SBCC Commmunity e-Newsletter
SBCC Commmunity e-Newsletter
SBCC The Bridge

Santa Barbara City College's Community Newsletter

MAY 2021

Left: Associated Student Government President Carson Mitchell; Right: Student Commencement Speaker Ezekiel Contreras Forrest.
Perseverance. Resilience. These are just two of the qualities demonstrated by the Class of 2021 during a year of unprecedented challenges. Watch the video applauding their accomplishments.

Nearly 1600 students participated in the virtual commencement ceremony held on May 7. Over 4,300 degrees and certificates were awarded, 608 students graduated with honors and 20 graduates are veterans.

SBCC Foundation and Explore Ecology receive $100,000 EPA grant

SBCC, Explore Ecology and five community partners have teamed up under a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Education Program to create the Santa Barbara Ecological and Edible (SBEE) Garden Project, a network of community gardens that will promote biodiversity, increase access to locally grown food and foster a connection between the community and natural ecosystems. Read more...

Keeping the Promise 

In 2016, the SBCC Foundation launched the SBCC Promise, offering local high school graduates the opportunity to attend SBCC full-time, free of charge for two years. Since then, approximately 5,000 students have benefitted.
Juwan Vega, one such SBCC Promise student, successfully graduated from SBCC and transferred to Cal State Los Angeles to pursue his bachelor’s degree in business. Read more about the SBCC Promise as well as Juwan’s story and others...

SBCC instructor is new Fire Chief

The Santa Barbara City Administrator recently announced that Interim Fire Chief Chris Mailes had been chosen to take the job permanently, after a “very competitive search” with 37 applicants from around the country. Chris is an adjunct instructor in SBCC’s Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) program who has been with SBCC for over 20 years. Chris describes himself as “a local kid,” having attended local schools, from elementary grades through SBCC and UCSB. Read the story...

Major renovation project underway at La Playa Stadium

La Playa Stadium is currently closed while undergoing reconstruction to replace its 11-year-old field turf. The project is scheduled to be completed by Aug. 21.

Dave Loveton mourned at Athletic Round Table luncheon

On April 28, beloved Sports Information Director and longtime member of our SBCC community, Dave Loveton, died peacefully at Serenity House after a long battle with cancer. Dave handled the statistics and game recaps for each team, updated rosters and schedules, and posted them to the athletics website. Read tributes to Dave by his SBCC colleagues. He was also mourned by Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table.

2020-2021 Outstanding Student Awards announced

Each year, the Office of Student Life presents the Outstanding Student of the Year Awards. Selected by faculty and staff, these awards honor students who have excelled scholastically or who have provided exceptional service to the college.
photo by Desiree Erdmann

Cameron Olandt receives the 2020-2021 William Olivarius Biology Scholarship

Cameron Olandt is this year’s recipient of the The William Olivarius Biology Scholarship, the oldest scholarship offered at SBCC. It is awarded to students who have declared a major in one of the life sciences and are pursuing an associate’s degree from the biological sciences department. Cameron has been on the President’s Honor Roll every semester since he started at SBCC. His future plans include earning his bachelor’s degree in biology and then pursuing a career in research or medicine. Read more...

Eleven SBCC students awarded scholarships from the Rotary Club

Screen capture by Ryan P. Cruz
The Rotary Club of Montecito awarded educational scholarships in the amount of $1,250 each to 11 SBCC students during a virtual award celebration on May 4.

Approximately 45 people attended the online celebration, which was co-hosted by the SBCC Foundation. Directors introduced the scholarships and students before the recipients spoke about their awards. The award winners came from a variety of departments and backgrounds. Read the story in The Channels...

SBCC Performing, Visual and Media Arts Pop-Up Exhibition

Left: “March for Immigration Reform” by Andrew Stull; right: “Compost” by Megan Vega
Now through May 31, the entire community is invited to visit an online pop-up exhibition featuring the work of SBCC students from the departments of American Ethnic Studies, Art, Film and Television Production, Graphic Design, Photography, Journalism, and Multimedia Arts and Technologies.

Students worked closely with faculty to create and articulate a body of thought-provoking work inspired by the theme of this year’s All-SBCC Student Conference hosted by the Honors Program, “Justice: Environmental, Economic, Racial.”

The exhibition, which represents a capstone to each student’s course of study and academic experience, is available to view virtually at www.artspopupsbcc.com. It is the first exhibition presenting student work from across departments in the Career and Academic Pathway (CAP) as part of the Guided Pathways initiative at SBCC. 
For a complete list of the students who participated, read the press release here...

SBCC Music paves the way for music departments throughout Southern California to move programs online with new technology

On October 27, 2020, SBCC became the first school in the world to present a live, remote big band concert, thanks to the pioneering efforts in the field of new technologies by Associate Professor Jim Mooy and Laboratory Teaching Assistant James Watson. Since then, SBCC Music has served as the model for presenting synchronized live music by musicians playing from their homes, often separated by several hundreds of miles. In addition, Mooy and Watson have been assisting music departments throughout Southern California put their music programs online. UC Santa Barbara, La Colina Junior High, Santa Barbara High School, Moorpark College, Claremont College, Santa Monica High School and Agoura Hills High School have all benefitted from their guidance and support. 
Describing the experience, Mooy commented, “It has been very rewarding to see these music programs thrive despite COVID-19 restrictions. However, the most rewarding part is hearing the students rehearse and improve using the technology. The ability to create music together again makes the online experience immersive, immediate and fun!” 

You can check out a number of recordings of live performances by SBCC Music on its YouTube channel...

Emma Trelles named Santa Barbara’s Poet Laureate

In early April, the Santa Barbara County Office of Arts and Culture announced that Emma Trelles, SBCC composition and creative writing instructor, has been selected to serve as the next Poet Laureate for the City of Santa Barbara. Since 2014, she has curated the Mission Poetry Series, featuring Latinx and diverse poets from Santa Barbara, throughout California and as far away as El Salvador. Read more...

SBCC Office of Communications wins six CCPRO awards

At the 2021 Community College Public Relations Organization (CCPRO) conference held virtually in April, SBCC was awarded six awards in the following categories:
Electronic Collateral, Silver: 2020 Commencement webpage

Social Media marketing, Bronze: For marketing efforts focused on increasing enrollment through creative advertising campaigns, both in-state and out of state.

Social Media Management, Bronze: For communicating key COVID-19 related messages and maintaining engagement with students through creative social media content.

News Release, Bronze: “SBCC Theatre Arts safely overcomes social distancing obstacles” (Read it here...)
Photo Awards, (2) Bronze: Winning photographs were taken by two student workers in the Office of Communications (see below).
Charles Cropsey Photography Award, Bronze: Climate March, Boxuan Zhan
Manipulated photo, Bronze: Girl on the Hill, Trinh Tran

Upcoming SBCC Board of Trustees Meeting - May 27


Due to the COVID-19 crisis, and in compliance with the Governor’s Executive Orders N-29-20 and N-33-20, the Board has temporarily suspended physical meetings. To watch via livestream, you can find the link after 1 p.m. on the day of the meeting posted on SBCC Official social media channels:
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn


The Board meeting will be captioned and if there are any other accommodations required, contact jtuazon@pipeline.sbcc.edu by 4:00 p.m. of the day before the Board meeting. The agenda for Board meetings can be found at least 72 hours prior to the meeting on the Board webpage. Past meetings can be viewed here: www.youtube.com/user/SBCCBoardofTrustees.

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