Career Education at Cuyamaca College

The Business & Professional Studies Department at Cuyamaca College is staffed by professors and instructors from various disciplines which includes:

• Accounting
• Business Administration
• Business Office Technology
• Economics
• Paralegal
• Real Estate
  
  

The Real Estate Program offers courses designed to help students prepare for work in myriad real estate fields, while the Business Programs offer more than two dozen courses ranging from Entrepreneurship: Starting and Developing a Business to Principals of Management to Accounting. The Paralegal program is approved by the American Bar Association. Business Office Technology offers students a choice of an Associate degree or one of several certificates.

The Cuyamaca departments for Business and Professional Studies, Paralegal, and Real Estate were recently lauded  by the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office for putting people to work in which Business students increased earnings by 63 per cent, Real Estate students increased earnings by 53 per cent and Office Technology and Office Computer Application programs students saw a 112 percent increase in earnings .

Each day, water utilities replenish homes, schools and businesses throughout California with safe, clean water. The people working in water understand that what they do is critical to each one of the 39 million people who live here, the continuing growth of the world’s eighth largest economy, and the sustainability of our rivers and ecosystems. If you want to do work that matters, you found it.

Cuyamaca's innovative Water & Wastewater Technology Program at the Center for Water Studies provides pre-employment training as well as advanced courses in water and wastewater technology for those wishing career advancement. The Center for Water Studies provides state of the art training in a real world environment. The Cuyamaca College Field Operations Skills Yard allows students to run real time water operations which make them more skilled and employable.

The Cuyamaca Center for Water Studies department was recently lauded  by the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office for putting people to work in which 84 percent of students attained the regional living wage.

We offer online and face-to-face courses that help students get jobs. We believe in hands-on learning in state-of-the-art computer labs with small class sizes so each student gets a computer and plenty of support. Our practical courses offer useful skills for the workplace.  

We offer degrees in Networking, Security and System Administration and Web Development, along with certificates in the following:

• Cisco Certified Network Associate
• Cisco Network Professional
• Computer Programming
• Computer Support Technician
• Web Design
• Web Programming

The Cuyamaca Computer Information Science department was recently lauded  by the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office for putting people to work in which 85 percent of students attained the regional living wage.

Graphic Design is an exciting and rewarding field of study. If you are creative, have strong communication and problem-solving skills, this may be the profession for you.

Areas of study include print and web design, digital illustration, and digital photography. Graphic design is for creative people who want to be financially successful while using their artistic talents. The graphic design program at Cuyamaca College offers one degree and three certificates of specialization. A variety of single course career enhancement options are available. The Cuyamaca Graphic Design department was recently lauded  by the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office for putting people to work and increasing earnings by 78 per cent.

Cuyamaca College Graphic Design program prides itself in three well equipped Mac computer labs and lecture/workroom. Our facility is known for being one of the best in San Diego County, with  equipment and software upgraded regularly to ensure that students are using the most current technology. Our graphic design students have current skills when entering the professional environment. 

Cuyamaca College’s CADD Technology program is designed to equip students with a specialized skill set for immediate employment, upgrade skills for professional advancement or enable students to transfer to a four-year college or university to further pursue their studies.

Students who complete the CADD Technology program will develop foundational skills in blueprint reading and architectural drafting, along with specialized skills in computer-aided design, including three-dimensional drafting. They will be able to create 3D modeling of objects, use the latest version of 2D/3D CADD and Solid Modeling software, and be prepared for various careers in the fast-growing CADD profession.

The Child Development and Elementary Education Department at Cuyamaca College can open doors to a number of professions that promise to be in demand for years to come. Graduates of this program will learn the latest about the pedagogy and importance of a solid educational foundation for infants, toddlers and elementary school children.

The Child Development curriculum is designed to prepare students for employment as teachers, directors and aides in preschool and childcare centers, including infant and toddler and extended-day facilities. Courses also can be vital for parents and health care professionals.

The Elementary Education Program is designed to provide lower-division preparation for transfer to San Diego State University and other four-year programs that can lead to a variety of careers.

The Child Development and Elementary Education Program includes the Cuyamaca Child Development Center, which serves children of students, faculty, staff and the community through a high-quality, professional program.

Course work in these programs meets the educational components of the Department of Social Services license regulations for Title 22 and the requirements for California Title V Child Development Permits.

The Cuyamaca College Environmental Health and Safety Management program provides a curriculum that prepares new and continuing students for both immediate professional opportunities as well as furthering their educational pursuits at the bachelor's level and higher.

We offer an Associate of Science degree and technician certificates in two areas: Environmental Management and Occupational Safety and Health Management.

The program emphasizes the importance of identifying hazardous conditions and agents in the work environment. As well, our programs highlight occupational health issues and their management in the workplace by not only understanding program components, but studying specifically hazards associated with:

• Airborne contaminants
• Noise, heat, illumination and other physical hazards
• Biological hazards, and
• many other occupational health and safety concerns.

The Cuyamaca EHSM department was recently lauded  by the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office for putting people to work in which 85 percent of students attained the regional living wage.

Ornamental Horticulture at Cuyamaca College provides entry-level and advanced skills for people interested in a career that is focused on enhancing and managing the urban environment. Career fields range from urban forestry and tree care, greenhouse management, landscape design and construction, grounds management, retail nursery operations, irrigation systems design, sustainable urban landscapes, and landscape water management, to golf and sports turf management, and other related fields including floral design.

Opportunities for advancement abound as the focus on green industries continues to grow, along with the need for technicians who are knowledgeable in the latest water conservation technologies.

Surveyors are involved in land surveying, route surveying, construction surveying, photogrammetry, mapping, global positioning systems, geographical information systems, and other areas of property description and measurements. The surveying curriculum provides training in the many of these areas.

Course work includes the communication and computational skills required for boundary, construction, route, and control surveying, photogrammetry, topography, drainage, surveying law, and subdivision design, with specific emphasis upon applications of electronic data collection and related software including CADD. Graduates should qualify for jobs as party chief, instrument person, surveying technician, highway surveyor, mapper, GPS technician, and CADD operator. Graduates will be prepared to pursue the requirements necessary to become a Registered Land Surveyor in California.

Upon completion of the Surveying Technology program at Cuyamaca College a student receives a 2-year AAS degree; Associate in Applied Science. Upon graduation, you would have two choices

• Begin working in your career field or
• Continue your education by pursuing a
  BS degree in technology at a four-year institution.
• For further information:
  • Download the program brochure 

  • Visit the department webpage

  • Contact the program coordinators:

  Surveying:
  Mary Sessom, Esq.
  Email: mary.sessom@gcccd.edu
  Phone: (619) 660-4362

  Business Office Technology:
  Pat Newman
  Email: pat.newman@gcccd.edu
  Phone: (619) 660-4554