning Center classes are being held in temporary classrooms by Independence High and in Sutter Creek. Vinson said the developers behind the Gold Rush Ranch and Golf Resort had made an informal offer to donate 10 to 20 acres for a community college campus. Discussion of that donation is ongoing, as the Gold Rush Resort has not been finalized. Supervisor Richard Forster thanked Senators Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer for stepping up with the initial grants to develop a local college, saying “we hadn’t gotten any help or leverage before them.” County Grant Writer and Learning Center Co-developer Renee Chapman said that one of the first questions asked by businesses looking to develop a local presence is whether the County has a community college. The Supervisors took no action but thanked the presenters for their hard work so far. Story by Alex Lane
Monday, 15 December 2008 17:00
Community College Development
Amador County - The Board of Supervisors last week heard a presentation on what progress has been made towards developing a community college program in Amador County. Amador Community College Foundation Vice-President Richard P. Vinson gave a brief history of development, describing it as “a long and arduous journey.” He said Amador County is only one of two or three counties in California not aligned with a Community College. Efforts to erase that statistic include a generous offer by Sacramento County’s Cosumnes River College, or CRC, to allocate 40 percent of its marketing budget towards advertising and promoting the newly established Amador Learning Center. Vinson called this “quite a generous offer”, considering that Amador County currently has 1 percent of the student population of CRC. That’s roughly 140 students compared to 140,000. Stephen McGloughlin of CRC said “140 students may not seem like an awful lot, but from zero it’s quite an increase.” Officially established last year, the “learning center will establish a formal community college presence in Amador County”, according to the Amador County website. Vinson said the much-needed funding will be used to grow and promote the local community college presence. He said it is essential that they fill classes. Currently, Learning Center classes are being held in temporary classrooms by Independence High and in Sutter Creek. Vinson said the developers behind the Gold Rush Ranch and Golf Resort had made an informal offer to donate 10 to 20 acres for a community college campus. Discussion of that donation is ongoing, as the Gold Rush Resort has not been finalized. Supervisor Richard Forster thanked Senators Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer for stepping up with the initial grants to develop a local college, saying “we hadn’t gotten any help or leverage before them.” County Grant Writer and Learning Center Co-developer Renee Chapman said that one of the first questions asked by businesses looking to develop a local presence is whether the County has a community college. The Supervisors took no action but thanked the presenters for their hard work so far. Story by Alex Lane
