President Schilling’s Board Report for March 26, 2019
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 March 26, 2019
Campus News
On March 8, 2019, the Cypress College Veterans Resource Center hosted a Mentor-Mentee Mixer comprised of 18 mentors and mentees as part of the newly launched mentoring program. The Cypress College Veterans mentorship program was implemented this year to assist Vets with the following: Academic issues, probation, employment tips, mentor training, and mentee training.
Thank you to our board for attending the groundbreaking ceremony for our Veterans Resource Center, on March 15. We had over 250 people attend and raised over $5,000 afterwards at our annual 5K run. Congratulations to Dean Rick Rams, Veterans Center coordinator, Juan Garcia, as well as Marc Posner, Kai Stearns Moore, Karen Joy, and Chelsea Salisbury for all their hard work organizing and planning this event.
Also on Friday, March 8 there was an exciting collaboration between EOPS and the LRC tutorial services. Alan Reza, our EOPS counselor, gathered together a group of nursing students to help them to take the TEAS 6 test (sort of a boot camp for the nursing exam). Alan provided guidance on test taking and the overall structure for the session. The Learning Resource Center provided several math and science tutors and an adjunct who helped guide work on the math and science portions of the test. A great effort by all!
This past weekend the Cypress College Speech & Debate Team took five students to the California Community College Forensics Association’s State Championship Tournament. At Moorpark College, students Nate Garcia, Isaac Ramnani, Jolene Gazman, Chris Piazza, and Michelle Sandoval competed in a total of 11 events resulting in four bronze awards and a 5th place overall in the Limited Entry Division. We are so proud of all of our students!
As part of our spring Theater season, tickets to 12 Angry Jurors are now on sale for performances from March 29-30 at 7 p.m., and March 31 at 4 p.m. in our Studio Theater. We hope you can come to see our student work!
The Cypress College FITE Club for Formerly Incarcerated Students, held an event on March 21 featuring four formerly incarcerated men who had spent over 100 years in prison collectively. Their stories were powerful and spoke to the need for change in our prison system. Thanks to counselor Anne-Marie Beck for advocating for these students and providing invaluable support through our FITE Club
Cypress College’s 4th Annual Yom HaShoah, the Holocaust Day of Remembrance, will feature a panel interview with Holocaust survivors Betty Cohen and Lou Fogelman, the founder of Tower Records. Cohen was a victim of Dr. Mengele’s experimentation in Auschwitz, and Fogelman, Cohen’s nephew, was a child survivor and now-successful record industry executive. A pre-event story and signing opportunity for students will feature Cohen and Fogelman, along with survivors Piri Katz and Dora Zipper at 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. Reserve your tickets for this powerful evening.
Author and artist, Ellen Forney, visited the campus on March 20 as part of Cypress College’s Mental Health Awareness Week, for a talk, book signing, and workshop. Forney is the author of the best-selling graphic memoir, “Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me,” and graphic self-care manual “Rock Steady: Brilliant Advice from My Bipolar Life.” She also collaborated on the National Book Award-winning novel, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.” Her work is taught in several English sections on campus, and she connected to our students in a powerful way. Thanks to English faculty, Joseph Melodia, for his role in bringing her to our campus.
Dr. Schilling and Dr. Kathleen Reiland are currently serving on the statewide Educational System and Intersegmental Pathways Taskforce, to help coordinate the technology needs across educational segments to support Guided Pathways across the state. Our most recent meeting was on March 21 at CSU Long Beach and featured representatives from K12, the CC Chancellors Office, CSU, UC, WestEd, the Career Ladder Project, and Bakersfield, Cabrillo, and Cypress community colleges.
Cypress College, hosted the first Superintendents’ Cup on Friday evening, March 22 from 4:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. This inaugural event celebrated all our high, middle, and elementary schools who competed as part of the Cypress College-sponsored Cyber Patriot program. This year we had over eight schools represented, to celebrate their students’ success. It was a wonderful night, hosted by Dr. Schilling, Dr. Henry Hua, Dr. Carmen Dominguez, Dr. Paul De Dios, and faculty member Dr. Ben Izadi. Our Cerritos High School team will be going to Baltimore to compete for national recognition!
Our bi-annual Hall of Fame event will be held on Saturday, March 30 from 9 a.m. to 12 noon. Past athletes, and scholars who have achieved a high level of success at Cypress, in their transfer institution or at the professional level, will be honored and admitted into the Cypress Hall of Fame. Please join us in our Gym II lobby for a morning event honoring our athletes.
Thomas Epstein, President of the CCC Board of Governors, will be visiting the Cypress Campus on March 28 from 9:30-1 p.m. He will be meeting with campus leaders throughout the day and we are hosting a luncheon for him and for staff who wish to stop by to meet him. Any trustee interested in joining us for lunch, we will be meeting in CCCPLX-414 from 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
The Cypress College Foundation Scholarship application is now available online! A number of scholarships are available, and while they each have unique criteria, a student will only need to fill out this single application to be considered for them all. We are encouraging students to fill out the application carefully and completely.
Cypress College will be holding a Shelter in Place drill on April 2 at 10:15 a.m. The purpose of this drill is to assess our ability to quickly and safely respond to an active shooter situation or emergency. We will be assessing our new automated lockdown system, emergency broadcast, and educating students and staff on the steps to take in the event of an emergency.
The college will be hosting our annual Kindercaminata on March 29 from 8:30 a.m. to 12 noon. We expect over 600 children and their teachers for a day of educational fun. Snoopy will make an appearance, as well as the Cypress PD and Fire Departments, and many other programs and activities for our future college graduates! Please join us!
That’s our Board Report from Cypress College. Buen Cypress!