COSTA MESA, Calif.— Board President Jim Moreno announced the appointment of the Coast Community College Chancellor after a closed session meeting of the Board today. After a seven month nationwide search for a Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Ding-Jo H. Currie has been selected as Chancellor. The Coast District which includes the three colleges in western Orange County – Orange Coast College, Golden West College and Coastline Community College – is governed by a five member Board of Trustees representing eight different cities.

President Moreno stated, “Dr. Ding-Jo Currie was unanimously chosen by the full Board because of her outstanding educational background, leadership experience and skills in higher education. After our nationwide Chancellor search, Dr. Currie emerged as the most qualified candidate among the four finalists. Dr. Currie’s work ethic and entrepreneurial style will enable our Board/CEO partnership to find ways to improve our colleges and achieve even greater student success. Her experience is needed during these challenging times.”

Board Clerk Jerry Patterson added that, “our entire Board is thrilled and enthusiastic to have Dr. Ding-Jo Currie join us as a partner to take Coast Community College District and our colleges to a new level. In the face of shrinking financial resources, a wave of new students and new green technologies, we must have the wisdom and leadership to meet the future needs of our students’. Dr. Currie is a tireless leader who knows how to get things done with compassion, competence, integrity, and vision.”

Dr. Ding-Jo Currie is well known in Orange County as a visible community leader and a respected national leader in the higher education arena. She most recently served as Board Chair of the American Association of Community Colleges which consists of over 1,200 community colleges nationwide. She currently chairs the Community College Advisory Panel for the College Board. In addition, Dr. Currie is a member of a very prestigious Board of Directors for the American Council on Education, the preeminent association for higher education in the United States.

Board Vice President, Dr. Lorraine Prinsky observed that “Ding-Jo Currie is a known leader in the community not only as President of Coastline Community College, but she is also a well known and respected leader at the national level. She stepped up to the plate to become our Interim Chancellor during these tough budget times when a strong and effective leader was essential. She has a solid record. We are proud to have her now as the administrative leader of our District.” Trustees Mary Hornbuckle and Walter Howald echoed the praises of the Board Officers in citing the exceptional abilities and leadership qualifications that Dr. Currie possesses to become Coast Community College District’s next Chancellor.

Community Member Bonnie Bruce, Chair of the Chancellor Search Committee commented on the Board’s final decision, “I think the Board has made an excellent selection. Dr. Currie was one of four top finalists recommended by our thirteen-member Selection Committee. These committee members represented all college constituencies and the community, and we were charged with the task of screening, interviewing and presenting three to five candidates for final interviews and selection by the governing Board of Trustees. I am very pleased to have been included in the process as a community member and believe that the Coast District is in good hands now.”

Dr. Currie responded to the appointment with gratitude, confidence and a promise to lead the Coast Community College District and its colleges through the difficult times ahead. Dr. Currie added, “I am proud and humbled to serve as the Chancellor as one of the nation’s largest and most dynamic districts. My first priority is to work with our Board of Trustees, faculty and staff, and our communities to weather the worst budget storm in our recent history while maintaining a focus on ensuring the highest quality education for our students’ success. It is going to be a tough road ahead, but with the Board’s vision, our Coast Family’s hard and smart work, along with some shared sacrifices, I know the Coast District will always be a flagship district not only in Orange County but also in the nation.”

Dr. Currie has been President of Coastline Community College for the past seven years. She was asked to serve as the Interim Chancellor during the leadership transition period over the past ten months. As the new Chancellor, Dr. Currie will lead the administration of three community colleges annually serving over 60,000 students in western Orange County and an additional 20,000 military students worldwide. The Coast District is the seventh largest college district in the nation and the fifth largest in California. Each college has its own unique character, mission, and programs with national reputation serving students seeking advancement in college degrees, transfers to four year universities, certificates in programs for professional, technical and careers in the workforce, and basic skills for a more successful career and lifelong learning.

Dr. Currie earned her Ph.D. degree from the University of Southern California in International and Intercultural Education. She also has a Master’s degree in Personnel Counseling from Wright State University, and two Bachelor’s degrees from Manchester College in Mathematics and Psychology.

Dr. Currie will be the first female Chancellor in the Coast District history. She is also one of the first Asian-American women to ascend to the nation’s highest ranking CEO level in a higher education institution. Dr. Currie is a Chinese immigrant from Taiwan and lives in Huntington Beach with her mother, husband and two daughters. The appointment is effective today, November 18, 2009.

The Coast Community College District is the ninth largest community college district in the state in credit enrollment, serving 60,000 students each semester. The district is comprised of Coastline Community College headquartered in Fountain Valley, Golden West College in Huntington Beach and Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa.

Coastline Leads the Way in Worldwide Education with English-learning Game

Coastline’s Instructional Systems Development (ISD) team, in collaboration with the Hewlett Foundation, the Chinese Ministry of Education and the U.S. Department of Education, is wrapping up production on the first English-language learning experience for middle school students in China entitled — The Forgotten World: Zuka Awakens
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With $2.6 million in initial funding from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation as part of its Open Educational Resources (OER) Initiative, Coastline was able to produce a comic book style game that helps educate students through a “virtual-immersion” experience. The team also produced ancillary materials for teachers to use in the classroom.

The instructional design for this first installment has been developed to complement formal English-language curriculum from low, to high, to novice in Chinese middle and secondary schools. The game enables learners to handle basic needs, report on simple routines, and make simple plans and invitations all in the English language. Learners start with simple learning objectives such as performing routine courtesy acts, recognizing letter names, identifying objects in context; and graduate to activities like responding to directions, and communicating likes and dislikes. In this student-friendly format, The Forgotten World covers roughly two-years of formal classroom training.

The talented Coastline ISD team worked on the project with leading experts in language acquisition, linguistics, learning pedagogy, technology, interactive media and learning-game design across America and throughout China.

Dan Jones, executive dean of Coastline’s ISD Department and leader of the initiative, says the goal is to reach a million students. He sees this as just the beginning.

"If the experience in China and the United States is positive, the use of games and speech recognition for learning will rapidly expand," Jones predicts. "Systems that combine natural language recognition with 3-D gaming and expert systems will be the next giant step."

You can try The Forgotten World by visiting http://www.theforgottenworld.net.

ECHS Succeeding in Project-based Learning

Coastline’s Early College High School (ECHS) is a five-year program where students enter as high school freshmen and earn both a high school diploma and an A.A. degree. This program is intended to give students a head start on college and encourage them to transfer to a four-year university, continue in post-secondary education, or pursue a career certificate. Benefits of Coastline’s ECHS program include smaller class sizes, greater access to teachers, and additional academic support through tutorial periods. Plus, the fees are waived for college courses high school students take as part of the ECHS program, and their textbooks for those college courses are loaned to them for free—saving students (and their parents) thousands of dollars
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ECHS is focused on educating students through project-based Learning. All courses and projects are designed to address issues that students would face in the non-academic world, making learning more relevant. Students are also given cross-curricular projects that reinforce education across different disciplines. Additionally, the use of technology is highly integrated into lessons as a tool to improve student learning and as a means for appealing to different types of student learners
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“With the use of project-based learning and technology, we feel we are able to effectively engage students in the learning process while assessing the progress of our students,” said Betty Disney, Dean of Costa Mesa Center and Coastline’s ECHS program .

One example of project-based learning is the digital portfolio that each ECHS student puts together at the end of the school year. Students take their best essays, projects, PowerPoint presentations, and test scores and create a digital portfolio, which can double as an attractive, interactive resume.

“Students begin to look at their work differently when they know that one day a potential employer might be reviewing it,” said ECHS instructor Kathy Slawson. “Students are eager to put forth their best efforts to show their classmates and instructors what they’ve done throughout the course of the year.”

ECHS students also participate in the Trans-Atlantic Project, which gives them more real-world experience and also allows them to practice their skills in collaboration and teamwork. In the 2008-2009 school year, Ramon Calderon, Kayla Donohue and Donovan Farmer (all 17) worked virtually with two students from North Lindsey College in England to design a web page with information about climate change and tips for being more environmentally conscious. As part of the winning team, Ramon, Kayla, and Donovan received an all-expense-paid trip to England to finally meet their teammates face-to-face.

“Two of the members of the winning team from last year felt the experience was so worthwhile they  have requested to be mentors for the students involved in this year’s project” noted Betty Disney .

Coastline’s ECHS is based in Costa Mesa and is part of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District. For more information on ECHS, please visit: http://www.coastline.edu/students/echs/

A New Kind of Boot Camp 

Coastline's nationally recognized Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) Program has expanded its offerings to include a completely online Cognitive and Caregiver's Boot Camp Certificate of Specialization.

This program is also offered in partnership with Coastline's Military Department to active-duty and veteran service members.

The “boot camp” includes four courses designed for individuals living with brain injury, as well as their caregivers. The certificate courses are designed to help meet the growing need for affordable brain injury related education. 

More than 5 million people in the United States live with some degree of brain injury. In addition, approximately 300,000 service members are expected to return from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom with varying degrees of brain injury. 

“Teaching in the program has been very rewarding. I teach the Strategies for Using PDAs and Cognitive Strategy Building classes and have taught how to use a PDA for memory compensation for several years in our site-based ABI Program,” said Michelle Wild, a current instructor. “To see individuals living with brain injury learn to use the PDA through distance learning is amazing. To hear from students that they are making it to their appointments on time means a great deal to me,” she continued.
Wild also shared about a veteran from San Diego, who lives with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), who enrolled in the boot camp. With the knowledge he has obtained, he has started volunteering at the San Diego VA to help other Wounded Warriors with TBI
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To find out more about the ABI program at Coastline, please visit: http://www.coastline.edu/departments/specialprograms/page.cfm?LinkID=418