Los Medanos College - Inside LMC
February 2011

In This Issue
  • New Developments
  • LMC and Our Community
  • Our Amazing Students
  • Awards and Acknowledgements
  • Personnel Update

  • Greetings!

    We're already well into the new semester and our students are deep into their studies. Although money is tight, there are many things to celebrate here at LMC along with lots of exciting things happening. Don't miss out on all the news!


    New Developments

    Three Grants Just Announced

    Three new grants totaling $65,000 have been awarded to LMC Programs through our LMC Foundation!

    The Y&H Soda Foundation has awarded a $30,000 planning grant for exploration of improving the integration of our Career Technical Education Programs (CTE) with LMC Student Services. A leadership planning team, led by Dave Wahl and Consultant Randy Tillery will be meeting to identify existing gaps in the CTE/Student Services pipeline and recommending plans to complete the pipeline into a more seamless system; from outreach and orientation to job placement and tracking. We will be submitting an implementation plan to the Soda Foundation early in fall 2011 for a $170,000 grant to put this plan into action. (Leads: Kiran Kamath and Gail Newman)

    The East Bay Community Foundation (anonymous donor) is funding two programs at LMC in the fall:

    • $20,000 for the continuation of our AVID Program. AVID is a program which supports first-generation college students in reaching their transfer goals. LMC was the first post-secondary institution to pilot AVID. (Lead: Karl Debro)
    • $15,000 to support LMC's Math Path Program. Math Path is an accelerated algebra program designed to enable underprepared students to complete two prerequisite math courses in one semester. The program pairs Elementary and Intermediate Algebra with new support courses teaching problem solving and effective learning strategies. (Leads: Mara Landers and Julie von Bergen)

    Congratulations to these programs and thank you to the LMC Foundation for its support! To learn more about any of these grants, contact Ruth Goodin at rgoodin@losmedanos.edu

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    LMC Renovations - What's Next?

    Reconstruction of the College Complex keeps moving us forward to make LMC a better place!

    • March 2011: The Assessment Center and the DSP&S Testing Center are next to move in March to the "Old Math area" of the 2nd floor of the CC building.
    • Spring Break: the Office of Student Life moves to the GA building (formerly occupied by Art). This building will continue to be officially called the GA building even though Graphic Arts has joined the rest of the Art Department in the CC building.
    • Summer 2011: the entries in from Lot C by the Little Theatre and by the Planetarium will be updated.
    • January 2012: the Nursing Department's upcoming space is still on target to be occupied; Business Services will move into the space now occupied by the Assessment Center and several nearby offices; and Central Services will move to space on the 1st floor of the CC building where we now have classrooms CC 118 and CC 119.
    • Gradually: A temporary and gradual move by Student Services will locate them in the various areas around the CC building while the fabulous Welcome Center is being created (to complete in July 2013).

    CUE Initiative Moving Forward

    A multi-disciplinary group of LMC faculty and staff is excited to be making progress on a national equity initiative designed to improve student retention and transfer rates. The team has been working hard to implement an intense, research-based approach called the Equity Scorecard developed by the Center for Urban Education (CUE), based at the University of Southern California's Rossier School of Education.

    CUE's Equity Scorecard is a process that uses data, broken down by race and ethnicity, to identify campus-wide barriers to student success and pinpoint areas for improvement. Read more......

    Drama Department News

    Drama Department Chair Nick Garcia is accompanying 18 of his students to a national acting competition sponsored by The Kennedy Center and hosted by Humboldt State University the week of February 14th. Nick's brilliant students will compete against students from major theatre schools from seven surrounding states. This is a proud moment for both the students and Nick.

    In addition the fall 2010 production of Larry Shue's "The Foreigner" received the Ensemble Award from The Kennedy Center while student Cesar Reyes received a certificate of merit for his technical work as the production's stage manager. In less than two short years, Nick and his dedicated students have brought The LMC Drama Department to national significance as the Department grows and develops into a top notch acting program. Congratulations Nick and LMC Drama students.

    Setting Your Program Apart - Travel Marketing on eHow

    LMC's Travel Marketing Program is almost completely online and attracts students from all over the country and even internationally. One way our students may learn about the program is the mention the program gets on the "eHow" webpage discussing how to get started as a travel agent. Click here to see the story.

    CalWORKS and CARE Updates

    The LMC CalWORKS and CARE programs have been quite busy supporting our students in many ways. Here's an update for the 2010/11 year so far.

    LMC's CalWORKS Program
    During fall 2010:

    • 93 students enrolled in the CalWORKs program
    • Distributed backpacks & flash-drives to 70 CalWORKs students
    • Conducted a joint workshop with the LMC CARE Program on student success
    • One-on-one counseling for ALL CalWORKs recipients to assist students in achieving their academic goals
    • Increased collaboration with the County of Contra Costa department of Health and Human Services
    • Book vouchers, supply vouchers, and parking permits given to CalWORKs students · Assisted 6 families with on campus child care
    • Assisted 6 families with on campus child care
    • Coordinated on campus employment of 9 students with the CalWORKs workstudy program
    • Advocacy on behalf of CalWORKs students to the county CalWORKs offices

    During spring 2011:

    • Increase enrollment from 93 to 130 students
    • In conjunction with the LMC Employment Center - Conduct a job development workshop series including a resume writing workshop and an interview skills workshop
    • Distribute backpacks and flash - drives to new CalWORKs students

    LMC's CARE Program
    To date, for the 2010 - 2011 academic year, CARE has served 59 students and has the following highlights to share from fall 2010:

    • CARE provided $8,000 in meal tickets that were used at LMC Fresh & Natural
    • CARE students received $6,000 in educational grants
    • One (1) CARE student received childcare services at the LMC Child Study Center
    • One (1) CARE student used automotive repair services
    • 74% of CARE students attended at least one of six workshops designed to foster both personal and academic development in students

    LMC and Our Community

    Library Donation Makes Its Way Overseas

    The LMC Library donated some leftover paperbacks to a local girl scout troop lead by our very own Denise Knowles. The troop boxed them up and shipped them to four service women deployed overseas.

    In January, the troop received a great thank you from the service women. Very heartfelt and a great lesson. To view the correspondence, click here (PDF).

    Financial Donations Help Our Challenged Students Cope

    Before the holidays, the LMC Foundation received an anonymous donation of $1000 from a family that chose to give rather than exchange gifts this year. Foundation Executive Director Lindy Maynes explained, "They wanted to help out their community and LMC IS THEIR COMMUNITY."

    Following an email request for recommendations of students in need from LMC employees, 12 folks responded with stories of students needing help. Twelve students each received $100 checks (the Foundation covered the difference.) Reportedly the students were quite stunned, thankful and tearful when they received the news. Way to work together, everyone. Bravo!

    Our Amazing Students

    LMC Athletes Michelle Lopez and Chaz Vink Honored by Athletic Association

    We just received the announcement that two of last year's LMC athlete stars have received statewide acknowledgement from the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) for their great work. The CCCAA oversees intercollegiate competition at the 104 member colleges and nearly 27,000 student athletes of the CCCAA each year.

    michelle
    Michelle Lopez ( 2nd from left with her sorority sisters at transfer school, CSU Long Beach.), LMC Women's Soccer, was selected as the 2010 Scholar Female Athlete. This is the highest student achievement honor awarded annually by the CCCAA. This is the first time a student from LMC has received this award. Michelle is attending CSU Long Beach, with a major in Biology (Physiology emphasis) and a minor in Chemistry.

    chaz vink
    Chaz Vink, LMC Men's Baseball, was selected for the 2010 Scholar Athlete Men's Honor Roll with a GPA of 3.88. Chaz is currently at UC Santa Barbara and majoring in Environmental Studies.

    LMC Athletic Director Richard Villegas explained, "What a great accomplishment for both these student-athletes and Los Medanos College. Not only did we get two student-athletes recognized but to have the Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the whole state is a remarkable achievement".

    Michelle and Chaz, along with the other 2010 Honor Roll and Scholar Team award winners, will be honored at the Celebration of Scholar Athletes Luncheon at the 14th Annual CCCAA Convention on March 30th at the San Mateo Marriott Hotel, CA.

    Awards and Acknowledgements

    PTEC Program Wins Statewide Honor

    awardees
    The Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges has presented an award to Los Medanos College (LMC). The 2010-2011 Exemplary Program Award, funded this year by the Foundation for California Community Colleges, was presented at the Board of Governors meeting on Tuesday, January 11th. LMC's David Kail, Jim Martin, and Michael Norris attended the meeting and received the award on behalf of the college. Read more......

    Michael Zilber Receives Critics Choice Recognition

    Michael Zilber wears many hats and certainly keeps himself very busy in the world of jazz and jazz education. His great works are highlighted in this month's Monthly (Berkeley) - check out the article here.

    Personnel Update

    Three New Fulltime Faculty Join Our Academic Team

    We are very enthusiastic to welcome our three new fulltime faculty members who have joined us this spring. Kasey Gardner, Anthony Hailey and Matthew Stricker have all joined us in critical academic areas at LMC.

    Kasey GardnerKasey Gardner will be teaching speech and communications courses, while developing a new LMC debate team. Kasey grew up in Cayucos (in San Luis Obispo County). A community college grad, he earned his AA in Liberal Arts at Moorpark College, BA's in Political Science and Communication at Western Kentucky University, and an MA in Political Communication at the University of the Pacific. Kasey has taught at Sierra College, the University of the Pacific, University of San Francisco, and San Joaquin Delta College. He also did a stint working for Defenders of Wildlife, a national environmental non-profit.

    Kasey loves teaching and believes that "communication is the essential skill in today's globalized world. We need to be efficient and flexible in the way we share information in order to be successful. Communication is even more important when applied to advocacy and debate. We have serious challenges ahead in our society and the next generation doesn't just need to think critically, they need to speak critically too."

    Kasey continued to share his thoughts about LMC and a debate team: "My most coveted goal here at LMC is to build the best community college debate team in the United States. That team will give elite transfer and scholarship opportunities to our students and prepare them for critical thinking in life and the workplace. It is going to take a lot of time, sacrifice, and community from other faculty and staff; but I think we can win the community college national championship in parliamentary debate in the next ten years." You go, Kasey!

    Anthony HaileyAnthony Hailey is the new Chair of LMC's Administration of Justice Department. He was born and raised in New York. He earned his bachelor's degree in social science from SUNY (State University of New York), a master's degree in education administration at San Francisco State, a master's degree in criminal justice from San Jose State University, and is currently working on his doctorate in educational leadership at Walden University.

    Anthony had a twenty-year career in law enforcement in the military, New York and California. He began teaching as a training officer for new deputies and correctional officers for the criminal justice academy in San Jose. He went on to become a department chair for the criminal justice department at San Joaquin Valley College (Bakersfield), and also taught at Bakersfield Community College and ITT Technical College in Concord.

    When asked why he teaches, Anthony replied, "I really enjoy the opportunity to pass along the knowledge I have gained to others and help shape and promote a socially conscious criminal justice cadre. I get really excited when I see the light bulb light up above the head of a student who gets the concepts we are discussing in class, and yes, I really do see the bulb light up!"

    Pam Sheehan, part-time math instructor, sparked Anthony's curiousity and enthusiasm for LMC. "I told her that I was interested in teaching at a place where educators provided and/or facilitated programs that are relevant to the work place, and ones that promote life-long learning as well as assist students in reaching both their immediate and long-term goals. Where educators ensured an atmosphere of mutual respect, communication, and shared decision making with their students and fellow faculty members while providing a competent and relevant student centered curriculum along with quality instruction. A place where educators embraced diversity and individuality while maintaining order and structure benefiting both the staff and the students. She told me that my statement described LMC. When I saw the opening, I applied for it, and here I am."

    Mathew StrickerMatthew Stricker will be the new fulltime mathematics faculty member at the Brentwood Center. Matt has taught part time at Brentwood for the past 2 1/2 years. His hometown is Manteca, and he earned his B.S. in Electrical Engineering and another in Engineering Management at the University of the Pacific. He went on to earn his M.S. in Mathematics at Texas A&M University.

    Matt explains that "I was always very good at mathematics. My BS degree in electrical engineering was also math intensive. When I decided that I wanted to teach, it was only natural that I teach math."

    When asked why LMC, he remarked, "The LMC Brentwood Center is a phenomenal place to teach. The people that I work with and the atmosphere that has been created in Brentwood to help students succeed are both exceptional. I enjoy helping student from all backgrounds realize their educational goals. I look forward to working with my colleagues to help provide our students with an outstanding educational experience at LMC."

    Welcome, Welcome Back and Adieu

    A lot of changes have been going on! In addition to the new faculty mentioned above, be in the know regarding who's new, who's moved, and who's back -- here goes:

    Faculty Returning from Sabbatical

    • Nancy Whitman
    Management Changes
    • Sandy Smith, Director of Business Services
    • Terence Elliott, Interim Senior Dean of Instruction
    • Frank Ichigaya, Interim Custodial Manager

    New Classified Employees

    • Yasmine Flaggs, A&R Assistant I, Pittsburg
    • Imelda Lares, A&R Assistant I, Brentwood
    • Jacqueline Gesner, Science Lab Tech II - Physical Science

    Classified Staff Changes

    • Rikki Hall, A&R Assistant I, Brentwood to Pittsburg

    Continuing Temporary Out-of-Class Assignments

    • Ron DeKelaita, Building Maintenance Worker
    • Tennille McEwen, Lead Office Assistant, Transfer Center

    Fall 2010 Retirees

    • Erma Smith, 22 years
    • Glenn Wilson, 24 years

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