The first-ever Peralta Charrette was a huge success. We really appreciate the approximately 200 community members who participated for taking the time to register, attend, and share their thoughts and concerns as the Peralta Community College District (PCCD) works on our five-year strategic plan and the Peralta Colleges – Berkeley City College, College of Alameda, Laney College, and Merritt College – work on their educational master plans.

OAKLAND, Calif., November 16, 2022 – Course registration fees are being waived for the Spring 2023 semester at all four of the colleges within the Peralta Community College District (PCCD) in the East Bay: Berkeley City College, College of Alameda, Laney College, and Merritt College. The fee waiver is available to all California residents – documented and undocumented – who complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). There is no minimum course credit requirement.

Peralta Hosts First-Ever Charrette Community Forum

The Peralta Community College District (PCCD) held its first-ever Peralta Charette at Laney College on Thursday, November 10. The Charrette was a community forum where PCCD and the four colleges: Berkeley City College, College of Alameda, Laney College, and Merritt College, solicited input from students, faculty, classified professionals, and community partners in helping to shape PCCD’s strategic master plan and the colleges’ educational master plans for the next five years.

Berkeley City College’s ESOL Department Co-Chair Gabriel Winer was recently recognized for their work in implementing AB 705 to serve our ESOL students in an article published by the California Acceleration Project. The article focused on Winer’s success in creating a transfer-level English class using Socratic seminars to help students learn and practice the rhetorical moves, language, and norms of academic discussions. The class prepares students with practicing speaking and presenting in class with techniques that demystify class discussion language patterns and framing sentences to help structure and word their thoughts. “I am so grateful to work at BCC and to have the opportunity to participate in this work,” said Winer.

Berkeley City College’s “BCC in the Community” is about meeting students where they are. We visited student Carla Appleberry at her dance studio, Creations Berkeley. Appleberry is a Berkeley native and returning student to BCC who was inspired to enroll in BCC’s Multimedia Arts program to support her 8-year-old daughter in creating professional social media videos and promoting her business. “I took the class and I really figured it out. Love my classmates, love the program, and now I want to get the AA in multimedia and transfer to Berkeley for my master's,” said Appleberry. “I’m here to fulfill my dreams and move forward and bring the community along with me.” Appleberry is expecting to graduate from BCC in Fall 2023 or Spring 2024.

On Wednesday, October 12, the Berkeley City College library hosted an exhibition of artwork featuring book jackets created by students in the Beginning and Intermediate Figure Drawing class. Students used free books provided by the library and gave them their own flare, drawing from inspiration for projects they may want to create in the future. Molly Anderson used the opportunity to create a cover for Vaulted Sky, a graphic novel they have been working on and hope to publish one day.

Sixteen BCC team members, including classified professionals, faculty, administrators, and scholar leaders, attended the annual HACU (Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities) conference in San Diego, CA. The theme of the conference was “Championing Hispanic Higher Education Success: Rebuilding a More Resilient and Inclusive America”. Aligned with the mission of our Title V DHSI grant, Conocimiento Los Caminos (CLC), the team engaged in a series of workshops centering strategies and frameworks for transforming our institution to more intentionally serve our Latina, Latino, Latinx, and low-income scholars.

Equity and Inclusion Center of Undocumented Student Week of Action Activities at BCC

Berkeley City College celebrated Undocumented Student Week of Action beginning Monday, October 17. This year’s theme is Juntos Podemos (Together, We Can): Collaborative Ecosystems that Support Undocumented Students, which recognizes that we must be intentional about integrating undocumented student success throughout equity initiatives. It serves as a reminder that BCC must collectively engage in this critical work not just during Action Week, but every day of the year.

On September 28, representatives from Upward Scholars delivered a cart full of laptops to be given to 53 BCC students in the adult education program.