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Weekly News Brief | February 3, 2023
From the Office of Chancellor Whitney Yamamura, Ed.D.
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Congratulations on making it through the first week of the Spring Term! Welcome to students and faculty who are returning from winter break.
I hope you are finding, as I am, a different energy to the beginning of this semester. While many of our online classes and services continue, there is a stronger sense of in-person, face-to-face campus life, whether it is the Veterans Resource Centers on Coastline College's campuses, the STEM Center at Golden West College, or the Equity Center at Orange Coast College. Of course, these are a few examples of the many focal points of student engagement and support.
My appreciation to Vice Chancellor Serban and Vice Chancellor Drinkwine for representing me on campus in our first-day-of-class tradition. On Monday, I was joining a small group of advocates from the Coast District, including Trustee Parker, President Suarez, and President McGrath, in making our presence known in Sacramento. From the budget clouds to cloudy policy proposals, there is a big need to continue talking to state leaders so that our colleges are not forgotten.
To conclude, I wish everyone a wonderful Spring Term. May our new normal continue in the direction of equity, access, and success.
With gratitude,
Whitney
Whitney Yamamura, Ed.D.
Chancellor
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Report from the Board of Trustees
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On Wednesday, February 3, the Board of Trustees met and heard a presentation from President McGrath on the implementation of AB 928, the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act of 2021. A draft proposal related to implementation of the law would eliminate Lifelong Learning and Self-Development as a General Education transfer requirement, which would have a negative impact on Coast District students and faculty. The Board directed administration to prepare a resolution urging the preservation of Lifelong Learning and Self-Development as a General Education requirement, while authorizing Coast District advocates to engage with partners in opposing the draft proposal.
Vice Chancellor Serban presented a report on financial aid and loan default rates. The amount of grants awarded grew from almost $50 million in 2019-20 to over $73 million in 2021-22. Of the latter, over $30 million was from federal Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund. Few Coast District students take out loan-based aid. Among those few borrowers, loan default rates for the 2019 report year remained low because of federal loan repayment deferrals. Vice Chancellor Serban expressed appreciation for the work of financial aid staff at all three colleges. Trustees noted the work being done to combat financial aid fraud.
Trustees adjourned in the memory of Mary McChesney, Orange Coast College professor of English and Spanish from 1950 to 1983. In 2017, Professor McChesney made a $1 million contribution to establish an endowment for the Planetarium and help fund the Foucault Pendulum. Additionally, the Board adjourned in the memory of two Coastline College Hope Scholar students, Anthony Pummill and Albert Sanchez.
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College News
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Program of Special Note:
Disrupting Racism through the Lens of The ArtsIn support of diversity, equity and inclusion, Coastline College is hosting a series of collaborative events for faculty, staff and students running through June 15, 2023, the Friday before Juneteenth. All are invited to attend the remaining sessions. |
COASTLINE COLLEGE |
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Coastline College's Student Life and Leadership Office held their Welcome Week from Monday, January 30 to Friday, February 3. This is a fun and informative week to kick off the semester. For students who are interested in getting connected but are unsure of where to start, Welcome Week presents as an opportunity to engage in informational tabling, meet and greets, and student success workshops. During Welcome Week, the Student Services Center in Fountain Valley extended their hours of operation from 8:00 am – 6:00 pm, Monday – Thursday.
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GOLDEN WEST COLLEGE |
Andrea Rangno has joined Golden West College as the new Director of Public Relations and Marketing. Andrea has worked in communications and marketing in higher education for the past eight years, as a Public Information Specialist at Orange Coast College. While at OCC, she has successfully launched two award-winning publications and overseen the college's media relations, internal communications and social media strategies, in addition to coordinating many special projects within the marketing department. Prior to her time at OCC, Andrea spent nearly a decade working in magazine and newspaper publishing. Andrea has two bachelor's degrees from the University of California, Irvine in Literary Journalism and International Relations, and a master's degree from California State University, Fullerton in Communications with an emphasis in Professional Communications.
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| ORANGE COAST COLLEGE |
Painter Ann Phong presents new work in a solo exhibition on display at Orange Coast College's Frank M. Doyle Arts Pavilion from January 30 until March 23. The exhibition, titled "Ann Phong: Re-Evaluating Normal," continues the artist's exploration of global challenges that reshaped her as an individual, as well as society as a whole. Phong's new body of work focuses on the crises amplified during the past two years of the pandemic. Rendered in vibrant hues, intense impasto textures, and embedded found objects, Phong's large-scale paintings ruminate on memories of migration; the ongoing Covid 19 pandemic; contemporary social, political, and racial tensions; and the negative impact of humans on the environment. Through expressive abstraction, Phong transforms her paintings into an invitation to pause, think, and recalibrate how we co-exist. Re-Evaluating Normal prompts us to re-imagine building a better normal. The exhibition will be on view during Women's History Month in March, along with a concurrent exhibition at The Doyle: "Linida White: Four Decades of Painting from Geometry to Gesture."
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Schedule
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Chancellor, Week of March 6
Dr. Yamamura is in the District, Monday through Wednesday
Dr. Andreea Serban is Acting Chancellor, Thursday and Friday
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publicaffairs@cccd.edu
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