Skyline College is committed to continuously improve its offerings. To provide campus leadership insights about how Skyline College can best serve student needs, please encourage students to take the Campus Climate Survey which is accessible now – Friday, May 9. This survey will take about twenty minutes to complete.

At the completion of the survey, students are welcome to submit their name to enter to win one of three $100 gift cards to the Skyline College Bookstore/World Cup Cafe. The results of this survey will not be connected to any individual; only summary data will be provided.

Take Survey the here!

If you have any questions regarding the survey, please contact Karen Wong in the Planning, Research and Institutional Effectiveness Office at 4369 or wongk@smccd.edu

Skyline College Disability Resource Center (DRC) held their 2014 Priority Registration Program (PEP) for high school seniors from neighboring high schools on April 12, 2014.  This year’s event had the highest attendance of DRC’s PEP events within the past five years!  A total of 57 high school seniors and approximately 70 parents joined the DRC team for orientation, an assistive technology demonstration, and a tour of Skyline College.

Students were able to complete their English placement exams using assistive technology and make appointments with DRC counselors and the LD specialist.  PEP makes the transition from high school to college easier.  Students will receive priority in registering for the summer and fall classes.

Article By Melissa Mathews | Photo by Brianna Clay

Classified Staff members enjoyed getting together at the Surf Spot Restaurant in Pacifica last week. The laid-back, outdoor vibe was perfect to enjoy some delicious appetizers and drinks, and a little time away from the campus getting to know each other better. Each year, this event and more are organized by the Skyline College Classified Senate. Visit our website at skylinecollege.edu/classifiedsenate to find out more about upcoming events and important information for classified staff.

Article by Pat Tyler | Photo by Alana Utsumi

YEP’s Spring 2014 Business Plan Competition is currently underway! The Youth Entrepreneurship Program at Skyline College (YEP), has officially kicked off this semester’s bi-annual competition with a series of exciting orientations and workshops.

On March 11th, YEP held its second Orientation & Workshop for the Business Plan Competition. The orientation was designed to give the students an in-depth view of the competition and an opportunity to ask questions. The orientation will be followed by a public speaking workshop led by renowned public speaking expert and local business owner, Mike Neuendorff. All students enrolled any other the District’s three colleges are welcomed to participate. Students participating in the competition are eligible to receive one-on-one coaching and mentoring from business owners, CITD representatives and faculty to refine and perfect their business plans. Cash prizes will be awarded to three winning business plans to help support their start-up business ideas.

The competition will culminate in a Final’s Round. Students will have the opportunity to present or “pitch” their business plans to a panel of industry judges from various business backgrounds, and a chance to receive immediate feedback and suggestions to include in their plans. All plans that advance on to the finals round will be in the running for cash prizes totaling $3500!

We would like to invite all faculty, students and staff to attend the Finals Round & Awards Ceremony.

Please come out and support the students!
Date: May 7th, 2014 
Time: 5:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Location: Building 6, Room 6204

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

Article by Pcyeta Stroud

The Phi Theta Kappa Spring scholarship application, is now open for continuing students. The scholarships administered on this application are for students who plan to continue their education at a two-year college in the fall. More than $260,000 will be awarded through these scholarships:

• The Frank Lanza Memorial Scholarship for Nursing and Respiratory Therapy students.

• The Coca-Cola Leaders of Promise Scholarship.

• The GEICO Pathway to Completion Associate Scholarship for Business majors.

• The Richard L. Resurreccion Public Safety Scholarship for ADMJ and EMC majors.

Please encourage your students to apply. Skyline College student Gilbert Arellano won the 2013 Resureccion Public Safety Scholarship for Public Safety Leadership and Skyline College student Jamela Brown received the 2012 Leaders of Promise Scholarship. Applications are due April 30.  Download the application now at ptk.org

Article by Dr. Christine Case

Friday, April 25, 2014

• All Day Event, Juried Student Art Exhibit, Skyline College, Art Gallery, Building 1

• 9:00 a.m. 12:30 p.m., KinderCaminata Program, Skyline College
• 11:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m., 2nd Annual Skyline College Research Symposium, Skyline College
• 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m., LASO (Latino-American students ) Club Meeting, Skyline College, Building 4, Multi-Cultural Room
• 7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m., Avenue Q — Spring Musical 2014, Skyline College, Theater

Saturday, April 26, 2014

• 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., Tournament of Champions – 3 on 3 Basketball Tournament, Skyline College, Gym, Building 3
• 2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m., High School Invasion, Serramonte Center, Daly City, CA, United States
• 7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m., Avenue Q — Spring Musical 2014, Skyline College, Theater

Sunday, April 27, 2014

• 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Avenue Q – Spring Musical 2014, Skyline College, Theater

Monday, April 28, 2014

• 9:00 a.m. -3:00 p.m., Blood Drive, Skyline College, Building 6, 2nd Floor
• 10:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m., Transfer Center- UC Berkeley Rep Visit, Skyline College, Building 2, Room 2227

• 12:00 p.m. -1:00 p.m., Transfer Center- Transfer Articulation Bridge Program, Skyline College, Building 2, Room 2227
• 4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m., Science in Action Lecture Series, Skyline College, Building 7, Room 7106

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

• All Day Event, National Convening of Benefits Access for College Completion (BACC), Skyline College

• 12:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m., Financial Aid Application Labs, Skyline College, Building 2, Room 2117-B
• 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m., Gay-Straight Alliance Club Meeting, Skyline College, Building 7, Room 7-307
• 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., Badminton vs. Mission College, Mission College

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

• 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m., Juried Student Art Exhibit Reception, Skyline College Art Gallery, Building 1
• 2:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m., Program Review Presentation, Skyline College, Building 4, Room 301
• 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m., Financial Aid Application Labs, Skyline College, Building 2, Room 2117-B
• 6:00 p.m.– 9:00 p.m., Lecture with Dr. Cornel West, Skyline College, Theater, Building 1

Thursday, May 1st, 2014

• 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m., Classified Senate Meeting, Building 6, Room 6203
• 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., Financial Aid Application Lab, Skyline College, Building 2, Room 2117-B

Friday, May 2, 2014

• 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m., LASO (Latino-American students ) Club Meeting, Skyline College, Building 4, Multi-Cultural Room

For the latest information on events and activities happening at Skyline College, please view our calendar.

If you would like to include your college event or activity on the calendar, please submit the event, date, time and location to Cherie Colin via email at colinc@smccd.edu.

On Wednesday, April 2, Susan Barnes, Development Consultant with the new Bay Area Entrepreneur Center (BAEC) of Skyline College, made a presentation to the San Bruno Chamber of Commerce to share information about the Center.  The BAEC will have its grand opening and ribbon cutting on May 29, 2014.

Attendees learned more about the Center and were treated to a “sneak peek” visit following the presentation.  The BAEC will be welcoming new businesses and entrepreneurs with business ideas to its center.  The BAEC, an incubator/accelerator that will assist in positioning businesses for success by providing low cost space, access to financial and management resources, Skyline College classes, seminars, workshops and other services will soon be a part of the San Bruno downtown landscape.  The presentation and “sneak peek” were well attended.

For more information or to find out how you can visit, utilize services or partner with the Bay Area Entrepreneur Center, contact our staff at baec@smccd.edu .

Article by Pcyeta Stroud

On Friday, April 11, 2014, the TRiO program participated on a campus visit to CSU East Bay (CSUEB). While at CSUEB, TRiO students toured the campus and learned in great depth about CSUEB’s academic departments as well as the many resources available to them on campus designed to help them accomplish their educational goals.

After the campus tour, TRiO students had the opportunity to visit both the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) program and EXCEL program— our TRiO counterpart at CSUEB— and learned more about their services and admissions requirements. The day concluded with a short presentation from the GANAS program, an innovative access and retention program that serves newly transferred community college students and provides them an integrated academic and cultural approach while increasing their self-confidence, campus engagement, resiliency, persistence, and, ultimately, baccalaureate degree attainment. TRiO students heard from a diverse panel of GANAS students speak about their personal experiences, the academic rigors of a four-year university, as well as what to expect from attending CSUEB.

The campus visit was a tremendous success, which helped promote the goal of transferring to a four-year university among TRiO students!

Article submitted by Jessica Lopez | Photos by Virginia Rosales

The Skyline College Vocal Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Band, led by Michelle Hawkins and Zack Bruno, traveled to Reno, Nevada on April 12, 2014 to perform at the Reno Jazz Festival, the largest and most prestigious jazz festival in the Western United States. College, high school, and middle school choirs and bands from California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada, and Arizona performed and received constructive comments from prominent music educators and ensemble directors who served as judges and clinicians. Students also attended live concerts and recitals by professional jazz musicians who performed as part of the festival. The Skyline College Vocal Jazz Ensemble, in its first semester of existence, earned second place out of 12 ensembles in the collegiate division. Skyline College student musicians were thrilled with the award and honored to represent Skyline College and the Music Department at this high-profile event. “I can’t wait to perform again!” exclaimed Calvin Htet, tenor and first-year student. The Skyline College Vocal Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Band will perform at the 2014 Commencement Ceremony on May 23.

Participation at the Reno Jazz Festival was made possible by generous funding from the Associated Students of Skyline College (ASSC) and the Social Science/Creative Arts Division.

Article by Michelle Hawkins and Dr. Zachary Bruno | Photo by Teresa Tam Studio

On March 4, 2014, Skyline College was honored to welcome world-renowned economist, indigenous sustainability expert, environmental and human rights activist, and acclaimed author Winona LaDuke to campus as part of the Spring 2014 College Lecture Series, A Call to Consciousness. Winona LaDuke is of Anishinabe (Ojibwe) Native-American descent and lives on the White Earth Reservation in northern Minnesota. At White Earth she is the Executive Director of Honor the Earth where she works on an international level to advocate, raise public support, and create funding for frontline native environmental groups.

Currently, Winona is utilizing her training in rural economic development, renewable energy and environmental justice as Director of Honor the Earth in campaigns against fracking on Native lands, highly volatile tar sands oil pipelines through pristine wilderness, coal mining, and the extreme extraction of minerals.

LaDuke spoke to the Skyline College community about the realities surrounding these energy endeavors, in particular their effects on democracy, climate change, peek oil, and food security. She framed this focus on the long-term sustainability of the earth, reminding the audience of the historical destruction these activities have had and their effects on future generations.
As examples of the dangerous effects of these projects, LaDuke addressed these issued in a slideshow that featured photos of the ice melt in Greenland and the Arctic Ocean, carbon dioxide effects on the world’s oceans, extreme weather phenomena, such as Hurricane Sandy and Typhoon Hiyan, fuel poverty, privatized militarization, and the costs of oil dependence to the US economy.

LaDuke also looked at how energy use affected the food economy, such as transportation factors—the price of gas affecting the costs of food. As contrast, LaDuke pointed to the Indigenous Corn Restoration Project, an indigenous grassroots project that resulted in local communities developing eight thousand varieties of drought, wind, and frost resistant corn with higher nutritional values than corn commonly produced at the industrial level.

Throughout the lecture, LaDuke reminded students of the importance of democratic control over undertakings that effect society. She pointed out that students have power to effect change as long as they remain engaged.

Article by John Saenz | Photos by Margo Feldman and Raul Garcia