WOW! Women on Writing Conference 2005                                                                       

Building on the success of WOW! 2003 & 2004 and again celebrating International Women’s Day, Saturday March 5, 2005, this one-day conference will bring together faculty, staff, students and community members with culturally diverse writers and artists who will introduce new ideas and pedagogies associated with women’s studies curriculum in colleges and universities. The program will include ZZ Packer as the keynote speaker, morning workshops for both writers and readers, a reading by Skyline Talisman Magazine student authors, and afternoon workshops.  A reception in the Gallery Theatre will feature an exhibit of Skyline College Faculty members.  WOW! will raise awareness of Skyline course offerings, services and programs for women while highlighting the talents of Skyline students and faculty in literature and art.  This is the third and final year of support from the President’s Innovation Fund.

Permanent Collection of Skyline Student Artwork                                                           

Through the purchase and display of Skyline student artwork selected from the annual juried student exhibition, the visual experience of the entire campus community will be enriched.  Construction of new buildings on campus will begin next fall, and particularly the new Community Conference Center will be a site for display of the permanent collection.  The permanent art collection is a legacy for the art department, the social science/creative arts division, the entire Skyline family and the surrounding community.  This is the third and final year of support from the President’s Innovation Fund. 

Skyline Stars                                                                                                                                   

Develop a Transfer Student Hall of Fame, which will contain photos, brief bios and words of wisdom from successful transfer students and provide inspiration to current and prospective Skyline College students.  The “Hall of Fame” will highlight the success of Skyline College students, many who have overcome significant life challenges, are from economically and educationally disadvantaged backgrounds and are the first in their families to go to college.  The “Hall of Fame” will first be put on the college website, and will be a powerful public relations tool for the college.

Founder's Learning Grove of Trees                                                                       

Establish a permanent community of mature trees that would serve as a demonstration laboratory for the college’s students.  The Grove will be designed using native plants so that maintenance will be minimal after the initial planting process.  The site will be located on a portion of the campus that will not undergo construction, yet is close enough for a lab class to easily walk to.  Planning will occur in summer/fall 2004 and planting will occur the following winter.  Dedication will be held in spring in conjunction with the colleges 35th year anniversary activities.

Thirty-fifth Anniversary of Skyline College                                                                       

The College Council was awarded “seed money” to create an appropriate educational or learning opportunity for the college family and the community at large in commemoration of the college’s 35th anniversary.

Learning Communities:  Learning communities are powerful ways to deliver instruction that have been shown to significantly raise student success by helping students integrate their knowledge, making success in one cluster of classes more likely to lead to success in others.  A variety of approaches are used to build these learning communities, with intention to restructure the student’s learning experiences to build community among students, between students and their teachers, and among faculty members and disciplines. 

Common Ground:  Bridging Community and Ideas                                                             

The mission of Common Ground: Bridging Community and Ideas is to offer the community the opportunity to come together, inform, discuss and educate each other not only about local issues, but also about national and global concerns.  Every community that has meaning to its members provides some common ground where they can meet to express their shared values and resolve some of their differences.

• Fall 2004 – An Evening with Hank Plante – An Insider’s View.  Hank Plante, a political analyst with KPIX-5, will address the issues in the upcoming November election.  An interactive exhibition in the Gallery Theatres will introduce an unbiased view of the issues of the election.

• Spring 2005 – An Evening with Michael Krasny, Forum, NPR radio.  Post-election analysis.

Kababayan Program – Mentorship and Community Support                                   

Kababayan is a new transfer and support program with the goal of increasing proficiency in English skills in college, work and life.  Kababayan focuses on the Filipino/Filipino-American student experience. 

• Establish a mentoring component linked to English classes

• Establish community support for the program.

• Link mentoring and community support to the instructional components

• Explore the feasibility of adding classes to the program.

• Enable program participants to travel to neighboring colleges.

“Brothers”                                                                                                  

 Brothers” will be a 56 minute documentary supplementing the Interpersonal Communication (Speech 120) course.  Brothers will explore the interpersonal dynamics of brothers and how they influence society.  Four sets of brothers at different stages of life will be interviewed.  Tentative subjects include:  a set of brothers over 60 years of age, a set of brothers where marriage is in the equation, pre-marriage, and early teens or children.

Instrumental goals of the project:

• Produce a quality documentary to complement Speech 120 curriculum as well as other disciplines

• Utilize technology to enhance student classroom experience

• Through the use of narrative, invite students to participate in a learning environment that is broader than a conventional college textbook.

• Serve as a pilot project to encourage faculty to launch similar efforts in the utilization of technology to supplement their curriculum.

Film Festival presented by the Museum of Tolerance (MOT) Alumni Group        

The one-day film festival will present two films (Daughter from Danang and Discovering Dominga) and feature the filmmaker/cinematographer Vicente Franco, who will provide insight and a personal perspective about the films.  The date for the event is Wednesday, February 9, 2005.  The festival will consist of an afternoon showing of 2 films, followed by a question/answer with the filmmaker.  Refreshments will be available.

The selected films reflect the mission of the MOT:

Individually, MOT Alumni at Skyline College aim to foster tolerance by demonstrating model qualities, celebrating diversity, and speaking out when hearing or seeing examples of intolerance.

Collectively, MOT Alumni aim to foster tolerance by endorsing activities that celebrate diversity, and by cultivating other related educational endeavors.