Peralta Town Hall Webinar on Racial Literacy and Critical Consciousness
On June 4, 2020, the Peralta Community College District hosted a virtual Town Hall webinar. The focus was addressing the institutional racism pervasive in our society that contributed to the recent murder of Mr. George Floyd by the Minneapolis Police. Peralta leaders previously posted a statement regarding the killing of Mr. Floyd here. The goal of this Town Hall was to help raise the racial literacy and critical consciousness of the community while providing a safe space to reflect and share resources.
A recording of the webinar is available on YouTube here. Slides containing a list of the resources discussed and shared via Zoom chat are available here. Thanks to all the speakers for sharing their thoughts and wisdom. And thanks to all who attended live and watch on YouTube. Read more about the June 4 Town Hall here. And be sure to attend the upcoming College of Alameda Town Hall Discussion on Racial Justice and Community Support on Thursday, June 11, from 12:30pm to 2pm. Zoom link is here.
Peralta Chancellor on Statewide Webinar
The Peralta Community College District Chancellor, Dr. Regina Stanback Stroud, participated in a statewide webinar hosted by Chancellor Eloy Oakley featuring educational leaders from across the state discussing institutional racism. The goal was to issue a call to action and get the entire system to act with the urgency of the moment. The webinar took place on June 3, 2020 and is available for viewing here. Chancellor Stanback Stroud's powerful comments for the webinar are available here.
Trustees Approve Oracle Upgrade
During a special meeting of the Peralta Board of Trustees on Friday, May 29, the Board approved the much needed upgrade to the District's implementation of PeopleSoft, an Oracle system. PeopleSoft is the system used to manage both employee data and student enrollment data. The approval of the software upgrade will save the District approximately $1.8 million over a five year period while also creating greater efficiencies for the Human Resources team. Processes that are currently manual, such as PTO time tracking, will be moved to an online workflow. Additionally, the approved contract will shift PeopleSoft onto the Oracle cloud network, providing much greater data security and protection. Finally, this upgrade will allow the District to address technology recommendations made by FCMAT and the Collaborative Brain Trust. Thank you Trustees for your support.
Welcome New Employee Dr. Lisa Webb
Dr. Lisa S. Webb joins Peralta as the Dean of Counseling, Student Equity and Achievement at Merritt College. Dr. Webb has over 25 years of experience in higher education administration and leadership. In addition to serving as the Dean of Student Life at Riverside City College, she was also the Interim Dean of Student Success at the College of Marin. Her previous positions include Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Student Life at Southern Methodist University, Associate Dean of Students and Director of Multicultural Affairs at Lewis & Clark College and Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies at the University of California at Davis. She also worked at Stanford University where she first served as an undergraduate Residence Dean and then the Assistant Dean of Multicultural Graduate Student Affairs at the School of Humanities and Sciences. Dr. Webb received her Bachelor of Arts degree at Wheaton College in Massachusetts with a major in Sociology. She has a Master of Education from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education and a Doctorate of Education from the University of San Francisco with a concentration in International and Multicultural Education. Additionally, she received a higher education administrative Fulbright Scholar Award to study higher education in Germany. Welcome to PCCD Dr. Webb!
Students Vote "NO" on EZ Pass
During the Spring 2020 elections, PCCD students voted to end the EZ pass referendum. As a result, PCCD can no longer charge nor offer the EZ Pass program to students. The overall vote fell short of the majority needed to pass. In the past, an average of 3,000 students relied on the EZ Pass for the majority of their transportation needs to attend college. Current EZ Passes will expire on August 31. Starting in the Fall, the fee for the AC transit EZ Pass will be removed. There may be an opportunity to bring the referendum to the students again in a future election. Visit the Peralta website for details. (Many thanks to Dr. Felicia Bridges and the Berkeley City College Messenger for contributing to this article.)
All Four Colleges Now Offering Free Meals
On May 26, 2020, Peralta Community College District reported that Laney College and College of Alameda had formed partnerships with Steph and Aisha Curry's non-profit Eat.Learn.Play and the World Central Kitchen to provide free meals for students. Now all four colleges have solidified their partnership with these great nonprofits to serve our community. Merritt College started their program on May 28 (pictured above, photo courtesy of Dr. David Johnson). Berkeley City College began their program on Friday June 5th.
Laney College Lunch & Produce is available on Mondays and Wednesdays from Noon to 2pm with drive thru pickup available at 900 Fallon Street.
College of Alameda "Grab-N-Go Free Lunch" is available on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 11:30am to 1:30pm with drive thru pickup available at 555 Ralph Appezzato Memorial Parkway.
Merritt College "Grab N Go Free Lunch" is available on Tuesday and Thursday, from Noon to 2pm, off-campus at the David E. Glover Education and Technology Center located at 6948 Foothill Blvd, Oakland.
Berkeley City College lunches are available on Fridays from 11:30am to 2pm at 2050 Center St., Berkeley.
No "4x10" Work Week This Summer
In years past, the District adopted a summer schedule where employees work four 10-hour days Monday through Thursday and then take Fridays off. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic and many of us are already working from home, the District will not implement a Summer 4/10 work schedule this year. We need to be able to provide services for students all week long. All employees shall maintain their regularly scheduled shifts. This applies to classified, confidential and management employees.
Spreadsheet Calendars Available for Fall 2020 Semester
For years, Laney College faculty member William "Bill" Lepowsky has created Microsoft Excel spreadsheet versions of the academic calendars. This year Professor Lapowsky worked with Vice Chancellor Siri Brown to confirm the dates and create these Fall 2020 calendar spreadsheets. Click the link to download the file. These files are also posted in Yammer.
Risk Management Department, in cooperation with our insurance carrier ASCIP, is introducing an online training platform for all Peralta employees starting in the month of June. Employees should receive an email providing a link and informing you of your login credentials for the training platform.
We encourage you to take advantage of the variety of online classes offered that pertain to your role at Peralta and to explore other topics to gain a better understanding of information and safety practices that adapt to the job site and/or home. Training time varies with a duration from two (2) minutes to two (2) hours. A certificate of completion is provided for each training.
If you have not received an email with the username and password by the second week of June please contact Carrie Burdick at cburdick@peralta.edu.
Take the CCCCO COVID-19 Employee Survey
The California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office (CCCCCO) would like to better understand the impact and experiences of CCC employees at PCCD and across the state in response to COVID-19. Please take a few minutes to complete this survey, administered on behalf of the California Community Colleges by the Research and Planning Group for the California Community Colleges (RP Group), to share your experience with working remotely, your ideas and advice for improvement, and what can be done to support you. Take the CCC statewide COVID-19 Employee Impact Survey here: http://RPGroup.CCC-Employee-Survey.sgizmo.com/s3/
