CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Classes are now under way for the students who attend community college in Clearlake.
It's a new year and a new name for the Lake County Campus of Woodland Community College, formerly known as the Yuba College Clear Lake Campus, located at 15880 Dam Road Extension.
Students were back to school on Jan. 19. The last day of the semester is May 26.
In this new semester, students were welcomed by the Associated Students who helped put together welcoming activities complete with raffle prizes and filled with information about services found on the campus.
Walmart, Follet Bookstore and Aromas Café supported providing students with USB flash drives, $25 gift cards, educational supplies, and gift cards for Aromas Café, college officials reported.
Executive Dean Annette Lee told Lake County News that the campus now has about 19 full-time equivalent students fewer that at this time last year.
“Community college enrollments are down all over the state this semester due to the healthy California economy, but we also attribute our drop in enrollment this semester to the lingering effects of the Lake County wild fires from last summer,” Lee said.
The campus' change of name occurred officially last month.
At the Dec. 10 Yuba Community College District Board of Trustees meeting, the board approved changing the name of the Clearlake campus to the Lake County Campus of Woodland Community College to better reflect the realignment from the Yuba College Campus to Woodland Community College.
The district reported that the board had approved realigning the Clear Lake Campus with Woodland Community College in January 2014 to strategically meet the diverse needs of the community and region.
The previous name – Yuba College Clear Lake Campus – neither accurately reflected the service area or the realignment change, district officials reported.
In arriving at the new name, input was collected from various community entities including the Middletown Area Merchants Association, Clearlake business and community leaders and current Lake County students, the college reported.
The college is part of the 72-district and 113-college California Community Colleges system, which serves 2.1 million students per years and is the largest system of higher education in the nation.
While enrollment is down currently for the local campus and others across the state, the California Community Colleges “State of the System” report released last week for the 2014-15 academic year showed a different overall trend.
It reported that community colleges increased the number of certificates and degrees awarded for a second straight year, with last year's number up by nearly 10,000 for a total of 200,795; more course sections were being offered; there was an increase in enrollment of nearly 23,000 students; and 20,600 associate degrees were earned for transfer, almost a doubling of the previous year's total.
Spring semester registration is still open for classes at the Lake County Campus of Woodland Community College.
Students can visit the main office where staff is available to assist with the process of adding a class. After you attend your class that you wish to add, obtain an instructor signature on your add slip and return it to the office to complete the process.
Those wanting more information about admittance and registration also are encouraged to visit http://lcc.yccd.edu , find Lake County Campus of Woodland Community College on Facebook.
Email Elizabeth Larson at [email protected] . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.