Chancellor’s C-DIRECT
April 6, 2016
Dear Colleagues:
Another great week at Peralta went by as we celebrated some and accomplished some.
Built as a model of future such events, the César Chávez celebration took place at COA
with healthy participation by employees throughout the District. We look forward to
other celebratory programs, such as an MLK breakfast, etc. Included in our list of
accomplishments this past week was the opening of the Africana Center, under the
leadership of Dr. Siri Brown, took place and brought out employees, prominent leaders
and alumni, in addition to our students.
We had a powerful meeting with Bayer Healthcare and received some profound
feedback. Finally, we received word from the State Chancellor’s Office that both Laney
and Merritt were awarded Basic Skills grants for $1.5 million each. It was a good way to
end the week. Congratulations to the faculty and staff who worked on the grants!
MCAT Proctor at Peralta
Dr. Crawford and I had a conversation with an organization that proctors the medical
examination on behalf of MCAT. The organization is seeking to expand its reach and is
considering using two of our colleges for the upcoming season, and all four of them in
the future. We are thinking of beginning with Laney and Merritt, after consultation with
the appropriate faculty and staff that would be minimally affected. It is a well-designed
process that is not people-intensive and happens for several weeks during the year.
By hosting the exam, Peralta would be better known by the test takers; furthermore, we
would provide a venue for our residents to accommodate their needs, especially the
vast number of students attending our local universities. Dr. Crawford is following up
with the institutions and staff to explore the possibilities.
Soccer Balls for Haiti
John Wade, Athletics Director at Contra Costa College, worked with some faculty at
Merritt to procure 60 soccer balls to donate to young people in Haiti. The soccer balls
were then presented to President Ambriz-Galaviz and me last week. I intend to deliver
the soccer balls in friendship from Contra Costa and Peralta to some young people this
summer. The timing will be perfect as school will be out and often the youth lack these
simple tools to enjoy a good summer.
Cisco Partnership
A fourth-semester French or a Sociology research class offered at one of our institutions
may fail to meet the enrollment target year after year and may be canceled regularly.
This could be the case for any discipline struggling to catch enrollment, and yet so
necessary for students to advance and graduate and for faculty to practice. Additionally,
some rural areas may not have access to faculty to teach certain content, and yet it may
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be easily available at Peralta. What if these different sites were tied technologically to
provide simultaneous learning for students? For example, we might have five French IV
students at BCC, four at Merritt, six at COA and seven at Laney: That is a pretty healthy
French class taught via technology live and interactive. This type of learning module has
existed for a long time and I taught a program like this in Minnesota in the 1990’s. The
technology has improved tremendously and the student needs are even greater.
Executive VC Webb and I met with Pat Ham from Cisco to explore what initiating a
program this could look like. We anticipate some robust discussions with the District
Technology faculty and others on this topic. Know, however, that I am mindful that we
are grossly underequipped in some of our classrooms and our offices, so we are not
neglecting that basic need either.
Bayer Visit
Employers often accuse colleges of not meeting their needs. Colleges often criticize
industries for not telling them what to teach. The colleges develop their own programs
with little industry input and industry puts on its own training programs, unnecessarily
spending millions of dollars more than if the support were to come to a college. The
issue is not a lack of will to work together; it is often a lack of ability to communicate.
This issue was demonstrated on Friday afternoon last week, when two executives from
Bayer visited Laney College and sat down with the faculty, the dean and others.
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Detlef Kehm, Vice President, and Trina Ostrander, Public Relations VP, came to speak
with us. The first concern that was raised was the absence of women in the trades. Most
important, was the lack of emphasis on the changing nature of skills needed. Then we
went to the heart of the matter. Dr. Kehm challenged us that we were paying attention
to 10% of the workforce of companies like Bayer, and not attending to about 60% of the
workforce. In this instance, we were looking at the mechanical aspect of the industry.
Our programs emphasize buildings, as opposed to the machines that actually
manufacture the products. Our brochures and websites do not reflect that particular
need in the industry nor had we thought about it, nor had anyone before brought it to
our attention until now.
In Carl Perkins legislation language, we often talk about looking at all aspects of an
industry. What Bayer opened our eyes to is the need to go deeper into an industry. We
have looked at the building shell and the roof and what makes the building function; but
the call from Bayer is for us to go deeper into the industry and its machineries. We have
a commitment that, if we invite them to the table, Bayer will step up and help. They are
committed to helping our students with experience, to being involved in helping
develop aspects of our programs to meet industry expectations and, most importantly,
developing students’ interests. We just have to listen and be willing to partner. The
potential here can result in a genuine education-industry partnership to prepare
students for a brighter future.
Visit to Supervisory Management Class
For ten years, a
class that teaches
professionals to
move into
management has
been taking place
at the Alameda
Law Library
Building.
Students who are
regular County
employees
attend the class
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right after work two days a week. The program lasts 14 weeks, and covers a variety of
subject areas aimed at informing and strengthening individuals with the potential to
become good managers and leaders. In contrast, some organizations, including Peralta,
often pick someone without any background or formation to become supervisors,
managers, deans and even vice presidents. The program averages about 30 students,
but has the potential to be widely used. Professor Kim Glosson has been running the
program for several years and said, “Based on our successful 10 years partnership with
Alameda County, Laney College proudly celebrates the 14 months accomplishments of
outstanding Alameda County employees who earn a management and supervision
certificate, as well as 18 college units towards an Associate Degree. The 18 college units
are also transferrable to a four year higher education institution.”
Visiting the students was a delight for me not only as Chancellor, but as an educator in
the field of leadership and management. My hope is for us to follow the County’s lead
and to institute a similar program. Furthermore, I hope to encourage other companies
and agencies to join in building a larger program in our county, perhaps a program
sponsored at each College for increased access.
Peralta Student Council
The PSC met last week and Dr. Crawford and I spent some time with them. They are
looking at a dental program to help students who have no dental insurance or access to
dental care. It was a good presentation that the student leaders will be taking on and we
will be having more discussions with the student body on this topic. I applaud Associate
VC Esquivel-Swinson for helping the student leaders with this process.
Preparation for Bonds Rating
Vice Chancellor Little and I met with Joanna Bowes, who helps us with choosing
underwriters and bonds rating agencies. Based on a review of potential underwriters,
we chose four firms to help us in the process. We will discuss our upcoming
presentation to the bonds rating agencies in NY at the end of this week. We are
preparing for a good presentation.
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African American Graduation
Dr. Lawrence VanHook is responsible for our African American graduation ceremony.
This year’s event will take place on May 21 at 10:00 a.m., at North Oakland Baptist
Church. We discussed the possibility of honoring Bobby Seale at this event. Plans are in
place for a memorable ceremony.
Marlon McWilson and Summer Youth Program
Marlon McWilson is a
member of the Alameda
County Office of Education
Board of Directors. He
approached us to host a
summer youth program at
Laney that could bring 160
students on campus for a
three-week period. These will
be high school students who
can benefit from college
orientation and exposure. VP
Lilia Celhay will work with
others to explore the best
way to make this happen, so it is beneficial to both the District and the students. We
anticipate that students will come from throughout the County of Alameda to attend the
program.
Nursing Program Access in Alameda
This was one of those meetings where the end result exceeded the original intent.
Program Director Dawn Williams and Professor Lynn Bratchett joined Bonny Panlasigui
of Alameda Health System, President Blake and Alameda’s Mayor, Trish Spencer, to
speak about access to a Nursing program for Alameda residents. Director Williams will
provide data to illustrate the need for that access. The discussion developed, however,
in a broader way and exposed some real challenges and opportunities. One of the
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opportunities is a lack of training for CNAs. That is an area where COA could make
inroads for Alameda residents, as there is a need in the community for such a program.
But the larger conversation is the existence of a backlash and a real attack on the
Associate Degree Nursing students by ill-informed health executives. That is where we
pledge to work together to undo some harm caused to our students and our community.
Our goal is to partner with the hospitals to reverse the trend of both a lack of access and
decreasing acceptance of our ADN students.
Laney Photo Lab Tour
I received an invitation to visit
the photo lab at Laney College.
The lab on Fridays is a very
busy place. There are a lot of
photo and non-photo students,
members of the public and
anyone interested in
photography. The most
impressive part, for me, was
the interdisciplinary
connection the faculty shared.
The photography students
were taking pictures of the
cosmetology students for their publication. There are also fashion design students from
COA who are photographed there for their activities.
What a nice combination of talent and opportunities. If you have a class or a project and
you want great pictures, contact the faculty to see the possibilities that may be offered.
They want more varied and interesting subjects to photograph. The instructors who
helped make my visit possible are Black Moon (Instructor and Instructional Assistant),
Franklin Avery (Advanced Photography instructor who helped bring the large Polaroid
camera to class), Michael Mejia (Department Chair), Michael Moya (Advanced
Photography Instructor) and Joan Bobkoff (Instructor).
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Jowel C. Laguerre, Ph.D.
Chancellor
Acknowledging the changes that have happened in Myanmar, here are two quotes from
Aung San Suu Kyi:
The struggle for democracy and human rights in Burma is a struggle for life and
dignity. It is a struggle that encompasses our political, social and economic aspirations.
I don't want Burma to be a basket case forever.
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