The report accuses Calbright’s former leadership of laying the groundwork for a host of problems: inflated salaries, unethical hiring practices, too few supports for students. The report also flagged a lack of strategic planning by current leaders for approximately $175 million in state funding the college is slated to receive through June 2025.
“Because of these missteps, Calbright has struggled to adequately enroll the students it was intended to serve, took longer than it should have to develop a student support system, and did not adequately partner with employers in the development of its educational programs, thereby hindering its ability to assist its students in obtaining jobs,” Elaine Howle, the California state auditor, said in her report.
This story was updated at 5:30 p.m. May 12 to include new comments from former Calbright President Heather Hiles.
A long-awaited state audit of Calbright College, California’s exclusively online community college, criticized its previous leaders for overpaying some of its executives, lacking a strategy for spending state funds and failing to provide students with training and connections to employers.
In its two years of operation, Calbright has failed at its key mission of “enrolling adult students who cannot otherwise obtain postsecondary education,” concludes Elaine M. Howle, the California state auditor, in a report released Tuesday.
Larry Gordon/EdSource
Former Calbright College President Heather Hiles resigned after less than a year.
Industry Looks at Ways to Sustain Growth After Pandemic sdbj.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sdbj.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
First Posted: May 07, 2021 04:44 AM EDT
Photo : Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
To help schools eyeing a return to in-person classes, San Diego biotech Biocept is bringing coronavirus testing to community colleges throughout the state of California.
The company recently announced a testing partnership with the Foundation for California Community Colleges, a nonprofit group that supports 116 community colleges in the area, serving more than 2 million students. The included schools will be able to administer coronavirus tests to students and staff, send samples to the local lab of Biocept and receive results within 48 hours.
According to The San Diego Union-Tribune, Biocept CEO Michael Nall stated that biotech started to offer coronavirus testing around last year after the company realized that it had the equipment, expertise, and laboratory certifications to run the tests. He also added that Biocept started to use a test made by Thermo Fisher to detect genetic material from