President Schilling’s Board Report for October 23, 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 October 23, 2018
Campus News
- On October 15, the Orange County Auto Dealers Association (OCADA) hosted a scholarship and career fair event at the campus. 53 auto technology students received a total of $45,000 from this organization – the most of any college in the state. In attendance were recruiters from Fletcher Jones, Norm Reeves, Tustin Toyota, and other dealerships, interested in hiring our students. We continually shine for our various auto programs and industry associations. Kudos to faculty members, Michael Klyde, Paul Kelly and Russ Bacarella, and Dean Kathleen Reiland, for their exemplary work to ensure their students have the best training available.
- On October 24, Dean Henry Hua and Dr. Schilling will be presenting at the OCBC Cyber Security Task Force This meeting brings together industry leaders in this area and they are interested in Cypress’ new NSA designation as a Center of Excellence, and to better understand the training we provide.
- On October 25, at 6 p.m., the Cypress Art Gallery will be hosting Director Folleh Tamba for a screening of her film “Triangle of Death” – a documentary on one of the deadliest regions in Iraq, and what our armed forces experienced there. Wounded in combat in Iraq, Tamba was awarded a Purple Heart, and has since produced and directed three award-winning documentaries: The Triangle of Death (Wolf Dog Films, 2009), The Line of Departure (2011), and The Process (2016), which won best documentary short at the 2016 Gary International Black Film Festival. Please join us!
- Hunger Initiatives: On October 17, Presidents Schulz and Schilling, and Provost Purtell met with representatives from Pathways of Hope to discuss how we can partner together on our hunger and homeless issues. It was an excellent discussion and Pathways of Hope will be collaborating with NOCCCD to host a training for our staff to augment our food pantry services and help identify students who need additional resources. We are grateful for this partnership between our colleges and outside organizations. In addition, Cypress College will be implementing a Safe Zone overnight parking area in Lot 1 for any student who may be sleeping in their cars. Campus Security will supervise and support these students between the hours of 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. Students need to register, which will then help us point them to other resources we may have on campus to support them. We are also working on funding students for a hot meal voucher program at our food services.
- The Cypress College Women’s Volleyball Team is currently ranked #12 in the state and 11-7 in overall play. Our Women’s Soccer Team is 7-4-4 overall and both teams are aiming for a playoff spot in both sports. Go Chargers!
- Cypress College and our Associated Students are committed to increasing civic engagement. AS is sponsoring voter registration drives, making voter registration forms available throughout the college, and encouraging students to register online through social media.
- The College is gearing up for our inaugural Connect2Cypress event on November 6. This will replace our Senior Day, which traditionally occurs in the spring. The event will kick-off our Guided Pathways initiative. Each student will be encouraged to choose a meta major – receiving a T-shirt that designates them as part of the meta major community. In addition, we will be incorporating our annual Majors2Career on the same day so Cypress students will be mingling with prospective Cypress students at the career and program fair. We expect over 1000 seniors to attend the event as they begin to prepare for college.
Community Events
- Cypress will be hosting our annual High School Superintendents and Principals Breakfast on October 23 at 7:30 a.m. This event is to present the work Cypress is doing in collaboration with our high schools, as well as the opportunity to discuss needs and how we better serve the transition from high school to college.
- Cypress College is the grateful recipient of a $100,000 grant from the state – one of only 29 colleges to revive this funding. In addition, we accepted another $100,000 from Forest Lawn at last week’s Patriot Chapel grand opening. Currently the funds raised for our VRC exceed $600,000 and we appreciate the support our community has provided.
- Schilling, Trustee Blount, Foundation Executive Director, Howard Kummerman, and Special Projects manager, Gail Taylor, attended the Cypress Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast on October 17.
- Schilling and her husband will be attending the Cypress Boys and Girls Club annual fundraiser, held at Los Alamitos Racetrack on October 20. They are also looking forward to attending the upcoming Fullerton College Presidential Gala on October 27.
- Schilling, along with Dr. Schulz and Dr. Marshall, enjoyed hearing keynote speaker Dr. Gil Contreras at the Latino Faculty and Staff Association mixer on October 16. Dr. Contreras spoke about the importance of understanding our first generation student challenges, and how we might be more mindful in how we serve and encourage these scholars. Thank you, Dr. Contreras, for your wise words!
I want to thank all our study session presenters who will be sharing the great working they are accomplishing on AB705, our new Mobile App, our SWP Marketing campaign, and Multiple Measures. My thanks go to Linda Borla, Cindy Shrout, Kathy Wada, Gisela Verduzco, Paul de Dios, Kelly Carter, Kathleen Reiland, and Peter Maharaj.
In an effort to identify the barriers our students may experience enrolling at our college, our Institutional Research department looked into the difference between how many student applied, using CCCApply, and how many students enrolled. This summer we deliberately reached out to students who had applied, but not enrolled, in the attempt to enroll more student. The result was a 7% increase in those students, and a 2% increase overall.
That’s the Board Report from Cypress College. Buen Cypress!