October is the month for all things autumnal; this would normally include Lumafest, SRJC Petaluma's Open House and Educational Fair. An important part of the city's el Día de los Muertos events, Lumafest has been our chance to share what the college has to offer with the community. While we will have a year absent from Lumafest, we look forward to seeing everyone again next October.
DeEboni Noureddine has been a part of the SRJC Petaluma community working in both the Gateway to College program and general Counseling. DeEboni is strongly committed to working with historically underrepresented students, focusing on understanding the student experience to improve educational planning processes. DeEboni is a native of the Bay Area, earning her BA degree in Psychology from University of San Francisco and MA in Counseling from Saint Mary's College of California. She has worked within sectors of non-profit, private school, and community college, where she has worked to strengthen educational equity through student advocacy and program development. She embodies the ‘student first’ philosophy. She is excited to be a part of the EOPS community, in supporting its mission to go above and beyond. She looks forward to continue in helping students reach their personal and educational goals.
The OptumServe site for COVID-19 testing, hosted at the SRJC Petaluma Campus in the Physical Fitness Center, will be moving to a location in Windsor at the end of October.
The testing site was provided in partnership with the Sonoma County Health Department and OptumServe and has been operational for the last five months.
The site has conducted over 25,000 tests for our residents and the results have helped with quarantining countless COVID positive individuals helping curb the spread substantially.
The County continues to make progress in our fight against COVID and SRJC has been a vital partner in that effort. The County has expressed their gratitude to SRJC.
This month Petaluma Student Success Coach, Jacqueline Molina, is featured as she provides assistance to students far above and beyond her role. This semester marks Jacqueline's third semester as a Peer Success Coach. She is majoring in business and is planning to graduate with her Associates Degree for Transfer in Business and is planning to transfer to a four-year University in Fall 2021 to continue her education. Students look to Jacqueline for the support and understanding that she provides, and she makes sure that any student she coaches receive the resources that they need. During her time at SRJC, Jackie has been a part of the Puente first-year program where she learned the "ins and outs" of higher education. Her passion to help others has led her to work as a Peer Success Coach and she hopes to continue helping her fellow students in the future.
The Student Success Team held the “Finding Time in an Online Environment” workshop on Wednesday October 14th at 1pm. The workshop was held on Zoom and guided students on how to manage their time effectively during remote instruction, especially with the challenges of balancing work, school, and personal responsibilities.
As we enter midterms it is important for students to manage their time wisely.
The team of Peer Success Coaches is ready to meet with students and help them create time management sheets. These sheets will help students stay on top of their assignments and ensure they manage their time wisely. Please refer any students in need of assistance to the Student Success Team Zoom Room at https://santarosa-edu.zoom.us/j/7077783616.
Now and as we near the end of the semester it is important for students to keep their mental and physical health in check. Finals and end of the year assignments can be stressful and the team here at Student Success is ready to help. We can provide your students with helpful tips and workshops that will ensure they are practicing self-care. Please refer any students in need of assistance to the Student Success Team Zoom Room at https://santarosa-edu.zoom.us/j/7077783616.
In collaboration with Petaluma Outreach Coordinator Elias Carreño, the Student Success Team developed a workshop for 1st Generation students as well as new students that discussed topics such as expectations of college, resources available and how to access them, as well as how to balance the expectations of family with school expectations. One of the former Student Success Coaches who has now transferred to UC Riverside, Manuel Perez Parra, was a guest speaker and discussed his experience as a 1st Generation student once he transferred to his 4-year university.
The Career education student success team held a “Ensuring Success in Online Environment” workshop on Wednesday September 2nd. The coaches covered topics like how to access campus technology, steps on how to create an effective schedule and campus resource highlights.
In collaboration with the SRJC Internship Coordinator, Lauralyn Larsen, the Career Education Student Success Team hosted a workshop titled “Classroom to Workplace – How to Find an Internship” on September 23rd. Participants learned about the importance of having an internship, as well as the resources at SRJC that can help them find and secure an internship. This workshop is part of the CE Student Success Team’s Skills Success Series of workshops, which focus on workplace soft skills.
The Career Education Students Success Team hled the “Creating your Digital Profile & Portfolio” workshop via Zoom on Wednesday October 14th at 5pm. The CE Student Success Team covered topics to help students improve their digital profiles and teach professionalism in an online environment.
It is perhaps a little known fact that the Sonoma County Health Department approved limited in-person instruction for a handful of SRJC courses in Fall 2020. At SRJC Petaluma, two courses, Chemistry 60 and Microbiology 5, have offered limited lab-only instruction in person.
The precautions for instruction have been extensive. The class size is limited to those who could be stationed at least 6 feet apart. Students complete a health screening before each session, their temperature is taken and they scrub down with alcohol-based gel. Students wear lab coats and masks during the entire class. Take a look at the plexiglass protectors between stations shown in the SRJC Instagram post to the left.
Amy LaCasse, Disability Specialist, partnered with the JumpStart High School transition program to attend a meeting for parents from several local Petaluma High Schools. Amy shared information about the DRD’s Transition to College Program, which provides support to high school seniors with Individualized Education Plans and 504 Plans as they prepare to attend SRJC in Fall 2021. To learn more about the Transition to College program please visit our website at: https://drd.santarosa.edu/transition-college.
Please continue to refer students to the DRD with any questions or concerns they might have — we have appointments available via zoom, phone or email. Students can contact us via the Ask a Specialist Link on our website: https://drd.santarosa.edu/ask-specialist or via telephone at 707-778-2491.
Aside from working with students around classroom accommodations, DRD is available to advise students regarding campus and community resources, brainstorm strategies for success in classes, and perhaps most important of all, to be a supportive person in students’ lives during this stressful time in our world.
Best regards from the Petaluma DRD Team: Ashley Arnold, Amy LaCasse, Jennifer Ullman and Stephanie Charles
Media Services has been busy since March adapting its support model for remote services and catching up on long-planned projects. The challenges faced in the last six months required all of us to change our plans in ways we could have little imagined in February. Below is some detail of the great work that is moving forward during our COVID campus closures.
As the college shifted to remote learning in March, SRJC Petaluma Media finished a long planned major upgrade of the projector and sound system in Ellis to a new Digital 4k Cinema Laser projector. This new projector allows the Film Studies program to play encrypted films that are not yet publicly released. It is also the highest resolution Cinema projector installed in the North Bay. The new projector is tied into the room control system and will be used for all classes that use the auditorium. Thus, Ellis will be fully capable of displaying 4k content from the instructor station, allowing the presentation of materials in resolutions not previously available in the district. Make a note to experience the amazing new 4k Projector when we are back in-person.
On the Online learning support front, the Santa Rosa Campus Media team continues drop-in and scheduled Zoom training and support sessions to serve your Zoom needs and can be reached at https://media.santarosa.edu/zoom.
Media Services has also purchased additional USB webcams, Document cameras, Wireless USB headsets and USB speakers for making your classroom Zoom presentations look and sound their best. If you are interested in checking out one of these tools they are available through the IT helpdesk on both the Santa Rosa and Petaluma Campuses via the IT equipment loan page at https://it.santarosa.edu/loaner-equipment-program
Media Services has also been upgrading campus classrooms. The group has installed new screens in every classroom on campus. They also upgraded the projectors and control equipment to all-digital HD systems in the following rooms: 245, 252, 639, 643, 644, 645, 692, 695, 696, 697, 698. PC 694 has been converted from a LED display room back to a projection screen system based on faculty feedback. Mahoney library research classroom 718 has a new 98” height adjustable touch screen display for the librarians to present material in an interactive format.
The Instructional Computing team has also updated all of the classroom instructor station computers to new models with Windows 10, and has officially retired all of the Windows 7 computers in classrooms on campus.
However, the media work is not finished. In the next few months, the group will complete new A/V installations in the new Science Annex, upgrade the Digital Media Classroom presentation technology, roll out new digital signage systems and install A/V systems in the new Student Center. The new Student Center will provide some "wow factor" as it will host centerpiece AV systems.
I tried an interesting shelter in place activity back in May called Geocaching, an outdoor treasure hunting game. It's an app for the smartphone.
I decided to incorporate Geocaching into my online BAD 10 - American Business classes this semester and use the company as an example to study various different business models. Students must complete Geocaches in addition to their business model assignments.
To the left is a picture of a student after he found his first Geocache. Here are some of his quotes too, "I had previously googled "Geocaching" and I honestly was in no haste to get this assignment done. I remember thinking "How Lame" lol.........How excited I was when I seen that little box. I felt a part of an exclusive club. I AM GLAD I DID THIS AND WILL DEFINITELY BE DOING IT AGAIN!"
SRJC Petaluma Administrative Assistant Janet Stribling represented SRJC on the river in Minnesota in the amazing beauty of the fall foliage, currently in full autumnal change. Janet travelled to Minnesota to visit her daughter, and husband and two grandchildren.
To relive their past voyages and to dream of the new ones when the pandemic finally is behind us, Maria and Greg developed a new hobby - FUN WITH FLAGS. They fly flags of their favorite places in the world, causes or holidays.
A great big thank you to all who sent photos/selfies.
The Virtual Spirit Day gallery is here: https://srjcmedia.smugmug.com/Campus-Wide-Events/Pride/Spirit-Day/2020-SRJC-Virtual-Spirit-Day/
SRJC Petaluma instructor, Dr. John Stover, provided faculty insight at this year's High School Counselor conference. Below is a sample of the question and answer provided in the session.
Question:
Dr. John, have you encountered students who prefer to use the Canvas mobile app to get through the materials in class more than the web-based platform? Furthermore, using the analytics available on Canvas, have you noticed if students are working on their materials to best suit their personal/professional/working schedule?
Answer:
Many of our students do use the Canvas app on their smartphones to engage with the material and even submit assignments. The Canvas app is great in that you can set it up to notify yourself when assignments get graded and/or new material is released! Not ALL assignments can be completed on the app, though, so a computer and internet access is still a hard requirement for our students.
I can also tell you – and even without the analytical data from Canvas – that students are absolutely working on their own schedules at the times of day that best work for them during this ongoing COVID crisis. Some of our classes have hard requirements for class attendance via Zoom, but many are optional (like my own this semester), and many also are recorded so students can watch them later (again, like my own). Ultimately, I encourage my students to set a schedule and set up a home desk / study area – whatever it is – and stick to it. Having a known schedule AND dedicated space to work is really key to their success.
Now available evenings, Mondays-Thursdays, 5:00-8:00pm
To support our students who have daytime commitments in this Covid-19 remote environment (work, family, school, like so many of us!), I am now offering evening research appointments via Zoom (an addition to our daytime appts provided by all librarians.) We’ve let students know about this new availability via workshops, libguides, mySRJCapp, and social media. We invite you to encourage students to take advantage of this opportunity!
SRJC Library still has laptops, calculators, hotspots and textbooks available to loan for the semester. We offered service on Wednesday (10/14), 10:00am-4:00pm at both campuses. As always, students will be notified via library accounts, mySRJCapp, social media, and the continually updated SRJC Libraries Remote Services Guide at https://libguides.santarosa.edu/RemoteAccess.
Upcoming dates & registration: https://libraries.santarosa.edu/workshops
• Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2:00-3:00pm
• Thursday, Oct. 22, 1:00-2:00pm
• Wednesday, Nov. 4, 5:00-6:00pm
• Tuesday, Nov. 17, 10:30am-11:30am
(aka one-shots)
As always, please contact Loretta or myself if you are interested in a course-integrated workshop or other library resources, tailored to your assignment. We have been providing workshops for both synchronous and asynchronous courses (for asynchronous courses, instructors could offer the workshop for extra credit.)
In January 2020, SRJC received grant approval from the federal Economic Development Association to build a $8.1 million Construction Center on the Petaluma campus in order to train the construction workforce needed to rebuild Sonoma County. SRJC invited key stakeholders to join an advisory committee, connecting the project to industry needs. Currently, SRJC is screening bids from pre-qualified architectural firms and are planning for Board approval at the November meeting. The SRJC team supporting this project consists of Dean Brad Davis, Director Nancy Miller, Project Manager Sumita Mukherjee, Dean Victor Tam, and faculty Catherine Williams. And there is good news for one of the programs the Center will support: the revamped Solar/Photovoltaic certificate has a strong Fall 2020 launch with the Renewable Energy Industry Careers class (RENRG 101). SRJC gives thanks to faculty Robert Grandmaison for his work on curriculum and to Daisy Meyer, the college's new faculty member who will support the program.
