The Skyline College Art Gallery, in collaboration with Zawaya, presents the exhibition: The Art of Palestine from March 5 – April 10, 2020. The exhibit includes artwork, graphic design, musical instruments, textiles, and other cultural artifacts documenting the history of Palestine and the shared cultural heritage of the Palestinian people. The exhibition artwork and objects generously loaned from private collections memorialize the past and provide a framework from which to imagine a future for Palestine.

On Friday, March 6, 2020, the Aswat Ensemble will perform a free concert featuring Palestinian music at the Skyline College Theater from 7:30 – 9:00 p.m. following a reception for the art exhibition in the Skyline College Art Gallery from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. Guest performers include vocalists Samira Kharoubi and Nisreen Hajaj, and Palestinian wind instruments musician Hasan Minawei.

Aswat is a highly regarded multi-ethnic and multi-racial music ensemble that reaches out to the diverse Bay Area community with folkloric, classical, and contemporary Arab music.

The gallery exhibition, reception and concert are FREE and open to the public.

We invite the Bay Area to come and discover the history and rich artistic heritage of the Palestinian people.

Skyline College hosted a 50^th Anniversary Gala on Friday, November 15, 2019 with over 200 guests in attendance in the beautiful new Farallon Room located inside the new Environmental Science Building. Guests included students, faculty, staff and community and business members from across the county. The night was a success in raising more than $100,000 for students. These funds support the Promise Scholars Program and continue to support the innovative projects and initiatives of the President’s Innovation Fund – a mini-grant process that allows faculty and staff to launch creative and effective approaches to achieving Skyline College’s mission, vision and values. These projects continue to shape the landscape of Skyline College.

The event consisted of a cocktail hour for VIP ticket holders, a four course-meal, a program including a commemorative video, award presentations, a silent auction and dancing. Lloyd LaCuesta, retired broadcaster from KTVU served as the Master of Ceremonies for the evening. Supervisor David Canepa gave an inspirational keynote address advocating for free college and using his platform as an elected official to make a difference in the county.

Several individuals who have been instrumental in the success of the college over its 50 years were presented with the first ever Skyline Stars award. Awardees included:

• David Canepa
• Dr. Christine Case
• Greg Cochran
• Ray Hernandez
• Carolyn Livengood (posthumously)

We want to thank our headlining Gala sponsor for the evening YouTube who providing $20,000 in support and provided all 20 tickets to students so that they could attend the festivities. We’d also like to thank Supervisor Canepa who has committed $50,000 of Measure K funds to support the Promise Scholars Program, making our gala a smashing success. Other sponsors include Local Union 467 and Associated Students of Skyline College.

It is absolutely true that it takes a village to pull off a beautiful event of this scale. First we’d like to thank our partners, the San Mateo County Community Colleges Foundation under the leadership of Tykia Warden and Leila Perreras with Circle Communications who were with us every step of the way. We’d like to thank President’s Office Staff Theresa Tentes and Becky Threewit who were instrumental in the last two weeks leading up to the gala, and the incredible Marketing, Communications and Public Relations team for all their incredible work, including Connor Fitzpatrick, Brittney Sneed, Mia Coo, Soe Thura Hlaing, Mario Guzman, Marie Kyla Perez and Ricardo Coronado.

A sincere thank you, on behalf of the college to all the attendees of the gala, sponsors, donors, silent auction donors and staff that helped make the night one that will go down in history, all in support of students. Over $100,000 in funds raised and a night to celebrate the incredible opportunity we have each and every day to make a difference in a student’s life is unforgettable.

Article by Cherie Colin | Photo by Zaw Min Khant

You may have noticed a lot of excitement around campus this past week, as the accreditation peer review visit took place on September 30th to October 3rd. Eight representatives from other California Community Colleges, plus Dr. Richard Winn, President of the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC), met with dozens of individuals across our campus, including students, faculty and staff. The visit went very well, and Skyline College received a great deal of positive feedback!

So what happens next? The peer review team will submit its “External Evaluation Team Report” to the ACCJC, a 19-member decision-making body. This body will meet in January 2020 to determine the accredited status of all the colleges reviewed during the current cycle. The Commission will communicate its decision to Skyline College via an action letter, approximately 30 days after the January meeting.

While the College must wait until February 2020 to read the official report, we can start celebrating the culmination of a monumental self-evaluation and reflection process that has engaged our entire community over the past two years. Hundreds of Skyline College community members contributed to this process and should take great pride in their role. On behalf of the College leadership, I want to especially thank and recognize the team that spearheaded our highly praised Institutional Self-Evaluation Report (ISER): Accreditation Tri-Chairs Michele Haggar, William Minnich and Karen Wong, along with Chief Editor Nancy Kaplan-Biegel and Evidence Manager Belinda Chan. Congratulations to all on a job well done!

Article by Ingrid Vargas

Expand your network in ways that will lead to your dream job. The Career Readiness & Job Placement team is excited to share the following paid internship opportunities with you. Check them out—

• Arts, Languages & Communication Internships
• Business, Entrepreneurship & Management Internships

Find internship opportunities here.

How may we assist you in landing your dream job? The Career Readiness & Job Placement team is excited to share the following job opportunities with you. Check them out—

• Arts, Languages & Communication Jobs
• Business, Entrepreneurship & Management Jobs
• Society & Education Jobs
• Just-In-Time Jobs

Find job opportunities here.

Article by Steven Lopez

September was an active month at the Library for celebrating campus diversity and exercising democratic rights and freedoms!

The Learning Commons Poetry Corner Series honored LatinX Heritage Month as Professor Lucia Lachmayr hosted students for an intense hour of poetry reading and discussion. Some students read aloud from their original works.

Next,  National Voter Registration Day saw volunteers signing up scores of new student voters in the Building 5 lobby. (Didn’t make it? Stop by the Library for a California Voter Registration Form). A library book display complimented the day, showcasing literature on our nation’s voting rights struggles, past and present.

Banned Books Week activities and readings also brought scores of students to the Library to listen as faculty read and discussed such censored classics as Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, Catcher in the Rye, The Handmaid’s Tale, and a new novel called George about a transgender girl’s coming of age. 

Last but not least, Skyline College Journalism students trekked to the Library for a quick lesson in handling primary sources — those created by former Skyline students. Their real purpose? To browse decades of back issues of the Skyline Press, our former student newspaper (1969-1985), to learn Skyline’s history from a student perspective.This work will contribute to the College’s 50th anniversary celebration.

Article by Jessica Silver-Sharp

The Skyline College Strategic Planning and Allocation of Resources Committee (SPARC) met on Thursday, September 26, 2019.

The committee continued the discussion and review of possible budget scenarios that were presented at the September 12, 2019 meeting. Ingrid Vargas, Dean of Planning, Research, Innovation and Institutional Effectiveness and Paul Cassidy, Finance and Operations Manager led the discussion and provided additional information on various line items.

Committee members split into work teams and determined an allocation for their group, which was then used to develop three final budget scenarios. The next steps are for committee members to gather feedback from their constituents on the budget scenarios. SPARC will make final deliberations and a recommendation to CGC when it meets on October 10^th.

Next meeting is Thursday, October 10, 2019 from 2:10 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in Building 6, Room 6-203.

Article by Judy Hutchinson

It is an exciting time at Skyline College! The search for the next President is about to begin in October, and individuals from throughout the campus community including one community member have been named to the screening committee and approved by constituent representatives and the Interim Chancellor. These individuals were selected in close coordination with the Academic Senate, Classified Senate and leadership from the various unions, along with the executive cabinet, and they represent the incredible diversity of this college. I have to extend an incredible thanks to the multitude of people who expressed interest in serving on this critical committee – I know this passion and excitement will be reflected in the members that have been selected.

Here are a few important pieces of information about the screening committee, with more to follow shortly:

• Co-Chairs for the screening committee will be Kate Browne, Academic Senate President of Skyline College and Jamillah Moore, President of Cañada College.
• The screening committee consisting of 24 individuals will convene in early October to discuss the attributes the campus would like to find in the next President of Skyline College.
• Materials to advertise these attributes, and what type of college and district we are, will be developed in October, as well as a presidents search website.
• The campus community groups will have an opportunity for input into the desirable characteristics that will be included in the job announcement.  A survey will be forthcoming NLT October 8^th with an open forum to discuss the feedback from the survey October 15^th.  The Interim Chancellor, Mike Claire, will chair this forum.
• We anticipate completing the job announcement and posting the position nationwide in November.

In the spring semester, we will host college-wide open forums to update the campus community on the search.  First round interviews will likely begin in mid-February 2020 and finalist open forums will be held in March 2020. Please plan to participate in the open forums to ensure your voice is heard on the kind of President you would like to see for Skyline College. A new President should be named by April 2020.

I look forward to facilitating this search throughout the next several months to ensure consistent progress in a fair and balanced manner.

Article by Dr. Jannett Jackson

In order to celebrate Skyline College’s 50th Anniversary this year, the college will be hosting an Anniversary Gala Fundraiser on Friday, November 15, 2019. See the Save the Date card as tickets are now on sale.

At this event, we’d like to honor individuals who have helped to fundamentally shape and support Skyline College over the last 50 years by establishing the Skyline Stars award. Awardees will have been instrumental in helping the college succeed and can be faculty, staff or members of the community.

We invite you to submit nominations to honor deserving individuals by Tuesday, October 8, 2019 close of business! Just fill out the short ONLINE NOMINATION. The 50th Anniversary Committee will review the nominations and vote to select five awardees to be recognized at the Anniversary Gala.

Article by Cherie Colin

The Skyline College Art Gallery is showing artworks by Art Faculty through October 18, 2019. Featuring paintings, drawings, sculptures, photographs, ceramics, video installations, prints and more, the Art Gallery is open Mondays through Thursdays. Check the Gallery website or Facebook page for hours and additional exhibit information.

Viewers are warmly invited to come see the wide range of artistic practice done by current art faculty members. On exhibit are highly detailed photorealist paintings of teacups by Eileen David, whimsically complex ceramic sculptures by Tiffany Schmierer, a video war Ziggurat by Amir Esfahani, cryptic abstract paintings by Paul Bridenbaugh, elegant artist’s books and prints by Bridget Fischer, beautifully rendered paintings of discarded trash by Michael Ryan, blurred photographic images of mannequin heads by Dianne Jones, intimate figure studies by Aya Artola, a walk-in audio and visual installation by Terry Cunniff, and photographs of the human condition by Arthur Takayama.

There will be a reception for the artists on Wednesday, October 16, 2019 from 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m., featuring live musical performances by Skyline College music faculty.

Article by Paul Bridenbaugh

The Classified Senate is excited to launch its  1^st Annual Skyline College Classified Senate Student Scholarship Drive. The funds raised during this drive will give Skyline College students access to a quality education. Students will be able to use the funds to pay for tuition, fees, books and other expenses as they achieve their educational goals.

This five-week Scholarship Drive kicked off on October 1, 2019 and runs through October 31, 2019. We ask that you donate a minimum of a $15.00 one-time donation to help achieve our fundraising goal of $1,500. PLUS – All those who donate $25 or more will be entered to win a Hydroflask and a few other prizes from the Skyline College bookstore! We’ll be providing updates each week as we progress to our goal…help us blow it out of the water! Every dollar counts!

Please note: This scholarship drive will be replacing the Classified Senate’s yearly See’s Candy fundraiser. While we’re sad to see that fundraiser go, we’ve found that in recent years we were unable to meet our fundraising goals. This new fundraising model will allow us to ensure that 100% of your donations will be placed directly towards the student scholarships.

If you are able to donate towards our 1st Annual Skyline College Classified Senate Student Scholarship to help provide students a better access to higher education, please DONATE ONLINE.

Your generous contribution to support our students is greatly appreciated!!!

Questions? Contact Sherrie Prasad.

Article by Sherrie Prasad