Jeanne Stalker Puts a Friendly Face on the Welcome Center

Jeanne’s work coordinating the Welcome Center helps the student experience.

 

Jeanne Stalker with son Anthony (middle) at a Giants game.

Jeanne Stalker embodies the friendly attitude that defines Cañada College. Her efforts coordinating and transforming the college’s Welcome Center and new student orientation and assessment program provide a positive first impression for students.

That’s why Kim Lopez, Dean of Counseling and Enrollment Services, nominated Jeanne as this year’s Classified Employee of the Year from Cañada. All three colleges in the San Mateo County Community College District - Cañada, College of San Mateo, and Skyline - will forward a Classified Employee of the Year nominee to the Board of Trustees. One will be chosen to be forwarded to the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office to represent the district in the state's Community College Classified Employee of the Year Awards Program.

“Jeanne has developed a new model for orientation, making it more streamlined and consistent and easier for students,” Lopez said. “She has established a new schedule for assessment that makes it more flexible for students and their busy schedules.”

Jeanne says she enjoys working with and assisting students as they enter or return to college but says making them feel welcome on campus is a team effort.

“Our Welcome Center staff and student assistants are amazing to work with,” she said. “They really care about our students.”

Jeanne began working with the district in 1988 as a receptionist then became staff assistant in PE/Athletics. She is still connected with athletics as a member of the Cañada College Athletics Hall of Fame Committee. “I really enjoyed working in athletics with athletic eligibility. “Watching the hard work, dedication, development, and competitive spirit of the student athletes under the leadership of our superb coaches didn’t seem like work at all. I truly enjoyed being part of a great athletics era at Cañada when we hosted numerous regional and state playoff events. That’s why we decided to initiate an Athletic Hall of Fame.

In addition to volunteering with the Hall of Fame, Jeanne volunteers at her son’s school and she’s a team mom for his little league team, organizing group events to the San Francisco Giants games.

“The best job I have, and ever will have, is being a mom to my seven-year-old son, Anthony,” she said. “I have a much greater appreciation for what my mom did in raising five children, alone. It has opened my eyes to the world and how precious children are, that they must be cared for, loved and given a solid foundation.”

Jeanne said being a mom also makes her more aware of those children who are not as fortunate so she always participates in the One Warm Coat drive and Toys for Tots program during the winter and the Junior Giants glove drive and community fund events in the spring.

Jeanne said she enjoys working at Cañada because it is smaller and provides a more personal experience for students. “We tend to know the students and sometimes their families as they embark on their educational journey,” she said. “Overall, we are fortunate to work in a district with strong leadership as we head into the future.”

Cañada College to Offer Free Training Program Aimed at Veterans and Dislocated Workers

The program begins Feb. 25 and will train students in customer relations with an emphasis in the retail and hospitality industries.

The Cañada College Menlo Park Center is teaming up with PeninsulaWorks – Menlo Park to offer a free training program designed to help veterans and dislocated workers learn the customer relations skills necessary to obtain a job in the retail or hospitality industries.

The program begins Monday, Feb. 25 and runs 16 weeks. Classes will be held Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. with a lab on Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Students must be a high school graduate or equivalent, have the right to work in the United States, be comfortable with the English language, and a resident of California for at least the last year-and-a-half.

All classes will be held at Job Train at the Menlo Park Center, 1200 O'Brien Drive, in East Menlo Park.

“The Cañada College Customer Relations Certificate program is intended for individuals looking to refresh or build general customer relation skills,” said Jan Roecks, interim dean of Business, Workforce, and Athletics at the college. “This is an exciting opportunity for veterans or those who have been out of the job market.”

The program is funded through the Workforce Investment Act and is administered by San Mateo County.

Courses include:

 

• Beginning Computer Keyboarding or Computer Skill Building
• Computer Applications
• Human Relations in Business
• Business Writing and Presentation Methods
• Getting Started in Business the Green Sustainable Way

For more information about this training program, contact Diana Mitchell at Job Train at dmitchell@jobtrainworks.org or 650-330-6431.

Workshop Aims to Help Small Business Owners Create Financial Wisdom

The Center for Entrepreneurial Opportunities at Cañada College will host a a special workshop titled Creating Financial Wisdom aimed at helping small business owners and entrepreneurs. The workshop will be held Thursday, Feb. 28 from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. in the University Center Conference Room, Building 6, Room 102, on the Cañada campus.

Leila Perreras, business development manager at Provident Credit Union and Tara Fowler, financial adivsor at Merrill Lynch will be the guest speakers. An expert from the Wells Fargo Bank loan department will also be on hand to answer questions and offer advice.

Fowler will lead a discussion on financial literacy and financial planning as key drivers to empower small business owners and entrepreneurs in creating their own financial health, financial independence and ultimate wealth. Participants will learn valuable tips and discover new ways to:

• Budget and save their hard earned money
• Invest and plan for their future
• Gain access to capital for small business
• Qualify for loans to start and operate their business

The workshop is free and open to the public. For more information, email fraserc@smccd.edu.

Hanzimanolis Appointed to Chair Executive Committee for Part-Time Faculty

Dr. Margaret Hanzimanolis has been appointed the Chair of the Executive Committee for Part-time Faculty Discussion group, in the Modern Language Association, an association of almost 30,000 language and literature professors from the U.S. and Canada. 

The MLA is the largest disciplinary organization in the world, and it is in the midst of a major pivot toward community college professors and  adjunct faculty. Margaret serves with Maria Maisto, the President of the New Faculty Majority, an advocacy group for adjunct faculty. A motion calling for the Integrated Post-secondary Data System (IPEDS) to require institutions to report  pay for Part-time faculty came out of the committee's work in January of this  year.

Dr. Margaret Hanzimanolis participated in the Campaign for the Future of Higher Education, in Sacramento, during Jan 20-22 this year.

The "think tank" discussed three new proposals for financing higher education, including Bob Samuels' "Free Higher Education" proposal, which consists  of a plan for reallocating and rearranging existing funding streams.