October 7 Flex Day

Formstack forms connect people across the district with the services and teams they need, from students applying for support to faculty and staff submitting requests. This session shows you how to build forms that are accessible to everyone, regardless of ability or the tools they use to get online, and that keep personal information secure. 

Did you know that Skyline College has an art gallery that hosts professional and student artists? To call in those who “don’t get art”, the session title references Tina Turner's ambivalence about love. Don’t fear! Instead, come to this session to learn how art can be used for personal enrichment and innovative and interdisciplinary pedagogy. The session includes a tour of the current exhibition, opportunities for discussion, and a brainstorm session for class assignments supported by colleagues who use the gallery for teaching and learning.

What amazing thing have you created with AI? For this interactive Flex Day session, bring one AI-powered creation from your teaching or professional work that you’re proud of. It might be an assignment, activity, syllabus, lesson, student-support tool, or something completely unexpected! We’ll also be joined by special guests Professor Sima Karve and Professor Tony Viertel, who will kick things off by sharing some of their own AI awesomeness and the creative ways they’re putting AI into practice. No formal presentation needed! Bring your AI-powered creation, show it, and share the story behind it.

Chat with Skyline College faculty on how they have used AI tools to transform learning for their students. Learn about Kenny Gonzalez' Career Coach that he built in NectirAI, a free tool available in Canvas, and the accounting tutor developed by Hellen Zhang, and the wonderful content Christopher Branco has developed for psychology. Bring your ideas and questions! Classified professionals may still be interested in how the assistants were developed, as this can also apply to student services. Facilitated by Andrea Fuentes from CTTL.

Generative AI makes it easy for students to bypass the process of learning. But it's also prompted faculty to ask what we're really asking students to do, and why? Rather than treating AI as something to ban or catch, we'll hear from a panel of faculty across the disciplines who redesigned their own courses and/or assignments in response to AI — not as experts with all the answers, but as colleagues exploring ways to appeal to students' desire to learn. Panelists will share specific strategies and/or revised assignments, and workshop participants will be invited to contribute to the dialogue.

Skyline College offers robust supports and opportunities for students, but navigating our systems and processes can sometimes be challenging. In this hands-on session, we will explore how emerging AI tools like Playlab can bridge this gap by delivering accurate, relevant, and timely support the students. With a particular emphasis on matriculation, counseling support, and first-year experience, participants will spend the majority of the time actively brainstorming Playlab bot roles, identifying necessary resource materials, and mapping optimal website placement for maximum student impact.

Hosted by First Year Experience (FYE) and members of Skyline’s Birder’s Brigade, join us for a campus bird walk where we will view and identify various birds that are found on our campus. Birding offers students and faculty many benefits; in fact, as Northern Carolina State University study found that “university students who went birding reported higher gains in subjective well being and more reduction in psychological distress (Forbes). Ever wonder why ravens croak and crows caw? How did the killdeer earn its name? All this and a few dad jokes.

Neurodiversity in Higher Education: Understanding the Landscape provides an introduction to neurodiversity, including key concepts, terminology, prevalence, and current trends affecting higher education. Participants will examine common misconceptions, consider the diversity of neurodivergent experiences, and reflect on observations from their own professional settings. This session establishes the foundation for understanding neurodiversity as an important aspect of today’s college environment.

This forum invites our faculty to a safe place where we can discuss the changes that AI is having on our classes. Come tell what you are seeing & come hear what others experiencing. The first step to managing the new AI world is understanding what is actually happening in our colleagues’ classrooms at Skyline College.

As a touchpoint between CPRs, the PRU is an opportunity to reflect on your program’s progress in achieving goals, capture insights gained through assessing SLOs, and ensure that certain tasks such as updating the program website have been completed. Join me in an informal work session to draft responses to the PRU prompts in a supportive environment and get answers to your questions. This work session is for programs whose PRU is due this semester!

Come and learn about the benefits of board games and enjoy the company of your colleagues over a cooperative or competitive game! We'll have a a short (10 mins or less) presentation on the benefits of board gaming cognitively, emotionally, and socially, followed by open board gaming time! Feel free to bring your favorite board game to share.

We've talked about workforce and economic data. We've compared future industry needs and Skyline's academic programs. We've talked to employees across the college to learn about what we're already doing that supports our diverse learners. We've talked through potential programmatic elements that would support adult and non-traditional learners achieve ACE goals. So what's next? Putting it all together! This interactive session will take all of our conversations thus far and start building the blocks needed to develop and implement a adult learner focused Enrollment Management Plan.

Step into the future of immersive worlds, which might be later on, embedded into your lesson plan in education with a hands-on exploration of Meta VR headsets designed specifically for faculty. In this interactive session, you will experience virtual reality environments firsthand and discover practical ways to integrate XR technologies into your curriculum. Whether you aim to enhance active learning, simulate complex scenarios, or boost student engagement, this session equips you with the pedagogical tools, technical foundations, and strategic steps needed to bring VR into your classroom.

In this interactive workshop we will go beyond compliance with federal law to explore how digital accessibility removes barriers to learning, then use tools built into Canvas to ensure all students can access your courses. Although ADA Title II focuses on digital content, the underlying accessibility principles apply to all instructional materials. Come prepared to use Canvas tools to improve digital accessibility in one of your courses or student-facing communications.

Let's continue the conversation we started in August! Now that the Fall semester has begun, let's share best practices, strategies, and updated with one another.

Students regularly say that textbook costs are a barrier to college success. This issue is especially significant for students from underserved groups. As we enter the final year of a Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) grant, join us to explore ways to select, adapt, and create affordable course materials. We’ll share experiences, preview OER platforms, and highlight opportunities for learning and individualized support. Whether you’d like to launch a new ZTC project or build on your ongoing efforts, we hope to share ideas and resources to help you take the next step.

The CARE system is Skyline's internal space to connect distressed students to resources. Distressed students can be housing/food insecure, showing distressed behavior/mental health issues, or really anything else. We'll talk about how to make a CARE request, what happens when you do, and discuss what CARE requests are for, and what they're not appropriate for.

Join us for a quiet, intentional session designed to help participants step back, reconnect with what is already going well in their work, and nurture those strengths through two core questions: What is working? and How do I build on it? Rather than a presentation or group discussion, this session offers an uninterrupted, low-pressure space for personal self-reflection. You’ll spend time noticing the conditions that support your best work and exploring how to bring more of that energy into your daily practice.