CAMPUS NEWS
College Fair, Transfer Day Helps Students
Parents, prospective students learn the process of going to college.
Two college fairs, each drawing approximately 150 current and prospective students, helped students learn about their future educational options.
College Night was held Wednesday, Oct. 28 in the gymnasium. It brought together universities and community colleges from across the Bay Area and the nation to help area high school students as they consider which college or university is best for them. Students and parents were informed on a wide variety of topics including freshman and transfer admission requirements, academic programs, cost of attendance, living expenses, distance, size and nature of the student body, and activities. There has been a steady increase in the number of universities participating in the program. College Night is coordinated by Cañada College and the Sequoia Union High School District. Prospective students from Sequoia Union High School District and neighboring districts attended.
At Transfer Day, students came to the college cafeteria to gather information about their transfer options and meet with college representatives. Informing students of the transfer options and the available transfer services has increased the number of students taking advantage of the Transfer Agreements. Because of the state budget crisis, students have more questions about the ability to transfer to CSU and UC schools.
College Participates in Great California ShakeOut
Safety Committee to review findings from earthquake drill.
To help prepare the college for the next big earthquake, students, staff and faculty participated in the Great California ShakeOut on Thursday, Oct. 15. The earthquake simulation drill helped the college run through its procedures including “duck-and-cover” and building evacuation. “The more you practice the more instinctive it becomes,” said Deborah Joy, co-chair of the Cañada College Safety Committee. Joy helped organize the campus for the earthquake drill. Approximately 5.5 million people statewide participated. The earthquake drill was held in the morning and evening at Cañada. “This helped us identify some areas that we need to work on but overall it was remarkably smooth,” said Vice President of Instruction, Sarah Perkins. “Much of the credit belongs to Debbie Joy and members of the Safety Committee. They did a great job of organizing the event and communicating with campus.” The Safety Committee will review comments and observations from the earthquake drill and determine what changes need to be made in its current procedures.
It's Holiday Gift Basket Time
Gift baskets will help support student scholarships.
Cañada College classified staff are again selling holiday gift baskets to raise money for student scholarships. Last year there were 15 gift baskets donated to help students defer the cost of college. Jose Romero, EOPS Services Program Coordinator, is helping to organize this year’s fundraiser. This is one of the most successful fundraisers of the year. Gift baskets are annually donated from staff and faculty and personnel at the District Office. Gift basket ideas include a 49ers or Raiders baskets, a wine basket, a “movie night” basket, dinner for two, games, and a basket for pet lovers. Contact Romero at Ext. 3465 to donate a basket or buy raffle tickets. A web site will be established to view the baskets.
40th Anniversary Events Continue
Chancellor, board president, attend October's function.
The college continued its 40th Anniversary celebration in October with an informal event designed to bring students and employees together to celebrate the college. A series of events recognizing the anniversary will be held throughout the year leading up to a special commencement ceremony. “Cañada College: 40 years of Academic Excellence” will feature campus celebrations designed to buoy staff, faculty, and student pride and connect alumni to each other and the college. Chancellor Ron Galatolo, Vice Chancellor Jose Nuñez, and Board Chair Karen Schwartz were in attendance at the Oct. 15 celebration. Galatolo reminded the campus community that, despite the difficult financial times, there is a lot to celebrate at Cañada. “It doesn’t matter who I speak to in the community, they always have positive things to say about this college,” he said. “Cañada has a very good reputation in the community.”
Safety Committee to review smoking policy
Review is prompted by complaints of smoking near buildings.
The Campus Safety Committee is beginning the process of reviewing the smoking policy due to a number of complaints from students, staff, and faculty. The current policy prohibits smoking within 15-feet of any campus building. The Safety Committee will review the smoking policies at both Skyline College and the College of San Mateo before recommending any changes.
Center for Teacher Efficacy Wins Bell Award
Annual award is presented by the California School Boards Association.
The Center for Teacher Efficacy will receive a “Golden Bell Award” from the California School Boards Association in December. The Golden Bell Awards program recognizes exemplary programs in 19 major categories, including curriculum and instruction and related programs, which are essential to support teaching and learning. A luncheon for all of the winning programs will be held in San Diego on Dec. 5. Established in 2006, the Center for Teacher Efficacy is located in the University Center and works with San Francisco State University and local school districts. The Center for Teacher Efficacy is a deep, wide-ranging partnership project designed to provide on-going, meaningful professional development opportunities for area teachers so they can better prepare their diverse students for the future. As the teachers' educational needs change, faculty from the San Francisco State University College of Education offer specialized classes addressing current issues.
Creating Papel Picado
Jose Romero helped students learn the traditional art as part of Hispanic Heritage Month
As part of this year's Hispanic Heritage Month celebration, Jose Romero of EOPS helped students, staff, and faculty learn the traditional art of Papel picado. Papel picado ("perforated paper") is the Mexican art of cutting paper into elaborate designs. The designs are commonly cut from tissue paper using a guide to create as many as 40 banners at a time. Common themes includes birds, floral designs, and skeletons. They are often displayed for Easter, Christmas and the Day of the Dead, as well as during weddings, quinceañeras and christenings. Papel picado can also be made by folding the tissue paper and using small, sharp scissors.
FACES OF CAÑADA
Student Service Professionals Present at EOPS Conference
VP of Student Services and EOPS Director present findings.
Peter Barbatis, Vice President of Student Services, and Eliazer Ayala-Austin, Director of EOPS, recently presented at the annual statewide EOPS conference. The discussion focused on current transfer services for EOPS students. The discussions highlighted California's current higher education crisis and the demand it places on the community college system. Barbatis and Ayala-Austin used data collected from their respective dissertations to emphasize their points.
"We discussed the need to re-think the transfer process," Barbatis said. "It's important to include pre-transfer activities as part of the transfer process. This includes basic skills, first year experience, parental involvement, the early impressions of students, and the behavior patterns of graduates versus non-persisters." Also included in the discussion was a set of recommendations from former students to current students. It centered around the importance of involvement and "owning" the educational experience.
Ayala-Austin and Barbatis also suggested a series of curriculum changes to help under-served students including making basic skills courses competency based, allowing students to earn transferable credits while enrolled in remedial classes, and expanding the concept of learning to include affective outcomes such as leadership, self-understanding, and citizenship. They also suggested grouping students based on their major to help them identify with their academic discipline and expanding the number of developmental learning communities.
"Cañada is viewed as a state leader in providing services for under-represented and basic skills students," Barbatis said. "It was exciting to share our findings."
Pizza Party Helps Fashion Design Students Plan Future Schedules
Faculty and students can talk about classes and the best sequence for each degree.
Ronda Chaney and the staff and faculty in the Fashion Design Department organized a pizza party for 60 students and teachers to help students plan their future schedules to earn Fashion Design degrees.
“At mid-semester questions start flying about what will be offered and which classes they should sign up for.” Chaney said. “The four certificates in Fashion Design, Merchandising, and Theater Costuming require many different courses and not all can be offered each semester. Therefore, the department plans a party to talk about curriculum and explain the best sequence of classes.” Chaney said.
Instructors have the opportunity to explain what they teach and and students who have taken various classes can discuss their experiences.
Engineering Students Attend National Conference
Cañada is developing a chapter of the Women in Science and Engineering.
MESA Director Cathy Lipe led a group of students to the annual Society of Women Engineers Conference where students were able to network and begin the process for developing a Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) chapter on campus. “It's a great conference and for most students it is their first experience being at a conference of this sort,” Lipe said. “The students are also much more strongly bonded and energized about getting the WISE club activities going once we're back on-campus. The students are amazed that the professionals are so impressed that they're already involved as community college students. It gives them a lot of confidence and encouragement.”
Editor's Note: If you have ideas for the Faces of Cañada section of the online newsletter, please contact Robert Hood at ext. 3340 or by e-mail at hoodr@smccd.edu.
SPOTLIGHT ON STUDENTS
Students Organize Healthy Food Drive
Food collected will be donated to the Second Harvest Food Bank.
Students in Phi Theta Kapp, TRiO and the Associated Students of Cañada College are teaming up this fall to gather healthy food for the Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties.
“In an effort to increase health awareness across the economic spectrum, we are seeking only to donate healthy food to those in need both on campus and in the San Mateo County area this year,” said Isaiah Roggow, student organizer. The healthy food drive is looking for canned fruits and vegetables, whole grain cereals and breads, dried fruits, spaghetti sauce, whole wheat pasta, brown rice, whole wheat flour, oatmeal, nuts and other healthy items.
Food may be dropped off at the Bookstore or at the entrance to the Library, Learning Center, or Admissions and Records. E-mail isaiahroggow@yahoo.com for more info.
County Hazardous Materials Manager Brings Mobile Lab to Campus
Students learn how a chemistry degree is used on the job.
William Lent brought his Mobil Unit Laboratory to the Cañada College campus to show students how his chemistry degree serves him in his role as Hazardous Materials Program Manager for the San Mateo County Health Department, Environmental Health Services Division.
More than 80 students attended the event sponsored by the National Science Foundation Grant: “Chemistry: A Pipeline to 21st Century Careers”. In addition, the county Fire Department Response Unit with two representatives from the emergency response team participated. All three presenters demonstrated various chemical experiments that they perform in the field to identify and clean up hazardous materials.
Celebrate Dia de los Muertos on Nov. 2
Annual event features sugar skull decorating.
The annual Dia de los Muertos celebration will be held on Monday, Nov. 2 for both day and evening students. Hot chocolate and conchas will be served in the cafeteria at 8 a.m. and sugar skull decorating begins at 11 a.m. Evening students can enjoy the same celebration beginning at 5 p.m. The Aztecs and Mayans saw death as part of the cycle of life. Skull-shaped candies and desserts with names of the dead and “pan de muerto,” or bread of the dead, are staples during the holiday. Altars often are created in the home with pictures of the deceased.
Cañada Dancers Perform at CCSF
Annual Dance Collage features dancers from Bay Area community colleges.
Dancers from Cañada graced the stage at the 3rd Annual CCSF Dance College on Oct. 24. The event was attended by 10 different community college from around the Bay Area. Students and instructors were able to take master classes ranging in style from ballet, Jazz, Hip Hop, Modern and also social dancing.
Cañada College also performed that evening in the showcase. Linda Breen's Jazz dance class performed Michael Jackson's, "Smooth Criminal" & also "Rama lama" which was danced by brothers Raul and David Martinez.
Students that performed from Cañada were Tomasa Cortes, Kelly McNaught, Miguel Ochoa, Loleita Vatikani, Gina Galindo, Rebecca Lowe, David Martinez, Raul Martinez, Shauna Turner and Selena Brown. "Everyone had a great time and I was very proud of my students who shined out there on the stage," said Breen.
Editor's Note: If you have an idea for a student feature, contact Robert Hood at ext. 3340.
CAMPUS CALENDAR
Please see the EVENTS CALENDAR for the latest event listings.
Editor's Note: If you would like to submit an event to the Cañada Calendar of Events please contact Robert Hood at hoodr@smccd.edu.
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