Spring to Success at BCC: Enrollment and Persistence Update

Berkeley City College’s Spring to Success program is building upon the success of Fall is Free with added benefits for students and a focus on persistence from semester to semester. BCC’s planned goals for the Spring semester are to increase persistence by 10% through outreach to Black, Latino/a/x, and AAPI populations, increase FTES through marketing campaigns designed with new and continuing students, and increase FAFSA completion for 2023-24.

BCC’s strategies for achieving these goals are to increase outreach and communications to students directly. Phone banking led by BCC Student Ambassadors reached over 3,000 students who have enrolled but did not register and provided direct assistance with the registration process. BCC administrators, faculty, and classified staff also included BCC Spring to Success branded graphics in their email signature along with the link to berkeleycitycollege.edu/free to spread the message to the community in their external networks.

The BCC Canvas now includes a notification on all Canvas hubs advertising the Spring to Success program, and regular emails, texts, and social media posts have added to BCC’s outreach efforts. BCC’s outreach specialists have already completed 30 site visits (18 high schools and 12 community partners) during the open enrollment period, serving nearly 700 students. Billboards, transit ads, and mailing campaigns in BCC’s service area have augmented our messaging.

In-reach efforts include the posting of the BCC Spring to Success graphics on monitors throughout the campus, along with an interactive QR code for students to easily bring up the Spring 2023 schedule on their phones. Enrollment Workshops began in mid-October 2022 and all the way through finals week to help students prepare to enroll, and Express Registration began January 17 to help students connect with counselors and staff members to assist with registration.

Bayer Invests in Berkeley City College STEAM Programs

On December 19, 2022, Bayer announced an investment of more than $1.5 million with Berkeley City College and 12 other Berkeley nonprofits to advance Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM) education over the next three to five years and to drive resiliency in the West Berkeley neighborhood.

The agreement between Bayer and Berkeley City College (BCC) is for expanding equitable and inclusive access to biotechnology careers for Berkeley High School graduates attending BCC. Specifically, Bayer has committed to hiring Berkeley High graduates now studying at BCC in paid internships. These students will receive work-based training supported by Bayer, including mentoring by Bayer staff.

“I’m grateful to the Berkeley City Council for their commitment to Berkeley residents by ensuring the 30-year development agreement with Bayer included support for Berkeley High graduates pursuing bioscience training. And I’m thrilled to be working with Bayer to create jobs and career opportunities for the students at Berkeley City College,” said Dr. Angélica Garcia, BCC President. “These internships offer a path into well-paying jobs in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries for our diverse student population, many of whom are women and from historically minoritized communities who traditionally have not had such intentional opportunities available to them. This is a real pathway to change people’s lives for the better for generations to come.”

Chris Lewis, Dean of Math, Science, and Career Education at Berkeley City College, added, “This partnership between BCC, Bayer, the Berkeley High School Regional Occupational Program in Biotechnology (BHS CTE-Biotech), and the Biotech Partners Biotech Academy will increase access to biotechnology academic and work-based training for Berkeley High School students who are from low-income families and other groups that historically have been underrepresented in STEAM careers. In addition to the internships, Bayer will be providing full tuition, fee and instructional materials (including laptops) support for BHS CTE-Biotech alumni per year while at BCC.”

The program also offers embedded tutoring support in applicable classes, support for additional career and academic coaching from Berkeley Biotech Partners, and a community
of practice between BHS faculty, BCC faculty, and staff from Biotech Partners to develop best practices and calibrate instruction and student services for students matriculating from BHS CTE-Biotech. Additionally, BHS graduates participating in the program can also take biomanufacturing classes from Laney College, a sister college within the Peralta Community College District.

You may read Bayer’s press release announcing the investment here.

BCC Animation Student Wins Sports Emmy

Berkeley City College congratulates former BCC Animation student Logan Wong for winning an Emmy in the “Outstanding Graphic Design – Specialty” category at the 2022 Sports Emmy awards. Wong was recognized for his work on “The Portal,” an animated series produced by Bleacher Report. He began studying animation at Encinal High School at an academy taught by BCC’s Animation and Game Design Lead Mary Clarke- Miller and enrolled in BCC’s Animation program from 2015- 2017. He transferred to San Jose State University and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Animation and Illustration in 2020.

“Congratulations to the animation team on Bleacher Report’s The Portal for winning an Emmy! I had a blast working on it and am honored to be part of such a hard-working and talented crew! Bravo!“ said Wong.

You can check out his work on The Portal’s YouTube page here.

BCC President Angélica Garcia Profiled in Hispanic Outlook on Education Magazine

Berkeley City College President Dr. Angélica Garcia was profiled and featured on the cover of the December issue of The Hispanic Outlook on Education magazine. The profile, titled “Dr. Angélica Garcia: A Commitment to Student Access and Success at Berkeley City College,” focuses on President Garcia’s commitment to student access and success, which frames how she leads the college. She describes access as “more than just getting students through the door.”

An excerpt from the article reads: “One of Dr. Garcia’s first initiatives as president in 2020 was establishing BCC as a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI), focusing on STEM opportunities for its Latino and other students. It meant a considerable amount to her ‘because I understand first-hand the impact a college education has on Latinx communities for accessing social mobility ending generational poverty and integrating Latinx cultural wisdom and knowledge into the academy.’”

Berkeley City College also ran a full-page spread in the magazine, advertising BCC’s status as a Hispanic Serving Institution. The ad highlights Berkeley City College’s commitment to the “Serving” aspect of being an HSI.

BCC Teams Up with UC Berkeley Center for Educational Partnerships

On Friday, January 13, Dean Chris Lewis, Dean of Math, Science, and Career Education, presented on behalf of Berkeley City College for the UC Berkeley Center for Educational Partnerships (CEP) on BCC’s efforts to support Career Readiness through general and dual enrollment pathways.

The presentation titled “The Importance of Career Exploration in College Advising” explored the role and connection of career exploration and college advising. It informed the audience of BCC’s Career Technical Education pathways available for students and its connection to workforce development.

Dean Lewis was recommended to CEP by Theresa Vidaurri (East Bay Regional Director, Destination College Advising Corp, UC Berkeley) after the PCCD Charrette last semester. Dr. Claudia Canizales Aguilar, EdD (CEP) facilitated the event. There were 80+ participants, mostly from high schools and middle schools from around the greater Bay Area. Dean Lisa Cook also represented BCC at the event.

BCC is excited to continue its relationship with the UC Berkeley CEP network of programs. You can learn more about CEP here.

Welcoming New Faculty Joya Chavarin

Berkeley City College is excited to announce Dr. Joya Chavarin, EdD as BCC’s newest tenure track Education Instructor. Chavarin is the first full-time faculty hired in the Education Program at BCC.

Chavarin’s career spans over 25 years in the early care and education field, including starting as a parent, working as a teacher, directing a Head Start state-subsidized center-based program, and providing training/technical assistance to build a high-quality teacher workforce.

As the former Senior Research Associate at WestEd, Chavarin worked to identify trends, needs, and options regarding early childhood practice and policy recommendations. Chavarin contributed to the development of the CA Early Childhood Educator Competencies and Learning and Development Foundations video series. Prior to joining WestEd, Chavarin was the Director of Workforce Development at the YMCA of the East Bay, overseeing twenty-one program sites across four counties in CA. Projects include directing the SEIU Head Start Apprenticeship and Early Educator Youth Apprenticeship programs.

Chavarin holds an Ed.D. and M.Ed. with a focus in Educational Leadership from Mills College; M.A. in Education from CSU Monterey Bay, and a BA in American Studies, Concentration in Maternal and Child Public Health from the University of California at Berkeley.

Chavarin’s professional experiences in Higher Education began as a preschool teacher at UC Berkeley’s Anna Head program while earning a BA, to successfully directing a campus-based child development program at CSU Monterey Bay while earning a MA. Chavarin participated in the Faculty Diversity Internship Program at Hartnell College and began teaching part-time in the Child Development Department.

BCC welcomes Chavarin to the ranks of full-time faculty in a growing field at BCC. We look forward to announcing additional full-time faculty members in the areas of Multimedia Art and Counseling in the coming month.

Educational Master Plan Forum

Berkeley City College will be holding an Educational Master Plan (EMP) Campus Forum on Friday, February 3 from 12:30- 1:30pm. Please join us for updates on the EMP planning and implementation process and provide valued feedback. The forum will be hosted by the EMP Steering Committee members:

• Angélica Garcia – President
• Djenilin Mallari - Office of the President, Operational support
• Kuni Hay – Vice President of Instruction, ALO
• Andrea Williams – Classified Senate President
• Phoumy Sayavong – Senior Research & Planning Analyst
• Fatima Shah – Academic Senate
• Kristiyan Klichev – ASBCC

Visit the EMP 2024-2028 website to see additional materials and leave feedback. 

President’s Message: Welcome to Spring 2023!!

Dear Berkeley City College Community,

Feliz Año Nuevo – Happy New Year! I hope you are well and that you were able to enjoy the holiday break. A new year and new semester fill me with excitement to return to campus and see many of you. I hope your return to the BCC community is filled with the hope of an incredible semester and ready to work with your colleagues and serve students in the Spring.

Berkeley City College is building on the success of our Fall is Free program and expanding the benefits with our new Spring to Success program. Our team has designed a tiered system that promotes persistence and allows students to maximize their benefits based on enrolled units. All instate students qualify for free enrollment/campus fees and free weekly meals, with no minimum unit requirement. Instate students who enroll in 6 or more units of in-person instruction at BCC will receive free parking, free AC Transit bus passes, and an entry into drawings for $150 BART clipper cards. And in-state students who enroll full-time in 12 or more units can receive a Spring to Success grant of up to $700 through the Office of Financial Aid. To qualify, all students need to do is enroll at BCC as their home college and fill out a FAFSA. Please look at the Spring to Success website, and share it with current students, alumni, neighbors, and friends.

I want to thank my colleagues on the administrative team for their work in budgeting and brainstorming the incentives that will impact students’ desire to choose BCC as the pathway to a career, certification, or transfer to a four-year institution. You should soon be seeing our marketing efforts in the community. My almost teenager was excited to see the social media ad when she was playing a game on her phone last week. I would also like to thank our faculty and classified professionals for their work in the implementation of this historic, no-cost experience in higher education. Your quality instruction and student services fulfill our mission as a public institution and are paying dividends in uplifting our community out of the devastation of the Covid-19 pandemic.

This year, 2023, will be a landmark year for Berkeley City College as we will receive communication from the ACCJC on our accreditation status, we are developing our 2024-2028 Educational Master Plan, and continue our efforts to support students and increase equitable outcomes in their success and completion. I thank my colleagues currently serving on the EMP Steering Committee, and look forward to hosting community forums as we shape the future of Berkeley City College. I encourage all to visit the EMP page on our website to peruse the documents and leave feedback. Your input is important for the plan’s implementation.

In closing, I want to share that over the holiday break, my 7-year-old daughter turned a corner as she worked through her struggles with reading. She went from being incredibly frustrated while reading, to sticking with it, making mistakes, and working through the frustration. Her almost teenage sister provided her with this moment of a safe space, where she shared her own struggles with reading and now love of reading. She sat with her younger sister and they read aloud, working through challenging words together. I was reminded that when we feel seen, heard, and supported, we can accomplish so much. I believe this to be true about each of you in your work and presence to the students and community of Berkeley City College. I wish us a Spring semester with many shared experiences of teaching and learning together.

In community,

Dr. Angélica Garcia (she| her| ella) President

Berkeley City College

This article is taken 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, January 24, 2023. To view it as a pdf, click here.