We are excited to announce that we have officially begun to roll out the redesigned Skyline College website. During this first phase of the rollout, you’ll notice a few major changes on seven key pages at the top level of navigation.

What’s New?

Mobile Friendly:

These seven new pages, and all subsequent new pages, are “mobile friendly,” which means they use responsive web design to adapt to different sized mobile devices. In other words, these pages automatically scale up and down to best fit on your laptop, tablet, phone or other device by detecting how big your screen is. That means greater accessibility and ease of navigation for students and staff accessing the Skyline College website from devices other than a desktop computer.

Home Page:

The home page has a clean, dynamic new look designed for greater visual impact, simplicity and ease of navigation. The new design removes some of the clutter that clogged the old page and makes a large slideshow and key featured news stories the centerpiece of the new website – allowing us to better tailor our messaging to students and influence users’ immediate perception of the college through the visual cues on our website.

“Portal Pages:”

The black navigation bar at the top of our Home page lists six unique sections of the website including, Admissions, Academics, Career Advancement, Student Life, Campus Resources, and About. We wanted to highlight these important sections by creating new “Overview” pages for each of them – we’re calling them “portal pages” internally.

These pages include striking images with an aspirational “tagline,” a simplified navigation bar and clear and concise introductory text that highlights the college’s offerings and goals within each of these six areas. This new language is student focused, speaking directly to them as opposed to speaking generally about the college.

The Road Ahead

As we move into the coming months, we will be migrating other sections of the website to pages that blend with the look and feel of these initial 7 pages. This will be a long process and we ask you to be patient. In the meantime, your respective pages will remain on the old templates, and if you’ve made edits to the site using Omni in the past, you’ll still be making edits the same way until we migrate your page(s) to an updated template.

As with any major new launch, we expect to meet some small bumps in the road, and we also expect to fix them, quickly, as they arise, with a consistent eye towards improvement.

This is an exciting new step for Skyline College. We cater to an increasingly mobile-oriented and technologically-savvy student body – updating our website to reflect this reality is essential to making the student experience the best it can be.

Article by Connor Fitzpatrick

Professor of Automotive Technology at Skyline College, Rick Escalambre was presented the Educator of the Year award at the Vision Hi-Tech Training and Conference in Overland Park Kansas in early March. The annual Conference is described as THE event for Automotive Service Professionals.

Escalambre teaches engine performance and is a leader in coordinating the automotive program at Skyline College. He previously taught automotive at the high school level, managed a Chevron Station and owned and operated an automotive repair business in Concord. He is the former Chairperson of the Bureau of Automotive Repair Smog Check Education Advisory Committee and a past president of the California Automotive Teachers (CAT) association. He is a respected author and editor of books in the field of engine performance, emissions, and computer controls. Escalambre earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from San Francisco State University. Congratulations to Rick Escalambre on a well-deserved accolade!

Information from Parts & People Northern California, April 2015 issue | Photo by Nancy Lam

The 2015-2016 President’s Innovation Fund Applications are available. The applications are due to Theresa Tentes in the President’s Office Friday, May 1, 2015 by 4:00 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.

Article by Theresa Tentes

The Global Learning Programs and Services Division enthusiastically announces our new Director, Special International Programs, Mr. Zaid Ghori. In his position, Zaid will oversee the District-wide Study Abroad Program and Special International Programs at Skyline College.

Zaid comes to the division with an impressive background in international higher education having worked at the University of California Office of the President, University of California, Riverside and Long Island University C.W. Post. He has led admissions delegations internationally and recruited international students in over 25 countries.

Zaid earned his Bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York at Oneonta with a major in Business Economics and his Master’s degree from California Baptist University in Public Administration.  He enjoys traveling, baking and spending time with his family.

We are excited to have him on board.  Please make sure to say hello and officially welcome him to the Skyline College family!

For more information on the GLPS division, please contact skyglps@smccd.edu or call 650-738-7098.

Article by Pcyeta Stroud | Photo by Keisha Ford

Skyline College’s Beta Theta Omicron Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa was recently recognized and awarded for achievement at the Phi Theta Kappa Regional Convention held in Reno, Nevada on March 27-29, 2015. Phi Theta Kappa Officers and members attended the convention, accompanied by Chapter Advisor, Christine Case.

The chapter was named The Distinguished Chapter in the Nevada/California Region. This recognition was based on the completion of two major projects in 2014. The chapter’s Honors in Action project, “Data mining—a new frontier in health,” received two awards, the Honors in Action Distinguished Theme Award and the Distinguished Honors in Action Project Award. For the year-long service component of the project, members and officers taught senior citizens to use their tablets and smartphones. The chapter’s College Project dealing with middle school outreach, bringing hands-on science labs to middle schools, was honored with a Distinguished Project Award.

“I am extremely proud of all of the hard work that our chapter officers did over the last year. These students truly exemplify leadership and dedication. They set high standards for themselves and the chapter and worked hard to develop and implement meaningful projects. They demonstrated a sincere desire to improve our community. We could not have been as successful without the support and encouragement of Dr. Stanback Stroud, and numerous Skyline College faculty and staff,” commented Case.

The Chapter also won the yearbook award. Congratulations to the yearbook team and their leader, Livius Darmawan. In addition to these recognitions, Wafa Zeidan, a Phi Theta Kappa member at Skyline College, was the Regional Distinguished Scholar and Olidipo Toriola was a Distinguished Scholar runner-up. Christian Galang was runner-up Distinguished Chapter Officer.

The purpose of Phi Theta Kappa shall be to recognize and encourage scholarship among two-year college students. To achieve this purpose, Phi Theta Kappa shall provide opportunity for the development of leadership and service, for an intellectual climate for exchange of ideas and ideals, for lively fellowship for scholars, and for stimulation of interest in continuing academic excellence.

Phi Theta Kappa members are four times more likely to complete college than an average student, but also they are nearly twice as likely to complete college than students with similar grade point averages (3.5 or higher),

Article and photo by Dr. Christine Case

 

Are your students interested in learning new languages or planning on traveling abroad this summer? Then encourage them to attend the Multilingual Hour presented by the International Affairs Student Club (IASC) and the International Student Program (ISP)! Through this free language tutorial you can learn useful words in Korean, Turkish, Mandarin and Japanese. All IASC members and non-members are welcome to join us for this fun activity.

• When: April 1, Wednesday, 2 – 3 PM
• Where: Multicultural Center (Building 4)

If you have any questions about the event, please contact ISP Manager, Wissem Bennani at bennaniw@smccd.edu or 650-738-4430.

Article by Chikako Walker | Photo by Keisha Ford

Please join us for a month-long celebration of all things poetic!

The celebration kicks off on Thursday, April 2 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in the Skyline College Art Gallery, Building 1. San Mateo Poet Laureate Caroline Goodwin will read from Trapline, her acclaimed book of poems.

Goodwin will be reading with guest local poet Maisha Z. Johnson, author of Through Your Own Words: 51 Writing Prompts for Healing and Self-Care.

Other events going on in the first two weeks of National Poetry Month include a special performance of Classic Poetry by Filipino/a Writers read by PCN Students, April 2 from 1:00 -2:00 pm in the quad.

On Thursday, April 9, Rob Williams’ English 161/162 Creative Writing Class will be in the quad writing poems on the spot and reading them out loud– all are welcome to write with us or just listen in!

Tuesday, April 14 from 11:00 -1:00 p.m. meet the Editors of Talisman, Skyline College’s Literary Magazine and pick up a free copy of a past issue and find out about the Spring 2015 release of Talisman 45 (our 45th issue!) as well as how to submit your writing for the next issue.

And on Thursday April 16, get to know the Dead-Beat Writers! Skyline College’s Creative Writing Club will be in the quad with pens, paper, poetry prompts, and other materials to get you waxing poetic on paper.

These are just the first two weeks of a full month of Poetry Events! Please join us!

Article by Rob Williams

Two New National Publications Cite SparkPoint at Skyline College: The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Administration for Children and Families Promote Financial Capability.

SparkPoint at Skyline College is a financial education and coaching center that improves college connection and completion by mitigating economic disparities. Students and other members of the community use SPSC services and resources to strengthen their financial capability and further their economic and educational goals. Now in its fifth year, this partnership with United Way of the Bay Area represents the work of our college and community to break the cycle of family income predicting college connection and completion. Our commitment to equity and inclusion and our resolve to strengthen our effectiveness motivate SparkPoint at Skyline College to excel at disrupting entrenched disparities. Our work is being noticed!

The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston has released a new publication titled, Promoting Pathways to Financial Stability: A Resource Handbook on Building Financial Capability which can be found at: http://www.bostonfed.org/education/financial-capabilities/handbook. To showcase the new publication, MDC will host an upcoming webinar titled: The Boston Federal Reserve: Helping Community College Students Achieve Financial Stability on April 9, 2015 at 2:00 PM EDT. Sarah Savage from the Boston Federal Reserve will present the Fed’s recent report: Promoting Pathways to Financial Stability: A Resource Handbook on Building Financial Capabilities of Community College Students. Dr. Savage is Community Affairs Manager at the Boston Federal Reserve. To register for this webinar, please go to https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5292754672431880450.

The United States Department of Education hosted a Roundtable this past March in Washington, D.C., which featured the Boston Fed’s launch of the publication. In addition to Skyline College President, Dr. Regina Stanback Stroud, and SparkPoint Director, Dr. William Watson, representatives from organizations included: Achieving the Dream, American Association of Community Colleges, Aspen Institute, Association of Community College Trustees, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Guardian Life Insurance Company, U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of Treasury, and others.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Administration for Children and Families, in partnership with the Corporation for Enterprise Development references SparkPoint at Skyline College as an example of a strong financial capability partnership representing a diverse array of organizations. Building Financial Capability: A Planning Guide for Integrated Services is an interactive guide for community-based organizations interested in integrating financial capability services into existing programs (e.g. housing, job training, or Head Start). To see the planning guide, please visit: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ocs/resource/afi-resource-guide-building-financial-capability

For more information about SparkPoint at Skyline College please visit our website at www.skylinecollege.edu/sparkpoint or contact the director of SparkPoint at Skyline College, Dr. William Watson, at william.watson@smccd.edu or call 650-738-7035.

Article by Dr. William Watson

Ms. Alina Din, our newly hired, CITD/Study Abroad Program Services Coordinator officially joins our office this week.

Alina comes to the division with a wealth of knowledge in both the economic sector and community development. Alina earned a Bachelor of Arts from UC Berkeley in Political Economy of Industrial Societies, and a Master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from UCLA. Alina has worked with the Pakistani government, at the local level, to enhance the use of technology in streamlining governance. Alina is eager to contribute to the Skyline College community.

It is our pleasure to welcome Alina to the division. Please welcome her to our college campus.

For more information on the GLPS division, please contact skyglps@smccd.edu or call 650-738-7098.

Article by Pcyeta Stroud | Photo by Keisha Ford

The Center for International Trade and Development (CITD) at Skyline College is making waves with its cross-regional institutional and business partnerships yet again! Two months ago, the CITD collaborated with community college faculty from the CTE Curriculum Academy at the event, “Doing What Matters for CTE Students: A Collaboration for CTE Faculty with Economic and Workforce Development and Regional Leaders.” The event was sponsored by the California Community College Chancellor’s Office through the Perkins Leadership Funds. The CCCAOE and Academic Senate for California Community Colleges hosted the event in Garden Grove, CA on January 15 and 16, 2015.

On the first day of the two-day event, attendees participated in the Leadership Academy offered by CCCAOE.  They explored how Doing What Matters has affected their roles, responsibilities, and relationships with others at their institution and with other organizations in their region. On the second day, the attendees engaged in an intensive CTE Curriculum Academy led by the Academic Senate to help them better navigate state and local curriculum processes.

Yvonne Reid, Adjunct Faculty Special Projects for Global Logistics Programs, who represented Skyline College CITD, commented, “The Curriculum Academy was a remarkable platform that allowed me to foster collaborations with colleagues from Allan Hancock College, Foothill College, Feather River College, and the College of Alameda, and many more. During the Leadership Academy, the participants discussed how their roles and responsibilities overlapped and how that opens opportunities to coordinate and collaborate. We received information and training on topics including curriculum basics, effective practices for curriculum development, the Program and Course Approval Handbook (PCAH), Course Identification Numbering System (C-ID), and the approval process.” Yvonne will apply her training as she evaluates, modifies, and develops curricula and awards for the CITD International Logistics program.

For more information on the CITD Global Logistics Program, please contact Yvonne Reid at reidy@smccd.edu or at 650-738-7098.

Article written by Alina Din | Photo by PJ Shelton