Are We Too Successful? Cuyamaca College Center for Water Studies

and Sweetwater Authority Talk Collaboration

Cuyamaca College is one of two California community colleges offering students hands-on experience learning how to operate a water system, a great way to pursue a career in the water or wastewater industry. A public community college in Rancho San Diego, Cuyamaca College is part of the Grossmont–Cuyamaca Community College District, serving the eastern suburbs in San Diego County.

“We’re too successful,” George Dowden, Dean of Career and Technical Education at Cuyamaca College, jokes, “because students get jobs before they finish their education.” To accommodate students and encourage them to finish their education, the college is creating stackable units,” he says, “which award students with short-term certificates (18 units) so if they leave to get a job, they can return later, finish their education, and get a degree.” They also have a system that allows someone with experience-- e.g., a person who operated a water system while in the military – can get credit for their equivalent experience. They don’t have to start at “Water 101.” In addition, Cuyamaca College’s Center for Water Studies is so unique with its hands-on student learning experience, they can reach beyond the usual boundaries of a community college and include the greater San Diego area.

“We have great regional, ongoing industry partnerships, “says Dowden. “These have enabled us to refurbish a building with a lab, high tech classroom, and a field operations service yard that includes a water distribution system all above ground. We’re so grateful for our partnership with industry,” Dowden says, “We have an industry advisory panel that reviews our curriculum and keeps us on track to be current. “

How did Dowden get to where he is today? Initially, he owned a graphic design studio and occasionally he’d accept a couple interns from Cuyamaca College. Then Dowden was asked to teach a graphic design class at Cuyamaca College, and then another class. Finally, Dowden sold his business and became a full-time instructor in graphic design. Now he oversees three programs in the Center for Water Studies, Currently, Dowden is looking for a full-time instructor in their water studies program. If interested, visit here. “If you know how to operate a water or wastewater system and you’re about to retire, but not quite ready to leave the industry, this is a great opportunity to impact the lives of young people and encourage/enable them to enter the water industry,” says ACWA Foundation Executive Director Lisa Mealoy.

“We’re training people for careers, not just jobs,” Dowden says. “It is especially rewarding when an industry invests in the underserved communities and then the individuals they’ve invested in return to their community and serve as an icon for which others to strive.”

One of Cuyamaca College’s industry partners is Sweetwater Authority whose 138 employees provide safe, reliable water service (since 1977) to approximately 200,000 people in a 36 square-mile service area that includes National City, Bonita, and the western and central portions of Chula Vista. Other public agency partners with Cuyamaca College include Carlsbad Municipal Water District, City of San Diego, Helix Water District, Padre Dam Municipal Water District, Olivenhain Municipal Water District, and Otay Water District.

Leticia Munguia, Sweetwater’s Interim Director of Administrative Services, spends her time building relationships and partnerships with colleges. “We’re committed to hiring locally, especially students from our local colleges,” Munguia says. So, Sweetwater Authority recently founded its first paid internships for four-year college students.

Initially, Sweetwater Authority employees were unsure about what Munguia was doing to attract more people to the industry. “They felt it might threaten their work,” she says. However, “three of the seven directors on Sweetwater Authority’s board understood early on the value of collaborating with our community colleges because it’s our future. And now, employees realize we’re investing in the future generations,” she says.

A Gen X herself, Munguia notes the younger generation wants to feel good about their work. A male student recently told her, “I want to leave the world better than I found it. I want to save our earth.” So, she told him that Sweetwater is growing their environmental division and will soon be developing walking trails around a reservoir and suggested he might be interested in contributing to that effort. He was interested in the grant process to do so.

In addition to developing relationships with colleges, inside her organization, Leticia checks in with interns monthly and asks if Sweetwater has any vacancies they might be interested in applying for.

Munguia spent the first 17 years of her career as an employee representative, representing San Diego Unified School District’s classified employees (landscapers, cafeteria workers, and custodians: all essential services staff), negotiating workplace issues for them. In 2023, she joined Sweetwater Authority under the leadership of General Manager Carlos Quintero and represents the Authority in building a culture of excellence, workforce development, offering salaries (above the median for their area), training, and safety, among other issues.

“We invest in our employees, and they give us their service,” Munguia says.