The Skyline Shines Award recognizes individuals or groups who help Skyline College to shine in terms of its quality of programs and services and its reputation for quality. Two awards are made annually, one to a member or group of the Skyline College employees and one to a member or group from the community.

Nomination process: Please make nominations by Friday, May 12 at  4:30 p.m. using the Nomination Form to describe the ways in which the nominee(s) help the college live up to the college’s values, described below under “Criteria.” Submit nominations electronically to Theresa Tentes, Executive Administrative Assistant to the President, at tentes@smccd.edu. Only electronic submissions will be considered.

If you have questions, contact Theresa at the email address above, or at 650-738-4111.

Criteria for the award:  The awardees would be those who most help the college live up to the college’s values:

• Social Justice: We are committed to a comprehensive diversity framework that promotes social justice throughout all policies, procedures, and practices of the College.
• Campus Climate: We value a campus-wide climate that reflects a ‘students first philosophy’ with mutual respect between all constituencies and appreciation for diversity. Both instruction and student services are dedicated to providing every student with an avenue to success.
• Open Access: We are committed to the availability of quality educational programs and services for every member of our community regardless of level of preparedness, socio-economic status, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, cultural, religious, or ethnic background, or disability status. We are committed to providing students with open access to programs and responsive student services both in person and online that enable them to advance steadily toward their goals.
• Student Success and Equity: We value students’ success in achieving their goals, on time, and strengthening their voices as they transform their lives through their educational experience. We aim to close gaps that result in inequitable outcomes by ensuring that each student has the opportunity to succeed.
• Academic Excellence: We value excellence in all aspects of our mission as a comprehensive community college offering preparation for transfer to a baccalaureate institution, workforce and economic development through career technical education programs and certificates, Associate of Arts and Associate of Science degrees, a baccalaureate degree, basic skills development, and lifelong learning. We are committed to academic rigor and quality with relevant, recent, and evolving curricula and well-equipped programs that include new and emerging areas of study. We are dedicated to an educational climate that values creativity, innovation and freedom of intellectual exploration, discovery, thought, and exchange of ideas.
• Community Connection: We value a deep engagement with the community we serve and our role as an academic and cultural center for community including business, industry, labor, non-profits, government and the arts. We are dedicated to maintaining a college culture and institutional climate that is warm and welcoming to all.
• Participatory Governance: We value just, fair, inclusive, and well-understood, transparent governance processes based upon open and honest communication.
• Sustainability: We value an institutional culture that represents a strong commitment to environmental sustainability and justice. We are committed to the tenets of sustainability “To meet present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.”

Context: The awards will be presented at the Skyline College’s Opening Day event on August 15,2017.

Process for selecting awardees:

• College employee or group: awardee selected by the President in consultation with the College Council.
• Community member or group: awardee selected by the President in consultation with the President’s Council Executive Committee.

Deadline: Friday, May 12, 2017 by 4:30 p.m. Nominations should be made on the nomination form.

Skyline College’s Beta Theta Omicron Chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society was named in the top 25 Distinguished Chapters at the 2017 Phi Theta Kappa Conference in Nashville on April 8. Distinguished Chapter is an international award and the highest honor given to a Phi Theta Kappa chapter. Skyline College earned the Continued Excellence Award for being a Distinguished Chapter for three consecutive years. Nearly 4,000 community college students participated in the three-day conference that was filled with scholarship and leadership forums. Keynote speakers included neonatologist Jennifer Arnold, photographer Platon, and mythbuster Jamie Hyneman.

Skyline College’s chapter also received the 2017 College Project and Honors in Action Awards for their 2016 projects. The chapter has consistently earned national recognition since its chartering in 1999. The chapter has earned Distinguished Chapter 13 times and has earned the Nevada/California Regional Distinguished Chapter award five times.

The awards were the result of competitive essays documenting the chapter’s multiple projects this year, including a year-long project addressing food insecurity and service projects that taught computer literacy to local senior citizens and a project that brought science labs to middle schools.

Additionally, Mei Ling Lai, 2016-2017 Chapter President, received the Distinguished Chapter Officer Award.

“This recognizes our students’ outstanding service to our college and the community and recognizes chapter members who work so hard during the academic year on the four PTK hallmarks of PTK: fellowship, leadership, scholarship, and service,” said Christine Case, Phi Theta Kappa Advisor. “Phi Theta Kappa offers so many opportunities for our students to extend their education and experiences far beyond the classroom as they prepare for their futures.”

Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society is the largest honor society in American higher education with more than 1,300 chapters at two-year and community college campuses in all 50 of the United States and Canada, Germany, Peru, the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the British Virgin Islands. There are 94 chapters in California.

 

Article by Dr. Christine Case

On Thursday, March 24, 2017, the Career Advancement Academy (CAA) hosted its second evening financial aid workshop for Baden High School students and their family members. The evening workshop is a component of the Baden High School College and Career Readiness course, a CAA concurrent enrollment bridge program created in collaboration with Skyline College and Baden High School Faculty and Staff. Students and their families who attended the special evening financial aid workshop, conducted by CAA program services coordinator Jeremy Evangelista, learned about the types of financial aid, how to apply, district scholarships, The Skyline College Promise, and the Summer Scholars Institute.

The twenty-two high school seniors in this current cohort participate in a six week college preparatory course, COUN 101-Prep for College. During this one-unit counseling course, taught by Skyline College counselor Lorraine DeMello, students explore majors and careers, hear from college program guest speakers, prepare for college—complete their FAFSA, take the Myers Briggs Type Indicator assessment, receive individual counseling sessions, and English and math assessment to ensure a more seamless transition for their first semester at Skyline College.  The course included an all-day immersive field trip to Skyline College for Career Technical Education Day and culminated with a capstone portfolio and deeply moving student presentations where students shared their college goals and future plans.

Of the 43 students who graduated during the 2015-2016 Baden High School academic year, 39 or 91% were College and Career Readiness bridge program students. Baden High school is an alternative high school for students who are considered at-risk of graduating on time. CAA hopes to continue its collaboration with Baden High School and support students’ transition to career technical education programs and additional pathways in higher education at Skyline College.

The Career Advancement Academy connects students to higher wage careers and opportunities in higher education by integrating accelerated and contextualized English and math, career technical education, and integrated student support. Currently, the Career Advancement Academy has programs in allied health, automotive technology, biotechnology, and legal careers with additional high school bridge programming at Baden High School and Peninsula High School. For more information about the Career Advancement Academy and related programs contact Jeremy Evangelista, evangelistaJ@smccd.edu.

Article and Photo by Alina Varona

To recognize Women’s History Month in March, the Center for Career and Workforce Programs was excited to partner with the Skyline College Women’s Mentoring and Leadership Academy (SWMLA) by hosting an all-women panel event. The purpose of the event was to empower women through thoughtful sharing of insight, adversity and lessons learned from engaging panelists.  Panelists shared leadership perspectives, tools for overcoming adversity and motivational insight as an opportunity to support women to achieve personal and career success.

The panel event was held on March 29, 2017 in the Multicultural Center at Skyline College. Interim Vice President of Instruction, Aaron McVean warmly welcomed the audience that consisted of Skyline College students, Skyline College staff and faculty, and community members. Director of the Center for Career and Workforce Programs, Andrea Vizenor, and Communications Professor and SWMLA coordinator, Danielle Powell, moderated the panel discussion and Q&A session. The panel featured three inspiring and powerful women:

• Bobbie Kelsey-Grayson – Interim Vice President of Corporate and Wellness Partnerships at the Boys and Girls Club of Dane County,
• Amanda Coray – Program Coordinator of Girls Inc of Alameda County
• Claudia Sandoval – Season 6 Winner of FOX Network’s Primetime Hit TV Series: MasterChef

Each panelist shared their personal and professional stories and their pathway to their current career showing that no one educational and career pathway is the correct one. The panel event inspired and empowered women to take risks in their journey with statements like “get out of your comfort zone”, “manage your emotions”, “it’s never too late”, “set boundaries” and “take care of yourself.” The event concluded with a networking reception where attendees were able to ask panelists additional questions and take photos. Claudia Sandoval also shared her cookbook “Claudia’s Cocina – A Taste of Mexico” and held a book signing.

A big thank you to SWMLA coordinators Danielle Powell and Brianna Clay and Director of the Center for Career and Workforce Programs Andrea Vizenor for their efforts in making this event such a great success.

For more information about the Women’s Panel Event, please contact Andrea Vizenor or Danielle Powell at vizenora@smccd.edu & powelld@smccd.edu

Article by Elizabeth Tablan | Photos by Claudia Paz