SCC President On: Bachelor's Degrees at Solano Community College

Dear residents of Solano County and Winters:

At an event to honor one of our students, I found myself sitting next a woman who told me she graduated from Solano Community College (SCC) when she was in her 30s. After that, she stopped attending college. She said it was too bad SCC did not offer a four-year degree in her field of study.

I share that regret and have a burden on my heart that SCC should provide ways for Solano County and Winters residents who want bachelor’s degrees to obtain them. That’s why I have attempted to lure Sacramento State to Vacaville and urged Sonoma State to add programs in Vallejo and offer four-year degrees in Fairfield and Vacaville.

I have had similar conversations with UC Davis, Cal Maritime Academy, Brandman University, the American Public University System and Cal State East Bay. I would prefer to partner with the universities to teach at Solano Community College. But in areas where they cannot offer or are not interested in offering a degree, I want SCC to create its own. So, we have gone out again, trying to persuade the state to let us do just that.

Although my former student was not able to access a bachelor’s degree at Solano Community College, we do have one: Sonoma State has offered a Liberal Arts Studies bachelor’s degree program at the Vallejo Center for five years. It has been a valuable addition to SCC’s offerings. Several students have graduated from the program and many more have obtained personal and professional satisfaction from the classes.

A week or so after the award ceremony, I was paying a regular visit to a university president who has become one of my favorites in the CSU system: Dr. Ruben Armiña. I was ready to beg again for more degree programs in Vallejo and Solano County when he surprised me by sharing with me Sonoma’s interests in adding several new degree programs here. There will be multiple paths to complete the associate degree we call the ADT (Associate Degree Transfer). We have over a dozen such degrees and Sonoma State would match them all and thus making many bachelor’s degrees at our sites. It is a conversation we are starting soon and want to see these opportunities available to our residents in the next couple of years. These degrees will be independent of what we may offer in biomanufacturing. I am not exactly sure how I got home that day, I was so excited to deliver the news.

Why do I care? Partly because it is my job. The county and Winters have trusted me to be their higher education leader, and I am proud to be that. Also, our county, our state and our nation need more individuals with higher degrees if we wish to continue to grow and advance. Most important, higher education transforms lives from poverty to self-sufficiency. I am a proud example of that, and I want to expand the opportunity.

Jowel C. Laguerre, Ph.D.

Superintendent-President

Solano Community College