Merritt College Participates in Peralta Summer Institute

As part of the Peralta Summer Institute, Merritt is offering four career pathways for high school students to explore:

• iCare: EMT & Medical Skills
• iDeal: Business & Digital Marketing
• iGrow: The Business of Urban Agriculture
• iServe: Administration of Justice  

Over 70 students hailing from Oakland Unified School District, Alameda Unified School District, Emery Unified School District, San Lorenzo Unified School District, and various charter schools have enrolled in college-level courses and workshops in some of Merritt’s most popular Career Education (CE) disciplines. That represents a 45 percent increase in participation compared to last year’s Summer Institute. Many of these students were recruited during our engaging CE Open House on April 28, where they were introduced to programs in Administration of Justice, Bioscience, Business, Child Development, Community Social Services/Substance Abuse, Computer Information Science, EMT/Fire Science, and Natural History & Sustainability.

In addition to acquiring hands-on skills and earning college credit, these students are being exposed to occupational information and opportunities through dedicated Career Education counseling. The Division of Allied Health and Public Safety has been working closely with Enrollment Services and the Welcome Center to ensure ongoing marketing, outreach, and training to our K-12 partners for the Summer Institute. Moving forward, Merritt College hopes to collaborate with the BACCC K-12 Pathway Coordinator, Oakland Unified School District, and the other Peralta sister colleges, to better align the college's educational pathways to create flowing pipelines for students from high school to college to well-paying and rewarding careers.

Merritt Summer Enrollment Shows Increased FTES

For Summer 2023, Merritt College has seen a dramatic increase in FTES and productivity. In Summer 2022 the college was at 93.84% of the FTES target and had a productivity of 15.63. This summer Merritt is at 110.69% of the target, which is the highest percentage rate in the District, and the college’s productivity is 17.18. Merritt accomplished this even while supporting the goal of increasing in-person classes. This summer Merritt is offering 105 sections, and 24 of them are in-person. This translates into Merritt offering 39% of all of the in-person classes currently being offered in the District this summer. Merritt College accomplished these gains by offering courses that aligned with student demand in previous summers, as well as those required to support program pathway completion.

The fall enrollment is also encouraging. Merritt is successfully remaining within the FTEF allocation and is offering 40% of classes in person. College research demonstrates that African American and Latinx students experience greater rates of student success with on-campus classes, so Merritt is scheduling to keep equity at the forefront of its priorities. Merritt College is also being intentional about ensuring reliable pathways for program completion and meeting student demand for transfer core curriculum.

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 27, 2023. To view it as a pdf, click here.