The Skyline College Soccer Field will undergo turf replacement as part of the 083 Districtwide Athletic Fields Replacement Project. The existing synthetic turf is nearing the end of its life cycle.

CAMPUS IMPACT:

Now through February 9, 2014, the upper soccer field will be CLOSED TO PUBLIC ACCESS. The pedestrian path between the soccer field and the baseball field will be closed on weekdays from 7 am to 5 pm. The field restrooms will remain open.

Lot R Visitor Parking, which is located along the tennis courts, will be closed for the duration of the project.

Lot R Staff Parking will be closed through January 12, 2014.

There will be deliveries of materials and equipment, primarily during early December. There will be a flagman to direct large deliveries. Please be aware of traffic delays on the loop road near Lot P.

PROJECT CONTACT:

Please direct any questions or concerns related to this project to:

Christine Tai, at taic@smccd.edu or (650) 378-7362.

For more information regarding the Capital Improvement Program, please visit the Campus Construction Update page.

Article by John Doctor and Jared Martin.

 

On January 11, over 125 new students participated in X-Treme Saturday. Dr. Blake, Vice President, Student Services, welcomed the new students and Nohel Corral, Director of TRiO Program was the emcee for the day. This “one-stop” event provided students the opportunity to take placement tests in English and Math and met with Counselors in a small group setting to plan their fall schedules and Student Education Plans (SEP).

During lunch, students participated in the Club/Program Showcase, introducing them to Learning Communities, Tutoring, Student Services and other programs at the College. Students later participated in an Orientation session and were able to complete their enrollment and registration in one day!

This successful event wouldn’t be possible without the collaboration of all facets of Skyline College. Many thanks to the Divisions of Student Services, Instruction, Administrative Services, Marketing, Communications and Public Relations and Auxiliary Services and the numerous student volunteers for their time, hard work and dedication to serving our students!

Article by Dr. John Mosby, Photos by Raul Guerra.

 

 

SparkPoint at Skyline College and the Business Division, in partnership with Earn it! Keep it! Save it!, are excited to announce free income tax preparation assistance for students, faculty, staff and community members (households that earned less than $52,000 in 2013).

Taxes will be prepared every Saturday, February 1 to Saturday, March 29, 2014 (except February 15), from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Building 8, Room 8209. Please call SparkPoint at Skyline College at (650) 738-7035 to make an appointment.

Last year, student volunteers from Instructor John Miller’s Volunteer Income Tax Preparation (VITA) class were able to complete over 280 tax returns, resulting in over $297,000 being returned to the community. We expect to complete even more returns this year, so book your appointment today!

For more information about VITA, please visit Sparkpoint.

For more information on SparkPoint at Skyline College, please visit the SparkPoint website or contact Dr. William Watson, Director at william.watson@smccd.edu.

Article and Photo by Adolfo Leiva.

 

Students are requesting course textbooks from the library’s reserve collection, but not all textbooks are available.

Your students count on you to put copies of all of your textbooks on reserve in the library. As textbooks become more and more expensive, we are getting many more requests from students for textbooks to use in the library. Since the library cannot afford to buy the current textbooks for all classes, we rely on faculty to request an extra copy from the publisher and place that copy on reserve for their students to access. (Publishers are urged to provide copies of textbooks for library reserve free of charge per California AB2477, passed into law in 2004.)

If you have any questions about placing materials on reserve or about requesting copies from publishers, please call us at the library at extension 4311.

We have a form you can use to put materials on reserve at here.

You can search by your name to see what materials you have on reserve here.

The full text of AB2477 is available on our bookstore’s website.

Article and Photo by Eric Brenner.

On December 3, 2013, the Youth Entrepreneurship Program at Skyline College (YEP) hosted another Business Plan Competition & Finals Awards Ceremony. Invitation to the Business Plan Competition was extended across San Mateo County to high school districts and community colleges.

The Finals Round was held on Skyline College’s campus. Students were given the opportunity to

present their business plans to a panel of judges from various business backgrounds and companies, including business owners, representatives from the Small Business Administration (SBA) and marketing executives from Moka5. Students that participated in this competition received one-on-one coaching and mentoring from YEP staff, business owners and faculty to help refine and perfect their business plans.

Cash prizes, totaling $3,500 were awarded to three winning business plans… all from Skyline College students. The Business Plan Competition has grown to include stronger business ideas and plans.

The Fall 2013 Business Plan Competition winners were as follows…

YOU Camp, a physical fitness company catering to large and small businesses.

EasyFides, a direct home improvement business.

Dream Eye Productions, a digital media promotion business.

Congratulations to all of our winners!! Also, we would like to thank administration, faculty, students and staff for their support of YEP and the competition!

The Spring 2014 Competition will take place on May 7th at Skyline College!

Be sure to mark your calendars!

For more information on the Business Plan Competition or on how to be involved in YEP, please contact Pcyeta Stroud at stroudp@smccd.edu.

Article by Pcyeta Stroud, Photos by Raul Guerra.

 

 

The Karl S. Pister Leadership Opportunity Program has been established to enable community college transfer students to complete their undergraduate studies at UC Santa Cruz. The program provides a $20,000 scholarship distributed over two years, mentoring and academic support, and assistance in finding paid or volunteer summer work experience, co-sponsored by private-and public-sector employers. Recipients will be selected by the chancellor of UCSC from candidates submitted by the presidents of participating community colleges.

How to Apply:

• To download the application visit the Skyline College Financial Aid page. The application deadline is February 3, 2014.
• Apply for admission to UC Santa Cruz during the filing period, November 1-30, 2013. Visit the Transfer Center for more information.
• Apply for financial aid by submitting the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or California Dream Act Application by March 2, 2014.

For more information contact the Financial Aid office in Building 2, Room 2234, (650) 738-4236 or skyfaoffice@smccd.edu.

Article by Crystal Shetaya and Jared Martin.

 

The 2014-2015 President’s Innovation Fund Applications are available.  The applications are due to Theresa Tentes in the President’s Office Monday, April 7, 2014 by 5:00 p.m. Don’t miss this opportunity to realize your vision for these special programs, services and events!  To download the application, please visit President’s Innovation Fund.

 

On December 5, 2013, over 50 EOPS/CalWORKs children received generous gifts at our annual Winter Celebration. This event has become a holiday tradition not only for the EOPS/CalWORKs students, but also for the entire Skyline College community. Every year faculty/staff and students look forward to picking up cards with the name and age of the child they wish to donate a gift to. At the event, children of EOPS/CalWORKs students were invited to take a picture with Santa and shared the spirit of gratitude. This year, Transfer Center, Student Assistant Victor Moran put on the Santa suit and delighted everyone with his sense of humor. Santa’s helper, Student Assistant, James Salonga Rodriguez put on the Elf costume with a pointy hat full of jingle bells, invited every child to personally whisper his/her holiday wish to Santa.

It was an unforgettable evening for our students and especially the children who played games and drew thank you notes for the sponsors. It turned out into a group-singing event when the Transfer Center, Program Services Coordinator, Michele Haggar and Counselor-Coordinator, Javier Urena spontaneously started singing-along traditional holiday carols. Everyone tried to follow up with the lyrics while clapping and laughing. We would like to acknowledge the extra help received from our student assistants who wrapped up gifts and made sure every child was included in Santa’s list. It was a cultural experience for some of our new students who had never shared or experienced such a special moments with other students. We want to sincerely thank all the sponsors for their spirit of giving and making the holiday brighter for every child.

Article and Photos by Javier Urena.

 

As part of an on-going partnership with the SF Links, Inc., Grand Bassa Community College in Liberia and the Liberian Senate, the CITD, through the African Diaspora Program at Skyline College, is launching a unique mentorship project for young women: Education Across the Miles.

The goal of Education Across the Miles is to provide both educational and financial assistance via scholarships to young women in Liberia that aspire to graduate high school and pursue higher education. At the same time, Education Across the Miles seeks to expose Skyline College students to mentorship opportunities through the SF Links and provides them with tools to serve as mentors to the young women in Liberia.

Seven members of the International Trade and Services (ITS) Facet of SF Links agreed to contribute a $200 scholarship for each of the seven Liberian high school girls. The ITS Facet’s contribution will allow Skyline College student mentors and Liberian young women to engage in a cross cultural exchange where both parties will have the opportunity to teach, inspire, and learn about each other. The Skyline College students will be able to learn and apply their mentorship skills, network with their Liberian peers, and gain a better global awareness and general understanding of the African Diaspora.

Article by Pcyeta Stroud, Photo by Cherie Colin.

 

On October 25, 2013 the Center for International Trade Development (CITD) at Skyline College, led a workshop titled: Thinking Globally: Exchange Programs as Ingredients for SLOs, College Growth & Economic Development, at the Western Regional Council on Black American Affairs’ (WRCBAA) Fall Regional Conference held at Bellevue College in Bellevue, Washington.

Based on Skyline College’s successful globalization efforts, the workshop focused on ways in which institutions can engage the international community and implement global programs such as those currently hosted at Skyline College, under the auspices of the CITD. The workshop provided best practices for international partnership development as well as highlighted strategies with which administrators can better engage with faculty, staff and students with respect to globalizing curriculum and their campus.

The 3-day conference presented a number of networking opportunities and several professional development workshops. The CITD staff attended the conference along with other Skyline College faculty, staff and administrators.

For more information on international programs and the CITD, please contact: Allison Mello at melloa@smccd.edu.

Article by Pcyeta Jackson, Photos by Allison Mello.