On August 15, 2024, Peralta Community College District employees (and at least one student!) gathered at Laney College for a dynamic and engaging Flex Day focused on professional development. Organized by district-wide Professional Development Co-Coordinators Chelsea Cohen and Marla Leech (both Laney College faculty members), the event was a resounding success, bringing together educators from across the district to enhance their skills, particularly with regards to Artificial Intelligence (AI), and collaborate on maximizing student success in the upcoming semester.
Laney College President Dr. Rudy Besikof kicked off the morning with a warm welcome. We heard an overview of the day’s programming from Chelsea and Marla, who introduced each other using mini bios created by AI, as Artificial Intelligence was a major theme for the day. Attendees were also welcomed by Peralta Federation of Teachers (PFT) President Jeff Sanceri, District Academic Senate President Dr. Matthew Goldstein, and the Peralta Classified Senate President Hope Lane, who all shared their optimism for the upcoming school year. The Welcoming speeches can be viewed on YouTube here.
The morning keynote was a panel discussion on “Artificial Intelligence: Where Are We Now?” moderated by Nathan Pellegrin (Director of Research and Planning at Merritt College) and featuring Dr. Jennifer Elemen (Digitally Mediated Learning Coordinator at UC Berkeley School of Education), Ángel Fuentes (Dean of Business and Workforce Development at Evergreen Valley College), and Tuan Nguyen (Professor of Computer Information Systems at Laney College). The panelists provided recommendations and resources for faculty – how to leverage it when appropriate, and how to limit it when human creativity and critical thinking are centered. The panel discussion can be viewed on YouTube here.
Peralta Community College District Chancellor Dr. Tammeil Gilkerson presented “Passion, Purpose, & Radical Possibilities,” which followed up on her powerful January Flex Day introduction with an update on the promises made – and kept – over the first 7 months of her job leading the district. You can watch a recording of Chancellor Gilkerson’s speech on YouTube here. Her slides are posted here.
Dr. Gilkerson shared her goal, to “Build a strong foundation for the Peralta Colleges to effectively serve the students of the District by addressing systemic challenges in operations and by building trust and confidence in the District.” Over many listening sessions early in the spring semester, she found that employees are carrying a lot of rocks, or pain points, which she illustrated by filling up a jar with those rocks. Chancellor Gilkerson then showed numerous examples of progress made in addressing those pain points, including improving our contract approval and vendor payment processes, transparency in the budget development process, a commitment to participatory governance that “ignites Passion, Purpose, and Possibilities,” greater attention to career development for classified professionals, and the continuing commitment to center student success in everything we do. Chancellor Gilkerson ended her speech celebrating the people of Peralta who accomplish amazing things when we come together as symbolized in a quilt made of fabric “leaves” with encouraging words that came from people at each college and the district service center.
Following a break for delicious Filipino-style barbecue, chair massages, and music, the afternoon sessions included District-Wide Instruction Discipline Meetings, more interactive sessions focused on AI, Tenure Review Orientation, tips on planning for retirement, and School Daze: An Interactive Experience on the CCC to HBCU Transfer Guarantee Pathway. Links to recordings of most of these sessions can be found here.
And the student referenced in the first paragraph? Li Khan, Laney College student and Editor-in-Chief of the Peralta Citizen, led an excellent session entitled, “Chat with The Peralta Citizen: Why We Care about Local Journalism.” She spoke about the student-run publication and dispelled some myths and misinformation about the publication, as good journalists do. Well done, Li!
Flex Day was not only a chance to gain new knowledge but also a celebration of the collaborative spirit that drives the Peralta Community College District. Overall, District Flex Day at Laney College proved to be an inspiring and productive day, reinforcing the commitment to professional growth and excellence within the district.
Check out more photos from Flex Day on Peralta's SmugMug account here: https://peraltacolleges.smugmug.com/District/Events-/2024-Events/Flex-Day-Fall-2024
