November 2015
Educational Master Plan Open Forum: November 11

Faculty, staff, and students are invited to attend an Educational Master Plan (EMP) open forum on Wednesday, November 11 at 11 am in the President's Conference Room. The college's proposed goals and objectives will be discussed and a revised mission statement will be presented for discussion.

Brown is the new green at Foothill College

Foothill College continues to take action to ensure that we meet critical water conservation demands during California's record drought. Our campus achieved a 21.3-percent decrease in water usage-equal to more than 5 million gallons-last year (the 21.3-percent decrease referenced above applies to water usage in 2014 compared to 2013.).

Additionally, Foothill was recently named a recipient of a 2015 Silicon Valley Water Conservation Award for its innovative instruction and conservation projects, which were made possible with funding from the Schmidt Family Foundation and 11th Hour Project. Learn more about the college's conservation and sustainability efforts by reading our recently released sustainability management plan. For more water conservation tips, visit SaveOurWater.com.
 
Planning and Resource Council (PaRC) Update

Below is a summary of the action and information items from the most recent Planning and Resource Council (PaRC) meetings. For complete minutes and first-reads, please visit the PaRC website.

PaRC SCHEDULING UPDATE
Members voted to add two-three pre-planned additional meetings (one per term) to allow for substantive discussion of relevant issues. The PaRC tri-chairs will meet with look at the PaRC calendar for the 2015-2016 academic year and determine the best timing for the additional meetings.
 
NEW PROGRAM CREATION PROPOSALS
 The Fire Science Certificate and Dental Hygiene Bachelors Degree program creation proposals were approved by consensus.
 
EDUCATIONAL MASTER PLAN (EMP) UPDATES (2nd Read for Approval)
Elaine Kuo presented the proposed EMP Goals + Objectives and  requested PaRC conditional approval for the working list can be taken to PaRC's EMP Steering Committee for further discussion - the final version would then be presented to PaRC at the November 04 meeting as an information item.
 
The first proposal from the EMP summer committee was the consideration of the term "targeted student groups" and whether the College would like to adopt or move forward with new terminology. Use of the terminology "disproportionate impact" was approved by consensus.
 
IP&B RECOMMENDATIONS
The first proposal from IP&B was the Out-of-Cycle Hiring / Prioritization Procedure. Based on earlier feedback, a step was added to specify that feedback/support from the rest of the Division should be included in the process. It was noted that the Dean would still forward the request (whether it receives a Y or N) to the area Vice President.
 
The annual and comprehensive program review templates were presented for approval. The final templates will be in WORD format, but have individual fields, allowing users to enter their data/narrative (the fields with automatically expand / page break, if needed). The templates were approved by consensus.
 
RESOURCE REQUESTS SPREADSHEET
Bernata Slater presented an overview of the resource requests (approved by the College President). She noted that OPC received approximately 100 requests - of those, 50 were ranked high (by the area Vice President). These requests also exclude any faculty/staff hiring requests.

VIRTUAL DESKTOP ENVIRONMENT
ETS' Sharon Luciw gave an update on the district's virtual desktop environment implementation. More information about the project may be found on the ETS website. A conversation took place to ensure that all students will have access to the virtual environment.

CORE MISSION WORKGROUP OBJECTIVES
Each of the five core mission workgroups (Basic Skills, Workforce, Transfer, Student Equity, and OPC) presented their objectives for the year.

ASSESSMENT TASKFORCE
Members of the taskforce discussed using multiple measures to assess students' placement. A pilot project will take place with the English Department. Conversations with De Anza College have taken place to begin discussing the statewide common assessment project.  
Show your support for Foothill College with #GivingTuesday

This year the Foothill-De Anza Foundation is participating in #GivingTuesday on December 1. #GivingTuesday is a global day dedicated to giving back. It follows Black Friday and Cyber Monday and instead of promoting consumerism is focused on philanthropy. The Foundation is hopeful that partnering with this global movement will increase awareness and support of our students.

You can help by sharing the #GivingTuesday page on your personal social media accounts and letting your family friends know why you think Foothill is great. Employees may also consider supporting Foothill by giving a monetary gift. Donations start at $10.

For more details, visit the Foundation webpage and click on the Giving Tuesday banner.


Foothill College student selected to participate in NASA Aerospace Scholars Project

Foothill College student Anna Cabot has been selected to travel to NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center this fall to participate in the NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars project (NCAS). Cabot has been selected as one of 160 community college students from across the U.S. to be part of NCAS.

The five-week scholars program culminates with a four-day on-site event at Armstrong Flight Research Center and offers students the opportunity to interact with NASA engineers and others as they learn more about careers in science and engineering. While at NASA, students form teams and establish fictional companies interested in Mars exploration.

NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars is a project funded in part by the Minority University Research and Education Program, or MUREP, which is committed to the recruitment of underrepresented and underserved students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) to sustain a diverse workforce.


Foothill stages Shakespeare's Cymbeline, November 6-22

 The Foothill College Theatre Arts Department presents Cymbeline, one of Shakespeare's most endearing romances, November 6-22 in the Lohman Theatre. Tickets to all Thursday performances are $10.

From disguises to mistaken identities, and deceit to treachery, the play tells the tale of Cymbeline, the King of Britain, who has betrothed his only daughter, Imogen, to his new wife's son, a thoroughly undesirable specimen of clueless arrogance. But headstrong Imogen secretly marries Posthumous, her true love. Upon discovering Imogen's deception, Posthumous is banished from Britain. He then lands in Rome, the seat of the empire, where their love is tested through a series of fantastical schemes, challenges and surprising twists.

Tickets are $20, general; $15, students, seniors and Foothill-De Anza employees; and $10, students with OwlCard and Foothill College employees (in-person purchase only). To purchase tickets, visit foothill.edu/theatre/tickets.  

Purchase tamales for the holidays and support student scholarships

O.L.A. is once again hosting its tamale fundraiser to raise money in support of student scholarships. The tamales are $20 per dozen and are filled with cheese/jalapeno, chicken, beef, or pork. Orders are due no later than Monday, November 16. To order, please fill out the online order form.
 
O.L.A. is a professional organization which aims to foster the academic success of Foothill College students of Latino decent through community building, advocacy, and the facilitation of support services. In addition, O.L.A. promotes awareness of the diverse Latino culture and heritage.

November is Native American Heritage Month

November is Native American History Month and Foothill College is celebrating with a series of events. Join ASFC on Wednesday, November 4 in the Campus Center Dining Room for opening ceremonies, followed by a lecture with Rochelle Diver of the
Fond Du Lac Tribe on Thursday, November 5 at 12 noon in the Hearthside Room. Medicine Road, the Bay Area's own Native American rock group, will perform in the
Campus Center Plaza on Wednesday, November 25
from 12 noon - 1 p.m. 

Students encouraged to relax before the holiday season at Stress Less Fest

The Financial Aid office is encouraging students to pamper themselves before the holidays at the Stress Less Fest on Monday, November 23 from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. in the Campus Center Dining Room. Complimentary refreshments, chair massages, entertainment, and therapy dogs will help take their minds off the hustle and bustle of the season. In addition, Financial Aid experts will help students plan for the winter quarter with money-saving holiday tips!
Foothill College faculty, staff, and students in the news

Foothill College volleyball player Riana Brennan (sophomore) was named the September 2015 Female Athlete of the month by the California Community College Athletic Association. Brennan, an All- American and All-State selection as a freshman, tallied 222 kills, 123 digs, 18 aces, and nine blocks across 42 sets. She averaged 5.3 kills and 2.9 digs per set on the month. Brennan is currently third in the entire CCCAA in kills per set, and third in total kills. She's also 15th in the CCCAA in kill percetage, recording a kill at a .326 clip.

Astronomy professor Dr. Andrew Fraknoi had his first story published last month in an anthology entitled Building Red: Mission Mars, edited by Janet Cannon. The story, "The Cave in Arsia Mons," involves a cave on the side of a real volcano on Mars where a Mars colonist finds ancient paintings from an alien civilization.  . 
 

Contact:
The Foothill College Fusion staff newsletter is published the first Thursday of each month. Have something you would like to share with the Foothill College community? Email Andrea Hanstein, Director of Marketing and Public Relations.


©