With the holidays here, we often tend to find our thoughts drifting towards some common themes. Food, family, faith, friends, celebrations, and did I mention good food? It is a special time to be with our families and remind ourselves of the things for which we are thankful. Not tangible possessions; but the things that truly count, and that enrich our lives beyond measure.
It would be nearly impossible to complete a list of things for which my heart is thankful… because the list grows every week. But, I’d like to share just a few in no particular order:
We are BC! and in addition, we are a family. The bonds we have formed with our colleagues have become friendships and we work together achieving our mission, upholding our core values, and relentlessly supporting our students to reach their maximum potential and educational goals. Our campus is a place of true hope, transformation, and dreams. The opportunities we have to change lives is an incredible blessing and I’m left without words considering both the purpose and the privilege we have to be the pillar of hope in the lives of our students.
I’m thankful for quality affordable education we provide. We foster our core value of learning by empowering all students and ultimately transforming our community into one that gives a healthy voice and strength to all people.
I’m thankful for each and every one of the staff, faculty, and administrators … for their unique talents and multitude of gifts; for what they bring to the campus each day; for what they offer to our community; for their heart and passion to educate and to make a difference in the lives of our students.
To my BC family, thank you for making BC a successful and beautiful place to call our second home. May the gifts of love, peace, and happiness be with you and your families this holiday season.
Paula Dahl
I’m thankful for our community and the neighborhoods of Bakersfield, Delano, Shafter, Arvin, Lamont, Wasco, McFarland, and more. Your support has been unwavering and strong. Thank you for accepting Bakersfield College into the heart of your community. For over 100 years, BC has been bringing academic excellence and social consciousness into the lives of our students, regardless of their academic program, education path, or demographic differences. At the same time, the college has evolved into a multifaceted institution that serves more students than ever imagined at the time it was founded.
A few days ago, I saw a piece in The Bakersfield Californian titled “Valley Voices: Americans should share more than a meal on Thanksgiving” by David Mas Masumoto. In the piece, David says, “Across the nation, we need conversations more than ever. People are not talking with each other. We yell or are silent. Many of us seem to be harboring an anger, fueled by news of scandal, disaster, shootings, politics. We live in a polarized world.” He continued, ” Let’s use this opportunity to engage.”
Visit from McCarthy’s office.
We were happy to host visitors from Congressman Kevin McCarthy’s Office this week — Emma Rindels, stationed in DC, and Adam Falk here in Bakersfield. Paul Beckworth and Armando Trujillo briefed them on our Veterans Services and showed them the rendering of the future Veterans Resource Center.
Paul Beckworth, Adam Falk, Emma Rindels, Armando Trujillo
Renegades at the Patriotic Bowl
Sonya Christian with Elijah Ortiz’ mom at Patriotic Bowl in Long Beach
Last weekend, I enjoyed visiting Long Beach to cheer on the Renegade football team at the Patriotic Bowl. Jon Mettus at The Bakersfield Californian covered the game in his article, “Renegades’ football season ends with bowl loss.” Although it’s not how we would have wanted to end the season, our athletes have so much to be proud of this year.
During the game, I went to sit with Elijah Ortiz‘s mom. Elijah is a Renegade freshman from Stockdale High School and a key member of our football team leading the way with over a 1000 yards on offense with 13 touchdowns including a 4 touchdown performance against Moorpark on Oct. 15th. He is a solid student with a criminal justice major.
Panthers and Renegades
Corny Rodriguez presenting on stage.
On Tuesday, November 15th, Panthers and Renegades partnered up to celebrate Parents as Partners Event. Corny Rodriguez represented Bakersfield College in a packed auditorium and shared his inspirational story. With an auditorium at full capacity Corny moved several parents to tears, and many of them claimed it was the most memorable and educational event they had ever experienced. A total of 580 parents and students took part in this evening. The Edison School District thanks you! Panthers and Renegades ROCK!
Jaclyn Krause teaming with Cheri Allard. Cheri was voice interpreting for a board member who could not attend. Cindy Herbst, Beth Lilley, and Kayelle Morgan look on
ASL Program faculty members, Tom Moran and Jaclyn Krause, hosted the Southern California Registry Interpreters of the Deaf on Saturday, Nov. 18th at BC’s Levan Center.
Moran and Krause are developing an English/ASL Interpreter Training Program at BC, the first in the ASL Program’s 46 year history. Their first cadre of students started the program this semester. There is a chronic shortage of trained American Sign Language interpreters at Bakersfield College, in Kern County, and throughout the United States.
The morning began with SCRID’s monthly business meeting, which was conducted entirely in American Sign Language. BC ITP students were invited to attend to practice their voice interpreting skills. Because one board member had to participate remotely, a practicum opportunity presented itself. With support from Jaclyn Krause, BC ITP student Cheri Allard provided voice interpreting over the phone for the absent board member for two hours.
Tom Moran fingerspelling
Following a one hour lunch break, there was a workshop facilitated by Tom Moran on the topics of fingerspelling and ASL classifiers. In addition to SCRID board members, others who attended the workshop were Bakersfield community and educational interpreters, BC ASL students, and ITP students from as far away as Pomona and Mt. San Antonio College. Like the board meeting, the workshop was conducted entirely in ASL.
Cyndy and Kim, the SCRID Professional Development Committee co-chairs who brought SCRID to Bakersfield College.
Krause and Moran were especially pleased to see Kim Tripney. Kim was in Moran’s very first ASL B1 class fifteen years ago. She graduated from BC with an AA degree in American Sign Language and went on to CSUN where she earned a BA degree in Deaf Studies. Since then, she has become a busy interpreter in LA and Orange County, working at Long Beach City College, Purple Communications, and Disneyland, where she is part of a team of interpreters who provide access to Deaf park visitors.
Moran and the SCRID board. Cynthia Herbst, back row, far right, is a faculty emeritus from LA Valley Pierce College who taught interpreting for many years. She has been instrumental in assisting Moran and Krause to get the interpreting program up and running. She is also of Basque ancestry, so she asked the group to join her at the Pyrenees Café for a traditional Basque feast.
As the interpreting program gains steam, they anticipate training many more sign language interpreters to address the dire need in Kern County and throughout California and the United States. The certificate program will provide students with the skills to obtain state credentialing, pursue gainful employment, and to serve the Deaf Community in Bakersfield, Kern County, and beyond.
Bakersfield College has been growing at a steady and impressive pace as it serves our students and community. With such growth comes a need for more professors so we’ve recently held two Adjunct Faculty Hiring Fairs to provide potential applicants with information on the hiring process, and opportunities to complete applications on the spot. The first date took place on November 4th and we had over 60 interested guests in attendance. On the second date, November 7th, we had over 110 in attendance.
Andrea Thorson, Dena Rhoades, Mike Ivey, Helen Acosta
Thank you to Dena Rhoades, Cornelio Rodriguez, Bill Moseley, and Andrea Thorson.
KCCD’s Vice Chancellor of Human Resources, Tonya Davis, even posted about the events.
1984 at BC
Program from 1984
Director Kimberly Chin and the students and staff of the BC Performing Arts Department performed another successful production in the Indoor Theater last weekend, bringing the theatrical adaptation of George Orwell’s “1984” to life.
Orwell’s message about the dangers of totalitarianism continues to resonate today, and it took a lot of work to bring that message to life. Without the hard work of Kimberly Chin, Tech Director Kevin Ganger, and all of the actors, stage, set, costume and sound design crew, none of it would be possible. I’d also like to thank our graphic designer Eric Carillo for creating the poster, program and promotional materials.
Men’s Wrestling
Bakersfield College placed fourth as a team and brought home four medals from The Brawl At East Los Angeles College.
BC Wrestling brought home three 2nd place medals and a consolation championship from The Brawl Tournament at East Los Angeles College Saturday.
Pedro Ramirez, Marco Velasque, and Zavion Roberson were BC’s top finishers, while Braden Riley nabbed the consolation championship with his third place finish.
The Renegades will host the Southern California Regional Championships on Saturday, December 2nd, in the Gil Bishop Sports Center with action beginning at 10am.
Transgender Day of Remembrance
Members of BC’s allies came together to honor the lives of transgender people who were murdered over the past year during the campus’ recognition of Transgender Day of Remembrance on Monday.
Since the founding of Transgender Day of Remembrance in 1999 by Gwendolyn Ann Smith to memorialize the murder of her friend Rita Hester, members of the transgender community and its supporters worldwide have come together every year on November 20th to list the names of transgender individuals who were killed. Attendees to BC’s event in Fireside read the name and a short biography for each of the 27 transgender people killed in the United States. The number is likely higher, since family members often misreport a murdered individual’s gender.
Approximately 29 percent of transgender adults have attempted suicide in their lifetimes, and 55 percent have thought about committing suicide. This is at a rate of 14 to 22 times higher than the general population, according to a cross-university study published in the journal Transgender Health. Progress is being made toward increasing transgender acceptance in American society, including the election of several transgender politicians across the US this November, but a lot of work still needs to be done.
Helen Acosta
Prof. Helen Acosta spoke about how to foster an environment of safety and acceptance that discourages violence, discrimination and misunderstanding about the transgender community. UCLA’s Williams Institute published a survey in January 2014 examining the root causes of the increase in suicidal tendencies among transgender and other gender non-conforming adults. It found that suicide attempt rates decrease with support from family and friends and the absence of harassment or bullying at any level of school.
Here is BC’s core value of Diversity.
A movie holiday weekend.
So this weekend it was Marvel’s Justice League and then Blade Runner 2049. Although both movies did not get the best reviews (in fact, Justice League got a star and a half), I enjoyed both. Probably because I am a die-hard Marvel movie fan as well as Blade Runner fan. If you have not seen Blade Runner 2049, I’ll warn you that it is close to 3 hours long. Here is the review by A.O.Scott of the NY Times:
Good morning Bakersfield. It is Saturday, November 11, 2017, Veterans Day. Thank you for your service.
It’s been another active week here at BC.
We’ve been celebrating our veterans all week, starting with a special leadership breakfast on Monday, guest speakers, and the public unveiling of our plans for the Veteran Resource Center, which wouldn’t be possible without the community of Kern County coming together to support Measure J.
Veterans’ Day started as the US celebration of the end of World War I, which officially ended on the 11th hour of the 11th day in November of 1918. Over time, it’s evolved into a celebration of all current or retired members of our armed forces, and a time to honor the contributions of all the brave men and women who fought to preserve our safety and uphold our nation’s grand ideals. In 1955 when the Panorama Campus at Bakersfield College was being built, the first structure completed was Memorial Stadium. It was named to honor our fallen heroes of World War I and World War II and a plaque at the finish line commemorates its dedication to the bravery and sacrifice of our brothers and sisters. Over sixty years later, those who serve our country continue to be an inspiration to this campus, and our student veterans are an important part of the Renegade family.
Tom Gelder, Kay Meek, Zav Dadabhoy
On Monday, we kicked off the week with a breakfast for leaders in our community who diligently support our returning veterans and men and women in service. While I couldn’t be in attendance, I heard so many lovely comments about the morning. With an over 60% increase in student veterans at BC on campus, it is the leadership and engagement from these dedicated individuals who help us intentionally and meaningfully support our students and veterans to reach their goals. Thank you to everyone who came out including Mayor Karen Goh, Chancellor Tom Burke, Judge Louie Vega, Representative for Rudy Salas David Valadao, Michael O’Doherty, Scott Spielman, and JR Browning.
Text Message with selfie from Lisa Kent and Christine Heard
On Tuesday, we held an all day Drop Zone in front of the Admin Building where a team of individuals collected donations for our troops. Accepted donations included various foods and treats. I received a text message from Lisa Kent who helped at the event with the following photo and message that since student veteran, Wen Medrano, had arrived at the zone, they had 3 drive-up donation drop offs!
The donations will be boxed and prepared by Kern River Blue Star Moms, which is our local chapter of Blue Star Mothers of America. Throughout the year they send care packages to local troops who are deployed, assist local veterans’ organizations, and participate in multiple community outreach events. Look for them in the Veterans Day Parade.
Throughout the day, we welcomed various organizations and special visitors who brought donations.
Lee Caldwell, Annie Garrett and Julie Kapoor from KHSD, Wen Medrano, Lisa Kent, and Christine Heard
Annie Garrett and Julie Kapoor from KHSD visited the Drop Off Zone with a donation and they left this message, “We wanted to say how much we appreciate what you do for our Veterans. It was so gratifying seeing your face and those Veterans faces when we opened up the car. Thank you for your service and our Veterans”
Drop off zone at BC with Christine and Lisa
If you visited campus this week, you would have noticed the flag garden outside of the Center for Student Success, specifically the Counseling office. All flags were $1 and the proceeds will go to Mikes Pass Program at BC to purchase parking permits for veterans.
Elizabeth Perez-Halperin speaking to students in the Fireside Room.
On Wednesday, we welcomed Elizabeth Perez-Halperin, as part of the Distinguished Speaker Series . Hosted by Bakersfield College Veterans Services, former Navy Petty Officer-turned entrepreneur Elizabeth Perez-Halperin spoke about her own experiences as a female veteran and her struggles after leaving of the service. Ms. Perez-Halperin holds a degree in Professional Aeronautics from Embry-Riddle University with a Minor in Logistics, Business & Safety Management. She also is the President and founder of GC Green Incorporated (GCG), a certified woman-owned, Native American, and 9/11 service disabled veteran-owned Green Build General Contracting and Consulting Firm.
Celebrating the 1-year anniversary of Measure J by unveiling the future Veterans Resource Center
November 8, 2017 marked the one-year anniversary of the Yes vote on Measure J. A Yes vote meant sharing in a renewed vision of what moved the community to start Bakersfield College 104 years ago — and 61 years ago to start building the beautiful campus on Panorama Drive. Thank you for your support and thank you for sharing this vision.
Today, one year later, our first project funded by our shared and renewed vision is the Veterans Resource Center. What better way to thank our community than by building this center as a commitment to the knowledge and preparation of our veterans; and what better way than by focusing on student veteran needs in the learning environment, their opportunities, and their dreams for the future. Thank you veterans for your service.
KCCD Board President Kay Meek, Student Combat Veteran Lee Caldwell
When our Veterans are returning home, the brand-new Veterans Resource Center at Bakersfield College will be the place they’re coming to for the promise of opportunities through a successful education. We were honored to have the President of the KCCD Board of Trustees as our first guest speaker for the event, Kay Meek.
It was specifically important to Kay that this new center was designed to enhance and improve student success, wellness, and provide a comforting space for camaraderie for our returning veterans, like Lee Caldwell. Trustee Meek called on Chancellor Burke to get the building open for our student veterans sooner than later.
Lee spoke of how returning home and coming to BC changed his life. Our campus is a place of hope, dreams, and transformation and Lee is shining proof of this. These sacred spaces of higher education are over half a century old, but inspiration and transformation are abundant within our halls and on our campus grounds.
Our next speaker was Karen Thompson, Chair of the Measure J Committee and Chair of the Board of Directions for the BC Foundation. Karen was a force on the campaign for Measure J — from taking care of finances to logistics. Thank you Karen Thompson and the Bakersfield College Foundation.
Chancellor Tom Burke spoke about the ways in which KCCD is looking forward to enhancing student success through the initiatives provided by Measure J. An article from The Bakersfield Californian which showcased the unveiling quoted him, “Your support will ensure that Bakersfield College will be able to provide quality facilities for our local communities for decades to come,” said Kern Community College District Chancellor Tom Burke. “I believe quality facilities are a huge part in providing a learning environment that leads to student success. Veterans, this resource center is our tribute and resource to you and those that follow. You will always find support at the Kern Community College District for meeting your life goals and aspirations.”
Our final guest speaker was Trustee Bill Thomas, who was a true storyteller and champion for the BC campus throughout the Measure J campaign. His dedication to BC stems from back when he was known on campus as Professor Thomas to his Renegade Political Science students and his love for this campus has never dimmed. He spoke of how he was inspired by returning veterans who dedicated themselves to earning an education after returning home from service. He specifically spoke about Vernon Venezuela, a Vietnam Veteran, and his advocacy for veterans across the country. When he brought up Vernon’s name, many of the veterans attending the event teared up.
The new Veterans Resource Center funded by the community through Measure J will be a true game changer for our returning veterans as students, and will offer support services along with a team of staff to guide them through their educational journey. We currently have over 680 enrolled student veterans and more each year. Our student veterans are an inspiration, through their stories, their successes, and their courage. We are honored that they chose to come to BC.
Thank you to our student veterans for your courage and service, for believing in yourself, for pursuing an education, and for choosing Bakersfield College. This is for you.
Thank you to our community for supporting Measure J and important initiatives. I can’t think of a better way to start building that renewed vision than by building the Veterans Resource Center to serve our student veterans. It is a good time to be at Bakersfield College. It is a good time to be in Bakersfield and it is a good time to be in Kern County.
It was great seeing Michael O’Doherty at the event. Michael spent countless hours on Measure J. BC is indebted to you. And here is a photo of Nick Strobel and Bill Thomas after the event.
I was so happy to see Wesley Barrientos at the event. Wesley later joined Paul Beckworth and me for an interview with Richard Beene on his radio show. Wesley was at BC when I arrived as a new president and was instrumental in getting me to understand how BC could best prepare for welcome and support returning veterans to the Home of the Renegades.
Thank you Monika Scott, Jennifer Serratt, Bill Potter, and Paul Beckworth for planning this event. Thank you Mary Jo for doing what you do. And thank you Marlene Heise for bringing out the media. Thank you Manny De Los Santos, Earl Parsons, and Carson for the photos. Thank you Dennis Spencer
This was my favorite picture of the event. A selfie by Jenny Frank of four veterans who love BC and have helped us take care of our student veterans.
Richard Beene Show
Later that afternoon Paul Beckworth, Wesley Barrientos and I were on the Richaed Beene radio show.
Wesley Barrientos, Sonya Christian, Richard Beene, Paul Beckworth
VetFest 2017
On Thursday, we wrapped up our week on campus with Vet Fest and had over a dozen booths showcasing some of the support and tools that veterans can make use of. At 9AM, the BC Drumline started out the beautiful day —
… then the Presentation of the Colors by the Kern County Sheriff’s Department Color guard, and to kick off our speakers was Veteran Club President, Cristian Gutierrez.
Speakers included Mayor Karen Goh, Assemblyman Rudy Salas, Paul Beckworth, Cristian Gutierrez and keynote speaker, Dr. Denita Oyeka.
Mayor Karen Goh
Assembly Member Rudy Salas
Dean Paul Beckworth
Dr. Oyeka served in the US Army for 17 years until wounded during a complex ambush in Mosul Iraq. Her injuries included Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), PTSD, spinal injuries, broken ribs, and heart damage. During her multiple tours for operations Iraq Freedom and Operations Enduring Freedom, she served as a Weapons of Mass Destruction Intelligence Team Lead for Base Defense Operations, with the Biological Detection and Identification Systems under the Big Red One Infantry Division. She has her Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice and Weapons of Mass Destruction and recently completed her Doctorate in Public Policy: Organizational Management and Leadership with Focus on Transitioning Veteran Policy Development. Denita is continuing her service to America by working for the Department of Justice. She has found the determination to continually overcome her injuries through educating and supporting fellow Veterans in various collaborations from California to Capitol Hill.
Keynote Speaker, Dr. Denita Oyeka.
Locals from the community came to celebrate on campus, such as Buzz Wells from Tehachapi who made the trip to BC just for Vetfest.
Buzz and Armando
Mayor Karen Goh, Assemblyman Rudy Salas, President Sonya Christian
A huge thank you to BC Food Services for providing tacos, rice and beans, and the live band for the music and entertainment.
All of these weeks activities would not have been possible without a team of people who coordinated each and every detail. Thank you to everyone, especially including Paul Beckworth, Lisa Kent, Bernadette Martinez, Armando Trujillo, and Lee Caldwell.
Law Enforcement Graduation
While we were all busy celebrating our military at Vetfest, the Bakersfield Police Department was graduating 14 new officers in the Indoor Theater.
We were honored to have the BPD’s academy, the graduating cadets, and all of their families on campus to celebrate the hard-fought achievements of 14 future police officers, who will soon begin working diligently out in our streets to protect our community. Before graduating, the academy showed a video demonstrating all of the trials the physical and mental challenges the cadets had to endure during their training. I’d like to thank Chief Lyle Martin, who pushed to bring the graduation back to the BC campus. I can’t wait to welcome more graduates into our future law enforcement agencies.
Thank you Paul Beckworth for your leadership in this week-long celebration of our veterans.
Paul Beckworth. Photo by Manny de Los Santos
CSUB BC Transfer Event
Faculty and administrators from BC and CSUB gathered Monday, October 30 in the Fireside room to discuss course-specific road maps for each institution. We shared a simple lunch and while sitting across from our counterparts each came to better understood our shared mission to serve Kern county. Although the initial intent was to work on areas where BC ADT’s (Associate Degrees for Transfer) were similar to CSUB areas of Concentration, some additional important programs with opportunity or a large number of transfers were included. By days end, 23 Transfer degrees (AA-T/AS-T), 2 TMC’s and 2 new degree areas were coordinated with 51 CSU Major Emphasis or concentration areas.
Outcomes included:
Clarified pathways to facilitate student completion of Baccalaureate Degrees in Kern County
Relationships between discipline faculty to better inform students’ coursework
Identified course articulation or ADT modifications
Expanded ADT application to Areas of Concentration (one ADT degree may go to multiple CSU BA pathways) and understanding any specific course benefits within individual pathways
Documented pathways by semester for full-time students – CSU 120 units and BC 60 unit + CSUB 60 unit packages
Documented CSU/CCC model that can be replicated statewide to meet the Graduation 2025 Initiative goals
Numerous materials including one-year pathway models and 4-year pathway models, discipline C-ID courses and Transfer Model Curriculum were supplied faculty who worked through a 4-year pathway from BC to Bachelor’s degree at CSUB. The end-product for each discipline was a semester pattern of course-taking for each area of emphasis at CSUB. Patterns included recommended coursework by CSUB faculty for specific pathways at BC.
BC and CSUB faculty are currently finalizing these pathways, which will be posted and available to clarify paths for students in Biology, Pre-Nursing, Communication, Journalism, Computer Science, Early Childhood Education, Elementary Education, Engineering, English, History, Kinesiology, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, and Sociology. Additional pathway maps will be completed this winter.
Taste of BC
Have I mentioned recently how amazing our faculty and students are? Last Saturday, our Performing Arts faculty and students partnered with our Culinary Arts faculty and students to create an unforgettable evening for 35 students from Standard Middle School. Starting with a tour of our Performing Arts Center, the middle school students got a ‘behind the scenes’ look at our Theatre and Music facilities. They also enjoyed an incredible performance by BC students from our recent production of Hamlet, followed by a skit from Brian’s Beard (BC’s Improv Troupe). Our Theatre majors also taught the middle school students how to do improv. Very impressive! To top off the evening, the students enjoyed a fantastic meal in the Renegade Room by our Culinary Arts majors, and were entertained with dinner music by many of our Music majors. Many thanks to Dr. Jen Garrett, Brian Sivesind, Chef Suzanne Tangeman, Kevin Ganger, Leslie Aldridge, and Kim Chin, along with our students from the Hamlet cast, 1984 cast, Brian’s Beard, Music majors, and Culinary Arts students for volunteering the time and talents to benefit our local middle school students (…and hopefully future Renegades!)
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Paul Meyers, District Superintendent emailed to share that the experience was powerful for the young students, and they appreciate the attention to the details that made everything come together so well Saturday night.
Thank you to all involved, and thank you Standard Middle School for bringing the students to Bakersfield College. I hope they will all return as Renegades.
Monday’s 3rd Accreditation Forum was well attended with great participation from faculty and staff. Dena Rhodes and Todd Coston (filling in for Mike Ivey) lead the group through a discussion on Standard III.A.5, one of 15 sections for Human Resources, concerning the evaluation process, improving it, educating and training managers, and documenting the plan. Next, Bill Potter and Kristen Rabe Discussed Standard III.B Facilities, or physical resources. The main purpose of the 4 sections of this standard is to ensure that we have adequate, appropriate, equitable and safe space for classes and administration. Their discussion of Standard III.B.3 focused on the process for requesting facilities (program review), the request’s prioritization through committee, inclusion in the Facilities Master Plan, and completion contingent on funding.
Richard Marquez and Todd Coston, co-chairs of the ISIT Committee, discussed sections 2 & 5, of the five sections of Standard III.C, Technology. The theme of requesting our technological needs through program review, prioritization, planning, and funding were consistent with that of Bill’s and Kristen’s facility needs. There is also a new standard this year for “policies and procedures that guide the appropriate use of technology in the teaching and learning processes.” We meet this standard through the Board Policy, Acceptable Use Policy and adhering to ADA and 508 compliance.
Don Chrusciel and Steve Holmes, co-leads on Standard III.D Finance, gave a demonstration on where we can find budget information on the District web site. Don explained the Closing the Loop document that recaps how the budget was spent on planned projects. You may view the Forum Presentations on the Accreditation site.
Thank you to Sue Vaughn, Nick Strobel, John Gerhold, Maria Wright, Jennifer Johnson, staff and faculty in Delano and all of the others that participated in the discussion. Also a big thank you to Liz Rozell, Jason Stratton, Bill Moseley, Kirk Russell, Johnathon Shultz and Delano for coordinating the forum. I hope to see all of you at the next forum hosted by the College Council on November 17th. Keep an eye out for the announcement.
Great picture of Todd Coston, Bill Potter, and Kristin Rabe celebrating after the forum.
Academic Senate at BC!
The Bakersfield College Academic Senate represents the faculty in its entirety and whose primary function is to make recommendations to and agreements with the governing board of the district with respect to academic and professional matters, and to make recommendations to the administration and governing board on matters pertaining to the conduct and welfare of the college.
We have a great group of faculty on the senate at BC under the leadership of Senate President Steven Holmes. Tarina Perry (far left) does a great job supporting the senate.
Academic Senate 2017-2018
Front row, left to right:
Tarina Perry (Administrative Secretary), Kimberly Nickell (EB), Steven Holmes (AS President), Laura Peet, Di Hoffman (EB), Lisa Harding (EB), Susan McQuerrey, Dan Kimball, Deborah Rosenthal (EB), Chad Newton (EB), Michael Fredenberg, Ishmael Kimbrough, Robby Martinez, Lawrence Salcido (BCSGA)
Second row, left to right:
Phil Whitney, Barbara Braid, Alisha Loken, Matt Garrett (EB), Neal Stanifer, Klint Rigby, Victor Diaz (EB), Matt Jones, Teresa McAllister, Qui Jimenez, Jessica Wojtysiak (EB), Ganae Romo (BCSGA)
The Renegade Minute
Professor Josh Ottum performing with Commercial Music students
The Renegade Minute is a podcast produced by students in the Commercial Music program at Bakersfield College. The series presents profiles of BC faculty, students, and people around Kern County and beyond. For more information on the Commercial Music Program at Bakersfield College please visit: panoramarecordings.com/ and bccommercialmusic.tumblr.com/
Bakersfield College is bringing higher education to Shafter for rural North West Kern county. The college offerings at the Shafter Learning Center and Shafter High School will service a population of over 60,000 adults (18 and over) living within a twenty mile radius of both locations. The initial offerings will be general education college courses that apply to a Bakersfield College degree or transfer to local four-year schools. The effort is to improve our support to students that cannot access our services at the Panorama campus. The site is located about eight miles south of Wasco on highway 43 in the city of Shafter at 236 James Street, Shafter, Ca.
I invite everyone in the area to come out to Shafter Learning Center for BC’s Express Enrollment event on November 14th from 8AM to 2PM. Get enrolled and leave registered for BC classes in Shafter!
Music:
Fall Jazz Concert on Monday, November 13, 2017 at 7:30 p.m.: The Bakersfield College Jazz Ensemble directed by Kris Tiner celebrates some of the greatest jazz composers from the 1940s to the present. Featuring music by Horace Silver, Billy Strayhorn, Duke Ellington, Sonny Rollins, Pat Metheny, Toshiko Akiyoshi and more. Tickets available atwww.vallitix.com or at the door, $10 general admission, $7 students/staff/seniors. Proceeds benefit the BC Jazz Program. For more information call 661-395-4313 or visit www.bcjazz.org
Culinary Caroling Dinner on Dec. 2nd: The incredible Culinary Arts Department and the BC Chamber Singers get together and put on quite an evening of food and music to kick of your holiday season. This year’s theme is based on the Christmas movies we all know and love, and even features Santa Claus for your picture-taking pleasure. This is the biggest fundraiser of the year for the Chamber Singers ambitious tour to Australia to sing in the Sydney Opera House. We have raised over 65,000 for the tour but currently need to almost double that amount. Your support will help us reach our goal of taking all of the Chamber Singers regardless of their financial situation. We cannot make this happen on our own and are so grateful for your support. There will be a silent and live auction also full of wonderful items!
Tickets are $45 for a single ticket and $40 each for 2 or more tickets. Tickets are only sold through Dr. Jennifer Garrett at jennifer.garrett@bakersfieldcollege.edu or the Chamber Singers. Tickets will go quickly.
Enjoying Porterville College at the Nov 9th Board Meeting
The KCCD BOard of Trustees typically meet at the Weill Institute in downtown Bakersfield every month. However, three of their meetings are scheduled on the college campuses. On November 6th we met at the Porterville College campus. During lunch President Bill Henry had organized a short presentation of a new program at the college — the Pirate Pathway to success. It is a great program with focus on getting to degree completion in a shorter amount of time. Here are Erin Cruz and Elmer Aguilar presenting the program. Very cool presentation.
It was also a treat to see the retirees present with the Board recognizing them for their service. Dr. Rosa Carlson was there and everyone greeted her back with much warmth. Here is a photo of Steve Schultz who is just a wonderful man …. He was my inspiration on supporting student veterans with what he did at the Porterville College campus. Here he is with his wife.
Also, their son Jonathan Schultz is an amazing faculty in the counseling department. He work long hours and is passionate about student success. Check out this 7-minute video
I also found this great picture on Jonathan Schultz’ facebook page.
Steve Schultz and Virginia Gurrola were both recognized with the status of “emeritus” along with several others. I got to know Virginia Gurrola when she took a leadership role with the campaign on Measure J. She was just great.
Congratulations Steve and Virginia.
MESA Students at BC
BC’s MESA Students
Four talented Bakersfield College students gathered in downtown Los Angeles in a step towards becoming the diverse leaders of tomorrow’s tech and engineering workforce. MESA’s Student Leadership Conference brings together hand-picked engineering and computer science students with industry professionals to develop the next generation of STEM leaders. Held at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel Oct. 27-28, this year’s conference theme was Illuminate. Motivate. Launch.
The Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) program guides diverse students from underrepresented backgrounds into STEM careers.
Unlike job fairs or speaker-only conferences, MESA students got the unique opportunity to interact one-on-one and in small groups with company executives, engineers and recruiters. Many often leave the conference with internship offers that lead to full-time employment. Students participated in mock interviews, communications, team building, emotional intelligence and financial literacy workshops.
Renegade Athletics
Renegade Volleyball Conf Champs.
From TBC: “Ferreira is hoping for a top-four seeding, which would mean opening the playoffs at home on Nov. 21.” I will be there on Nov 21st. Will you?
Check out the article by Mike Griffith at: http://tinyurl.com/ydg2zhs9
It was a fun game and there were many who came out to support the student athletes.
The Softball Team came out to support Renegade Volleyball
The Wrestling Team came out to support Renegade Volleyball
The Cheer Team was there
Loved seeing Becki Whitson.
Becki Whitson
Sonya Christian, Sandi Taylor
Cross Country
Women’s Cross Country qualifies two for state meet: wo members of the BC women’s cross country team qualified for the State Championships, next week in Fresno. Lourdes Cruz finished 59th (21:12.68) and Gabriella Lugo finished 83 (21:46.99) at the SO CAL Championships, this past Friday, to qualify. (from gogades.com)
Men’s Cross Country Team qualifies for state: The Renegades finished in 14th place as a team to earn a spot in the State Championships. In the field of 196 runners at the SO CAL Cahmpionships, three Renegades finished in the top eighty. Angelo Benitez led BC, finishing in 50th place with a time of 22:26.60. Harrison Wykoff (22:30.62) finished in 58th place and Marcos Mulato (22:47.66) finished 77th. (from: gogades.com)
Men’s Soccer: The Renegades defeated Glendale College 3-1, last night to improve to 3-4-2 in conference play. Jesus Barajas led the Renegades with two goals, giving him four for the season and Edui Pardo scored the other goal, his first of the season. Abel Gonzalez made 5 saves and Israel Rodriguez made one save.
Women’s Basketball defeat Riverside
The Renegades got in the win column, by defeating Riverside 69-64. Freshman, Brianna Mendez led the way with 22 points, 3 blocks and 4 steals, while Angie Kroeger added 16 points and 9 rebounds. (from gogades.com)
Men’s Basketball
On Thursday (Nov 2nd), the Renegades defeated Santa Ana 84-68. They had multiple players score in double figures, led by Jaylunn English with 22. Henry Galinato recorded a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Jamar Hammonds (12 points), Tucker Eenigenburg (11 points) and Anieus Medrano (10 points) were the other players scoring in double figures. On Friday (Nov 3rd), the Renegades defeated Long Beach 92-84. Four Renegades scored in double figures, led by Jamar Hammonds, who had 33 points and 17 rebounds, Jaylunn English addes 21 points, Shahadah Camp 18 points and Tucker Eenigenburg 16 points. (from: gogades.com)
BC coming to Shafter January 2018. Enroll now!
Fun Pictures:
It was a treat running into Kathy Bohner on Tuesday, Nov 7th. Kathy retired as the assessment center coordinator and before that she worked in the math lab.
Paul Beckworth wins the motorcycle when Mayor Karen Goh draws the winning raffle ticket at the Wounded Heroes Fund event.
Emmanuel Limaco at MeCha Panelist event…from Facebook
Bilbo
Neo
That’s all for now.
Until next time.
With much Renegade Pride and Collegiality.
sonya — the luckiest and happiest college president ever
Good morning Bakersfield. It is August 19, 2017, the birthday of my grandmother, Hilda Sparrow. And a great day to be a Renegade
I woke up to a flurry of emails early Saturday morning from BC employees supporting students. How cool is that! Here are two examples:
Email from Dr. Manny Mourtzanos at 7:00 a.m. Saturday morning to the student
Good morning, [name of student]. I was so inspired to read your message to President Christian, as well as her response this morning. I can’t think of a better way to start the day. We’re here to help. I’d love the chance to meet. Let’s make it happen early and often. I will be at the Welcome Tent by the Fine Arts building on Monday morning from 7:30 – 10:00 am. If you’re in the area during that time, please drop in. My office is located in FA-69 (Fine Arts Building). If I’m not there, someone will be able to help you schedule an appointment with me. I’d like for us to discuss your plans for law school, as well the many professional options our program can offer you. It is a unique program developed by the State Bar of California, and reserved for only a handful of colleges in California, including Bakersfield College. You’ve picked a great college to attend!
Be well,
manny
Then at 7:03 a.m. on saturday, this email from Maria Wright to the student popped into my inbox
Maria Wright
Good morning [name of student],
Welcome to BC! As President Christian mentioned in her email, I am the Director of Academic Support Services and I look forward to supporting you on your pathway to success! Please stop by to meet me next week, my office is in the Center for Student Success (CSS) building, second floor, room 184-A.
When we meet, I will give you a tour of our support services. In the meantime, I am attaching a document that will help you to identify some of the services available to you.
I look forward you to meeting you and please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns!
With Renegade pride,
Maria Wright
I am the luckiest and happiest college president ever!
August 21st, first day of classes
On Monday, August 21st, the campus will be alive with students filling each hallway and classroom. BC has been growing in enrollments over the last four years and this fall we are seeing another 6.5% growth. So students, parking is going to be crazy the first two weeks. I ask that you to have a friend or family member drop you off and pick you up, or car pool, or take public transportation, or bike to school. Plan on being early.
Where did this summer go? It flew by so quickly! But, here we are and fall is about to begin. It’s my favorite time of the year, gearing up to welcome students back on campus for a new academic year.
Fall 2017 Opening Day
Sonya Christian — 2017 State of the College
On Thursday, August 17th, we celebrated our Opening Day – a time where faculty and staff come together to review all we’ve accomplished and the things we look forward to accomplishing this year. This year, the indoor theater was packed and Jennifer Marden needed to organize an overflow room. And plz note that there are three reds in the planning team — Jennifer Marden, Monika Scott, and Kristin Rabe!
President Dezi Von Manos
Our morning began with a welcome by SGA President, Dezi Von Manos – a BC Communication major and a true student leader. I will see if I can have her talk posted on my blog next week. I promise you, you will be inspired by her and her story.
One of the highlights of the morning was Kay Meek, President of the KCCD Board of Trustees. I heard so many positive comments from everyone on how much they appreciate Kay and how much they appreciated hearing from Kay. Trustee Meek was very positive about the future of KCCD and talked about how much the college will benefit from Measure J. She pointedly looked at me and said she wants the Veterans Resource Center sooner than later to which the audience responded with an applause. Thank you President Kay Meek for attending our Opening Day. We are so fortunate to have you at the helm of KCCD.
Kay Meek, President of the KCCD Board
Kay Meek — A Renegade Fan
This was my fourth State of the College address as President of the college. Here are snippets of the content of my remarks.
Let me start with our Core Valuers which permeate everything we do. During the State of the College I had our new employees read the Core Values. Here is Neeley Hatridge reading the core value of Diversity.
Neeley Hatridge
Sonya Christian — BC Core Values
We have also been laser focused on the safety and security of our campus. BC has a dedicated Public Safety department led by Chief Counts. Since we are an open campus with no walls surrounding us, our Public Safety department makes sure that we go through professional development to be able to respond to all kinds of emergencies. Our slogan is, if you see something, say something, do something. Here is Chief Christopher Counts addressing the BC employees on Opening Day.
Chief Christopher Counts
I have been blogging about the Guided Pathways work at BC and the strategy of creating Completion Coaching Communities around the 10 metamajors. Well, at Opening Day, we had a team from the Arts and Humanities metamajor model that their roles will be as completion coaches for the students in that group. Each speaker was exceptionally good and I thank Grace Commiso, Manny Mourtzanos and especially Lesley Bonds in working with the group.
Grace Commiso, Lesley Bonds
Here are the completion coaches who spoke at Opening Day
Manny Mourtzanos (Dean and Administrative Lead):
Dr. Manny Mourtzanos
1972….Not only the year I was born, but also the number of students in the Arts & Humanities pathway. 1,972. How can one person possibly know each of these students on a personal level enough to make a difference?
That’s why we have “Completion Coaching Communities.” By bringing together specialists and discipline experts, we can share the duty to ‘know’ our students. As the Pathway Lead, I can ‘know’ our 1,972 by reviewing data. I might not know their stories, but by working with our Data Coaches and colleagues in Institutional Effectiveness, we can identify which students could benefit from additional support, resources, information or intervention. As Pathway Lead, my ‘breadth’ of knowing students is wide, though shallow. However, discipline experts are uniquely positioned to have a shorter ‘breadth’ of students to know, but they can be known in a much ‘deeper’ and more meaningful way. For example, of our 1,972 students, 101 of them are Spanish majors. As the discipline expert for Spanish, Qiu Jimenez is poised to coordinate efforts with the other three full-time faculty in Spanish to know their students on personal level….that’s only 25 students each…a very doable mission. As the Pathway Lead, I’m committed to bringing our experts together, along with our Data Coaches, Faculty Chairs, Counselors and Ed Advisors, to identify students in need of additional support, and using our infrastructure to reach them.
You’ll hear today from my fellow Completion Coaches. We each have different responsibilities to ensure that we know our students so that they:
Complete college-level English and math in the first year,
Complete 15 pathway-applicable units by the end of their first term,
Complete 30 pathway-applicable units by the end of their first year, and
Complete 60 pathway-applicable units in two years
With that, I invite my fellow Completion Coaches to share with you their experiences as Coaches responsible for these 1,972 students.
Eleonora Hicks (Data Coach):
Eleonora Hicks
My name is Eleonora Hicks. I am a sociology professor in the Behavioral Sciences department and since I find quantitative analysis “super” exciting, I also function as a data coach and work closely with BC’s completion coaching communities within the framework of our guided pathways.
There are four main pillars in the guided pathways approach. The first pillar involves not only achieving clarity but to quote President Christian, it involves achieving relentless clarity in the curricular pathways that students follow to complete their academic and career goals.
As a member of the Arts & Humanities Completion Coaching Community, I am the Data Clarifier. It’ is my responsibility to provide clarity, help my fellow coaches understand the right questions to ask, , interpret questions they’re not sure how to ask, and make meaning of the cohort reports I provide as a liaison with the Office of Institutional Effectiveness.
As a data coach and part of a completion community, I have specifically worked within the framework of Pillar #1 by collaborating with the Office of Institutional Effectiveness in several ways: I have helped my Completion Community see the classes in which our students are enrolled, provided feedback about the clarity with which we communicate program requirements, goals, and outcomes and am currently assessing the most common courses across programs within meta-majors, which could become an important tool in advising and course mapping.
Yvonne Armendariz (AccuSQL Lead) Good morning, my name is Yvonne Armendariz and I am the Basic Skills Program Manager. As a Completion Coach, I lead our campus efforts to utilize a tool called AccuSQL to track attendance for all student support services. So while Eleonora distributes to her Completion Coaching Community a report based on student cohort data in Banner, I can help provide you a report that shows our students’ behavior throughout the semester.
At the beginning of each semester, I will set up automated reports for each instructor to receive every Monday morning at 7 am. These reports will have detailed information regarding the students in your course that attended an academic support service the week prior. This report will include student name, ID, center where services attended, and time spent. For weeks, 4, 8, and 12 each instructor will receive a cumulative report for all students that have attended a support service at that point. Any Completion Coach can use this information to track, in nearly live time, how engaged your students are in academic support services.
If you have any questions regarding your AccuSQL reports, please feel free to contact me or reach out anyone within the Academic Support Services Department and they will put you into contact with me. Thank you.
Jonathan Schultz (Counselor):
Jonathan Schultz
I am Jonathan Schultz, a Counselor and Completion Coach. While there are many things I love about the pathway model, the group collaboration is my favorite. Having a group of people, working together is not only fun, but it really helps our students succeed and get on their path to completion. A perfect example of this is over the summer, I received an email from Helen Acosta, Department Chair of Communication, replying to a student who she met at Summer Bridge. This student had questions about what career path would be best for her. Helen, knowing the system we have in place on campus, referred her to me since I am the “Personal and Career Exploration” counselor, and we were able to help her set up an appointment to begin researching career options and begin her on a path.
As a Counselor focused on undecided students entering our campus, I review cohort progress data, take direct responsibility for reaching out to undecided students in groups, and work with them to move them toward a clear, attainable educational goal using various career exploration tools, working with job placement specialists, the transfer center, and my colleagues in academic support services. I take responsibility for recognizing and intervening when I see our students are off-path to help them get back on-path by taking the right courses at the right time. As a Completion Coach, I commit to ensuring each student I meet leaves our interaction with a clearer sense of purpose and the tools they need to navigate their pathway successfully.
Roberta Ayala (Financial Aid Tech):
Roberta Ayala
My name is Roberta Ayala and I am a Financial Aid Technician. With nearly 80% of students being the first in their families to attend college and over 65% relying on financial aid to pursue their goals, we know that helping students start on the right path financially is critical in their success.
As a Completion Coach, I work to ensure our students’ success and remove any financial barriers along their path while shaping their behavior for their long-term success. I achieve this by assisting students throughout the financial aid process including completing their FAFSA, keeping open communication regarding status and requirements, and providing support throughout their journey.
More specifically, I track and provide financial aid information to my fellow coaches within the A&H pathway. It is my personal goal to educate my fellow coaches and our students, and to provide them with the many financial resources available. With the list of the 1971 students Eleonora provides, I am able to quickly identify those students who have incomplete FAFSAs, are missing critical documents, or are in danger of losing their financial aid. By identifying the students early, I can contact each student with a tailored message to ensure they set off on the right path financially toward their educational goals.
Paul Beckworth (Discipline Faculty, Starfish Implementation Lead):
Paul Beckworth
My name is Paul Beckworth, and I was not born in 1972. I’m a history faculty member and serve as BC’s lead for veterans. While our Dean, Manny Mourtzanos, set the stage with a focus on the 1972 students in the Arts & Humanities Learning & Career Pathway, I am focused on specific, intrusive support to history majors. As a coach, I know I have a direct responsibility for knowing the 222 of History majors at BC.
Launching into a new year brings new possibilities, not just for us but for our students. The possibility to finish strong can become a probability through vigorous course work and “intrusive caring.” One of our primary roles as educators is to help students finish what they started. But you might be wondering how do we, as teachers, get students to stay on the path that the awesome counselors and advisors put them on? If a student isn’t in my class, how can I play a role in helping them finish what they started?
We know students see us more often than anyone else on campus. They come to talk to us, sometimes about class, but often times about life. Struggles often show up in classroom performance. What an opportunity to keep them on their path to getting a whole team behind them, not letting them deviate from their goals!
So, beyond creating an environment in my classroom where students can learn and grow collectively as historians, I am committing to take responsibility for ensuring their success as BC Renegades.
As a member of a Completion Community, I work with my colleagues in the History department to ensure the data Eleonora provides remain a constant focus for each of us in our department meetings. We will work together as a department to ensure our syllabi reflect our emphasis on academic support services and student engagement.
I get to say, I am a completion coaching community team member. Listen, guided pathways is happening with us, not to us. Our students are coming in with pre-entry attributes that we must work with. We meet them where there are. Where are they? They are here! And they are BC!
Regina Hukill (Department Chair, Math):
Regina Hukill
My name is Regina Hukill and I am the Math Department Chair and a member of the STEM Completion Coaching Community. But today I am here as a department chair to ensure that math completion is a clear focus for everyone as we work to help students stay on path to complete college-level English and math.
In the past year, we have been engaged in an intensive strategy to engage every student in academic support. Using Basic Skills funds, we developed an Extend the Classroom for Math as well as for English. By using, Extend the Classroom to target those students taking basic skill math courses who need extra one-on-one tutoring in math and to help them complete the math they need to stay on their academic path.
We are happy to see that the Extend the Classroom for Math location has been moved from being tucked away in a corner of the Writing Center, to a more desirable location which will be in the Math Science Building. A convenient location can really make a huge difference in the number of students we can get to participate in this program.
Our two professional math tutors, Christopher Anderson and Alana Austin will be there to help students from 7 am to 8:30 pm Monday through Thursday, and on Fridays from 8 am to noon. Math faculty will continue to support the Extend the Classroom by providing help as well. We have found that instructors like Josh Lewis and Donna Starr who are available in the Extend the Classroom get a good number of their students participating. Some of my fellow math faculty coaches and I are committing to allocate points in the course that students can earn by getting tutoring outside of the classroom to emphasize our goal of math completion for all students.
Keri Wolf (Discipline faculty, Extend the Classroom):
Keri Wolf
My name is Keri Wolf, and I have been involved in Extend the Classroom as an English faculty member and Completion Coach to ensure college-level English completion is a clear focus for each of you. BC has 253 English majors, but we know every single student who steps foot on campus with an AA in mind needs to complete English 1A. With our goal for students to complete college-level Math and English courses during their first year, this places English faculty in a unique position to foster a collaborative environment through classroom interactions and extending the classroom programs.
Extending the classroom provides a distraction free, collaborative learning environment. Supplemental Instruction study groups allow students to gain the support of not only an experienced peer who knows the instructor and that specific section’s material but also the support of classmates.
As a Completion Coach, I work with my colleagues in the English Department to expand our use of SI, specifically for English 53, an accelerated course to the transfer-level English 1A. As a result, students who take English 53 their first semester and then follow it with English 1A their second semester are able to complete English in the first year.
Since English provides these foundational courses, extend the classroom exposes students early to the network of support services. And many students have credited SI as pivotal to their success.
Transfer and CTE are all pathways to a job: The Community College Chancellor’s Office is focused on “jobs” at the email of a college degree whether it is an Associates degree or a Baccalaureate degree. The whole Guided Pathways approach starts with the “end in mind”. At BC, we have organized our 72 programs into 10 Metamajors and within each metamajor there are both CTE pathways and transfer pathways. So, during the State of the College address, I invited both Janet Fulks and Cindy Collier to speak about Transfer and CTE respectively and our work for 2017-18.
After the State of the College, we heard from Chancellor Tom Burke who reviewed the Measure J plans, his goals for the next two years and his visit to the Kern Valley Prison to see students in the Japanese course do presentations. He was clearly moved by the testimony of the students. Thank you Chancellor for attending BC’s 2017 Opening Day!
I always look forward to hearing from the leadership of the employee groups. Bernadette Martinez with CCSEA, Isabel Stierle with CCA, Steve Holmes with Academic Senate, and Sue Vaughn on behalf of Management.
BC’s Academic Senate President Steven Holmes always has fun during campus wide gatherings. He is known to be in flip flops for most of the year and at the last campus wide gathering, Debbie Rosenthal challenged him to get a pedicure. And here he is at the next campus wide gathering, confidently displaying his pedicured toes with dark red nail polish 🙂
And here he is in a video that Zav captured when Steven was removing the license plate from my Land Rover.
Nan Gomez-Heitzeberg
After we heard from the employee groups, Nan Gomez-Heitzeberg introduced us to the new employees including the 55 new faculty. Nan concluded her remarks with the quote: Only the educated are free. Powerful!
Thank you to Coach Matt Moon and Coach Zach Peters for leading us through a stretch break. Also thank you to BC SGA leaders Dezi Von Manos and Jose Cortez.
Accreditation:
We are working on our Institutional Self Evaluation report (ISER) and will have the accreditation evaluation team on campus in October 2018. Jason Stratton, History Faculty, and Liz Rozell, Dean of Instruction, are leading this work. They did a real nice job jeopardy-style to engage the audience.
Wondering about the two of them leading the work on BC’s Institutional Self Evaluation after I saw this photo.
Liz Rozell, Jason Stratton — Chairs of ISER
The morning concluded with the Margaret Levinson Faculty Leadership Award being presented to Dr. Kimberly Bligh for all of her dedication to BC and our students. As you know, she was instrumental in the advancing and growth of Summer Bridge.
This is how Prof. Kimberly Nickell introduced Dr. Kimberly Bligh.
I am always amazed by the leaders I get to work with on our BC campus. And as I work with these leaders, I experience their drive, vision and pursuit of excellence. Dr. Kimberly Bligh is the epitome of this leader.
From the implementation of the CAS workshops, Summer Bridge, creating her math textbook, and directing Title V, as well as many other projects she is involved in, I have witnessed Kimberly leading the charge, and with each endeavor her drive, vision, and pursuit of excellence is apparent. Kimberly strives to elevate the BC campus, promoting student success while mentoring and inspiring others to be leaders. That is true leadership.
So please, let’s put our hands together for our 2017 Margaret Levinson Leadership award recipient, Dr. Kimberly Bligh.
Kimberly put together a tribute to those who supported her as a thank you during her acceptance speech of the Levinson award. Here it is
The final award presented was the Norm Levan Faculty Colloquium Announcement awarded to Rafael Espericueta.
Here is the description of Rafael’s talk.
Every day you make use of software based on deep learning. You use it every time you do a Google search, or look for a movie to watch on Netflix. It’s used to enable computers (and phones) to recognize objects, understand spoken language, diagnose illness, and countless other applications.
Recently, deep learning has made profound breakthroughs that are making possible tasks that hitherto have been impossible for computers to accomplish. And the breakthroughs keep coming! Soon autonomous vehicles will be driving our roads, and human driven vehicles may well become a thing of the past. Many jobs will disappear, as machines become more capable of tasks once reserved exclusively for humans.
Deep learning will increasingly effect all of our lives, and it behooves us all to gain at least a basic understanding of this exciting new and disruptive technology. It now seems likely that machines may soon actually attain sentience, or at least act as though they were as sentient as you or I.
The ethical ramifications of this technology are vast and will be increasingly pertinent. Our very species’ survival may well hang in the balance. But whether you are terrified at imagined dystopias this technology may engender, or excited by utopic visions of the future this technology can make possible, artificial intelligence is evolving at an exponential rate. The day of the sentient machine is coming, whether we like it or not. The more one knows about what’s coming, the more power one yields to help steer it in a more desirable direction.
Whatever your own field of study, deep learning will become increasingly relevant to your future. Come to Rafael’s talk to learn more about deep learning – what recent breakthroughs have been made, and what we may expect in the near (and distant) future. Though it may sound like science fiction, this is an engineering reality right now. Come learn what it has accomplished, as well as what it portends for our species’ future!
Friday, Nov. 3rd Levan Center
11:30 AM (an hour later than usual)
Mathematics Department…Rafael Espericueta
There were three major initiatives for the year that I highlighted: (1) Completion Coaching Communities intended to create a case management approach and in this case a cohort management approach to ensure that no student goes unnoticed. (2) Measure J as we move to implementation and (3) accreditation. The videos were produced by the very talented Manny de Los Santos using the Superhero theme. Enjoy them!
Let me introduce you to our superheroes Todd Coston and Liz Rozell:
Let me introduce you to our Superhero Bill Potter, Director of Facilities
Let me introduce you to numerous superheros that form a completion coaching community around each student.
I can’t thank everyone involved enough for the incredible way the day turned out. It’s a group effort from various multiple departments.
The talented Manny de los Santos!
Manny de Los Santos
ASL Interpreters
I’d like to thank Tom Moran and Brittany King, for their work interpreting during Opening Day.
Tom does so much on campus and it’s always a joy to see him. He was also a giant supporter during the Measure J campaign, and even has taught me how to sign both “Yes on J” and “We are BC!” Thank you Tom!
Food Services at BC
During Opening Day, Mary Jo took the time to thank our Food Services crew for all the work they do to provide food for students and catering at important events like we have on Thursday.
Eric Sabella and the crew worked hard to provide breakfast burritos and lunch wraps for the faculty and staff on Opening Day, then got straight to work on a beautiful barbecue chicken dinner for everybody at the New Student Convocation that evening. I’d like to thank them for their tireless work and for keeping us fueled with delicious food.
Mary Jo Pasek posted this photo on her Facebook! I can always count on MJ to have some of the best photos.
Thank Yous
I have to give special thanks also to our team of ushers: Lori Ortiz, Savannah Andres, Roseanne Lewis, Trudi Blanco, Cecilia Lopez, Yolanda Aguilera, and Bernadette Martinez. Thank you Chris Glaser for leading this effort.
Video, media services, and photographers: Kristin Rabe, Kevin Ganger, Manny De Los Santos, Earl Parsons, Eric Carrillo, and John Farrand.
Content Contributors, Lesley Bonds, Grace Commiso, Manny Mourtzanos, Eleonora Hicks, Yvonne Armendariz, Jonathan Schultz, Roberta Ayala, Paul Beckworth, Regina Hukilll, Keri Wolf, Janet Fulks, Cindy Collier, Jason Stratton, Liz Rozell, and Chris Counts.
Our fabulous emcee, Francis Mayer, and the planning team, Jennifer Serratt, Monika Scott, and Aricia Leighton.
New Faculty Seminar
On Monday, our 55 new faculty members met in the first seminar in a year-long series that will help them connect with BC resources and make the most of their time at Bakersfield College. We are excited to welcome this new and very dynamic group of faculty to the college – the largest incoming class of new faculty in our history!
Topics ranged from how to get involved in pathways and completion communities to learning the ropes of human resources. We look forward to offering New Faculty Seminars every month for the rest of the semester.
Flex Week
BC’s fall 2017 Flex Week was a busy one, packed with almost 60 workshops, including four Opening Day breakout sessions focused on important campus initiatives. Workshops ranged from practical skills related to accessibility using Google and Grackle, to workshops designed to help faculty integrate new creative media, like PowToons—and everything in between. In addition to Flex workshops and Opening Day breakout sessions, the Pathways Institute drew a sizable crowd of completion coaches and other dedicated faculty and staff from all over BC. As of Thursday afternoon, Flex Week drew over 385 logins/sign-ins, including over 208 individual attendees. Thanks, BC!
Dr. Chike Akua
As part of Flex Week on Wednesday, acclaimed public intellectual Dr. Chike Akua hosted workshop about how to keep students of color engaged in their academic pursuits and education as a key to fighting structural inequality.
BC was honored to host this important professional development workshop with Akua, a member of the Teacher Transformation Institute and author of books such as “Honoring our Ancestral Obligations: 7 Steps to Black Student Success”. Akua’s presentation, titled “Education for Transformation: Keys to Releasing the Genius of Black Students”, focused on concrete ways that instructors can supplement their curricula with the contributions of African-Americans and other marginalized groups that have been omitted from textbooks or otherwise edited out of the canon of human intellectual achievement.
“Who are the models of intellectual authority you’re putting before your students?” Akua asked. “Even though the population of our students has changed, in many ways, our curriculum has not.”
By drawing attention to marginalized innovators in math, science, art, architecture and countless other fields, it allows students within those marginalized groups to see themselves reflected in a given field of study, and Akua showed data that reflects how students that are able to relate to their study material grow more confident in their academics and matriculate more successfully through their educational pathway.
“This has become one of the critical mediating factors in my students’ success,” Akua said.
Akua also used the events in Charlottesville last weekend as a lens to guide his discussion on the role educators have in shifting the toxic perceptions about race relations in America today. When educators begin engaging students to critically examine the world around them while spreading awareness of structural inequality and social issues like the school-to-prison pipeline, Akua posits that we’ll begin seeing the national conversation about race change, and in many ways the shift has already started to happen with the work of organizations such as Black Lives Matter and the ongoing debate about law enforcement accountability in communities of color.
“Their innate sense of justice will cause students to speak out on issues,” Akua said. “Allow your students to bring their whole personality to class.”
Akua also stressed the importance of a diverse faculty in bridging the “engagement gap” in education, while showing data indicating that higher learning institutions need to do a lot better at hiring people of color. The national leader for hiring African-American faculty among major four-year state institutions is The University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, whose faculty is only 6.8 percent black despite having an 11.1 percent black undergraduate population, according to the website College Factual. The state leader among four-year colleges in California is UCLA, whose black faculty only comprises 3 percent of the faculty population despite making up 4.8 percent of the student population.
“It’s important to have faculty who look like your students,” Akua said. “How can we say we’re a nation who values diversity with these numbers?”
Akua’s conversation gave our faculty a lot to think about how they might be unintentionally alienating a lot of their marginalized students while giving some good advice about how to keep those students engaged.
Welcome International Students
In addition to welcoming new faculty and staff, we have 90 students from around the world in our ISA program for Fall 2017, majoring in everything from Business Administration to Theatre Arts. There are 18 students from India, which represents 20 percent of the group. There are 15 students from Saudia Arabia and 10 from Vietnam, as well as representatives from Nigeria, China, Bangladesh, France, Ivory Coast, Australia and more for a total of 29 countries to be welcomed into the BC family.
New Student Convocation
Bakersfield College welcomed its 104th class of incoming freshman to the family Thursday night at the Outdoor Theater during the New Student Convocation.
The annual event is a gathering before the start of the fall semester for new students and their families to learn about different programs on campus and what will be expected of them for the upcoming year. Todd Coston was in the audience as a parent of a young woman starting her freshman year at BC. I snapped this picture. See if you can spot Todd off in the distance.
Steven Holmes led BC faculty through a pledge to provide students with the support they’ll need to make it through a short but eventful school year, while SGA President Dezi von Manos led students through their pledge to rise to the occasion and perform the hard work it requires to achieve their dreams. Dr. Janet Fulks led the families, friends and supporters of the students through a pledge as well.
I grabbed these photos from Lawrence Salcido’s Facebook page. Thank you Lawrence!
There was amazing entertainment throughout the event, with a DJ booth in front of the Outdoor Theater providing music while students visited booths for the Agriculture and Automotive programs, the Student Health Center and countless other student organizations. When students walked into the theater, they were greeted with a performance from a few students in last semester’s Commercial Music class. Jennifer Garrett led the BC choir through the national anthem, “When You Wish Upon a Star” and Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water”,
The BC cheerleaders closed the convocation with an exciting performance. Thank you Heather Foss for your dedication to the BC Cheer Team. And thank you Becki Whitson for all of the years you spent with the team. We miss you and hope to see you at the games.
Here is the BC Fight Song
Go out and Get Them
There’s an awesome video BC counselor Jonathan Schultz put together on YouTube speaking to student athletes about taking advantage of opportunities. Jonathan presents a very simple but true philosophy that successful people are able to do seemingly impossible things because they are willing to go lengths others aren’t to be the best.
“You have to do what others won’t if you want to have what others don’t,” Schultz said. “I never waited for an opportunity to come to me. I went out and found an opportunity.” When you’re willing to go the extra mile in your athletic, creative or cognitive development, people will recognize the work you’re putting in and opportunities to succeed will open up that you never thought possible. The greatest athletes were the ones who had the drive put in time and effort that their coworkers didn’t, transcending what people previously thought was humanly possible. “What are you doing that other people in your exact situation are not doing?” Schultz asks. “What pushes you outside of yourself? What’s your why?”
Football Practice Begins!
I loved seeing this post on Instagram. BC Football is gearing up!
Are you following BC on Instagram?! What about Facebook and Twitter?
FCDC Summer Chair Academy
The Faculty Chairs/Directors Council met this week as well to wrap up the summer. This group of dedicated individuals discuss, review, and resolve operational issues and to provide collaborative interaction between student services and instruction in development of seamless process to meet student needs. Welcome to the new department chairs this year: Mark Osea, Counseling; Helen Acosta, Communication, and Kirk Russell, Library.
Eclipse Information
Nick Strobel
Nick Strobel also sent an email out to various campus groups sharing some awesome details about the upcoming eclipse. He said,
“You’ve probably heard something about the upcoming eclipse of the Sun on Monday, August 21. The eclipse for us in Bakersfield will be just a partial eclipse. See the Planetarium’s homepage at www.bakersfieldcollege.edu/planetarium for the stats for Bakersfield and how to view the Sun safely.
What’s the big deal about this total solar eclipse? Here are some reasons:
Total solar eclipses (New Moon totally covers the Sun’s photosphere surface) are RARE and awesome!
First one in the lower 48 states since 1979.
First one to sweep across the entire country since 1918.
First one to be solely visible in the United States since 1776 (yes, 1776)
Approximately 391 million people in the U.S. will be able to see the eclipse (total or partial).
Literally millions of international tourists will be coming to places in the path of totality. The totality strip is just 68 miles wide.
The few minutes of totality are the only times we can view the Sun’s corona (outer atmosphere). The corona is about as bright as a full moon.
A great story. Thank you Joe Coughlin of Coconut Joes
When Joe Coughlin of Coconut Joes heard about the passing of the celebrity Glen Campbell, he picked up his guitar and strummed the Rhinestone Cowboy.
Does that get your attention…..Well, click on the link and read his August 12th Opinion piece in The Bakersfield Californian — Gentle on My Mind: My long unique connection to Glen Campbell. http://tinyurl.com/y8bssflx. A pretty cool story.
I never heard Gentle on my mind by Glen Campbell. Thank you Joe for introducing me to this piece by Glen Campbell. I enjoyed it.
Rosebowl Watch
Thought you would enjoy the Facebook exchange with community members about the Rosebowl watch. I actually wore it for Opening Day. Here is a screen capture.
So what about Neo?
At 5 1/2 months, he is 52 lbs, and teething. Can you guess where he is in the picture below?
Neo
Being obnoxious and then sweet like an angel when he is asleep.
That’s all for now.
Until next time.
With much Renegade Pride and Collegiality.
sonya — the luckiest and happiest college president ever
Good morning Bakersfield. It is Saturday, August 5th, and at 5:15 a.m. it is 74 degrees … a beautiful morning, a great week full of community leaders, BC leaders, veterans and congressmen. A great week to be a Renegade.
I had a series of productive meetings this week. The Kern Promise completion coaching community met for the first time and I forgot to take a photo. Darn it. But I might have pictures of some of the individuals in my photo library on word press.
Lisa Kent, Shanell Tyus, Maria Wright
Lesley Bonds
Shanell Tyus with Lisa Kent and Maria Wright. Lesley Bonds
Just a great group of BC folks discussing the students in the cohort to make sure that they are positioned to successfully complete their first milestone at the end of the fall semester — 15 credits of course work. In addition, we are focusing on students completing their college-level English and college-level math in their first year. Jennifer Achan, Director of Financial Aid, did a detailed presentation of the Financial Aid status of each student. Keri Kennedy, the counselor responsible for this cohort, reviewed the courses that these students are enrolled in. We also have a student in the group. Here are some of the faces of the completion coaches for the affinity group The Kern Promise.
Jennifer Achan with Nan Gomez-Heitzeberg. Keri Kennedy.
We also submitted the 2017-2020 Educational Master Plan (EMP) for Board approval. Thank you Dr. Janet Fulks for leading the effort on the EMP work. I love this picture of Janet with her granddaughter.
Janet Fulks
I thought you might enjoy some excerpts from the President’s letter in the EMP
Bakersfield College (BC) started in 1913 as a vision and a plan for educational opportunity and community service with 13 students in a borrowed classroom on the Kern High School campus. From that hopeful start, BC now provides approximately 30,000 students a year with educational opportunity, serves as a cultural center for its community, and trains the workforce for a vibrant community of industry partners.
BC’s Vision today remains true to that founding vision:
“Building upon more than 100 years of excellence, Bakersfield College continues to contribute to the intellectual, cultural, and economic vitality of the communities it serves.”
The visionaries of 1913 could not have imagined the growth or rapidly changing society, however, they would instantly recognize the individuals today who tirelessly help our students (many still first in their families to go to college) attain their dreams. It is the shared work of college faculty, staff, and administrators, and our community.
BC’s 2017-2020 Educational Master Plan embarks on a systematic Guided Pathways redesign of how we guide students to complete their educational goals. Guided Pathways is built on four pillars:
Clarifying educational pathways for both Career Technical Pathways and Transfer Pathways.
Getting students on the path starts by getting 9th grade students to see college in their futures.
Keeping students on the path calls us to ensure that every precaution is taken to keep students on their educational pathway to degree completion.
Ensuring learning invites as to develop a learning environment both in and out of the classroom to create adaptive learners who can communicate effectively, think critically, demonstrate competencies, and engage with their communities.
The 2017-2020 Educational Master Plan calls for an approach that better serves BC’s 30,000 students by grouping them into 18 completion communities – 10 meta-majors and 8 affinity groups, which include the identified underrepresented groups in BC’s Equity Plan. Each meta-major and affinity group will be surrounded by completion coaches ranging from 10 to 20 faculty and staff that will form a safety net around their cohort of students. The high-touch, personalized approach of these completion coaching communities combined a with the high-tech data analytics will help coaches to monitor progress and target student communications.
BC History on Facebook
Keith Wolaridge, Tom Gelder
This week, Keith Wolaridge shared a Facebook post with me featuring historical photos of the Bakersfield College campus. The post on Kern County Historical Society’s page was posted by Fatima Al-Bugharin. It’s incredible to see how supportive, interested, and dedicated the residents of Kern County are to BC.
Thank you Keith for your support of Bakersfield College. Here you see Keith with Tom Gelder, being recognized for his leadership role on the Measure J committee. Keith is also a community mentor in BC’s Astep program with Dr. Paula Parks.
In 1913, Bakersfield leadership and the community were visionaries. They knew that higher education was absolutely critical for Kern County and so they created a community college in Bakersfield. In the 50’s, leadership and the community again showed their commitment when they supported BC’s move to have its own campus.
The land was chosen – it was empty, barren, and probably very dusty and it was right there – 1801 Panorama Drive… this 153-acre lot on the China Grade Bluffs. The ground was not yet broken, but the seeds for the future were planted and the location was chosen; this was the place. This was the place where hundreds of thousands of students would make their way “up the hill” to attend college for the very first time.
Sixty years later, many things have changed, but one constant piece remains – Bakersfield is a community that realizes the importance of a college education and undeniably supports Bakersfield College.
On Wednesday, August 2nd, morning, Paul Beckworth and BC student and US Navy Veteran, Robert Enger were featured in a story on ABC 23 about the Forever GI Bill. Straight from the story, Paul Beckworth said,
It will extend the benefits for stem majors up to one academic year which is indicative of the federal government recognizing we need stem majors and this is a way we can help veterans get those degrees so they can enter the workforce.
Thanks to your loyal support through Measure J, our student veterans will be getting a brand new, state of the art, stand-alone Veterans Resource Center. Thank you Bakersfield, Thank you Kern County! Thank you Congressman McCarthy for your work on the Forever GI Bill and for your continued support of our veterans. Also, a big thank you to all of our political leaders such as County Supervisor Leticia Perez and Assemblyman Rudy Salas. And finally, thank you to all our BC student veterans for trusting us with your education — you can go far and BC is here to support you.
On Thursday, Congressman McCarthy was at BC participating in the Veterans History Project.
Zav Dadabhoy, Kevin McCarthy, Armando Trujillo, Mary Jo Pasek
The United States Congress created the Veterans History Project in 2000 to collect, preserve, and make accessible the personal stories and accounts of American war veterans so that future generations can hear directly from the veterans, in their voices, and better understand the realities of war.
Love this photo — a Manny selfie 🙂
Manny de Los Santos, Kevin McCarthy, Marvin Belcher
Mary Jo Pasek, Miriam Kann
One of the veterans interviewed was Miriam Kann. You see her here with Mary Jo Pasek. Steven Mayer of The Bakersfield Californian did a great story on Kann in the July 27th paper titled Bakersfield woman, on eve of 100th birthday, says she joined up because she was ‘mad at Hitler’. Loved the header…. Here are some excerpts from the article
Then in her mid-20s, Kann joined millions of other American women who participated in the war effort in those dark days when Hitler’s armies had occupied much of Europe and the Japanese Imperial Navy had control of much of the Pacific.
She served in San Francisco and at other locations training new pilots using the Link Trainer, an early flight simulator. Many, she said, credited the training with saving their lives.
Steven Mayer concludes with:
“On the flight, several of the guys were just ga-ga over her,” recalled Kim Whitaker, an Honor Flight volunteer.
But one man, Jack Henslee, asked for her number.
“I met her on Honor Flight in 2013, and we have been seeing one another ever since,” Henslee said. “She’s a lady.”
The joke going around is that Kann is robbing the cradle, as Henslee is a mere lad of 91. But she seems sweetly embarrassed by the suggestion.
And just in case anyone might suggest something untoward is going on, Henslee repeated his admonition.
“She’s a lady,” he said.
She certainly is.
Miriam Kann turns 100 today. Happy 100th birthday Ms. Miriam Kann. We thank you for your service to our country.
The veterans were interviewed at Bakersfield College on Thursday, August 3rd. Dick Taylor, Armando Tuijillo, and Kevin McCarthy did the interviews. Thank you Dick Taylor for your continued support of Bakersfield College. And thank you for bringing the Airforce Band to BC’s outdoor theater. Here is a link to my July 1, 2017 blog featuring the Airforce Band. https://sonyachristianblog.com/2017/07/01/time-flies-when-youre-at-bc/
Here is the list of veterans who participated.
Andrew Perales, Marvin Belcher (WWII), Greg Underwood (Vietnam), Tom Svare (Vietnam), Augustine Flores (WWII), Jessica Brown (Navy 2011-2015), Aaron Coates (Iraq War), Henry Ochsner (WWII), Victor Killingsworth (WWII), Miriam Kann (WWII)
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Thank you to all involved with this project, including Mary Jo Pasek, Manny De Los Santos, and John Farrand.
Here is John and Manny in action, a post from Mary Jo Pasek’s Facebook.
Bakersfield College Students Intern with Congressman Kevin McCarthy
Mary Jo Pasek got this great photo from Robin Lake-Foster.
Congressman Kevin McCarthy’s 2017 Summer Internship Program
Included in this group photo, albeit gloomy weather, are college students from the 23rd Congressional District who participated in Congressman Kevin McCarthy’s 2017 Summer Internship Program, where they spent two weeks in McCarthy’s Bakersfield District Office and six weeks in the DC offices, where their time was shared serving three weeks in the Congressman’s congressional office and three weeks in the Office of the Majority Leader.
The students from Bakersfield College are:
Halle Cornejo (left back row, auburn hair and cream blouse) Austin Machado (kneeling down in front row, white shirt with striped tie Nicolas Montero-Garcia (to the right of the Congressman, pink shirt, no jacket) James Priest (next to Nicolas, gray shirt with striped tie)
#WeAreBC
BC’s Ag Department
BC is located in California’s agriculturally rich San Joaquin Valley and has the history and resources to move Ag students in the right direction. Our Ag program has rich history too, dating back to it’s beginnings in 1915 — making it one of the first community college agriculture programs in the nation. Since then, BC continues to educate students for a career in all ag fields.
This week, a fun email was forwarded to me. Charles Parker, Agriculture Education Consultant shared Ag Teacher Trivia – how many of these did you know?
Charles wrote, “To start of the year, I thought I would provide you with some teacher trivia. Enjoy and let me know if I am missing anyone.”
COUPLES
LeAnn English, BC Ag Dept.
LeAnn English, Bakersfield College and Matthew Riley, Bakersfield College
Allison Ferry, COS and Charles Abee, COS
Koren Martins, Mt. Whitney and Zach Brown, El Diamante
Courtney Serafin, Golden West and Jared Castle, Hanford
Elizabeth ??, Strathmore and Donald Thornburg, Woodlake
Jenna Villacana, Kern ROC and Jacob Eyraud, Bakersfield
RELATIVES Audrey Bonomi, Sanger and Amy Vivenzi, Washington (Sisters)
Don Clark, Wasco and Vernon Clark, Foothill (Dad and Son)
Alex Gutierrez, Caruthers and Nancy Gutierrez, Reedley College (Brother and Sister)
Erin Hanger, Summit Charter and Robert Hanger, Kern Valley (Brother and sister)
Roz Lopez, Central and Robert Calvert, Selma (Mother and Son)
Charles Parker, Regional Supervisor and Steve Parker, Taft (Brothers)
Matthew Riley, Bakersfield College and Carolee Trimble, Kern ROC (Brother and Sister)
FORMER STATE FFA OFFICERS Joe Buffington, Bishop (Nevada)
Vernon Clark, Foothill
Amber Cleaver, Delano
Kristi Mattes, Minarets
Natalie Ryan, North
CHILDREN OF AG TEACHERS Annie Andersen, Hanford and Eric Andersen, Retired
Adam Bullard, Independence and Edwin Bullard, Retired
Robert Calvert, Selma and Roz Calvert, Central
Vernon Clark, Foothill and Don Clark, Wasco
John Coon, Redwood and Bob Cummings, Retired
James Corbett, Monache and Max Corbett, Deceased
Erin Hanger, Summit Charter and Greg Hanger, Retired
Robert Hanger, Kern Valley and Greg Hanger, Retired
Nicole Potstada, Sanger and Leanne Potstada, Retired
Matt Riley, Bakersfield College and Roger Riley, Retired
Glen Sailors, Coalinga and Tim Sailors, Retired
Carolee Trimble, Kern ROC and Roger Riley, Retired
Matt Wenstrand, Caruthers and Gerald Wenstrand, Retired
Brad Wyman, Sierra and Edward Wyman, Retired
Bill Kelly
LONGEST TENURED TEACHERS Bill Kelly, Bakersfield College – 51 years
Frank Tebeau, COS – 41 years
Kristi Mattes, Minarets – 40 years
David Caetano, Tulare – 38 years
Charles Parker, Region Supervisor – 37 years
Ralph Mendes, Kern ROC – 36 years
Ken Dias, Clovis – 35 years
Darlene Gilles, Madera – 33 years
Student Affairs Retreat
Grace Commiso, lead for meta-majors and Lesley Bonds, lead for affinity groups.
Bakersfield College’s approximately 30,000 students represent a multitude of individual goals and needs. With a student to counselor ratio of approximately 1000:1, the Guided Pathways structure prompts the development of Completion Coaching Communities, which are the mechanism for ensuring that the individual student needs are more effectively met within the context of meta majors. By assigning a fully-equipped support team to each of 10 meta majors, Bakersfield College is able to address the specific needs of each meta major in a more personalized, more relevant way.
Going a step further, BC has identified eight affinity groups where additional personalized support exist, and has developed completion coaching communities around those groups as well, providing another layer of support and personal resources for students.
Through the development of these structures, Bakersfield College has developed a strategy for applying a very personal, case management approach to helping our 30,000 students stay on the path to success. Thank you to
Completion Coaching Communities will focus their work on supporting students in their progress toward critical milestones in the journey to successful, timely completion:
Completion of 12 to 15 credits in their first semester of college.
Completing both college-level Math and English in the first year.
Completion of 30 credits in the appropriate pathway in the first year.
Completion of 60 credits in the span of two years.
The photo you see below is of four superheroes in our Academic Support area. They are geared up this year to provide intensive tutoring services for English and math in particular to support students in their courses.
Eileen Pierce, Maria Baltazar, Yvonne Armendariz, Maria Wright
I popped in and out of the retreat in between my meeting schedule. So I caught a few of the discussions that inspired me. Here you see BC’s Financial Aid Director who is a bundle of energy and works with an incredible team in our Financial Aid Office.
Jennifer Achan
Jennifer Achan
Jennfier Achan
Did you know that BC currently has over 45,000 active Financial Aid accounts? I did not. Did you know that students have a window between October 1, 2017 and March 2018 to file for financial aid for the following year. The sooner applications come in the better their chances of getting things squared away. So why wait. Plz complete your applications before the end of October this year!
Go team Financial Aid!
National Endowment for the Humanities Grant
We received an announcement this week that BC has been awarded $100,000 from the National Endowment for the Humanities to complete a three year project titled, “Energizing Humanities in California’s San Joaquin Valley.” Complementing the local legacy of energy production, Energizing Humanities in California’s San Joaquin Valley examines the concept of energy broadly from historical and literary perspectives, as well as the intersection of humanities with music/performing arts. Each year, faculty cohorts will engage critical scholarship within the fields of history, literature, and cultural performing arts. A regional conference highlighting faculty pedagogical innovation, student panels, as well as keynote speakers, will conclude the grant project.
Several other projects receiving grants from NEH will help preserve fragile historical and cultural collections and make them more accessible to the broader public, such as grants to safeguard a collection of Native American and Medieval and Renaissance art at the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa, Oklahoma; for the preservation of Civil War artifacts recovered from the USS Monitor warship in Newport News, Virginia; and new initiatives in Arkansas and Georgia to digitize historic local newspapers for inclusion in the Chronicling America database at the Library of Congress.
Thank you to the National Endowment for the Humanities for your support of BC!
Here are the three faculty who will be the Principal Investigators for the grant. Oliver Rosales, History (lead); Andrew Bond, English; Josh Ottum, Music.
Special Thank you to Oliver Rosales, Andrew Bond, and Josh Ottum
BC Team at CTEOS
Craig Hayward, Karen Snow, Stephanie Baltazar, and Corny Rodriguez
The California Community College CTE Employment Outcomes Survey (CTEOS) began as a pilot project with fifteen colleges in 2012. CTE Dean’s, frustrated at the lack of relevant outcomes measures for CTE students, determined to pool resources and to scale up employment outcomes surveys that had been conducted by some individual colleges. The CTE Outcomes Survey has grown to include all 113 California Community Colleges, and several non-credit CTE programs. In the photo, BC’s Team at CTEOS on Aug. 3rd and 4th.
Craig Hayward was a presenter at the event and his talk was titled Accreditation and Calculating Employment in the Field of Study with the CTEOS (CTE Outcomes Survey)
It’s an insightful and thoughtful piece commending Bakersfield for the little things that make this town special to those who live here and the experiences that brought Asha to appreciate Bakersfield too. She said after coming back to Bakersfield, that she “constantly recognized faces in passing cars, when shopping or walking downtown.” and “Servers in coffees shops recognize your face and remember your usual order.”
Besides the friendly and familiar faces, Asha explained that quickly after coming back, she “soon met mentors who actually invested time and effort in young people…. millennials who lacked direction but had the potential to thrive.” and she said Bakersfield is the perfect incubator for young professionals.
Asha Chandy worked tirelessly, side-by-side with the fabulous Nicole Parra, to help Bakersfield College pass Measure J…
Nicole Parra
Asha Chandy, Nicky Damania, Sonya Christian
Of course, how can I forget the campaign dog Bruce.
Thank you Bakersfield for passing Measure J and for being a rock of support for our young people, higher education, and all BC students! Thank you Kern County!! Have I mentioned recently that I am the luckiest and happiest college president ever?
Former Taft College President, David Cothrun
Former Taft College President Dr. David Cothrun wrote a piece in the July edition of the Bakersfield Life Magazine praising the quality of life in Taft, where he’s lived for the last 21 years. I so enjoyed this piece and wanted to share it with the larger community.
Despite being retired from Taft College since 2001, Cothrun has chosen to stay in the area because of the “community that cares and gives back” and non-profit organizations that provide transportation for health care and events while funding scholarships and creating a welcoming atmosphere for students with disabilities.
Cothrun took a moment to highlight Taft College’s important Transition to Independent Living (TIL), a two-year residential program that teaches students with disabilities the skills they need to become independent and able to live alone. The TIL program is one of the only ones of its kind in the United States, and it’s providing amazing opportunities for success that disabled students never had before.
Cothrun has been in the Taft Rotary club for 37 years and the Taft Chamber of Commerce Board for 14 years. He also serves on the Kern County Board of Trade. Read the whole article at Bakersfield.com.
Van Ton-Quinlivan
Van Ton-Quinlivan
The Chronicle of Higher Education published an interviewabout the future of career training and vocational education with Van Ton-Quinlivan, the Vice Chancellor of Workforce and Economic Development for California community colleges.
The video, which corresponded with a Chronicle of Higher Education report titled “The Future of Work: How Colleges Can Prepare Students for the Jobs Ahead”, focuses on the plight of stranded workers, an unemployment statistic that’s become a catch-all term for those who don’t see themselves in our future automated economy. After the recession of 2008, work productivity increased even though unemployment increased due to a confluence of technological advances and developments in artificial intelligence and machine learning. Many people looking to return to the economy found themselves without the skills needed to compete for positions in a post-industrial world.
Ton-Quinlivan discussed the numerous paradigm shifts that will have to happen in education to get distressed workers the skills to return to the economy. Where educational institutions once had the luxury of extensively training students before they enter the work force, they now have to scale their educational services to prepare for workers who need to come back to school to keep up with evolving technologies and business practices.
Ton-Quinlivan wants to “modularize delivery of education” with low-impact, 3-6 month Certificates of Specialization that would allow adults to continue education while contributing to the workforce. She also would also like to see the California community college system forge more direct partnerships with employers through apprenticeships and structuring curricula to meet the demands of the labor market.
“The economy is becoming more and more unforgiving to those without skills,” Ton-Quinlivan said. “With apprenticeships, you’re not divorcing the education from the employer needs.”
One way companies are bridging the skills gap is through on-site “maker-spaces”—augmented learning environments where laborers can work directly with expensive new equipment to develop competency.
In addition to maker-spaces, Van Ton-Quinlivan emphasized the role of community colleges in identifying a student’s skill sets and shepherding them into the best education program to utilize and develop those skills. She highlighted a capstone program a few California community colleges conducted for veterans to transition from security work into positions as systems operators or utility workers based on a pre-employment screening. These kind of creative collaboration between counselors, educators and industry leaders can close the education gap in California and transform people’s lives.
It is wonderful seeing California Community College leadership setting the national trends in education. So proud!
Super hero Anna Meyer
Aaron Kidwell
As I was heading out from a meeting on wednesday to the Student Affairs retreat, I saw Aaron Kidwell and stopped to talk with him. He raved about how Anna Meyer, who is in payroll in the Human Resources department. Thank you Anna for doing what you did to support Aaron and thank you Aaron for sharing. Here is a photo of Aaron that I snapped when he shared his good news.
Talking about Anna Meyer, there is another Anna who is a superhero in HR, Anna Gonzalez, who was at BC and is now at the District Office. I had the opportunity to work with Anna on faculty recruitment and Jennfer Marden and I had an Anna Gonzalez fan club going.
Lori Carlson, Anna Meyer, Anna Gonzalez
Tonya Davis at BC
Talking about Human Resources, KCCD has a new Vice Chancellor of Human Resources, Tonya Davis who comes to us from southern California. Here are two photos of Tonya that I snapped on July 18th when she was at BC for a meeting. She specifically wanted to check out the Veterans hub a small space that supports our student veterans. Through Measure J, our first project will be a wonderful Veterans Resource Center. We ran into fabulous Dennis Spencer on our way back to the office. Here you have Tonya with Armando Trujillo, Advisor to the BC student veterans and Dennis Spenser.
Armando Trujillo, Tonya Davis
Dennis Spencer, Tonya Davis
Summer Bridge Continues
Some photos from this week’s summer bridge
So what about Neo?
Well….he continues to love to spend time in his mud/sand bed. Here he is Sunday, July 30th sometime mid morning not happy when I directed him to move away from his frolicking activities in the mud.
Neo July 30 2017
Neo July 30 2017
Neo July 30 2017
Then there is the happy puppy mud face on August 2, 2017
Neo
And then there is his chew toy.
Neo August 4 2017
Neo Aug 4 2017
Neo Aug 4 2017
He is 45 lbs.
That’s all for now.
Until next time.
With much Renegade Pride and Collegiality.
sonya — the luckiest and happiest college president ever
Good morning Bakersfield. It is Saturday, May 27th….always a good day to be a Renegade.
A lot happened this week…A lot has happened to people around me. Gains and losses. All interwoven in the fabric of life. It gives us pause and the realization that it is the little moments that make up life.
Let me start by revisiting the 103rd commencement.
Commencement
I’m happy to still be covering parts of our incredible Commencement Day on May 12th.
Thank you Manny De Los Santos for this great video!
Last week I did not have the potos for the Delano pre-commencement celebration and the Veterans pre-commencement celebration. So I decided to hold off and post it this week. I did receive an email expressing disappointment that I did not have them last week. My apologies. Sit back and enjoy our students in Delano and our student Veterans.
Delano Pre-Commencement Celebration:
Students at the Bakersfield College-Delano Campus are part of a close-knit community — one really gets to know the faces around the center. This couldn’t have been made much clearer than by the remarks that followed.
Trustee Romeo Agbalog
Trustee Romeo Agbalog gave words of encouragement to the graduates in attendance. He talked about his experience as a student at Bakersfield College. Mr. Agbalog specifically talked about the role that our longtime Admissions and Records Technician, Helen Calip, played in enrolling him in his first class at Bakersfield College-Delano. In recounting the experience, Mr. Agbalog, full of heart, looked at Helen sitting in the audience and thanked her for what she did for him. We feel very fortunate to have such a passionate representative on our Board of Trustees. Thank you Trustee Agbalog for taking the time to be present at important events. Our students really appreciate it.
Our keynote speaker for the event was adjunct faculty member, Victor Krumdick. Mr. Krumdick is retiring after 26 years of service to the college. Raquel Lopez and Carolina Madrigal introduced him and shared stories about the amazing work he has done in Delano, in and out of the classroom. Mr. Krumdick is one of the friendliest people around campus. He brings a positive energy to the Delano Campus that not many can match. He shared some wise and poetic words with the students, in hopes that they live life to their fullest potential.
Then came the moment everybody was waiting for. Each student had the opportunity to stand in front of the group and share words of appreciation for their guests, as well as for the staff and faculty. The majority of the students made it a point to thank the faculty members who believed in them and supported them along the way. Each student received a medal to recognize their accomplishment.
BC Delano Pre-Commencement Reception
BC Delano Pre-Commencement Reception
BC Delano Pre-Commencement Reception
BC Delano Pre-Commencement Reception
The ceremony was followed by a reception at which students, staff, faculty, and guests enjoyed light refreshments. The joy and pride that the families had that day was very contagious. After some socializing, many of the students headed to main campus to participate in the 103rd commencement.
Veterans Pre-Commencement
“Aim High …. Fly, Fight, Win!” , “Non sibi sed patriae, (Not for self but for country)”, “Semper Fidelis (Always Faithful)”and “This we’ll defend” all typically followed by a Hooray!
These are the official mottoes for the four branches of military, Air Force, Navy, Marines, and the Army. A week ago Friday, six Bakersfield College students gathered for their pre-commencement ceremony and all of these branches were represented with pride and honor. These six students worked hard, diligently at their studies, juggled families, work, and outside responsibilities while still making time to study, write those papers and pass those exams. When Paul Beckworth addressed these BC Veterans, he recognized their service to this country and the service to this school, “Stay up late and write a paper, I’ve served 2 tours in Iraq, piece of cake.”
After Paul and Armando Trujillo spoke to the Veteran students and their honored guests, they then invited the students to come up one at a time and be stolled by a member of their family and then speak of their appreciation for those who helped them on this journey.
The resonating theme throughout everyone’s comments was that of the genuine camaraderie that can be found within the walls of the Veteran’s lounge. When soldiers get together, there is an instant bond that is irrefutable and instantaneous, they all share a trait that will connect them forever, a love and duty to this country… and now, alumni of BC. #WeAreBC
The graduates all thanked their loved ones present for their patience, love and support, first while they were enlisted, then now with them completing their education at Bakersfield College. It is absolutely amazing to know that by 2018 there will be a new Veterans lounge thanks to the passing of Measure J. The new veterans facility will provide these soldiers with a place to meet together, work on their studies, get tutoring help, speak with counselors, and just find solace within the confines of a place where like-minded individuals can meet and empower one another to keep working hard to achieve their academic dreams. I hope all of our alumni Vets will come back to see, share, and visit this upcoming wonderful advancement for the Veteran’s at BC.
From Left: Jeff Patterson, Fernando Bocanegra (standing), David Dullum Jr. (squatting), Robert Lira, Professor Paul Beckworth, Stephanie Short, Armando Trujillo, Bernadette Martinez and Reigine Tovar
On May 19, 2017 was the ‘STEMposium’ event organized by the Kern Economic Development Corporation (KEDC), and held on the Bakersfield College campus. This event raises awareness of the amazing technology-related fields in and around Kern County. The KEDC works with high schools to foster awareness and excitement for the Stem disciplines so that young students can move on to become leaders in tech-driven fields.
Here is a list of some of the organizations represented:
Chevron, PG&E, Wells Fargo, S Power, California Resources Corporation, Bakersfield College, Taft College, BHE Renewables, Kern Schools Federal Credit Union, Ikea, GTEDC, Ordiz Melby, and Texas Instruments. (Click here for the full gallery of images)
2017 STEMposium at Bakersfield College
Vince Fong at the 2017 STEMposium
2017 STEMposium at Bakersfield College
2017 STEMposium at Bakersfield College
2017 STEMposium at Bakersfield College
I enjoyed Christina Sistrunk’s talk at the Stemposium about women in the Stem area. We are fortunate to have such a great CEO for Aera. I have blogged about Aera being a great patron of education in general and Bakersfield College in particular. Aera gave a large donation to BC to the development of a Stem Success Center.
Also enjoyed seeing Michael Kane from Cerro Coso giving a ted-like talk. He was fabulous. Michael is an Aquatic Ecologist who has spent time teaching around the world including Brazil and Costa Rica.
Michael Kane
Amber Smithson, the student blogger was out and about covering the Stemposium. Here is a shot of her in action and one with me. Amber, you are amazing!
Amber Smithson
Sonya Christian, Amber Smithson
Bob Meadows emceed the ted talks event. I wish I had snapped a picture with him. Bob Meadows, you are the best!
On Thursday evening, KEDC hosted a Pre-STEMposium event at Luigi’s. It was a fun event and I enjoyed visiting with Mindy Wilmot and her husband who teaches Project Lead the Way at Bakersfield High School. I ran into Lauren Skidmore and Chancellor Tom Burke attending and snapped this photo.
Lauren Skidmore and Chancellor Tom Burke
Here I am with Director of MESA (Math, Engineering, Science Achievement) Connie Gonzales:
Sonya Christian with Connie Gonzales
The visionary and the one who did the detailed work to pull all this together is Cheryl Scott. Just an amazing person!
Cheryl Scott
Sterling Silver
I want so start my writing on this year’s Sterling Silver with Josh Ottum. Josh was there with his students and they played Linda Ronstadt’s Blue Bayou.
Josh Ottum and his family
I wish I had jumped up and rushed over and gotten a video for you to enjoy. It was sooooo good. But I was dressed in fancy clothes and high heels and thought I would embarrass BC in front of dignitaries if I made a mad dash to get a video clip. Instead I waited patiently and completely immersed in the music. Later when they were done, I calmly walked over and expressed how I loved the song and how Ronstadt’s Blue Bayou was my favorite. To which Josh responded “yes of course” that they knew it was my favorite because they had read my blog and that is precisely why they played it. Now do you know why I am the luckiest and happiest college president ever.
Sterling Silver is the annual fundraising event for the Bakersfield College Foundation. This year, Tom Gelder and I decided to convert the event from a fundraiser to a thank you to the community for passing Measure J on the November 8th ballot and to recognize individuals who put in a lot of effort to make all of this happen.
The main honorees of the evening were Mayor Harvey Hall who was the chair of the Blue Ribbon Committee and Congressman Bill Thomas who was the senior advisor to the campaign.
Mayor Harvey Hall:
Tom Gelder, Harvey Hall, Sonya Christian
You don’t get to be Bakersfield’s longest serving mayor without doing things well, and Harvey Hall does a lot of things well. Political campaign committees need strong leadership and Harvey provided that throughout the process. From space at Hall Ambulance for committee meetings, running the meetings on a tight schedule, making financial contributions to the campaign, to inspirational speeches when we needed them, Harvey was always there for us. I remember when I went to meet with Mayor Hall to ask him if he would chair the Bond effort. I had documents and a file to talk him through the details and make a compelling case for why he should say yes to chairing the committee. Harvey looked at me and only 10 seconds into my pitch, which I had rehearsed at length, he just said “yes”.
President Sonya Christian, Mayor Harvey Hall
When it comes to Bakersfield and Bakersfield College I know Harvey is there for us. And apparently Harvey had a clone which made it possible to be there for so many of us, often it felt like, at the same time. On behalf of all at Bakersfield College I can say that we could not have asked for a better person to chair this effort and be the face for the Bond Measure. A true friend of Bakersfield College, Mayor Harvey Hall.
Congressman Bill Thomas:
As I’ve gotten to know Bill Thomas, I now realize that his middle initial “M” stands for “Make it Happen”…. Make it happen now…. Actually why did you not make it happen….
You don’t get to be chair of the House Ways and Means Committee without getting to the crux of every problem and forging brilliant solutions on a daily basis. We’d like to think that he gained these skills as a professor at BC but I imagine he was a force of nature from an early age.
Bill Thomas, Sharon Thomas, Peggy Goodwin, Greg Goodwin
In the realm of major capital campaigns, you won’t find many, if any, that raise $503 million in such a short time. Bill Thomas played a major role in making it so. Strategist, advocate, negotiator, mentor, inspiring leader all come to mind. On a personal level, I could not have had a better mentor as I navigated this unknown territory of a bond campaign. I remember the day when the congressman let the finance committee know in no uncertain terms when we failed to file a document in a timely way. But it is that level of focus on detail and moving easily between vision, strategy and operational particulars that makes Bill Thomas the leader that he is. And although he tries to hide it, he has a big teddy bear heart for this community and for Bakersfield College. The combination of brilliant intellect and huge love for his community is what made the entire Measure J team fall in love with the congressman. He was at 1675 Chester Avenue every day, multiple times a day.
BC and the BC Foundation tonight salute Bill Thomas.
Michael Turnipseed:
Mike was not able to attend Sterling Siver, so here is the picture Tom Gelder snapped when he came to his office to pick up with award.
JP Lake:
Here is JP picking up his award.
Karen Thompson
Did not get the photo of Karen receiving the award yet. Will update the blog when I get it. So tune back in.
When it became clear that we were going to go for the passage of Measure J, we felt the Foundation was in good hands with Karen Thompson as the Chair of the Board of Directors. We were so right. The Foundation stepped up to provide the majority of the monies needed to finance the campaign and Karen stepped up to steer the work of the Measure J Committee. That’s leadership! Her efforts are truly remarkable by the fact that Karen was changing jobs at the time. I don’t think any of us realized how much work would be involved in getting Measure J passed, but Karen did whatever it took to get us through successfully. Thank you, Karen!
Norma Rojas Mora:
Having someone on your committee who has their hand on the pulse of the community is vital to communicating the needs of the college in a way that resonates with voters. Norma Rojas-Mora served that role and many other roles on the Committee as she has on behalf of the BC Foundation’s board. Smart, strategic, trusted and hard-working are just a few of Norma’s attributes which she displayed early and often throughout the planning and implementation process of the Measure J campaign. Friend and advocate for Bakersfield College is another title that fits. Thank you, Norma!
Michael O’Doherty:
I got this picture from Karen Goh’s Facebook.
Marines are famous for doing whatever it takes to make their mission a success. Michael O’Doherty, past chair of the BC Foundation, demonstrated his Marine Corps roots as the Measure J Campaign Treasurer. There were maybe three people in the room (e.g. Bill Thomas, Harvey Hall, and Karen Goh) who knew how complicated campaign committee reporting is. After the Measure J Campaign, now there is a fourth — Michael! And who volunteers for such a thankless task? When the going gets tough, the tough get going! Thanks, Michael, for another job well done!
Jay Rosenlieb
What can I say. Jay was there from the very beginning. Since Jan 2016. You co-chaired the community connections group with Norma Rojas during the educational campaign phase. You co-presented to so many organizations. You were our spokesperson to the Board of Trustees as you updated them on the work of the Blue Ribbon Committee. You phone banked, you put up signs, you opened Klein Denatale for us to work. Plz tell Kimmie that she was absolutely instrumental in the work. When we ran out of food, you hopped in the car with Corny and came back laden with goodies. You spent your evenings at 1675 Chester and helped carry trash out and shut down the campaign headquarters for the night. We spent countless hours in Starbucks strategizing. You partnered with Michael O’Doherty to submit the public disclosure forms. On behalf of the present and future students of Bakersfield College; on behalf of the present and future faculty and staff of Bakersfield College, I thank you.
Sue Benham:
Sue Benham, Sonya Christian. From Karen Goh’s Facebook
Most of us don’t face the risk of waking up in the morning and having the details of your wedding appear in the local paper, but I suspect Sue is used to that. Besides, it was a great picture. She also is used to advocating for things that matter..things that benefit the community. Like the old E.F. Hutton commercial, when Sue Benham talks, people listen. She is eloquent. She is honest. She is direct. And she is beautiful. Sue speaking out on behalf of Measure J made a difference. When Bill Thomas asked you to play a leadership role you unhesitatingly said yes. You opened the doors for us at the Bakersfield Californian and you were consistently there willing to help out. Your email address always warmed my heart when I started typing your name and it popped up – sbenham4kids@aol.com
Sue Benham (second from left), played a key leadership role in Measure J.
Mostly it was through Measure J that I got to know you and realize how fortunate our community is to have Sue Benham. There is a recurring theme this evening that cannot be overemphasized. Measure J passed because many people care about Bakersfield College and what its future means to Bakersfield and Kern County. Sue Benham is one of those people. And when Sue Benham spoke about Measure J, people listened.
Thank you, Sue!
Remaining Honorees:
Passing a bond initiative is like raising a child…it takes a village. Bakersfield College has benefited from those many members of the “village” that we recognized. The previous honorees are those who played an especially pivotal roles in the workings of the actual Measure J Committee. It’s equally important to recognize those who did whatever was needed to get the word out, to secure the right endorsements, to write the opinion pieces, to make the phone calls, to bolster people’s spirits. Probably my favorite vision is Rick Kreiser coming down to Campaign headquarters on a Sunday afternoon to fix a copy machine because we needed lists run off for phone banking that evening and didn’t have a back-up copier. When there was the need Rick answered the phone … as did so many others that we recognized. Thank You!
Michael Bowers – Senior District Representative for Senator Andy Vidak
Ken Byrum – BC Foundation Board member
Fran Florez – BC Foundation Board member
Rick Kreiser – BC Foundation Board member –
Fred Prince – Bakersfield Black Chamber of Commerce President
Cheryl Scott – BC Foundation Board member and KEDC VP
Jay Tamsi – Hispanic Chamber of Commerce President
Keith Wolaridge – Panama Lane/Buena Vista School Board President
Here I am recognizing Tom Gelder at the Foundation Board of Directors meeting. We make a powerful team. Gelder (Exec Director of BC Foundation) and Christian (President of BC) 🙂
On May 22nd, after the May 17th event, this is what Herb Benham had to say about Congressman Bill Thomas and secondarily about BC.
`We should do half as much in our lifetimes: Saw Bill Thomas at a dinner at Bakersfield College last week honoring people who helped raise half a billion through the Measure J campaign.”
“Every time I see the man, he’s thinner, Sharon, his wife was there and she is a sweetheart, and I am reminded how much good Bill has done he’s done for Kern County. Almost a billion for the Thomas Road Improvement Program and then helping with the bond measure that will help modernize BC over the next 30 years.”
2017 Sterling Silver
The dinner also made me feel good about BC all over again. Talk a force for good.
Manny de Los Santos put together this video with some of the Measure J faces. We had the video playing during dinner at Sterling Silver.
Valley Public Radio
On May 16th, I had the wonderful opportunity to speak with Joe Moore on Valley Public Radio. Together, we packed a lot of conversation into such a short time. We kicked off with The Kern Promise, covered Guided Pathways, and even Measure J. Valley Edition is dedicated to covering issues important to Central Valley residents, so I was very excited to cover things we’re working on in education and at BC!
Joe Moore is the Director of the Program Content for Valley Public Radio and he’s the host of Valley Edition. Joe’s bio on the website says in 2008 that he was named one of Fresno’s “40 under 40” by the publication Business Street.
I am so glad to announce that Environmental Horticulture Professor, Lindsay Ono has been awarded a grant through the ECMC Foundation and the Center for Occupational Research and Development (CORD). He has been working with other community colleges and CORD with the Mapping Upward Initiative on the state stackable Horticulture Certificates. This 3-year grant will allow Professor Ono and other college professors to continue their work and complete the curriculum updates for the Horticulture program. Shasta College and Reedley College are also receiving this grant. Congratulations Lindsay!!
Remembering Earl Wallace Cory, Jr.
Earl Wallace Cory, Jr was known on campus as Wally Cory. Jerry Ludeke reminded me that in print, his name was shown as E. Wallace and in person it was Wally. He was a retired History Professor with 34 years of service and who passed away on May 18th. Wally had been in Payson, Utah Veteran’s Home for the past three and a half years and in the hospice program there since last fall.
Earl Wallace Cory, Jr.
Earl Wallace Cory, Jr
Leadership Matters Summit at BC
It’s a great week to be a Renegade and a great time to be at BC. This past week Bakersfield College had the privilege of hosting the Leadership Matters: Re-Imagining Leadership to Sustain Transformative Change to Advance Student Success & Equity conference for various community college’s throughout California. We were so pleased to hear from the California Community College Chancellor, Eloy Oakley who discussed, “Advancing Educational Attainment & Equity in California. Leadership Matters.” It was a day of great knowledge and it set the stage for us to build urgency in the way we look and approach at the “Guided Pathways” initiative. I look forward to sharing with you all more about this day of encouragement, change, unity, and leadership within California’s 113 community colleges in next week’s blog. But for now enjoy this picture that I snapped the night before the big event.
Shawn Whalen, Sonya Christian, Eloy Oakley
CA Community Colleges Chancellor Eloy Oakley speaking to a full house at the indoor theatre
Superheroes:
Jonathan Schultz, faculty at BC, has been doing brief videos of BC staff for his students and all students at the college. Check out his interview with Dr. Oliver Rosales, History faculty.
Archiving the Past & Future of California’s Central Valley: Humanities Collaboration in the San Joaquin Valley
Oliver Rosales speaking
On May 23 the Levan Center for the Humanities hosted a one-day symposium event for about 30 area educators, writers, and artists. Faculty from both Bakersfield College, CSU Bakersfield, and the Kern High School District were also in attendance. Entitled “Archiving the Past and Future of California’s Central Valley: Humanities Collaboration in the Southern San Joaquin Valley,” the event was a culminating part of a California Humanities “Community Stories” grant in hold with Bakersfield College. The program included two panels and a keynote address. The morning panel focused on local archives and cultural preservation efforts at CSU Bakersfield, Bakersfield High School, and the Kern County Museum. The afternoon panel featured recent state and federal recipients of grants focused on the cultural diversity of the San Joaquin Valley.
Kristine Diekman
Kristine Diekman, Professor of Media at CSU San Marcos, delivered a keynote address. Her talk, based on her project “Run Dry,” focused on Tulare’s recent water crisis and how ordinary residents in rural Tulare County experienced lack of access to clean water. Here’s a quote about her project from the Los Angeles Times: “The project is designed to record the stories of people living in California’s Central Valley without water or clean water, and contextualize these stories within the themes of human migration, equity and poverty, and California water policy.”
Lori Wear Presenting at the event
The event was recorded by Bakersfield College’s media services and will be transcribed and made available through Bakersfield College’s Social Justice Institute website. College faculty and area educators, as well as potential grant writers, will be interested in reviewing the panel discussions and keynote addresses to discover more about funded projects focusing on the San Joaquin Valley.
A few fun photos from this week:
From twitter Jose Cortez leading Region 5 in California for Student Government Associations. Congratulations Jose! #WeAreBC!
Our Chief of Public Safety at an event with Grace Commiso’s baby
Risky moves right after…..here is Bill Moseley
Two of my favorites people. I remember them when they were little girls.
Erin Tarjan and Kristin Tarjan
Check out our faculty Prof. Jason Stratton, Prof. Bernadette Towns, and Prof. Lily Pimental-Stratton on the Great Wall of China. #WeAreBC
That’s all for now.
Until next time.
With much Renegade Pride and Collegiality.
sonya — the luckiest and happiest college president ever
The Workforce & Economic Mobility Blog blog shares approaches to workforce and economic development, with a goal of supporting economic mobility for our community while staying committed to the health of our people and the health of our environment.
In the Bhambi & Christian blog, Dr. Brijesh Bhambi join together joined together with the goal of facilitating healing and conversation in our community.
Since the founding of Transgender Day of Remembrance in 1999 by Gwendolyn Ann Smith to memorialize the murder of her friend Rita Hester, members of the transgender community and its supporters worldwide have come together every year on November 20th to list the names of transgender individuals who were killed. Attendees to BC’s event in Fireside read the name and a short biography for each of the 27 transgender people killed in the United States. The number is likely higher, since family members often misreport a murdered individual’s gender.
That’s all for now. 
November 8, 2017 marked the one-year anniversary of the Yes vote on Measure J. A Yes vote meant sharing in a renewed vision of what moved the community to start Bakersfield College 104 years ago — and 61 years ago to start building the beautiful campus on Panorama Drive. Thank you for your support and thank you for sharing this vision.
It
was specifically important to Kay that this new center was designed to enhance and improve student success, wellness, and provide a comforting space for camaraderie for our returning veterans, like Lee Caldwell. Trustee Meek called on Chancellor Burke to get the building open for our student veterans sooner than later.
Chancellor Tom Burke spoke about the ways in which KCCD is looking forward to enhancing student success through the initiatives provided by Measure J. 
While we were all busy celebrating our military at Vetfest, the Bakersfield Police Department was graduating 14 new officers in the Indoor Theater.
Numerous materials including one-year pathway models and 4-year pathway models, discipline C-ID courses and Transfer Model Curriculum were supplied faculty who worked through a 4-year pathway from BC to Bachelor’s degree at CSUB. The end-product for each discipline was a semester pattern of course-taking for each area of emphasis at CSUB. Patterns included recommended coursework by CSUB faculty for specific pathways at BC.
Also, their son Jonathan Schultz is an amazing faculty in the counseling department. He work long hours and is passionate about student success. Check out this 7-minute video
Good morning, [name of student]. I was so inspired to read your message to President Christian, as well as her response this morning. I can’t think of a better way to start the day. We’re here to help. I’d love the chance to meet. Let’s make it happen early and often. I will be at the Welcome Tent by the Fine Arts building on Monday morning from 7:30 – 10:00 am. If you’re in the area during that time, please drop in. My office is located in FA-69 (Fine Arts Building). If I’m not there, someone will be able to help you schedule an appointment with me. I’d like for us to discuss your plans for law school, as well the many professional options our program can offer you. It is a unique program developed by the State Bar of California, and reserved for only a handful of colleges in California, including Bakersfield College. You’ve picked a great college to attend!
Good morning, my name is Yvonne Armendariz and I am the Basic Skills Program Manager. As a Completion Coach, I lead our campus efforts to utilize a tool called AccuSQL to track attendance for all student support services. So while Eleonora distributes to her Completion Coaching Community a report based on student cohort data in Banner, I can help provide you a report that shows our students’ behavior throughout the semester.
This is how Prof. Kimberly Nickell introduced Dr. Kimberly Bligh.
During Opening Day, Mary Jo took the time to thank our Food Services crew for all the work they do to provide food for students and catering at important events like we have on Thursday.
On Monday, our 55 new faculty members met in the first seminar in a year-long series that will help them connect with BC resources and make the most of their time at Bakersfield College. We are excited to welcome this new and very dynamic group of faculty to the college – the largest incoming class of new faculty in our history!
As part of Flex Week on Wednesday, acclaimed public intellectual Dr. Chike Akua hosted workshop about how to keep students of color engaged in their academic pursuits and education as a key to fighting structural inequality.
When Joe Coughlin of Coconut Joes heard about the passing of the celebrity Glen Campbell, he picked up his guitar and strummed the Rhinestone Cowboy.
I thought you might enjoy some excerpts from the President’s letter in the EMP
Sixty years later, many things have changed, but one constant piece remains – Bakersfield is a community that realizes the importance of a college education and undeniably supports Bakersfield College.
On Wednesday, August 2nd, morning, Paul Beckworth and BC student and US Navy Veteran, Robert Enger were featured in a story on ABC 23 about the Forever GI Bill. Straight from the story, Paul Beckworth said,
Former Taft College President Dr. David Cothrun wrote a piece in the July edition of the Bakersfield Life Magazine praising the quality of life in Taft, where he’s lived for the last 21 years. I so enjoyed this piece and wanted to share it with the larger community.
Good morning Bakersfield. It is Saturday, May 27th….always a good day to be a Renegade.
Our keynote speaker for the event was adjunct faculty member, Victor Krumdick. Mr. Krumdick is retiring after 26 years of service to the college. Raquel Lopez and Carolina Madrigal introduced him and shared stories about the amazing work he has done in Delano, in and out of the classroom. Mr. Krumdick is one of the friendliest people around campus. He brings a positive energy to the Delano Campus that not many can match. He shared some wise and poetic words with the students, in hopes that they live life to their fullest potential.
On May 16th, I had the wonderful opportunity to speak with Joe Moore on Valley Public Radio. Together, we packed a lot of conversation into such a short time. We kicked off with The Kern Promise, covered Guided Pathways, and even Measure J. Valley Edition is dedicated to covering issues important to Central Valley residents, so I was very excited to cover things we’re working on in education and at BC! 
I am so glad to announce that Environmental Horticulture Professor, Lindsay Ono has been awarded a grant through the ECMC Foundation and the Center for Occupational Research and Development (CORD). He has been working with other community colleges and CORD with the Mapping Upward Initiative on the state stackable Horticulture Certificates. This 3-year grant will allow Professor Ono and other college professors to continue their work and complete the curriculum updates for the Horticulture program. Shasta College and Reedley College are also receiving this grant. Congratulations Lindsay!!
