January 10, 2024
Dear SRJC Community,

I am pleased to share with you the District updates that were provided to the Board of Trustees at the January meeting last night. 

As a reminder, you will receive these updates from me following the monthly Board of Trustees meeting to celebrate the accomplishments and successes of our colleagues across the District for the previous month. These updates are a chance for you to learn more about the excellent programs, services, initiatives, events, and work we undertake in support of our students. You will find all District Monthly Updates on our News site at https://news.santarosa.edu/. 

• Participated on the Department of Education Round Table: Convening on Access to Contraception for College Students - readout here. SRJC was the only community college highlighted. The panel was introduced by Secretary of Education Cardona and welcomed by Vice President Kamala Harris.
• Second Chance Program Juvenile Hall Graduation: The 2nd SRJC graduate from this program, who is ready to continue his studies and live in Polly Hall beginning Spring 2024.  
• Basic Police Academy 212 Graduation: Female cadets comprised 34% of the class when the national average is usually 12%; by a margin of .07%, SRJC class is 2nd in the state out of 42 programs. Cadets were from 5 different counties and 14 different agencies.   
• Fall Sports Banquet- Just over 500 Student Scholars are full-time enrolled students with an average of 15 units. High numbers of students have received scholarships to continue as student scholars and they will begin to commit in the next few weeks. 8 of 12 teams advanced to the championship tournament with the Women’s soccer team losing in the 3rd round and the men’s team making it to the Final 4 and one player earning 1st Team All-American and ranked #11 in the country.   
• La Posada- Almost 300 participants attended the MEChA led event with community-based art with Raíces Collective, a Santa Rosa High School vocalist, an atole contest, and children’s face painting booth.    
• Meeting with Hannah Center leadership team in Sonoma- discussing possible partnerships for dual enrollment, lifelong learning, and serving the eastern parts of Sonoma County.   
• Events attended include: 
  • Toured Hanna Center Vocational Programs 
  • Drag Ball 
  • Joint Cabinet meeting with Sonoma State University 
  • Holiday Receptions in Petaluma and Santa Rosa 
  • Insights on Petaluma’s Next Police Chief 
  • Classified Senate Cookie Exchange and Secret Pal reveal 
  • 104 Fire Academy Graduation 
• Office of Marketing & Communications 
  • We are excited to launch the Rosco Design Contest to all members of the community. You can find information about the mascot characteristics, recommendations, submission process, and more here: https://marcom.santarosa.edu/rosco-design-submissions. All design entries must be submitted electronically by completing the Mascot Design Contest form found at https://santarosajuniorcollege.formstack.com/forms/mascot by Friday, January 26th. 

• A.C. Panella, Petaluma Campus Communication Studies faculty successfully led a group of SRJC students on a semester-long Study Abroad trip to Barcelona, Spain.  
• During spring 2024, Kirsten Swinstrom will be leading SRJC students on a semester-long Study Abroad trip to Florence, Italy. 
• DRD Updated their Mission Statement to: The Disability Resources Department cultivates an accessible and inclusive community and is committed to creating an accessible and inclusive college experience for disabled students. We collaborate with students to provide accommodations and services for their academic goals. We are dedicated to supporting disabled students and value their lived experiences and intersectional identities.  Through collaboration and advocacy, we work with our campus communities to remove barriers, implement Universal Design for Learning principles, and fully realize the District’s mission and vision for an accessible, equitable, and inclusive college.  We believe that universally accessible educational environments benefit all those at the college. 

• Survey Research (creation and management of surveys)  
  • Shared Governance Survey Results - Presented at College Council   
  • Support the improvement of our retention and enrollment efforts by conducting four projects to identify and recommend enrollment motivation strategies, engaging students who did successfully complete a course, and identify student course selection needs.    
• Mandated state and federal external data submissions (IPEDS, Student Success Metrics, and various other federal and state requests)   
  • Vision Aligned Reporting Meeting 
• Provided consultation and guidance on the following projects:   
  • Provided guidance FTEF Model, SEA Program Coordination, AB1705Research Team   
  • Student Outreach   
  • Petaluma Pilot Program – Madiba  
  • Attended EOPS CARE & Foster Youth Services Advisory Committee Meeting  
• Support for Planning 
  • Finalized PRPP workplan  
  • Presented Student Equity Plan data to PBC and at the November BOT meeting  
  • PBC Training on institutional planning 

• The Rising Scholars Program celebrated a graduation at Sonoma County Juvenile Hall on December 6, 2023. This was the second student who graduated from SRJC while in Juvenile Hall. It was a result of the hard work of the student and the successful collaboration between SRJC and Sonoma County Probation Department. This success story is inspiring to other justice impacted youth and reflects the mission of the Rising Scholars Program. 
• Petaluma Student Services hosted City College of SF Queer Resource Center colleagues to collaborate on best practices,
• Petaluma Student Engagement & Success Teams hosted 4 finals prep and wellness events. 
• Petaluma set the date for We the Future Social Justice Conference as April 12, 2024. The conference will continue to be held in subsequent years on the second Friday in April. 
• The Student Outreach Team conducted a successful Registration Workshop on Dec. 7th in the early morning hours of Priority 6 registration, 7:00am to 9:00am via zoom. 70+ students from various high schools were assisted with help in registering for spring 2024 classes.  
• SRJC Roseland celebrated its annual Holiday Reception on December 1. It provided an opportunity to show appreciation for all the work behind the scenes to ensure students feel welcome, valued, and understood. 
• SRJC Roseland Spring 2024 Priority 3 registration started on December 1, followed by Open Registration on Friday, December 8. The Student Services Office team did a fantastic job enrolling students successfully in noncredit and credit classes for a total of 589 students enrolled in one week. 

• The Classification Study Internal Review Group is reviewing the 50+ appeals that have been submitted by Classified Professionals. When the appeals are reviewed and completed, and all job descriptions are finalized, the implementation of the study will be negotiated by SEIU and the District.
• The second cohort of SRJC’s Courageous Leaders Academy is well underway. Participants are discussing plans to implement the academy action projects and will be considering how to improve employee retention efforts at the District through the academy projects.
• In October 2023, the Board of Trustees awarded the contract for Equal Employment Opportunities Best Practices Coaching & Mentoring Program Consulting Services to Rooted in Love (RIL). District representatives are meeting with RIL to develop and implement the Cultivating an Ecosystem of Belonging (CEB) Program in Spring 2024. The primary goal of the CEB program is to increase retention of newly hired BIPOC faculty at SRJC.   
• Human Resources is working with department chairs and deans who have been approved to fill contract faculty recruitments. The goal is to have the 7 approved recruitments opened before the semester break and in January. Human Resources is also offering strategic planning meetings for contract faculty search committees to facilitate successful recruitments and to offer tailored recommendations, capture specific committee needs and expectations.  
• The performance evaluation process will be restarted for Classified Professionals and Management Team in Spring 2024. Options for streamlining the process are being considered and a side letter has been negotiated with SEIU to stagger evaluations for Classified Professionals.  
• The Professional Development Committee is reviewing workshop proposals for Spring 2024 PDA day which is on Thursday, February 15, 2024 (hold the date!). Approximately 45 workshop proposals have been submitted and the highlight of the morning plenary presentation will be the Brook Tauzer Lecture offered by Dr. Araceli Osorio. Lecture title is ‘The Transformation of the Spanish Language – A Virtual Trip around the World’ and the presentation will be on gaining an understanding of some of the amazing linguistic variations that exist in various Spanish-speaking countries and will provide knowledge and an appreciation of the rich complexity of Spanish spoken in each region.   

• A huge thank you to all departments, including all the instructional areas, Capital Projects, IT, Media Services, Facilities Operations, Custodial, and the Warehouse, for all of your efforts to ensure that the Lindley Center for STEM Education is open for students in January. Please join us for the ribbon cutting ceremony for this beautiful new space on Friday, January 26th from 3-5 pm. Additional information on the event and building can be found here.   
• Demolition of George Bech Hall is scheduled to begin in early January. The fence line around Lindley has been adjusted to include Bech Hall and building abatement will begin on January 2, 2024.  The scope of this part of the project includes replacing sidewalks between Lark Hall and Bech Hall so access to Lark Hall from the north side will not be possible until the demolition of Bech Hall and the associated utilities, sidewalks and landscaping are complete.   
• Construction for the Tauzer Gymnasium modernization project will also begin in early January. Construction fencing has been installed around Tauzer Gymnasium and will remain for the duration of the renovation project (currently anticipated to be fall 2025). As part of the project, the gym is being renovated and seismically upgraded.  The scope of the renovation includes new infrastructure, including new electrical service, mechanical and plumbing systems and a security system.  The existing stairs are being replaced with ADA compliant stairs and a new elevator is being installed.  The old football locker room will be converted into a new classroom for Adaptive PE; the weight room will be updated; multiple all gender restrooms and showers will be added; and the second floor will be converted to two dance studios. 
• The 2022/23 audit reports for the District and the Measure H General Obligation Bond performance and financial audits were approved by the Board of Trustees at the December meeting.  There was one state compliance audit finding for the District but all of the audits received an unmodified opinion, which is the best possible and there were no identified significant deficiencies or material weaknesses.  I want to thank Whitney Schultz, Finance Director, and all the audited areas for all the hard work in this rigorous process. 
• The Lindley Center for STEM Education will be opening for instruction in Spring 2024! Please join us for the ribbon cutting ceremony for this beautiful and innovative new space on Friday, January 26th from 3-5 pm. Additional information on the event and building can be found here. If you would like to attend, please RSVP at https://tinyurl.com/SRJCstem.  

• The SRJC Foundation’s annual year-end fundraising campaign dropped in the mail this month. It was mailed to 5,000 households and will be emailed to over 70,000 addresses. We are grateful to the hundreds of donors, including many campus colleagues, who contribute to this campaign each year. 
• We are busy planning for our upcoming SRJC Foundation Board Retreat that will take place on January 10th. We will introduce the Community Centric Fundraising model to the Board to help us explore how to ground our work in a more equity and social justice centered approach. This Retreat will be the kickoff for a strategic planning process that will lead to a new strategic plan for 2025-2027. 
• In 2024, the Foundation will be launching a marketing campaign to promote the benefits of planned giving. Philanthropy through future estate giving remains one of the best ways to make a meaningful donation that creates a lasting legacy for individuals and families. Over the past two years, the SRJC Foundation has received $1.3 million in estate gifts. 
• The Foundation met with the Bear Cub Athletic Association this month to begin planning for the May 13th Golf Tournament and Hall of Fame Dinner. The golf tournament was moved to May to give us more time to plan this expanded event, which will also include an evening dinner program where individuals will be inducted into the Bear Cub Hall of Fame. The Tournament and Dinner will be held at the Santa Rosa Golf and Country Club, which is a new venue for us.
• On December 22nd the SRJC Foundation hosted a dinner in Polly Hall for students remaining in the residence hall for the holidays. Breaking Bread with students was the perfect way to end the year! 

In community,

Dr. Garcia

Angélica Garcia, Ed.D.
Superintendent/President
707-527-4431, angelicagarcia@santarosa.edu