January 2025 Opening Day
Visit the CTTL WebsiteBuilding the Future with Heart and Mind
Following our October Flex Day on Building Bridges and Community, we continue the themes of building community by using our hearts and minds to work together for a more equitable future.
This Opening Day and Flex Day will be primarily in person, with the emphasis on building community and humanity. Our hopes is to build a thriving learning and working environment, and to support Skyline College's goal to become an antiracist institution.
We hope you will join us in person for this special day and invite all classified, faculty, and staff to come when you can. There are sessions of general interest as well as faculty-specific sessions.
There will be an emphasis on mindfulness with including a wonderful presentation on the science of happiness with Flourish.ip, art journaling, and dance sessions.
January 10 Schedule at a Glance
Please note that the opening and keynote event are in-person only! Online options are available from 10:30 - 4:00 pm.
Breakfast and Welcome, 8:15 - 9:00 am | Bldg 12 - Farallon Room
Opening Day Session, 9:00 - 10:20 am | Bldg 12 - Farallon Room
Morning Breakout Sessions, 10:35 - 12:00 pm | Building 6
Lunch and Tabling, 12:00 - 1:00 pm | Bldg 6 - Fireside Dining
Early Afternoon Breakout Sessions 1:00-2:20 pm | Building 6 and Online
Late Afternoon Breakout Sessions, 2:30-3:30 pm | Building 6 and Online
Flex Day Schedule PDF Version (coming soon)
All SMCCCD full-time faculty members have a total of 6 days (30 hours) of Flex obligations to complete, while day/evening obligations vary based on semester assignments. Failure by full-time faculty to fulfill this obligation may result in a reduction of pay.
The District Academic Senate issued a clarifying memo on Flex Day obligations for 2024-25 along with the form. Full-time faculty complete the form annually with their Dean (new). See the Memo for details.
NOTE: Part-time faculty may be compensated for attending Flex Days regardless of which day they teach or if they teach asynchronously. Part-time faculty attending flex day(s) should fill out both the Flex Day Reporting Form and the Adjunct-OL Faculty Timesheet and submit them to their division assistant. Contact CTTL with any questions about flex reporting. Please see the Collective Bargaining Agreement for further details, Article 7.11.1 for full-time faculty and Article 7.11.2 for part-time faculty.
Timesheet Instructions Tutorial Video from AFT 1493 (Fall 2024)
If you are a faculty member unable to participate in any of the planned on-campus Flex Day activities and would like to know about alternatives available to you, discuss your situation and options with your Division Dean.
SMCCCD provides a flexible calendar for staff development in accordance with California
Code of Regulations, Title 5,
Division 6, § 55724*. There are six (6) Flex Days in the 2024-2025 academic calendar:
● Monday and Tuesday, August 12 and 13, 2024, and Wednesday, October 9, 2024.
● Thursday and Friday, January 9 and 10, 2025, and Thursday, April 17, 2025.
Per Title 5, all Flex Day obligations are on “flexible time.” All faculty members
are encouraged to attend Opening Day
activities on Monday, August 12, 2024 and Convocation at Skyline College on Tuesday,
August 15, 2024. As of 2018,
SMCCCD requires mandatory attendance at two Flex Days for full-time faculty, while
the other four Flex Days remain on
flexible time. The mandatory Flex Days for full-time faculty are August 13, 2024 and
January 10, 2025.
You can click the Register buttons on the Agenda and Schedule tab for each session, or to bulk register:
1. Go to the SMCCCD Employee Portal and login with your SSO credentials:
2. After you enter your SMCCD credential you will see this page; click the Vision Resource Center tile:
3. Once there, click the Events Calendar Button link to go to the desired date. Be careful to select Skyline Events, CSM also uses the VRC to register for their events.
4.Click the name of each session you choose and Register by clicking the blue “Request” button.
You have now registered for the session. You will receive an email confirmation from skylinecttl@smccd.edu and a calendar invite.
ⓘ VRC Registration
If you are denied access, it means one of two things:
- You are not signed in with your employee Single Sign-On. Please sign in with SMCCCD OneLogin and try again.
- Your primary job needs to be updated to enable acess to the VRC. Please request this update, so we can promptly resolve the issue for you. NOTE: This can take up to 48 hours to resolve. After you submit the request to update your primary job, if this is not resolved by Opening Day, simply go ahead and attend the sessions you are interested in and make sure to write your name in the sign-in sheet. We can credit you retroactively in the VRC once your primary job is updated.
If you experience any issues or need an ADA accommodation, please contact Andrea Fuentes (fuentesandrea@smccd.edu)
Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning - CTTL
Building 5, Room 5-118
Email: skylinecttl@smccd.edu
Phone: 650-738-7080
For professional learning/development inquiries contact:
Andrea Fuentes: fuentesandrea@smccd.edu
Breakfast and Check-In | Building 12 Farrallon Room | 8:15 - 9:00 AM
Breakfast and Registration Instructions
Even if you are not attending the full Flex Day sessions, please take a moment to
register if you are going to the continental breakfast. We so much appreciate it
and look forward to being in community with you!
REGISTER FOR BREAKFAST
Remember, when selecting your sessions, there are tracks for Equity, Technology/Innovation,
Health/Safety/Wellness, etc. which are also color coded. You can register for all
sessions in the Vision Resource Center (log into portal first) by going to January
10 on the Events Calendar and following the prompts for each session.
Opening Keynote | Building 12 | 9:00-10:20 AM
Welcome to Opening Day
Newin Orante and Ingrid Vargas
Building 12 Farallon Room | 9:00 - 10:20 AM
Fruitcake marzipan muffin candy I love chocolate bar dessert brownie. Donut I love gingerbread candy chupa chups cake donut chocolate cake caramels. Apple pie cupcake halvah tootsie roll I love I love. Chupa chups I love topping muffin sweet roll liquorice fruitcake brownie bonbon. Bear claw soufflé jelly beans I love sweet. Topping jelly-o brownie I love tootsie roll danish lemon drops I love caramels. Gummi bears cookie apple pie sesame snaps sesame snaps toffee tootsie roll fruitcake. Icing lollipop sugar plum I love I love toffee chupa chups. Caramels croissant fruitcake gummi bears powder muffin powder. ALL classified staff, adjunct, administrators, and full time faculty are welcome!
Morning Breakout Sessions | Building 6 | 10:30 - 12:00
The Science of Happiness and Wellbeing
Dr. Zuan xxx, Flourish.IP
Building 6, Fireside Dining | 10:30 - 12:00 PM
This is a can't miss session with the founders of Flourish.ip, an ai-based wellness app for social good. Learn about the science of happiness and wellbeing in this interactive session, download the free app, and get goodies for yourself and you students. Perfect for faculty, classified professionals, and administrators!
Integrating the Arts into Your Teaching Practices
Kim Saccio
Building 6 Room 203 | 10:30 - 12:00 PM
Join us for
CTTL Tools and Services: Enhancing Instruction through Video
Terri Hannon
CTTL 5-134 (Video Studio) | 10:30 - 12:00 PM
Tour our new Video Studio set up at CTTL! Educational videos can enhance student engagement and understanding in all modes of delivery. When done correctly, educational video offers visual storytelling, diverse perspectives, visualization of complex concepts, and real-world examples. By incorporating videos, teachers can create more dynamic and impactful learning experiences. Join us for an overview of video tools and services available through the CTTL and learn how you can improve your students’ learning experience using tools like Panopto, Play Posit, Lightboard, and the CTTL Video Studio. Participants are encouraged to bring a laptop but not required.
Lunch and Tabling | Building 6 Fireside Dining | 12:00 - 12:50 PM
Lunch and Building Community
Please join us for a light lunch in Building 6, Fireside Dining. We will have tabling
from Flourish and PTK.
As always, we request you register for catering purposes; even if you are not attending
the Flex Day sessions.
Register for Lunch
Early Afternoon Flex Sessions | Building 6 or Online | 1:00 - 2:20 PM
Editing the Skyline College Website
Aria Frangos
Online | 1:00 - 2:00
Whether you've edited before or can’t recall the last time you logged in, join us to get up to speed on making updates to the Skyline College website! Along with a refresher on making basic edits & uploading new content, you’ll hear about strategies and tools to market your program, integrate event calendars, follow best practices in accessibility, SEO, and user experience, utilize mobile-responsive designs, and create content that is student-friendly, on-brand, and easy to upkeep. Resources for future reference will be provided, because who doesn’t forget how to find that one button to do that one thing?
Art Journaling for Creative Expression
Andrea Fuentes
Building 6 Room 202-204 | 1:00 - 2:30 PM
❝Art journaling is an open-ended form of art on loose paper or in a bound journal where the focus is on the process of creating and of self-expression rather than a particular end result.❞ Bring any papers, memorabiliia you would like to incorporate. We will have lots of art supplies available for your use as well. Great for all employees.
Zumba Dance Fitness
Liza Erpelo
Dance Studio Building 3 | 1:00 - 2:00
coming soon
Universal Design for Learning and the New ADA
Kim Saccio
6-203 and online | 1:00 - 2:20 PM
coming soon
Late Afternoon Flex Sessions | Building 6 and Online | 2:30 - 3:30 or 4:00 PM
Introduction to Panopto Video
Chris Smith
Online | 2:30 - 3:30 PM
coming soon
Propose a Workshop for Flex Day
Have an idea or some experience to share? To support diverse programming that meets the needs of our campus community, the CTTL is requesting proposals for Flex Day sessions.
Now accepting Flex Day and Adjunct Symposium proposals for Spring 2025, for Skyline College only (NO district wide proposals).
We are looking for tracks around Excellence in Teaching, Community Building, Technology and Innovation (including Online Teaching), Health/Safety/Wellness, and Equity/Access. Our two top priorities are Equity/Access and Thriving Work/Learning Environment.
Guidelines for Presenters
Prospective Presenters - The CTTL has adapted the Awareness, Knowledge, and Skills (AKS) framework by Connerley and Pedersen (2005) to develop our own framework of constructing and facilitating workshops/training.
The adaptation of AKS is as a way to identify if the workshop is building awareness (creating the foundational information about your topic such as definitions, historical timelines/context); relating knowledge (interpreting the research, policies, or other resources related to the topic); as well as implementing skills (applying best practices/strategies). Workshops should either focus on one or all of the adapted AKS framework to build upon the work currently being done within our college and across the district. Using this framework will also further inform the participants of the purpose and outcomes of the workshop.
Need support with developing a workshop proposal? Have questions or need additional information? ContactAndrea Fuentes, PD Coordinator.
Previous Flex Days
Access materials from earlier flex days in the CTTL Faculty Repository, Professional Development section.
Flex Day Archives
CTTL maintains copies of slide decks, handouts, and some video recordings from previous flex days. You can browse the CTTL Faculty Repository for this information. If you have any questions, please contact Andrea Fuentes in the CTTL.
PD and Flex Day Repository