The College Governance Council met on Wednesday, February 28, 2018 from 2:10-4:00 pm, in Building 4, Room 4343. In attendance was Eloisa Briones, Angélica Garcia, Jacqueline Honda, Leandro Torre Mantilla, Jesse Raskin, Jennifer Taylor-Mendoza, and Christina Trujillo. Absent from the meeting was Christine Abella, Kate Browne, Michele Haggar, Regina Stanback Stroud

Approval of Minutes

The October 25, 2017 minutes was approved.
(M/C/U Christine Trujillo/Jennifer Taylor-Mendoza) Unanimously.

The Academic Senate provided the following report.

Dr. Jennifer Taylor-Mendoza will present Board Policy 6.04 and the policy and procedures regarding class cancelations at the March 1st Academic Senate meeting.

The Classified Senate provided the following report.
• Classified Public Forum–Friday, 3/2 from 12:00pm-2:00pm
o Working with the DT Co-leads and Carla Grandy in particular to help craft the agenda
o Meta-Majors Names, among other topics
• Additional Scholarship Fundraising–In addition to the baskets at the End of Year Celebration, we are holding another See’s Candy Fundraiser (ending on Wed. 3/7) to raise more funds this semester
• Theme Selected for End of Year Celebration–Fairy Tales/Connection to student musical production “Into The Woods” – May 9, 2018 – 12:00-2:00 location TBA
• Alcatraz Volunteer Day–Second of what we hope will be a reoccurring volunteer opportunity (once a semester) on Saturday, March 10th, 8:00am-12:00pm

The Associated Student Body of Skyline College provided the following report.

At the beginning of the semester, the ASSC attended its annual Winter Leadership retreat. This year’s retreat took place in Tahoe City where the students had the opportunity to learn more about their fellow council mates and to develop strong relationships with each other.
In regards of activities, the ASSC started this spring semester celebrating Valentine’s Day and Chinese Lunar New Year. The Student body is currently planning more events/activities for Women’s History Month and Asian-Pacific Islander Heritage Month. The ASSC is also getting ready for the upcoming elections. Candidate’s packets for Student Trustee as well officer’s positions have been updated.

SOCC approved the induction of Middle College Student Council. This club will represent Middle College students with the purpose of creating fundraisers for their own events. SOCC members also participated in their annual Spring Club Rush on February 28, 2018.

Vice President of Administrative Services, Eloisa Briones presented information regarding the Merger of the Skyline College Emergency Preparedness Group and the Health and Safety Committee

Skyline College currently has two separate groups that were formed to address the health and safety needs of the college community of students, faculty and staff: the Health & Safety Committee & the Emergency Response Plan Committee. The Health & Safety Committee is a governance committee. The Emergency Response Plan Committee was formed as an operational work group, but has stayed active since inception.

Membership in both groups are almost similar, i.e. The Health Center, Public Safety, Facilities, ASSC, MCPR, Office of the VP Student Services, SMT and KAD. Combining both groups will integrate the work around disaster preparedness with the charge of the Health & Safety Committee.

Health and Safety Committee (Governance Committee)
Charge: The Health and Safety Committee promotes a healthful and safe environment for staff and students, educating and training personnel in safe work practice. The committee conducts safety inspections and recommends corrective action to the College. The Committee is charged under CSEA contract (article 13. 13.6) to meet at least quarterly. A district Safety Management Committee will meet at least twice each fiscal year. The committee is to include two representatives appointed by CSEA.

Emergency Response Plan Committee (Operational Work Group)
Charge: The Emergency Response Committee develops strategies for disaster preparedness and recovery for the campus. The committee is charged with maintaining the campus Emergency Response Plan, updating contact information and the evacuation plan, providing training for the campus on emergency procedures.

Currently there is redundancy and overlap involving both groups in terms of membership, as well as commonality with topics of discussion and campus projects. Consolidating both groups into one group will present an opportunity to streamline scheduling and communication, while making available a greater number of people for committee business, providing an enriched focus on health, safety, and emergency preparedness to Skyline College.

The committee title will change to reflect the merging of both committees. The new title will be Health/Safety and Emergency Preparedness Committee. The committee will be tri-chaired by Eloisa Briones, Amory Cariadus and Jim Vangele.

(M/S/U Jesse Raskin/Leandro Torre Mantilla) Unanimously. To support the recommendation of merging the Skyline College Emergency Preparedness Group and the Health and Safety Committee.

Jacqueline Honda, Interim Dean of Planning Research and Institutional Effectiveness presented an initiative Skyline College will begin titled “A Great Place to Work”

Skyline College is applying to be one of the Chronicle of Higher Education’s 100 Great Colleges to Work For. This requires our staff, administrators and faculty to complete a survey that they generate as part of the application process. The survey is sent to all full-time faculty, all administrators, and a sample of adjunct faculty and classified staff. The survey will begin on March 19th for three weeks. There is also an internal survey that asks for additional information that the Office of the Planning Research and Institutional Effectiveness will complete with the help of the District and the President’s Cabinet. There is no guarantee we will receive the designation, but does provide the college an opportunity to learn how employees experience Skyline College.

Jessica Hurless and Carla Grandy presented the Proposed Meta-Majors Names

Jessica made a presentation of the proposed Meta-Majors names. She explained the steps that were followed in order to create the proposed names. Once the presentation concluded each constituent representative praised Jessica and the team of Administrators, Faculty and Staff of their work in creating the Meta-Majors. The presentation has been shared with Associate Students and will be presented at the Classified Senate meeting March 1st. Dr. Garcia stated that this is a monumental vote for our College Governance Council, as it is the first recommendation connected to the comprehensive redesign efforts that has come through the Design Team.
Dr. Garcia asked for a motion to support the four Meta-Majors Names.

(M/C/U Leandro Torre Mantilla/ Christina Trujillo) Unanimously

Announcements

Dr. Angélica Garcia announced that Skyline College is taking lead with submitting a district wide grant proposal for the Innovation in Higher Education Grant to scale an evidence-based practice. The grant proposal seeks $4 million dollars, which includes scaling the Promise Scholars Program across the SMCCCD, as well as enhance Dual/Concurrent Enrollment efforts with local high school partners over a performance period of 3 years.

The committee decided that the March 28th College Governance Committee will be canceled due to Spring Break. If there is an important item that needs discussion by the CGC, then Dr. Stanback Stroud will call a special meeting to discuss the topic. Otherwise, the next meeting is April 25, 2018.

Adjourn

(M/S/U Dr. Jennifer Taylor-Mendoza and Eloisa Briones) Unanimously.

Skyline College is proud to announce that Ellen Lee, Payroll Technician in the Administrative Services division has been named the San Mateo County Community College District nominee for the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office Classified Employee of the Year Award. Ellen was selected from 4 nominees from all three colleges and the district, to be forwarded to for the state-wide award.

The Classified Employee of the Year Award has been given out annually since May 2009 to honor community college classified employees who demonstrate the highest level of commitment to professionalism and community colleges. Recipients are nominated by members of their college/district community and endorsed by their local Board of Trustees. Award recipients are selected by representatives of the Board of Governors for California Community Colleges, the Chancellor’s Office, and the Foundation for California Community College and must have a record of outstanding performance of professional activities, as well as a record of active participation on campus and beyond.
According to her nomination:

“As a payroll technician, Ellen Lee supports the fiscal integrity of the college to be able to provide programs and services for students to navigate college successfully. She is the last point of contact from the college to the district – bearing a tremendous responsibility for accuracy so that people’s lives are not disrupted by bureaucratic mix-ups. Her ability to anticipate issues, correct problems, catch the details that have the potential of either helping or hurting employees is done consistently with accuracy and excellence. She has performed this job for over 37 years and put in place the structures and processes to ensure excellent service to the college. In doing so, the reputation of the college is stellar. The District has confidence in the work from Ellen’s office – a much-appreciated reflection on the college as a whole.

Ellen has a deep knowledge of her job. Over the decades, she has redefined what it means to perform the work. She works well with other members of the administrative services team, the college and the district. Ellen’s style of working with others is always professional and above reproach with an undeniable sense of high ethics and integrity.

Ellen exemplifies the epitome of commitment and dedication to her job and profession. She goes above and beyond at the college. She works tirelessly to connect the community to the college by supporting, sponsoring or coordinating high profile community events that bring hundreds of community members onto the campus each year. She takes an active interest in the international students program and lends her cultural and language expertise to the college in serving and supporting the International Students Program. As the college hosts delegations of visitors in efforts to expand the program, Ellen volunteers to provide cultural guidance. She has voluntarily hosted tea services for visiting delegations and coached the college leadership on etiquette and protocol to maximize the impact of the visit.

Ellen has been actively engaged in the annual Asian Cultural Week activities each year, where the Skyline College Asian Studies Center in collaboration with China Dance School/Theater of San Francisco hosts a special event that brings 500-800 community members onto the campus to experience the programs, services, events, film festivals and Asian cultural showcases festivities.

Beyond the connections and service to the community through Asian Cultural Week, Ellen volunteers to serve the community by participating in the Voluntary Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Center. VITA is an IRS sponsored program that assists people who need it most, in the preparation of their income taxes. It brings millions of dollars back into the community. Ellen’s volunteering with VITA means she is able to give back to the community by lending her experience and expertise to support the service to the community. This demonstrates her strong work ethic and sense of civic involvement.

Often staff in “back office” positions are unsung. However, Ellen’s commitment to making sure the college is a well-reputed viable option for the community is evident in the views she articulates and the engagement she provides is attributed to her commitment to open access and higher education opportunities for the community.

Ellen Lee has been the invisible backbone of the administrative services component of the college.”

Congratulations Ellen, we are proud to call you a colleague and a member of the Skyline College family!

Article Compiled by Cherie Colin

Skyline College has won two awards in the 33rd Annual Educational Advertising Awards, sponsored by Higher Ed Marketing Report. The Educational Advertising Awards is the largest and most respected education marketing competition in the country.The college won Silver awards in two categories:

• Annual Report (for the 2016-2017 Annual Report)
• Outdoor Marketing (for the Skyline College Express Shuttle Wrap)

Both the Annual Report and the Shuttle Wrap (the photographic marketing on the college’s shuttle) highlight the best of Skyline College and our marketing efforts.

The annual report blended graphic design and engaging content seamlessly to tell the story of a year in the life of Skyline College. It has been used as a marketing piece for the outside community and represents a public-facing record of the college’s most impactful and inspiring accomplishments.

The shuttle wrap presents a bright, fun photographic look at the college and its students, encouraging viewers to “achieve” their goals, all on a moving piece of advertising. In addition to shuttling students to and from campus for free, the shuttle serves as a mobile point of engagement for the college, engaging in marketing outreach to the community even as it provides its functional service.

About the Educational Advertising Awards

The 33rd Annual Educational Advertising Awards is an opportunity for higher education institutions to test theirr programs and campaigns against the best in the country. A national panel of industry specialists review each piece; judging creativity, marketing execution and message impact.

Article by Connor Fitzpatrick