NOCCCD Congratulates 2022-23 North Star Award Recipients

Every year, members of Chancellor's Staff have the opportunity to bring forward the names and accomplishments of incredible employees to be considered for the prestigious North Star Award. Congratulations to our four very deserving 2022-23 award recipients:

• Ashley Berry, EOPS Student Services Specialist, Cypress College
• Dr. Naomi Querubin Abesamis, Director of Student Life and Leadership, Fullerton College
• Dulce Delgadillo, Director of Institutional Research and Planning, NOCE
• Dr. Gabrielle Stanco, District Director of Research, Planning and Data Management, District Services

These awardees were selected for their exceptional contributions to our campuses and District, and were honored at the June 13, 2023 NOCCCD Board of Trustees meeting.

Winners are judged on the following criteria:

• Demonstrated excellence in overall work performance
• Promoted positive morale through a congenial, supportive attitude and by providing service to others
• Put forth an effort to improve self as well as to develop and recognize others
• Exhibited initiative and creativity on tasks or issues that support students' success, improve operating efficiency,
• increase productivity, and/or address District strategic directions
• Enhanced the image of the institution and/or District

Learn more about our 2022-23 North Star Award recipients!

Ashley Berry

Ashley Berry is the Cypress College EOPS Student Services Specialist and coordinates the Guardian Scholars Program, which supports the academic, career, and personal success of foster youth students. She also undertook the task of creating a Classified Senate which had not existed at Cypress College before. Ashley has been a tireless leader, advocating for the Senate, recruiting other classified personnel, forming a Senate Executive Team, and creating bylaws for this historic organization. She has also served on the college's DEI Taskforce, Black Lives Matter Taskforce, and is on the President Advisory Committee. We thank Ashley for being a passionate, innovative, and student-centered advocate at Cypress College.

Dr. Naomi Querubin Abesamis

As the Director of Student Life and Leadership for Fullerton College, Dr. Naomi Querubin Abesamis is an incredible leader and role model for students, organizing the coordination of the college's Commencement for thousands of graduates for the past seven years. She is a champion for Asian Pacific Islander Desi American students and employees, conducting her dissertation research on Filipinx Student Success and Support Programs, and organizing the first-ever Fullerton College Lunar New Year celebration. She was also on the statewide planning committee for the Asian Pacific Americans in Higher Education Conference, coordinating a college delegation with representatives from every stakeholder group. Students, staff and faculty reported feeling proud, affirmed, and connected with a strong sense of hope after the conference. We thank Naomi for embodying the District's values of service, high standards, adaptability, professionalism, respect, inclusiveness and belonging.

Dulce Delgadillo

As the NOCE Director of Institutional Research and Planning, Dulce Delgadillo is a leader with a strong sense of responsibility who focuses on equity and advocates for inclusive educational evaluation systems at the local, state and national level. Her key accomplishments include development and implementation of a comprehensive program review and planning cycle for all NOCE instructional, service and administrative units, and revision of the NOCE Institutional Effectiveness Report to ensure alignment with the state accountability framework. Dulce has advanced NOCE's institutional effectiveness by developing a system for managing enrollment, including efficiency indicators and a system of data visualization tools. Dulce led the application process for the Community College Technical Assistance Provider grant which resulted in NOCE's being selected as the recipient of the $1.8 million award. With this grant, NOCE will not only provide technical assistance and training to all noncredit providers throughout the State, but will also become a driver of policy development for adult education/noncredit field. We thank Dulce for her dedication to her work.

Dr. Gabrielle Stanco

Dr. Gabrielle Stanco has been a dynamic force at NOCCCD since 2019, joining the Educational Services and Technology Department at the District as the District Director of Institutional Research and Planning. During this time, Gabrielle has taken on the monumental task of bringing together the Research Offices to build a collective mindset to support our campuses. Some of the projects she has led include the 320 Workgroup, creation of Tableau dashboards to showcase data and key performance indicators, developing a comprehensive Course Scheduling Manual and local and statewide presentations on MIS work. We thank Gabrielle for making research accessible and for communicating how data shapes the "why" for how we serve students, and for moving our District forward in profound ways.