2018 December Colony Magazine

TENT CITY
Dr. Jill Stearns: Leading Cuesta’s Promise
New Leader Brings New
Vision, New Programs,
and New Cougar Spirit
By Nicholas Mattson
Facing the retirement of former president
Gil Stork, Cuesta College conducted a
nationwide search to find the right person
to fill the shoes of the 50-year Cuesta veteran who
fulfilled a personal goal with the establishment of
a second year of the Promise Scholarship — the
last item his bucket list — before retiring in June.
On July 11, Dr. Jill Stearns was sworn in as
Cuesta College’s seventh Superintendent/
President, bringing a complementary history
of experience and success to the Central Coast’s
premiere community college.
Dr. Stearns had served as president of
Modesto Junior College since 2012, where she
left a legacy of improving accreditation compliance
and decreasing disparity.
“When I arrived at MJC, the college had been
placed on sanction and probation in terms of its
accreditation,” Stearns
said, “there were
some very serious issues
to be addressed.”
Sterns spent the
first couple years focused
on aligning the
practices with the
standards, and for the
last four years my focus
was moving the needle on the area of student
success in terms of student outcomes.
“We were a very diverse campus,” Stearns said,
“with around 50 percent hispanics and many
other backgrounds and cultures on the campus.
There was considerable disparity between the
highest performing groups and others. So we focused
on raising the completion rates overall to
close that gap.”
Stearns’ success at MJC garnered attention
and the college was selected to apply for the
Aspen Price, was one of 15 schools accredited
to award baccalaureate degrees, and was selected
as one of 20 demonstration colleges for Guided
Pathways: “a student-centered approach that
can dramatically increase the number of students
earning community college credentials, while
closing equity gaps.”
“It is a framework for reimagining and redefining
student experience on campus,” Stearns
said, “and moving away from what had become
a ‘cafeteria-style’ approach to providing students
incredible opportunity to explore, but without
providing clear direction on the quickest
path to completion.”
Leveraging her previous experience, Stearns
and the faculty and staff at Cuesta College is
getting ready for improving student experience.
“We have already started that process,” Stearns
said, “and I’ve had and opportunity to review
a 60-page report based on 15 focus groups held
at Cuesta last spring. We are capturing the voice
and experience of the student and using that to
frame our work for redesign.”
PASO Magazine welcomes Dr. Stearns warmly,
and we will continue to deliver information about
the progress at Cuesta College and deliver information
throughout 2019 to help new and returning
students get the most of our local college. Stay tuned
for monthly installments.
CLASSES START JANUARY 22
PROSPECTIVE STUDENT
WORKSHOPS
Need help getting started?
Workshops are available just for you!
Call 805.546.3952 for dates and time.
26 | colonymagazine.com COLONY Magazine, December 2018