What a week!

The beginning of the semester is always a busy, exciting time, and this week was no exception. Students at Porterville College, Cerro Coso Community College, and Bakersfield College began another semester working toward their academic goals. Faculty, staff and administration across our sites and the District Office continued working toward supporting our colleges to advance student success with equity. 

I began my week at the MLK Day Community Awareness Breakfast. We were treated to a great keynote from Michael Bowers whose call to action was to move From #BlackHistory to #BlackFuture.

Michael Bowers has been a friend of BC and of KCCD and put in all his energy to support Measure J. We are forever grateful to you Bowers!

On Wednesday, I was delighted to open at The Campaign for College Opportunity’s Legislative Dean’s List celebration as we honored Governor Gavin Newsom, Assemblymember Marc Berman, Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez, Senator Ben Hueso, Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin, Senator Connie Leyva, and Jeanice Warden-Washington from the Assembly Higher Education Committee.

On Thursday, the KCCD Board of Trustees met for the annual retreat. We had a fantastic day discussing “Advancing Student Success & Equity with Fiscal Intelligence.”

Everyone was fully engaged in the discussions and set the stage for the 2022 work. #FeelingBlessed.

Across the district and throughout the state, KCCD is hard at work ensuring a better future for all our students! #KCCDDaringMIghtyThings

Good morning, friends…
It is January 22, 2022.
The sun shines bright over KCCD.

This week, the Pirates, the Coyotes, and the Renegades continue to 
#DareMightyThings

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Porterville College

Porterville College SWAP meet returns

In a sign of hope amid the pandemic, the Porterville Community seems to have welcomed the return of the Porterville College SWAP Meet. After recently returning to the campus ending a year long hiatus, the attendance numbers for this long-standing weekly community event appear to be returning to pre-pandemic numbers. Despite the fog and the cold of recent Saturday mornings, the rows of this family-friendly event have been full of locals looking to spend time with their families.

That’s wonderful news for the Porterville College Foundation, which uses the proceeds from the event to provide scholarships to students. It might also be seen as a sign of hope and healing for the Porterville community. The SWAP meet has long been a weekend tradition in the area. Local vendors sell their wears and families bring their children to spend time together, buy groceries and other goods, eat local dishes, and enjoy pony rides in the Jamison Stadium parking lot. 

Thank you to the Porterville College Foundation for making this event possible, and thank you to the Porterville Community for trusting us with such a beloved tradition year after year!

PC provides virtual services during opening week

Due to the surge in COVID cases in Tulare County, Porterville College has returned to online learning for the opening two weeks of the Spring Semester. Despite not being on campus, faculty and staff are doing all they can to provide the great opening week experience our students are used to – in a virtual format.

For the first week of the semester, PC has been providing help in virtual workshops, info sessions, counseling, and advising appointments and orientations through various digital platforms. 

PC will continue to provide a new virtual help desk that will be available six days a week. With this service, students can get information and help with technology issues, course information, applying for programs and services, or anything else that might help them have a better experience at PC. The service will be available Monday through Thursday from 8am to 6pm and Saturdays from 9 am to 1 pm starting January 21^st. The help desk can be found at https://tinyurl.com/PCinfoDesk

Students can also find a list of other helpful links to services and more at https://linktr.ee/PCStudentSuccess 

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Cerro Coso Community College

Cerro Coso Library News

The Cerro Coso library recently acquired the Ferguson’s Career Guidance Center database, which has information on over 140 industries and careers, education planning, and job-hunting and workplace skills. It includes in-depth articles about specific job or career paths, colleges and vocational programs, and timely and useful career advice. It also compiles internships (which can be filtered by compensation type!) and job postings from Indeed.

 Explore Careers: expertly researched, detailed content—including video interviews—on over 140 industries and over 1,000 professions

• Prepare for Your Career: expert advice articles and videos on writing résumés and cover letters, interviewing, networking, and other workplace topics
• Find a Career: current, searchable, live job postings and internship or apprenticeship directories
• Plan Your Education: find the schools that are the best fit—choose from undergraduate, graduate, and vocational and tech schools in the U.S. and Canada

 Ferguson’s Career Guidance Center is free and easy to access. Off campus, simply log-in with your Cerro Coso email and password. Questions? Contact the library page or call (760) 384-6131.

Allies for Success: Student Panel at Faculty Flex

In education, research has shown that teaching quality and school leadership are the most important factors in raising student achievement.  As new information, techniques, and methods of teaching are continually being updated and changed, professional development ensures that our faculty, leadership, and staff are as effective as possible, by continually expanding their knowledge and skills to implement the best practices in education.

Professional development is about life-long learning and growing as an educator.  Cerro Coso holds faculty flex activities the Friday before school starts in the spring and fall semesters to increase student success, improve the student experience, and help instructors juggle the many unfamiliar issues and challenges they face every day in the classroom.   Topics for this spring’s flex sessions held on Friday, January 14^th provided a wide array of knowledge and skills to apply to many of those everyday challenges.      

Stephanie Curry, ASCCC Area A Representative presented on Active Learning focusing on teaching methods that engage students in the learning processes, placing a greater degree of responsibility on the student for their own learning.  The session covered the core principles of active learning and provided examples of active learning techniques that can be incorporated into the classroom. 

Fair and equitable grading using rubrics within Canvas, was the topic of a session led by Professor Dawn Ward.  Canvas Rubrics and Outcomes showed faculty how to set up simple rubrics that can be used for grading or assessment in both online and on campus classes.   

Professors Debilyn Kinzler and Yvonne Mills shared how contract grading promotes a growth mindset, establishes student agency, and achievement of Student Learning Outcomes in the session Building Equity through a Growth Mindset.  The presentation included data on success rates for students and models for contracts across disciplines.  It included a hands-on approach for reimaging traditional grading systems. 

Professor Ward also led a session on how to get creative using Google Sites to Humanize the Syllabus in a way that engages students and let’s them know long before a class starts what to expect. 

Mindfulness for Educators led by Sarah Sullivan, M.S.Ed. from the California Community Colleges’ Success Network focused on cultivating inner conditions to be calmer, happier, more resilient, peaceful, and compassionate towards ourselves, colleagues, and students through mindful breathing, reflective journaling, as well as heart sharing.  Heart sharing offered a space for practice listening to one another with compassion and empathy.  A great way to start off the new semester.

Music is the lens through which we explore teaching strategies focused on enhancing student learning by creating context, promoting communication, and fostering active participation.  Adjunct Instructor, Brian Schuldt shared new approaches to encourage active and applied learning in a course.

Rahim Skinner from SISC Anthem Employee Assistance Program showed participants how to enhance their health, well-being, and productivity by relieving stress with simple relaxation techniques.  They explored ergonomics and learned how to prevent on-the-job injuries from lifting, repetitive stress, and computer related injuries.  Topics included work/life balance, how to establish priorities, and the importance of healthy eating and regular exercise.

Professors Alec Griffin and Peter Fulks presented on Humanizing Education and a Movement Away from Pedagogy based on an academic journal article that will be submitted to the Journal of Higher Education in Prison for March 2022 review. 

The day ended with an interactive student panel on Effective Teaching Strategies that Work for Community College Students.  Previous and current Cerro Coso students: Noa Lish, Sara Orlando, Ross Hill, Benjamin Vo, and Freyja Chacanaca gave their perspectives on what effective teaching looks like in a community college classroom.  Topics included teaching strategies, activities, and learning environments that promote student engagement and learning. 

Professional Development – together we learn and problem solve in order to ensure all students achieve success!

Welcome Back CC Students

For new students starting college can be both rewarding and nerve-wracking without the additional concerns of a pandemic.  As students returned to the Ridgecrest campus on Tuesday, January 18^th for the start of spring 2022 classes a WELCOME committee of students were on hand to help find classes, access services, and show how to use the Campus Pass App to protect each other from any COVID outbreaks. 

To help ease some of the burden students face, Cerro Coso is offering some important resources like: 

• FREE Medical and Mental Healthcare through Coyote Telehealth
• Laptop Loans
• Help transitioning to Online Learning
• Help paying for college cc_faid@cerrocoso.edu
• Textbook assistance through the CC Library cerrocoso.edu/library
• Counseling and Advising available through the Navigate App
• Military and Veterans Services
• Food Resources
• Jobs on campus and in the community through our Career Center
• Tutoring and Math and Writing Labs through our Learning Assistance Center
• Free Immigration Legal Services and DACA Fee Assistance
• Study space and computer equipment are available at all campus locations
• COVID Mitigation Plans and Resources

Students and parents are encouraged to stay connected with Cerro Coso on social media to stay up to date with events and news. 

#CoyoteStrong

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Bakersfield College

BC’s First Week Back on Campus

Bakersfield College is back in action this week with students, staff and faculty enjoying the sunny weather in campus outdoor spaces during these cooler January days. 

You can see more photos online: Spring 2022 First Week Back 

A New Chapter for the Shafter Library & Learning Center

The Shafter Library has turned over a new page with its official reopening under a unique collaboration between the City of Shafter and Bakersfield College, which was celebrated during a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, Jan. 18.

In preparation for the re-opening, a significant investment has been made in new books, with a focus on children. At opening, nearly a quarter of the collection is brand new, with more new books on the way. 

In addition to the existing schedule of classes, the Shafter Library & Learning Center will host regular community events. The spring schedule includes bilingual family activity nights, Shafter history lectures, science demonstrations and a community art night.  

The library was closed at the start of the pandemic in March 2020, when it was part of the Kern County Library system. The City of Shafter has since taken over the operation of the library.

“As a City, we are deeply invested in education and are excited to be opening the new City-operated Shafter Library in partnership with Bakersfield College for our families,” said Shafter mayor Cathy Prout.

As of Wednesday, Jan. 19, the Shafter Learning Center & Library will be open from 8 a.m to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Check out more photos at Shafter Library & Learning Center.

And be sure to read this wonderful article from Emma Gallegos in The Bakersfield Californian.

Spot the Robot comes to BC

On Saturday, January 15th, Bakersfield College participated in the Kern VEX Robotics League competition held at Centennial High School. There, Spot, INDA’s newest robotic dog made his grand debut. Spot comes from Boston Dynamics and has found a permanent home in our Industrial Technology program. Industrial Automation Program Manager Carlos Medina and Adjunct Faculty Jose Sepulveda were thrilled at the response received from students at the event.

Students were excited to learn about what Bakersfield College has to offer including our Bachelor of Science degree. Spot will not only be used in the program but also will continue to participate in other events outside of campus in order to help draw awareness and interest for the Industrial Technology programs.

Check out the video:

Paula Parks inducted into CSUB Hall of Fame

Bakersfield College English Professor Paula Parks is in the CSUB Hall of Fame Class of 2022. CSUB published an amazing feature on her, and how hard she works for her students. In addition to being an incredible professor of English, Paula also developed the Umoja Community program at BC – and has helped close the equity gap for students at BC.

Paula and the rest of the 2022 CSUB Hall fo Fame Class will be inducted and honored on February 11.

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In the News

Community Voices: Put on the tap shoes. Or choose your own way to learn and excel

BC Associate Professor of Journalism Erin Auerbach wrote this piece for The Bakersfield Californian about the importance of continuing to find ways to learn during the pandemic.

“Bakersfield College is going out of its way to accommodate students as this incredibly tedious and uncertain time of pandemic drags on. While I’m teaching spring courses face-to-face, there are hundreds of class sections that are being offered online. Students can join live Zoom calls for many classes or take fully online offerings (called asynchronous), which professors have put many hours into developing into highly interesting, informative courses.”

Fun Photos & Spotted on Social Media

Here’s BC Criminal Justice Professor Tommy Tunson at the BC Bookstore promoting his book “C.O.P. The Color of Power — The Odyssey of a Black Cop.”

Coach Paula Dahl on Facebook

BC Student Life Employee Nicole Alvarez donated blood for the first time. Nicole wanted to help with the critical blood supply shortage and encouraged her colleagues and students to donate with her.

I loved this post from Porterville College’s Sarah Rector, whose students found a way to liven up their virtual Zoom class:

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That’s a wrap for now.
See you next Saturday!

The future is bright at KCCD.

-sonya
a joyful and grateful Chancellor

#KCCDDaringMightyThings

Tagged: #KCCDDaringMightyThings, Bakersfield College, Cerro Coso College, Kern Community College District, Porterville College, Sonya Christian