Good morning Bakersfield.
It is Saturday, September 29, 2018….. A great day to be a Renegade.

The creativity, talent, and scholarship among BC faculty and staff is abundant and oh so inspiring.  Let me start with Wednesday, 9/26, in the evening.  I walked over from my office to watch Coach Carl Ferreira and his fabulous volleyball team win big time against Citrus. Then, walking back to my office, I stopped by the recently launched Renegade Roundtable hosted by the new director of the Levan Center, Reggie Williams.  The four faculty presenters Michael Harvath, Neal Stanifer, Steven Holmes and Erin Miller did a fabulous job approaching topics with different lenses.  I was overcome with pride at seeing faculty, staff and students sitting outside on the grass listening to these great faculty speakers.  The whole scene felt like a liberal arts college and I could imagine Norm Levan smiling and being content.  As was I.  You see this is why I am the luckiest and happiest college president.

Here are a few pictures that I discretely snapped.

Panorama Music Summit

The Panorama Creative Music Summit returned to Bakersfield College on September 21-22 at the Simonsen Performing Arts Center Indoor Theater on the Bakersfield College Panorama Campus. Presented by the Jazz Studies and Commercial Music Programs, the summit is an annual showcase for acclaimed visiting artists, local performers, and BC faculty, students, and alumni performing original music and exploring a broad range of styles and creative approaches across the jazz-pop continuum. Thank you Kris Tiner and BC Performing Arts!

This years event was a true hit. Susan Scaffidi wrote a piece for The Californian titled, “All jazzed up for bC music summit” and Ja’Nell Gore of the Renegade RIP covered the event in a piece titled “Panorama Creative Music Summit hosts composer along with student performers.”

Doug Wimbash visits BC

Bassist Doug Wimbish of the alternative rock group Living Colour visited BC on Monday to discuss his career as a studio musician on some of the most influential recordings in the history of hip-hop before leading students and staff in an improvised jam session at the Indoor Theater.

Wimbish, who’s worked with the Rolling Stones, Depeche Mode, Joe Satriani and Mos Def, started his career as a session bassist at All-Platinum Records as a teenager in the early ’70s. Label founders Sylvia and Joe Robinson launched a subsidiary label called Sugar Hill Records in 1979 and pressed the single for the Sugarhill Gang’s hit “Rapper’s Delight”, bringing hip-hop from its humble beginnings in the South Bronx across the globe, where it has eclipsed rock and pop as the world’s most popular music genre almost 40 years later. Wimbish was hired as the house bassist for Sugar Hill Records, playing on the recordings for “The Message” by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, as well as other seminal recordings in the history of hip-hop.

Wimbish attributes his success in the music industry to the individuals who recognized his potential and gave him opportunities throughout his career, from the local musicians who mentored him in his hometown of Hartford, Connecticut to the studio executives who gave him his first professional recording gigs. Wimbish even called a few of his mentors and colleagues on the stage, including Sugarhill Gang emcee Master Gee and legendary audio engineer Chris Lord-Alge.

“I’m not the architect. I’m the recipient,” Wimbish said. “Your attitude will take you to the right altitude.”

After playing a few of his solo songs with accompaniment by jazz studies professor Kris Tiner on trumpet, Wimbish was very friendly and accommodating to the audience and performers who participated in the jam session, running across the stage to adjust the microphones for the brass section and assisting musicians, playing his bass connected to an array of modulation pedals.

Alongside students in the jazz studies and commercial music programs at BC, several faculty and staff participated in the jam, including English professor Andrew Bond and graphic designer Eric Carrillo. Eric recorded the following video to share. 

I’d like to thank Levan Center Director Reggie Williams, Kris Tiner and commercial music professor Josh Ottum for organizing the event, and I hope Doug can come back to campus next year and bring a few guests with him.
See all the photos by Earl Parsons at BC’s Smugmug.

Thank you California Community Colleges Board of Governors!

Bakersfield College has been selected by the California Community Colleges Board of Governors as one of 29 community colleges to be awarded a share of $4.9 million to further expand and bolster the College’s Veterans Resource Center. These grant funds go directly to assist the hundreds of veteran students as they work to achieve their academic goals and degree completion at Bakersfield College.

Over the past five years enrollment of student veterans at the College has grown tremendously. In 2013-14, the College served 565 student veterans while this year enrollment numbers have reached 717. The top three academic pathways for currently enrolled student veterans at BC are Business, STEM, and Nursing.

Last November, the College revealed plans for the newly designed Veterans Resource Center, made possible by the passing of Measure J in 2016, and this year the College is set to break ground on construction. THANK YOU KERN COUNTY FOR SUPPORTING BC! On Monday, November 5, 2018, the Veterans Resource Center Groundbreaking Ceremony is scheduled to take place on the Panorama campus at 10:00am. More details to follow, but reserve Nov 5 at 10am on your calendars now!

KBAK was one of the first media outlets to pick up the story in their piece, “Bakersfield College, Porterville College getting money to bolster veterans services.” Thank you!

Renegades at the Fair 2018

In partnership with the Kern County Fair, the Office of Student Life hosted Renegades at the Fair for the fourth year in a row this last Thursday night.

Renegades engaged with the Bakersfield Community with games, photo opportunities and valuable information about our beloved Bakersfield College!

Thank you to all who participated. I especially loved the photos of Dr. Terri Goldstein with the incredible fair food!

Renegade Athletics Report

If you missed watching the Renegade Report live this last Thursday at 11a, segments are available on YouTube from this week’s show. With our football game theme this week honoring our Bakersfield community first responders, we highlighted a few of our BC athletics alum first responders. Be sure to head to Bakersfield.com at 11a each week to watch the show live.

 

 

Renegades of the Week

Congrats to this week’s Wells Fargo Renegades of the Week! Sydney Crawley, Women’s Golf – shot a personal best 75 (even par on the front 9) last week at Kern River GC to place 3rd overall and help the team to a 3rd place finish as well.

And Jeremy Mass, Wrestling – placed 1st in his weight class (185 lb.) at the West Hills Duals helping the team to a 5th place finish overall.

SAAC at the Mission

Our athletics Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) organized a trash pick-up on Saturday 9/22 at the Mission at Kern County. We are proud of the student-athletes who devote their time, amidst a very busy schedule, to help better our community.

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Roundup of Athletics Events this week

It was a full week of athletics events for our Renegades teams. Highlights from the week include (click for the story on GoGades.com):

• Volleyball sweeps another opponent
• Wrestling places 5th at West Hills Duals
• Cross Country Hosts the BC Invitational
• Women’s/Men’s Soccer hosted double header against Allan Hancock
• Football drops Close Game on the Road to Golden West
• Women’s Golf Competes at Morro Bay

 

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Must Read on Coach Carl Ferreira

Spotted the incredible Coach Carl Ferreira in action. Jon Mettus of the Californian published a piece titled, “Carl Ferreira believes this year’s Bakersfield College volleyball team could be his best yet.”

It’s always great to see faculty, staff, and administration at our BC Athletics events cheering on and supporting BC students. This week, Sandi Taylor, Director of Athletics, Michele Bresso, Dean of Instruction, and Klint Rigby, Engineering and Industrial Technology Department Chair were spotted taking a selfie while cheering on the Renegades.

Be sure to stay connected with Renegade Athletics by following us on social media. On Facebook find us under ‘Bakersfield College Athletics’, on Twitter – @GoGadesGo and on Instagram – @gogadesgo.

Dual Enrollment Team attends statewide Early and Middle College Conference

Did you know that high school students who complete two dual enrollment courses are 12% more likely to earn a college degree?  Dr. Bryan Reece, president of Norco College, shared that tidbit and so much more in an empowering message about the transformative power of dual enrollment and early and middle college.

The Bakersfield College Dual Enrollment team including Dr. Anna Laven, Abel Guzman, Raquel Lopez, Steve Watkin and Fernando Lara, gained helpful information from Dr. Reece and others when they attended the California Coalition of Early and Middle Colleges (CCEMC) 5th annual conference in Sacramento on September 21, 2018.

Local high school partners, Cerro Coso administrators and the district office were also in attendance, including Dr. Ben Sherley of KHSD, Justin Derrick of McFarland HS, Nicole Griffin and Lisa Stephens from Cerro Coso, Cindy Collier, Dr. Bonita Steele, and Diane Baeza from our District Office.

Started as a grassroots organization of educators, CCEMC is a coalition dedicated to the belief that California students deserve the opportunity to experience college courses during their high school career.  When K-12 school districts and community college districts work in partnership, we have the ability to help students grow, experience early success, and become college and career ready as they become the new workforce for our state, explains CCEMC president Dr. April Moore.  Attendees enjoyed sessions ranging from the use of data for evaluation to the use of early college to improve persistence for historically underrepresented students.

BC Attends Kern EDC SLO Innovation Tour

Community Relations Manager Tamara Baker joined Kern EDC for its SLO Innovation Tour earlier this week, where they visited the SLO HotHouse Incubator, Cal Poly Technology Park and SLO MakerSpace.   This was a part of Kern EDC’s Kern Alliance for Talent and Innovation (KATI) initiative designed to support the creation of a regional center of innovation.  BC joined 30 other Kern County partners to see what SLO is doing, and to consider ideas and projects that can be implemented here in our backyard.

Supporting our Vets

Armando Trujillo and Paul Beckworth met over lunch with Vet Center Manager Jenny Frank and Superior Court Judge Louie Vega discussing the Veteran Justice Program. This important program was founded by Judge Vega, Attorney Randy Dickow and the late Vernon Valenzuela, in whose honor the program is named.

Kern County Silkies Hike

BC faculty, staff, and Renegades participated in last Sunday’s Kern County Silkies Hike, walking more than 15 miles to bring awareness to the 22 veterans who die by suicide every day. The fourth-annual event, which made stops at Temblor Brewing, Casa Tequila and other locations for veterans and their supporters to hydrate and eat, is also designed to bring veterans in the community together and let them know that they don’t have to face their struggles alone. Members of the BC community who participated in the Silkies Hike include Rodolfo Rascon, Armando Trujillo, William “Billy” Nuckles, Raquel “Rocky” Barraza, Tommy (Col.) Tunson, and Tanyabet Mendez.

AB 540 Students at BC

In an effort to improve equity and access for all AB540 students across the state of California, the amazing Chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley and the California Community College Chancellor’s Office sent out a survey to all 114 Colleges in the state regarding current services offered to undocumented students on each of their respective campuses. The Chancellor’s Office has tasked the Foundation for California Community Colleges to create a Statewide Advisory group to review the results of the survey data to make recommendations to the CCC Chancellor’s Office in order to increase access and support our Dreamers across the state.

Our very own Educational Advisor/AB540 Liaison Pedro L. Ramirez has been invited to participate in this Statewide Advisory Group, which will be tasked to make these recommendations to the Chancellor’s office to create systemic change across all 114 California community colleges. The Chancellor’s Advisory Group held its first meeting this past Monday, September 24th at the Foundation for CCC in Sacramento and will be holding successive Regional Meetings in Berkeley on October 9th, Mt. San Antonio October 26th, San Diego on November 6th, and Fresno on November 14th.

Although only 60 community colleges have completed the survey regarding services offered to undocumented students, preliminary data shows that Bakersfield College is at the forefront when it comes to services offered to undocumented students. While most community colleges are being reactive to serving undocumented/dreamer students, Bakersfield College has been taking a proactive approach. Take for example the following data snippets that show the increase in enrollment of first-time/new students, as well as demographic information and pathway information.

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The significant growth of our AB540/Dreamer students could not have been possible without the work of the AMAZING Dreamer Completion team. Special thanks to: Lisa Robles, Jacky Lau, Gina Hunter, Manuel Rosas, Jeannie Parent and Elizabeth Rodacker from the EMLS department, and Manuel Muralles from Outreach. In addition, a special thanks to our Cal-Soap team and our community partners Youth 2 Leaders for their continued collaboration and support.

Pedro L Ramirez was also recently on the 103.9 The Beat’s radio show with Danny Morrison. If you missed it live, check it out on YouTube.

 

BCSW welcomes the Healthcare Community

On September 23, Bakersfield College Southwest hosted Mercy Hospital, Mercy Southwest Hospital, and Bakersfield Memorial Hospital for a public meeting. State of California Deputy Attorney General Wendi Horwitz listened to comments and statements from stakeholders and community members. Thank you to Fernando Lara, Mary Jo Pasek, and Leah Prendez who made sure all the details were handled the BC way!

Hispanic Chamber Golf Tournament

Not known for their golfing prowess, the BC participants in the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s golf tournament/fundraiser Monday at Bakersfield Country Club distinguished themselves by taking third place in the “Net Score” category.  Headed by Dean Corny Rodriguez, Team BC members Tony Cordova of CTE fame, and Heather Pennella and Tom Gelder from the BC Foundation pulled out their victory with a last-minute surge.

The Hispanic Chamber Golf Tournament raises money for scholarships and benefits approximately seventy high school students each year for each of the last several years. Bakersfield College has a close relationship with the Chamber and its leadership President Jay Tamsi and Board Chair Adam Alvidrez.

It’s time to Apply for Scholarships!

The BC Foundation and Financial Aid Department have been working together to inform students and faculty regarding the many scholarship opportunities available specifically for Bakersfield College students. The online scholarship application will open on Monday, October 1^st and remain open through February 1^st, 2019.

Please encourage all BC students, current or incoming to go to bakersfieldcollege.edu/Apply4Money and complete the FAFSA/Dream Act application AND the BC Scholarship application. There are over 270 scholarship funds at BC!

Emails Worth Sharing

Eileen Pierce, who is a dedicated program manager for BC’s Supplemental Instruction program sent an email earlier this week to share a graphic called “Semester Cycle for the Typical BC Student.”

Via Arte Bakersfield

Via Arte is coming back to the Market Place shopping center on October 20th. Bakersfield College and the Levan Center are proud sponsors. Learn more at http://www.viaartebakersfield.com/2018sponsors/

The Artwork of Diego Gutierrez Monterrubio

ISER Training

Isabel Castaneda shared photos from Sarah Baron and Alisha Loken‘s ISER training session on Friday morning for our Title V Extend the Classroom and Summer Bridge Peer mentors. Dr. Kimberly Bligh shared with me that “we wanted to make sure they had Accreditation training and requested help.” They even played a quiz game! I wonder who won?! 🙂

Fun Photo from Leadership Academy

Dean Billie Jo Rice shared this pic of future Renegades from the Leadership Academy being held on our campus Friday. She said:

“I am the proud aunt of the young lady that is in the second position from the left. Her name is Jordyn”

Next Week’s Accreditation Visit

From October 1 to October 4, 2018, Bakersfield College will be visited by evaluators from the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC), conducting interviews with faculty, staff, students, and college groups. If you happen to be on campus, please extend a warm welcome to our visiting team. Feel free to engage with them to share our Renegade story. #WeAreBC!

Thank you to the planning and logistics team who has worked hard over the past few weeks to prepare the details for the visit.

That’s all for now.  

Until next time.

With much Renegade Pride and Collegiality.  

sonya —
the luckiest and happiest college president ever

Tagged: Bakersfield College, Erin Miller, Michael Harvath, Neal Stanifer, Sonya Christian, Steven Holmes