On Oct. 18 at 3 p.m. in the Teleconference Center, Dr. Jose Fierro, President/Superintendent, started his presentation by distributing $125 gift cards for the bookstore to the student attendees.
This set an exciting tone for the students and kept them attentive to the presentation as they would need to answer his questions if they wanted a gift card.
Dr. Fierro began by talking about the importance of decision making, opportunity costs and what the college’s main goal of raising graduation rates was about.
The college intends to raise its graduation rate by 50% within five years. To do so they want to start with first-time fall cohorts by getting them on the fast track to graduate within their first two years.
Currently, the graduation rate for students within their first two years is 14%.
Dr. Fierro then spoke about the importance of a comprehensive education plan and encouraged all students to get one with their counselor if they hadn’t already.
With a CEP students would know how many and which classes they’d need to take each semester to eventually get their degree within two years.
“If you get a comprehensive ed plan, you are 2.5 times more likely to complete your degree program and on time,” Dr. Fierro said.
Outside the event were several booths with counselors, so students could meet with a counselor once the event ended.
Dr. Fierro knows that not all students know what they want to study for and how some might end up working in a job field they didn’t study for, to which he said, “If you don’t know what to do, start with something you have an affinity to.”
Students could also still apply the knowledge and skills they learned from other programs into whichever job field they end up in, even if it’s not the one they were studying for.
Dr. Fierro then held a trivia for students which excited everyone in the room. Those able to answer his questions correctly would also receive gift cards for the bookstore.
Dr. Fierro then explained the importance of time management and how one should spend their time wisely.
Although spending time on leisure activities is enjoyable one must learn to value their time, “The only thing that you can not replenish or buy, no matter how rich you are, is time. What is gone is gone, you cannot get it back,” Dr. Fierro said.
He also mentioned the amount of units needed to get a degree and how many units one needed to have per semester to get a degree within two years.
60 units are needed for a degree and 15 units per semester, excluding summer, are needed to get one within two years.
Dr. Fierro then spent the last 15 to 20 minutes answering questions from the students.
When the event ended, students who had remained until it was over, received complimentary gift cards for the bookstore with an undisclosed amount of money in them.
Jesus Blancel, a business administration major, said his business professor had told him it was worth checking out and that it’d help him on his career path to graduate earlier.
“I also got a $125 gift card to the campus bookstore,” said Blancel.
Brandon Uribe, a business administration major, was also motivated to come to the Student Convocation because his business professor talked about it in his class that day.
“I feel like it was very motivational to me and knowing that I’m already on a good track, it just puts a better picture for me in the future. I actually do got this, even if it might take some time,” said Uribe.
