Solano Community College (SCC) is proud to announce the launch of its NEW and IMPROVED WEBSITE! Beginning Monday, August 13th, the web address known as www.solano.edu will have a new look, in addition to advanced website features designed by the College’s Information Technology department…

New Web Press Release

Solano Community College soccer players, from left to right, Erica Ramirez, Briana Scholtens, Sandy Garcia, Alexsa Gonzalez and Jessica Chase sign letters of intent to four-year universities Wednesday at the SCC gym. (Robinson Kuntz/Daily Republic)

(Article taken from the Daily Republic:

http://www.dailyrepublic.com/sports/scc-soccer-players-set-to-move-on/ )

By Mike Corpos

ROCKVILLE — If it says something about an athletic program when it sends players on to the next level, then Solano Community College’s soccer program made a statement Wednesday, officially sending seven athletes on to four-year schools.

Falcons head coach Jeff Cardinal gathered five of the seven with their families for a short ceremony to celebrate the various scholarships the players had earned to the next level.

Cardinal said this year’s crop is the largest group he’s ever sent on in his 11 years at the college.

Those moving on include goalkeepers Erica Ramirez (Columbia College, Missouri), and Briana Scholtens (Cal State East Bay), forward Britney Cooper (Columbia College), Jessica Chase (William Jessup), forwards Sandy Garcia and Alexsa Gonzalez (Nyack College, New York) and Barbara Bakh (University of Mary, North Dakota).

Ramirez, Scholtens, Garcia, Gonzalez and Chase were at the ceremony Wednesday.

For Ramirez, an Armijo High graduate, the idea of joining a brand new program at Columbia — this fall will be the school’s first soccer season — was an exciting idea. Joining forces with former rival — Cooper went to Fairfield — makes it even more exciting.

“My options were Sacramento State and Fresno State,” Ramirez said. “Then I got call from this coach in Missouri.”

After film and emails were exchange, Ramirez made her decision.

“Within a week he offered me this opportunity to play with almost a free education,” she said.

Playing with Cooper, who was an All-America selection her last season at Solano, adds a certain level of comfort, too.

“It’s going to be good. We’re confident with each other’s abilities,” Ramirez said.

Garcia and Gonzalez are set to join former Falcon and longtime friend Sabrina Caires at Nyack, making the transition easier on everyone.

“It makes the whole process a lot easier because I have a friend already who’s been there a year and she’s going to show us around and stuff,” Garcia said. “It’s going to be my first time away from my family, but knowing that I have not only people that I know, but people that I know that I can play with on the field (helps).”

Garcia said going into a new team and a new school on her own would be much tougher.

“I’m going with two other players from the team, but we’ve been together since we were like 12 years old, since we were really little,” Gonzalez said. “So Sabrina (Caires) is there, and I just kind of went off what she said.”

She echoed Garcia’s thoughts on having lifelong friends there.

“It’s going to mean a lot to me,” she said. “I’m going to have people out there that’s going through the same thing as me. We’ll all help each other too.”

It’s a toss-up between Chase and Scholtens for who is staying closest to home, a major goal for both in deciding where to go.

“It’s a small, intimate campus, good team, close to home,” Chase said of the Rocklin campus where she’s headed.

It was a very recent decision for here as she heard from William Jessup coaches last week.

“They offered me half the tuition off the bat and I just made up my mind last weekend, so here I am,” she said. “It’s nice because I didn’t know where I was going to go for the longest time. It’s just perfect timing and the perfect place I wasn’t going to pass it up.”

Scholtens signed with CSU East Bay a few months back, but was thrilled to be able to have a moment with her teammates as they prepared to move on.

“All day me and (Gonzalez) — we were texting, talking about how nervous we were,” Scholtens said. “This is a huge step. This is something we’ve talked about since our freshman year. Since the first day we stepped on the field. ‘I can’t wait, we all got to transfer together.’ It was kind of overwhelming that we finally did it.”

The fact that so many athletes are moving on at the same time says a lot about the program at Solano, Scholtens added.

“I think the program is very solid. I think the (reputation) we have helps,” she said.

Cardinal was happy to see his players get the recognition for the accomplishments and to be able to go on and continue playing and finish their education.

“We continue to get those players that come in and they already have a good level (of skills) coming in and we just kind of improve them and we run our program like a four-year college would run it so they get prepare for that, so I think it’s an easy transition when they come from Solano to a four-year program because they’re already experienced in what it’s like to be in a four-year program,” he said. “That’s kind of the No. 1 reason why we’re here and what we’re doing.”

Reach Mike Corpos at 427-6979, or mcorpos@dailyrepublic.net. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/mcorposdr.

Solano Community College District (SCCD) Governing Board has approved an agreement between Brandman University and SCC. The new agreement provides scholarship support for SCC employees chosen by the College. The SCC scholarship recipients will participate in Brandman’s MBA cohort, an educational program designed to support SCC employee training and career development opportunities. The MBA program begins August 27, 2012 and courses will be held at Brandman’s Fairfield campus, located at 4850 Business Center Drive, Ste. 100.

Brandman University MBA Program (pdf)

After months of public input engaging over 1,000 constituents, Solano Community College District’s Board of Trustees voted to place a Student/Veterans’ Affordable Education, Job Training/Classroom Repair Measure on the November 2012 ballot.

Bond Approval Press Release (pdf)

The cancellation of the summer session has afforded Solano Community College (SCC) an opportunity to provide a more robust Fall 2012 schedule. Fall schedule additions include classes in Anthropology, Art, Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, Cinematography, Counseling, English, Geology, History, Math, Political Science, Psychology, Social Sciences, Sociology, and Theatre Arts. The additional course offerings are available primarily at SCC’s Vacaville and Vallejo centers, providing students with more choice to attend College in their communities. Fall 2012 registration is now open and classes are filling quickly!

SCC Offers More Classes at the Centers

The Virtual Enterprise (VE) is a global economy created by the student, a simulation where students can develop a business using technology and learn interpersonal skills too!

Effective September 1, 2012, Solano Community College will temporarily discontinue its acceptance of applications to our nursing program for one year. During this time, we will be revising our process. Detailed information describing the new process will be posted to our website no later than September 28, 2012. This does not pertain to students who are already on the Solano College RN Waitlist-renew your waitlist number in September as instructed.

Professor Lorna Marlow-Munoz accompanied Solano Community College students and alumni to Paris this summer for two week of language immersion. Our students were hosted by French students at the lycee I’ile de France in Villebon sur Yvette (a suburb of Paris). Some highlights included climbing the stairs of the Eiffel Tower, viewing the Sacre-Coeur Basilica and seeing portraits painted at la Place du Tertre. Participants observed the wonders of the Louvre, Pompidou, and the Orsay museums and examined the Renaissance architecture of Paris’s City Hall before sailing down the La Seine. Students learned to navigate the metro, the train and visited the beautiful castle of Versailles and the cathedral of Chartres. Professor Marlow-Munoz offers this unique course every two years for advanced French students.

Tour eiffel groupe 2011

St. Michel Fountain

Pont des arts

Excerpt from Daily Republic, June 08, 2011 by Mike Corpos

ROCKVILLE - Sabrina Caires knows what she wants, and she’s not afraid to go a long way to get it.

After two successful years playing soccer at Solano Community College, Caires is headed to Nyack College in New York state on an athletic scholarship that will see her through nursing school.

“We originally had three kids looking at that school, but Sabrina ended up being the only one,” SCC soccer coach Jeff Cardinal said. “It’s a sweet deal.”

A sweet deal indeed for a player who wanted to get out of California and see new places.

“I was really interested in going to school out of here,” Caires said. “New York is more exciting.”

Caires said she was turned on to Nyack by Cardinal, who had been in touch with Warriors coach Bill Findley.

“(Findley) knows that California players are really competitive,” Caires said. “He just found me through Cardinal.”

Cardinal said he initially recommended three players to Findley, Caires ended up being the lone Falcon to commit, however.

“It worked out really well because of nursing school,” Cardinal said. “She wasn’t going to consider a school that didn’t have her major. So this really worked out for her.”

Caires said she didn’t want to have to be wait-listed at one of California’s overpopulated nursing schools, making Nyack a perfect fit.

“I went for a visit, and they said they want to start building a good team, and I want to be a part of that,” Caires said. “They just made their nursing program out there.”

With nursing school, Caires said she’ll be at Nyack for three years, something the school took into consideration with her scholarship.

“They gave me scholarship that continues after two years, that’s a really big plus,” she said. “A lot of schools don’t do that.”

Cardinal said Caires will fit in nicely with the Warriors, an NCAA Division II program.

“She’s a very consistent, steady player,” Cardinal said of his main left midfielder. “Sabrina provided some very good consistency in training and in games. She started almost every game both years.”

Cardinal said Caires even started over some sophomores her freshman year because of her work ethic.

“She worked more and she earned it,” he said.

An Acalanes High of Lafayette graduate from Vallejo, Caires came to Solano in 2009 and had two solid seasons, finishing as the Falcons’ second leading scorer in 2010 with nine goals and 12 assists.

“She’s a real good kid,” Cardinal continued. “She helped the coaches out a lot, and she helped the younger players. She kind of led by example.”

Caires also got things done in the classroom, Cardinal said, maintaining a 3.5-3.6 grade-point average for her two years.

Caires said she liked the Nyack campus and the surrounding community, making her decision easier.

“I just liked how everybody was so friendly,” she said. “It’s a small community. I really like the environment, and I didn’t visit any other schools. It’s so different, it’ll be a new experience for me.”

Just what she was looking for.

Reach Mike Corpos at 427-6979 or mcorpos@dailyrepublic.net.