President’s Message
By Mike Claire

KCSM Honors High School Filmmakers
Six Bay Area high school students took home eight CSM scholarships awarded at the second annual KCSM/CSM High School Video Competition held on June 11. more>>

ASCSM Supports Mercy Loans for Veterans Attending CSM
The Associated Students of CSM are funding an emergency mercy loan program to help student veterans purchase books and supplies. more>>

Student Profile: Mei Zhou
By Mike Habeeb, PR & Marketing
"CSM provided tons of opportunities as well as advice to guide me in achieving my goal," says Mei Zhou, a successful transfer student. more>>

Coastside Currents
By Martha Tilmann, dean of Coastside/special projects
CSM Coastside is thrilled to report high enrollments. more>>

Art Students' Mosiac on Permanent
Display in Building 1 Lobby
Students in Jude Pittman's Mosaic Mural II class have created two stunning tile and glass mosaics that have been permanently installed in the lobby of CSM's Administration Building. more>>

News from the Writing Center and English 800 Lab
Contributed by Kathleen Steele, Juanita Alunan and Daniel Keller
During the past academic year, the Writing Center (18-104) and English 800 Lab (18-102) have found exciting opportunities to increase our efficiency and effectiveness within the college community and have initiated or implemented the following plans and changes: more>>

President's Lecture Series Welcomes Sister Helen Prejean
The President's Lecture Series: Diverse Voices in Writing is proud to announce that on Friday, November 21, the series will host the internationally acclaimed anti-death penalty activist and author Sr. Helen Prejean. more>>

CSM Participates in UC's Aurora Project
CSM has been invited by the University of California Office of the President to join the Aurora Project--the community college component of UC's Science and Mathematics Initiative, CalTeach. more>>

300 Attend Welcome Day
On Wednesday, August 13, CSM opened its doors a little early to new students during the college's first annual Welcome Day event. more>>

Accomplishments and Accolades
CSM students Kelly Young, Matt Finch, Richael Young, Julie Yeow, Sports Information Director Fred Baer and alums Kaimi Mead and Kyle Woodruff. more>>

Alumni Stars: Daniel Zoughbie, Kevin Chaney more>>

President’s Message
by Mike Claire

Mt Hamilton is a tough 20 mile, 4,000 foot climb with very little shade. The first few miles were great. However, after about an hour of hard climbing I was ready to quit. Our goal, the Lick Observatory, was not getting any closer and I was hot, tired, and slightly dehydrated. It was at this point that a cycling friend of mine reminded me take it "one mile marker at a time". This is a great mental trick to use on long climbs. Basically you forget about the entire climb, pick a mile marker a few yards up the road, and ride to the marker. Once you have reached your first marker, you pick another marker and ride to that one. And so it goes until you have reached the top of the mountain.

Why do I tell you this story? We are in the midst of a long climb at CSM which at times can feel overwhelming. Like all tough climbs, we need to take our challenges one mile marker at a time. Here are the "mile markers" that I will be focusing on for the next year:

Accreditation
Our college has an obligation to respond to all accreditation recommendations in a thorough and expeditious manner. My responsibility as president is to make sure that CSM responds fully to the recommendations by the prescribed deadlines, and that we have the capacity and the resources to meet accreditation standards now and in the future. We are off to a good start but our work will continue long after we submit our report to the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges this October.

Educational Master Plan
I am pleased to report that the first draft of our Educational Master Plan will be released on September 3. In my opinion, our work on the Educational Master Plan is the most significant of the many important projects that we will take on for this academic year. The time has come for us to take a serious look at the institution as a whole in terms of our programs and services, and the manner in which they are offered. We must meet the ever changing needs of our students and our community or students will simply vote with their feet and walk away. We have many important choices to make which will require campus wide dialog and thoughtful reflection. The Educational Master Plan provides the framework for this dialog.

Institutional Planning and Research
CSM has made good progress with institutional planning. However, we now need to take institutional planning to the next level. As a first step, we have created a formal Office of Planning, Research, and Institutional Effectiveness to support institutional planning processes. The hallmarks of outstanding institutional planning include well-documented and transparent decision making processes, a well-defined integration of various college plans, the explicit use and analysis of research data to guide decision making and to assess results, and development of time-bound, measurable outcomes. Faculty, staff, students, and administrators worked over the summer to improve our current planning system. The college will implement this new planning system in the current academic year, assess the effectiveness of the new planning system at the end of the academic year, and make modifications to our planning processes as necessary.

Fiscal Stewardship
Over the last two years the college has spent more than its budget allocation. Last year, the district provided over $1 million to help offset the college operating deficit. Although we were able to cut our operating deficit by almost 50% for the current fiscal year, our practice of deficit spending cannot continue. Over 95% of our college budget is allocated to personnel. A substantial portion of that amount is dedicated to on-going salaries. Thus, we operate on a very thin margin.

As I have mentioned many times, the question is not how much we spend because we are spending it all. Rather, the question is where and how should our funds be spent? We must make deliberate, student-centered decisions regarding our use of financial resources that is also tied to program review, our strategic plan and the educational master plan. Furthermore, we must find a way to balance providing the greatest good for the most students while still meeting the needs of students in specialized areas of study. Finally, we must develop a long-term financial plan and identify reliable alternative funding sources.

The Enrollment Cycle
I believe that the long-term enrollment health of our college is primarily dependent upon our ability to meet the needs of our community. However, our enrollment is also influenced by how well we execute our enrollment cycle. I view our enrollment cycle as a repeating process that encompasses course scheduling, marketing, recruiting and outreach, intake, managing the start of the semester, persistence, and retention. It is time that we think very differently about how students enroll and persist at our college. Our students experience the college as one contiguous whole. Yet, we have created stand alone systems, processes, and programs that fail to take our students' view into account. We have made significant progress in a few key areas. However, I feel that we have a long way to go in improving our enrollment cycle.

Capital Improvements
When the last of the construction workers leave our college, we will have spent over $231 million on capital improvement projects at CSM. Our work in this arena is critically important because we are building new facilities for our current, as well as future students and colleagues. I am very pleased with our efforts thus far. In the last two years, nearly 100 faculty, staff, students, and administrators have participated in the design of over 350,000 square feet of space. Now that we have transitioned from the design phase to the construction phase, we need to manage the process so that projects are completed on time and on budget, while mitigating disruptions.

College Communications
Since I started as a faculty member in 1988, improving college communications has been a top priority of every CSM president. Effective communication in an organization this large and with so many varied interests is complex. Technology has not made campus communication any easier. As we enter a period of significant change, timely, accurate communication is even more important. Like the Apollo 13 astronauts that I mentioned on Opening Day, we need to work with facts not rumors, and we need to be very clear and honest in our communication with one another. Working through our shared governance process, I would like to form a small team of experts to help design an effective communications system for the college.

You may wonder if I ever made it to the top of Mt. Hamilton. All that I can say is that the view was spectacular and the sense of accomplishment was even better. However, I would not have made it had I attempted the climb alone. We have a long climb ahead. Let's all work together, and take it a mile marker at a time. I will see you at the top-I guarantee that the all the hard work is worth it and the view will be fantastic!

Summer is a time of renewal for those of us fortunate enough to take time off from teaching, and the recharging and refreshing, both personal and professional, may take many forms. But valuable professional growth experiences often have no venue for being shared on our campus. We all are enriched, though, from hearing about new ideas encountered and strategies learned. The SoTL Center is a place to gather colleagues to share these experiences, and I welcome volunteers for presentations during the fall.

Michelle Brown and I participated in a stimulating professional development experience in June when we attended a meeting of the Institutional Leadership Cluster to which CSM belongs. The group consists of colleges focusing on "Liberal Education: Core Curriculum," and collaborates in looking at education as "characterized by challenging encounters with important issues, and more a way of studying than a specific course or field of study." The widely disparate colleges involved "investigate the uses of the scholarship of teaching and learning to develop, advance, and sustain liberal learning in different institutional contexts and with different goals."
(http://carnegiefoundation.org/programs/sub.asp?key=21&subkey=2021&topkey=21#Core)

Our group consisted of the following diverse institutions:
College of San Mateo
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
North Carolina A & T
St. Olaf College
St. Jerome's University
University of Cincinnati
University of Wisconsin, Whitewater

It was fascinating to hear how St Olaf, University of Cincinnati, North Carolina A & T, and Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts are grappling with the challenges of assessment. I learned that all of them value combining a number of research methods, both quantitative and qualitative, to understand the impact the educational experience they offer is having on their students. In addition, they all focus their assessment efforts each year around a fundamental research question that interests their faculty. I was astounded to hear North Carolina A & T, a historic black college with students similar to ours in several ways, suggest that we involve students in mapping assignments and courses to outcomes rather than just telling them what they are supposed to get from our efforts! Such astonishment, I think, is good for my mind.

From St. Jerome's we heard about student ePortfolios as an important teaching and learning tool, an idea that resonated with our small pilot programs here at CSM. From U of WI-Whitewater, a campus that focuses on students with disabilities, we heard that residential theme-based learning communities have had a considerable impact on student success and retention. When we shared our own experience with confluence-model learning communities, using a spectacular PowerPoint prepared by Michelle, the group enthusiastically responded to our efforts.

Michelle and I both came back with inspiration and ideas to share. Please let me know what you brought back from the summer that you would like to share as well. I look forward to more astonishment!

KCSM Honors High School Filmmakers
Six Bay Area high school students took home eight CSM scholarships awarded at the second annual KCSM/CSM High School Video Competition held on June 11. Awards were given for directing (Nicholas Dubkin, Homestead High School), audio (James Daggett, Sequoia High School), special effects (James Daggett), editing (Alyssa Royce, San Mateo High School), screenplay or adaptation (Jesse Swatling-Holcomb, Dashiell Nye, Gabriel McDowell, St Joseph Notre Dame) and best-of-show (James Daggett). Winners in all categories were awarded a $500 scholarship and all participants received valuable filmmaking tools such as Adobe Premiere editing software, Gorilla production management software and Avid Media Composer. The awards program was hosted by Michelle Brown, CSM associate professor of broadcast and electronic arts, and Thomas Schulz, a CSM broadcasting student. The competition was open to all high school students in the Bay Area. KCSM viewers will be able to watch the student productions and interviews with the filmmakers as part of the Spotlight! public television series to air on KCSM-TV in the fall. (Photo: Winning filmmakers Swatling-Holcomb, Nye and McDowell receive their award for best original screenplay. (Photo courtesy of Gene Steagall, CSM photography major.)

ASCSM Supports Mercy Loans for Veterans Attending CSM
The Associated Students of CSM are funding an emergency mercy loan program to help student veterans purchase books and supplies. The ASCSM is providing $2,500 toward interest-free loans to qualifying veterans who apply for financial aid and expect to receive GI Bill benefits but don't begin receiving their monthly stipend in time to purchase books. Mario Mihelcic, admissions and records assistant, as part of a dedicated veterans team made up of staff, faculty and administrators, was instrumental in working with the students to secure funding for the loan program. Mario works alongside Jeremy Mileo as certifying officials for veterans benefits.

As troops return from Iraq and Afghanistan, CSM is experiencing an increase in the number of veterans enrolling at the college. In spring 2008, CSM certified approximately 90 student veterans. In response to this increase, the college has enhanced services to veterans by providing a dedicated academic counselor, developing an email distribution list to communicate updates and events, and forming a veterans club.

In a related development, CSM has recently announced a new career course which will focus specifically on veterans and will begin in Spring 2009. The course, Planning for Student Success (Career 120), is designed to assist student veterans in their transition to college and their return to civilian life.

Student Profile: Mei Zhou
By Mike Habeeb, PR & Marketing

"CSM provided tons of opportunities as well as advice to guide me in achieving my goal," says Mei Zhou, a successful transfer student. Recently, Mei learned that her four years of hard work at CSM paid off as she was among the 80 accepted to start San Francisco State University's nursing program this fall; some 800 applied."Getting into a nursing program has always been my dream," she adds.

Mei arrived in the United States from China at 19 with English as her second language and immediately began taking classes to improve her reading, writing and conversational skills to help her tackle her other college-level material.She attributed her educational success to her steady progress in learning English, mentioning particularly the assistance she received from CSM's Writing Center and one professor specifically. "Professor Linda Scholer helped me the most," Mei says. "She is patient, responsible and knowledgeable. She helped me with my essays and taught me various grammar skills." "Mei is the consummate student: curious, eager to learn, and intellectually disciplined. In addition, she is warm and compassionate--she'll be a perfect nurse," says Scholer.

Mei speaks highly of others at CSM as well, complimenting Science Professor Linda Hand and Counselor Aisha Upshaw. "Their helpful advice helped to keep me motivated and allowed me to conquer all the difficulties I'd been facing." Mei also found CSM Transfer Services and its coordinator Mike Mitchell as significant in her choosing and applying to four-year universities. She notes how the transfer workshops taught her how to prepare university applications and write personal statements. "I am proud and lucky to be a CSM student and to have met all these great professors and counselors. They helped lead the way to my success," she concludes.

Coastside Currents
By Martha Tilmann, dean of Coastside/Special Projects

CSM Coastside is thrilled to report high enrollments. We have more than 400 students enrolled in 18 classes, many of which are FULL! Photoshop, conversational Spanish, guitar, general psychology, nursing, history, and ESL all have 28-35 students. Our golf class is not far behind with 27 enrollments (including my own enrollment). This success is thanks to many people, but at the heart of this effort is Ron Andrade, program service coordinator, and Yesenia Haro, office assistant. I am very grateful for their hard work and unwavering dedication. Feel free to visit us in Half Moon Bay. Our current office hours can be found at: collegeofsanmateo.edu/coastside To see me directly, it is best to set up an appointment. Have a wonderful semester. (Below the first day of class History 201, at CSM Coastside)

Art Students' Mosiac on Permanent Display in Building 1 Lobby
Students in Jude Pittman's Mosaic Mural II class have created two stunning tile and glass mosaics that have been permanently installed in the lobby of CSM's Administration Building. The college commissioned Pittman's students to create the murals and paid for the materials. The students performed the work free-of-charge and have left their visual legacy on exhibit (the pieces contain signatures of the student artists). The plan is for students to create a mural for a space in the community each semester. As with the college, the outside agencies commissioning Pittman's classes will be required to pay only for materials. The mosaics are made of typical materials such as fragments of glass, metal and tiles as well as more nonconventional items such as pieces of broken dishes, dice and Legos. (Photo: Pittman and her student artists stand below one of their mosaics on display in the lobby of Building 1.)

News from the Writing Center and English 800 Lab
Contributed by Kathleen Steele, Juanita Alunan and Daniel Keller

During the past academic year, the Writing Center (18-104) and English 800 Lab (18-102) have found exciting opportunities to increase our efficiency and effectiveness within the college community and have initiated or implemented the following plans and changes:

New, Open Drop-in Hours
As a pilot program, during Fall 2008 we will be opening our centers to drop-in (non-English and non-HBA) students on a space-available basis during early afternoon hours, on Monday and Wednesday from 1:00-2:30 p.m. This will allow any CSM student the opportunity to stop in and get help with papers for any of their classes!

Podcast Orientations
We have created podcast orientations to the Writing Center, English 800 Lab, and English and ESL 850. Every student who comes into our centers will view the appropriate podcast before beginning work in the centers. These podcast orientations, available on the Writing Center and English 800 Lab websites at http://www.smccd.net/accounts/cow/images/WC_Orientation.mov,will make our instructional aides more efficient as they help the increasing numbers of students that the centers will now be serving.

Help with Personal Statements
James Carranza and Jon Kitamura are currently working on a short English 850 course for creating personal statements for college applications. For more information, please call James Carranza at (650) 574- 6568.

President's Lecture Series Welcomes Sister Helen Prejean
The President's Lecture Series: Diverse Voices in Writing is proud to announce that on Friday, November 21, the series will host the internationally acclaimed anti-death penalty activist and author Sr. Helen Prejean (right). Her best-selling book, "Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States," was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and was developed into an Oscar-winning movie and the basis of an internationally-acclaimed opera. "The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions" is her second book. She gives lectures worldwide and has been nominated many times for the Nobel Peace Prize. Sister Helen's website can be accessed at http://www.prejean.org Sister Helen will speak from 12:10 to 1pm at a location that will be announced. Following the lecture, a reception with light refreshments and a book signing will take place. For more information, please contact 650.574.6314. The President's Lecture Series is free and open to all CSM and district employees. The series is being made possible by a generous grant from the Lane Family Charitable Trust.

CSM Participates in UC's Aurora Project
CSM has been invited by the University of California Office of the President to join the Aurora Project--the community college component of UC's Science and Mathematics Initiative, CalTeach. The Aurora Project is a collaboration among UC, California State University and the state's community college systems to create pathways for community college students to transfer to a UC or CSU campus, complete their degree programs and become high school science and math teachers. To date, UC has identified 22 of California's community colleges to provide science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) transfers to UC campuses. CSM joins with Diablo Valley College and San Francisco City College to round out representation by the San Francisco Bay region. In fall 2008, the first CSM students will participate in the program which will include field experience, seminars and guidance from mentor teachers. Dr. Charlene Frontiera, dean of math/science division, will serve as CSM's coordinator for the Aurora Project Dr. Kathleen Diamond, professor of biology, and Dr. Mohsen Janatpour, professor of astronomy, mathematics and physics, will serve as CSM's lead mentor faculty.

300 Attend Welcome Day
On Wednesday, August 13, CSM opened its doors a little early to new students during the college's first annual Welcome Day event. Approximately 300 students, family members, and friends came to the campus for tours, workshops, and an early chance to purchase textbooks and supplies. Attendees also had the chance to ask last minute questions about their classes, schedules, and the changes related to campus construction. In addition, students had the opportunity to attend demonstrations by various academic programs, including language arts, cosmetology, and nursing; learn about the many different student support services available, including counseling, financial aid, and the Health Center; and pickup their student ID cards and checkout the new student lounge in Building 13.

Accomplishments and Accolades
CSM student-athlete Kelly Young scored in all three of her throwing events at the California Community College Athletic Association Track and Field Championships held in Cerritos at the end of May. Young, a Capuchino High School graduate, placed third in the javelin and sixth in both the shot put and hammer throw. Her shot put performance improved upon her previous best. She is nationally ranked among community college athletes in her three events; this year was only her second year of track and field competition. A week prior to the State championship meet, she competed in the Northern California Championships in Modesto where she was voted outstanding field event performer.

Matt Finch, a CSM chemistry major has jump-started his career as a participant in the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute's Astrobiology Research Experience for Undergraduates program (funded by the NSF and NASA). As a result of that experience, Matt was invited to work on a project assisting NASA scientists working on the Mars Phoenix Lander project, which arrived at Mars this past May. Matt is part of a lab team that is testing terrestrial analog soils. The team will attempt to duplicate the results from Mars with samples from Earth using the same equipment in the lab that is installed in the Phoenix Lander. The tests might reveal whether there's life on Mars.

Associated Student Body President Richael Young (left) was honored by the U.S. House of Representatives on being elected president of the Student Senate for California Colleges. This past summer, Richael served as an intern in Congresswoman Anna Eshoo's office in Washington, DC.

Fred Baer, CSM sports information director, has covered eight Summer Olympics since 1972 and is currently in Bejing serving as an official at the Pacific Association, a regional arm of the U.S. Track and Field Association. His assignment is to provide coverage of track and field events for a few media groups. An interview with Baer about his experience as an Olympic journalist was carried in the August 3 edition of the San Francisco Examiner.

Two former CSM pitchers were recently selected by major league teams in Major League Baseball's Draft:

• Kaimi Mead, left-handed pitcher, was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 18th round right-handed pitcher
• Kyle Woodruff was selected by the San Francisco Giants in the 27th round. Woodruff had most recently been playing for his transfer institution, California State University, Chico,

CSM graphics student Yun Ju (Julie) Yeow received a Merit Award in the 2008 Multimedia and Entertainment Initiative's Media Award Program. The competition received more than 400 entries across 14 categories and includes community colleges throughout the state. Yeow is a student of Claudia Steenberg, graphics instructor.

Alumni Stars: Daniel Zoughbie, Kevin Chaney

CSM alum Daniel Zoughbie (left) is the founder of Global Health Micro-Clinics, a series of small clinics that provide communities with a social, educational and clinical network to access information and tests for diabetes. Daniel, who transferred to UC Berkeley, where he received his bachelor's degree in urban studies, has set up 300 micro-clinics in Amman, Jordan. Over the next two years, he anticipates establishing another 500-1,000 clinics throughout Jordan. Global Health Micro-clinics has received the support of the Jordanian Ministry of Health and Queen Rania's health organization. While a student at CSM, Daniel volunteered to help Dr. Zelte Crawford, professor emeritus of ethnic studies, with the Twilight Youth Basketball program for underprivileged youth. His work resulted in a successful fundraising campaign, and this experience gave him the confidence and knowledge to pursue his own fund raising and community building for his Global Health initiative. He is a native of Pacifica.

Kevin Chaney, CSM graduate of 1977, was recently hired as assistant women's basketball coach at University of Minnesota Duluth. His previous positions have included assistant coach of men's basketball at NCAA Division II Lincoln University in Missouri, assistant coach of women's basketball at University of Nevada and assistant coach and physical education instructor at Solano College in Fairfield.

A Message from PR/Marketing
We would like to thank the 122 volunteers who participated in one of our largest outreach efforts of the year. For six days in August, CSM was at the San Mateo County Fair, providing information to numerous fair goers through individual exhibits, which included:

►student art and ceramics displays;
►solar energy and floristry demonstrations; and
►booths showcasing our art history, astronomy, Coastside, community education, cosmetology, distant learning, electronic music, EOPS, financial aid and study abroad offerings.

The college's veterans services was also on hand to offer information. A classic exhibit of historical CSM photos created by the Photograph Library Project was prominently featured as well. Our music department was represented well by the CSM Jazz Band. It provided entertainment along with talented employee musicians (CSM Bulldawgs) and student bands (Rock Candy and San Franz ). Our free drawings (thanks to the Bookstore for donating prizes), the Bulldog Toss game and CSM balloons also attracted the attention of fair goers.

If you have comments or suggestions about articles and issues you would like to see in the President’s eNewsletter, send email to: prezenews@smccd.edu.