President Schilling’s Board Report for November 22, 2022
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 November 22, 2022
Cypress College Accounting Department welcomed over 65 students to the first-ever Accounting Day on campus. This event featured accounting employers such as KPMG, Deloitte, and Murphy & Associates, guest speakers from transfer universities, alumni meet and greets, mentorship and internship networking opportunities, and presentations designed to help students see the future with an accounting degree. Faculty members Ann Solis-Sheridan and Samreen Manjra, with support from Dean Henry Hua, organized this event, and students said it was “impactful, inspiring, and helped them understand all the opportunities available to them at the college and after they transfer.” We thank our Business department for their great work.
It’s playoff time and four of our five fall athletic teams are set to make CCCAA Regional Playoff appearances again this season! The Cypress women’s soccer team finished third in the Orange Empire Conference and will host the winner of Fullerton vs. Antelope Valley in the second round of playoffs on Saturday, November 19. Our men’s soccer team finished second in the OEC, clinching a CCCAA playoff spot for a third straight season and is set to host a playoff game for the first time in school history when they face off against Cuyamaca College on Wednesday, November 16. Women’s Volleyball is awaiting their next opponent with playoffs beginning this week. Go Chargers!
We are happy to share this video of former Culinary Arts alumni, Jonathan Park, who is now the head chef at Santa Ana Unified, where he designs lunches and new cuisine for hard-to-please high schoolers. Please take a moment to view this exciting media coverage of Chef Park, who has also been working as Professor Amanda Gargano’s teaching assistant in the advanced culinary courses for the last two years. Jonathan will also start as an adjunct instructor in the HRC program beginning this upcoming spring. I think you’ll agree he is doing exceptional work in changing the world of food!
Our Student Services Spotlight this month is Jonathan Valle who began at Cypress in September 2022. Jonathan works in the EOPS/CARE/CalWorks/Guardian Scholars & Grads To Be office as an accounting technician. He enjoys working at Cypress because of the chance to make a meaningful impact in the lives of our underserved student populations. According to Jonathan, enhancing the Student Experience is more than just asking “How can I help you?” It’s about building a positive relationship around trust and empathy with our students. “We all go through tough times in life, some more than others, but I believe that if we can show students that we understand, or at least show them that we are trying to understand their situation, we can build positive relationships that will help our students achieve lifelong success.” Thank you, Jonathan, for all you do for our Cypress College students!
The Cypress CARE Program established the Adopt-A-Family program in 2016 to assist our low income/single-parent CARE families during the holiday season. Last year our Charger family adopted over 30 families and generously provided gifts for the holidays! If you are interested in sponsoring a CARE family, please complete the form. The Guardian Scholars Program will also continue their fourth year of the Adopt-An-Angel program to assist our current and former foster youth. Please help a family or student in need by sponsoring a Guardian Scholar. For priority, please respond by Friday, November 18. Thank you!
Our Associated Students will again be collecting food to make Thanksgiving Baskets for our students. Golden State Water, who traditionally provided turkeys for each basket, will instead be providing vouchers for students to purchase turkeys. All collected donations of trimmings that accompany the meal will go into the gift baskets. We plan to give away over 45 baskets to students and veterans at Cypress. To donate, please drop off your food donation at the Student Center or contact Dr. Schilling or Student Activities Director David Okawa to arrange for us to pick up your donation.
The Health Center will be hosting our “Fall for Wellness” Health and Wellness Fair on Thursday, November 17, 2022, from 11 a.m.–2 p.m. in the breezeway between Fine Arts and the Theater. The event features community partners, program resource tables, and health-related games and activities. The Cypress Wellness Collaborative will provide a yoga session on the Gateway Plaza lawn from 11 a.m.–12 p.m.
The following updates come from Dr. Kellori Dower, who highlights the exciting news of faculty, students, and events happening in Fine Arts:
Art
New York gallery dealer (Ethan Cohen Gallery) will be featuring faculty member Paul Paiement at this year’s ART MIAMI art fair (November 28-December 2). The Miami art fairs are the biggest in the world and the Art Miami fair (along with Art Basel) is the premiere event. Congratulations, Professor Paiement!
Faculty and students will be attending the premier event of National Portfolio Day. The NPD event will be coming to Glendale Convention Center on November 20, hosting the largest number of 4-year art schools in one location for student portfolio reviews. The Art Department will be holding portfolio preparation and workshops for Cypress College art students for this prestigious event during the month of November.
Theater Arts
Theater critics from Orange Curtain Review came to our fall play, Almost Maine, giving it high marks. One quote reads, “Director Jennifer McMillin-Brick hits a home run.” Technical Theater professor Donny Jackson has won the Orange Curtain Award for Best Lighting Design for his work on In the Heights this past summer at La Mirada Theatre. And recent Theater alum Emily Pearce has been appointed Coordinator of Education Programs at Segerstrom Center for the Arts. Finally, recent theater alum Sarah Villacarillo will be performing in Elf the Musical this holiday season at Sierra Repertory Theatre. Congratulations all!
Journalism
Cypress College competed for the first time in five years at October’s Southern California Journalism Association of Community Colleges 2022 conference against schools with programs three times the size of our newly emerging program. We are excited to announce that our Cypress Chronicle won the On-the-Spot Breaking News Writing competition – the most prestigious award of the day. We are proud of student Hal Saga (our magazine editor), proud of these students, and proud of faculty advisor Dr. Michael Coronado for his support and guidance of our students.
Please Save the Date for our annual Kwanza Celebration on December 1 at 5:30 p.m. provided by our Legacy Program. Also upcoming for the holidays is our annual Holiday Party on December 7 from 12-1:30 p.m. in the Campus Theater Lobby. All employees who bring a donation to our food pantry will be entered in a raffle for holiday prizes. We hope you will join us!
Cypress will be holding two more vaccination clinics for students, employees, and community members on November 9 and 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Cypress/NOCE Building #18.
Buen Cypress! We Take This Journey Together!