Spring Flex Day at Berkeley City College
On Friday, January 19, BCC held its Spring Flex Day. BCC community members from across the college met in the morning for coffee and breakfast and reconnected with colleagues. After a welcome from the Professional Development Committee Co-Chairs Scott Hoshida and Heather Dodge, the leadership cabinet provided general updates on the state of the college. Featured topics were BCC’s strategic plan, Spring enrollment, and critical information about student services and the college budget. New employees were welcomed to campus, and President Denise Richardson acknowledged and expressed gratitude for the contributions of Dr. Martin De Mucha Flores, BCC’s Dean of Counseling and Student Equity. Dean De Mucha Flores and his family will be moving to southern California where he will be taking on a new position and continuing the great work that he has done at BCC supporting social justice, equity, and inclusion for marginalized student populations.
The morning session was titled More Intelligent than AI: Humanizing Education in the Age of ChatGPT by Professor Chesa Caparas of DeAnza Colleges. This presentation offered best practices for incorporating AI tools into teaching while fostering curiosity, connection, and empathy in the classroom. The presentation was followed by Assessment Committee Chair Kelly Pernell’s workshop, Re-examining Our Student Learning Profile, Rethinking Institutional Learning Outcomes (ILOs). In this session, attendees spent time examining BCC’s ILOs and participated in a college-wide discussion on revising our ILOs to ensure they represent the experiences and student learning profile for present and future BCC students.
After lunch, Flex Day continued with mini breakout workshop sessions in the afternoon. The first set of afternoon sessions included continuing the work of the Culturally Relevant Pedagogies grant titled “Changing Approaches, changing outcomes: three faculty perspectives,” a Distance Education workshop titled “Course Design for ALL Modalities,” and a workshop on community and self-care with Success Inc Mental Health ambassadors. The second set of mini workshops included a Zero Textbook Cost invitation to redesigning GE classes to include no-cost materials, Program Pathway Mapper and Curriculum update for Guided Pathways at BCC, and a Teaching and Learning Center Meet and Greet for part-time faculty. The day closed with Dean and Departmental Meetings. We want to thank the Professional Development Committee, especially co-chairs Scott Hoshida and Heather Dodge, for their hard work in organizing another successful Flex Day, as well as our guest speaker Chesa Caparas for their engaging presentation on AI.
BCC Launches Data Newsletter “Trendlines”
During Flex Day, Berkeley City College released its first edition of Trendlines, a newsletter focused on highlighting Berkeley City College programs, outcomes, and demographics. The newsletter was produced by Sr. Research and Planning Analyst Dr. Phoumy Sayavong and Public Information Officer Tom Rizza, encouraged by President Denise Richardson to make institutional data more accessible to the campus community.
One of the key indicators for success laid out in BCC’s 2023- 2028 Educational Master Plan is to practice data-informed processes and innovations to help guide the college’s decision-making. The goal is guided by three indicators of success: (1) student engagement and success, (2) responsive teaching and student support, and (3) inclusive community. “BCC’s marketing slogan is ‘Discover Your Community,’ and we hope this newsletter will allow us to discover new things about our own community,” said PIO Tom Rizza.
The purpose of this newsletter, produced twice per semester, is to share with our community the ways we procure and examine data. It is a valuable tool used to best position the college’s growth and find opportunities to have the greatest impact on our students’ career and transfer goals. We hope by providing this information in an interesting and interactive way, we can help shed light on trends that may allow discovery for administrators, faculty, and classified professionals.
You can find the newsletter on our website here: https://www.berkeleycitycollege.edu/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2024/01/Spring_January-2024_Issue-1v3.pdf
BCC CIRM Grant Students Present at SACNAS Conference
Berkeley City College Biotechnology students Rana Alzalzalee, Kenny Donaville, Yue See Lee, and Emily Segal presented scientific posters at the 2023 National Diversity in STEM Conference hosted by the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) in Portland Oregon, Oct 26-29. BCC student Wei Wang won an award for research and presentation skills in the area of Engineering.
The students completed 10-month paid internships in research labs at UC Berkeley and UCSF, funded by the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine, and were among the 1,500 students selected to present the results of their research. Over 6,500 students were in attendance in Portland, along with over 500 vendors from major Academic Institutions, National Agencies, and private corporations, all seeking to attract future graduate students and employees. These students have begun the application process to start a SACNAS chapter here at Berkeley City College.
This article is taken from the President’s Report, written by Dr. Denise Richardson, Berkeley City College President, that was presented to the PCCD Board of Trustees during their regular meeting on Tuesday, January 23, 2024. To view it as a PDF, click here.
