President Schilling’s Board Report for February 23, 2021
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 23, 2021
As part of Black History Month, HAIRTAGE: Tangled, Twisted, & Black Speaker Series continues featuring top speakers. The LA Weekly highlighted this exhibition as their Culture Pick of the Week. Cedric Adams shared his drawings on February 17. Adams is a child of the Watts Renaissance who is best known for his meticulous drawings; Cedric looks to life around him for the subjects of his artworks, which currently feature portraits of African American men and women that are, he explains, “a visual reaffirmation of how we see ourselves.” The Hairtage Speaker Series is organized in conjunction with the Cypress College Black History Month Committee.
Cypress College has kicked of the Camino de Santiago Challenge. Our team will take the journey together to complete the 480-mile Camino de Santiago trail virtually! All those who complete the full virtual journey to Santiago will receive a medal of completion. Schools First will be providing some incentive raffles between now and fall 2021 Opening Day to acknowledge and encourage the team’s progress. To add yet another reason to join, our Foundation is hosting an optional Camino de Santiago Crowdfunding site to raise funds for your journey. All funds raised will go directly to emergency aid for our students.
The college is providing an Auto-awards Pilot for five CTE certificate programs. Students were notified they were eligible to receive their specific certificate(s) in Baking, Culinary Arts, Food and Beverage, Hotel and Special Events. After one week 56 of 83 students had responded and 100% of the 56 accepted their certificate. Thank you to Kathleen Reiland, Stephanie Rosati, Marc Posner, David Booze, and our CTE counselors Jane Jepson and Jeannie Mitsch for getting this pilot program off the ground. We hope this is the first step in being able to more easily award our students with their earned degrees and certificates.
From November 8, 2020 through April 18, 2021 the California Botanic Garden in Claremont is exhibiting the works of some local ceramicist’s in their exhibition, Clayfornia. One of these artists is our adjunct professor, Mary Beierle. The Botanic Garden’s winter magazine cover features one of her works on display. We are proud of the talent we have at Cypress College and applaud Professor Beirele’s accomplishments.
Dr. Schilling and Kathleen Reiland were honored to attend the Orange County Business Council Annual Installation Dinner on February 4. Dr. Schilling attended as the guest of Union Bank and Regional Manager Robbin Narike Preciado. Captain “Sully” Sullenberger was the keynote speaker and spoke eloquently about the importance of teamwork, compassionate leadership, and ensuring all are elevated when the team accomplishes their work together.
On February 5, the CCCCO sponsored a webinar called Voices of Freedom: Stories of Hope from Formerly Incarcerated Rising Scholars. This powerful panel discussion on the pipeline to prison inherent in too many communities and educational systems, featured Cypress College’s FITE Club founder, Nohelani Casperson, who transferred last spring and is now attending UC Berkeley. Nohelani had powerful observations about how her educational journey was impacted by Cypress College, FITE Club advisor, Anne Marie Beck, and the importance of providing a path forward through education for our formerly incarcerated students. We are #CYProud of Nohelani and our FITE Club students!
Our Student Services Team welcomed Dr. Frank Harris to Cypress College on February 11 for the spring Student Services kick off meeting. The theme, Enhancing the Student Experience, was the focus of the morning, and Dr. Harris complemented this retreat with a powerful presentation on the digital equity divide. Thank you to Dr. Harris for presenting, and to Dr. de Dios for putting together a great morning of professional development for this team.
Dr. Schilling was invited to share her State of the College address to the Cypress City Council on February 8. She discussed our new buildings on campus, provided an Americana invitation to all council members, and discussed tentative plans for a limited re-opening of the campus this fall. We are grateful for our positive relationship with the city leaders in Cypress.
The Health Center now has a Canvas Shell and will be providing information, updates, and resources via Canvas, as well as using Canvas to conduct workshops. Please refer your students to our Canvas Shell for resources and event information. Feel free to forward the attached flyer at the end of this report.
Wellness Wednesdays continue this spring semester. Each Wellness Wednesday will be held virtually from 12-1p.m.
- February 24, 2021- Creating Good Habits and BetterYou App
- March 24, 2021- Eating Healthy for a Healthy Brain
- April 21, 2021- Healthy Relationships & Setting Healthy Boundaries
- May 12, 2021- Stress Reduction Techniques
Upcoming Events
Dr. Schilling will be attending the CEO Symposium on February 25-26; she will be facilitating one of the breakout sections on February 25 focused on the work recommended by the statewide Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Taskforce.
DEI Book discussions – Please join us for a discussion of Book Two of The Distance Between Us, by Reyna Grande on February 23 @ 11:30 a.m.-12:45 p.m. and February 24 @ 4:30 to 5:45 p.m. Next up are discussions of Caste, by Isabel Wilkerson on March 23 @ 11:30 a.m.-12:45 p.m. and March 24 @ 4:30 to 5:45 p.m., and on April 27 @ 11:30 a.m.-12:45 p.m. and April 28 @ 4:30 to 5:45 p.m.
Cypress College is planning a COVID Townhall on Wednesday, March 3 from 1 to 2:30 p.m. to hear from the OC Department of Health regarding vaccinations, testing, and will hear from campus professionals on reporting and safety protocol on campus, and open a discussion on plans for reopening in fall.
Our next Cypress College Equity Retreat– will be held on March 5 to begin development of our campus DEI Framework in support of our next Strategic Plan. Tony Santa Ana will be our guest facilitator and 100 campus colleagues will be attending to help lead the discussion on this important planning focus.
We hope you will all be able to join us for the 46th annual Americana Awards on February 27 at 6 p.m. This year all honorees from the previous 45 years will be acknowledged. All in virtual attendance will receive a Celebration package including dinner, dessert and wine delivered to their home. We hope to see you there as we raise funding for student scholarships!
Buen Cypress, We Take This Journey Together!