President Schilling’s Board Report for February 11, 2020
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 February 11, 2020
We enter the third week of the semester and it is wonderful to have our students back on campus. The campus welcomes a new food vendor and the reviews from students have been positive. Enrollment is holding steady with a slight (very slight) bump in enrollment with an 87% fill rate across all divisions. Club Rush was in full swing the week of February 3-6 and our Associated Students welcomed all students back to campus with energy and exciting events. February also moves forward with Black History Month and a full schedule of events, which are detailed at the end of this report. We look forward to a dynamic spring semester.
Campus News
Please stop by and see our new wall graphics on the CCCPLX building. Our Communications team has introduced new window graphics, each that tell the story of our commitment to student success. On the first floor, we feature our four core values, with equity at the center. We want our students to know that our college is centered by the values we have embraced. On the second floor we feature our Every Student Has A Story wall. Seven students are featured, each representing the attributes of Be Confident, Creative, Courageous, Dedicated, Dynamic, Motivated and Passionate. On the third floor, we welcome students with our promise of Buen Cypress, We Take This Journey Together. Thank you Marc Posner, Marcie Kagawa, and Cari Jorgensen for designing this new addition to our campus!
Gisela Verduzco and Kelly Carter were chosen to present two sessions at the Degree Works Conference in Orlando, FL April 3-8. Their presentation is: Utilizing DegreeWorks to Address the Vision for Success in California Community Colleges. This session will focus on implementation of Guided Pathways and Program Mapper at Cypress College. The second session is titled: Re-Routing: From Maps to Plans in DegreeWorks, highlighting the importance in having counselors and faculty working together to implement a pathways plan for students.
Also chosen to present at the upcoming League of Innovation conference in March are Lisa Gaetje, Deidre Porter, and Kristina Oganesian. They were invited to share the work they are doing with predictive analytics using our Civitas software. Their presentation will highlight our new Accelerate campaign, which focuses on solutions to the challenges that affect the success rates of our part time students. They will also present on this topic in San Jose in June.
Our Sustainability Committee has launched a “Do You Know” social media campaign to help educate our employees and students about the surprising things that influence climate change. This link provides an example of the kind of notice going out each week to our students and employees.
Sixty-five high school students attended a Cypress College Auto Technology seminar in preparation for the upcoming Orange County Auto Dealers Association (OCADA) High School Auto Technician Competition. These students will compete on Saturday April 26 at 8:30 a.m., with winners receiving tools and scholarships to attend a college level automotive program in Orange County.
On January 23, 2020, from 6-8 p.m., more than 70 students attended the inaugural Hotel, Restaurant, and Culinary Arts Open House. Faculty welcomed students with program presentations, tours, and cooking demos, while support staff provided resources including financial aid, counseling, EOPS, DSS, and Pledge information. Thank you to our HRC faculty and staff for this excellent event.
We will be creating two new student engagement spaces on campus, located on the first floor of the Humanities building. These two new spaces will feature two new study areas, furniture for work and student interaction, and additional charging stations. Our Puente and Legacy programs will be housed there until we can build a new multi-cultural center on campus, but all students are welcome!
The eDLAs (Directed Learning Agreements), developed by our tutoring center staff and math faculty, continue to exceed expectations for students who successfully complete them. The math review opportunities are part of the new co lab math courses and were funded by our OER and Basic Skills funding. 5,251 students who participated in Tutoring from Fall 2016 to Fall 2018 were analyzed and matched with 5,251 students who did not participate in tutoring within the same semesters, during the same time period. Designed to be used on and off campus, eDLA completers had an overall success rate approximately 29 percentage points higher than those students who did not complete eDLAs and a 4.8% lift in persistence rates. The largest lifts in persistence were observed for students in the most at-risk student groups. For the math eDLAs only, there was a 60.4% difference in success rates between completers and non-completers. Thanks to our tutoring staff under Dean Treisa Cassens, and to our Math Department Chair, Cindy Shrout, and math faculty for creating these interactive eDLAs.
Congratulations to Theater Arts student, Aaron Espinosa, who has just been hired by the Center Theater Group (Mark Taper Forum and Ahmanson Theatres) as an Education Intern for spring 2020.
Community Events
Dr. Schilling and Howard Kummerman, and Trustees Blount and Dunsheath attended the Cypress State of the City luncheon on January 29. Dr. Schilling and Howard Kummerman will also be attending the Buena Park State of the City on February 12. Paul de Dios will be attending the Garden Grove State of the City luncheon also on February 12.
Dr. Schilling also enjoyed the “Look Who’s Dancing” event, a Pathways of Hope Fundraiser on February 6. Fullerton Communications Director, Lisa McPheron, and Fullerton President, Greg Schulz were the stars of the show. What a wonderful evening of fun in support of our partner, PoH!
Upcoming Events
- EFMP Open Forums – February 12 at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
- Equity Symposium- March 26-27
- Americana Awards – February 29 at the Disneyland Hotel
- Rotary Spaghetti Dinner – March 7 at the Cypress Community Center- all tickets sales go to support our EOPS program.
That’s the Board Report from Cypress College. Buen Cypress!
The following is our calendar of events for Black History Month. Please join us!