Glendale Community College
Home MenuOctober 2023 • glendale.edu/StayingConnected
President's Corner
We’re more than halfway into the Fall semester and enrollment for credit classes have held a steady 12% improvement over last year. Garfield’s Continuing Education continues to boom with a 70% enrollment bump from 2022. I have a lot more updates to share.
Trustee Ann Ransford and I presented GCC’s vision for Virtual Reality at the National Convention for the Association of Community College Trustees. The presentation was extremely well received by a group of trustees and presidents from throughout the country. The presentation included Trustee Ransford describing how a board sets priorities and a vision for innovation as well as discussing lessons learned. Dr. Cornner presented the planned implementation and strategies, and CEO of Dreamscape Learn, Josh Reibel, presented on the VR technology and pedagogy. We are planning on sharing more about this venture at the November Faculty Meeting.
An Employee Appreciation Dinner was the perfect lead-in to a special Thursday night edition of Vaquero Football on October 12. More than 100 employees attended and doubled that in family and guests of employees. Big gratitude to Human Resources for their work in putting this together and to Athletics and Facilities for all their help making the night a success. Check out photos from the event.
The football game began with a coin toss from Bhupesh Parikh. As a long-term philanthropist to the college, his presence was appreciated, and he and his family had a great time. Vaqueros beat Pierce 34-13 in the game.
Men’s Tennis Player, JB Badon competed in a tournament in Atlanta, taking first place and establishing himself as the best tennis player in the country for community colleges, NIAA, and NCAA Divisions II and III schools.
I met with representatives from Moody’s to attempt to have the college credit rating upgraded. They reported that they only allow a negative outlook for a two-year period and the college is beyond that as an accommodation for the pandemic. The information provided will be presented to a team for review and the college will either be downgraded or have the negative outlook removed. We put forward everything we could in terms of improved fiscal status, and we will know whether it was enough to support a positive result in the coming weeks.
The Board of Trustees has received a survey to gauge what folks think is important for legislative efforts. This also went out to faculty and staff leaders. Students will be providing feedback after their statewide trustee conference. We will use the results to inform our discussions in the coming weeks.
College Police staffing is close to full after Chief Gary Montecuollo swore in two new officers on October 2. Following training, Officer Luis Lira and Officer Daniel Hernandez will join the full ranks. We will be organizing a Board introduction to the officers and all new classified in a similar manner that we did the tenure event. You can learn more about your new colleagues later in the newsletter.
Thank you to the members of the Board of Trustees for attending the various accreditation meetings. The Board presence was greatly appreciated. The college has received a confidential draft of the Accreditation Team’s report and will be looking forward to the final determination of the accreditation process when the Commission has its meeting in January.
Classified leaders serving on the Caring Campus group presented their plan to management and we will be proceeding on key activities to support a better sense of belonging on campus.
The Pulitzer Center hosted a presentation on child incarceration and its impact. The meeting was well attended and enlightened students on privatized prisons, privatized healthcare within prisons and childhood suicide in prisons.
GCC in the News
Click the thumbnail above to watch the NBC Los Angeles report on how GCC uses California Lottery funds to support programs including welding.
Three short films written, directed and produced by GCC students were screened at the recent Glendale International Film Festival. The students were featured in the Glendale News Press here.
GCC Students Star in Metro GoPass Campaign
L.A. Metro recently launched an online marketing campaign to promote the Metro GoPass which allows students at participating community colleges to ride free on multiple transit lines. GCC’s GoPass program is so successful, four of the five students featured are Vaqueros. Click the video thumbnails below and see how many times you spot our Verdugo Campus.
Transfer Fair
Another successful Transfer Fair was held Oct. 3 at Plaza Vaquero, sponsored by the GCC Transfer Center. More than 400 students met with representatives from over 75 colleges and universities providing information about their schools. Check out the Flickr album.
Puppy Love
What better way to de-stress than with puppies? ASGCC again sponsored the popular puppy event held at Plaza Vaquero.
Employees of the Month
The inaugural Employee of the Month awards were presented in October by Human Resources. The recipients are:
Lauren Lampietti of Information Technology Services
Leo Perez of Admissions and Records
Mia Picerno of Library and Learning Support Services, Garfield Campus
GCC officially launched its new Employee of the Month recognition in conjunction with the October 12 Employee Appreciation Night football game.
The new program will be used to recognize two or three employees each month who have been observed as going “above and beyond” in their efforts to serve students and the college in their roles at GCC. Those efforts may be highly visible, related to a particular accomplishment, or steady exceptional efforts behind the scenes that may not always get noticed. Recipients of the EOM award will receive a certificate of recognition, swag and an assigned parking space for a period of a month to celebrate their achievement.
A new set of employees will be selected each month. This college will never be in a shortage of deserving employees for this award, so you are encouraged to submit nominations on a rolling basis to your division’s vice president or to HR at hrdepartment@glendale.edu. Each month, the Administrative Executive team will consider nominations received from each division and select employees, who will then be notified of their award around the 15th of each month. Please consider nominating a deserving colleague today!
New Faculty 2023
New faculty members were announced at the Faculty Institute Day event. They are
Amber Bratcher-Covino---Biology Instructor
Tanner Farwell---Head Football Coach
Michael Gale---Economics Instructor
Kenesse Io---Economics Instructor
Sevana Khodagholian---Chemistry Instructor
Manijeh (Mandy) Nezami---Nutrition Instructor
Kimberli Perner---Noncredit Basic Skills, Interdisciplinary Student Success Center Coordinator
Ashlee Pieris-Gunatilka---Computer Science Instructor
Emily Shartrand---Art History Instructor
Edwin Sookiassian---Computer Science Instructor
Megan Torrey-Payne---Psychology Instructor
Meet Our New College Police Officers
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Officer Luis Lira spent twenty years working in employment services sales. He is a U.S. Army veteran who previously worked for the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Office before joining GCC. Officer Lira is married with three sons.
Born in Panorama City, California, Officer Daniel Hernandez is a graduate of CSUN where he earned a BA in Criminology and Justice Study. He previously worked for the Los Angeles Police Department before joining GCC. Officer Hernandez is a huge Dodgers fan who makes it a goal to attend at least 20 games each season.
Rebranding the Food Pantries
The GCC food pantries are getting a rebranding. Andre Manukyan, Manager of GCC CARES provides details on the changes:
What we are doing is rebranding the food pantry, which we will now refer to as the GCC CARES Market (or just CARES Market).
The goal of this rebranding is:
- To destigmatize food insecurity and the utilization of programs/services that address food insecurity – we know both anecdotally from what students tell us, as well as what the research on best practices shows, that there are many food insecure individuals who do not use food pantries because of the stigma associated with the term.
- To more accurately describe the GCC CARES Market offerings.
- To quickly expand the CARES Market services, which we are continually developing.
The CARES Market strives to provide direct and immediate assistance to students facing basic needs insecurities, and operates at two locations, which are accessible to all GCC students: Garfield Campus and Civic Auditorium. Students visiting the CARES Market can access the following:
- Transportation Assistance: GCC GoPass Tap Cards, which provide unlimited bus and rail rides throughout L.A. County (no appointment necessary)
- Food Assistance: Groceries (provided by Trader Joe’s), non-perishable food items, and freshly prepared meals provided by Everytable
- Hygiene Assistance: Soaps, shampoo, feminine hygiene, toothbrushes, and toothpaste
- Diaper Assistance: Support for parenting students who need help affording diapers
- Clothing Assistance: Launching as a pilot program at CARES Market Garfield in November, we will be offering new basic clothing items for adults (tops & bottoms) – available in all size assortments (from XXS to 4X), as well as an assortment of baby clothes (newborn to 12M) to support parenting students.
We are also changing our domain for students to make the appointment, which will now be: www.glendale.edu/market (we will be shutting down www.glendale.edu/foodpantry in early 2024)
And our emails will change to: GarfieldMarket@glendale.edu & VerdugoMarket@glendale.edu (We will stop using foodpantry@glendale.edu by 2024)
GCC Hosts Tech Week Event
Chief's Safety Tips
Connecting with...Ramona Barrio-Sotillo
Ramona Barrio-Sotillo, Associate Dean of Continuing and Community Education, was born and raised in the northeast part of the San Fernando Valley. She attended James Monroe High School in the 1980s and considers herself a true Valley girl. She is the first in her family to have attended and graduated college having attended CSUN for her BA and MA degrees (In Psychology and Counseling, respectively) and her EDD in Community College Higher Education from USC.
Where is your family from?
I grew up in a family of immigrants who arrived in Los Angeles in the early 1960s. My mother and my grandparents had previously emigrated from Bari, Italy to Buenos Aires, Argentina in the early 1950s. They remained in Argentina for 10 years until they were able to join their family in Los Angeles. Many people don’t know that my mother was born in Italy, and she was not Argentine because she spoke Spanish so well. My mother married my Argentine father in the early 1960s and together, with my maternal extended family, moved to Los Angeles where I was born. My family had two immigration experiences in less than 10 years.
Why did you choose to work at GCC?
I chose to work at GCC because I had just moved to Glendale during graduate school and acquired a teaching job at GUSD, Glendale High School. I taught some ESL and classes for the At Risk program. I love working at Glendale College (Both Verdugo and Garfield Campuses) because I live in Glendale and enjoy the diverse community I live in. The different languages, foods and cultures make me feel right at home.
Do you have a favorite memory working at GCC?
Finding out that I was receiving the William L. Parker award in 2015 during the graduation speech and receiving the award from Andy Young. With the money from the award, I donated 50% to start the first Black Scholars scholarship. The remaining 50% I donated to the AB 540 scholarship.
Also receiving the Glendale Latino Association woman of the year award in 2006 for my work with a Latino outreach day for prospective students and their parents. Dr. Davitt was there to congratulate me and I still have the picture. These awards were meaningful to me because they were both about service to my community. This is what motivates me.
What about your job makes you proud?
Meeting and working with amazing people. Many of my lifelong friends I have met while working at Glendale Community College. I am very grateful for this wonderful opportunity.
One thing about you that might surprise your co-workers.
I danced on stage in the GCC Auditorium as part of the Faculty/Student dance production in 2002.
Other interests, hobbies, career achievements?
Spending time walking in the Glendale area. I also love to travel and I look forward to going overseas again.
I was the Guild President at GCC for two terms, I represented Student Services on the Academic Senate for several years and I still contribute to the senate to support student scholarships.
A person who inspires you.
My mother Angela, who endured a lot to be in the U.S. for myself and my siblings. Additionally, my sons Luis (Anthony) and Pablo. Both of my sons are proud graduates of GCC. Once a Vaq, always a Vaq! They are both in graduate school, with Anthony pursing his PhD at UCLA in Chicanx/Central American Studies and Pablo doing his MA degree in Economics at Cal State L.A. They are my inspiration.
Favorite movies/TV Shows?
I am a big fan of documentary types of shows that highlight history, archeology, Hollywood history and anything about Los Angeles.
Favorite magazine/book?
“L.A. Ghost Story” by Douglas Day. My life partner wrote this book as a mystery, paranormal, love of L.A. Many of the places we went to together are highlighted in this book.
Favorite food?
I am a self-proclaimed foodie. I enjoy trying out new restaurants in the Los Angeles area. Mexican, California Cuisine, Mediterranean, seafood and tacos from a good taco truck all work for me.
Favorite sport to watch or play?
Futbol (Soccer), especially when it is the Mundial or World Cup and especially when Messi and Argentina win like last year. That game was a heart stopper for me.
Describe your perfect day off?
Going for a walk at the paths behind the Griffith Park Observatory and looking over the city. This would be followed by lunch or dinner at one of my favorite restaurants like The Smokehouse in Burbank near Warner Bros. studios.
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