President's Office
December, 11, 2025
(1) Blueprint for Success Implementation Will Launch in Winter
Foothill College is moving from planning to organizing and now action on The Blueprint for Success. Implementation is occurring on all four institutional goals and their related objectives. Since Board approval of the Blueprint on October 6, identified leads for each objective have begun to normalize project management practices, establish shared approaches to timelines and milestones, and coordinate with the Offices of Instruction, Student Services, Workforce, Institutional Research, and Administrative Services on how implementation activities will be communicated, tracked, and reported across the college.
Each lead for each objective is now selecting activities, defining deliverables, choosing measures, and forming implementation teams that will align high-impact activities with the four Blueprint goals: liberating student success; transforming programs and partnerships; strengthening organizational effectiveness; and leading a transformative campus culture. This work positions the college to translate the five-year goals and objectives into concrete initiatives that will improve access and ease, retention, completion, and belonging for Foothill students and increase professional growth and satisfaction for employees.
A Blueprint for Success Launch Celebration is planned for Wednesday, Jan. 28, during the college hour, to mark this next phase of Foothill 2030 implementation and to recognize the many colleagues contributing to this work. It will be an informational session in a party format! Additional details about the program, location, and ways to get involved coming soon.
(2) Gemini No-Cost Tools Will Launch in Winter
Foothill College is piloting the statewide California Community Colleges–Google AI partnership by rolling out access to Gemini, NotebookLM, and Google AI certificates beginning Winter quarter, after thorough deliberation in our governance bodies, including the Academic Senate, Classified Senate, ASFC, and Mission Informed Planning Council (MIPC).
As a recap, the California Community Colleges and Google agreement provides a closed language model, no-cost access to Gemini for Education, NotebookLM, and Google Career Certificates. The statewide partnership, in which FHDA is one of a handful of pilot colleges, is framed as both a workforce and teaching-and-learning strategy, aiming to equip millions of students and employees with AI literacy and job-aligned credentials.
Foothill’s implementation provides appropriate privacy and FERPA protections and supports faculty, staff, and students in voluntary adoption. Governance discussions emphasize testing Gemini in teaching, learning, and services, establishing ethical and student-centered AI practices, and using Winter and Spring as initial implementations that center professional learning. If you have questions, they may be answered in this FAQ. We were asking for an expedited implementation, but ETS has hit a snag, and some network accounts must be redesigned. We are estimated to be six weeks away from launch.
(3) AI Fellows Will Launch in Winter
The AI Fellows Program will launch in Winter quarter as a cross-campus engine for ethical, innovative, and practical AI integration at Foothill.
A diverse cohort of faculty, classified professionals, administrators, and students will come together as a single learning community. The mix of instructional, non-instructional, and at-large roles is designed to ensure that AI ideas are tested not just in classrooms, but across student services, operations, and student leadership spaces.
Fellows will meet regularly to explore AI’s implications for teaching, learning, equity, privacy, data, and environmental impact, always grounded in Foothill’s mission and aligned with The Blueprint for Success. The two-quarter project is intentionally framed as an experimentation phase, where fellows help guide the pilot of Gemini, NotebookLM, and other tools, pressure-test other promising AI products, and surface real use cases and real concerns from across the college.
Some fellows will join the districtwide AI Plan/Framework Taskforce, led by Marina Aminy, where drafting ethical principles, guidelines for responsible AI use, and equity safeguards that honor both adopters and those who choose not to use AI will be central deliverables.
By the end of Spring, the fellows program will have a stronger cohort of visible AI leaders, early demonstrations of Gemini-supported teaching and services, and a clearer roadmap for scaling this work in the next year and beyond. We are opening the aperture wide with a robust Fellows Program, believing that many perspectives will result in a solid set of recommendations from fellows on how and who should guide policy, use, and ethical AI innovation in the next academic year and beyond. I want to thank the many campus leaders who nurtured and gave shape to this idea, making it stronger. I am grateful to Vannesa Santillan-Nieto, Voltaire Villanueva, and Kayla Nguyen for leading the selection process in their respective constituency groups and to Zach Cembellin and Stacy Gleixner for doing the same for administrators and guiding the team moving forward.
(4) Workforce Pell Implementation Is Coming Soon
Workforce Pell is a new federal initiative expanding Pell Grant eligibility to short-term, high-value workforce programs, allowing more students—particularly working adults and underserved learners—to gain in-demand skills that lead directly to living-wage jobs. The program is expected to launch nationally beginning in July 2026, with full implementation phases continuing through 2027.
As part of the Chancellor’s Priorities, I will be leading the district’s implementation of Workforce Pell, ensuring it aligns with the Chancellor’s Priority of Equity by Design. My implementation goals include ensuring that by 2027, 30% of eligible Workforce Pell programs are offered in the required accelerated format (8–15 weeks).
You may be asking what programs are eligible for Workforce Pell? I join you in eagerly awaiting the answer. This week, a committee of stakeholders convening in Washington, D.C., is hammering out details for how the new short-term Workforce Pell Grant will operate. If an agreement is reached, the review and feedback process will continue. Ultimately, each state determines eligibility within the final guidelines of the regulation. Governor Newsom has directed the statewide Labor Board to lead the eligibility process. Foothill and De Anza should have several eligible programs, opening access for those constrained by both time and money.
(5) Dean of Office of Equity Transitions to New Role
Dr. Ajani M. Byrd, Dean of Equity, was approved by the Peralta Community College District Board of Trustees this week to serve as the Acting Vice President of Student Services at Berkeley City College, effective January 5, 2026.
We are thrilled for Ajani and fully support him in this important professional growth opportunity. He has taken a six-month leave of absence from Foothill to serve in this interim role, and we wish him great success as he continues his equity-minded leadership in a new context.
During Ajani’s leave of absence, his responsibilities in the Office of Equity will be assumed by Dr. Laurie Scolari, Vice President of Student Services. By having a senior executive leader steward this portfolio, we are intentionally elevating equity as a cross-campus, transformational priority. This transition comes at a pivotal time: as we prepare to launch our new Blueprint for Success in January, we want to ensure that equity is truly centered in our strategy, structures, and daily practices.
We will share more updates as this work unfolds, but for now, please join me in:
– Congratulating Dr. Byrd on his acting Vice Presidency at Berkeley City College,
and
– Thanking Dr. Scolari for stepping into this expanded leadership role to ensure continuity
and momentum in our equity efforts.
Fall quarters move quickly. This one has been a doozy. I’m eager to join the festive season with my family and friends, enjoying rest and celebration in equal measure. I hope the same for you!
Yours in service,
Kristina
Dr. Kristina Whalen
President, Foothill College