President's Updates

January 12, 2005

Welcome back for the Spring semester! Here is a brief update on a few things that might be of interest to you.

What I am up to:

I am continuing my process of learning about Skyline College in a number of ways:

Getting to know you—thanks to the Classified Council for the informal chance to getto meet more of the classified staff on January 6. I will be visiting in each division.

Reviewing the college’s prior work in a number of key areas—governance, planning,budgeting, program review, curriculum, instructional innovation, student support services,  facilities issues, new building plans, and institutional effectiveness overall.

Getting to know our surrounding communities—I am joining the San Bruno Rotary Club and meeting with other local community organizations. I welcome your advice about local people that I should be sure to meet.

Opening every door—I found out what the door marked “Court” in Building 1 leads to, for example. If there are particular doors I should open, either to be thrilled or to be horrified or simply to learn something, let me know.

Planning to attend the Museum of Tolerance visit in April along with Skyline and other district-wide colleagues.

Enrollment Update: Our enrollment figures for spring look roughly level with last year. It is clear that there is additional student demand beyond what our original schedule for spring could serve. We are seeking to serve at least some of that demand within our budget constraints, and so are doing a bit of addition of sections. We are working with the divisions to identify the areas of greatest demand and appreciate your help in letting students know about the new sections. They will, of course, be posted on the web and on the Open Class Section List.

Governor’s Budget: The Governor’s Budget has been published and presents some good news and some bad news. The good news is that it involves no cuts, it provides some money for colleges to grow in terms of the numbers of students we serve and it provides some cost-of-living increase money. The really bad news is that it also shifts to the local districts the cost of STRS, a very large cost for us. In addition the budget certainly does not provide all we would like. There is still a lot to learn about the details of it and the specific implications for our district. We will be providing more information to the College Budget Committee and if you have a particular interest in the subject, you can learn more about it on these two websites:

The state Chancellor’s Office: http://www.cccco.edu/ Click on the Budget News button and/or the What’s New button.

The Community College League of California: http://www.ccleague.org/ Click on Legislation and Budget


Appreciation

Facilities and Construction: As you know from Richard Inokuchi’s regular updates to all Skyline staff, there is a good deal going on. We appreciate the enormous patience that everyone is displaying during this period of disruption and constant change. It is clear that we all have our eyes on the prize—Skyline is becoming more beautiful and more well designed with each step in the process. Thanks to Richard for those clear and detailed updates, to the 20 professionals on the Facilities Team, and to Doug Henry and Jose Nunez for their diligent efforts to keep all of our projects on track and on time and to minimize the disruption to the campus. If you have an issue or a question, please be sure to let us know.

Tsunami Relief: It is likely that members of our staff and our student body have family or friends who have been directly affected by the tsunami. We are thinking about ways in which we might want to respond. If you have ideas, please let me know.

Events coming up—

Victoria P. Morrow, Ph.D.
President, Skyline College
650-738-4111
morrowv@smccd.net
3300 College Drive
San Bruno, CA 94066