BCC President's Report - September 14, 2021

Berkeley City College Enrollment Overview

BCC is offering 418 sections in fall 2021. As of today, 6,098 students have enrolled in 11,268 classes, generating a total of 1,311 FTES (1,182 resident and 139 non-resident FTES). The resident FTES represents 79% of BCC’s fall 2021 FTES target of 1,489. The average productivity rate is 13 (our goal is 17.5).

The demographics of BCC students in fall 2021 include 55% female, 40% male, and 5% Unknown. About 90% of students are taking fewer than 12 units at BCC. The remaining 10% of students are enrolled in 12 units or more at BCC.

The ethnic composition of the fall 2021 enrollment includes 30% Latinx, 24% White, 20% Asian, 15% Black/African American, 7% two or more, 3% Unknown, .5% Pacific Islander, and .1% American Indian.

Students ages 19-24 years old represent 38% of the fall 2021 enrollment. The 16-18 age group is the second largest group at 20%.

The top three educational goals of students enrolled this fall 2021 include (1) obtain AA-Transfer to a four university at 34%; (2) undecided at 17%, and (3) transfer to a four-year university without an AA degree at 15%.

ASBCC 2021-2022 Profile of New Officers

Current BCC Events

The Office of Student Activities & Campus Life is excited to announce that they have a lot of events and activities in store for students this academic year. From Club Rush to Heritage Months, ASBCC is prepared to host engaging and interactive activities for our students. Keep up to date with the latest events at www.berkeleycitycollege.edu

Welcome Week – Welcoming Our Students to Our Community

What a great start to the beginning of the semester! During the first week of the semester from August 23 - 27, students were welcomed to campus with tons of activities and events from registration support to a fun game night! Many students expressed that they felt a sense of community attending the events and meeting new people.

Supporting Our Students Through Live Chat

What an awesome team we have at Berkeley City College! The student ambassadors under the Office of Student Activities & Campus Life have been on the live chat helping students with registration & enrollment support, finding information for students, and helping students become aware of all the spectacular resources we have on campus. On the first day, we received a total of 112 inquiries for help – what a fantastic way to meet students where they’re at.

NASPA Western Regional Conference

Berkeley City College has been chosen to present at the NASPA Western Regional Conference on November 13th from 8 – 8:50AM. Since the pandemic, BCC has continuously found innovative ways to support students remotely. One of the ways the college has met students where they’re at is the live chat on the front page of www.berkeleycitycollege.edu.

Students have been saying that it’s so great to talk to a real and live person. It’s a great way for student ambassadors to troubleshoot issues and to help answer questions so that students can receive the best support at our institution.

Vaccination Sites

BCC's doors are open for our community to receive their vaccination shots! Berkeley City College has partnered with Carbon Health & The City of Berkeley to provide free vaccination shots in the atrium. Vaccinations started on August 18th from 12-6pm and are still going strong on a weekly basis! The community can make an appointment by going to https://crbn.app.link/covidvax-berkeley-community-college or they can just walk in! Avoid the long lines and come visit BCC for your shot.

Society of Scholars Virtual Orientation

Getting to know campus resources, building community, understanding financial aid, registering for the correct sequence of courses and leveraging community cultural wealth are all factors important to student success and completion. Over the past four years Berkeley City College Society of Scholars has taken all these factors to develop a student orientation event that welcomes a new cohort of full-time, first-time, first-generation students each fall. The goal of the event is to support these recent high school scholar graduates transition into their college scholar identity. Our second virtual Society of Scholars orientation on August 18, 2021, welcomed over 100 students into the college. These scholars represent participants in BCC’s Umoja Scholars program, The Puente Project, Asian Pacific Islander LEAD and Ignite.  

Bridging High School and Community College Pathways

Over the past three years, both the Office of Instruction and Student Services have been engaged with Berkeley High School to build academic and career pathways with wrap around support services to ensure student success. Through an intentional focus on the participation and success of historically minoritized students, the largest proportion of Berkeley High School participants in dual enrollment at BCC from fall 2018 to 2020 are African American, averaging 33%, and Latinx, averaging 34%. BHS students enrolling at BCC have shown increased success rates of 9% during this time, with success rates increasing 7% for African American students and 42% for Latinx students from fall 2019 to fall 2022. To continue this work, BCC was invited to submit a proposal to the College Futures Foundation to increase the number of dual enrollment students who matriculate, complete a certificate or degree and transfer and/or attain employment. Building upon our ongoing work in STEM, BCC has also been included in the Bayer Fund grant for STEM Education to develop of a pathway into STEM beginning in middle school with a focus on increasing the number of Black and Latinx students completing STEM degrees and certificates and participating in STEM careers.

BCC Flex Day/Doors Wide Open for Science Lab courses!

Fall 2021 Semester started off with the natural enthusiasm as expected. On Friday, August 20, BCC held its annual Flex Day and featured the distinguished keynote speaker, Dr. Gina Garcia on the topic of “Transforming Hispanic Serving Institutions.” In her spirted address, Dr. Garcia discussed her Decolonizing HSIs Framework, which is an organizational model that is grounded in decolonial theory and anti-racist practices. Her presentation highlighted the social and historical factors that have hindered the educational success of Latinx and emphasized the need to use critical theory as a framework for serving these students. Dr. Garcia encouraged audience members to think about how to transform HSIs, from an organizational level, using her framework with the goal of equity and justice as outcomes. One faculty member noted, “excellent topics and ideas.”

BCC geared up quickly with welcoming back in-person classes starting Monday, August 23 and assuring Covid-19 protocols were implemented and followed accordingly. Each day the college has experienced increased activity fueling further demand for Spring 2022. Staff is ready and willing to serve and students have stopped by to say they can’t wait to get back into the full swing of things. 

This article is from the President’s Report, written by Dr. Angélica Garcia, Berkeley City College President, that was presented to the PCCD Board of Trustees during their regular meeting on Tuesday, September 14, 2021. A PDF version is available here.