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President's Updates
Skyline Shines

August 11, 2005

Welcome back!  Here are a few updates for you as you get started, beginning with plans for Monday afternoon.

Plans for Opening Day:   As you know, Opening Day begins with a district-wide gathering in the morning, and then we will reconvene back here at Skyline at 1:30 in the Main Theater.  Please join us there for the afternoon events which will include:

Some remarks from me about what I have been learning about Skyline College and what I think it means for the college in the near and longer term

• Comments from the leadership of our senates and the faculty union
• Introduction of new faculty, staff and administrators
• Faculty service awards
• Recognition of those who completed degrees during the past year
• A group photo of all of us which will be taken in the quad between Buildings 7 and 8
• Wonderful desserts, coffee and drinks back in the lobby of the Main Theater
• A faculty meeting in the Main Theater.

We will be distributing buttons that say "Ask Me!" for use during the first weeks of school to assist students to feel welcome and get help in finding their way around the college.  In your mailboxes you will find a new campus map that identifies the current parking lots and access points to the campus to assist you and to help with serving students.  It includes new information about disabled access that will be valuable.

Lori Adrian, new Vice President for Student Services:  Please join me in welcoming Lori Adrian, our new Vice President for Student Services, to Skyline College.  As I noted in a message earlier this week, she will be formally introduced in our Opening Day ceremonies, but if you are around, please feel free to stop by and introduce yourself to her.

Parking on campus:   We are all experiencing some inconvenience as a result of the construction on campus, in particular the effects on staff parking, and so I want to catch everyone up on where we stand.  I asked Doug Henry, our Swinerton Team Construction Manager, to put together an analysis regarding parking on campus.  He prepared a very detailed analysis and I’d like to share a synopsis of how it looks right now.  I must, of course, recognize that there will likely be future work that is yet to be fully planned out and which could impact these numbers.  But I offer them to you to indicate how seriously we take the parking issues for everyone. 

• First of all, as of next week, we are only 30 faculty and staff spaces and 20 student spaces short of where we stood a year ago at the beginning of Fall Semester, in spite of all the disruption.  Last Fall Semester, the campus was at an all time high for Fall/Spring Semesters with 226 faculty and staff parking spaces.  We will remain at about 200 spaces for staff parking until Spring 2007, when that number is expected to increase by as much as 50% and could exceed 250 spaces for faculty and staff throughout campus, a new all time high number.
• Second, spaces for disabled person should increase from about 40 spaces historically to over 60 spaces later this Fall, which is a 50% increase and again an all time high for the campus. 
• Finally, we expect visitor parking to remain constant from a year ago at about 40 spaces and increase by about 50% to close to 60 spaces in Spring 2007, another all time high for the campus.  

We knew we would have impacts during the various construction phases and that we would be inconveniencing faculty, staff and students alike during certain periods.  Thanks for your cooperation andpatience as we seek to improve parking on campus. Facilities staff is seeking to standardize "the look" throughout campus and they are working hard to get new signs up in all parking lots before the start of the semester. 

How to report facilities problems:  Facilities staff is working hard to get the college looking sharp for the beginning of classes.  As a reminder, here is the link to use to report facilities problems. http://www.smccd.net/accounts/facilities/maintoperation/default.html The route to that link is through the district website, and then to District Services, Maintenance & Operations, and then to Requests for Service.

Skyline administrator elected to statewide board:  Please join me in congratulating Sherri Hancock, who has just been selected as a member of the Executive Board for the California Associate of Community College Registrars and Admissions Officers (CACCRAO), for 2005-06.

Thanks to Local 617 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers:  Thanks to Michael Meals, the Business Manager of Local 617 of the IBEW and the organization for the scoreboards they donated to the college.  We value enormously the partnerships with corporations, unions, and businesses which assist us in providing the resources and support necessary for the delivery of instruction to our students. The partnership between the Skyline College Athletics Department and the I.B.E.W is a model of such collaborations. The donation of scoreboards from the I.B.E.W. to our newly renovated athletic facilities and gymnasium has contributed tremendously to their beauty and functionality. These facilities and scoreboards will serve not only to attract potential students to our institution, but will also facilitate many community activities such as high school and youth and community athletic events. Without these kind donations of resources to purchase the scoreboards, our state of the art facilities would not be complete.

I look forward to seeing you all on Monday!

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