FOOTHILL COLLEGE FUSION
- Staff Edition -

IN THIS ISSUE
PROPOSED STATE BUDGET BODES WELL FOR COMMUNITY COLLEGES

brownIn January, Governor Brown released his 2015-16 budget proposal, and the outlook for California Community Colleges appears very positive

 

Proposed 2015-16 Augmentations for CCCs

 

$200M for student success - These funds will be split evenly between Student Success and Support Program (SSSP) and Student Equity Plans.  We are aware that districts will want to know what local match will be required for the budget year, and we're committed to informing you of that decision soon.

 

$125M to increase base allocation funding - This increase is intended to ease the constrained discretionary funding environment colleges have experienced since the economic downturn.  These funds can help colleges address the scheduled increases in STRS and PERS contribution rates, for example.

 

$106.9M for increased access - This funding would increase access for approximately 45,000 students (headcount).

 

$92.4M for COLA - This would fund the statutory cost-of-living-adjustment of 1.58%.

 

$49M to fund CDCP rate equalization - Legislation passed concurrently with the 2014 Budget Act equalized the CDCP rate to that of the resident credit rate commencing with the 2015-16 year.  This augmentation would fund that increased cost.

 

$48M for Career Technical Education - These one-time funds are proposed for support of the SB 1070 Career Technical Education Pathways Program.

 

$29.1M for Apprenticeship - $14.1M of these funds would restore the rates and seats of current programs back to the 2007-08 levels and an additional $15M is proposed for innovative apprenticeship projects that focus on new and emerging industries with unmet labor market demand.

 

$39.6M for Proposition 39 - These funds support projects and workforce development related to energy sustainability, consistent with the provisions of Proposition 39.

ETS HOSTING SERIES OF TOWNHALL MEETINGS

etsIn an effort to facilitate communication and collaboration, Educational Technology Services (ETS) has scheduled a series of townhall meetings. The meetings will allow the general college community to learn more about upcoming projects and ask questions. The first series of townhalls have been scheduled and center around four initiatives - information security, technology purchase coordination, Online Education Initiative, and Office 365 conversion.

 

The full schedule is below. All meetings will be held in the Toyon Room unless otherwise noted. No RSVP is needed.

 

Information Security

Monday, February 9 at 9:30 am

Monday, February 9 at 12 noon (President's Conference Room)

 

Online Education Initiative

Wednesday, March 4 at 3 pm

Thursday, March 5 at 9 am

 

Office 360 Conversion

Monday, April 6 at 9:30 am

Monday, April 6 at 2:30 pm

 

Technology Purchasing

Monday, May 4 at 10:30 am

Tuesday, May 5 at 3:30 pm

MUSIC INSTRUCTOR PAUL DAVIES DEBUTS ORIGINAL OPERA NEXT WEEK IN SAN JOSE
 carlota Next week, Foothill College Music Instructor Paul Davies, Ph.D., will debut Carlota, an original opera in two acts that traces the steps of a princess who later served as the empress of Mexico. The performance will take place on Sunday, February 15 at 7 pm at the Mexican Heritage Plaza theatre in San Jose. Tickets ($10-$25) are available at the door as well as from the Foothill Smart Shop and online at www.carlotaopera.eventbrite.com .
 

Carlota is Davies' first original opera for which he authored the libretto as well as the show's music. "As empress, Carlota made a distinct impact on Mexico when she and her husband, Archduke Maximilian of Austria, were installed as Mexico's monarchy in 1864. Her story includes exchanges with an impressive who's who in 1860's geopolitical intrigue-orders to travel to the New World from Napoleon III, a declining partnership with the French army, in-person appeals for assistance to a pope, a fierce allegiance to maintain the crown for her husband, and ultimately, a descent into madness.

 

HELP FUND FOOTHILL COLLEGE GLOBAL BRIGADES TRIP TO HONDURAS

brigadesJoin the Foothill College Global Medical and Dental Brigades at Sweet Tomatoes (1040 Grant Road, Suite 350, Mountain View) for dinner and help raise money for this year's trip to Honduras.

 

Global Brigades is a local chapter of the non-profit organization Global Brigades. Each year, student members organize a medical brigade to a country abroad in order to provide free comprehensive health services and education to rural communities with limited access to health care.

 

Sweet Tomatoes has offered to donate a portion of its sales on Thursday, February 19 from 5 pm - 8 pm to Foothill College Global Brigades. In order to qualify, participants must purchase a beverage with their meal and present a copy of this flyer. No RSVP is needed.

THEATRE ARTS DEPARTMENT SCORES CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD NOMINATIONS

 theatreThe Foothill College Theatre Arts Department garnered several Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Awards nominations for both Little Shop of Horrors and South Pacific. The winners will be announced in March.

 

REGISTER NOW FOR INFORMATION SHARING WORKSHOPS

infoBased on feedback provided after the Winter Professional Development Day, Student Services, in collaboration with the Professional Development Committee and Classified Senate, is sponsoring a series of Information Sharing Workshops. The workshops are designed to facilitate communication between colleagues to share important information, updates and changes that can improve productivity and support student success. Refreshments will be served and attendance counts toward PGA/PAA credit.  

  

Tuesday, February 10

3 to 5pm

Toyon Room

Facilitated by Denise Swett & Andrea Hanstein

 

Thursday, February 26

9 to 11am

President's Conference Room

Facilitated by Thom Shepard & Karen Smith

 

Friday, March 6

9:30 to 11:30 am

President's Conference Room

Facilitated by Laureen Balducci & April Henderson

 

Monday, March 16

1 to 3pm

Toyon Room

Facilitated by Teresa Ong & Roland Amit

 

Wednesday, March 25

10am to 12 noon

President's Conference Room

Facilitated by Janet Weber & Antoinette Chavez

 

RSVP for an Information Sharing Workshop� 

BLACK ALUMNI LEADERSHIP PANEL NEXT THURSDAY

blackalumsThe Black History Month Planning Committee is hosting a Black Alumni Leadership Panel next Thursday, February 12 from 12 noon to 1 pm in the Hearthside Lounge. Former Foothill College students will share their success stories and career strategies with attendees. Admission is free

FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT ON CAMPUS TO DISCUSS IMPACT OF ASTEROIDS

nasaOn Wednesday, March 4 at 7 pm in the Smithwick Theater, former NASA Astronaut, Dr. Ed Lu, CEO of the Sentinel Mission, will give a free, illustrated, non-technical talk entitled, The Sentinel Mission: Finding the Asteroid Headed for Earth.

 

Asteroids, which hit Earth at least twice each year, are the only natural disaster for which we have a technological solution.  We are all living with the threat of a 3-minute experience that could transform our lives and our planet forever. For example, on February 15, 2013, an asteroid impact on Chelyabinsk, Russia, sent over 1,700 people to seek medical attention, damaged over 7,200 buildings and cost the city over $33 million dollars in property damage.

 

The lecture is co-sponsored by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, SETI Institute, and NASA Ames Research Center, the Foothill College Astronomy Program. Admission is free.

FOOTHILL COLLEGE GOOD NEWS CORNER!
goodnewsLesley Dauer, Language Arts faculty member, spent her recent sabbatical authoring a book of poetry. Her book, Carnival Life, won the Adrienne Bound Award for Poetry and will be published by Mercer University Press.

Astronomy Department Chair Andrew Fraknoi was appointed by the Council of the American Astronomical Society to a national task force to help plan and coordinate education and public outreach for the August 2017 eclipse of the Sun.  This will be an eclipse that is total in a narrow path through the United States, but it will be seen as a partial eclipse all over North America. 

Classified Senate President and Senior Library Technician Karen Smith was interviewed for KQED Radio's Perspectives column. Smith discussed a serious motorcycle she was involved in and how impacted her life. To hear the interview, click here.
hanksIn case you missed it ...

Tom Hanks penned an opinion piece in the New York Times about how his time at Chabot College "made me what I am today."

To read the article in its entirety, click here.