CHANCELLOR’S C-DIRECT
April 27, 2016
Dear Colleagues:
Saturday was a busy day in the District, especially at Laney College. Alameda County
Supervisor Keith Carson hosted a major event, “Making Connections 3.0,” and brought
together people from throughout the community interested in making our communities
better and celebrated the successes of our past. There were over 500 individuals
registered for the event, and it was a huge success by all accounts. At the same time that
Supervisor Carson’s event was taking place, the Laney Career Technical Education
(CTE) Open House was also happening. Busloads of students came to see the programs
we offer, and many others came to participate in the numerous activities. The CTE Open
House was a tremendous success based on what I saw. As I greeted the attendees of
Making Connections 3.0, I invited them to call loved ones in need of a life-changing
experience join all of us.
Cleanup at Laney
Amy Marshall, from the Laney College Business Office, has asked all of us to participate
in activities that will not only improve Laney’s image, and that of our entire District, but
most importantly, provide a nicer place for our students. Here’s her email:
Greetings,
Please join us for the Laney College clean-up day which will take place on Saturday,
April 30, 2016 from 8 AM – 3 PM.
We will meet on the Laney Quad (located in the center of the theater, the student
center, the library and gym). Feel free to come and participate as you are able. Our
efforts will be focused on:
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Painting
Graffiti removal
Cleaning windows
Trash pick up
Planting
We’ll have all the supplies, including gloves. Family and friends are welcome!
Refreshments will be served. Please register by entering your contact information
and what time you/your group plan to participate:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CleanUP43016.
Should you have questions or need additional information, please feel free to phone
or email. See you on the 30th!
Visit to Aviation
Trustee Bonilla and I took a tour of the Aviation and Maintenance Technology Program
at the College of Alameda, and Esther Cheng provided us with an in-depth guided tour.
The Program Chair, Hoi Ko, gave us some additional information about the Program. We
were impressed with the possibilities for careers for our students and the need that
exists for their skills in many trades, in addition to Aviation. For example, BART hires
them, elevator companies hire them and small manufacturers are interested in hiring
them as well. However, as I mentioned before, our Aviation’s facilities have major needs
and lack the resources to make the Program function at its peak, but despite our
challenges, we continue to serve our students.
Eco-Fest
Congratulations to the Sustainability
Committee for hosting a very good Eco-Fest
Program. Many people on the Committee
worked hard to make the event a success. To
Eric Smith with the Star-Spangled Banner,
Charles Neal, Chandevy Eng and others who
organized the Program and recruited
speakers and vendors, and to the
entertainers and different booth
representatives, I say thank you. Several
Academic Departments and Programs were on hand from different Colleges. Thank you
all, and thank you to those who contributed to the success of the event. Trustees Handy
and González Yuen were on hand to support the event as well.
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Port of Oakland Conversation
Our Presidents, supported by key staff, met with the Port
of Oakland Director for Social Responsibility and
Community Outreach, Amy Tharpe. As a follow-up to the
meeting at the Port where we learned more about what
the Port does, we helped to inform the Port staff about
what Peralta does. The presentations were a rich
example of our workforce development capabilities.
Our latest meeting will be followed up by the Port’s
request for Peralta Colleges to enter into conversations
with selected Port operators to develop partnerships for
our students’ continued education and employment:
Internships and apprenticeships. As I stated in my
August 20th Flex Day Address, the Port of Oakland is a
valuable opportunity for our Colleges. I am happy we are
getting closer to finding the path to mutual benefit
between the Port and Peralta.
Association of American Community Colleges (AACC) Convention
As a follow-up to the AACC Convention, Dr. Crawford and I are continuing to interact
with partners I met there to help us in a variety of ways, including energy efficiency and
enrollment management. On the enrollment management front, I want to express my
appreciation for the developmental work Dr. Herb Kitchen and Dr. Mike Orkin are doing
by working with our College recruiters. One of the basic tools we lack is a way to
capture prospective students’ information: name, address, email, and phone numbers.
Executive Director Jeff Heyman recalled that there was an unused module in PeopleSoft
to track student recruitment, and they are all working with Frank Downing from the
Ferrilli group, so that the prospective student information can be input into our system.
Such a system helps us follow up with the prospective students we meet during our
recruitment outreach activities.
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Alliance Of Schools For Cooperative Insurance Programs (ASCIP)
ASCIP is a company that is made up of an association of community colleges and public
schools that provides insurance for our buildings and liability coverage for our
institutions. Several of us met with some of their administrators to learn more about
what they have done for us and what they are capable of doing. As we engage in training
for our administrators and leaders in this area, they have agreed to work with us to
help develop the competence of our employees in ways that will help serve the District
better.
Kaiser Partnership
A group of us sat down with a team
from Kaiser to discuss their goals, how
they are tied to the community, and
how the Peralta Colleges can be
involved. While many conversations
with Kaiser could or should involve
our Nursing Program, this
conversation was more about mental
health, student achievement,
embracing the Peralta Colleges, finding ways to give students meaningful experiences,
the upcoming Social Justice Institute, the MLK Freedom Center, and the Center for Civic
Engagement, etc. We are planning some next steps, which Dr. Webb will coordinate
with the rest of our colleagues. We are anticipating BIG TIME involvement of our
students in a variety of internships with Kaiser. We intend to work hard to have the
Peralta Colleges involved in a Transfer Program with Kaiser University.
Tour of Laney Biology and Chemistry Labs
Stephen Corlett and Amy Bohorquez took me on a tour of the Laney Science Labs, joined
by Dean Denise Richardson. I must say, in the middle of the tour I developed a terrible
headache because of the Labs’ needs that I experienced. As our Science classes continue
to be more popular, the only option for our students, faculty and lab assistants is to
share space and squeeze into every inch they can find. We have some very simple fixes:
Ones that should take place to make the labs more hospitable to our students and
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faculty As we plan for better days for Laney Sciences, my appreciation and gratitude to
the faculty and staff are not sufficient. From lack of Smart Classrooms, to insufficient
labs, Laney’s needs require serious planning, execution and implementation. I can only
dream of a better day for Laney. Hats off to the faculty, staff and students who find ways
to concentrate on the essentials of education and still thrive! Better days ahead for our
largest College!
Deep Ocean Exploration and Research (DOER)
Drs. Webb and Blake and I had the opportunity
to visit this marine operations manufacturing
company in Alameda, which specializes in
underwater instrumentation and equipment.
DOER is relatively small in size, but powerful in
concept. They deal with submarines and
coordinate their efforts with the Navy. DOER is
interested in partnering with Peralta for
manufacturing, internships, apprenticeships and
a range of other possibilities with all kinds of
Programs, including Auto, Diesel, Aviation, Machine Tools, etc.
MLK Freedom Center
Roy Wilson and Royl Roberts are the administrators in charge of the MLK Freedom
Center based at Merritt College. The Center, which serves the entire District, hosts a
lecture series named after Congresswoman Barbara Lee and Peralta’s former
Chancellor, Elihu Harris. We discussed integrating their work with the similar activities
going on or being planned at Peralta. They already have cooperation from the Africana
Center. I have encouraged them to reach out to the Center for Civic Engagement at
Laney, with Professor Alicia Caballero-Christenson. We discussed the different ethnic
studies opportunities, and the tie in with the yet-to-be-developed Social Justice
Institute. They are planning a major service-learning opportunity this summer, where
our students and high school students will have the opportunity to do some voter
registration and education in the region or, possibly, out-of-state. The next lecture will
be May 14, at Oakland’s Allen Temple. Watch for their announcement. I had the
opportunity to see the high school students the Freedom Center works with. They are
impressive and well developed. I hope you can catch one of their upcoming lectures.
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Cypress-Mandela Project Implementation
Several Laney administrators, including President Stanley, Vice Presidents Celhay and
Nolden and Dean Crabtree, joined Associate VC Adela Esquivel-Swinson and me to
review Laney’s agreement with Cypress-Mandela, and to work to ensure that
implementation goes well. Cypress-Mandela is a pre-apprenticeship program that
teaches 50 students every six months. The agreement, which the Board approved a
couple of months ago, will continue the practice of students receiving credits for the
classes Laney sponsors. It is a great service we provide to the community, and to some
diverse students for whom a College education might not have been part of their future.
It is a way for us to serve our community in a positive and affordable manner, all the
while transforming lives. Our gathering was to ensure we provide the right support for
the prospective students and link them up to Laney.
BCC President’s Award Luncheon
I want to thank Interim President Krista Johns for honoring several faculty and staff at
BCC this year. I have met and interacted with many of the honorees and believe that
they are well deserving of the awards. Some of the honorees said this was the first time
they were acknowledged publicly. The award’s luncheon was a nice event for these
deserving individuals:
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Administrators
Antonio Barreiro, Int. Dean, Academic Pathways, Workforce Development & Student
Success
Dr. May Chen, Vice President of Institutional Effectiveness
Counseling Faculty
Denise Jones, Counselor
Christina Taing, Counselor and Learning Communities Coordinator
Hermia Yam, Counselor
Instructional Faculty
Jennifer Braman, Instructor, Art
Carol Copenhagen, Instructor, Humanities and Spanish
Daniel Najjar, Instructor, Mathematics
Adán Olmedo, Instructor, English
Classified Staff
Ramona Butler, EOPS Coordinator
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Nancy Cayton, Staff Assistant, Office of Instruction and ASL Interpreter
Natalia Fedorova, Lab Coordinator, Science Department
Allison Green, Library Assistant
Dolores Harshaw, DSPS Staff Assistant
Javier Lopez, Storekeeper
Joanna Louie, Senior Staff Services Specialist/Fiscal, Business Office
Jasmine Martinez, Staff Assistant to the Vice President of Student Services
John Pang, Supervisor, Business Office
Cynthia Reese, Executive Assistant to the President
Kwisuk Sanchez, Evening Custodian
Karen Shields, Duplicating Center Coordinator
Alejandria Tomas, Curriculum and Student Learning Outcome and Assessment Specialist
Andrea Williams, Front Desk Staff, Counseling Center
Students
Brianna Rogers, President, Associated Students of Berkeley City College (ASBCC)
David Ivan Cruz, Student Worker and ASBCC Senator
Samantha Rushing, ASBCC Secretary and Council Member
Induction and Presentation to Rotary
I have been a member of Rotary for many years. As I transitioned from Solano County to
here in Northern Alameda County, it took me a little while to get going again with the
organization. This past Thursday, I was inducted into the Oakland Rotary Club that
meets on Thursdays. President Ambriz-Galaviz and Romeo Garcia made my
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introduction to the club possible. I had the privilege of being the featured speaker, as
well, on the day I was presented for membership to the Club. The leadership was
interested in knowing more about community colleges, so I took them on a national
tour, then a California tour and, finally, a Peralta tour of our Colleges. The talk was well
received, based on the feedback from our constituents. Most important to me, we
connected with alumni from all our Colleges, and people who are proud of the
education they received. There were employers, as well, who have been involved with
our advisory committees, and who expressed their pride in their association with us. It
was a great display of appreciation for the Peralta Colleges.
Operation PUSH, Reverend Jackson and the Digital Divide
I almost forgot about Operation PUSH. It has
been a long time since anyone had mentioned
the name, but here in the Bay Area, Reverend
Jesse Jackson continues his work focusing on
societal divide. Dr. Webb and I had the
opportunity to be part of a gathering that is
working to close the Digital Divide and to
help folks understand the issue, and be part
of the solution. Joining Reverend Jackson was
our Congresswoman Barbara Lee.
Jowel C. Laguerre, Ph.D.
Chancellor
In memory of Prince Rogers Nelson, departed from us this past week:
"A strong spirit transcends rules."
- Prince
"Compassion is an action word with no boundaries."
- Prince
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