1998 Exemplary Program Award

1998 Award Winners

Santa Barbara City College

The Marine Diving Technician program at Santa Barbara City College was established in 1968 to meet the growing needs of the inshore and offshore marine industries engaged in underwater construction, research, public safety and worldwide development of marine resources. It is recognized worldwide for its academic and vocational excellence, and is the only community college degree program in the nation accredited by both the Association of Commercial Diving Educator and the National Association of Underwater Instructors. Successful graduates are technicians capable of working above and below the water with many types of equipment, while performing a variety of tasks under varying conditions. Students who enroll in the program have options to obtain associate of science degrees or certificates in commercial and recreational diving. The training is designed to meet the needs of both the marine construction, research and recreational diving industries. The Degree Marine Diving Technician program also trains professional commercial divers and technicians.

Coastline College

Coastline College's nationally recognized Acquired Brain Injury program retains adults who have suffered brain injuries from such diverse causes as car accidents and brain hemorrhages. The loss of reasoning, memory or other cognitive skills can leave a brain-injury survivor devastated. For just over $100 per semester, more than 200 Coastline students annually learn strategies to live with these deficits. As a recent graduate remarked "I miss who I was before, but I like who I am now." Grants from the U.S. Department of Education have helped expand the program. The Coastline College faculty packaged the curriculum so that new programs based on the Coastline model are helping adults and adolescents across North America to regain productive lives. In February (1999), the Orange County college plans to begin offering courses via the Internet to prepare students worldwide who wish to become Cognitive Retraining Specialists. This on-line vocational program is the first of its kind.

Honorable Mention

Santa Ana College's Freshman Experience program enhances the academic and social success of underrepresented first-year students. College of San Mateo's Networking Technologies Lab program benefits students, faculty and professionals as they train together using the latest networking equipment and software. Diablo Valley College's Learning: It's a Matter of Style - A Guide for College Students program, an on-line guide designed to increase student success by identifying individual learning styles and providing learning strategies. Cabrillo College's English 290 Basic Writing program, a progressive, lab-based computer and tutorial-driven program that requires a co-requisite reading component and is competency based.