President Schilling’s Board Report for September 24, 2019

The following is a report to the North Orange County Community College District Board of Trustees.

Presented by Cypress College President JoAnna Schilling, Ph.D.

on September 24, 2019

Enrollment is off to a great start as we have almost doubled the number of Promise students, and increased our fall FTES enrollment by 1.5%. Our deans and faculty moved over 2200 students off the waitlists and into active enrolled status by opening more classes based on education plan demands. Special acknowledgement goes to the CTE division who increased their FTES by 87, and the Business division for increasing their FTES by 20, both by keeping their fill rates over 95%. Kudos to all!

Campus News

As part of our continued Guided Pathways support for a more student focused experience, our Campus Communications Office, led by Marc Posner, Cari Jorgensen, and Marcie Kagawa, have created a series of student-friendly videos with quick tips for the semester. To view these videos, please check out these links:

At the end of this report, you will find some samples of our info graphic flyers designed to share information quickly.

Cypress will be hosting its annual High School Principals and Superintendents Breakfast on October 15 from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. This event provides an opportunity for college staff to engage with our K12 partners on the initiatives we share, provide and hear updates on ways we can support our students, and continually strengthen the relationship we have with all our high school partners.

On September 17 we gathered at the home of retired Reading faculty, Cheri Dickey, to celebrate our newest Legacy Society members. There are currently 50 Legacy members who have pledged $10,000 or more to the college to create an endowment ensuring Cypress students will be supported for many years. Thank you to Trustee Dunsheath and Chancellor Marshall (both Legacy Society members!) for attending, and to Howard Kummerman and his staff for planning an excellent event.

On September 20, the NOCCCD Black Faculty and Staff Association hosted a career-planning event for black professionals at Cypress College. San Diego City College president, Ricky Shabazz, and Herb English, Dean of Student Equity at Victor Valley College, conducted a hands-on workshop focused on job and interview preparation in higher education. Thanks to the District for sponsoring this event and to Dr. Schulz for also attending.

On September 13, the CTE Division welcomed two newcomers to the Tech III Building. Bronzed statues of Orville and Wilbur Wright now greet students and staff as they enter the building. This is another generous donation from our Aviation donor who is focused on ensuring the Cypress Aviation program is the best in the state.

Cypress College, along with Fullerton College, will be launching a Smoke-Free Campus Campaign for the next year. The colleges are partnering with OC Waymakers to help raise awareness of the dangers of smoking and vaping. You will be hearing much more about our Arts and Media contest for students, as well as enlisting the help of the entire campus to foster a smoke-free environment.

The college is participating in the SUR;Biennial, a collaboration between three community colleges: Cypress, Cerritos, and Rio Hondo, and multiple galleries across the southland, in a celebration of Latin artists. Cypress will be exhibiting retrospective of the work of Sergio O’Cadiz-Moctezuma  in our gallery. Moctezuma is the creator of the mural that dominates our front quad at Cypress College and this retrospective of his contributions to the Orange County art world is long overdue. The Hostile Terrain installation will be in our theater lobby. Both opened on September 19, with a screening of the documentary, Border South, and Q&A with director Raul Pastrana at 4:30 p.m. and reception at 6 pm. The Hostile Terrain interactive installation, documenting the treacherous journey through the Sonora Desert in Arizona taken by migrants trying to reach the US, identifies the over 3200 migrants who perished during this journey through Southern Arizona since 2000. Over 100 students participated over a three-day period to install this living history and share their own stories of immigration. We plan to share these stories across the campus at a later date. Please stop by before the end of October to witness these two powerful exhibitions.

On September 24, four Cypress College students will be the recipients of the Anaheim/Orange County  Hotel and Lodging Association’s Bill Snyder Scholarship awards.  This annual luncheon will be attended by Dr. Schilling, faculty member Lisa Clark, and Dean Kathleen Reiland, in celebration of our outstanding Hospitality students. Each year over 50% of the awards go to Cypress students and we are competing with community and four-year colleges across Orange County. We are #CYProud!

Cypress College, NOCE, and the Boys and Girls Club of Cypress are collaborating again to offer free childcare to our students. Hosted at the NOCE Cypress campus, we have expanded these services from two days to four days a week. The BGCC staff provide childcare services, and offer art, recreation, and literacy instruction each day from 2:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. A great example of an excellent collaboration that benefits our students!

Upcoming Events:

Howard Kummerman, Dr. Schilling, Juan Garcia and two of our veteran students attended the Los Alamitos’ Heroes Appreciation Luncheon on September 19. This luncheon celebrated the contributions of our women and women in uniform.

The Cypress Chamber of Commerce will be honoring longtime Foundation Board member, Phil Wendel, as Cypress Man of the Year. The award dinner will be held on October 10 at 5:30 pm and Cypress has purchased a table of 8, if any of our board members would like to share this evening with us. Congratulations Phil!

Hispanic Heritage Month continues with  month-long activities –. Highlights include: Sept 19 Gallery Opening of our retrospective for Mexican sculptor, Sergio O’Cadiz,-Moctezuma, whose important mural is installed in our CCCPLX building facing the quad; September 26- screening of “Singing Our Way to Freedom” at 11am; October 15 – Closing Ceremony “ Siquerios: A Revolutionary in Art and Life” at 3 p.m.

And that’s our board report. Buen Cypress. We Take This Journey Together!

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