Skyline College is committed to the health and safety of its students, faculty and staff and to maintaining a safe environment.  In order to better serve our community, Skyline College has established a CARES Team to function as a resource for faculty and staff who have concerns about students who may be in distress.

The Cares Team is a centralized, coordinated group that will discuss and propose actions regarding the best way to support students who are exhibiting behaviors of concern, while maintaining the safety of our campus community.

Please contact the CARES Team in the following situations:

• When a student’s personal safety is of concern
• When a student’s behavior indicates acute personal distress
• When there is a pattern of disruptive behavior

Skyline College employees can contact the CARES team by filing an on-line report.

For additional information about the Skyline College CARES Team, Behavior Emergency Guidelines and community resources go to the CARES Website.

Let’s support our students on their educational journey for success…Together!

Article by Angelica Garcia

In support of those affected by the recent wildfires that devastated Butte County, the Associated Students, alongside the Academic Senate, Classified Senate and Administration are hosting a Food Drive, October 19 through October 30. Donation drop-off sites will be in Buildings 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7. Accepted items include non-perishable food items, such as canned food, baby food and pet food. Cash donations will also be accepted at the Skyline College Bookstore.

The CBA conference in Foster City on Saturday October 10, 2015 was the first time that many Skyline College students attended a professional meeting in Bioscience. The CBA allowed students to attend the conference without cost, and even provided lunch. The session talks were designed to introduce current research in genome sequencing used in the field of personalized medicine, immune-Oncology, stem cells and leadership in Biotech.

Dr. Folsom is the student outreach coordinator for the CBA. Members of the CBA and the vendors were greatly impressed with Skyline College students’ questions and their ability to network. One of the conference sponsors expressed willingness to demonstrate their advanced technology in Cell Counts & Cell Analysis System at Skyline College biology department in the near future.

Many students expressed their interest in doing research and everyone in the biology department hopes that they continue their interest by doing research and attending the Skyline College Research Symposium in the spring.

Article by Jing Folsom and Nick Kapp

The Guatemala Showcase inspired laughs, smiles, and tears this past Tuesday afternoon in front of an audience of over 40 faculty, staff, and students at Skyline College. Four students served as panelists who traveled to Antigua, Guatemala to teach English to elementary schools students as part of the District’s Service Learning Abroad program. The students were Kandace Davis, Yuffita Palacios, Autumn Ragler, and Martha Torres. Professor Danielle Powell led the panel discussion and gave an excellent overview of how the program came to fruition, the travel preparations each participant made before their trip, and the strong, positive impact they had on the children they taught in Guatemala.

Most of the panelists did not have passports prior to leaving for the program, and none of them had flown out of the country before. It was a growing experience for them, and their reflections were heartfelt, honest, and poignant. For Autumn, the experience made her “realize just how good we have it in the States, and how little the kids had in Guatemala. They were crazy about getting stickers!”

Kandace was struck by the “wide discrepancies in health services available to Guatemalans” and how “children with clear learning and social disabilities were simply tolerated and kept on the sidelines because the resources simply weren’t there to support them.”

Martha discussed at length how the experience changed her life and inspired her to remain a lifelong volunteer to all people in need around the world.

Yuffita emotionally reflected on her parents’ stories of their impoverished life in Nicaragua suddenly coming to life before her eyes when she witnessed the living conditions of the poor in Yalu, their simple concrete housing, and how the only entertainment the children had was playing with old dogs on the street.

The audience listened intently, and when asked at the end of the event how many of them wanted to go on next years’ service learning abroad program, almost all the hands in the room went up! This was a testament to the transformative experience each of our students underwent, and the impact the panelists were able to make in just thirty minutes of speaking from their hearts.

SMCCCD Study Abroad, housed at the Division of Global Learning Services and Programs at Skyline College, is in the planning phase for its next service learning program, set to take place summer 2016. Visit the Study Abroad website for the most up-to-date information about upcoming programs, events and information sessions.

Article by Alina Din | Photo by Alessandra Zanassi

On Wednesday, October 7, 2015, four Skyline College students shared their study abroad experiences in Cuba to a packed conference room. The session was titled Reflections from Cuba: The Study Abroad Experience was a teach-back session coordinated by SMCCCD Study Abroad and Skyline College Professor of History John Ulloa.

The four students on the panel – Joseph Adams, Jazmena Bannag, Bianca Blanco, and Conor O’Brien – shared humorous stories and poignant lessons on their experiences in Havana, Cuba. Professor Ulloa presented a detailed itinerary of the program and shared a video.

Adams commented on how different the food and culture was and how he and the group could not avoid the “Havana hustle” when shopping or walking in the city of Havana. When asked about how students managed the cost of the trip –approximately $3,900 including international airfare – Bannag said that she fundraised through her networks using crowdfunding.

The students studied in Cuba as part of the course, Life and Culture of the Local Area – Cuba. The experience provided all panelists with a deeper appreciation of what they have in the U.S. It was Skyline College’s first faculty-led study abroad course. Professor Ulloa plans to offer the course next year as well. If Skyline College community is interested in the course next year can contact John Ulloa at ulloaj@smccd.edu or Zaid Ghori at ghoriz@smccd.edu.

Article and photo by Zaid Ghori

As a recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education pointed out: “Increasingly, students simply refuse to buy textbooks even if professors require them, which is not surprising. Over the past four years, surveys have found that two-thirds to three-quarters of college students refused to buy textbooks because costs were too high and many instructors used only a few chapters. (“Why You Ought to Think Twice Before Assigning a Pricey Textbook”)

Skyline College Library would like to encourage faculty to please consider using alternatives to costly print textbooks. There are more and more free online textbooks being offered through open educational resource initiatives, including the following sites:

• Community College Consortium for Open Educational Resources
• Open Textbook Library
• College Open Textbooks
• OpenStax College
• Open Course Library

The library also has ebooks available through our own subscription services. When faculty let librarians know titles under consideration as course texts, we may be able to add them to our library database system to provide free access to students.  Additionally, the library can provide direct links to any ebook or article currently in our databases so that faculty can use these resources as free texts or readings. If you have any questions about textbook alternatives, please contact Eric Brenner, Skyline College librarian, at brenner@smccd.edu or x4177.

For faculty who still use print textbooks, please request a library desk copy or “exam copy” from the publisher and provide it to the library so that students can have the option of accessing a reserve copy of the textbook in the library. Publishers are urged to provide copies of textbooks for library reserve free of charge per California AB2477, passed into law in 2004.The library has a form you can use to put materials on reserve. If you have any questions about placing materials on reserve or about requesting free books from publishers, please contact the library at x4311.

Article by Eric Brenner

On Wednesday, October 14, Workability III, in partnership with the Career Services Center, welcomed Ricardo Perez from the Department of Rehabilitation to lead a training about disability sensitivity. People with disabilities are the largest minority group in the United States, and a group that almost of us will belong to at some point in our lives. However, people with disabilities still face discrimination and other obstacles preventing them from gainful employment and perhaps more importantly, being treated as equals.

Ricardo Perez led the workshop group through a “Windmill” or disability etiquette training module. Attendees learned about laws concerning employment for people with disabilities and general etiquette to create a more positive and welcoming environment for everyone. The workshop culminated in a Jeopardy-style game to test participants’ knowledge. Ricardo approached these often difficult topics with a mix of humor and games to engage all participants. We look forward to hosting him in the near future!

Article by Brian Jenney