This month the Business Services office has been busy getting ready for the start of the spring semester and the end of the 2005 tax year.   We are currently working on Budget forecasting for the 2006-2007 Fiscal Year.  Also we finished the audited financials for the fiscal year ending 2004-2005.
 
New for this year, student Tuition Payment Statements or 1098-T forms will be sent to each student electronically via their West Hills College student e-mail accounts.  The information contained on the 1098-T forms is submitted to the Internal Revenue Service as a validation tool to determine if the student qualifies for one of the education tax credits, the Hope Tax Credit or the Lifelong Learning Tax Credit.  More information regarding the 1098-T forms is available on the college websites.  This process of notification will save the District over $ 8,000 per year.

Letters and W-9S forms were mailed to students who do not have social security numbers on file.  The student SSN is required for reporting billing information to the Internal Revenue Service.  Those students who do not have social security numbers will not receive a 1098-T form.

Other 2005 tax forms including 1099’s and W-2’s have also been mailed out by the District Office.  If you have not received your W-2 statement by February 1st, please contact Russell Devine at ext. 2112.

In addition to processing payroll, paying bills, ordering supplies, and submitting state reports, there have been over 75 scholarship check disbursements and 1,500 financial aid check disbursements to start the new semester.  Business Services has also processed over 200 registration refunds.  January is one of the department’s busiest months.

On a final note we are currently working on Budget forecasting for the 2006-2007 Fiscal Year.  Also we are finishing up on the audited financials for the fiscal year ending 2004-2005.

It is FAFSA time again in the world of financial aid. We have been out at the high schools and on the WHC campuses holding Cash for College workshops teaching students and parents how to fill out the financial aid applications. The best part of these workshops is that each workshop has a $1,000 scholarship available to one lucky attendee. All the student needs to do is complete their FAFSA and their GPA verification by March 2, 2006 and they could win the $1,000 scholarship. The dates of the high school workshops can be found at www.californiacashforcollege.org and the dates for the campus workshops can be found at the West Hills College website under financial aid.

ITS spent the month of January making sure all was ready for the start of the new semester.  All the computers in the basics skills lab in Firebaugh were replaced.  The staff spent most of Christmas break, as well as the first two weeks of January making sure everything was installed and ready for the opening of the new buildings in Lemoore.  The opening went very well.  Final contracts were completed for the Storage Area Network (SAN) and blade server system.  We expect to start installing equipment in early March. 

West Hills was on the radio airwaves the first couple of weeks in January leading up to the start of spring semester.  Stations represented are: KBOS – B95 (94.9),KWYE – Y101 (101.1), KRZR – Fresno’s Rock Station (103.7), KFRR – New Rock/Alternative Radio (104.1), KSKS – KISS Country (93.7), KFSO – La Preciosa (Spanish-92.9), KLLE – La Kalle (Spanish 107.9) and KMJ.

 We are coordinating a WHC booth at a KMJ event in Fresno on Feb. 4th featuring the Academic Game Plan with CSUF Coach John Baxter.  We were also represented at a Cash for College press conference in Fresno on Jan. 19th.  Upward Bound student Steven Sanchez Jr. was interviewed by Fresno TV. and radio stations about the importance of financial aid.  Printed catalogs for Lemoore and Coalinga are being delivered and our Strategic Plan document went to the printer. 

All of the communities in the Central Valley are experiencing a severe shortage of skilled healthcare workers across a wide array of specialties, including nurses and other entry-to mid-level healthcare occupations. Population growth, aging of the population (e.g., baby boomers), and steady expansion of healthcare facilities and services in the county are exerting enormous short and long-term pressure on the health labor market. 

West Hills Community College District, Fresno City College and Fresno Adult School have forged a partnership with Fresno County Workforce Investment Board that will provide high wage, high skill job training to 84 adults - dislocated and incumbent workers, as well as new job entrants, in the Allied Health Care sector. 

The first phase of this project began with the LVN-to-RN partnership between WHCL and Fresno City College.  Classes began last month.  Through the combined efforts of West Hills’ staff (special kudos to Marlon Hall, Marta Hendrickson, Shelly Miller and Marleen Smart) and Fresno City College, the project enrolled a total of 35 students – 11 are attending at WHC Lemoore.  Hopefully, this is one step toward offering our own stand-alone RN program.