Week of April 14, 2025

April 14, 2025

We are officially in the final month before Commencement, and the energy on campus is undeniable! From large-scale events to intimate celebrations, our community is showing up for one another and for our students. Among the numerous campus events this week, on Thursday, SBVC will host College and Career Day facilitated by the Office of Supervisor Joe Baca, Jr. On Friday, I will participate in Final Interviews for an Assistant Professor in Geography. Thank you for continuing to lead with love, humility, and hope.

Week of April 7, 2025

April 7, 2025

Last Saturday, I spent the day with our team from Honors at UCR. It was a proud moment for SBVC to hear the keynote speaker, Donna Arteaga Alvarez, who is an alumna from Valley College. I was inspired to hear our students present, moderate, and engage in this meaningful conference. Special thanks to our faculty for supporting our students--thank you Carol Damgen, Amy Mills, Ed Gomez, and the entire team. This week, I will meet with the Allied Health programs on Friday to discuss showcasing our signature programs as part of the College year-long centennial celebration. On Friday afternoon, I will meet with CSUSB to advance our HSI and BSI initiatives and our College goal to be the #1 feeder school for CSUSB.

Week of March 31, 2025

March 31, 2025

Last week was full of meaningful moments, heartfelt conversations, and progress at College Council. My day was full of excitement last Wednesday as we hosted the farewell to the LA Building, a site visit from Umoja statewide, and the Cesar Chavez birthday celebration from our MEChA Student Club.

Week of March 25, 2025

March 25, 2025

Welcome back from Spring Break! I hope each of you had the chance to enjoy a little rest, reflect, reconnect, and re-energize as we head into the final stretch of the semester. There is a lot of excitement ahead, and I am so proud of how far we have come together this spring.

Week of March 17, 2025

March 17, 2025

Spring Break is officially here! The Commencement stage is fast approaching. Last week, I had the opportunity to connect with community college leaders at Cal Poly Pomona for the 2025 Community College Leadership Summit. We received very informative presentations about collaborations to strengthen enrollment, AI, and dual enrollment. I also had the opportunity to explore downtown San Bernardino looking at revitalization efforts and potential collaborations for SBVC. In addition to hosting the Board of Trustees meeting, our College provided the Trustees with a tour of instructional areas. Thank you, Interim Vice President of Instruction, Leticia Hector, Interim Dean Lorrie Burnham, and Interim Dean Davena Burns-Peters for coordinating a stellar tour! Special thanks to our students who presented and our stellar faculty, including Dr. Mandi Batalo, Tim Colbert, Dr. Fernando Gomez, Dr. Thomas Lechuga, and Tatiana Vasquez.

Week of March 10, 2025

March 10, 2025

The ribbon-cutting event for the Applied Technology Building on March 6 was next level! The cold weather and the rain did not take away from the best ribbon-cutting ceremony of my community college career. Thank you to every single member of our campus and district community who contributed to this historic moment.

Week March 4, 2025

March 4, 2025

Welcome to Women’s History Month at SBVC! This week, some of our teammates are participating in Conferences and trainings. For example, VPSS Yvonne Gutierrez-Sandoval is with members of our team at the CCCSFAA Financial Aid Conference until Thursday before joining teammates at the Vision Aligned Reporting Convening on March 7th. The Interim Vice President of Instruction is covering Student Services while Yvonne is away from campus.

Week of February 25

February 25, 2025

Greetings, Wolverines! February is almost in the books at San Bernardino Valley College. It has been a pleasure walking the campus this past week—observing joy and community-building among our faculty, students, and management team. I especially want to thank Amy Avelar and Sheri Lillard for engaging conversations where I got to experience joy exuding from their passion for teaching and passion for students.