Berkeley City College President Angélica Garcia kicked off the first of her campus community check-ins in her “Cafécito “Zoom, on Thursday, August 27, 2020. Faculty, staff, and students joined the President in this question and answer session focused on BCC updates and what to expect for the 2020 – 2021 academic year. Some of the questions from the event centered on getting to know President Garcia and the goals of the college. Some of the highlighted questions:
Peralta TV, which celebrated its 40th Anniversary earlier this year (see Peralta Gems #9), continues to broadcast educational and Peralta community content 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Peralta TV is available on Comcast (Channel 27 in Alameda and Berkeley, and Channel 28 in Oakland, Emeryville and Piedmont) and on AT&T U-Verse (Channel 99). Here are some upcoming program highlights in September.
The Fall 2020 semester has begun at all four Peralta Colleges and we are excited to welcome students to classes again. Online learning can be challenging but there are many resources available for students from each of the colleges.
Student Services
Each college offers a wide variety of student services.
Here are links to each campus's student resources:
Berkeley City College
College of Alameda
Laney College
Merritt College
Welcome students and educators to the Fall 2020 Semester at the Peralta Community College District!
On August 20, 2020, Acting Chancellor Dr. Carla Walter introduced the first of three Budget Webinars to help the Peralta Community learn more about the budgeting process for California Community Colleges in general and specifically for the Peralta Community College District.
The four Peralta Colleges are as wonderfully diverse as the communities they serve.
Please use the following links to view Peralta Gems in another language:
Season Five of the Netflix series Last Chance U. debuted on July 28, 2020 and features coverage of Head Football Coach John Beam and the Laney College Eagles Football team over the course of the Fall 2019 season. The series has received positive reviews and in a way has turned Coach Beam and student-athletes Dior Walker-Scott, RJ Stern, Nu'u Taugavau, and Rejzohn Wright into celebrities. Have you watched the series yet?
The free food giveaway programs at the Peralta Colleges we first announced in May and which now include all four colleges are certainly good news for students and the community. And now the program is in the news! Maaziq Madyun, a reporter for KRON TV Channel 4 recently stopped by the College of Alameda and filmed the following story, "East Bay grab-and-go lunch program helps fight food insecurity during pandemic," which was broadcast across the Bay area. The story is also available online here: https://gems.peralta.edu/all-four-colleges-now-offering-free-meals
At their regular meeting on July 28, 2020, the Board of Trustees confirmed the appointment of Dr. Carla Walter as Acting Chancellor of the Peralta Community College District until an Interim Chancellor is hired. Dr. Walter, previously the Vice Chancellor of Finance and Administration at the District, assumed the role of Acting Chancellor on July 18, 2020 per the Board Policy on Chancellor succession.
We here in the Peralta community welcome Dr. Rudy Besikof as Laney College’s Interim President. He has been at the college since 2018, when he was hired as its Vice President of Instruction, the same position he previously held at Mt. San Jacinto College for more than two years prior to joining Laney. Prior to becoming a Chief Instructional Officer in 2016, he served for five years as a dean, first at Woodland Community College as its Dean of Instruction and Learning Resources, and later at Los Angeles Valley College as a Dean of Academic Affairs. Prior to becoming an administrator in 2011, Dr. Besikof taught English and English as a Second/Foreign Language in two and four-year colleges not only in California, but also in Colorado, Japan, and France.
