Welcome to your monthly newsletter for December!
Holiday Closure
The college will be closed for the winter break December 24 through January 1, re-opening for business on January 2, 2026. (Hard to believe I just typed 2026.) Spring semesters classes will begin on January 20 (Tuesday).
Thanksgiving Food Boxes: Update
The Basic Needs program gave out 176 care boxes filled with food to feed the families of our students, during the week before Thanksgiving. ASO students filled the boxes with food donations and distributed them to students on campus and some in Bakersfield.
Myisha Cutrona (Student Life Coordinator), Sereen Evans (student volunteer), Giselle Hovind (Cougar Support Center), and Allan Mejia (student volunteer) fill food boxes.
VOLLEYBALL!!!
WOW! What an amazing season our women’s volleyball team had! We are all so proud of our Cougars! The team’s win-loss record for the season was 30-3. They made it to the “Elite Eight” for the state play-offs and finished with a rank of fifth in the state. CONGRATULATIONS to our entire roster and to Coach Mallori Rossi and Assistant Coach Ryah Snedden! The team’s trip to the state play-offs came after being named the Central Valley Conference (CVC) South Division Champions, with a perfect 13-0 record in conference play. They also broke Fresno City’s remarkable decades-long 198-match winning streak against conference opponents.
And to add to the congratulations, on Dec. 4, our own Athletic Director Kanoe Bandy was inducted into Hall of Fame for the California Community College Women’s Volleyball Coaches Association! Kanoe coached Taft volleyball for 33 years and served 22 years as CCCWVCA secretary/treasurer. She has dedicated decades of service and leadership to the sport, not to mention her own student-athlete career. Well-deserved, Kanoe!
More Happenings with ASO and Athletics
Keep up to date on ASO activities with the Calendar of Events for December. ASO has been busy this month! Events this week include the annual ugly sweater contest (Mon.), a visit from the TUHS winter jazz band (Tues.), ornament and card making (Weds.), and pajama day and gift exchange (Thurs.)
Athletics! Is there a competition today? Let’s find out. Link to the TC Athletics calendar.
Missed a competition and want to know what happened? Catch up with TC Athletics news stories. Recent “Community Connections” partnerships have included Black Gold Brewing, Paleteria y Neveria Mangos, and Acme Jewelry. Contact Athletics if you would like your organization or service club to connect.
Our other Taft College Athletics teams have fared well against our competition. In Women’s Golf Faith Hamstreet finished 10th overall in the state California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) championships. Men’s Soccer (10-6-6) finished 4th in Central Valley Conference, won 1st round of CCCAA playoffs beating San Francisco City College, and lost in the second round to Evergreen Valley College. Women’s Soccer (14-7-1) finished 2nd in Central Valley Conference and lost in the 1st round of the CCCAA playoffs to American River College. Women’s basketball is nearly undefeated with a 12-1 record in pre-conference play. Looking forward to a great conference season with the team and Coach Lagmay!
State Budget Summary
The state Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO), the Legislature’s nonpartisan policy and fiscal advisor, has published their forecast of the 2026-27 state budget. Here is their summary of our current status and a look forward.
California’s latest budget forecast delivers a short-lived financial uptick for education, but the underlying message is far less reassuring. The temporary bump in revenues—fueled mostly by volatile gains in the AI-driven tech sector—pushes the Proposition 98 guarantee slightly upward for now, but analysts warn that this surge is anything but stable. Even with nearly $7.4 billion in one-time funds on the table, the state’s own fiscal outlook makes clear that community colleges are benefitting from a momentary ripple, not a reliable wave of support.
While the near-term funding may help reduce some payment deferrals, this comes with a clear caveat: it is a short-term patch for long-term structural problems. One-time money can temporarily soften the blow, but it cannot address ongoing needs like expanding student services, maintaining aging facilities, or supporting new initiatives without risking future cuts.
Looking ahead, the warning signs are hard to ignore. The state’s fiscal health is increasingly tethered to the unpredictable performance of a single sector, leaving education funding vulnerable to sudden downturns. With Proposition 98 reserves nearly depleted and the potential for declining revenues as soon as the AI boom cools, community colleges should brace for renewed budget strain in the coming years. The temporary windfall may provide a brief reprieve, but the long-term outlook suggests continued volatility—and the real possibility of deeper financial challenges ahead.
Spring Enrollment Updates
Spring term open enrollment is fully underway. In the line chart below showing spring to spring comparison points, you can see that compared with this time last year, we have about the same number in FTES (full time equivalent students). We are still down considerably from pre-covid enrollments, so let’s keep up the good work to encourage students to enroll and to complete their programs of study.
Instruction Updates
This fall Taft College started the first cohort of Medical Assistant certificate students. For the Spring 2026 semester Taft College will be offering several 8-week and hybrid sections. This will help to decrease the amount of time students will spend achieving goals such as the Management Certificate of Achievement. Select 8 week and hybrid sections are paired with another course in sequence or with another course within the major. For example, ART 1500 is paired with ART 1600, ETHN 1510 is paired with SOC 1510. Taft College is also offering evening/night sections during the Spring 2026 semester. The list of night classes includes: COMM C1000, DRAM 1510 & 1535, ENGL C1000, ETHN 1510, PHED 1601/1611/2001, POLS C1000, PSYC 2205, and STSU 1019. New courses offered include: ENGL 1502 Composition and Reading for Multilingual Students, HIST 2000 Critical Thinking and the Historians Craft, and POSC 1504 Introduction to International Relations.
Update: SERP (Supplemental Employee Retirement Plan)
The SERP retirement incentive benefit option is still open. If you missed the group orientation or the individual meetings with consultants last week, you still have the option to meet via Zoom to talk with a consultant. You are not required to meet with a consultant, but those who have participated have found it helpful. Contact HR for a Zoom appointment. If you are considering the incentive plan, you will have until Jan. 23 to submit your letter of retirement and documentation. The Board of Trustees will make their final determination of plan implementation in February. The SERP effective date is July 1, 2026.
Reaching Out
Our Outreach team continues to be busy meeting with potential students at middle schools, high schools, and community locations to make sure we are known in the region as a great option for college. Recent visits have brought TC to Buena Visa H.S., North H.S., Vista H.S., Bakersfield H.S., Shafter H.S., Golden Valley H.S., KHSD CTEC, and Maricopa Middle School. Students from Stonecreek Jr. High School visited campus over three days, bringing about 400 students for fun CTE activities to highlight workforce preparation. Students analyzed crime scenes, learned medical basics, practiced virtual welding, and more.
The outreach team is also working with Taft Union H.S., Vista West H.S., Del Oro H.S., Frontier H.S., and Bakersfield H.S. Workforce Academy. Our community Open House took place Dec. 8. Watch for upcoming events beginning in January for our Cougar Express and Cougar Days.
Online WebAIM Accessible Documents Training Still Available
Are you interested in learning how to make your materials accessible, that is, creating content that can be easily read, understood, and navigated by all people, including those with disabilities? Registration is open for WebAIM Accessible Document Trainings, sponsored by the California Community Colleges (CCC) Accessibility Center. This training program is designed to equip participants with the skills to create, evaluate, and optimize accessible documents in Word, PowerPoint, and Adobe PDF. Participants also have access to a bonus module focusing on Excel accessibility. Participation is free and the training is online, self-paced. Participants who successfully complete the self-paced course and assessments will be awarded a Certificate of Completion. Register Here for one of the upcoming cohorts: November 3, 2025 – February 2, 2026; or December 1, 2025 – April 13, 2026.
Reminder: A New College Website is on the Way
Our current website contract will end in May, and based on feedback and suggestions from the campus community, we will be moving to a new website platform. The new site will offer more features, be easier to manage, and result in more than 30% annual cost savings.
This transition reflects our commitment to improving usability, ensuring better access to information, and using resources wisely to support student success.
What will College Look Like?
As you’re thinking of the upcoming new year and imagining possibilities, you may be thinking about what changes are in the works for higher education. The Public Policy Institute of California has released a report on state enrollment projections entitled “The Future of Higher Education Enrollment in California.” Link here for the full report: https://www.ppic.org/publication/the-future-of-higher-education-enrollment-in-california/
A few of the effects on enrollment include the overall economy, public investment in higher education, demographic shifts (fewer children in K-12 will mean fewer college students later), and challenges/uncertainties for community colleges more than for the UC or CSU systems. A slight increase in enrollment is expected until 2035, with declines after that. Notably, projections for California differ from other states.
See you at the holiday potluck Dec. 16, 11 to 1!
