President Chong gave the following report to the Board of Trustees at their January 13, 2015 meeting:

Scholarships:

SRJC is number one in the state in the number of scholarships and total scholarship dollars, which total over $1.5 Million. He thanked Rachel Cutcher, Kate McClintock, Kris Shear and staff for all their work.

Public Safety Center:

The Park Ranger Program headed by Brian Marvin just completed and had 24 graduates. The Fire Academy led by Randy Collins had about 50 students graduate. He thanked April and her staff for their work.

Fundraising:

• Harlem Globetrotters will play at Haehl Pavilion on Wednesday, January 14th

• Bear Cub Athletic Trust Polenta Feed: Saturday, January 24th St Eugene’s

• SRJC Wine Classic: Sunday, February 8th from 2-5 Bertolini Hall

There will be 30 winemakers from the area at this event.

International Students:

He greeted 45 new international students to SRJC last week, from 24 countries. He said that he is pleased that SRJC has more than doubled its international students from 74 in Spring 2013 to 154 in Spring 2015. He thanked Peg Saragina and her staff for their work expanding the international student program.

President Obama’s Proposed America’s College Promise:

He explained that this plan would offer two free years of community college tuition and was modeled after the state of Tennessee. It’s intended to shine the spotlight on community colleges and encourages states to invest more funds in community college.

He says that interested students should not wait to sign up for classes. Almost 50% of SRJC students receive the Board of Governor’s Fee Waiver. With the reimplementation of the Doyle Scholarship every graduating senior with 2.75 GPA or higher will receive $1,000 towards their education at SRJC.

He also said that thanks to student leadership, students of SRJC can receive free bus transportation by showing their SRJC id.

USC School of Education: The Culture of the Transfer Student

Dr. Chong has been invited to speak at the USC School of Education to speak on the culture of transfer students and hopes to connect with students who want to go to USC.

Finally, he thanked Sabrina Meyer, Director of Human Resources, who is leaving SRJC after 17 years of service. He said that SRJC’s loss is College of Mendocino’s gain. Thanks to her for all her dedication.