College of the Canyons has been awarded a $4 million grant to join a collaborative for Regional Effectiveness, Action, Transformation, and Equity as one of eight Regional Centers of Excellence in California, beginning Jan. 1, 2024.

Awarded through the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, the five-year grant will position the college to play a pivotal role in helping communities understand and contextualize labor market data so their current and future workforce and workforce training needs can be actively addressed.

“We are very excited to have been designated as a Regional Center of Excellence by the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office,” said College of the Canyons Chancellor Dr. Dianne G. Van Hook. “We look forward to collaborating with other Centers to help shape the future of our local economies and offer the hands-on training students need to succeed in growing labor industries.”

Serving as a Regional Centers of Excellence in California for the Workforce and Economic Development Division’s South Central Coast region, COC will work to improve the local economy and educational offerings that will lead to greater high-skill, high-wage, and equitable employment.

In its leadership role, the college will support inclusive, equity-centered regional economic growth and help communities accomplish their goals related to student retention, completion, and transition to the workforce.

To address employer and employee needs, COC will rely extensively on Labor Market Information and data analytics.

In addition, Regional Centers of Excellence support the realization of the Chancellor’s Office Vision 2030 and Career Mobility goals by providing support to the region related to Chancellor’s Office communications, and implementation of its new initiatives and policy regulations.

Vision 2030 is a framework for bold and thoughtful action with the goal of advancing student success, access, support, and socio-economic mobility with equity.

“We are so proud to be supporting the Chancellor’s Office with the success of Vision 2030, which will have a profound impact on our region and state, as well as California community college students and their communities,” said Dr. Omar Torres, assistant superintendent and vice president of instruction at the college.

The collaborative for Regional Effectiveness, Action, Transformation, and Equity was created by the Chancellor’s Office to focus on post-pandemic workforce recovery with a broad-based approach by targeting regional investments to serve greater numbers of diverse populations in the state through workforce training aimed at enhancing equity, access, inclusion, and deeper participation by individuals and employers.