The Peralta Community College District’s Board of Trustees approved a new, short-term position under the new safety model, received updates from student government, and celebrated district community members with the Chancellor’s award during their regular meeting on April 14.
The chancellor’s “Flying Pig” award recognizes faculty and classified professionals, administrators, students and community partners that “go above and beyond to support student success and strengthen our communities.”
Among those recognized were students who demonstrated “leadership” with their work on the Transformation Taskforce and the academic and faculty senate presidents from each of the four Peralta colleges and district office.
Announcements from student government
Associated Students of College of Alameda (ASCOA) president, Samuel Reyngoudt, announced that Senator Giselle Ramos was confirmed as the student government’s secretary on March 13, filling the previously vacant position. Reyngoudt also announced that a new senator, Angel Reyes, was confirmed, totaling the council to 12 active members.
Reyngoudt also reported that ASCOA approved a fully online club chartering form and packet to help “[streamline] the process for students who wish to start new clubs.”
The current president of the Associated Students of Merritt College (ASMC), Davina Malbrough, announced that she was selected as the president of the Student Senate of California Community Colleges (SSCCC) Region Five, which represents several community colleges in the Central Valley. SSCCC is a student-run organization that represents community college students across the state.
Malbrough will graduate this May after serving in her role for a year and a half. According to Merritt’s student government election results, Ronniedith Dimapasoc was elected as the new ASMC president and will start this coming fall.
Election results for all four colleges are posted on each student government website.
Consent Calendar
The consent Calendar is a list of agenda items that are approved in one motion by the board.
Academic Affairs
The board approved the extension of a grant agreement with the California Community Colleges Board of Governors that will be used to continue supporting the Umoja program at CoA. The program is intended to serve African American student success as they aim to increase retention, graduation and transfer rates of the students it serves. The grant will be extended through Aug. 31.
Through a College Career Access Pathways agreement (CCAP) the Peralta Community College District will now be partnering with San Leandro Unified School District to offer dual enrollment courses to high school students.
California Assembly Bill 288 allows community colleges to partner with school districts to offer pathways for students who may not be “college bound” or are under-represented in higher education.
Peralta currently holds a CCAP agreement with the Oakland Unified School District.
The Board of Trustees also approved changes and addition of courses to be offered at the district. The courses and program recommendations are based on demands for the fields in Multimedia Arts, Digital Imaging, and Introduction to Photogrammetry. The district will deactivate several nursing and medical courses by the Fall 2026 semester.
Facilities
The district will make a final payment of $941,044.28 to Alten Construction for the completion of the College of Alameda Transportation Technology Center project in November.
A partial release of the funds in retention was issued in the amount of $888,412.9 in September. The total amount of funds in retention for the project was $1,829,457.19.
The total cost of the Transportation Technology Center’s construction was $36,589,143.85.
Trustees approved a $57,320.00 contract with King Construction Inspection, Inc. to provide inspection services for the Laney Student Center Improvements Project.
The Laney Theatre Modernization project is underway and a new ratification of change order has been approved by the board. DL Falk Construction Inc, the company in charge of the project, required an additional charge for demolition, ceiling insulation, concrete slab and more. The additional charge will be of $20,355.79
The board also approved a $677,809.82 agreement “incorporating” Sourcewell Contract with C and S Flooring Systems, Inc. dba Future Flooring Group to replace flooring at College of Alameda, Laney College, and the district service center.
JKAE Architects will provide “planning support services” for the Laney Tower Relocation project. JKAE will operate as an architectural consultant to the district for the project. The board approved the contract amount to not exceed $100,000.
The district approved a contract with digital textbook company BibliU to operate each bookstore across the district. According to the agreement, BibliU will provide “all management, labor, equipment, goods, and supplies necessary to operate professional in-person and online stores.”.
The item originally appeared in the March 24 board meeting but was pulled from the agenda.
Human Resources
The board approved employment contracts with math instructional assistant Tobias M. Darci-Maher, to begin on May 4, and bus driver Oscar Warren, who will work for the district from March 25 through June 30.
Executive Director for Marketing, Communication, and Public Relations, Mark Johnson, will retire on July 1 after working at the district for seven years. Additionally, the Dean of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at Berkeley City College, Mozell Person has resigned effective June 30.
The district approved the creation of the Community Safety Operations Advisor position. The position will pay $64 an hour and is expected to support the Director of Community Safety/ Chief in planning, organization, documentation, policy development and more. This position will be short-term.
Editor’s note: the faculty advisor for The Citizen Eleni Gastis, was one of the Flying Pig award recipients.
