African American college students from around the region explored the opportunities and challenges they face in higher education at the White House Summit on Educational Excellence for African Americans hosted September 30, 2016 at Skyline College.

The summit, co-hosted by the National Council on Black American Affairs, was one of a nationwide series providing a platform for experts and Black students to be unapologetic about their needs and the accomplishments they have made in higher education. Students, faculty and staff from across the region attended to listen to stories, and tell their own, with the goal of exploring what it means to be a black student in today’s colleges and universities.

“The toll it takes to exceed expectations can be heavy because you are expected to represent your entire culture,” said Ben Nash, a student at Chabot College in Hayward.

Each panelist had an opportunity to answer a variety of questions focusing on their individual experience in discussions coordinated by director of the federal initiative David Johns an Skyline College Dean Lasana Hotep.

Speaking on what he needed to succeed, Robert Pinkney of Chabot College expressed himself on an emotional level: “We need love, care and most of all, authenticity to feel supported.”

Authenticity proved to be a key theme of the Summit. Peppered with frustrations and preconceived notions alongside bright hopes and affirmations of work well done, the informal format invited speakers from the audience to add their voice to the whole, building up the conversation.

“We need to be mindful of social and emotional development to make our students whole,” said Johns. Building on this point, one student from the audience said, “I need you to accept me, and let me speak my truth and acknowledge my truth for what it is.”

With this truth came several acknowledgements: that more needs to be done to create safe and equitable learning spaces where all students feel supported; that this work will take the effort of students and educators working together; and that this work is often being done best at community colleges yet too often community college is presented as a secondary choice.

“We need high school counselors to show students that community colleges are good opportunities,” said Ben Nash. “You become the person you are going to be for the rest of your life in community college.”

Perspectives like Nash’s are essential to better understanding how to help students who may feel disenfranchised by the traditional educational path.

Overall, the consensus that drove much of the conference was the need for trust, honesty and acknowledgment – and that we must both listen with greater intent, and take action with greater effect.

Dean Hotep summed it up nicely: “We need to shift from focusing on the WHAT we are teaching, to the WHO we are teaching.”

Article by Connor Fitzpatrick

On Tuesday October 11, from 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m., the ASSC will be putting on a National Coming Out Day event in commemoration of the Orlando Pulse Nightclub shooting that occurred in June. We will be asking students, faculty, staff and community members to join us in the Quad to creating a unity circle. The unity circle will consist of notes written by our Skyline College community tied together with Pride flag ribbon.

Disney World Elite Social Club, who lost one of their own at the shooting, will be accepting the unity circle from us and bringing it to the memorial that is currently in place at Pulse. The notes in the unity circle can either be a note to the victim, a note to their family, or a simple quote or saying about coming out, self-love and self-acceptance.

The Quad will also have Skyline College’s GSA tabling and providing a closet door for those attending to take picture of them happily “coming out.” Our event will be centered around the themes of love and acceptance of one’s self and of others. There will be a photobooth, Pride themed donuts and a juice bar. The ASSC hopes all can make it to this celebration of coming out and the love and pride involved in doing so.

Article by Dylan O’Shea

This September the Associated Students of Skyline College (ASSC) went head first into the rest of the semester with its programming, election and civic education events, and even a leadership retreat.

The weekend of September 9, all ASSC members embarked on a leadership retreat to Camp Cazadero in Cazadero, CA. The retreat served as a great leadership strengthening and bonding experience for the council. Participants went through social diversity training and discussed plans for the rest of the semester. The retreat definitely set a great tone for the rest of the year as a council.

LatinX Heritage Month has served as the ASSC’s first month of events this semester. Events this month, through partnerships with LASO and SALSA, serve to honor the LatinX community, educate the campus of LatinX issues, and for the school to come together in the celebration of LatinX culture, food, and music. LatinX, for those who may not know, takes the gender out of the word “Latino” and “Latina” so that the heritage month is more inclusive of all genders and identities. LatinX Heritage Month kicked off on September 15 with a mariachi performance in the quad and pupusas, horchata, and jamaica being served. The rest of the month will continue with events like pottery painting in the Quad and a LatinX music day on October 11.

The ASSC and Learning Communities partnered to host a Debate Watch Party on September 26. Students, staff, and faculty came together to watch the first Presidential debate while enjoying a discussion of our country’s issues, good food, and voter registration tabling. The ASSC similarly has done voter registration on Constitution Day where students were educated about our Constitution and civic engagement. The ASSC will continue voter registration until the cut-off date of October 24.

Article by Dylan O’SHea

On September 8, Puente held its Mentorship Orientation as well as first Mentor Mixer of the academic year. Approximately 50 students and more than 50 mentors were paired up in order to provide our students with a resource in the professional world, one who will help guide and support them in their academic journeys.

With two cohorts, Puente hosted twice as many people as last year, which was energizing but chaotic as each mentor-mentee pair had to find each other with similar “paired characters” as they made their way through a very large crowd. The pairs finally met and sat down and talked, using Loteria cards as conversation starters. Groups then brainstormed ways to maximize the mentoring experience. It was incredibly inspiring looking around and seeing all of the wonderful students interacting with the wealth of social capital from campus faculty and staff as well as a considerable number of community mentors. The Puente students are incredibly grateful for the amazing mentors who so generously share of their time and energy!

Article by Lucia Lachmayr | Photo by Melanie Espinueva

The Skyline College website received third place in the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations’ Medallion Awards, which recognize outstanding achievement in two-year college marketing and public relations.

This award reflects the hard work that has gone into transitioning the Skyline College website to a mobile friendly version that is more searchable, concise, and organized. Ultimately, the web team continually strives to create a website that is student-focused and allows them to get the information they need easily and efficiently.

About NCMPR

The National Council for Marketing & Public Relations is the only organization of its kind that exclusively represents marketing and public relations professionals at community and technical colleges. As one of the fastest-growing affiliates of the American Association of Community Colleges, NCMPR has more than 1,550 members from more than 650 colleges across the United States, Canada and other countries.

Article by Connor Fitzpatrick

Skyline College Career Services Center in collaboration with the Bay Area Entrepreneur Center (BAEC) hosted two presentations on entrepreneurial sustainability. The events were held on Wednesday, September 14 at 9:30 a.m. and again at 10:45 a.m. in Building 4, Room 4273. The purpose of this event was to assist Skyline College students in gaining insight into the methods startup companies use to structure and finance a deal that will yield a more secured and sustainable venture.

The venue featured two speakers: Isaac Reed, Entrepreneur, Owner of Reed Fine Wines, and President of the BAEC Advisory Board, along with Robert Shoffner, Director of the San Mateo Small Business Development Center. Each speaker gave personal insights regarding the start-up of a new business and revealed key elements on the “How To’s” for sustaining a new business. Topics ranged from an explanation of Social Entrepreneurship to how to find Venture Capital Funding Sources, to aspects of consideration before pitching to Venture Capitalists, and much more.

During the session, students were able to engage with the speakers by asking pertinent questions, receive advice in developing the appropriate mind-set for becoming an entrepreneur, and receive examples of successful businesses.

Future entrepreneurial sustainability events have been scheduled on the following days and times:

• Tuesday, October 25 from 11:25 a.m. to 12:25 p.m. in Building 7, Room 7-115
• Monday, October 31 from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in Building 8, Room 8-306

The final event for the Entrepreneurial Sustainability lecture will be held on Thursday, November 3, from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the BAEC located at 458 San Mateo Ave., San Bruno, CA 94066. This event is the culminating experience in the series and will include a workshop on how to develop a portfolio for your new start-up. This is an opportunity for students to learn from successful entrepreneurs about social entrepreneurship and key elements on new start-up sustainability.

Article by Eilene Williams

Governance:  College Governance Committee

The College Governance Council met on Wednesday, September 28, 2016 from 2:10-4:00 pm, in Building 4, Room 4343.  In attendance was Eloisa Briones, Stephen Fredricks, Angélica Garcia, Michele Haggar, Aaron McVean, Dylan O’Shea, Regina Stanback Stroud, Alana Utsumi.  Absent was Kate Browne.

 

Approval of Minutes

The May 25, 2016 minutes were approved. (M/C/U Alana Utsumi/Dylan O’Shea – approved) Unanimously.  Aaron McVean abstained.  Also approved were the September 21, 2016 minutes.  (M/C/U Michele Haggar/Angelica Garcia   – approved) Unanimously.

 

The Academic Senate did not have a report for this meeting.

 

The Classified Senate provided the following report.

Michele Haggar, Classified Senate President, reported on the following items that will be discussed at the October 6^th Senate meeting.

 

• See’s Candy Fundraiser is starting! Get your candy orders in!!!

 

• Recent Board policies:
  • 1.02 Organization of the Board
  • 2.12 Employee Rights and Protection
  • 2.45 Conflict of Interest
  • 3.16 Equivalency to Minimum Qualifications
  • 7.41 Disabled Students Programs and Services-DSPS
  • 8.33 Auxiliary Services

 

• Volunteer Opportunity off site for October 15 will be finalized soon.

 

• Currently the Classified Senate is working with the District Professional Development committee to prepare for the next retreat.

 

• The Classified Senate is beginning a Staff Mentoring Students program.  Recently Michele Haggar met with Skyline College Promise organizers Michael Stokes, Kim Davalos, and Lauren Ford regarding the mentoring project. The next step is to gather information about the recipients of the Skyline College Promise ​award to determine how many staff is needed also to set the parameters and overall develop a program proposal.

Once all these steps are completed additional meetings to develop the next steps will be scheduled.  The goals is to pilot this program by training the staff members in the Spring, making the connections with the students and the staff in the Summer and have the program fully operational by next Fall.  The program will be available to students who meet certain criteria.

 

The Associated Student Body of Skyline College provided the following report

 

Welcome Week (8/17-8/24):

• Advertised ASSC and helped with questions students had about locations of programs and classes through tabling throughout the first two weeks of classes. We also had a coffee perk, pasta feed for evening students, and an ice cream social.

• Program Services and Resource Fair to advertise to students on how to remain or become involved on campus through clubs and programs, and learn of the resources available to Skyline students.
• Ended the week with the annual Pancake Breakfast.

 

Latin(X) Heritage Month (9/15-10/11):

• Changed the name from Latino to LatinX to be more inclusive of different identities and genders.
• Kicked off the month with free pupusas, horchata, and jamaica along with a Mariachi performance in the quad.
• Many of the heritage month events were split and co-sponsored between the ASSC, SALSA, and LASO– to increase cohesiveness between our council and the learning communities and clubs on campus.
• We have continued the month with a pottery painting event, a forum to discuss the meaning of LatinX which was facilitated by Mustafa Popal, and a film and panel on being undocumented in the American school system.
• More events to come include a LASO Music Parade in the quad on the 28th and a finale on the 12th of October with a LatinX Resource Fair.

 

Lecture Series (10/10):

• Lecture Series is intertwined with LatinX Heritage Month
• Sonia Nazario will be our speaker; a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist who’s most famous work (Enrique’s Journey) tackles the subject of immigration; specifically immigration’s effects on children. Much of her writing also tackles issues of hunger, drug addiction, and poverty.
• This will be held in 6202 at 11:30 am on Monday, October 10th.

Filipino History Month (10/4-10/25):

• We will be working with Filipino Student Union to celebrate the month; events every Tuesday
• We will kick off the month with our Sari-Sari Bazaar (food, music, festivities) on October 4th and 5th! Sari-Sari translates to variety– which is to celebrate the variety of Filipino/a culture and how it connects with other cultures as well.
• Other events include a Photo Exhibit on the 25th and History of Filipino Food on the 18th

Election Events:

• Constitution Day
• Voter registration events up until October 24th (the cut-off).
• Partnered with the Learning Communities to have a Debate Watch Party which was a huge success.
• Approved a co-sponsorship to put on an event to promote Civic Engagement in Participatory Governance to promote an increase in student knowledge and ambition toward civic issues on campus and off.

 

National Coming Out Day (10/11):

• We will be commemorating the Orlando Shooting victims and their families at our event. Support would be amazing.
• Tuesday, October 11th 9am-11am

 

Upcoming Events:

• Breast Cancer Awareness– October 12th
• Skyloween and Club Rush– October 31st
• Diabetes Awareness– November 7th
• Native American History Month– November 21st
• Community Outreach– December 16th

Subcommittees on Council:

• National Coming Out Day Committee
• Mission Statement Committee
• Sustainability Committee (TBD)

Other reports:

• Dylan O’Shea has been appointed to the District Public Safety Services Study
• Budget: our budget is still being sorted out but currently it is $20,000 less than our previous year’s council
• We had a great retreat at Camp Cazadero in Marin County. We completed a low-ropes course, had social diversity training, and lots of team building and bonding.

SOCC Updates:

• We have a nearly updated roster of active clubs for this year
• Some new clubs include: Gospel Choir, Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, Engineering and Robotics Club, and Polynesian Club.​

 

ACCJC Special Report – Baccalaureate Degree

The ACCJC Special Report for Baccalaureate Degree was presented to the CGC.  A site visit will take place February 2017 from ACCJC.

 

After a short discussion a motion to recommend that President Regina Stanback Stroud forward the report to the Board of Trustees for approval.

 

(M/S/U) – Angelica Garcia/Stephen Fredricks approved) Unanimously.

 

President Stanback Stroud asked Vice President Eloisa Briones to report on the Capital Improvement Projects that are taking place here at Skyline College.  Eloisa Briones shared the following:

 

• Parking Lot L improvement
  • there have been user group meetings
  • plans sent to the Division of the State Architect (DSA) for approval
  • will provide new electric vehicle (EV) stations
  • will create additional spaces to recover from lost spaces with the B12 construction

• Environmental Science Building – Building 12
  • Confidential meetings for proposal review.
  • A recommendation will be made September 29.
  • Feedback
    • Consider Sustainability.
    • Currently reviewing proposals that have a component requiring attention to sustainability.
    • Looking at environment, materials, energy usage, glazing, water flow, preservation habitat for wildlife.

• Building 1/Theater demolition and construction
  • Working with Group 4 to plan for swinging from building 4 to Pacific Heights.
  • Will need to identify classroom spaces.
    • Consideration for swing of music and/or art.
    • Considering multiple options including off site options.
• Reconstruction of Pacific Heights to bring it up to par.
  • Feedback
    • Bathrooms
    • Stuffy
    • Subpar facilities

 

Dr. Angélica Garcia, Vice President of Student Services reported on the Public Safety Initiative.

The District hired Margolis Healy to conduct an overview of public safety in the District.

• Margolis Healy interviewed constituents, held forums/sessions for faculty, staff, community and students.
• Forums were conducted at all three colleges.
• The District is expecting to receive a report at December Board of Trustees Meeting.
• Margolis Healy looked at signage, lights, perceptions of safety and other items.
• The topic of whether public safety officers should be armed may be addressed.
• Skyline College had highest level of participation at the forums.

Feedback by the CGC was:

• Lot L is very dark/renovations will address issues raised.
• Public Safety telephones not functioning on campus.

 

Aaron McVean, Interim Vice President of Instruction, reported to the committee regarding the IEPI team visit.  Skyline College applied and received IEPI funds of $150,000.   The team

 

• Identified scope of work – planning and resource allocation software and integrated enrollment management.
• SPOL and Ad Astra
• SPOL will help with alignment of planning documents (annual program plans, comprehensive reviews and ALURS)
• Ad Astra will help as buildings come off line and space is compromised with construction

 

The IEPI team will return.  Skyline College is applying for additional $50,000 through the IEPI.

 

Dr. Regina Stanback Stroud shared that Skyline College will write a small grant to get support/technical assistance to implement the components of the City University of New York’s (CUNY).  ASAP model.

 

A group of faculty and administrators visited LaGuardia College and the City University of New York this summer to learn more about the ASAP model.  The model is closely aligned with the Skyline College Promise – continuing the components of guided pathways, financial assistance, transportation, and extended student services including counseling and advising.

 

Announcement

 

Dr. Angelica Garcia announced that on Friday, December 9 Lasana Hotep, Dean of Student Equity and Support Programs, is organizing an Equity Summit.  More information will follow.

 

Agenda Items for the October Meeting

 

Shuttle Report – Invite Cherie Colin to Report

 

Success Summit Report – Regina Stanback Stroud

 

President’s Breakfast – Regina Stanback Stroud

 

Adjourn

 

(M/S/U Alana Utsumi/Dylan O’Shea approved.) Unanimously.