Mayor swears-in Board President Lawrence Wong,
Dr. Natalie Berg as VP

CAPTION: In photo at left above, Lawrence Wong, Esq., receives the oath of office as President of the Board of Trustees for the San Francisco Community College District (City College of San Francisco) from San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom on April 10. It is the fourth time that Wong has been elected by his fellow Trustees to serve as President of the Board. San Francisco voters first elected Wong to the Board in 1994 and re-elected him in 1998, 2002 and 2006. Wong was born and raised in San Francisco. He was educated in the city’s public school system and is a graduate of City College of San Francisco, the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Santa Clara School of Law. In photo at right above, Mayor Newsom administers the oath to Dr. Natalie Berg as Vice President of the Board of Trustees (see biographical information in story below). Wong and Berg will serve throughout 2008.

Community welcomes Dr. Don Q. Griffin as Interim Chancellor

CAPTION: Dr. Don Q. Griffin acknowledges his selection as Interim Chancellor of City College of San Francisco and welcomes participants to the dedication ceremony for the Community Health and Wellness Center, while Trustee Dr. Anita Grier (left) listens.

 

New Community Health and Wellness Center dedicated

CAPTION: Also on April 10 was the cutting of the ribbon at the dedication ceremony for the new Health and Wellness Center on the Ocean Campus. Pictured (left to right) are Trustee Rodel E. Rodis, Student Trustee Diana Muñoz-Villanueva, Vice President Dr. Natalie Berg, Mayor Gavin Newsom, President Lawrence Wong, Esq., Trustee Julio J. Ramos, Esq., Trustee Dr. Anita Grier and Trustee John Rizzo.  Fronting on Ocean Avenue (at Howth), the Community Health and Wellness Center serves as a gateway to the Ocean Campus. The $85 million cost of construction was financed with proceeds from the 2001 and 2005 Proposition A Education Facilities Improvement Bonds passed by the voters of San Francisco. The 156,818 sq. ft. structure on three levels was designed by K2A Architects and KMD Architects (Kaplan McLaughlin Diaz) and built by Hunt Construction Group.

 

City College Rams #1 Community College Football Team in Nation

CAPTION: Mayor Gavin Newsom (left at podium) presented on April 10 a recognition of achievement award to Head Coach George Rush and the members of his 2007 Rams Football Team which was named the US Community College Championship Team.

The Chronicle of Higher Education wrote in its June 6, 2008 issue that “City College continues to open and expand satellite campuses around San Francisco, including one in the Mission District that has swelled from a few thousand students to more than 12,000. The College also plans to use voter-approved bonds to build a campus in the city’s Chinatown/North Beach neighborhood. At the City College of San Francisco, many students on the fast-growing Mission campus are immigrants, native Spanish speakers who depend on noncredit courses to prepare for college-level work. Because of their lobbying community colleges are so far the only public colleges in California where students do not face fee increases this year. Further, City College plans to continue pushing for parity in the way state reimburses colleges for noncredit hours. Until the fall of 2006, community colleges in California received 53 cents for every $1 they spent on noncredit courses; now they get 71 cents,” pointed out the story by Kate Moser under the Money & Management section headlined 2-Year College Wins Support Despite Budget.

CAPTION: Posing for an official portrait prior to the start of the 2008 Commencement Ceremony in the Nob Hill Masonic Center on May 23 are (from left, above), Student Trustee Diana class=SpellE>Muñoz-Villanueva, Trustee Milton Marks, Board Vice President Dr. Natalie Berg, Trustee Dr. Anita Grier, Trustee class=SpellE>Rodel E. Rodis, San Francisco Fire Department Chief Joanne Hayes-White (keynote speaker), Chancellor Dr. Don Q. Griffin, Inee Ico (student speaker), Board President Lawrence Wong, Esq., and Trustee Julio J. Ramos, Esq. More than 400 graduates participated in the ceremony.

City College of San Francisco is working on a Sustainability Plan that will address every opportunity to “go green” in the instructional area as well as in the construction projects underway and planned for the future. Already the College has begun:

•  A new Green Career Internship Program began at the Southeast Campus of City College in the Spring and is continuing this Summer, said Dr. Veronica Hunnicutt, Dean.

• An environmental advocacy course is offered at the Evans Campus through the Labor Studies Dept.

• 9 tons of e-waste was collected by the CCSF recycling department during an Earth Day event April 22 and 23. Drop off was free in order to provide a convenient location for students, staff, faculty and administrators to dispose of and ensure that their personal electronic wastes are safely and responsibly recycled. Electronic items accepted included computers, monitors, computer components, fax machines, copiers, cell phones, VCRs, telephone equipment, televisions, DVDs, CDs, batteries and toner cartridges.

Update on the Basic Skills Initiative

City College has bolstered its curriculum in “Basic Skills” with funds from the Strengthening Pre-Collegiate Education in Community Colleges (SPECC), a project of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. City College’s SPECC activities included three projects.  The English Department completely revamped its basic skills English curriculum, integrating reading and writing in an intensive classroom and laboratory model that is improving student success rates in subsequent courses.  The Mathematics department has reassessed its beginning algebra course and is experimenting with alternate instructional methodologies.  In addition, the SPECC project funded a number of Faculty Inquiry groups – an innovative approach to faculty collaborating on improvements in instruction and student support services.

College begins instant messaging

City College has established a text messaging system which will be used to notify faculty, staff and students of emergency or other time-critical events. The system will allow delivery of short messages consisting of approximately 10 words or less to any cell phone. It will not be used for advertising or routing communications and is not a substitute for email. It is being made available to the entire college community

Dr. Mark Robinson appointed Vice Chancellor Student Development

Mark D. Robinson, Ph.D., was selected May 22nd by the Board of Trustees to be the Vice Chancellor of Student Development for City College of San Francisco, beginning May 23, 2008. He had served as Interim Vice Chancellor of Student Development starting January 2, 2007. Prior to that, Dr. Robinson had been Dean of Student Affairs since September 2005. He was Interim Dean of Students from June 2004 to September 2005.

Dr. Robinson recently was named the recipient of an American Council on Education (ACE) fellowship for 2008–09.

Dr. Robinson has a Post-Graduate Certificate in Education from Bolton Institute, as well as a Ph.D. from University of Manchester in the United Kingdom. He also earned: a Master of Science from Indiana University, a Bachelor of Arts from Indiana University, and an Associate of Arts from City College of San Francisco.

Dean Linda Squires Grohe Champion of Health Professions Diversity

CAPTION: Linda Squires Grohe, Dean of the School of Health and Physical Education, gave a presentation to the Commonwealth Club on June 9 as one of the recipients of the Champion of Health Professions Diversity Award from The California Wellness Foundation. Dean Grohe, who has been a professor and administrator with City College for 39 years, talked about two of the College’s health programs that led to the award: 1) an emergency technician program at Galileo High School where students can get high school and college credit for taking a medical terminology class; and 2) the Welcome Back Center which retrains Bay Area citizens who were medical care professionals in different countries.

Joanne Low named Associate Vice Chancellor

Joanne Low, a member of the City College teaching community since 1977, has been appointed Associate Vice Chancellor for the School of International Education. She continues to serve as Dean of the Chinatown/North Beach Campus, where she has supervised the ESL program for more than a decade. She has worked with international students as a teacher and administrator throughout her 30-year career with City College.

Dr. Bob Gabriner, Dr. Bruce Smith and Pam Mery honored for research

Dr. Robert S. Gabriner, Vice Chancellor of Institutional Advancement, along with colleagues Dr. Bruce Smith, Dean of the School of Liberal Arts, and Pam Mery, Researcher, have earned the prestigious ACCCA Mertes award for their work in the Center for Student Success, the research and evaluation arm of the Research and Planning Group for California Community Colleges (RP Group). In addition, RP Group gave its “Award for Excellence in Research” and the “Award for Excellence in Planning” to the Center for Student Success — the first time both awards have gone to the same recipient. The Mertes award from ACCCA was made based on the Center’s study of successful basic skills practices. The award acknowledges significant contributions to the understanding of the effectiveness of community colleges and higher education. 

“This was an unprecedented collaboration that brought together researchers, college faculty, classified staff, administrative leaders and the Academic Senate to produce the document Basic Skills as a Foundation for Student Success in California Community Colleges,” said Dr. Gabriner, who serves as director of the Center for Student Success.

Professor Sara Peterson’s teaching recognized by peers

Sara Peterson, faculty member of the Mathematics Department was awarded the prestigious “Excellence in Teaching Award” by the California Mathematics Council, Community Colleges at the Council’s Northern California Conference in Monterey on November 30. “Only a handful of community college mathematics instructors receive the award each year,” says Dennis Piontkowski, Mathematics Department Chair. He points out, “Sara has been a full-time member of the Mathematics Department at CCSF since 2002. As faculty coordinator for the College’s Basic Mathematics program, Sara introduced a new course format that has led to a significant increase in student success by combining individualized study with small group lectures. She is currently leading the department’s participation in the Strengthening Pre-collegiate Education in Community Colleges (SPECC) program by working to improve student success in Elementary Algebra.

“Sara earned a BA from Webster University and a Master’s from Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. She taught mathematics at the University of Missouri for seven years before embarking on a career in business, software engineering and technical product marketing in industries ranging from scientific and engineering software to real-time stock market information. During his time she earned an MBA from the Olin School of Business at Washington University,” Piontkowski continued.

“Five years ago, Sara returned to her real love, teaching mathematics, when she joined the faculty of CCSF. She teaches the full range of courses with a personal emphasis on helping students who have had little previous success in mathematics,” Piontkowski said.

Trinity Ordona one of 20 most influential Lesbian Professors

Trinity Ordona of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Studies Department — one of the few such departments in the world —  has been honored in the March issue of curve magazine as one of the “20 Most Influential Lesbian Professors.” The article notes: “not many lesbian academics can claim that they are ordained ministers (in the Church of Natural Grace), cult survivors and teachers of self-healing through meditation and guided imagery. An instructor at several Bay Area colleges with accessible admission policies and affordable tuition, such as City College of San Francisco, Ordona is a longtime activist for civil rights and queer rights, and has long-standing memberships in various organizations for Asian Pacific Islander women. She has contributed to many anthologies and exhibits about Asian Pacific Islander women, and is the author of Coming Out Together: An Ethnohistory of the Asian and Pacific Islander Queer Women’s and Transgendered People’s Movement of San Francisco. Ordona is also the former associate director of the Lesbian Health Research Center at the University of California, San Francisco, and gives workshops for women who are survivors of trauma, including incest and rape.”

Lauren Muller co-edits anthology of fiction by Native American women

Lauren Muller of the Interdisciplinary Studies Department faculty is co-editor of a newly released anthology from Oxford University Press titled Reckonings: Contemporary Short Fiction by Native American Women.

Mayor Newsom, Board of Supervisors honor Professor Terry Bloom on her birthday

Harriet “Terry” Bloom who teaches part time in the Older Adults Department, was honored recently at a gala luncheon in honor of her 75th birthday. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom declared February 3, 2008 as “Terry Bloom Day.” She was lauded by both the Mayor and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for her more than 50 years of dedicated service to her community. Terry currently directs a senior adult program at the 7th Avenue Presbyterian Church.

Alumna Cara Black contributes to redroom.com

alumna Cara Black, local mystery writer, was mentioned in the January 8 issue of the San Francisco Chronicle as a contributor to the new literary discussion site redroom.com. Black took advanced acting in Fall 2007 from Susan Jackson. Black’s books deal with a French detective, Aimée Leduc, and feature distinctive locations in Paris.

Dr. Jack Wilde educates federal workers about disabilities

Dr. Jack Wilde, DSPS Counselor and Instructor, recently gave a speech about his text, The Disability Journey: The Bridge from Awareness to Action, published by iUniverse. Wilde gave a two-hour presentation to federal employees invited by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and detailed excerpts of his book that tells stories from 30 years of work in disabilities. Wilde reflected on his roles with the United Nations comparing disability laws, his position as a DSPS counselor and instructor for student with disabilities, and his current research project in China documenting the lives of people with disabilities.

Speech team wins gold at national tournament

Capping a successful year, the Ram Speech and Debate Program returned home from the Chicago area with a gold medal debate sweepstakes award. Sweepstakes awards represent the cumulative success of an entire team at the national tournament and are the highest honor a program can receive. CCSF debaters had two parliamentary debate teams and one Lincoln Douglas debater advance to elimination rounds.

The team of Alex Krakow and Kareem Saber secured the best preliminary record by winning 5 out of 6 debates. Sarah Hamid and Yasir Khan went 4-2. Hamid also advanced to the elimination bracket in Lincoln Douglas debate where she debated the merits of developmental assistance to the Greater Horn of Africa.

“I’m so proud to see City College represented so well in the field of debate,” said Cynthia Dewar, Speech Division Chair and Assistant Coach to the team.

The team is equally proud of Cynthia. Dewar was elected for a second term as Phi Rho Pi President. Phi Rho Pi organizes national community college forensics participation and its officers administer the largest forensics tournament in the nation.