February 23, 2015 Volume 3, No. 22

Olive Hill Press

Edited by Larry G. Buckley, PhD

• Accreditation Reflections

• ECE Conference

• Disability Resource Center

Coming Up: Mon

Feb 23

Reflections on Accreditation Each morning, when I open my email, there is a note from the State Chancellor’s Office of Communications that provides links to newspaper, and other news outlet, stories from around the state about happenings at our community colleges. The last few weeks this daily communication has been dominated by stories of the recent actions taken by ACCJC. While the majority of institutions had their accreditation reaffirmed at the Commission’s most recent meeting, four were placed on Warning or Show Cause status. Most of the stories emanating from various community newspapers have either celebrated their colleges being reaffirmed, or vilified individuals and groups seen as “responsible” for their colleges being placed on sanction. The gist of these articles is that there is some one thing or another that has brought an institution to “success” or “failure” in the accrediting process. I’m not certain that any one thing makes such a difference, but it had me thinking about what was the one thing that made the greatest impression on our recent visiting team. I found the answer in the Team Chair’s report to the Commission, where he wrote, faculty and staff together have “demonstrated impressive leadership and guidance” in providing a “comprehensive and rapid response” to the recommendations. In my discussion with the Team Chair he emphasized this further, stating, “I’ve never seen a college in which faculty and Classified work so well together.” That’s Cañada!

~Classified Senate Mtg, 1:30pm, CIETL

Wed, Feb 25

~ Middle College HS Info Mtg, 6pm, SUHSD Board room

Baseball vs. Cabrillo 2:00pm, Colts Field

~ASCC Mtg., 3:30pm, CIETL

~Board of Trustees Mtg., 5:30pm SUHSD Birch

Thu Feb 26

~ASCC Holi Fest, Noon, Quad

Join the ASCC as they celebrate Cañada's first ever celebration of Holi. On Thursday, February 26 come to the Upper Lawn wearing white and enjoy cultural music and dancing, samosas and laddus, and covering each other in over 50 pounds of powdered color. Holi Festival originated in South Asia, where people come together to celebrate the end of winter. Play, laugh, forget, forgive, and join in for Holi!

Tue, Feb 24

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February 23, 2015 Volume 3, No. 22    

 

On Saturday February 7, 2015, over 130 students, Early Childhood professionals, staff and faculty braved the rain and gathered in Building 6 to participate in “The Changing Early Childhood and Child Development Landscape; Challenges, Opportunities and Your Role.” The first 75 registrants received a prominent book entitled, Leading Anti-Biased Early Childhood Programs. Jean-Marie Houston, a keynote and Cañada graduate, gave a realistic, energetic talk that included: investing in yourself, the positive and not-so-positive changes being made in the EC field, her history and love of the field, and how she rose to her educational leadership position at the San Mateo County Office of Education. Our own Val Goines discussed the Child Development Training Consortium’s stipend program at Cañada. Cece Rebelé, Program Services Coordinator for the ECE Department, conducted an informational PowerPoint and presentation on the California Child Development Permit Process. Maryanne Patterson from the SMCOE discussed the “Race to the Top” and the “Big Lift” programs and professional development / quality rating (QRIS) strategies in the county. Our Panel of Experts included: Angel Barrios of Head Start; Jane Danbold, Director of Transitional Kindergarten for our County; Edna Carmona, Principal of the Redwood City School District Preschools; Iris Postigo, owner and Director of Mi Escuelita Preschool; Christine Shreve, Director at Holy Cross Preschool; and Margarita Mazaracki, Marketing and Recruitment Specialist at Bright Horizons Family Solutions. All of our Conference sessions were very well received - more chairs were needed! Student comments included: “(the) facilitators were all wonderful; greater understanding of what QRIS is and how it works; Conference really motivated me to obtain my certificate & my BA degree; very informative; nice to hear that sometimes we all struggle; Cañada is ideal as a “Center for Learning.”

ECE Conference Submitted by Cece Rebelé, ECE/CD Department

ASCC Elections submitted by Misha Maggi, SL&L Manager

As we celebrate the New Year and new semester, the coming of Spring for Student Senate also means Student Senate Elections are just around the corner. This year, the Student Senate has been very fortunate to recruit some of the most diverse student leaders. With numerous intersections of identity--our students represent the multitude of voices our student population at Cañada encompasses. They range from 15-44 years old, represent over 21 ethnicities, some already have degrees, are parents, are first generation college students, work other jobs, are part of various programs on campus, and between them can speak over 10 languages. Help us ensure our student leader voices remain strong and represent our entire campus--please encourage your students to apply to Student Senate  this Spring!

With Michael Tubbs, Stockton City Councilman, Professor at the Langston Hughes Academy, and former White House intern, who delivered a moving Keynote Address at the 5th Annual Regional TRIO Conference held at Cañada this past Saturday. His message to those attending, "Education doesn't make you a better person than others, but it does make you better equipped to transform society."

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February 23, 2015 Volume 3, No. 22

Disability Resource Center submitted by Max Hartman, DRC Interim Director

From the fall 2013 to the fall 2014 semester, the Cañada College Disability Resource Center grew by almost 10% to a total of 198 students. The Disability Resource Center (or DRC, DSPS at some other schools) is a voluntary program that serves students with all types of disabilities- ranging from visual, hearing, or mobility impairments to psychological, developmental or learning disabilities. Located in Building 5 Room 303, right around the corner from The Grove, the DRC provides individualized services based on the disability related needs of students. In order to qualify for services students must provide a medical verification of their disability and then meet with a qualified DRC staff person to determine a plan. It is then the student’s responsibility to share this plan with the appropriate individuals- including and often most importantly their instructors. Some of the services provided include; extra time on exams, assistance with in class note taking via a Livescribe Smart Pen or a volunteer student note taker, hands free computer usage training with Dragon Naturally Speaking software, textbook and exam reading assistance with the help of the computer application Kurzweil 3000 and many more. In a 2013 report to the California Community College’s Chancellor’s Office it was shown that state wide students who volunteered with their college’s DSPS categorically funded program demonstrated “13 percent greater persistence and essentially the same retention level; and were 7 percent more likely to complete their degree and certificate goals” than their peers without disabilities. http://extranet.cccco.edu/Portals/1/SSSP/DSPS/Reports/DSPSReport.pdf Current Cañada College DRC staff includes Interim Director Max Hartman, Academic Counselor To Nhu Do, Office Assistant Krystal Martinez, Alternate Media Specialist Don Lariviere, Instructional Aide Cynthia Martin, and a team of student workers. The DRC is currently accepting applications for a full time tenure track Learning Disability Specialist/Disability Resource Center Counselor and is hoping to offer Learning Disability assessment and diagnostic services as early as fall 2015. It is the expectation of the DRC that with the addition of an LD Specialist the already growing program will see their numbers climb even higher. If you have any questions about the DRC, would like to refer a student to our program, or are interested in learning about how you can better serve Cañada College students with disabilities please do not hesitate to contact the DRC at (650) 306-3259 or email Max Hartman at hartmanmax@smccd.edu. Submitted by Robin Richards, PharmD: We are again pleased to have another excellent director for our Disability Resource Center. Replacing Regina Blok, Max Hartman began as the Interim DRC Director on Monday, February 2, 2015. This interim appointment will be through December 31, 2015 – so we will be advertising for the permanent position sometime in the late summer/early fall. Max Hartman has worked in community college disability services since 2007. He holds an MS in Rehabilitation Counseling from San Francisco State University and is a nationally certified Rehabilitation Counselor. Before joining the Cañada family for the fall 2014 semester, he worked at Solano College in Fairfield and Merritt College in Oakland. In his disability services career he has served as a classified staff member providing one on one and group trainings on all things related to assistive technology and alternate media and has been a DRC faculty member serving as both a counselor and instructor. He lives in San Bruno with his wife Lauren, an attorney practicing out of Redwood City. In the tradition of the Cañada College Disability Resource Center, Max is slowly incorporating purple into his wardrobe.

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February 23, 2015 Volume 3, No. 22

Marcella Grant joins Cañada College as the new Assistant Project Director for the CALSTEP grant. Prior to joining Canada College, Marcella managed various STEM programs for the Educational Partnership Center at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She also has previous experience working at Hewlett-Packard and NASA. She earned her Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering from San Jose State University and a Masters of Business Administration from Keller Graduate School of Management.

   Marcella is a former MESA student and continues to judge MESA Regional Competitions. She also enjoys riding her scooter and

developing her DJ skills.

Grant Joins Cañada submitted by Janet Stringer, MD, PhD