President’s 12345

(1) The Alignment Task Force and Service Club Chats

As a reminder, the MIPC Alignment Task Force has a narrow, focused charge. It will recommend a campus leadership structure that connects to our mission and the Blueprint for Success during our transition to Basic Aid. 

My part in this work will be to host semi-annual Service Club Chats. If you haven't joined one before, these clubs are designed to deepen understanding and support a feedback loop to my office. Based on how many years you've been employed at Foothill College, you will be invited to join me for a guided, honest discussion about how Foothill College's culture, climate, and service to students are shaped by your unique positionality and institutional history. This round will be framed within the college alignment process and how we can navigate uncertainty in an intentional and supportive way. Please join me in a guided discussion about how we can design and organize our college around the achievement of the Blueprint for Success transformational goals. Watch your inbox for an invitation to your club.

(2) Kicking Off the Facilities Master Plan

The district is beginning a new 10-year Facilities Master Plan, and we will share the kickoff and timeline at the Chancellor's Advisory Council on Friday. Before that conversation, MIPC reviewed the plan about to sunset: the 2021 to 2026 District Facilities Master Plan. We reviewed Foothill's major projects and the progress or pivots made along the way. A few highlights:

• Our campus signage and wayfinding project is well underway, with installation beginning next summer.
• The path to the district offices now has new accessibility signage, and an accessible pathway was installed on the second level of lower campus.
• The pool area has been fully redesigned with spaces for studying and gathering, new restrooms, and changing rooms. It will be completed in summer 2028.
• The tennis/pickleball courts have been resurfaced with new lighting.
• While the planned campus core connector was not funded, the Campus Center now brings many services together through our Centers of Belonging, and tutoring has been consolidated into one area.
• We pursued other major facilities projects related to the Measure G Bond, like the decarbonization project responsible for the mounds of dirt by Appreciation Hall, renovation of the Sunnyvale Center into an Allied health hub, the Dental Clinic expansion, and the roofing project, to name a few. 

We also noted that the plan is a clear artifact of its context. Created during the pandemic, it places a strong focus on outdoor spaces for our community. As we head into districtwide planning, where plenty of campuswide input will be sought, I encourage us to think about our indoor spaces and a plan to replace the main corridor of buildings that have exceeded a typical life span. Gensler will facilitate the new plan, a workgroup of 12 to 15 people will form this fall, and Dr. Bradley Olin will run point for Foothill College.

(3) Accessibility Is Everyone's Responsibility

MIPC took on an enormous topic, both for its importance and its scope: Foothill College's compliance with federal digital accessibility regulations. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, our websites, documents, and digital content must meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) by April 26, 2027. The federal rule names WCAG 2.1 Level AA, and our teams are teaching to WCAG 2.2, the newest version, which builds on 2.1. Meeting 2.2 keeps us ahead of the requirement.

Presentations from our Marketing team and Professional Learning & Instructional Technology team made one message clear. We need to wrap our collective heads around the responsibility that comes with being a content creator. If you create an invitation for an event, edit a webpage, or create instructional materials, you must be conversant in the WCAG standards. A few places to start:

• Choose the right format first. Marketing recommends HTML for event details, deadlines, and program information, Word for materials people need to download and edit, and a tagged PDF only when a fixed layout is needed. Every format must be checked before it is shared.
• Use the events calendar. Post event details as accessible text and links through the college events calendar rather than relying on image-only flyers.
• Learn the four principles. Accessible content is Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust.
• Join a workshop. Professional Learning is offering Give Your Canvas Page a Makeover (October 21) TODAY, Headings, Lists, and Links Done Right (October 22), and Beyond the Eye: Accessible Images and Tables (October 27). An importable Canvas module will also be available soon to help students build their own accessibility skills. Look out for these workshops, offered on repeat.

This work connects directly to the district's adoption of the Accessibility Capability Maturity Model (ACMM), a framework from the California Community Colleges Accessibility Center. The ACMM helps institutions move from a reactive approach, where we fix problems after they are reported, to a proactive one, where accessibility is built into how we plan, purchase, communicate, and teach. Foothill-De Anza will join the next ACMM cohort in early 2027, with our baseline assessment scheduled for February 2027. Every accessible flyer, webpage, and Canvas page you create now strengthens that baseline and, more importantly, opens our doors wider to students, colleagues, and community members with disabilities.

(4) Passport to the World: Foothill Global Experiential Learning Showcase & Reunion, October 29

Get your passport ready. Next Thursday, October 29, our Office of Global Experiential Learning hosts Passport to the World: Foothill Global Experiential Learning Showcase and Reunion at 4 pm in the Dining Hall. Come hear from students and faculty who have studied, researched, and served around the world, reconnect with past travelers, and discover what's next. The 2027 lineup includes a spring quarter in Buenos Aires and summer programs in Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Lisbon, London, Malaysia, Borneo and Singapore, and Spain. These programs are open to students of every major, age, and travel experience, and scholarships and financial aid are available for most of them.

Please spread the word to your students. For many, this event is the first step toward a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Let's Experience Foothill! 

Please register here.

(5) No MIPC Meeting on November 6

The Mission Informed Planning Council will not meet on its usual date of November 6, in support of the Classified Professional Development Retreat. Our classified professionals keep Foothill running and make students feel welcome every day, and I hope they enjoy a day devoted to their own growth and connection. MIPC will resume on November 20, 2026. Meeting materials and minutes are available on the MIPC website.