The Skyline College Legal Clinic, located in the SparkPoint Center, aspires to meet the unmet needs for access to legal information by our community.

Since 2014, under the direction of supervising attorney Maria Segarra, the Clinic has served Skyline College students, faculty, and staff, as well as other members of our community.

As envisioned, the clinic will help bridge the justice gap by providing access to legal services for under-resourced members of the local community. Since late in Fall 2016, the clinic has seen a noticeable increase in the number of students who come to the Clinic to ask questions about their immigration status and to voice fears of deportation. This investment in our community allows the Clinic to be an integral part of holistic services to students by providing free and confidential legal information on immigration matters, SparkPoint helps students stay safe and on track to meet their educational goals.

As clinic supervisor Maria Segarra stated, “As an immigrant, I know what it feels like to be afraid, to be uncertain, and to worry about what the future holds.  I hope that together with the Dream Center, Sparkpoint, and Skyline College, we can provide a safe and caring place for undocumented students, families, and community members. We are here to serve.”

The clinic is open to students, staff, and the public. For appointments, go https://tinyurl.com/skylegalclinic.  All consultations are free and confidential.  For questions or information, please contact SparkPoint at 650.738.7035.

For more information on the clinic and the many invaluable people who made this work possible, please see this article.

Article by Chad Thompson

Please join the Global Learning Programs and Services Division as we welcome our two new team members, Kimiko Petsche and Joseph Jaballa. They will be serving as Office Assistants for the U.S. Passport Office at Skyline College.

Kimiko (pictured left) brings a great deal of experience to the position and to the division. She received her Bachelor’s of Arts degree in Consumer and Family Sciences from San Francisco State University and worked as a Youth Access Point Program Coordinator for New Door Ventures – a community-based nonprofit agency in San Francisco that focuses on youth development strategies to help young people discover and achieve their potential. In addition, Kimiko is starting a graduate program in Education with a concentration in Equity and Social Justice at San Francisco State University.

Joseph (pictured right) comes to the division with a wealth of knowledge having worked in a number of departments at Skyline College: Guardian Scholars Program, the Counseling Division, the Learning Center and as an Office Assistant for the Promise Scholars Program. Joseph earned his Associate’s degree in Business Administration from Skyline College and transferred to San Francisco State University where he is working on his Bachelor’s in Business Administration.

We are excited to have them both on board. Please make sure to say hello and (officially) welcome them to the Skyline College family!

A recipient of Skyline College’s President’s Innovation Fund in 2017-2018 and housed in the Global Learning Programs and Services Division, the U.S. Passport Office at Skyline College has served over 4,500 members of the community with their U.S. passport processing needs.  For questions about this service, please contact Zaid Ghori, Director of Special International Programs, at (650) 738-4252 or email skylinepassportservices@smccd.edu.  To schedule a passport application appointment, visit skylinecollege.edu/passport.

Article by Zaid Ghori | Photo by Zaw Min Khant

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory is a world-renowned laboratory with research opportunities in physics, chemistry, biology, materials and environmental sciences, astrophysics, scientific computing, and many engineering fields. SLAC’s summer internship program offers exciting opportunities for undergraduate students majoring in these fields to conduct research. This past Tuesday, Dr. Enrique Cuellar presented to a group of 30 Skyline College students and staff about this program.  More information about this program can be found here. Applications for the summer start in October with the deadline in January. Dr. Cuellar encouraged students to call him directly if they have questions.

The schedule for this semester’s Science in Action Seminar series can be found at skylinecollege.edu/scienceinaction. Science|Math|Technology Division’s Program Services Coordinator, Alyssa Wong-Conway is helping maintain the website and inviting speakers. The Science in Action Seminar series is meant to help students determine what they will do next in their career. Often, a student is just focused on the next paper, the next final or which institution to transfer to next. With the Science in Action Seminar series, we have invited a number of professionals in fields such as biology and physics to talk about their professional experience and educational path. Many of the speakers were past students at Skyline College. Some are working at universities as faculty or technicians, some may own their own company. In all, these speakers are here to talk to you and share how they got to where they are at now. Come and join our discussions and think about what you want to do next.

Science in Action Lecture Series meets every Tuesday from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in Building 7, Room 7106. Light snacks and a small coffee card raffle will be offered.  We will be moving to the STEM center on October 15, 2019. Pictured from left to right: Will Kettle, Michael Ung, Dr. Enrique Cuellar, Michael Lam, Nick Langhoff,  Emilie Hein and Jenny Le.

Article and Photo by Nick Kapp

We are thrilled to announce that construction on the new Environmental Science Building is on track for completion in September 2019!

You are cordially invited to join us for the official Environmental Science Building Ribbon Cutting and 50^th Anniversary Celebration on Tuesday, September 24, 2019 at 2:00 p.m. in the Farallon Room, Building 12. Enjoy a short program, hors d’ouvres, building tours, student work in environmental science and more!

Please RSVP to Cherie Colin by September 16, 2019 at skymarketing@smccd.edu or (650) 738-4346.

On Friday, August 16, 2019, students who participated in the Summer 2019 Global Internship Program shared their experience interning abroad for two months with students, faculty, staff and members of the community. The event was held in the Bayview Alcove at the College of San Mateo.

In support of goals to internationalize the educational experience, the SMCCCD Study Abroad Office offers students from Skyline College, Cañada College, and College of San Mateo the opportunity to participate in two-month academic internships around the world in a variety of fields such as business and marketing, engineering, health sciences, communications, computer science, social work, and more. This summer, 19 students interned in the following cities around the world: Santiago, Prague, Dublin, Madrid, Cape Town, Hong Kong, New York, and here in the San Francisco Bay Area.

In addition to hands-on learning in supervised, academic internships, students enrolled in a 3-unit Skyline College course—Global Identity and Professional Development—taught by Skyline College Sociology Professor, Rika Fabian. This course was designed to provide global interns a structured opportunity to understand, reflect on, and articulate their multi-layered experiences in their host country, as well as to develop their professional portfolio. Michelle Pineda, a student at Cañada College who interned at Be Madrid this summer, explained that she “became more confident with [her] career aspirations, gained international connections, and real-life experience.”

Many students who participated in the SMCCCD Global Internship Program received scholarships toward their program fees, made possible by the generous support of the Skyline College President’s Innovation Fund and the California Community Colleges Strong Workforce Program.

We also want to congratulate Skyline College student Jaron Dow, Cañada College student Martov Alvarez, and College of San Mateo students Aaron Wilson and Malik Griffin, who all received the U.S. Department of State’s prestigious Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to participate in the Global Internship Program.

The Global Internship Program is a part of SMCCCD Study Abroad, housed in the Global Learning Programs and Services Division at Skyline College.  For more information about studying or interning abroad, faculty teach abroad opportunities, travel for lifelong learners, visiting international faculty presenters and student scholarship opportunities, please contact Zaid Ghori at (650) 738-7088 or ghoriz@smccd.edu or Stephanie Wells at (650) 738-7159 or wellss@smccd.edu. You can also learn more by visiting the SMCCD Study Abroad Facebook page or Instagram page @smcccd_study_abroad.

Article and Photo by Stephanie Wells

Over this past summer, two women engineering students were awarded the Marie. A. Calderilla Scholarship from the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. The students are receiving up to $15,000 over the course of three semesters. Christal Nevarez is pursuing Environmental Engineering, and Marie Kyla Perez is studying Computer Science.

Christal (pictured right) is prevalent in our MESA Center and holds a strong presence in our student community. Christal assists with mathematics courses as a Peer Instructional Leader, tutoring and leading Academic Excellence Workshops designed to enhance the learning experience for STEM courses and increase academic engagement and success for concurrent students in calculus as well as accelerated trigonometry and pre-calculus.

Marie (pictured left) is a student assistant for Skyline College’s office of Marketing, Communications and Public Relations (MCPR) where she designs promotional material for campus events and programs as well as help manage Skyline College’s website content. Marie values the merit of accessible education and will continue to be active in enriching her overall education by engaging in community events and programs. This was indicative during this past summer when she participated in SMCCD’s Study Abroad Program where she studied cultural anthropology abroad in Brazil with a focus on the Brazilian roots of hip hop.

Christal and Marie are both quite active in campus community engagement. Serving as President of Skyline College’s Women and Science and Engineering Represent! (WISER!) club, Christal has led workshops and group discussions to empower her fellow female STEM students to have a stronger presence in the classroom. This semester, Marie is preparing to run for Commissioner of Publicity for the Associated Students of Skyline College (ASSC).

They both serve as role models for on board female STEM students at Skyline College. They are active members in student driven engineering communities including MESA (Math Engineering Science Achievement), and the Engineering and Technology Scholars Learning Community. Through WISER!, Christal is assisting on the development of a middle school mentorship program ‘STEMpals’ with the objective to inspire more young women to achieve their dreams and tackle societal barriers in the pursuit of an engineering future.

The scholarship’s aim is towards helping women in SMCCD advance through college. Up to 15 scholarships are given annually to female students from San Mateo or San Mateo County who are pursuing their first undergraduate degree or certificate and are planning to attend a college in the San Mateo County Community College District. The selection committee looks for academic promise, women who have demonstrated that they are committed to obtaining an education, and personal characteristics such as honestly, good judgement and perseverance. This program was established in 2007 through a generous gift from Marie A. Calderilla who believed deeply in the importance of education.

Marie is thankful for the financial support to ease her family’s financial stresses and is looking forward to more opportunities for growth and success. As a first-generation college student, Christal is thankful for the opportunity of the financial support so that she may pursue her goals in becoming an Environmental Engineer and support her family.

Article by Maryam Khan

The Bay Area Entrepreneur Center provides no and low-cost resources to local businesses, start-ups, students and community organizations. The BAEC has formed an exciting partnership with a local organization, the San Bruno Chamber of Commerce, in support of local business and community initiatives on San Mateo Avenue and throughout the City. This past May, the San Bruno Chamber Board of Directors elected Pcyeta Stroud, of the BAEC, as Board President of the San Bruno Chamber.

This new leadership will help further enhance the connection the Chamber has to the local business community and increase access and opportunities forSkyline College students. The BAEC has events coming up this fall; each one will present new ways to engage with local businesses including the San Bruno Chamber of Commerce. Be on the lookout!

For more information on  BAEC, please contact baec@smccd.edu or visit us at skylinebaec.org, or come see us in person! We are located at 458 San Mateo Avenue, in downtown San Bruno.

Article by Sam Panganiban

Every semester the Bay Area Entrepreneur Center (BAEC) welcomes eager and proactive students to join the Internship Job shadow Program.  They don’t make coffee runs…or simply make copies, they dive into the work and bring their fresh perspective and expertise as students, to the table.

This past summer the BAEC hosted its largest cohort of student interns, to date, with job shadow placements all over campus and with a local business in San Bruno. The Internship Job Shadow Program provides students with opportunities to learn in a hands-on environment as well as resources to build their knowledge and resume. With an increase in student interns, we were able to assist students with multiple job placements on and off campus.

If your program is interested in hosting a student intern this fall, please let us know!

The Bay Area Entrepreneur Center is a hub of resources for all students and entrepreneurs looking to start and grow their business or idea.

Questions? Interest? Contact us at baec@smccd.edu, (650) 738-7994, or visit us at skylinebaec.org.

Article by Nicole Moreno-Deinzer and Pcyeta Stroud

A team of installers will be coming to Skyline College from August 30th at the earliest through September 9th at the latest installing small devices on power outlets. Many of the spaces throughout our campus have been identified as an excellent fit to participate in an exciting grant funded project from the California Energy Commission that will help us save energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and inform how we can use energy more responsibly on campus.

In aggregate, “plug loads” as they are called, consume an immense amount of energy. Currently we have no way to monitor, assess and adjust usage of devices that are plugged in. To address this, the District Sustainability Team is working with Willdan, one of Facilities’ most trusted partners, and the California Conservation Corps to install plug load monitoring devices.

The devices we will be installing, Embertec Emberstrip and Ibis Intellisockets, monitor energy usage and reduce power to plugged in devices during unoccupied periods and allow end users to view data via an online dashboard which generates real time energy data. Please be aware that these devices collect no personal information nor keep a log of what a user is doing and have been thoroughly vetted by ITS to be safe for use on campus.

Where will we be installing?:

• Buildings 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

When we will be installing?:

• 6:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Monday – Friday

What we need from faculty and staff:

1. To install the Emberstrips, we ask that computers will need to be shut off and unplugged for a maximum of 15 minutes. We will not shutdown a user’s computer if they are not present. Please save all work and shutdown your computer before leaving their workstation for long periods during the installation.
2. When installing the Ibis sockets, devices (including printers and copiers) will be temporarily unplugged.

Thank you so much for your cooperation and assistance! For more information, reference this flyer. If you have any questions or concerns regarding communication and/or installation, contact Utility & Sustainability Specialist, Issac Knipfing at (650) 358-6819 or at knipfingi@smccd.edu.

Article by Issac Knipfing

On Saturday, August 17, 2019, the San Mateo County Community College District (SMCCCD) Study Abroad Program participated in the Northern California Study Abroad Consortium (NCSAC) Pre-Departure Orientation at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill. The orientation was in preparation for students’ upcoming semester abroad in Barcelona, Spain. SMCCCD will send 13 students to Barcelona for the Fall 2019 semester as part of a cohort of 88 students from the consortium. Faculty and students depart for Barcelona on September 7, 2019 and return December 6, 2019. Other participating districts include Contra Costa Community College District, Los Rios Community College District and Santa Rosa Junior College. The program is offered in partnership with the American Institute for Foreign Study (AIFS). San Mateo County Community College District has participated in the consortium since 1986.

This semester, students in the program will have the opportunity to take courses in Spanish, Linguistics, History, Biology, and English. Cañada College Spanish professor, Monica Malamud, will teach four courses in Barcelona: Intro to Linguistics, Spanish Conversation through Film, Spanish for Heritage Speakers, and Spanish Life and Culture. Students enrolled in her courses have expressed excitement to improve their Spanish while being immersed in the language and culture of Spain. Malamud has arranged to hold many of her classes inside the museums of Barcelona.

We want to congratulate Leila Rofii from College of San Mateo, who received the prestigious U.S. Department of State’s Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship and the AIFS Ambassador scholarship. We also want to congratulate Lucia Moock and Rodrigo Cuellar from Skyline College and Christopher Knoblock from College of San Mateo, who were selected to receive scholarships from AIFS. As part of their scholarships, they will share their experiences in Barcelona with fellow students when they return to campus next semester.

SMCCCD Study Abroad is the district-wide study abroad program housed in the Global Learning Programs and Services Division at Skyline College.  For more information about studying or interning abroad, faculty teach abroad opportunities, community travel for lifelong learners, visiting international faculty presenters and student scholarship opportunities, please contact Zaid Ghori at ghoriz@smccd.edu or Stephanie Wells at wellss@smccd.edu. You can also learn more by visiting the SMCCD Study Abroad Facebook page or Instagram page @smcccd_study_abroad.

Article and Photo by Stephanie Wells