President Schilling’s Board Report for September 8, 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 September 8, 2020
As we end the first two weeks of the semester, we are seeing an enrollment dip from last year but are showing consistent fill rates over 90% across the curriculum. We are, however, offering 90 fewer sections than last fall, mainly in the arts, athletics, CTE, and health sciences due to the inability to fully offer remote and online course offerings in those areas; we are not seeing significant student drops due to online instruction. The college has distributed over 800 laptops, Chromebooks, and WiFi hot spots and our faculty, counselors and students services staff continue to work tirelessly serving our students in this remote environment.
Cypress College is now offering an on-campus “drive-through” food distribution each Wednesday at 9 a.m.-12 p.m. throughout the fall semester. The first distribution was on Wednesday, September 2. Students received one large reusable Buen Cypress grocery bag of select non-perishable and fresh food items delivered to the campus on the day before our distribution. Additional personal hygiene items may be requested, if in stock. To help our efforts in managing inventory, a weekly reservation will be required to access this service every visit. After registration, students will receive a confirmation number and details including the location of the distribution. We will be asking for volunteers from the campus and community once our operational team gets through the first distribution. On the first Wednesday, our team of Cypress and NOCE staff served a total of 220 students, including 134 Cypress Students and 86 NOCE students. A huge thank you to Dave Okawa, Jay Shonkwiler and our NOCE partners for their leadership coordinating the details of this service.
Hispanic Heritage Month kicks off with a special program, led by Dr. Therese Mosqueda-Ponce, on September 17 at 12 noon including a virtual lecture by Obed Silva on the significance of Hispanic Heritage month in context of our current national reckoning on race. This will be followed by a virtual Dance concert on September 24 from 6-7 p.m. led by Maha Afra and the Cypress College dancers. More activities are planned in October with a lecture on the importance of Dia de los Muertos on October 1 from 12-1 p.m. Please join us!
The Grads to Be Program is starting its third year and is aimed at assisting and supporting undocumented students at Cypress College. The program provides counseling and advising, legal aid assistance, financial aid and scholarship assistance, mental health referrals, and workshops and events. We are proud that Cypress College has been selected by the CCCCO, the Foundation for California Community Colleges, and the California Department of Social Services as a pilot school to provide free legal services with CHIRLA to undocumented students and neighboring communities.
Congratulations to the Dr. Juan Garcia, our Veteran’s Coordinator for successfully defending his dissertation, titled Eye balls! Click! Ears! Open!: A Qualitative Study to Begin Understanding the Experiences of Veteran Resource Center Administrators Within California Community Colleges
Congratulations are also in order for faculty member, Jenelle Herman, who was honored as the recipient of Cypress College’s 2019-20 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award. Jenelle has served as a full-time member of the English as a Second Language Department faculty since fall 2016. She is also an advisor for the LGTBQ student club, the LGBTQ Faculty coordinator and one of our champions for ensuring gender neutral bathrooms and preferred names on campus. Jenelle has been a mentor for the Legacy Program, serves on the college DEI Committee, and spearheaded the planning of Coming Out Day at Cypress College. Congratulations, Jenelle!
Please join us for our 2020 Foundation Scholarship Awards. Held virtually on September 10 at 6 p.m., we will be celebrating our outstanding scholarship winners, hearing form our Alumna of the Year, Catherine Sorenson, and providing over $200,000 in scholarship funding to our worthy students. Please let us know if you can attend this short virtual ceremony and we will provide the Zoom link.
Our Associated Students will be hosting Student Townhalls throughout the semester to help students stay connected, build community, and communicate their needs to AS leadership and the administration. Thank you to our Associated Students leaders, President, Nicolette Garcia, Student Trustee Ester Plavdjian, and the AS Executive Board for hosting these important townhalls, held every Wednesday from 11:30 a.m.to 1:30 p.m.
Cypress College will serve as a Voting Center during this year’s November election period. We will facilitate both in person voting as well as drop-off balloting. The county will be responsible for running the center and providing oversight. We appreciate our M&O staff, led by Director, Phil Fleming, for working with the county to provide this important service to the community.
The college is also partnering with the City of Cypress to host Parking Lot Cinema, a Drive-In Movie Night, on the Cypress campus in Lots 4 and 5 each month. The next Parking Lot Cinema event will be a showing of The Karate Kid on September 25. Registration is required and the college opens to cars at 7 p.m. with the movie beginning at 8 p.m.
The college will be opening our first outdoor study space to support students who cannot find a quiet space to study at home. The first open-air tented space is already installed on our Gateway Plaza and will open to students the week of September 14. The space will accommodate up to 70 students at a time and students will need to register for 1, 2, and 3-hour appointments via our mobile app. All students will be required to follow our campus and District protocols including completing a wellness check form, be temperature-checked, wear a mask while on campus, and maintain a distance of more than 6 feet at all times. The tent features room for 70 students with socially distanced tables, electrical outlets, lighting and WiFi access. Open 7:30 a.m.to 10 p.m. M-Th, and 7:30 a.m.to 5 p.m. on Fridays.
To help keep students engaged with all the services and resources available on campus, the Communications Team has complied a guide to assist new and returning students. The following links will take you to our new website and services, all located at Fall Semester Central on our website.
Fall Preparation Tips
Frequently Asked Questions
Academic Services
Student Services
Health & Safety
What to Expect/Important Dates & Deadlines
Online Student Tips
Buen Cypress! We Take This Journey Together!