I was successful! I called the Tax Practitioners Hotline and was transferred to the Under reported  Income Section (The CP2000 claimed that the income reported on the 1099-NEC was not reported since they took the stance that this was SE Income). I explained that the income had been reported correctly as Other Income since the taxpayer had received the income as a result of having attended the Summer Institute as a participant only.

The IRS representative accepted my explanation and quickly made the correction to the return. She even stated that she would notify the State of California of the correction.

Thank you all for your helpful suggestions.