NOCCCD Board Meeting Highlights for June 11, 2024

Board Actions

The Board of Trustees acted on agenda items, including those highlighted below. 

Student Trustee: Sharon Kim, a second-year business administration student and former Associated Students Senator at Fullerton College, was sworn in as Student Trustee. Along with a job as a server, she also works as a tutor, which has inspired her to be passionate about student advocacy. 

Public Hearing: The Board held a public hearing on North Orange Continuing Education Disability Support Services’ request to apply for an Orange Transit Authority Enhanced Mobility for Seniors and Disabled Grant. This grant, if approved, will support NOCE's Mobility Program until June 2027, with potential for renewal. The program aims to assist students with verified disabilities in navigating public transit. It seeks to expand mobility services in Orange County and enhance coordination among community partners and non-profit organizations. The Board passed a resolution that states the public hearing was held. 

Human Resources: The Board approved several retirements. Congratulations to: Scott Edwards, Computer Science Instructor at Fullerton College; Sally McNay, Nursing Instructor at Cypress College; and Paul St. John, Accounting Instructor at Fullerton College. 

Reports 

Chancellor Byron D. Clift Breland thanked the newly formed Cypress College Classified Senate, which hosted an array of events for staff to celebrate Classified Appreciation Week June 3-6. 

Chancellor Clift Breland also welcomed Student Trustee Kim and thanked the Board of Trustees for engaging in a productive retreat where they discussed goals, quality improvement and evaluation processes for the Board and the Chancellor. Chancellor Breland also announced a discussion on the tentative 2024-25 State Budget will be scheduled for the June 25 Board of Trustees meeting. In the weeks following, the District plans to host a series of townhall meetings for those who have questions about the budget and want to learn more. 

North Orange Continuing Education President Valentina Purtell, Fullerton College President Cynthia Olivo, and Cypress President Scott Thayer commented on the following events and activities: 

• NOCE Updates 
  • NOCE hosted its first Artificial Intelligence conference. Eighty people attended, mostly faculty, and 95 percent of the attendees expressed interest in going to future AI conferences. 
  • The Career Technical Education program is working on several video projects to promote various programs and provide tutorial support for several aspects of the program, including: 
    • Student success videos that highlight several instructional programs, such as Google IT, Funeral Service Assistant, Early Childhood Education, Medical Assistant and Pharmacy Technician. 
    • LinkedIn Learning video tutorials for faculty and students. 
    • Career Launch Academy, an advanced personalized coaching program designed to provide students with tools and skills to build a pathway toward their chosen careers. 
    • Empowering Students microlearning videos to the Career Skills and Resources Lab Canvas shell page. 
• Fullerton College Updates 
  • President Olivo congratulated Jay Seidel for earning the California Post-Secondary Teacher of the Year award by the Association for Career in Technical Education. 
  • Fullerton College, through the efforts of the sustainability team, entered the Adopt a Channel program. The signage has been raised on Chapman Avenue and the College is dedicated to cleaning it up. 
  • Fullerton College attended the California State University inaugural biennial Juneteenth Symposium at Sacramento State University June 13-14 to celebrate African American history and achievement and promote anti-racism work. 
  • The College’s Umoja and A2MEND teams attended the statewide Umoja training. 
  • Jeanette Rodriguez represented Fullerton College at the California Community College Chancellor’s Office regional convening for the United Domestic Workers partnership. 
  • Dr. Olivio represented Fullerton College at the Campaign for College Opportunity celebration of outgoing president, Michele Sisqueiros, as well as incoming president, Jessie Ryan. 
  • Dr. Olivio expressed her gratitude to Paulette Chaffee for contributing to the study abroad trip to Germany planned for CTE students, who will visit several automobile plants. 
• Cypress College Updates 
  • Summer enrollment is up at 24.4 percent compared year-to-year from Summer 2023 with a fill rate of nearly 100 percent. There is notable growth in both online and asynchronous hybrid modalities. 
  • Cypress College employees participated in the 2024-25 Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) Program: Supporting the Student Journey, a State Chancellor’s Office program that aims to build a structured community of practice where challenges and opportunities are studied to strengthen strategic enrollment management. 
  • Seventeen year-end celebrations were held at the College event tent since its construction in April. It also hosted the AI Symposium with State Chancellor Sonya Christian, a Congressional candidate forum, and Classified Appreciation Week events. 
  • President Thayer congratulated Stephen Schoonmaker, acting Vice President of Administrative Services, in his new role as president of Tohono O’odham Community College in Arizona. 

Resource Table

Vice Chancellor Fred Williams announced the hiring of Erika Almaraz, the new Executive Director of Fiscal Affairs. Erika will bring years of invaluable audit and accounting experience to the position as she has previously served as the director of accounting, audit and advisory services at Rancho Santiago Community College District. Williams also said construction on the Anaheim Campus upper deck is going well and is currently ahead of schedule. 

Vice Chancellor Irma Ramos introduced Mylene Daniels, the new District Director for Human Resources Operations. She previously served as deputy director of human resources for the County of Riverside, and has more than 20 years of experience in human resources and IT business systems experience.

District Management Association President Treisa Cassens announced the group’s elections are ongoing and a new president will address the Board in July. 

CSEA President Pamela Spence announced the next chapter meeting will take place on Wednesday, June 26 via Zoom. 

Board Reports

Board President Evangelina Rosales welcomed Student Trustee Kim and Mylene Daniels to the District. 

Next Meeting

The next regularly scheduled meeting of the NOCCCD Board of Trustees will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 25, 2024 at the Anaheim Union High School District Board Room.