Chancellor S C-Direct s1

CHANCELLOR’S C-DIRECT December 1, 2017

Dear Colleagues:

It has been a busy week at Peralta, with Cabinet, Vice Chancellors and PGC meetings all day Monday, an all-encompassing Board Retreat throughout the day on Tuesday, MALDAP convened yesterday, and so forth. I am publishing an update on some of the items discussed in these meetings in this week’s C-Direct. Next week I will publish additional updates, to include a summary of the Board Retreat Budget and Student Success presentations. In the meantime, we are looking into the numbers cited in the November 29 Matier and Ross SF Chronicle piece regarding the Administrative Center budget.

We are committed to transparency in the budget process. I promised the Board that a committee will review our budget with me and that we will revise the budget in January. PBC has an ad hoc budget group that will also be working on the Budget. Please contact the PBC leadership for the membership of that group.

PBIM WDCE Retreat: Social Justice and the Workforce, Re- imagining Diversity, Inclusion and Ethics Submitted by Debra Jones, Interim Director of Economic and Workforce Development Last month, the Workforce Development and Continuing Education (WDCE) hosted a two-day retreat, Social Justice and the Workforce: Reimagining Diversity, Inclusion and Ethics, for faculty, industry partners, and community based organizations. Peralta’s commitment to diversity, inclusion and equity strengthens our existing Mission and enhances our work to uplift individuals in our Colleges and in our community.

The first day centered on building partnerships and training opportunities with our partners. Six panels showcased best practices and current partnerships including those with EBMUD, Kaiser Permanente, Michael’s Transportation, Growth Sector, the Oakland Workforce Development Board, Chamber of Commerce, Alameda County Office of Education, Hack the Hood, Unity Council, Noah’s Bagels, and the State Chancellor’s Office. Common themes centered on the importance of essential skills (also known as soft skills and career readiness skills), wrap around services, social justice and access, and the importance of diverse partnerships.

The beginning of day two celebrated noncredit with a presentation by Dr. Carlos Cortez, formerly from Berkeley City College, and now President of the San Diego Continuing Education Center. His informative presentation earned him a standing ovation.

A highlight of Cortez’s presentation was the emphasis on designing noncredit as an option for many students, including reverse graduates or those who already have degrees, those who are changing careers, immigrants, those who require precise training, leadership skills, and those who want to explore a class with the benefits of repeatability and a mitigated risk to transcripted A-F grades. Dr. Cortez offered practical information and tools to assist the District as we develop innovative and inclusive noncredit offerings.

Dr. Walter Fluker, Director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Initiative: Development of Ethical Leadership, Boston University, and author of Ethical Leadership: The Question of Character, Civility, and Community concluded the retreat with an inspirational and challenging interactive presentation. Dr. Fluker shared his philosophy on diversity, inclusion, and belonging. Using storytelling and small group work, Dr. Fluker grounded the participants in a social justice foundation. Through the lens of social justice, the WDCE is committed to developing partnerships, training a workforce, and strengthening our students and community

The Retreat opened and closed with a quote by Chancellor Laguerre: “Let us do our best work to bring to Peralta those who may not know they are capable physically,

2 intellectually, financially and socially to be with us.” Very special thanks to Dr. Melvinia King and the WDCE Team: Dr. Debra Jones, Sui Song, PJ Shelton, Shemila Johnson (and advisors Karen Croley, Joseph Bielanski, and Annette Dambrosio) for their work to bring this opportunity to Peralta. And deep gratitude to our faculty and College participants, industry partners and community based organizations who contributed to the successful WDCE Retreat. For more information and presentation notes from the Retreat, contact Dr. Debra Jones at [email protected].

Highlights from this Week’s Board Retreat Tuesday’s day-long Governing Board Retreat covered relevant topics for PCCD. Engagement was impressive. This week, I am reporting on the PGC presentation and next week, I will report on other topics, to include the Budget Presentation.

PGC Presentation DAS President Cleavon Smith and Laney President Tammeil Gilkerson presented a summary of the Participatory Governance Council’s (PGC) recent effort to establish criteria for reviewing and evaluating any potential public/private development project for the District’s consideration. They explained that at the October 27 meeting of the PGC, the membership relied on the District’s Mission statement as the framework for determining criteria that will be developed into a rubric and forwarded to the Board of Trustees for their consideration. Presidents Smith and Gilkerson distributed the criteria that was ranked by the PGC and will be used as a basis to create the PGC rubric. In addition to grounding the PGC’s analysis in the District’s Mission statement, the PGC also sought to incorporate the District’s formal “Vision” and “Values” statements.

The PGC’s top rankings for establishing a rubric included “impact on delivery of educational services,” “enhance region and human environment--socially, economically, environmentally,” “safe, functional, satisfying work environment,” and “promotion of student focused economic and job development.” Various comments from the Trustees included the need to include “some mechanism for being engaged in respectful dialogue,” “the need to be honest when assessing proposals,” “the recognition of the feasibility of examining new proposals without threatening our educational purpose,” and the acknowledgement to “strengthen accountability” in whatever endeavors we undertake. Each of the comments will be absorbed in the PGC’s ongoing deliberations.

The presentation yielded a productive dialogue. I commend the presenters and the Trustees for their willingness to engage collaboratively in this important exercise to establish a PCCD rubric for evaluating any potential public/private land use

3 developments. PGC meets again on December 15 and the expectation is to finalize its recommendation for Board consideration.

Achieving Communication Excellence (A.C.E.) Campaign Workshop Submitted by Dr. Mary Denise Jackson

The Achieving Communication Excellence (A.C.E.) Campaign held its third workshop this semester on November 16th at the District Administrative Center entitled: Creating the Peralta Experience: Professional Development – What do you want to do about it?

Employees began the session by answering questions related to professional development, topics such as: training, resources, coaching/mentorship, career planning, the benefits of attending conferences, participating in brown bag seminars and were Peralta to establish a Professional Development Office, what functions should it employ?

The A.C.E. Workshop catered to Classified Staff, but managers were welcome to attend. Brandi Howard, Antoine Mehouelley, Louie Martirez and Carmen Fairley shared their personal experiences related to career advancement within the PCCD. Gail Pendleton, Berkeley City College’s Assessment & Orientation Coordinator and current MLDAP participant, encouraged employees to fill out the Professional Development Survey that she and Jamille Teer developed in conjunction with other members of her MLDAP team. The Workshop concluded with attendees having the opportunity to list their professional goals and their plans to achieve those goals.

The ACE campaign is being piloted at the District Administrative Center with the intention that the campaign will spread to all four Colleges. The Strategic Goals of the ACE campaign are to: create a positive and respectful work environment, establish policies and procedures that hold all employees accountable, engage in training that leads to more efficient service, participate in events that can enhance relationships with and support all coworkers that can lead to establishing meaningful Peralta traditions. For more information, send an e-mail to [email protected]. Click on the link to see photos by the Department of Public Information’s Faiza Ali: https://peraltacolleges.smugmug.com/Ace-Events/ACE-30/.

4 Annual Legislative Report

Mark MacDonald of the McCallum Group sent us its 2017 Annual Report that contains 2017 changes in budget, major bills of interest and the Board of Governors regulations. The bills of interest section is ordered by subject area so that any Executive Team can identify changes in a subject area more readily. Unless otherwise noted, all bills will take effect January 1, 2018. I have attached the 10-page Annual Report for everyone’s information.

PBIM Meetings Today

Two PBIM Committees meet today, Friday, December 1, in the District Board Room:

 District Facilities Committee (DFC) meets from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.  District Technology Committee (DTC) meets from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

We welcome any and all of you to attend these public, shared governance meetings.

Jowel Jowel C. Laguerre, Ph.D. Chancellor

Listening, not imitation, may be the sincerest form of flattery. - Dr. Joyce Brothers Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen. - Winston Churchill

The reality today is that we are all interdependent and have to co-exist on this small planet. Therefore, the only sensible and intelligent way of resolving differences and

5 clashes of interests, whether between individuals or nations, is through dialogue. - The Dalai Lama