Dear SDCCE Community,

Last week we held both statewide Black Student Success Week events and we celebrated 188 deserving scholarship recipients! Our annual scholarship and awards ceremony was so beautiful, I truly enjoyed celebrating with you all, our students, and their loved ones. I want to give a special thank you to our Classified Senate President Neill Kovrig, Dean Madrid Novak, Dr. Carter and all of the volunteers for putting together an exceptional event. I look forward to the next commemorative milestone - commencement! View photos of the scholarship ceremony.

Before we celebrate again, please join me for our second annual Budget and Enrollment Management Symposium on April 30th from 2 to 3:30 p.m. in person at the Educational Cultural Complex. Due to the ongoing restoration, space for in person attendance is limited however we will be livestreaming the Enrollment Management Symposium via a Zoom Webinar. | Passcode: 266093

Vice President's Dr. Minou Spradley, Dr. Shakerra Carter, Dr. Jacqueline Sabanos and I will be taking a deep dive into our college funding, resource allocation, enrollment trends, a strategic enrollment management taskforce, institution wide staffing study updates and more. I encourage you each to attend to stay informed of the current state of our college and to learn where we are headed.

Enrollment Updates

SDCCE’s overall enrollment for spring stands at 30,920 (6% greater than this time last year, and a 0.1% increase from last week). SDCCE’s overall headcount is currently 16,440, an increase of 7% compared to last spring (15,299) and a 0.6% increase compared to the previous week (16,334). FTEF scheduled for the spring semester is 3% greater than last spring (191.17 to 185.40). View the enrollment report.

A new enrollment report system is underway, which will break down SDCCE's enrollment information by demographic groups, overall programs (departments), campus, and service areas (based on zip code). The information will help identify student populations that we have yet to reach at the levels we used to before the pandemic (and even before that). Data products are available in the following formats: Headcount Comparison, Enrollment Management Dashboard, Enrollment Management Trends Dashboard, Program Review Dashboard. Thank you to our Associate Dean Jesus Rivas and his team for their innovative work leading us into the future!

My series of President's Coffee and Chats/Staffing Study Roadshows are wrapping up this week. Thank you to all who have participated thus far. I understand that the classified professional’s schedules may not permit travel to other campuses, so I am pleased to share the following virtual meeting designated for classified professionals.

Please join me on Tuesday, April 30th from 4:00pm to 5:00pm for a viewing of our college's staffing study. View the staffing study via Zoom here! Meeting ID 898 9339 9972

Our college hosted the SDCCD Board of Trustees meeting on April 25th at North City Campus. Our leadership team proudly shared about our rapidly growing student support programs from our affinity groups to our CalWORKS resources, our 110-year anniversary campaign, enrollment services, A.I.R; our incoming robotic welding and fiber technology lab, Noncredit to Credit Alignment Lab (NCAL), ELL Grant, SDCCE Foundation highlights, foster youth programming, and our vision for a Veteran's Resource Center! Stay tuned for more information. View photos of the Board of Trustees meeting.

SDCCE's award-winning welding department, the Mountain View Park Coalition, and San Diego County District 4 Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe are working together to restore two Rossie Wade sculptures in the Mountain View community. One of the sculptures is located at the Educational Cultural Complex and one will be memorialized at Mountain View Park. Tune in now with NBC 7 San Diego Reporter, Todd Strain, for updates from our President Dr. Tina King, welding instructor Mike Bradbury, and student welders Nathan and Ivan on the making of the Black Family Statue replicas.

Please join me in welcoming two new hires for our college; Campus Digital Communications Specialist Jannah Khalil and District Network Specialist Ryan Lee.

Ms. Jannah Khalil is a strategic and results-driven communications professional based in San Diego with a passion for driving community and social change. With a strong background in content development, digital marketing, and social media management, Jannah excels in creating and implementing communication strategies to build awareness and expand the impact of organizations. Her experience includes working as a Communications Specialist at the Foundation for California Community Colleges, where she led marketing initiatives, managed digital platforms, and collaborated with various programs and partners to meet objectives. Jannah holds a BA in Journalism, graduating summa cum laude from CSU Sacramento, and has a proven track record of delivering high-quality content and achieving significant milestones in her field. At SDCCE, Jannah will support the following: plan, design, develop, implement, oversee, and maintain a digital communications strategy to strengthen the college’s public image and build stronger relationships with key audiences, manage social media efforts on behalf of the college campus, create original content for the college campus news site including stories, photography, and video, as well contribute to the production of communications.

As the District Network Specialist, Mr. Ryan Lee will serve our 7 Continuing Education campuses. Originally from Stockton, CA, with a background from an insulin pump company in Sorrento Valley and a CompTIA Network+ certification, Ryan brings a wealth of knowledge and experience that will greatly contribute to the continued growth and success of our department. He's eager to use his experience to assist at our campuses and to collaborate and learn with everyone. At SDCCE, Ryan will perform a wide variety of highly specialized technical support in the design, installation, and maintenance of computer and server hardware and software, printers, networking equipment, and wide area network communication equipment for our college.

Join me in extending a warm congratulations to Jannah and Ryan as we welcome them into our SDCCE family!

On May 3rd from 8:30 am to 1:30 pm there will be a Districtwide 2024 Undocumented Student Conference held at City College in support of our district's dreamer students.

All ages are welcome to inaugural College of Continuing Education Mental Health Fair on May 15 from 12:30 to 3 p.m. at the Educational Cultural Complex, 4343 Ocean View Blvd., on the patio between Buildings B and C. Learn about mental health support available throughout the region and relax for an afternoon of filled with food, games, and mental health engagement. Questions? Email BeWellSDCCE@sdccd.edu.

SDCCE Instructional and Counseling Faculty, interested in learning more about increasing learning equity or developing equitable practices in your online courses are encouraged to attend the free virtual Peralta Online Equity Conference from April 29th through May 1. To register for this conference and professional development opportunity, click here.

The Jackie Robinson YMCA Community Health & Resource Fair will be held on Wednesday, May 1st from 10am - 3pm. There will be various FREE health screening services, resources, and food distribution as well as a Blood Drive. Free shuttle rides are available to and from the Educational Cultural Complex.

The SDCCE FELI (Five-Day Experiential Learning Institute) will be offered this summer from June 24th through June 28th at North City Campus (6/24-6/27) and the VEBA center (6/28). FELI is a professional development and learning opportunity provided by SDCCE and open to ALL SDCCE employees, focused on student retention and using an inside-out approach. Flex is available. Register for FELI.

Recently, we had the participation of 30 individuals between students, counselors, teachers, and employees who supported us synchronously and asynchronously to review and collect feedback on research materials that will be utilized for the next stage of the Binational Adult Student Study. Nineteen of those individuals joined us for a facilitated group activity last Friday, April 19th to review and discuss the contents of a student survey we will be launching soon. The Binational Adult Student study is an ambitious research project led by the Office of Student Services and the Office of Planning, Research and Institutional Effectiveness. The next stage of this project consists in collecting quantitative data from our Binational students to measure the frequency and impact of their goals, challenges, strengths, and experiences with student services during their educational journey. Way to go Jesus Rivas and team for leading these critical efforts for our college!

For SDCCE professional development opportunities, visit the professional development web page for upcoming workshops.

A Youth Development training will be held on May 17th, which will offer methods to better support and understand young adult learners transitioning to SDCCE. The session will be hosted by Paul Watson, CEO of The Global ARC. Paul is a national trainer in Youth Development and a member of the Community Youth Development Design Team.

SDCCE proudly joined the SDCCD in wearing denim with a purpose as we stand in solidarity with sexual assault survivors and victims. Denim is worn on this day April 24th to raise awareness about sexual assault, to help fight victim blaming, and to educate others about the sexual violence that people experience. Thank you all who joined us across the district to spread awareness!

SDCCE’s automotive department received a large donation from the Hyundai and Kia dealerships housed at the Mile of Cars in National City; the dealerships donated six pallets of car parts valued at a few hundred thousand dollars.

SDCCE’s Clothing and Textiles department hosted a student capstone event, “The Big Make” on April 26th at West City Campus. SDCCE’s West City Campus ASB held an Earth Day event on April 26th.

SDCCE’s Senior Accounting Technician of Administrative Services Damella Abbott was nominated to become a member of the National Society of Leadership and Success (Sigma Alpha Pi), the only accredited honor society in the nation.

A reminder that all requests of the Communications Department must be approved by a dean or vice president and requires submission of a request form. You can find the Project Request Form link on the Faculty and Staff Resources Page of our website. Allow ten working days for a request to be completed. If a request needs immediate attention, please complete the form and contact the Public Information Officer.

President's Updates

This past week, I had the honor of touring former SDCCE President, Dr. Anthony Beebe, around the historic Educational Cultural Complex and highlighting the critical works our institution is leading for adult learners across the nation.

I thoroughly enjoyed attending the 4th Annual Emeritus Benefit Concert hosted by our Emeritus Program. The talent in the space was outstanding. Congratulations to our students and faculty for successfully executing a beautiful concert.

I was a presidential speaker on April 24th during the statewide Black Student Success Week webinar, titled Empowering Black Excellence: Policies, Workforce Development, and Apprenticeships for College-to-Career Success.

SDCCE enjoyed attending the PHATCAMP 3rd Annual Charity Gala! It was such a beautiful event filled with genuine love and passion for the community.

The Research Corner

This week we invite you to check the Trends in Higher Education Student Outcomes. This report from the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) is the third part of six reports, and this one focuses on trends in student's outcomes such as graduation rates, course completion rates, retention rates, that are related to higher education in California. Take a minute to review this resource and email jsalcedo001@sdccd.edu if you have any questions.

President's Office Hours

President's Office Hours are back! Individual zoom meetings will be 20 minutes and are available on a first come first serve basis. If you would like to schedule a virtual appointment with me, please email for detailed information.

Best,