The County of San Mateo Emergency Preparedness Fair will be held at Skyline College (Lot K) on Monday, April 30, 2018, from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.  This fair showcases the ways individuals and families can prepare for and respond to emergencies, featuring first-aid, police, fire and emergency medical services and equipment demonstrations.

This event is free and open to all.  For more information, please contact Mike Richardson at (650) 363-4247 or mrichardson@smcgov.org.

Please note that the charging stations and disabled parking at Lot K will not be available on April 30.  Please use charging stations at Lot L and disabled parking at Lot M instead.

This fall, Skyline College will officially launch its four new Meta Majors, but students will begin encountering these navigational tools as soon as this month. These Meta Majors are an important part of the comprehensive college redesign, which includes developing guided pathways and meta-majors, applying impactful changes that scale transformative teaching and learning, and expanding the Promise Scholars Program.

What is a Meta Major?

Meta Majors are an easy way for students to search for and find the major that’s right for them. As they work through this process, students will be exploring academic, career and personal interests.

The four Meta Majors are:

1. Arts, Languages & Communication
2. Business, Entrepreneurship & Management
3. Science, Technology & Health
4. Society & Education

Here’s what Meta Majors do, in super simple terms:

• Meta Majors organize all the degrees and certificates at Skyline College into four categories, called Meta Majors.
• These categories provide a starting point for students who don’t know what they want to study to find a major that’s right for them.
• These categories allow students to use their interests as a starting point when selecting a major.
• Meta Majors are purely student facing – the way the college and divisions are internally organized are not dictated by the Meta Majors.

How will students interact with Meta Majors?

Students will encounter the Meta Majors at various parts of the enrollment process, including orientation, working with their counselor, and browsing for a major online. Students will be able to narrow down their degree search by selecting a Meta Major first, then selecting an area of interest within their Meta Major, and finally selecting a specific individual major.

This framework allows students who may be unsure of what they want to study to more efficiently navigate to a major that’s right for them by concentrating on their interests instead of specific academic programs. Counselors will also use the Meta Major website to work with students to help them select a major. Students will still be able to browse a full list of academic programs if they prefer.

Once a student chooses their specific major, they will use their guided pathways to complete the degree requirements of that degree or certificate.

Meta Majors are ONLY a student navigational tool, used when they are selecting their major.

How did this work get completed?

The Meta Majors are launching after extensive user testing, inquiry and hard work by faculty and staff. This work is designed to help improve the graduation rate, which hovers at about 14% for first time, full-time students over 3 years, and varies greatly across different student populations – meta majors are intended to raise this statistic by streamlining major selection.

Over the last two years, the Design Team has facilitated workshops, flex day activities, campus forums, campus-wide division meetings, work team meetings, and student focus groups that have laid the foundation for the Meta Major work.

Special thanks goes out to the Meta Majors Work Group for their intensive analysis and tireless work on this project, including the daunting task of sorting the degrees and certificates into their respective Meta Major and delivering that recommendation to the Design Team. In particular, we wish to thank the Design Team co-leads: Lorraine DeMello, Luis Escobar, Carla Grandy, Mary Gutierrez, Jessica Hurless, Mustafa Popal, and Jess Raskin.

 

 

Skyline College is hosting Legal Careers Night on Thursday, April 26, 2018, from 5:00 – 8:00 p.m. in Building 6, room 6-204.

This is a great opportunity for students and educators to learn more about law school and the different legal careers one can follow. Attendees will also have the chance to mix, mingle and network with fellow students, legal professionals, and HR representatives throughout the event.

LCN will feature two panels from professionals and hiring managers: Pathways to Law School, and Getting Started as a Paralegal.

The event is a collaboration between the Career Advancement Academy and the Paralegal Studies Department.

Dinner will be served!

Article by Jesse Raskin

Commute.org is once again sponsoring the annual Commuter Challenge to encourage commuters, college students (over 18) and residents to use public transit, shuttle, carpool, vanpool, bicycle, walk or telework, and be part of the traffic solution in San Mateo County. By signing up at my.commute.org, and logging at least one commute alternative trip, participants have a chance to win great prizes. This year’s campaign will feature weekly drawings and five grand prizes, such as an EcoReco e-scooter, $300 Clipper card, Amazon Kindle Oasis and more.

Be sure to also check out new Commute.org commuter incentives including:

• Guaranteed Ride Home program – the “commuter’s insurance”
• Carpool with Scoop and get discounted rates
• STAR Store – where you get rewarded for logging alt-mode trips to work or school.

More details are available at www.commute.org.

For questions or assistance, email alliance@commute.org.
Commute.org will also be at the “Transportation Tuesday” event on April 17, 2018 in the Quad. Be sure to stop by!
#CommuteStar
#GreeningMyCommute

Article by Gina G. Javier

Skyline College is hosting the first ever Day of Action! On May 5 and May 7, 2018.

Over one hundred students, faculty, and staff will join with community partners from the SF/Marin Food Bank, Habitat for Humanity, Glide Memorial Church, & Pacifica Beach Coalition to address food insecurity, neighborhood revitalization, public health, and environmental pollution.  This impactful educational event combines self-reflection, critical analysis, and direct engagement to support learning and positive social change on issues that impact our community.

The event was made possible by an innovative collaboration between the Service Learning Community of Practice, the Associated Students, the Office of Instruction, Academic Support & Learning Technologies, Student Equity and Support, and the Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning.

Article by Jesse Raskin

Skyline College hosted its first ever Student Success Conference on Saturday, April 7, 2018.

The Student Success Conference is designed to motivate students in their education and engage them in their campus community. The event began with a welcoming speech by Student Success Counselor and Coordinator, Alberto Santellan who helped students recognize that the challenges they may be facing are not uncommon and Skyline College has support programs to help overcome these challenges. Next was a welcome by Skyline College President, Dr. Regina Stanback Stroud who shared her own educational story which resonated with many students in attendance.

As the conference moved on, students attended two of four workshops which included: A Journey to Motivation facilitated by Carina Avalos and Alejandra Tovar, Breakthroughs to Success facilitated by Liz Llamas, The Student Success Student Panel facilitated by Raymon Gutierrez, Samantha Arban, Alexis Cancio, and Javier Montiel, and How to Get More Things Done facilitated by Kent Gomez.

“The ideas and strategies I learned from the Student Success Student Panel is to not think that I’m never going to finish school, just because my friends might have already finished and to not give up in school. Also, to get close to my counselor since they have a big impact with getting through school.” A student participant said.

Following the workshops students had lunch and engaged in a Campus Resource Fair. The Campus Resource Fair programs in attendance included: SparkPoint, The Disability Resource Center, Psychological Services, Guardian Scholars Program, Financial Aid, The Career Center, Learning Communities, Associated Students of Skyline College, The Learning Center, The Transfer Center, TriO, and The Woman’s Mentoring Leadership Program. As students ate lunch and participated in the Campus Resource Fair, 106.1 KMEL played music in the background creating an energizing feeling at the event.

The day transitioned into a keynote speech by Skyline College’s very own, Lasana Hotep. His message included the importance of education and how employers don’t disqualify students because they have a college degree. Hotep’s message quickly caught the student’s attention and it was evident many were moved and motivated by his speech.
As the event came to an end, students made a follow up counseling appointment with their counselor and participated in a drawing, prizes included movie tickets donated by 106.1 KMEL, gas cards donated by Financial Aid, and a Transfer Bag donated by The Transfer Center.

As students are in the midst of the spring 2018, many students in attendance are more aware of the campus resources available to them at Skyline College, feel more confident pursuing their educational goals, and the information and ideas from the conference will have a positive impact on their education this semester and in the future.
“The ideas and strategies I learned from A Journey to Motivation is to always remember why I started school again & to believe in myself.” A student participant from the Journey to Motivation workshop said.

This event could not have been possible without the support of the Student Success Team that includes Kwame Thomas, Anna Nguyen, Liliana Rivera, and Alberto Santellan. Workshop facilitators that include Carina Avalos and Alejandra Tovar, Liz Llamas, Raymon Gutierrez, Samantha Arban, Alexis Cancio, Javier Montiel, and Kent Gomez. Dean of Student Equity & Support Programs, Lasana Hotep. Student Success and Support Programs Coordinator, Grace Beltran. Student Assistants and Ambassadors Kathleen Robledo, Dominique Bryant-Bruce, Athena Mendoza, Samantha Tong, Calvonnia Kelly, Webster Cruz, and Erlinda Ojeda. Campus Resource Fair Representatives. Multimedia Coordinator, Roger Marcello and Bookstore Manager Kevin Chak.

Article by Alberto Santellan | Pictures by Alberto Santellan and Grace Beltran

With the Energize Colleges student internship program in its second year, a new set of eleven interns are working hard on their individual sustainability projects.

One project involves intern Paul Bernabe doing research on the campus’ fog catcher and identifying ways to collect data once fog season begins.

Paul, a computer science major, installed a data collector and a solar-powered BloomSky weather station to be able to monitor the weather and collect data on weather patterns. Skyline College has two BloomSky systems — one that was donated by the company and a second was purchased with President’s Innovation Funds. The BloomSky weather station now provides our campus and community live weather data and video, as well as archives of past videos in time lapse. After installing the data collector and weather station, Paul created a manual to share with anyone who would like to work with the fog catcher as an independent study project or future internship.

Since research surrounding fog catchers is in its infancy globally, Paul is working on a website to share information gathered from his current research. The website will not only promote the work being done at Skyline College, but it would also be a valuable resource for groups interested in fog catchers.

Check out our campus weather live! Download the “BloomSky app” on your mobile device and click on the BloomSky named “Ella”. https://www.bloomsky.com/consumer#app. To learn more about Paul’s research or the work of the other 10 Energize Colleges interns, come to the Research Symposium on April 27 in the Fireside Dining Room.

For more information, contact: Dr. Carla Grandy, Earth Sciences professor at grandyc@smccd.edu,  Alex Fuentes, Energize Colleges Program Coordinator at afuent14@my.smccd.edu and Paul Bernabe, Fog Catcher Intern at pauldanielbernabe@my.smccd.edu

Article by Alex Fuentes, Mary Thomasmeyer and Dr. Carla Grandy

Skyline College welcomed over 110 high school students and educators, to the 2nd Annual La Raza Youth Conference on March 23, 2018.

The La Raza Youth Conference was created to provide local Latinx high school students a place for cultural exploration, higher education knowledge sharing, and an opportunity for students to explore their passions.

The day kicked off with a warm welcome from Dr. Regina Stanback Stroud who encouraged the students to follow the conference’s theme of “¡Ponté las Píllas!” (Get it together!). It also featured a keynote address by Shaila Ramos, undocumented student activist, artist, and educator. Ms. Ramos shared her personal story about connecting with the different intersections of her identity. Ms. Ramos encouraged the students to connect with the different intersections of their own identity which continued into the workshop that she held later during the day.

In addition to hearing impactful words from and engaging with Ms. Ramos, students were able to build community with current Puente students and faculty, participate in engaging workshops that focused on topics important to participants, and interact with the greater Skyline College community through a program fair.

This inaugural conference hosted students from: South San Francisco High School’s Hermanos y Hermanas Program, El Camino High School, Jefferson High School, Capuchino High School, and Baden High School.

The event was made possible through the recent allotment of Student Equity Funds and the hard work and dedication of the La Raza Committee Members: Pamela Ortiz Cerda, Rocio Aguilar-Pedroza, Paula Silva, Luciana Castro, Lucia Lachmyr, Martin Marquez, Lili Rivera, Eric Imahara, and Lauren Ford. A special thank you to the Puente students, Outreach Ambassadors, Counseling Ambassadors, Student Equity and Support Program Ambassadors, and Monique Hernandez who volunteered their time. Additionally, thank you Josh Harris, Roger Marcello, and the facilities team who ensured a flawless logistical support throughout the day.

Article by Lauren Ford | Photo by Kevin Perez

 

 

During Skyline College’s Spring break, nine students were fortunate enough to attend the Historically Black College and University (HBCU) tour, chaperoned by Brianna Clay and Linda Allen.

This tour took the students to visit colleges and historical landmarks all over the Washington D.C and Baltimore area. They were able to visit four HBCU’s, namely Bowie State University, Coppin State University, Howard University and Morgan State University.

Students were kept stimulated and engaged with the wealth of knowledge and information that they received on the tour. They visited a number of museums, including the “National Great Blacks in Wax Museum” and the “National Museum of African American History and Culture” in Baltimore and Washington D.C respectively.

“I felt a sense of pride when I learned about the different people who fought for their freedom and opened doors for others to escape their imprisonment, even if it meant sacrificing their lives. It was a good reminder of how strong the human spirit is and how much pure will and passion can create change and fight for what is right. I also realized that there is a power in numbers and that when many like-minded people come together with the willingness to fight for a cause or create change, progress is sure to follow.” Naledi Mthembu said.

They also visited a few historical landmarks such as the Lincoln Memorial, The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial and Washington monument. The group also enjoyed a company visit to USA Today Newspaper Company, along with a Journalism classroom observation at Howard University with Professor Ingrid Sturgis. As they attended Morgan State University, they had an opportunity to engage in a workshop with Dr. Ray Winbush (Professor and Director of the Institute for Urban Research at Morgan State University).

Overall, the trip was a huge success. Whether the students reminisce on seeing snow for the first time or visiting their dream university, each of them came back with a bag full of good memories and moments they will never forget.

Article by Naledi Mthembu

We’d like to thank the campus for their participation in our survey efforts this semester. We have a 37% response rate for the Employee Voice Survey, and five winners were awarded $20 gift cards to the Bookstore. One winner said, “Thanks, I’ve been wanting a new Skyline sweatshirt!”

The Chronicle of Higher Education Survey is open for one more week, and so far we have a 33% response rate. If you receive the survey, please fill it out. We have an opportunity to become one of the Chronicle’s 100 Great Colleges to Work For!  The survey closes at the end of next week, so make sure to answer and show why Skyline is such a great place to work to see if we can be awarded this prestigious designation.

We will share the survey results across the campus in the coming months!

Article by Jacqueline Honda, Ed.D.