For the first time at Skyline College, Puente has grown to 2 cohorts serving a total of 52 new Puentistas.  With the growing number of Puentistas, comes a newly implanted Puente Student Orientation, which was held on August 22, 2016.  During the orientation, Puentistas had the opportunity to build community amongst one another and their instructors, learn specifics about the Puente model, hear from Puente alumni, and learn about campus resources.

As the morning kicked off, students came into the Multicultural Center and were welcomed with pan dulce and hot chocolate, a yummy treat for a cold morning.  With many of the Puentistas not knowing one another, they passed a ball around answering questions such as, what’s one of your hidden talents and what is your favorite childhood memory.  This got students taking and energized for the rest of the day!  As the orientation continued, Puentistas learned specifics about Puente such as Puente History, Puente student transfer rates, and Puente events for the Fall 2016 semester.  Learning about the field trips planned that included The Pacific Leadership Institute Ropes Couse on October 5th left Puentistas ecstatic they made the decision to join Puente!

After a short break, students had the opportunity to hear from a Puente Alumni student panel where they got to hear first hand from students who successfully completed the Puente Project and are in the process of transferring or have already transferred and graduated from a 4-year university.  The wisdom the Puente Alumni panel shared was extremely valuable for our new Puentistas, many who are entering their first year in college.   As the orientation was coming to an end, students were given a presentation from campus resources, EOPS and The Learning Center.  Jorge Murillo, Puente Alumni shared the benefits about EOPS and also shared great words of wisdom to our Puentistas.  Next, Raymon Gutierrez from The Learning Center shared the benefits to The Learning Center, which included free tutoring!

With the Puente Orientation filled with a lot of valuable information, it left Puentistas more prepared for college and with increased motivation to reach their goals.  With such great students in both Puente cohorts, The Puente Team is extremely excited to see what their Puentistas will accomplish this year and in the future.

Written by Alberto Santellan | Photos by Alberto Santellan and Melanie Espinueva+Aure

Please join me in welcoming Timurhan Vengco, the new Program Services Coordinator for Supplemental Instruction. Timurhan will assist with the planning, implementation, and leadership of Skyline College’s supplemental instruction (SI) program. SI is an academic assistance program designed to help students succeed in traditionally difficult courses through voluntary group study sessions led by peers. Learn more about the SI program on the The Learning Center website.

Timurhan earned a Bachelor’s of Arts in English from the University of California, Riverside. He holds certificates in Teaching of Composition and Post-Secondary Reading from San Francisco State University (SFSU). Timurhan comes to Skyline College from Cañada College, where he has served as an interim Program Services Coordinator for the Associate’s to Bachelor’s Program. He also has prior experience as an Associate Program Coordinator with SFSU’s Campus Academic Resource Program.

Timurhan is excited to join the Skyline College team and looks forward to working with everyone on campus.

Article by Pearl Ly

 

New technology has been added to the Library to support student learning and the implementation of the Learning Commons, a unified, technology-enhanced academic support space for students in Building 5. The new additions for Fall 2016 include:

• High-resolution scanner: this “open-book” scanner captures images for quick access on mobile devices or computers. Files can be emailed, saved on a USB flash drive, or uploaded to Google Drive. Assistance is available at the Computer Help Desk.
• PC laptops: now available at the Check Out Desk to students for 2-hour use in the Library.
• Graphing calculators: TI-83 Plus calculators are available at the Check Out Desk to students for 2-hour use in the Library.
• iPads: now available to students at the Check Out Desk for 3-day use.

Please let students know about the new equipment available in the Library/Learning Commons.

Article by Pearl Ly | Image by Allison Hughes

On Monday, August 29, 2016, Skyline College began the inaugural talk for the Science in Action Seminar series. Visiting our campus was the wonderful Dr. Abdalla Darwish, Professor of Physics from the School of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) at Dillard University, New Orleans, Louisiana. He informed us that as a result of the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina over 10 years ago, his lab has been totally revamped. Dr. Darwish is unabashedly pro STEM. He stated that the world revolves around STEM students! STEM students are the ones who make the phones. STEM students are involved in building cars and machinery that entertains, feeds and takes care of us.

Professor Darwish’s lecture lasted over an hour and he talked about making a goal and sticking to it. He stated, “Never tell yourself that you cannot do it; don’t accept from anyone else that you cannot do it. Prove it to yourself.”   He extoled all of the STEM students to be a part of the STEM movement for the good of us humans.  He also stated that you need to do something not just for you or your future but for humanity.  As a STEM student you are here to make the world a better place.

Dr. Darwish exuded confidence as he stood in front of us, but he told us a story that this was not always the case. He told of getting a zero on an exam in graduate school and thinking of quitting. He talked about how his family told him to stick it out and continue with school. In a typical scientific manner, he stated that people should always be honest, tell the truth in whatever you do, work hard and the good jobs and opportunities will come to you. After extoling the virtues of STEM, Dr. Darwish shared with us some of his research.  Specifically his work in the field of thin film fabrication. This process is used to make the IC chips that we use in our computers and many new methods are in use.

If you would like to know more about the Science in Action Seminar Series and Dr. Darwish’s visit, please contact Cheryl Ajirotutu at ajirotutuc@smccd.edu.

Article and photos by Dr. Cheryl Ajirotutu and Dr. Tammy Robinson.

The Bay Area Entrepreneur Center (BAEC) recently completed its 2016 Summer Internship Job Shadow Program. This class included two very dedicated interns who attend Skyline College, Caroline Barros and Alina Chen. Throughout the summer semester, the interns learned a variety of skills including: marketing and outreach, business communication, office organization and customer service.

As a part of the program, the interns participated in two exciting events over the summer. The first event was a LeadersUp Career Summit at the Oakland Convention Center in July 2016. LeadersUp is dedicated to improving unemployment for underserved and opportunity youth, by partnering with local businesses to address their talent gaps.  At the LeadersUp Career Summit, our interns assisted job applicants in a number of ways, including assistance with their resume, job application and online searches.

Interns also attended the Study Abroad Pre- Departure Orientation, held at Skyline College. This event attended by over 200 parents and students set to study abroad. Our valued interns helped in making sure the event ran smoothly. We want to thank Caroline and Alina for a job well done!

Each semester the BAEC recruits a new cohort of hard working, self-starters to join the Internship Job Shadow Program.

For more information on the Internship Job Shadow Program, contact Pcyeta Stroud at stroudp@smccd.edu.

Article by Terri Wade | Photo by Summit Attendee

The Bay Area Entrepreneur Center (BAEC) has a newly-established Advisory Board. The BAEC Advisory Board meets the first Wednesday of every month and is in its third consecutive session.  The Advisory Board’s goals are to better-define and clarify the role of the BAEC, as it relates to the College and to the community.  This includes program offerings, best practices for spreading news on events and providing much-needed visibility for business rental space opportunities within the Center.

The Advisory Board is comprised of a dynamic group of entrepreneurs, faculty members and College administrators. The Advisory Board Chair is a former BAEC alum, Isaac Reed.

The BAEC Advisory Board has been instrumental in planning the Fall Kickoff event that will take place on October 27, 2016 at the Bay Area Entrepreneur Center. Some of the most successful entrepreneurs in the bay area will be in attendance. The event will include a panel of guest speakers who will share their motivational stories and a moderated Q&A session with the audience. Come for the event, stay for the networking, sponsor give-aways, and refreshments.

If you are interested in joining our Board of Advisors please contact the Director of the Bay Area Entrepreneur Center, Pcyeta Stroud at stroudp@smccd.edu.

Article by Terri Wade | Photo by Linda Truong