Monthly Archives: February 2018

New Scholarships Awarded For Study Abroad

The Study Abroad Office would like to congratulate two more Skyline College students who have received scholarships to study abroad this summer!

Pearl Ibeanusi and Xueyan Cai have been awarded the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to study abroad, in addition to the IIE Generation Study Abroad Travel Grant they received last November. Ibeanusi will be studying Intercultural Communication for two-and-a-half weeks in South Africa with Skyline Professor Danielle Powell, and Cai will be participating in the SMCCCD Global Internship Program for two months in Hong Kong this summer.

Both Ibeanusi and Cai submitted early applications for these scholarships; however, it is not too late for students who are considering studying abroad this summer.

Applications for both the Gilman Scholarship and the IIE Generation Study Abroad Travel Grant are now open for summer and fall 2018 programs! Applications close March 6, 2018.

The Study Abroad Office is collaborating with the Learning Center at Skyline to offer Scholarships for Study Abroad Workshops throughout the month of February. Students will learn about the SMCCCD Study Abroad Programs, scholarships they may be eligible for, and creating a strong personal statement and application.

Scholarships for Study Abroad | Application Workshops:

Wed. Feb. 7, 3:30 – 5:00 PM, Library Classroom, Bldg 5, 2nd floor

Mon. Feb. 12, 9:00 – 10:00 AM, Bldg 5-102

Thurs. Feb. 15, 11:30 – 12:30 PM, Bldg 5-102

Wed. Feb. 21, 3:30-4:30 PM, Bldg 5-102

Tues. Feb. 27, 4:30 – 5:30 PM, Bldg 5-102

*Some scholarships are for Federal Pell Grant Recipients only. We recommend visiting the Financial Aid Office prior to the workshop if a student is unsure if they are receiving the Federal Pell Grant.

If you have any questions about SMCCCD Study Abroad programs or scholarship opportunities, please contact the Study Abroad Office at 650.738.7098 or studyabroad@smccd.edu. You can also learn more about our summer and fall programs by visiting https://smccd.edu/studyabroad/.

Learn more about the Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship and the IIE Generation Study Abroad Travel Grant at the respective links.

Article by Stephanie Wells | Photos by Stephanie Wells and Emma Briones

Save The Date For Earth Day In Pacifica

The Earth Day of Action VIP Tour and EcoFest is set for Saturday, April 21, at Linda Mar State Beach, Pacifica. This year the focus is on sea stars.

The Pacifica Beach Coalition hope you’ll be able to spend some time celebrating our environment and our accomplishments.

In 2017, over 12,000 Pacifica Beach Coalition volunteers collected 10 tons of trash, 2.5 tons of recycles, and 25 tons of green waste.  That’s over 75,000 pounds of garbage and​ weeds removed from our city’s beaches, streets, and open spaces!   We also counted 205,000 cigarette butts collected via the cleanups and at our collections stations.

We hope to find less of everything this year and would love to show you how we plan to do just that.

Come celebrate with us!

You may also be interested in our upcoming Surf Movie Night on Feb. 9 at the Mildred Owen Concert Hall, 1220 Linda Mar, Pacifica. We will host a screening of “Ocean Driven” from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Professional surfers will be our special guests, prizes will be raffled, and refreshments will be offered for sale.

 Article by Karen Gorman

ACCJC Vice President Dr. Steven Reynolds visits Skyline College!

ACCJC Vice President, Dr. Steven Reynolds, was on campus to discuss the Accreditation Self-Study with our steering committee and writers on Tuesday, Februrary 6th. The ACCJC has changed the accreditation process by assigning a VP as a liaison to each campus. Dr. Reynolds will be Skyline College’s ACCJC liaison. The audience had the opportunity to ask questions and get clarification about the writing process.

Several of the accreditation tri-chairs will attend the Accreditation Institute February 22-24th in Anaheim, as we continue to learn more about accreditation and support our college as we undergo writing our self-evaluation.

Article by Jacqueline Honda, Ed.D. | Photo by Zaw Min Khant

 

 

Skyline College Represented At The Aggie MUN IV Conference

The Skyline College Model United Nations (MUN) team participated in the Aggie MUN IV Model UN conference at the Grand Sheraton hotel in Sacramento on February 1, 2018.

Skyline College MUN is a parliamentary debate team that competes against other universities at regional conferences where they attempt to solve global issues in the style of the United Nations. Committees include crisis, specialized, and General Assembly formats, and discussion topics ranged from historical scenarios to fantasy simulations to the most recent current events.

The Aggie MUN IV conference featured teams from all over California, including such prestigious universities as UCLA, Berkeley, USC, and Stanford. The best delegate in each committee is awarded the gavel in the closing ceremony after the final session of debate.

While our team didn’t bring home any gavels from this conference, Skyline College student Lucas Lazaro was recognized during the closing ceremony with a verbal commendation for his performance in the Magical United Nations, a fantasy simulation committee that debated global issues within the wizarding world of Harry Potter.

For this conference, the Skyline College MUN team also featured three students from the Skyline’s Middle College community, including two current high school seniors and one alumni who is now a fulltime Skyline college student.

“It was really fun, but really stressful too.” Middle College senior Ana Giulia Serra said. “It was the first time I’ve ever experienced such competitiveness. All of the students participating were so passionate about what they were saying. They were so intelligent too. I feel like I did well for my first time, and I’m looking forward to attending the UC Berkeley Conference next month.”

Skyline MUN actively welcomes new members who are interested in participating in debate both locally in weekly meetings at Skyline College, as well as those interested in travelling to participate in regional conferences and competitions. Please e-mail skylinemun@gmail.com for more information.

Article by Timothy Rottenberg

Informational Open Forum on Capital Improvement Projects

Environmental Science Building 2The next several years are bringing exciting changes to the Skyline College campus. A number of major capital improvements will ensure we continue to meet the ever-changing needs of our students, faculty and staff with state-of-the-art facilities.

Join us for an Informational Open Forum on Wednesday, February 7, from 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. in the Fireside Dining Room to learn more about each of these projects.

The open forum will feature tabletop displays and detailed presentations by SMCCCD planners including Director of Capital Projects Chris Strugar-Fritsch, and Construction Campus Manager Glenn Claycomb. All students, faculty and staff are encouraged to attend.

The new facilities include a new Environmental Science Building designed to capitalize on Skyline College’s unique location overlooking the Pacific Ocean and a new Social Science and Creative Arts Complex that will establish an inviting gateway to an expanded central quad.

These projects will inevitably have impact in terms of parking, road closures, office relocations and construction noise. The Town Hall will cover the latest news on these impacts.

Please attend the Town Hall to learn about the next generation of educational facilities, as we work to provide the best possible education for Skyline College students.

Technology Update: CRM Vendors Present to District

Technology Update Banner

Consulting firm Kennedy and Company continues to guide us through the discovery phase of our technology implementation to determine exactly what technologies we need as part of our college’s comprehensive redesign. They’ve already embarked on exploration by holding forums with campus stakeholders, asking questions about key needs and identifying existing holes in our capabilities that need to be filled.

Recently, Kennedy & Company invited four Customer Relationship Management (CRM) vendors to present their products to groups from all three campuses. This allowed individuals to get an initial sense of what these products could potentially offer, both from a staff and student perspective. The vendors invited to present to the district were Engage2Serve, Salesforce, Ellucian, and Enrollment RX.

About Technology & The College Redesign

Technology is a critical and integral part of every piece of our comprehensive college redesign – it will reshape how we interact with students, and how students interact with the college. The focus of the technology redesign is to architect a suite of well integrated solutions that will empower our students and campus community to support student success at scale. The combination of the College Redesign (Meta majors, Guided Pathways, and Promise Scholars Program), the technology redesign, and dedicated faculty and staff will allow us to achieve student success rates of 75% or higher.

Technology Update Timeline

Welcome Tykia Warden as Interim Director of SMCCCD Foundation

tykia wardenTykia Warden has been serving for the past several months as the Interim Executive Director of the San Mateo County Community Colleges Foundation. Skyline College extends a warm welcome and the college looks forward to working together to benefit our students.

As the Interim Executive Director, Tykia is responsible for overseeing the strategic direction, operations, financial management, and community relations of the San Mateo County Community Colleges Foundation. Tykia is a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) and directs SMCCC Foundation’s fundraising campaigns for the benefit of scholarships and special programs.

Previously, Tykia was Director of Advancement for the Smithsonian Institution and has ten years of experience in fundraising, government relations, and nonprofit management. Tykia received her bachelor’s degree in communications and African-American studies from Indiana University, Bloomington and a master’s degree in communications from Bowie State University. Tykia is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.

Article by Connor Fitzpatrick

Skyline College Scores #1 Ranking for Sustainability

UI Green Metric logoSkyline College is firmly committed to sustainability, a fact recently recognized in an international ranking. In the latest Universitas Indonesia (UI) GreenMetric World Universities Rankings 2017, Skyline College stands out as being the #1 community college in the world!

The UI GreenMetric Rankings is an international ranking that measures and scores an institution’s sustainable educational programs, facilities, and practices.  Scoring categories include: Setting and Infrastructure, Energy and Climate Change, Waste, Water, Transportation, and Education.  Globally, Skyline College ranked #360 out of 619 international participants from 75 countries.

Skyline College’s leadership and commitment to sustainability contributed to the college’s scoring and ranking.  Notable Skyline College sustainability initiatives included numerous educational programs and courses offered, public transportation and shuttle service, implementation of energy efficiency strategies, green building practices for renovation and new construction, greenhouse gas emissions inventory, Zero Waste Program, and Water Efficiency Program.

“The dedication of faculty, staff, administration, and–most importantly–students to making campus more sustainable is how Skyline College earned this recognition,” said Mary Thomasmyer, the Sustainability Coordinator at Skyline College. “The results further establish this college as a frontrunner in sustainability, which means students here have many opportunities to learn about sustainability in order to become well-rounded leaders.”

Skyline College continues to innovate and improve strategies to establish a sustainable culture on campus for our current and future students, faculty, staff, as well as the wider community.

Visit the UI GreenMetric website to learn more about this incredible accomplishment.

Article by Connor Fitzpatrick

Admissions Website Updates

Apply PageThe way students approach our admissions portal is changing. In an effort to tailor the admissions experience for the wide variety of students who apply to Skyline College, the admissions process has been broken down into segments that allow students to self-identify. The result is that students will be able to avoid doing admissions steps they do not need to do, and their admissions sequence will be tailored to the kind of student that they are, including new students, returning students, international students and high school students.

This new approach is still in initial launch, and changes will continue to be made as we roll this system out. Please feel free to try the new approach out and provide any feedback you may have to Connor Fitzpatrick or Dean Will Minnich.

We hope this new approach will safe students time and streamline the process for Admissions staff.

Article by Connor Fitzpatrick

Dr. Stanback Stroud Featured in Forbes Online

Skyline College President, Dr. Regina Stanback Stroud was recently featured in Forbes magazine’s Civic Nation column as a guest contributor. The article, in full, is below:

The Skyline College Promise Is Helping More Students Complete Their Education. Here’s How.

At Skyline College, we understand and fundamentally believe completing college is the most significant step people can take to improve their life circumstances. We know that the basics of higher education can pose big challenges—paying for college, choosing a major, sequencing courses into a successful pathway—these are all barriers that can throw students off. The truth is, fewer than half of the students who start college with the intention to complete their education ever finish.

That’s an unacceptable reality. The Skyline College Promise is our commitment to directly address that reality and deliver an education experience designed for students to finish college.

To do that, we are redesigning our processes, programs, and services, so applying will be streamlined, students will get proactive academic and social support as they progress through college, and the path to completion will be clear and efficient. Our Promise means more people will be able to pursue education as a means to personal agency, enfranchisement, and prosperity for themselves, their families, and their communities.

And we are making this commitment to ALL students.

We began this work in the same way we advise students to begin: by doing research. Skyline College found inspiration in the incredible work being done at the City University of New York (CUNY) through their Accelerated Study in Associate Programs, the ASAP program. That work, launched 10 years ago and designed to streamline student pathways to success, has doubled graduation rates for students enrolled in the program.

Those results speak clearly—something is working. Luckily, the innovators at CUNY recognize that great ideas shouldn’t live in silos. We studied their model, traveled to New York, and partnered with a CUNY team to understand their vision and were chosen to replicate the proven model. Thanks to their transparency, Skyline College didn’t need to reinvent the wheel; we were able to begin the work of repurposing it to fit the needs of our own institution with the support of a grant from the Arnold Foundation.

For us, that means a comprehensive redesign of our college—creating signature approaches that actively remove student barriers to success through intentional and impactful design. It’s a three-pronged approach that looks like this:

1) The Promise Scholars Program

The Promise Scholars Program is designed to eliminate barriers that often keep first-year students from the strong start associated with completing college. Students’ college fees are covered, they have access to laptops, a lending library, and an intensive summer bridge program, and they receive dedicated counseling support throughout the year.

We’re already seeing results in students like Naomi Quizon who acknowledged that the question of how she was going to pay for college weighed heavily on her during high school.

“With the Scholars Program,” says Naomi, “we can go to class, study, meet new friends, find faculty mentors, and do all this without having to worry about how we are going to pay that first year of fees.”

In its first year, the program served 140 students who demonstrated an 86.3% persistence rate, significantly higher than the 62.4% persistence rate of the comparison group.

2) Contemporary Teaching

Students who love their classes stay in school, and teachers co-create the attraction. So we’re integrating equity-centered teaching strategies—relevant teaching built on best practices and critical consciousness—to make classes more engaging and effective.

New training for faculty and staff infuses our approach to pedagogy with cultural fluency and digital savvy. And our comprehensive diversity framework applies an equity lens to our teaching practices, strengthening connections across the diverse Skyline College student population.

3) Guided Pathways

Guided pathways support students in declaring a major, encouraging them to connect their studies to careers, and providing simple and clear requirements to finish their education. Guided pathways solve a common community college problem: too many programs with unclear completion tracks that inevitably lead to students taking more time, spending more money, and taking more classes than necessary.

By organizing education and career options within broad fields called meta-majors, we can make it easier for students to explore directions based on their interests and abilities. By mapping the way through programs, we optimize time and money so students can finish college.

Our actions create transformational opportunities that we’re seizing upon to make impactful changes to our college and eliminate barriers to success. This challenging and ongoing work is about intentionality and accountability, and at its heart, it constitutes the very root of our mission to put students first.

Get started building a College Promise program in your community at collegepromise.org/start.

Article by Dr. Regina Stanback Stroud