Program Overview

Since 1995, Cerritos College has implemented learning communities. This is a part of a larger institutional initiative that promotes students’ success and supports innovative strategies that address a multicultural and pluralistic student population. By Spring 2001 over 100 learning communities had been designed and implemented at our institution. This active endeavor provides students choices from over 15 learning communities taught each semester. Learning Communities classes at Cerritos College combine content areas such as Calculus, Philosophy, Art, and American History, English, Anthropology, Physics, ESL, Biology, Economics, and Theater. Building on past success, the LCP is now expanding its program to better meet students needs. Among the important facets of this expansion program are inclusion of learning communities in business and vocational subject areas and creation of learning communities that pair counseling and guidance courses with developmental courses and transfer courses. Equally important, the program has a retention counselor who monitors students progress with systematic assessment, on-line counseling, success workshops, and face-to-face counseling. Another feature of the Cerritos College Learning Communities program is the use of technology. Not only does the program maintain a web site that provides information to faculty and students, it also encourages teaching faculty to use educational technology to make their content more accessible to students. Thus, with past success, the Learning Communities Program of Cerritos College is finding new ways to make its program the “fast track to success” for students.