President Schilling’s Board Report for August 14, 2018
The following is a report to members of the North Orange County Community College District Board of Trustees.
Presented by Cypress College President JoAnna Schilling, Ph.D.
on August 14, 2018
Enrollment: We are moving forward with our fall enrollment. Currently we are trending down 3% from last fall semester, but our enrollment period is one week shorter this year so the weekly comparison is proving a challenge. The key date will be at census, which occurs after the second week of the semester so we still have time to pick up our enrollment and are maximizing our opportunities to increase enrollment. We are actively adding classes where we have wait lists, and cancelling low enrolled courses, sending texts to students who have missed their enrollment date, while continuing our dynamic phone campaign reaching out to students who have not yet enrolled.
Campus News:
- Our M&O staff continue to work hard to get the campus ready for the fall semester. We are currently striping our parking lots, deep cleaning our classroom facilities, and upgrading software in all our classrooms. This is a dynamic time on campus and we are grateful for having a strong, and seasoned team. We will be making a recommendation for a new Director of Facilities at this Board meeting and, if approved, this person will begin on August 15.
- The Cypress College T-TEN program recently received more accolades from Toyota for the highest number of ASE tests (stackable certifications) passed for our 2018 graduating class. 108 certifications were earned by Cypress graduates. Of the 36 T-TEN programs in the nation, Cypress was #2 in the nation with 5.6 ASEs passed per student. We are so proud of our committed students, and passionate instructors, Michael Klyde and Paul Kelley.
- In more great news for our CTE programs, we are building a new Aviation Simulation Lab, funded by a 1M donation – the largest in Cypress College history!. This project, which will double the size of our existing simulation lab, is the beginning of a state of the art new Aviation Center at Cypress to ensure that our Aviation Program is the pride of California. The goal for this project is to reinvest this donation into building projects that will attract other donors while also providing top quality instruction to our students. We will be having a grand opening sometime in the fall, so stay tuned!
- Cypress Connect, our new Mobile App is now available for download! Go to the App store and search for Cypress Connect and you will find our app. We are still building more features, but it already has many capabilities and we are looking for feedback to make it better. Please download this today to stay connected to all that is happening at Cypress with Cypress Connect! Thank you to Academic Computing Manager, Peter Maharaj, for his tireless work leading this project.
- Our outstanding STEM2 Program, which had a record 34 students participate in prestigious summer research programs this year, is moving to a new home. We are opening up a new facility in our Fine Arts Building which will add a conference room, 6 new offices for counselors and faculty advisors, peer mentoring and study rooms, to help support our STEM students achieve their goals. This year’s co-recipient of the North Star Award, Director Yanet Garcia, and counselor Rosa Mejia, as well as Dean Richard Fee, have expanded this program to over 600 students for the coming year. This is a great example of what can be done by using a Guided Pathways model to support students on their journey.
- Come check out our My Cypress Story wall on the first floor of the Humanities Building! This Buen Cypress installation greets students entering the college from Lot 9 by sharing the inspiring stories of 17 students who attend our college. The stories featured here share the journey to college from many perspectives. We will soon be adding My Cypress stories from staff and faculty. Please visit this special commemorative wall!
- Schilling recorded several videos we will be sharing with our students including a Welcome Back video for students returning to the college or are new to the college, a Buen Cypress video, and two videos featuring our core values of Excellence and Integrity – all which include student voices. We are sharing these via email social media and on our website. The goal is to inspire, motivate, and ensure our students feel welcomed at Cypress College.
- Cypress will be launching a quarterly newsletter called Cypress Community Connection which will launch in September. This email, social media, and hard copy newsletter will highlight the great things happening at the college and how we partner with, support, and enhance our community. We look forward to sharing Cypress Community Connection very soon!
College Events
- Cypress College hosted our annual summer Management Retreat on August 6. We appreciate the participation of Dr. Cheryl Marshall, Kai Stearns-Moore, Fred Williams, Joyce Carrigan, Victor Manchuk, who joined us for Team Building, establishing our shared goals and vision for 2018-19, how to conduct Difficult Conversations, and prioritizing our Guided Pathway projects for the upcoming year. Thanks to Nicola Perry and Geoff Hurst from the district who helped take us through the students experience and helped us prioritize our action items for the upcoming year.
- Please join us for our Opening Day activities on Friday August 17 at 9 a.m. in the Cypress College Theatre. We will be inspired by staff and faculty accomplishments, a celebration of student stories and successes, and our rollout of the new Cypress College Mobile App.
- Please join us on September 19 as we celebrate the opening of our new Anaheim Pledge Center. This event will be held from 4- 5 p.m. and will introduce a new center to welcome and facilitate the success of students in our Pledge program. You will be receiving an invitation with agenda and details very soon.
Community Events
- Dr. Schilling will be the keynote speaker at the West Orange County Women’s Conference on September 26, 2018 at 8 a.m. at the Cypress Community Center. We hope you will be able to join us!
- Cypress College donated 150 socks to Cypress schoolchildren for the start of their new school year. In partnership with the Soroptimist Club of Cypress, we provided schoolchildren with a new pair of socks to start their new year off on the right foot – pun intended! These partnerships are what make Cypress College a true community college and I appreciate the campus community and their generosity.
- Schilling has been named to represent Region 10 on the statewide Food Insecurity and Hunger Awareness Task Force. The first meeting will be at San Diego Mesa College on August 31. We are looking forward to ensuring NOCCCD is a leader in the state on this important issue.
That’s the Board Report from Cypress College. Buen Cypress!