Celebrating 16 years of opportunity and impact that wouldn’t be possible without your support, the President’s Breakfast is the annual fundraising event for the Skyline College President’s Innovation Fund hosted by Dr. Regina Stanback Stroud and the President’s Council. Inspired programs and services created by the faculty and staff to enhance the student experience are the hallmark of this fund.

We hope to see you at this important event that brings the community together for networking, a delicious breakfast, and motivating presentations about the President’s Innovation Fund projects and the students they benefit. Attendees will be given the opportunity to donate to the President’s Innovation Fund.

Event Details:

• Date: March 17, 2016
• Time:
  • 7:00 a.m. Networking Opportunity
  • 7:30 – 8:30 a.m. Complimentary Breakfast
• RSVP Now!
• Donate Now!
  • On the donation page, please select “Other” from the Program Areas dropdown box and then type Skyline College’s President’s Innovation Fund/President’s Breakfast” in the Comments box to ensure that your gift goes to the correct fund.

Skyline College is proud to announce that Jocelyn Vila, Program Services Coordinator for Financial Aid, has been named the SMCCD District Nominee for the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office Classified Employee of the Year Award. Jocelyn was selected from nominees from all three colleges within the District.

The Classified Employee of the Year Award has been given out annually since May 2009 to honor community college classified employees who demonstrate the highest level of commitment to professionalism and community colleges. Recipients are nominated by members of their college/district community and endorsed by their local Board of Trustees. Award recipients are selected by representatives of the Board of Governors for California Community Colleges, the Chancellor’s Office, and the Foundation for California Community College and must have a record of outstanding performance of professional activities, as well as a record of active participation on campus and beyond.

According to her nomination:

“Jocelyn believes that behind every student, there is a story, but most importantly, there is a future. She strongly demonstrates true dedication to the success of our community college students. She is committed to empowering and transforming the lives of students by providing superior services to our students through her outreach and in-reach efforts. Jocelyn is the main point of contact in charge of developing and implementing the financial aid outreach programs to promote access to higher education for low-income and educationally-disadvantaged students. She also collaborates with on-campus departments to help support the retention, completion and academic success of our students.

Jocelyn goes above and beyond when she takes the time to meet students, particularly Foster Youth students, by sitting down with them one-on-one in her office. She provides them with a safe-environment to discuss their situation to ensure she is providing them the best service possible. She understands every student is unique and no two students are alike. She listens openly to the students’ stories and provides insight to the students about options that may be available to them. She builds a rapport with the students; allowing students to feel that there exist a support service on-campus who they can rely on to ask questions. Overall, Jocelyn’s main purpose is to help students with their academic and personal development and growth.”

Congratulations Jocelyn on a job well done!

Article Compiled by Connor Fitzpatrick

 

The 2016-2017 President’s Innovation Fund Applications are available.

The applications are due to Theresa Tentes in the President’s Office Monday, May 2, 2016 by 4:00 p.m.

Don’t miss this opportunity to realize your vision for these special programs, services and events!

The application is now available for download.

It’s been a great year for the Skyline College Spirit Squad, who took 1st place at the Northern California Championships in Sacramento last month.  Last weekend, they became the National Champions in the College Open Pom category at the West Coast Championships in Anaheim! This means that they out-scored all fourteen other teams who competed in their category this year!  Congratulations, Spirit Squad!

The Spirit Squad joined the CSM Dance program to perform as fans during the halftime show at the 50^th Super Bowl!  After many hours of rehearsals, Jalayna Schneider, Hannah Collins, Hikaru Urata and Linda Olmos cheered on Beyoncé and Coldplay from just below the stage!

We hope you caught this week’s two performances at the home basketball games, on Wednesday 2/17 and Friday 2/19.

We’ll be auditioning for new members later in the semester, so keep your eyes out for more information!

Here’s what some of our Spirit Squad members have to say about the experience so far:

“Getting the opportunity to be a part of the Super Bowl 50 Halftime show taught me a lot about organizing a huge group. It takes a lot of work and patience, but when you see the end product, it’s all worth it. It was definitely a great experience being able to share this moment with my teammates!”  – Jalayna Schneider, Skyline College Spirit Squad Captain

“Skyline Spirit Squad is one of the few competition pom teams in the Bay Area with awesome coach and supporters, Gary Ferguson and Amber Steele. After coming to the US from Japan in 2013, I have been looking for competition Pom team that I can learn a good technique, such as turns and leaps, and I finally found it!! Although this team was just created last year, we are already like family through practicing hard and traveling for several competitions together. I’m so grateful that I’m a part of this team.” – Hikaru Urata

Article by Amber Steele

 

The International Student Program (ISP) and the International Affairs Student Club (IASC) are pleased to bring the Chinese Lantern Festival celebrations to Skyline College. The Lantern Festival celebrations will take place on Tuesday, February 23, 2016 from 1 – 2 pm in the Multicultural Center in building 4. Come and see the beautiful lantern displays, try to solve the lantern riddles and sample some authentic yuanxiao sweet dumplings.

The Lantern Festival is also known as the Yuan Xiao festival or the Shang Yuan festival in China and signifies the last day of the Spring Festival.  It is traditionally celebrated on the the 15th day of the first Chinese lunar month and corresponds with the first full moon of the year.

We welcome everyone and look forward to celebrating with you! Please contact ISP office at skyinternational@smccd.edu or call (650) 738-7021 for more information.

Article by Sujaya Chandran

SparkPoint at Skyline College and the Business Division, in partnership with United Way of the Bay Area’s 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 $54,000 in 2015).

Taxes will be prepared every Saturday, February 6 to Saturday, April 9, 2016 (except February 13, March 12, and April 2), 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 200 tax returns, resulting in over $235,000 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 www.earnitkeepitsaveit.org.

For more information on SparkPoint at Skyline College, please visit the SparkPoint website or call (650) 738-7035.

Article Julie Lamson

On Monday, February 8, 2016 PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in partnership with the Career Services Center presented an informational session for Skyline College students to learn about three exciting Career Discovery and Leadership Internship opportunities entitled Explore, Elevate, and Start. Over 27 students along with accounting professors, Linda Whitten and Guillermo Ortiz attended the gathering. These three programs are designed for high-achieving college students interested in learning about a fast paced career in the professional financial services industry.

This is a pilot program that PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is launching with Skyline College this semester in April and we are excited that we are initiating such a collaboration with one of the “Big Four” Accounting firms.  All interested students are invited to apply and begin building a relationship that could be a life changing career opportunity. Please pass this information on to your classes, colleagues, and share with any eligible students that could benefit from a program designed to introduce motivated and performing students to the PwC world.

Representatives from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) will once again be on campus to offer helpful application suggestions on Wednesday, March 9, 2016. Please contact the Career Services Center at 650-738-4337 for details regarding specific time and other details.

Article by Lavinia Zanassi

Along with the structural updates that were made over the winter break on both floors of Building 5, there have been updates to the Academic Skills Workshops offered each semester. Learning Commons (Learning Center and Library) faculty and staff aim to help faculty extend their classrooms with workshops that can address the challenges they know their students struggle with. This semester has seen a targeted approach to scheduling these workshops and the topics they cover, so that each workshop specifically addresses the needs of students, and is delivered at the appropriate time during the semester.

With this new approach, the Learning Commons has been able to reach out to faculty members and gain a greater insight into their students’ needs to pinpoint key topics to coordinate with class curriculum, to ensure the greatest benefit from each workshop topic offered. This close partnership has paved the way for faculty to add workshop attendance to their curriculum planning, and in some cases to lead workshops themselves.

This increased participation with faculty has led to new subjects being supported, such as Communication Studies, Physics, Chemistry, and Tagalog. Along with this expanded array of topics, recurring workshops on grammar and essay structure have also been implemented this semester. In just the first four weeks of the spring 2016 semester, 167 students have taken advantage of the Academic Skills Workshops – a great indication of the need for this support.

For more information regarding workshops currently scheduled for this semester, please refer to the Learning Center website. To inquire about participating in a workshop, or scheduling a workshop for your students, please contact Learning Center Instructional Aide Christina Trujillo at extension 7019 or email her at trujilloc@smccd.edu.

Article by Christina Trujillo

 

The Skyline College Library has added online access to the publication, AdjunctNation.com, previously published between 1992-2005 as Adjunct Advocate magazine in print. This title has news, opinion, and analysis for adjunct faculty.

You can access AdjunctNation.com from the Library Website under Faculty Resources. From off-campus, you will need a Peninsula Library System (PLS) library card and password. If you need a free PLS library card, visit the Library in Bldg 5, Floor 2 during open hours. If you need assistance accessing this resource or any library services, contact Learning Commons Director, Pearl Ly (lype@smccd.edu, x4313) or visit the Library Reference Desk.

“Whether readers hold full-time or part-time temporary teaching appointments, AdjunctNation.com can keep them up to date on the latest higher education news, and connected to the professorate like no other online resource for temporary college faculty can.” – AdjunctNation.com

Submitted by Pearl Ly

The Scream- The Art of Local Teens exhibition opened last week at the Skyline College Art Gallery. The Scream presents a wide array of creative output by talented teenagers from our local community:  Jefferson, Oceana, Terra Nova, Thornton, and Westmoor High Schools, plus Benjamin Franklin and Fernando Rivera Middle Schools.

We had a wonderful opening reception last Thursday evening. There was a great turnout of participating High School and Middle School student artists and their families in addition to our Skyline College Community. In conjunction with the reception, we had a High School outreach table in the Gallery with College information materials available for visitors attending the reception. The table was staffed by Lauren Ford, our new Outreach Coordinator at Skyline College. We also had an Art Department Open House with all of our Art studios and Classrooms open for visitors to see.

The Scream will be on view from February 8 through March 11.

The Gallery is open Mondays – Thursdays, with current hours posted to our website. Photos of the exhibit are posted to our Facebook page, and our new gallery Instagram page. Come check us out!

The Gallery is located on the ground floor of Building 1, in room 1-121

skylinecollege.edu/artgallery

www.facebook.com/skygallery

www.instagram.com/skylinecollegeartgallery