Yuba College Beale Center serves a ‘unique population’

Having 295 active duty military students, 185 attending classes on Beale and 110 at the Marysville campus, the Yuba College Beale Center works with the special needs of what Beale Center operations specialist Susan Downing called a “unique population.” Active duty military students have a set of challenges and conflicts that are distinctively theirs. While they all work full time, having round the clock shifts, they are also faced with the constant likelihood of deployment. The Yuba College Beale Center holds many advantages for these students, many of whom have already been discouraged in their educational pursuits by being forced to relocate from base to base, causing them to change colleges often. The Yuba College Beale Center is conveniently located on base, making it realistic for supervisors to allow their active duty military students to meet their appointment times. The Beale Center also works in tandem with the Military Education Office, helping active duty students with the additional procedures that they must take in order to enroll and pay for classes. In addition to these advantages, the Yuba College Beale Center holds a variety of nine-week classes, allowing active duty students added flexibility in arranging their classes around dates of deployment. Clinton Claxton, a geography teacher at the Yuba College Beale Center said that if he had an active duty military student who was doing well academically but was being deployed mid-class, he would try to find some alternatives to avert dropping the class. He mentioned that in the past he has tried to continue communication with the student through the Internet or has been able to make arrangements for the student to complete the course-work after his or her return Downing said, “Many of the faculty at Beale have been here for a long time and understand the need for flexibility while continuing to maintain high academic standards.” Downing and the Beale Center Staff work to meet the needs of the active duty military members and the unique circumstances that those students may have.