On Thursday, August 29th, Peralta Community College District Chancellor, Dr. Tammeil Gilkerson, led a gathering of administrators from across the district for a Managers Retreat at Merritt College. "I want to thank Dr. David Johnson and the Merritt College team for hosting us. It was an incredibly productive day where we had the chance to hear from brilliant leaders including Dr. Keith Curry, and our own Jamille Teer, Dr. Ron McKinley, and Dr. Jennifer Shanoski," said Chancellor Gilkerson.
Dr. Gilkerson kicked off the morning by surveying managers on their personal and lived experiences such as being an immigrant, being the first in their family to attend college, experiencing challenges with housing or food insecurity, having accessibility needs, and needing financial aid for education. By this last item, every manager in the room was standing. It was clear that the leaders identify with the students in our district and share many lived experiences. The chancellor also underscored the importance of understanding how Financial Aid works and making sure all leaders can support students submitting their FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) since everyone in the room also needed financial aid.
Dr. Keith Curry, the President & Superintendent of Compton College shared his experiences at Compton and the incredible work they’ve done over 12 years to bring that college back, restore accreditation, and return to fiscal stability, all while laser-focused on students. Sound familiar? His talk definitely resonated with managers in the room.
Jamille Teer, the SEIU Vice President, gave us an update on the contract between Peralta and SEIU, while Jennifer Shanoski, former President and current Grievance Officer of the PFT provided an equally compelling update on the contract between PFT and Peralta. Interestingly, both Jamille and Jennifer made similar points – it's not “the SEIU Contract” or “the PFT contract” - they’re both agreements between Peralta and the bargaining unit. Chancellor Gilkerson concurred; "They are OUR contracts. I couldn’t agree more."
Ron McKinley provided a delightful and hilarious talk about the differences between “management” and “leadership.”
And we ended with exploring the different ways that people process information and the revelation that a team needs people who literally “think differently” - using different parts of the brain to process. The diversity of perspectives and backgrounds really help an organization with decision making. Plus, we learned by doing an exercise Chancellor Gilkerson also did with Classified Professionals at the Summer Symposium in July, giving managers another way to connect with staff.
And the icing on the cake? Well, thanks to the Merritt College President’s Office team, we had two different types of birthday cake to help President Johnson celebrate his birthday!
