Merritt College President's Report - June 8, 2021

Merritt College – Hispanic Serving Institution

Merritt College is excited to share that it is applying for the Developing Hispanic- Serving Institutions (DHSI) Program (Title V). This program provides grants to HSIs to expand and enhance academic offerings, program quality, and institutional stability. As such, we are looking to join our Peralta sister colleges in receiving the HSI designation, and will be submitting the application for the $5 million grant next spring. To qualify for this program and these funds, an institution must meet the program-specific requirements to be defined as an HSI. For Merritt College, that means:

• At the time of application, the institution has an enrollment of full-time equivalent students that is at least 25 percent Hispanic students;
• At the time of application, not less than 50 percent of its Hispanic students are defined as individuals earning a “low income.”

Merritt believes that the college meets both of these requirements, and should our application be successful here are just a few things that Merritt College plans to accomplish:

• Increase the number of Hispanic (Latinx) and other underrepresented students that can be served by the institution by expanding courses and institutional resources.
• Extend tutoring, counseling, and student service programs designed to improve academic success.
• Bolster community outreach programs that will encourage secondary school students to develop the academic skills and the interest to pursue post-secondary education at Merritt College.
• Improve institutional capacity and student academic success as it relates to providing distance education.

Merritt College will be working through the participatory governance committees to strategize and inform the process and will keep everyone apprised of the progress.

Merritt Student Enrollment

With the Spring 2021 term drawing to an end, it’s a good time to review Merritt’s enrollment.

Comparing Spring 2021 to Spring 2020, total FTES for Merritt College dropped by 208.3. Productivity fell from 15.06 to 13.64, and the average class size for Spring 2021 was 28 (down from 31). All things considered, Merritt fared better than expected given what other colleges have experienced.

Summer 2021 enrollment is still in process but so far the numbers are extremely encouraging.  With the start of the term still ahead, Merritt’s Summer 2021 FTES is only 2.48 below what it was for the 2020 summer session. Productivity is 15.83 and is definitely expected to grow.

Juneteenth at Merritt College

On Saturday, June 19^th Merritt is partnering with Kaiser Permanente to put on a community outreach event in recognition and celebration of Juneteenth. Given the strong ties that the Merritt Allied Health Division has with Kaiser Oakland through the nursing and radiologic technology programs, the college is pleased to co-sponsor this effort to reinforce the pipeline and broadly disseminate additional job placement opportunities. Kaiser will also work with Merritt nursing, medical assisting, and EMT departments to administer up to fifty vaccinations to Merritt students and community members. And in the spirit of the occasion, there will be food, music, and “swag bags” provided as well. The event will be held in front the L Building on the Merritt College campus, and will run from 10:00am to 2:00pm.

This article is taken from the President’s Report, written by Dr. David M. Johnson, Merritt College President, that was presented to the PCCD Board of Trustees during their regular meeting on Tuesday, June 8, 2021