This week on Valley Edition we look at how new regulations, budget cuts and the economy are all changing the way local colleges operate. Dr. Tony Cantu from Fresno City College joins us to talk about new policies that are intended to keep community college students on track to graduate within two years. We also talk with higher education advocate Jessie Ryan of the Campaign for College Opportunity and Joe Haydock of Institute of Technology, Clovis Campus about new federal regulations that prevent students who don't have a high school diploma or GED from obtaining financial aid. And we close our conversation with Dr. Steve Varvis of Fresno Pacific University, a private college that like many others is facing cuts to the Cal Grant program from the State of California. We also talk with week with Ioanna Sfekas-Karvelas and Leanna Sterios-Primiani from the California Opera Festival which is currently underway in Fresno with performances this weekend in Clovis.
Juanita Stevenson has lived and worked in Fresno for the past 24 years. She is perhaps best known to Valley residents as a longtime reporter and news anchor with local television station ABC30, and has also worked at stations KJWL, KYNO and ValleyPBS. She is the recipient of the 2001 Associated Press Award for Best Reporting, and the 1997 Radio & Television News Directors Association Regional Edward R. Murrow award for Best Reporting.