Good morning, Merritt Community.

I am writing with great news to share! I am pleased to announce that Mr. Jorge Murillo is our new Director of Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program (HSI Director). Now that he has had a few days to settle in, I encourage you to reach out and/or stop by his office to give him a warm Merritt College welcome! We are working with the District to create his email address, but in the meantime, he can be reached at aspira.merritt@peralta.edu. His office is R-113G.

Merritt College Safety Day

On Thursday, September 7 Merritt held its inaugural Safety Day. The event provided faculty, classified staff members, and administrators with the opportunity to share their concerns and suggestions related to public safety.

Fall/Spring is Free at Laney College: More Students Enrolled, Stayed through the Semester, and Re-enrolled in 2022-2023!

Laney College experienced a strong enrollment rebound in 2022-2023, during the Fall is Free and Spring is Free semesters. Fall to spring student persistence numbers -or continuation into the next semester- during these two terms was higher than it was during COVID and is heading back toward pre-COVID averages. In real numbers, 901 more students persisted from term to term in the “Free” year than in the year before, an increase of nearly 1%.

CoA Kicks Off Fall Semester with a Series of Robust Flex Day Activities Focusing on Future Shaping

The CoA Staff Development Committee, led by Chair Drew Burgess, planned a series of forward-looking Flex Day activities focusing on the topic of Future Shaping, and themes of hope and team building. The innovative series of workshops took place on August 18, 2023. Flex Day was offered in a Hy-Flex format with many participating in-person as well as online via Zoom.

Welcome Week Opens BCC’s Fall 2023 Semester

Berkeley City College kicked off the first week of the Fall Semester with Welcome Week activities to help students feel at home. Activities included free coffee and pastries on Monday, a very popular Boba Tuesday, a campus resource fair where students met with a host of student services and pizza on Wednesday, and a Latinx Bienvenida event with music and burritos on Thursday organized by Conocimiento Los Caminos HSI grant and the Undocumented Community Resource Center.

Fall is Free in 2023 and the semester kicked off on August 21, 2023. Welcome Week at the Peralta Colleges marks the beginning of a fresh adventure for both new and returning students.  Each College was bustling with events tailored to welcome incoming students into our tight-knit community. From Ice Cream Socials at Merritt to Pancakes with the President at COA, and from the Campus Resource Fair at BCC to a Block Party at Laney,  it is safe to say that Welcome Week was a great success!

Welcome (and welcome back!) to the Fall 2023 semester! We hope you all had a great fun-filled summer. In addition to celebrating the start of a new academic year, Peralta TV is also celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month with a selection of programming that includes documentaries focused on fine, digital, and culinary arts and more!

The Peralta Community College District held its Fall District-wide Flex Day on Thursday, August 17, 2023. The day was dedicated to professional development for faculty and staff, with a focus on equity and inclusion, as we prepare for the August 21st, 2023, start of the Fall 2023 semester.

Dear Peralta Community,

Parking Permit Process for Fall Semester

For the fall semester, we are reinstating parking permits at College of Alameda, Laney College, and Merritt College. We will be using a temporary system as we look to implement a new district parking enforcement program for spring. During the fall semester, there is no fee for parking, and we will not be ticketing.

At Berkeley City College, there is not a PCCD-owned lot available. Employees should check with the BCC business office for parking information.

We are excited to have begun the Fall 2023 semester at our four Peralta colleges. Congratulations are in order for students taking their first steps in reaching their education and career goals.