Dear Skyline College Community:

All Skyline College students have access to Health & Wellness Services, including health services, personal counseling, wellness educational programming and community referrals. Please take a moment to refresh yourself on the resources available to all students so that you can help refer students to the resources they may need.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, so lets work together to remove the stigma surrounding talking about mental health!

HEALTH CENTER

The Health Center is open on a drop-in basis to advise students regarding acute or chronic illnesses and injuries. We evaluate symptoms, refer if necessary to local community clinics or doctors and provide first aid for injuries or accidents.

Other services include but are not limited to immunizations, tuberculosis testing, blood work, pregnancy testing, birth control prescriptions, emergency contraception  (Plan B), testing for sexually transmitted infections, nutrition counseling, stress reduction information, crisis intervention and blood pressure evaluation.

Call (650) 738-4270 to make an appointment.

PERSONAL COUNSELING

Personal Counseling offers brief confidential individual counseling, crisis intervention, mental health and substance abuse assessments, and community referrals for FREE.

Call (650) 738-4270 to make an appointment.

Drop in counseling is available without an appointment Monday-Thursday from 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.

CARES REQUEST

If you are concerned about a student on campus or in the classroom submit an online CARES Request. The CARES Team will reach out to the student and offer on and off campus resources to support their success at Skyline College.

TITLE IX

To report sexual harassment, sexual assault, domestic or dating violence, stalking or threat of any of these committed by a student, staff, faculty or other member of the campus community, with or without filing a police report and whether on or off campus, contact the Title IX Coordinator/Deputy Coordinator by submitting an online report.

The Skyline College Strategic Planning and Allocation of Resources Committee (SPARC) met on April 23, 2019.

SPARC received an update on District Committee on Budget and Finance (DCBF) meeting held on April 16, 2019. Highlights include the Vice Chancellor of Facilities Planning and Maintenance and Operations presentation on Phase 3 of the Capital Improvement Plan.

Additionally, the 2018-2019 second period Apportionment Attendance Report showed a positive increase to the Full Time Equivalent Students (FTES) at Skyline College compared to the first period report.

Vice President of Administration, Eloisa Briones, gave a preliminary budget update showing that the Tentative Budget Site Allocation for Fund 1 was more favorable than previously anticipated.

The Committee administered a survey seeking feedback on the Comprehensive Program Review process. Feedback from the 10 programs that underwent the CPR in 2018-2019 academic year was also solicited. Survey results from both the SPARC and the CPR Completers were shared at the May 9, 2019 SPARC meeting.

Dean of Planning, Research, Innovation and Effectiveness, Ingrid Vargas, shared with the committee the proposal to align the institutional goals with the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO) Vision For Success in these areas: Completion, Transfer, Unit Accumulation, Workforce and Equity. The goals are to be achieved within five years from the base year of 2016-2017. After discussion, the committee moved to recommend the goals to the College Governance Committee.

Will Minnich, Dean of Enrollment Services and one of the Tri-Chairs of the Accreditation Steering Committee, updated the Committee on the Institutional Self Evaluation (ISER).  For more details, click here.

Further information can be found on the SPARC website.

Article by Judy Hutchinson

This semester on April 21-24, 2019, 12 Skyline College students were chosen to attend a phenomenal and rare opportunity in touring the beautiful location of New Orleans, Louisiana in pursuit of a possible destination in transferring to an HBCU.

Upon this trip the students, soon to be transfers, were able to capture the essence of how an HBCU  (Historical Black Colleges and Universities) could impact their decision-making by giving a wide spectrum of education and culture. Students were able to engage in conversations while networking closely with staff, faculty and administration of each HBCU, as well as enjoying every aspect of each culturally enriched college and university.

Delighted with New Orleans southern hospitality, each Skyline College student was exposed to daily activities, clubs, diversity and the impact of each campus’s strong community, which can vitally play a key role in a student’s success.

Coming back from New Orleans HBCU tour, the majority of the Skyline College students took back a piece of that southern hospitality by bridging together as a small community within itself. Most students were culturally moved as well as inspired to apply to some of these HBCUs. It is evident that being able to attend this tour, it really opened up each student’s mind to a possibility of transferring to a four-year university being of an HBCU. Upon returning back to Skyline College each of these chosen 12 students were enlightened with more of the logistics as to what an HBCU is about leading them to reflect on what this wonderful experience did for them.

Here is a quote of one of the student’s experiences:

“At first I did not have a clear idea or enough information to know the importance of what an HBCU really stood for and what it offered to its students. Being a part of this outstanding experience really opened my eyes up to all that I was unaware of being a soon to transfer student.

Not only was New Orleans full of historical memorabilia, there was a strong value in the word “Community”. Seeing the unity and equality that was bestowed within the culture of this HBCU tour definitely made me reconsider my options of transferring to a school in California to considering building my brand as well as being amongst such a modest environment at an HBCU in New Orleans, LA.

“Home is where the heart is” that comes to mind to me as there was a strong feeling of being at home visiting each HBCU campus. I, myself can honestly say that this tour changed my perspective in all aspects as to what the right fit could be for me when applying to transfer.

Experiencing the HBCU tour has been life changing, and this summer of 2019, I will be applying for two of the HBCU schools in hopes to set myself up for the ultimate goal, which is success!

Thank you to the coordinator of the HBCU trip – Brianna Clay (Trio/Promise Counselor), Michael Stokes (Director of TriO), and Ernesto Hernandez (Transfer Center Program Service Coordinator) for this unforgettable experience and to the future attendees of the future HBCU tours to come, this is a life changing experience in setting yourself up to make dreams come true”.

– Erick Savon McFadyen, Skyline College student participant.

Please see click this link to watch the unforgettable memories of our HBCU tour in New Orleans, Louisiana. Video credits – Kaelynn Malani (Skyline College student participant)

Article by Erick McFadyen | Photo by Kaelynn Malani

This summer, Prakriti Pradhan from Nepal is one of five community college students nationwide who have been selected for a fellowship through Base 11, a non-profit organization that aims to bridge the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) gap by providing opportunities to talented college and high school students who are part of underrepresented groups in the STEM field.

Prakriti will do her fellowship at the Autonomous Systems Engineering Academy Program through the University of California, Irvine (UCI)’s Henry Samueli School of Engineering. For eight weeks this summer, she will live on the UCI campus and work in teams with graduate and undergraduate UCI engineering and computer science students to learn about designing, building and flying a drone.

Under their mentorship, Prakriti will learn about aerospace design, computer-aided design, 3D printing and basic electronics and fabrication techniques. She will be able to apply this newfound knowledge to mini projects. On top of that, she will also build her knowledge in creating business plans, rapid-prototyping and working in a team to problem-solve.

Prakriti is excited for this opportunity because she will be able to apply the knowledge that she has learned at Skyline College in a practical way and gain lots of practical experience. She is especially thankful to her professor, Maryam Khan, and her academic counselor, Carlos Romero, for encouraging her to apply to this fellowship.

Article and Photo by Clair Yeo-Sugajski

On Tuesday, April 30, 2019, the International Student Program held its second Global Extravaganza event due in part to the success of the first one. This event was organized to celebrate all the talent that Skyline College’s international community has to offer and to give a platform for a Taiko drumming group, San Mateo Buddhist Temple Taiko, to showcase their talents.

It was an enriching and educational event with cultural showcases from all around the world. Students represented their own countries to share aspects of their culture such as traditional games and language. The participants were able to learn how to play games from various places from Africa to South Korea, about traditional make-up from Myanmar and Nepal, the Samba and different languages from Cambodian to French. The Tuho game from South Korea was particularly popular because one had the chance to win Korean goodies to munch on.

The main event was the Taiko drumming group who filled the quad with the sounds of Japan thundering from their drums. The audience was enthralled by the energy and enthusiasm of the drummers. When the call came for audience participation, many people eagerly jumped up to get their chance to try out the Taiko drums. Soon, they were drumming away as if they had always been part of the Taiko group. It was truly a magical experience that brought the Skyline College community together!

Article and Photo by Clair Yeo-Sugajski

The PACE Learning Community* held its annual End-of-the-Year Celebration on Thursday, May 2, 2019 in the Multicultural Center. Two cohorts of PACE students and faculty as well as their families gathered to celebrate their accomplishments and to commemorate the people who have supported them in their educational journeys.

The hit of the evening was the potluck of foods from around the world, featuring dishes such as Burmese coconut noodles, Peruvian lomo saltado, and konafa, a dessert from Yemen. The MCs for the evening, PACE students Aaron Peng and Carolina Fernandez, began the evening with a warm welcome.  Faculty and students then gave speeches about their experiences learning and being part of the PACE Community. Marcela Rivera, from El Salvador, spoke about her journey of becoming educated, her mother’s support and the difficulties of balancing school, work and home life. Wanchai Chuangsamrong, from Thailand, shared how education empowered him and the tremendous work he went through to get to where he is today. PACE graduates and transfer students were also honored at this event and given the red, gold and white PACE graduation cord as a token of their participation in the learning community. The evening concluded with a slideshow to music curated by PACE student Adrian Kubitzki.

This event was a celebration of the diversity that makes our learning community and campus special. The co-coordinators of PACE, Erinn Struss and Serena Chu-Mraz, would like to thank all those who have supported PACE and made this event possible.

*The PACE (Proficiency in American Culture and English) Learning Community brings together English language learners and dedicated faculty and staff in a four-semester series of linked classes starting with ESOL 840 and culminating in ENGL 110. 

Article by Serena Chu-Mraz and Erinn Struss | Photo by Christopher Mraz