CHANCELLOR’S C-DIRECTOctober 19, 2016

Dear Colleagues:

This week I held the final open forum session at the Colleges, with a presentation at BCC attended by faculty, staff and students. Some common topics emerged with concerning the responsiveness of the District Office (accentuated by an email from a faculty member at a different College). Topics included the need to understand the budget process better and excitement regarding our involvement with community-based organizations. Our final open forum is scheduled for the District Office on Thursday, October 20, from 3: p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and is open to all Colleges for those who did not have a chance to attend one of the others.

In general, the week was filled with activities to move us forward, and I am happy to highlight them in this edition of C-DIRECT.

Laney’s Tiny House

News came that the Laney College submission to the Tiny House Competition won first prize for architecture. The competition included entries from UC institutions, CSU institutions and some community colleges. Congratulations to the many students, faculty and staff who worked so hard to make this success happen.

Cynthia Correia sent this update as events unfolded:

Thank you all for your support. Terry the driver was able to drive and transport. We are back even if a bit wet from today’s pack up. The Laney Tiny House won 5 awards and came in second place. We excelled in Architecture, design, furniture, landscaping (Merritt Hort.) and video. All departments walked away proud.

You can read more about the Tiny House here:

http://web.peralta.edu/blog/laney-college-wins-big-in-tiny-house-competition/

Cabinet and Presidents’ Meetings Highlights

Two items of interest that arose from the meeting with the Cabinet last week are: The establishment of food banks at the Colleges and the potential to be involved in a Doctoral program with National American University. There was interest from the Cabinet for us to support the program as we have with others. At the Presidents’ meeting, we discussed the idea of providing greater flexibility for purchasing to the Colleges’ Business Directors. Budget Director Luther Aaberge and V.C. Ron Little of the Finance and Administration Office joined us for the conversation. They will implement the flexible purchasing concept with the Business Directors.

Meeting with OUSD Superintendent

Laney VPI, John Yu, and Merritt President, Marie-Elaine Burns, joined me for a conversation with OUSD Schools Superintendent Antwan Wilson. The discussion centered around the concepts of Early College High School and Middle College High School. We agreed to engage in further conversations, starting with our Colleges, to develop a unique program based on national models and local opportunities. The goal is to ensure that Oakland school

children have an opportunity to succeed at the pre-collegiate and college levels by simplifying access to college. This program fits well with the Oakland Promise project and can be a cornerstone to achieving the goal of tripling the college-going rate for Oakland students. Our individual teams of colleagues from Merritt and Laney will convene stakeholders to develop the concept, initiate a pilot, evaluate the pilot and determine the possibility for fuller implementation.

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IT UpdateSubmitted by Antoine Mehouelley, Interim Director of Technology Services

The District IT team completed the internet speed upgrade for the 860 Atlantic location, Aviation Center location and BCC 2000 Center. The 860 Atlantic location and BCC are operating on a 250 MBPS downstream and 25 MBPS upstream. The Aviation location is currently operating on 1GB throughput. NetXperts (vendor) and the IT District team have successfully implemented the technology requirements, and the first phase of the E911 Emergency Response project. 911 calls made from Berkeley City College, Merritt College, 860 Atlantic and the District Offices are now routed directly to the Public Safety Answering Point instead of the Sheriff's at the District Office. COA IT, District IT and NetXperts are initiating the College of Alameda cut over on 10/17/2016 for the network refresh; and we are expecting to complete the project by November 18, 2016. When this work has been completed, we will commence the wireless infrastructure upgrade and the VOIP Project at the colleges simultaneously. Finally, Laney IT and District IT, along with NetXperts, is conducting infrastructure assessment at Laney College. The project will begin no later than the end of October 2016. Meeting with Berkeley Schools Superintendent

Linda Gayden from Biotech Partners and I met with Berkeley Superintendent of Schools Donald Evans. The goal of the meeting was to discuss with him the Biotech Partners project and the involvement of the Peralta Colleges. Our goal is to engage the Berkeley Schools with our Colleges to promote the success of Biotech Partners students through the Peralta Colleges, especially BCC and Laney. After discussing the need with him, Mr. Evans introduced us to the important players within the Berkeley School District to aid us in further engaging the faculty. Linda and I will follow up on the ideas he shared in order to bring together Berkeley and Peralta faculty. We left his office with a good understanding of the challenges and opportunities within Berkeley Unified School District. Town Hall in West Oakland

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I joined Trustee Bonilla and Board President Riley as well as President Stanley and several other administrators to hold a town hall-style meeting at DeFremery Park. Several local elected officials were there, among them Assembly Member Tony Thurmond, City Council President Lynette McElhaney and School Board Member Jumoke Hodge. The Laney Tower newspaper staff and several other Oakland residents also came to learn about what we are doing at Peralta, and where we want to

lead the community with regard to education. Our elected officials praised the changes they have seen, and our emphasis on involvement in the community. The same theme was expressed by members of the community. I want to thank Trustee Bonilla who hosted the event, and all those from the administration who were present. Our community likes to see us and we like to hear from them.

Meeting with Gary Moncher

Dr. Moncher is the person responsible for the Patten University Campus’s assets. We have had numerous conversations with Gary over the past few months. One great interest we have is the possibility of using the Patten dorm for our students. A difficult point has been the management of the day-to-day operations of the dorm. We discussed the possibility of Patten administering the dorm and Peralta recommending students. This is a fallback position if management cannot be provided within existing related Peralta entities, such as the Foundation. Another area of collaboration is a location for the offices and classrooms to be used by WDCE, in addition to the resources available at Peralta.

Discussion on Latino Outreach – Diocese of Oakland

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I had a very invigorating meeting with colleagues from the Catholic Diocese of Oakland. Ever since my visit with Father Jay Matthews, we have continued to have, and to provide, greater access in regard to constituents served by the Oakland Cathedral. However, the visit this past week has the potential to open the doors of several churches for Peralta to recruit and encourage young people, and their parents, to consider the Peralta Colleges as a

possible college choice. I met with Hector and Cristina Hernández, thanks to the support of a Peralta retiree, Angelita Finlayson. Héctor Medina is in charge of Latino outreach for the church and sees a partnership with us as a breakthrough for the young people he supports. Christina is in charge of Social Justice for the Diocese. We are exploring some next steps and are glad to be able to work together for Peralta’s greater involvement in the Latino community.

Peter Weingarten of the Gensler Group

Peter and I discussed the possibility of his visiting BCC several months ago. Last week he joined President Tomaneng, Professor Rachel Mercy Simpson, Elñora Webb and me for a tour of BCC -- in particular, exploring what possibilities of partnership may be possible between BCC and Gensler architecture firm. Rachel Mercy Simpson shared highlights of the program with him, and we were fortunate to be allowed into some classes. Peter quickly engaged with the students, sharing with them the passion for what they do in multimedia. The administrators and Professor Rachel Mercy Simpson will follow up to determine how the two entities can work together.

Oakland Promise Advisory Committee

This advisory committee is composed of employers, elected officials, businesses (Kaiser and PG&E among others) and educators. Our twice-yearly meeting took place last week and was very well attended. Mayor Libby Schaaf and Superintendent Wilson chaired the

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meeting. There was a very good presentation that looked at the possible ways to perpetuate the Oakland Promise with proper funding to include upcoming fundraising activities. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Mills College President’s Visit

Elizabeth Hillman, new President of Mills College, paid us at PCCD a visit on Friday. She had heard me speaking at a leadership conference and knew much about what we are doing at Peralta. She is eager to collaborate with us in a variety of ways, including:

Transfer in variety of areas, including joint admissions Living accommodations for students and employees, especially to help us in the

recruitment of new employees Joint recruitment efforts Visits to Mills by faculty, staff and administrators who want to partner Presenting the community college concept to faculty and staff at Mills

The visit was very productive and President Hillman’s familiarity with Peralta made it easier. She joined Mills after serving as Provost and Academic Dean and a professor of law at UC Hastings College of the Law.

Business Director’s Meeting

I met with the Colleges’ Business Directors for the first time as a group and engaged in a productive dialog with them. One issue we discussed extensively is the new position of Director of Operations to support the facilities needs of the Colleges. The Business Directors provided valuable feedback on the position, including title and reporting structure. We spent several minutes discussing the issues of the maintenance of facilities and the responses to the maintenance requests. They pointed out to me, for example, that the engineers (including some newly hired) do not report to the Colleges, and that slows down the response time to address facilities issues. The Cabinet will discuss this issue and explore the best reporting structure to support the Colleges. The Business Directors are eager to see the efficient and effective deployment of these resources to better support the work of the Colleges.

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Chinese Youth Orchestra

Saturday night, the Great Wall Chinese Youth Orchestra and Chorus of Laney presented a fundraising activity to support the development of the youth in the orchestra. Professor Sherlyn Chew not only sang, but also led a great effort to please the audience with quality and entertaining music. It was a fun night and one that enhanced our efforts at Laney.

Leadership Academy Session

The Management Leadership Development Academy at Peralta (MLDAP) met last week as part of its ongoing work. The participants heard from several individuals who assumed leadership positions in the last six months. This ready pool of applicants has allowed us to better plan for succession and advancement from within Peralta, as well as to help us sustain our leadership and bring continuity to the Colleges and District Office. At the session, we received an update on the group’s projects. Three are moving forward; the other one has had challenges with technology, but is exploring ways to overcome the difficulties. The competence the participants have demonstrated proves this to be a group of leaders committed to transformative leadership and service to their colleagues and students. The next meeting of MLDAP to continue to advance leadership development opportunities, is December 5 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

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JowelJowel C. Laguerre, Ph.D.

Chancellor

To celebrate our win for the zero-emission house, I offer this quote:

As a state we are so uniquely positioned in so many ways. Our geography, our placement in the country, and our history positions us to be the state that propels energy efficiency as

an industry.

-Jennifer Granholm

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