August 12 Convocation and Flex Day

Growing up, were you ever flashed a card? Or forced to work a sheet? Of course, the answer is yes. So let's travel to a parallel universe where none of that ever happened. Now to practice numeracy, we build and doodle within a group of new friends. Join us!

Join us for an introductory workshop on Dual Enrollment at Skyline College. This session will provide faculty and staff with a foundational understanding of how Dual Enrollment works, its benefits for high school students, and Skyline's current programs and partnerships. Learn how dual enrollment supports equity, college readiness, and career exploration, and discover how you can get involved in supporting student success through this powerful educational pathway. Whether you're new to the concept or looking to deepen your understanding, this session will offer practical insights, current data, and space for discussion. Bring your questions and curiosity—let’s explore how we can better serve our community through early college access.

Looking to lower costs for your students without sacrificing quality? Explore the world of Open Educational Resources (OER) and Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) courses with the Skyline OER/ZTC team. Learn how to tap into already curated, powerful library resources, get acquainted with the friendly folx supporting low-cost initiatives at Skyline, and discover how you can cut costs for your students and still provide quality learning experiences. Whether you're new to OER/ZTC or would like a refresher, please join us!

Men of color in higher education face unique challenges, including feelings of isolation, low self-efficacy, and a lack of mentorship, all contributing to equity gaps in retention and completion rates. At Skyline College, programs like Black and Brown Scholars are designed to intentionally address these challenges. Inspired by E-40’s quote, “loyal to the soil,” this session will share current strategies that center students’ roots and voices, how we promote community building, and support our students' personal and academic success. In addition, we want to amplify BBS presence, elicit ideas from Instructional faculty on how they envision supporting men of color, in general, and facilitate a cross-functional (instructional faculty, counseling faculty, admin, staff, students) dialogue using case study activities.

By now everyone has probably heard of the new ADA Title II accessibility guidelines, which we covered in the January 2025 Flex Day (Universal Design and the New ADA)[possible to link to https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1abMcaQ8_LmP9t9LQuLxdEFWB1qQi3cNO/edit?usp=drive_link&ouid=102682108585667924258&rtpof=true&sd=true?? It's not in the faculty repository yet). Now it's time to roll up our sleeves and get busy. In this hands-on workshop I will walk you through the basic requirements for accessibility in Canvas courses, explaining why meeting these requirements are necessary and how digital accessibility directly supports student learning. Please bring a laptop and come prepared to use what you've learned to improve accessibility in one of your own courses.

In this hands on session, we'll explore some AI-powered tools to make building and updating course content easier.. be it lecture slides, captions, test banks, videos, imagery and more! There will be a special focus on creating and adapting OER (Open Educational Resources). We will share some simple prompt writing strategies and leave you with some ideas as to how AI can hep with OER and course content, with you still in control as the subject matter expert. Bring your laptops!

Learn practical strategies to build effective, inclusive, and supportive mentoring relationships with students. This workshop explores key mentoring principles, common challenges, and best practices to enhance student growth, communication, and success. Drawing on the experiences of IMMERSE in STEM (NSF S-STEM) mentors.

21st-century skills are a set of 12 abilities that contribute to success in school and the workplace. Higher education focuses on three of these skills: information literacy, technological literacy, and media literacy. However, that leaves out nine other skills employers find highly desirable. Often thought of as “soft skills,” these include communication and collaboration, social skills, and taking initiative. This workshop will explain each 21st-century skill, share examples of how they can be incorporated into the classroom, and provide the opportunity to brainstorm how to include them into your curriculum.

Attendees will have a chance to connect with other earth enthusiasts and learn about and visit the sustainability focused spaces on campus, how to join efforts to contribute resources and bring related content into courses, and add suggestions to a proposal for the creation of a campus center focused on this important work.

Just got the call to assess the course SLOs? Don’t stress- we’re here to help! In this engaging online flex workshop series, you’ll take a step back to reflect on what really matters in your courses- and how you know students are truly learning it. This first of three workshops will guide you in identifying and articulating the core knowledge, skills, and attitudes your students should walk away with. You’ll work alongside colleagues to review and craft student learning outcomes (SLOs) that are meaningful, measurable, and aligned with your teaching priorities. Subsequent workshops will explore how to assess student work and how to turn results into action. Faculty are welcome to join any session individually—but those who complete all three and submit a draft assessment plan by December 1 will earn a professional development badge recognizing their commitment to student-centered teaching and assessment.

Curriculum: A Year in Review and a Look Towards The Future Last year was a whirlwind in the curriculum sphere! From implementation of updated state-wide and local/district policy mandates, the year brought many changes that impact students, faculty, and our college. This workshop will provide a review of these changes along with implementation updates, successes, and challenges., including Cal-GETC and Common Course Numbering. Newly approved legislation, pending legislation, and local Curriculum Committee updates for the new academic year will also be presented.

Come and learn about Career Services and how to utilize our services to better help students prepare for the their professional lives; be it workshops, industry professionals come into the classroom to speak to your students, or holding larger career related events.