Dear CCSF Community,
I hope this note finds you feeling refreshed and ready for another great week at City College. I’d like to officially welcome back to campus our faculty and students in the Registered Nursing program, the latest cohort in our Allied Health program to return to campus. And in-person registration for our noncredit and ESL students will be offered two days a week through the end of the month at our Chinatown/North Beach and Mission Centers.
Today marks the start of Undocumented Student Action Week, a California Community College-wide event meant to raise awareness about the services available to – and the needs of – our undocumented student community. Through the City DREAM Center, Puente Program, and the immigrant law center, CCSF provides a wide range of support to our undocumented and immigrant students. I encourage all faculty, staff, and administrators to take a look at the different webinars being offered to learn how each of us can be important resources for these students.
I would also like to recognize the CCSF faculty team who last week took home the top prize in the second annual “Pitch for the Trades” competition, an event held by the NACCE (National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship) that brings together community college faculty from across the country to pitch their innovative visions for skilled trades. For placing first, City College has been awarded $32,000 to develop an interdisciplinary, collaborative, “next-gen” trade program that will help bridge the widening income and skills gap in San Francisco.
Our College was represented by a five-person team of faculty and an employment specialist, including Arcadia Maximo, Maura Devlin-Clancy, Vivian Faustino-Pulliam, Nick Rothman, and Melissa McPeters. The team presented a plan to leverage the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI), MakerSPHERE, and the Office of Workforce Development to develop innovative educational pathways for students with the goal of equipping them with critical entrepreneurial skills while applying the “ideate-to-create” learning framework. Please join me in congratulating our incredible team of faculty and classified staff for this achievement!
I’d also like to congratulate CCSF student James L. Clark, who is studying in the Broadcast Electric Media Arts (BEMA) Department, for being awarded the Shelly Fay Memorial Videography Scholarship by the National Academy of Television, Arts, & Sciences for his beautiful underwater video. His great success highlights the excellent support and guidance provided by Department Chair Sheila McFarland and all in our BEMA Department.
And finally, today is the last day to register online to vote in San Francisco. Visit the San Francisco Department of Elections website to register to vote, check your registration status, and to make your voting plan.
Thanks to all of you for continuing to serve as leaders in your fields, and for providing the education and support to help our students continually reach new heights.
Yours sincerely,
Rajen Vurdien, Ph.D.
Interim Chancellor