President’s Office
Dr. Susan Sperling
President’s Report to the Board of Trustees
April 19, 2016
17th Annual International Night
On Thursday, April 14, 2016 the Chabot College International Student Program together with
the International Club of Chabot College with sponsorship by the Student Senate of Chabot
College hosted the
17th Annual
International Night.
The purpose is to
share the cultures
of as many
countries as
possible through
food, song and
dance. The evening
began with a multiethnic dinner.
Everyone was
encouraged to try
something new that
they’d never eaten before. The dinner was followed by performances representing the
countries of Japan, Columbia, Africa, Polynesia, the Philippines, Sudan, South Korea and
Afghanistan. Performers were comprised of talented Chabot College Students as well as
professional dance groups from the community at large.
The event had campus wide
student participation. There was
a special multicultural medley
performance by the Chabot
Men’s Group & Special Guests
under the guidance of Chabot
Counselor/Faculty, Juztino
Panella and Daraja Counselor,
Tommy Reed. The sound
technicians for the evening were
the Students of the Chabot
College Live Concert Sound Class
under the guidance of Instructor,
Michael Rosen. The event was a
Photos by: Mavi Taway and Regina Gonzales
live practicum for the class and
they did an outstanding job. The International Students of Chabot College have come to the
United States from over 25 countries to study on the student visa. They have worked hard to
culturally adjust and this event is their way of sharing their cultures with their American host
college, fellow students and adopted community.
Chabot College
Susan Sperling, Ph.D., President
President’s Report – April 19, 2016
Page 2 of 4
Faculty Innovation Awards in Math and Science
At the Science and Mathematics Division Meeting in April, three faculty members were
awarded seed funds to pursue innovative projects. Each grant is for $1250 (Spring Semester)
with an $800 Honorable mention. The award is given based on merit and viability determined
from a submitted proposal. Thank you to Dean Tim Dave!
“Establishing a Sustainable Agriculture Center” – Debra Caldwell (Biology)
In urban areas like the communities served by Chabot College, home gardens
and urban agriculture are essential to providing food security. We built raised
beds outside the biology building to teach students about growing food. I
spent a year on sabbatical leave researching urban agriculture and in Fall,
2016 I will offer two new courses in agroecology. I have been tasked by
President Sperling with developing a degree program in Environmental Science. With the
addition of other courses in history, business, social sciences, etc., we could also develop a
degree program in Food Systems. At Chabot, we are in the process of building a center for
sustainable agriculture in the Bay Area. The center will become part of an integrated
agroecology and food justice research institute in collaboration with other programs in the
area.
“Connecting STEM Students via the Internet” – Donna Gibson (Chemistry)
The Connecting STEM Students Project has the main objective of connecting
Chabot STEM students to help them build a network that could be used to better
inform transfer decisions and/or to help with internship/career connections. The
money will be used to fund students to work on two main objectives. The first
objective would be to develop and implement a database or tracking system for
Chabot STEM transfer students. This will most likely be a website where alumni information can
be listed and accessed by other students. The second objective would be to complete a
handbook for STEM students at Chabot that was started a couple of years ago with other
funding, but never finished. This handbook (developed to be either printed or posted online)
would include information about all the STEM student Clubs, the STEM Center, our facilities,
our faculty, our courses, etc. All of the content has not been developed and this grant would
allow students to work on the both the format and the content of this handbook.
“Look with your left brain but create with your right” – Zarir Marawala
(Biology)
… I find myself repeating to students to look with their left brain but
render/draw/document with their right brain. This has been well established
in scientific literature and I found my own abilities to illustrate improved
dramatically. I want to bring this to the student at large who is afraid to
draw because they think their drawing "sucks" or because it would not give them more points.
So despite a requested drawing, they would trace their work, not realizing that the learning
happens in the process of drawing as the brain reconciles spaces and faces, and places with the
right brain and then it is evaluated by the left. I want to change the students' minds about
drawing as in anatomy, physiology, and other disciplines, drawing is more than just illustration-it is a pathway to learning.
Chabot College
Susan Sperling, Ph.D., President
President’s Report – April 19, 2016
Page 3 of 4
Alpha Gamma Sigma’s 90th Spring Convention Hosted by Chabot Chapter
Chabot’s Sigma Rho Chapter of Alpha Gamma
Sigma (California’s community college honor
society) hosted the organization’s 90th Spring
Convention. The convention took place April 810 at the San Jose DoubleTree hotel. Advisor,
Lisa Carlsen, and chapter spent hundreds of
hours in order to put together a fun and
enriching weekend for the five hundred
participants. Many fundraising activities such as
See’s Candies sales, Root Beer Float Sales and
Flea Market sales took place prior to the
Conference to offset some of the cost for our 17
students in attendance (the largest group of
Sigma Rho chapter attendees in decades!).
The weekend was kicked off by a fun Friday night program that included magician Timothy
James (LPC & AGS Alum!), group interactive and team building games, board games and two
photo booths. The robust Saturday program
included a Keynote speech from Elissa Perry, codirector of a national non-profit that fosters crossmovement social change and equity, and 21 breakout sessions, most lead by Chabot’s very own
faculty, staff and students. Topics included
leadership, transferring, medical school
applications, and effective communication for
interviews, reducing anxiety, and handling failure.
The evening comprised of an elegant award and recognition banquet and concluded with a
lively dance party. Our Sigma Rho chapter has received many accolades from peers, presenters
and other chapter advisors for their planning and organization of the conference.
The Sigma Rho Chapter recognized two stellar
students for their academic excellence and service to
club, campus and community, Franchesca Ferrer and
Ben Nash. The students of our chapter nominated
advisor Lisa Carlsen for Outstanding Advisor Award.
Sigma Rho chapter wishes to share enormous
appreciation to the Gladiator community including
presenters: Chabot Communication Lab tutors,
Chabot Forensics, Frances Fon, Francisco Zermeno,
Grace Nievarez, Jerry Egusa, Jessica Owyoung, Kari
Chabot Presenters: Jerry Egusa, Jessica Owyoung and
Kari McAllister
McAllister, Kathryn Linzmeyer, Rodolfo Macias, Sara
Parker, and Veronica Martinez. Many thanks also go
out to the AGS advisors from Las Positas, Randy Taylor, Ashley McHale and Adeliza Flores for
their wonderful cheerleading skills.
Chabot College
Susan Sperling, Ph.D., President
President’s Report – April 19, 2016
Page 4 of 4
Congratulations to All the Blue Ribbon Recipients
Chabot College faculty and staff were honored for
going “Above and Beyond” to ensure student
success. EOPS/CARE/CalWORKs students invited
“one’ Chabot faculty or staff as his/her special
guest for the day. Each special guest was
presented with a blue ribbon that read, “Who I
Am Makes a Difference” and a Certificate of
Appreciation. Thank you to EOPS/CARE &
CalWORKs programs!
2016 Blue Ribbon Nominees
Steven Ahmed...Sociology
Kathleen Allen...Disabled Student Services Program
Jason Ames...Communication Studies
Mark Anderson...English
Brian Augsburger...EOPS Counselor/Equity Event
Coordinator
Art Barboza...EOPS Specialist/SBBC
Lisa Bell...ESL
Michael Booker...EOPS Specialist
Agnelo Braganza...Biology
Emily Chan...CalWORKs Specialist
Miguel Colon...Entrepreneurship
Sean Connoly...ESL
Heather Clements...Learning Skills
Shawna Crawford...Disable Student Services Programs
Daryl Crew...Mathematics
Sandra Genera...Puente Counselor
Allison Golde...CAS
Danielle Gomes...Student Services
Antonio Gonzalez...Mathematics
Josue Hernandez...CalWORKs Specialist
Scott Hildreth...Astronomy
Kyle Ishibashi...Mathematics
Lynn Klein...Business
Kristin Land….English
Danny Le...Political Science
Cara Locke...English
Mary Lundberg….English
Cheryl Mackey.. Administration of Justice
Rachel Maldonado Aziminia...EOPS Counselor
Sean McFarland…English
Kim Morrison...Library
Martha Muros...EOPS Student Assistant
Adolph Oliver...Mathematics
Donna Orviss...Health
Arnold Paguio.. Student Life
Theresa Pedrosa...EOPS Student Assistant
Shirley Pejman...Disabled Student Services Programs
Totam Pham...Mathematics
Sylvia Ramirez...EOPS Specialist
Dan Raveica...Welding
Mark Stephens...History
Barbara Transue...English
Rachael Tupper-Eoff...Learning Connection
Monique Williams...English
Sheila Woods...English
Erik Zell...Communication Studies