The Grove Scholarship Program celebrates its tenth successful semester- awarding 25 new and continuing Career and Technical Education (CTE) scholars in Fall 2015. Recipients were selected on a competitive basis amongst approximately 110 applications from diverse academic programs. On September 24, 2015 the selected students met in the Career Services Center to complete the Grove Scholarship orientation. The orientation gave participants an overview of the expectations for the Grove Scholars Program which include: the maintenance of a 75% completion rate, 2.0 GPA, enrollment in at least one CTE course, financial workshop attendance and participation in the student Awards Ceremony. The orientation additionally, highlighted SparkPoint Center services such as: benefits access, personal financial classes available for college credit, food pantry, and the Career Services Center. A celebratory lunch was served to congratulate recipients.

Grove scholarships are funded by a generous $125,000 grant from the Grove Foundation eponymously named after Andy Grove, a founder of Intel Group Corporation. Each scholarship is worth up to $2,000 per semester and $4,000 of funding per school year per eligible participant.

Please forward any questions regarding the Grove Scholarship program to Andrea Doffoney Anyanwu or to grovescholar@smccd.edu.

Article by Andrea Doffoney Anyanwu and photos by Angelita Gajeton

Join SMCCCD Study Abroad for our session “Reflections from Cuba: The Study Abroad Experience” on Wednesday, October 7, 2015 from 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. The session is located in Room 6202 in Building 6 at Skyline College.

Students, faculty and staff are invited to hear from students who have recently returned from Cuba with Skyline College Professor John Ulloa’s Life and Culture of the Local Area: Cuba course this past summer. The session provides student reflections of their Study Abroad experience in Havana, Cuba in August 2015. Professor John Ulloa will present the study abroad experience and four student panelists will also provide their reflections on the course, life and culture of Cuba.

Please join us and bring your ideas, thoughts and questions as we learn for future study abroad experiences.

Article by Alina Din | Photo by John Ulloa

The Skyline College Workforce Development Program and Goodwill Industries welcomed their Fall 2015 Warehousing and Logistics cohort during orientation on September 24, 2015. The orientation was facilitated by Career Advancement Academy’s (CAA) Interim Program Services Coordinator, Jeremy Evangelista, and invited guest speakers from SparkPoint, Guardian Scholars, and the Dean of Business Education & Professional Programs (BEPP), Christine Roumbanis, to share some of the resources and opportunities available on campus.

The Workforce Development and BEPP partnership with Goodwill Industries awards certificates in Warehousing and Logistics to students wishing to reenter the workforce. For many of the Goodwill students, this is their first time in a college environment. The orientation includes the students enrolling into their class (BUS 269), meeting their dedicated counselor, visiting Financial Aid, touring the college grounds and receiving their Skyline College identification cards from ASCCC. This 10-week course concludes with a graduation that will be held at the Goodwill Industries Headquarters in San Francisco.

Article by Monique Hernandez | Photo by Troy Barros

Every few months in San Francisco, the 6,000-plus residents of the city who live on the sidewalks, in parks and in shelters, have one day to get free care and services. Project Homeless Connect makes it possible to call family and friends, get tested for diseases, take an animal companion to the vet, and get a free haircut. On Wednesday, September 23, fifteen students from the Salon & Spa at Skyline College donated their time and efforts to help homeless people feel like themselves again.

According to SF Gate, more than 6,600 people in San Francisco are “visibly homeless,” which means they live on the street or in a shelter. Even more city dwellers are in transitional housing programs or staying temporarily with friends or family. A lack of permanent address and phone number often make it difficult to receive care or communicate. Created in 2004 by then-mayor Gavin Newsom and the San Francisco Department of Public Health, PHC offers vital services to homeless people including dental care, reading glasses, phone and computer use, government ID, legal advice, HIV and STI testing, groceries, and veterinary care for pets.

Although many Skyline College students live in San Francisco and see homeless people on the street, this event put the problem in a human context. While touching, talking to and grooming clients, suddenly the perspective changed. During the day of service, our students made real connections, learning the personal stories of lives both before and during periods of homelessness. Injury, illness or mental instability can act as catalysts and quickly drain finances and resources, with the end result of losing a home and a job. To know that in a practical sense is one thing, but in an emotional sense it is quite another.

By the end of the day, the whole team was hot and tired and covered with hair clippings. But student faces were beaming with pride and accomplishment, having made a genuine connection. As a group they unanimously agreed to participate at the next Project Homeless Connect.

Article by Lynsey Hemstreet

The 4^th annual Transfer Conference held on Saturday, September 26 was yet another success. Over 130 students registered for the event and over 100 students were in attendance.

The conference is designed to provide students with connections to resources and support services that support their transfer and to provide them access to information about the transfer process. Through workshops presented by Financial Aid, the Career Center, and the Transfer Center, students learned about financial aid for transfer students, how to take their majors and transition them into careers, and how to have a successful transfer process.

The day started out with Student Panel focus groups where students had the opportunity to meet with former Skyline College students who have traversed the transfer path from here to their universities of choice. We had eight alumni join us as panelists! Students expressed that they learned from these panelists, like the importance of meeting with a counselor every semester and what student life is like in other UCs and CSUs. Additionally, students found the Financial Aid workshops very beneficial as they also learned of all the resources available to them and specific details about financial aid and their transfer. Overall the conference was informative and helped make connections to resources on campus that students were not aware of.

In attendance during our tabling hour were university representatives from Palo Alto University and San Francisco State University. Additionally, learning community and student support services from Associated Students of Skyline College, First Year Experience, TRiO, Early Childhood Education, Extended Opportunities Programs and Services, and the Career Center were present to showcase their services to students to help bring awareness to the various types of support students have to help them access the help they need to make transfer happen.

Overall the event was a success and some students who entered into our giveaway were able to walk away with college gear! One student, Anna Pastor, won a tablet that our Skyline College Bookstore manager Kevin Chak generously donated for the event.

This event was ultimately a success thanks to all the supportive volunteers, faculty, and staff who helped set up and participate overall in the event. We extend a heartfelt thank you to all those who participated this past weekend.

Article and Photos by Michele Haggar

On Tuesday, September 22, the SMCCCD Study Abroad office hosted a Study Abroad Scholarship Info Session in conjunction with Skyline College’s Financial Aid office. While the spring 2016 semester-long programs to Florence and London are among the most cost-effective as compared to similar programs at 4-year universities, many community college students are in need of aid and funding sources that can help them cover their travel and program expenses. The Study Abroad Scholarship Info Session was held to give students an overview of the scholarships available to them, namely the federally-funded Gilman travel abroad grant up to $5,000 for individual student awards, SMCCCD Foundation scholarships grant up to $6,000 to be spread amongst recipients, and American Institute of Foreign Study (AIFS) scholarship which grants up to $2,000 to be spread amongst recipients. To qualify for the Gilman award, the student must be an American citizen and eligible for a Pell Grant. The SMCCD Foundation and AIFS scholarships are open to all students who meet the qualifications to study abroad.

The event was advertised to students across the District. The number of students who attended exceeded our expectations. In fact, 35 students were expected to attend, but 50 came instead – 30 from Skyline College, 5 from Canada College, and 15 from the College of San Mateo. Because of this increase, the room had to be changed to accommodate the larger audience. The students received a special treat in hearing words of advice from presenter Tina Luong, a former Skyline College student who traveled to Hong Kong on the Gilman Scholarship. She detailed her experiences traveling abroad as a 2-year college student and offered advice to students on how to be competitive applicants to win the Gilman award, namely starting early and revising the personal statement many times before submission.

For more information about the Gilman Scholarship, please visit: http://www.iie.org/Programs/Gilman-Scholarship-Program

Applicants can inquire about the SMCCCD Foundation Scholarships by emailing studyabroad@smccd.edu

To apply for AIFS Study Abroad programs and receive more information about the AIFS Scholarship, please visit the AIFS website.

The Study Abroad office would like to extend a special thanks to Linda Bertolotti for her support and help in securing a larger room in such a short span of time. Thank you, Linda!

Article by Alina Din | Photo Credit Alessandra Zanassi

Next week is the final week to view Skyline College Art Gallery’s Legit 3D, a group exhibition featuring four Bay Area sculptors. The exhibition will be on view in the Gallery through Friday, October 9.

The gallery is open daily, and is located on the ground floor of Building 1.

For more information, including hours, please visit the gallery website or our Facebook page.

Legit 3D features sculptural installations made from unconventional, commercial, and recycled materials including extension cord macrame by Dana Hemenway, a disco-mirror bomb by Jeremiah Jenkins, faux fur toilet paper by Michael Arcega, and political action google bus dioramas by COLL.EO (Colleen Flaherty and Matteo Bittanti).

Article by Paul Bridenbaugh

Just a reminder as you consider your spring book orders that you have a free resource that can bring our campus together with shared approaches to teaching reading and writing!

If you assign reading and writing in your class, please consider joining us in using the Rhetoric: What, Why, and How? which was written by the English teachers at Skyline College with contributions from our librarians and ESOL faculty.  This project was volunteer and not for profit.

Why?

• to promote consistency amongst our classes by using shared definitions, philosophies and approaches when teaching the fundamental writing and reading concepts.
• to save our students money! We know textbooks are expensive, so we created one that is free online and can be used at all levels. If students want a print version of the textbook, they can get a copy through our bookstore and pay only the duplication costs of $35 plus tax
• to appeal to different types of learning styles. Since we created all the materials, we were also able to adapt the lessons into PowerPoint and voiced podcasts for students with more visual and auditory learning styles.

Article by Rachel Bell

Skyline College delegates, Dr. Tammy Robinson, Interim Dean, Global Learning Programs and Services and Ray Hernandez, Dean, Science, Math and Technology, visited Tijuana, Mexico August 25 -26, 2015.  Universidad de Tecnologica de Tijuana hosted Skyline College, and 24 technical and polytechnic universities. Representation included 9 college presidents and other international student staff and faculty. The purpose of the meeting was to continue the collaboration between Skyline College and UTT. The late Richard Soyombo started this relationship. It is incredible to witness and continue Dean Soyombo’s legacy.

The delegates witnessed numerous presentations on the Becalos Program which occurred at Skyline College from August 2014 – December 2014. Skyline College hosted 75 students who were from the various universities within Mexico’s University system. Discussion and analysis allowed learning to take place so that the next student exchange experience will be even more successful.

Skyline College has been successfully team-teaching a Spanish class between Professor Luciana Castro and Professor David Cooksley from UTT. The course is very successful with student retention and learning. The course is very popular at both Skyline College and UTT as there is a waiting list of students in Tijuana who want to sign up for the course. Students communicate via Skype while they speak Spanish and English together in a collaborative manner. The event was a huge success and we look forward to expanding our partnerships with universities in Mexico.

Article by Dr. Tammy Robinson

 

What’s New in Nonfiction? Recent acquisitions run the gamut! Witchcraft, history of psychiatry, fracking, and natural building methods, as well as long awaited biographies of Bay Area favorites Rita Moreno and Carlos Santana. Find these and many more new titles at the Library Check Out desk display.

For 35 years the American Book Award (ABA) has highlighted diversity in writing. Featured in October: Naomi Klein’s This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate, Nick Turse’s Kill Anything that Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam, and other provocative works on the African diaspora and Muslim youth culture. ABA winners are presented just behind the Graphic Novels collection.

Also featured: Textiles…What’s your Passion? Art, design, fabric and fashion. A diverse collection for makers and fashionistas alike.

Lastly, “Sustainability”: What does it mean to you? continues through October 16 in the Library foyer. Authors from across the disciplines give their take on preserving Mother Earth. Ready to take action? Attend the Sustainability Ambassador Network (SAN) kick off meeting on October 6^th at 2:30.

All displayed books are available to take home. Visit the Library Check Out desk and sign up for a free Peninsula Library System (PLS) library card today!

Article by Jessica Silver-Sharp