Have you had the opportunity to speak with the Interim Vice President of Instruction, Dr. Jennifer Taylor-Mendoza?

Each month the Office of Instruction will host an Open Office Hour with Dr. Taylor-Mendoza.  Students, faculty, and staff are invited to meet with Dr. Taylor-Mendoza for informal conversations so she can learn more about your areas of interests and work.  This open office hour will give you an opportunity to share your perspectives and discuss topics that are important to you.

The first conversation will be held on Tuesday, October 31 from 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. in Building 4, Room 4-343.

Chats will last 15 minutes and will be on a first-come-first-served basis.

Dr. Taylor-Mendoza is looking forward to speaking with you!

Article by Sherrie Prasad

Industry leaders in the technology field and Skyline College’s Computer Science and Digital Art faculty joined efforts to work together to chart, capture and discuss critical knowledge, skills, abilities and technical training that students need to be best prepared for middle skilled careers in UX Design, App Development and DevOps. On Friday, October 13, 2017, as part of the Strong Workforce Program, the Director of Career and Workforce Programs, Andrea Vizenor facilitated a Technology Pathway Design Retreat at Cañada Vista to advance our college’s plan to expand emerging technology offerings for students.  Expertise of leading companies such as Adobe, Apple, SAP, Facebook and Meta Company shared thoughtful insights on the high impact skills our students will need to have as they complete a certificate or degree in new educational programs while giving them a competitive edge as they enter the workforce.  Additionally, key faculty members, Nick Langhoff, Norm Del Prado, Walter Hanley, Amir Esfahani and Dean Ray Hernandez provided insight regarding the innovative content and practices they deliver in their current programs and across the SMT division.

Throughout the day industry leaders and faculty members worked together in groups and actively engaged in conversations to discuss the development of new technology pathway programs that will be created by our faculty at Skyline College.

Senior Design Manager at Adobe Design, Matt Aune shared, “Students need to know key technology infrastructure, software as a service (SAAS) knowledge, programing/coding, user experience (UX) components, design concepts and display a strong business awareness”.   Developing robust and relevant curricula will assist students to be best prepared to transfer to 4-year institutions in Computer Science or directly enter the workforce in high wage careers.

The day culminated with an Augmented Reality hand’s-on learning experience provided by Meta Company, a technology company specialized in AR. Industry leaders and faculty members were thrilled to engage in the experience this innovative technology provides and left with insightful knowledge of how this technology will help students and community members to be best prepared to enter into the workforce.  The Augmented Reality goggles have been purchased for faculty at Skyline College as an effort to support the integration of high quality technology experiences into the classroom for students as part of the new program development.

Many thanks to our key faculty, Nick Langhoff, Norm Del Prado, Walter Hanley and Amir Esfahani for all of their time and efforts.  Along with Elizabeth Tablan, CWP Office Assistant II, Alexys Burns, CWP Office assistant II, and Claudia Paz, CWP Office Assistant II, and Andrea Vizenor, Director of Career and Workforce Programs, for all of their efforts in organizing this event; and a great big thank you for the valuable contributions of Maggi Elkin, Director of Human Resources at Meta Company, Ben Hsieh, Sr. Experience Researcher-Lead at Adobe Design, Dane Riley, Senior System Engineer at Apple, Matt Aune, Senior Design Manager at Adobe,  Danny Allen, SAP and Rodney Tabares, with Facebook for providing Skyline College faculty with great insight and an engaging and informative learning opportunity.

The National Wrestling Hall of Fame announced on Thursday that the Class of 2018 inductees will feature Distinguished Member Lee Allen who will be inducted posthumously as he passed away in 2012 at the age of 77.

Allen and his wife, Joan Fulp, were instrumental in the development and growth of women’s wrestling in California and the United States. He led the men’s wrestling program at Skyline College in California for 32 years while incorporating a women’s program.

His San Francisco Peninsula Grapplers women’s team won the senior national championships in 1997 and 1999. Allen was head coach of the women’s wrestling team at Menlo College in California from 2001 to 2010 where he coached both of his daughters, Sara Fulp-Allen Bahoura and Katherine Fulp-Allen Shai.

Sara was the first three-time women’s college national champion, and an injury prevented her from competing as a senior to try and become the first four-time champion.

Katherine was a World University champion and five-time national team member.

Allen was one of only four wrestlers to represent the United States at the Olympics in both freestyle and Greco-Roman, competing in freestyle in 1956 and finishing eighth in Greco-Roman in 1960. He was a member of the first United States team to compete in the World Championships, placing sixth in freestyle in 1961.

Allen was a four-time undefeated Oregon state champion for Sandy High School in Sandy, Oregon, and competed in college at Portland State from 1952-54. Allen was the head coach of the 1980 Olympic Greco-Roman team, which did not compete in the Olympics in Moscow, Soviet Union, because of the U.S. government boycott of the Games. He was an assistant coach for the United States Greco-Roman team at the Olympics in 1972 and 1976. He was head coach of four United States Greco-Roman teams at the World Championships in 1973, 1977, 1978 and 1979. The 1979 team finished fourth with three individual medalists, which was one of the best Greco-Roman performances of the time period.

Lee has received the Lifetime Service to Wrestling award from the Oregon Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2011 and from the California Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2013. He is a member of the AAU Hall of Fame, the San Mateo County Sport Hall of Fame, Skyline College Hall of Fame, California Wrestling Hall of Fame and the Portland State University Hall of Fame.

 

Earlier this year, Skyline College was awarded a grant to replicate the NOVA Job Center model, which has been successfully implemented in Sunnyvale and San Mateo. This new program will be offered as a part of SparkPoint and Career Services, complementing our current service offering by providing additional career counseling, workshops, resume assistance, interview preparation, job search support, and other resources for individuals seeking immediate employment. NOVA will be fully integrated into the SparkPoint program, thus all services are free of charge and open to both students and community members.

We are excited to announce that NOVA will be launching services on Monday, November 6, 2017 at the SparkPoint and Career Services Center (building 1, floor 2). Program registration, appointment booking and workshop schedules will be made available on launch day. Additional information about registration time will be provided next week.

If you have any questions with regards to the NOVA Job Center or you would like to refer a student or community member to participate, please contact the NOVA Program Services Coordinator, Kathleen Velasquez, at velasquezk@smccd.edu.

Article by Chad Thompson

SparkPoint and Career Services at Skyline College would like to extend an official campus-wide introduction to a new member of the team, Kathleen Velasquez.  Kathleen holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She started her career in private wealth management, but switched to social finance and the nonprofit space; Kathleen wanted to apply her skills and knowledge to make the world a better place, rather than simply focusing on portfolio growth and seeking profit. To that effect, Kathleen served a term on the board of Latinos in Finance, a diversity-based nonprofit dedicated to helping develop careers for Latinos either interested in or already employed in the financial services industry. Kathleen is also involved in ThirdACT, PBC, which provides debt-free financing for energy efficiency and seismic retrofitting for small commercial buildings, often servicing lower income neighborhoods with older delapidated buildings that do not have access to bank loans to improve their properties. Kathleen has a passion for helping underrepresented populations, LGBTQ, and working class people find satisfying careers, and improving their overall quality of life.

The NOVA Job Center will officially launch services on Monday, November 6^th at the SparkPoint and Career Services Center (building 1, floor 2). Program registration, appointment booking and workshop schedules will be made available on launch day. As a NOVA Coordinator at the new Skyline College NOVA Job Center, Kathleen hopes to use her organizational skills and networking ability to connect with programs on campus, as well as non-profit organizations in our local region, in an effort to recruit students and community members who are seeking immediate employment assistance.

 

If you are interested in referring any job seeking students or community members to Velasquez, please contact her directly at velasquezk@smccd.edu or, please contact SparkPoint at 650-738-7035 or at Skylinesparkpoint@smccd.edu (Room 1-214).

 

Article by Chad Thompson

 

 

 

At the SACNAS (Advancing Hispanics/Chicanos and Native Americans in Science) Conference on October 19-21, three Skyline College students presented their original scientific research alongside students from University of California, University of Texas, Rutgers University, Yale University, Brown University, Stanford University, several CSUs, and many other universities. The conference was held in Salt Lake City and sponsored by the USDA and University of Utah. Over 4,000 graduate and undergraduate students from across the country attended the conference.

Papers were selected for the conference in a competitive judging from abstracts submitted in July. Skyline College students started their research last spring with Christine Case in BIOL 230 or BIOL 695. The students spent the summer in the lab to continue and complete their research.

Stephen Fredricks worked with the students to register and prepare them for presenting at a national conference. At the conference, students were knowledgeable and professional, and represented Skyline College well.

Janah May Oclaman’s presentation of her research won the Undergraduate Microbiology Award.

Janah May Oclaman now has her first publication: Comparison and Characterization of the Soil Microbiomes of Delairea odorata and California Native Plants.

Robert Erickson and Anthony Petraki also was able to have his first publication: Microbial Metabolic Diversity in the North Pacific Ocean on the Central California Coast.

Robert and Janah transferred for the Fall 2017 semester: Robert is now at UC, Santa Cruz and Janah is at UC, Davis.

Article By Christine Case

SparkPoint and Career Services at Skyline College would like to extend an official campus-wide introduction to a new member of the team, Henry Ta. Henry serves as one of our new adjunct NOVA Career Counselors here at Skyline College. Henry recently graduated from San Francisco State University’s Masters of Counseling Program in May 2017. His professional experience includes working in a DSPS program at a community college, various academic and career services at 4-year institutions including USF and SFSU, and the Tri-Cities One Stop Center in Ohlone College. Along with his counseling position at Skyline College, he is also currently working as a graduation specialist at SFSU – providing proactive academic advising services to high unit students who are close to graduating.

The NOVA Job Center will officially launch services on Monday, November 6 at the SparkPoint and Career Services Center (building 1, floor 2). Program registration, appointment booking and workshop schedules will be made available on launch day. As a Career Counselor at the new Skyline College NOVA Job Center, Henry hopes to use his expertise and passion to provide support and resources to students and community members who are seeking immediate employment. He knows that a part-time job or a career path with better pay can increase student success and overall economic security, which can lead to lifelong wellness.

If you are interested in referring any job seeking students or community members to Henry, please contact him directly at tah@smccd.edu or, please contact SparkPoint at 650-738-7035 or at Skylinesparkpoint@smccd.edu (Room 1-214)

Article by Chad Thompson

On October 23rd, the Guardian Scholars Program (GSP) teamed up with the SF Cooking Project to make meals for victims of the North Bay fires. The Skyline College GSP students were also joined by the San Francisco State Guardian Scholars Program and additional community volunteers.

The SF Cooking Project’s mission is teach young people fundamental cooking skills by creating an inexpensive meal as a community, with the assistance of a local master chef. The GSP students not only learned how to make a meal from scratch, they learned how to poach eggs, a shortcut to cutting onions and how to create the perfectly round meatballs. The class was taught by cookbook author and Bay Area local, Jessica Battilana.

GSP student, Calvonnia Kelly commented on the experience stating she “appreciates the opportunity to help our Bay Area community while learning how to make easy meatballs that I’ll actually try to make at home!” By the end of the class, the students had helped to create meals for over 100 victims, and gained the skills to make a new dish for themselves and their family. Due to their volunteer efforts, the GSP program was invited to be an official nonprofit partner with the SF Cooking Project for a monthly cooking series.

The Guardian Scholars Program supports current and former foster youth at Skyline College. If you’d like to learn more or donate to their scholarship fund, please visit their website at, skylinecollege.edu/guardianscholars/

Article by Tia Holiday

Skyline College’s Guardian Scholars Program (GSP) staff presented to over 40 individuals at this year’s Blueprint Conference in Los Angeles California on Wednesday, October 18, 2017.

The Blueprint Conference is a dynamic two-day event that includes Guardian Scholars Programs, Social Workers and more from around the country. This event allowed for over 750 individuals to network and attend workshops that address foster youth in higher education. The conference combined meaningful engagement opportunities with in-depth workshops presented by professionals with a passion and aptitude for supporting foster youth to achieve their higher education goals.

This year Skyline College’s GSP presenting team included: Tia Holiday, Program Services Coordinator, Linda Allen, Retention Specialist, Calvonnia Kelly, Student, and Alfreda Palmer, Student, of Skyline College Guardian Scholars Program (GSP).

The GSP team presented on “Sky’s the Limit: Creating a Foster Youth Support Program to Cultivate Resiliency”. This workshop is designed to assist foster youth support programs who are in their first two years on a college campus, as well as, provide strategies to bolster retention and participation in the program. For more on the GSP presentation visit: http://blueprintconference.org/.

Article and photo by: Linda Allen

 

 

Lasana Hotep, Dean of Student Equity and Support Programs, and Lauren Ford, Campus Recruiter, attended the National Council on Black American Affairs’ Leadership Development Institute in Baltimore, MD on October 16 through October 20.

During this week long immersion, participants heard the best practices from current and former college presidents and senior administrators. Topics discussed ranged from the Politics of Budgeting, Changes in Higher Education, Perspectives from Community College Administrators, and How to Be an Effective Candidate. Leadership Development Institute attendees hailed from New York, Florida, Texas, Maryland, Ohio, Virginia, Illinois, Missouri, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Arizona, Wisconsin, & Tennessee.

The National Council on Black American Affairs (NCBAA) believes in the development of full human potential, encourages lifelong learning for all people and acknowledges the worth of the individual. They also believe in the power of unity and the influence of the collective voice of NCBAA across community college campuses and supporting state legislature where African American students, staff, and faculty concerns need to be addressed at a more global level. The Dr. Carolyn Grubbs-Williams Institute prepares African Americans in community colleges for leadership roles to insure that the pipeline to executive level positions is fluid.

Thank you, Dr. Regina Stanback-Stroud for nominating Lasana and Lauren to attend this illustrious professional development opportunity.

Article by Lauren Ford