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Vanessa Sheared joined Sac State last summer as Dean of the College of Education. She has spent her first year getting to know faculty members and visiting programs, as well as working with faculty and staff on the development and approval of Sac State's first independent doctorate an EdD in education.
 Vanessa Sheared |
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A core group of faculty in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in the College of Education and the Department of Public Policy and Administration in the College of Social Science and Interdisciplinary Studies are diligently working this summer to help us implement the program this fall, said Sheared. We are very excited about this opportunity and we're looking forward to admitting our first cohort. It will be a three-year program aimed at preparing members in the community college and K-12 community to take on leadership roles as superintendents and community college administrators. It's really exciting to be working on and helping to shape this program.
Sheared came to Sac State from San Francisco State University, where she was associate dean of the College of Education. She started at SFSU in 1993 as an assistant professor in adult education, which is her passion. She holds a doctorate in adult education from Northern Illinois University, a master's degree in counselor education from Louisiana State University and an undergraduate degree in sociology from Wheaton College. She has worked in the Bobby Wright Community Mental Health Center as an alcoholism counselor, with Catholic Charities Head Start Program in Chicago as a social worker and at Blackhawk Vocational College in Wisconsin as coordinator of a job-training program.
My whole career has been in social services and education, and I really want to help effectuate change in our schools and communities, said Sheared. One thing I'm hoping to do at Sac State is create a place for people to have a dialogue about those factors facing our schools and communities - issues like gender, race, class, religion, language differences and other factors that affect teaching and learning. I would like to create a resource center, a place that would provide teachers, parents and administrators with current research and strategies that they can use to aid them in their work.
Sheared is currently editing a book with four other editors. The book will be a compilation of 23 chapters with scholars and researchers examining race and racism and the impact these factors have on teaching and learning environments in adult and higher education. She enjoys gardening, watching the Home and Garden Network for ideas and spending time with friends and family, including her 26-year old son.
Sac State plays a major role in preparing teachers for our region, she said. We need to continue working to meet the needs of the region as it grows, and I think we're in an excellent position to do just that.
California has a variety of options for people interested in attending college, including three public systems that provide higher education: community colleges, the University of California system and the California State University (CSU) system. These systems have traditionally worked together to produce the educated, skilled workforce that keeps California’s economy moving forward. More than two million people attend community colleges across the state, and more than 400,000 students attend schools in the CSU system.
The Sacramento region is one of the few areas in California with schools from each system. In particular, Sierra College and California State University, Sacramento have a special relationship. The two schools signed a “Memorandum of Understanding” (MOU) agreement in 2005 to ease the transfer process for students coming to Sac State from Sierra College. Part of that agreement includes Sac State offering classes at Sierra College’s Gateway Campus in Roseville.
“Generally, we are ‘sister systems,’ independently funded but integrated in mission and the kinds of challenges we face,” said Dr. Joseph Sheley, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at Sac State. “I think our joint goal is to graduate as many people as we can to support the regional and state economies. Whether we’re talking about a bachelor’s degree or an associate’s degree, we recognize we’re all in it together with the same goals.”
It’s a sentiment echoed by Dr. Leo Chavez, President of Sierra College. “We send a large number of students to Sac State each year and we want the transition to be smooth and effective. We want to avoid students taking classes that don’t contribute to the completion of their degree. The transition from a community college to a four-year institution is a big one on its own – without having to take extra classes.”
Sac State has a Lower Division Transfer Program that is available to students at any community college in California. Students who start at a community college and know they’re interested in a particular major can take 39 units of general education classes plus enough major classes that when they transfer to Sac State, they have reached their junior year in their major. The MOU has formalized that process with a few of the programs offered at Sierra College.
“We were particularly interested in signing the agreement with Sierra College because we receive a large percentage of our transfer students from the school, and we want it to be a seamless process,” said Greg Wheeler, Sac State’s Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies. “We have also enjoyed sharing knowledge with and learning from Sierra College’s leadership and faculty so each school can improve its programs.”
Sac State has seamless transfer programs in place for Sierra College students majoring in business or who are interested in primary and middle school teaching. The Blended Teacher Education Program allows students to complete both their bachelor’s degree and teaching credential in fewer years at Sac State. Programs are also in place for Sierra College’s transfer studies degree, for students interested in liberal arts but who have not chosen a major, and for engineering students.
“The CSU system graduates more than 80,000 students each year, and we see ourselves as one of the keys to sustaining and growing California’s economy,” said Sheley. “Our partnership with Sierra College will help students, which in turn will help grow the Sacramento region’s economy for years to come.”
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