The Value of Continuing Education Priceless

San Diego Community College District
City College
Mesa College
Miramar College
Continuing
Education
F e b r u a r y 2 0 0 7
The Value of Continuing Education: Priceless
SDCCD Continuing
Education helps
better the lives of a
large segment of all
ages of San Diegans.
Continuing Education Instructor
Toni Hetz, center, demonstrates
electronics assembly to
students. CE classes are for
those interested in advancing
careers, learning new trades or
simply trying something different
in their lives.
Educational Cultural Complex (ECC) student
Josephine Okwudu recently won a statewide
essay contest. And what is so special about
her accomplishment goes to the heart of what
Continuing Education is all about.
Josephine is an immigrant from Nigeria, 66,
and an English as a Second Language student at
ECC. Josephine’s winning essay — “How I Have
Changed Since Coming to the United States”
— reflects her path to a better life.
Continuing Education (CE) has been a big part
of Josephine’s transformation as well as for tens of
thousands of others who have attended CE classes
throughout the adult learner program’s 93-year
history.
Take Hiem “Kim” Lam. She came here from
Vietnam at age 21 and turned to Continuing
Education in 2003 to study advanced ESL. Soon
after, Kim enrolled in various CE classes, including
adult basic education, business and beginning
computer use before moving on to City College
in 2004. Now she plans to transfer to San Diego
State University.
There are many such success stories to be found
at all six Continuing Education campuses, as well
as CE’s 207 community centers.
“The mission is important,” CE President
Anthony Beebe stated. “Our task in continuing
education is not to select the students who have
been successful previously, but to help all students
find success. We take all comers, regardless of their
academic experience, and work hard to try to
make them successful. This takes some of the most
talented faculty anywhere, which we have.”
With annual enrollment typically around
100,000, CE is a well established institution within
the San Diego Community College District.
While CE non-credit courses are free of charge,
the fee for community education classes is only
$4.25 per hour of instruction. More than 1,200
classes are offered each semester.
Many of the classes are taught by working
professionals. And a description of CE’s offerings
seems almost too good to be true for those
interested in advancing careers, learning new
trades or simply trying something different in
their lives. Even a cursory glance through the
program’s course offerings illustrates the diversity
of classes, everything from computers to acrylics,
from cooking to steel fabrication, from piano to
foster parenting.
“Continuing Education is a mechanism,” Beebe
says, “to help students find their pathways to other
learning opportunities or jobs.” And the numbers
illustrate that students are taking those paths.
In fall 2005, there were 5,388 students enrolled
in credit classes at colleges within SDCCD who
had previously been enrolled in CE non-credit
classes. There were also 1,637 students who were
continued on page 4
We—With Excellence | FEBRUARY 2007

C h a n c e l l o r ’ s M e s s a g e
Origin of a Continuing Education
Constance M. Carroll, Ph.D.
Chancellor,
San Diego Community
College District
Because of
the decision
to take
responsibility
for adult and
continuing
education for
the region,
our district
has become
a gateway to
opportunity for
a wide variety
of people.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s many of California’s
community college districts made the transition
from being part of their local school districts to
becoming independent institutions. In November
1972, the voters approved separating the San Diego
Community College District from the San Diego
Unified School District, changing forever the
direction and destiny of what has since become the
state’s second largest community college district.
During this same period of time, California’s
community college districts and the local K-12
school districts faced another critical decision. While
it was clear that community colleges should take
responsibility for all instruction for grades 13 and 14,
it was not at all apparent as to which entity should
administer adult education programs. On the one
hand, school districts had a long history of expertise
in adult education; on the other, community colleges
specialized in serving a student population of adults.
Because there was no clear answer to this question,
the state permitted the school and community
college districts to negotiate this organizational
decision on a case-by-case basis.
ECC graduates
receive high
school diplomas
at Continuing
Education’s 2006
commencement.
While many school districts throughout the
state opted to continue managing adult education
programs, the San Diego Community College
District was among a smaller group of community
college districts that negotiated the right to offer
adult education programs under the aegis of the
community college organization. The rest, as they say,
is history.
With 50,000 students enrolled in its three credit
colleges (City, Mesa and Miramar), the San Diego
Community College District also serves another
50,000 students who enroll in a wide variety of
adult education and other noncredit programs
within its Continuing Education Division. Because
of this structure, our district has become a gateway
to opportunity for a wide variety of people: new
immigrants learning English and preparing for
citizenship; returning veterans; high school drop
outs; older adults; young people whose goal is to
transfer; people of all ages who are preparing for the
workforce; and employed people who are upgrading
their job skills. Our instructional levels span a
similarly broad range from basic skills to honors.
The extensive scope and comprehensiveness of
the San Diego Community College District are the
result of its excellent community colleges, as well as
the extremely important decision, made over three
decades ago, to take responsibility for adult and
continuing education for the region.
san diego community college district

SPOTLIGHT
F r o n t & C e n t e r
City College cares
about students and
always goes the
extra mile to help
them to achieve their
educational goals.
The WE — with excellence
newsletters are also online,
dating back to 2000. Go
to the SDCCD homepage
(www.sdccd.edu) and click
on the red “WE online” box
near the bottom right of the
homepage.
Design Students Help Hurricane Victim
When Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc in fall
2005, City College graphic design students and
faculty decided to help. The students put out the
word that they wanted to bring a displaced design
student to City College.
Word reached Nunez Community College
Professor Amy Pecquet in New Orleans. She
Graphic design student Elton Fletcher
informed Elton Fletcher, one of her most
promising graphic design students, who contacted
City College.
Help could not have come at a better time for
the 30-year-old hurricane victim. Fletcher had
evacuated to Houston with 21 family members,
including a grandmother, aunts and cousins.
Thanks to City graphic design students and
faculty, Fletcher was able to continue his studies
throughout 2006 at City. “It’s been quite an
experience. The amazing people at City, and my
family, have shown incredible strength.”
His studies last fall, however, were jeopardized
because the state did not continue to waive
nonresident student fees for Katrina victims in
California colleges. Legislation to reinstitute the
waiver was vetoed in October. Elton could not
afford nonresident fees — $160 per unit.
The college came to Fletcher’s aid, as well as
the two other hurricane victims enrolled at City
College. Their Fall 2006 fees were covered by
$1,500 in City scholarships. Each student received
about $500. This spring semester, they became
state residents and eligible for the $20 per unit
resident fee.
“I am extremely pleased that City College has
been able to creatively address our three students’
financial burden and assure that their education
continues uninterrupted,” City College President
Terry Burgess stated. “City College cares about
students and always goes the extra mile to help
them achieve their educational goals.”
City Graphic Arts
Professor Candice Lopez
said Fletcher is thriving.
“Elton has been a joy
to work with and has
made the most of this
opportunity. He is
talented and dedicated.”
Design student Sondra
Lagnado said, “Elton is
a wonderful, optimistic
person. It touches my
heart when I see him
around campus. More
importantly, it is not what we did for Elton; it is
what Elton has given us.”
Classmate Brody Albert said, “At first I thought
I was helping out someone in need, but now that
he’s here, and we’ve become friends, I realize
that he has gifted me with much more than I
have given him. Every time we hang out I learn
something new.”
Led by Prof. Lopez, students, faculty and
others have helped Fletcher with living and school
arrangements and provided financial support
for books, household items and food.
“These people have taken me under their
wings,” Fletcher said. “I’ve already made life-long
friends.”
He plans to help family members re-establish
themselves in New Orleans. “New Orleans is a
great city. I’m confident it will be rebuilt better
than ever.”
Fletcher has also been impressed with the
spirit of City students. “They are very dedicated,
very focused. I saw immediately that they mean
business. Hurricane Katrina changed my life, and
now San Diego has changed my perspective with
its generosity.”
We—With Excellence | FEBRUARY 2007

Virtually all of the
instructors are
employed in the
field, so students
get the benefit of
their day-to-day
experience.
continued from page 1
simultaneously enrolled in college courses and
Continuing Education non-credit classes.
CE also offers specific-needs courses for already
trained professionals – such as information
technology professionals and employees of
General Dynamics NASSCO.
Under a recently devised “Cornerstones for the
Future” plan, CE staff and administrators seek to
increase professional development, expand course
diversity, enhance image and grow enrollments.
After polling faculty and staff — estimated
at 800 — Dr. Beebe reported that the people
of Continuing Education were identified as the
program’s number one strength. “Now, how
can we make those people even
stronger?”
“We’re keeping up with the
changes that are necessary, and
we’re doing so in large part from
student feedback,” said Valerie
Edinger, the vice president of
instruction and student services.
“We’re listening to what is going
on out there, and the students and
professors are providing excellent
ideas.”
Dean of Student Development
and Matriculation Marcia Biller
stated, “We help people go where
they really want to get. We enjoy
a strong, organized counseling
system. We have a career
development and placement
service so that people can move
from our programs directly into
the work. If the goal is to work
in a certain field, we have designed the necessary
career ladder. We help students who have an
interest in a certain field refocus and understand
how they can make a successful career in that
field.”
Administrators say that
word-of-mouth has served as
an excellent tool for introducing
new students to the program.
“We’re also very thorough
in our orientations,” Biller said.
“There is much more to know
than where the classroom is, and
we try to give the students as
much information as possible.”
Interdisciplinary
collaborations are increasing,
Biller reported, meaning
programs within the
departments are working
together more than ever,
especially as technology
introduces more synergy between professions.
“The counselors and the faculty work together
so that we can share the more intricate details of
what is going on in certain professions, and how
technology and other advances are changing those
professions,” Biller said.
At North City campus, for example, updates
occur frequently.
“We offer literally hundreds of short-term
courses aimed at helping people get up to speed
with new computer software,” said Jim Vincent,
dean of the North City campus. “Virtually all of
our instructors are employed in the field, so we get
the benefit of their day-to-day experience.”
san diego community college district

N e w s f r o m C i t y C o l l e g e
Terrence J. Burgess
President
San Diego City College
An architect’s rendering depicts
City College’s new Vocational
Technology Center, which will be
located on the southeast corner
of the campus.
Campus Footprint About to Grow
City College has embarked on a major period
of construction that will expand the size of the
campus and allow for much-needed expansion of
programs and services.
“At 93 years young, City College has begun
a historic development era to help meet the
demands of our growing campus,” City College
President Terry Burgess stated.
First to be constructed is a five-story, 88,000
square foot Vocational Technology Center (VTC),
which will centralize and allow for expansion of
key vocational programs, including cosmetology,
nursing and photography.
Further, the development will also provide 700
new parking spaces and incorporate a new center
of operations for campus police.
The Vocational Technology Center will be
located on the newly acquired city block across
the street from the current southeast corner of the
campus, bordered by 16th and 17th streets, and
Broadway and C streets. Funded by Proposition
S bond monies, construction cost is estimated
between $51.5 to $54.5 million.
Groundbreaking is projected for early 2008
while construction is expected to take about 18
months.
President Burgess pointed out that the
multilevel building will capitalize on the college’s
vision for 16th Street to evolve into a pedestrianfriendly
passage. A landscaped plaza, located at
the southern portion of 16th Street and adjacent
to Broadway will serve VTC students and staff and
provide a gateway image to the rapidly developing
East Village.
Plans call for cosmetology to be located on
the first two levels, nursing on the third story and
photography on the fourth and fifth levels. The
first level is planned as a salon for cosmetology
students to provide retail service to the public.
Above the street, all levels are linked by a glazed
stairwell located adjacent to the building entrance
on 16th Street. The stairwell connects to a student
gathering space on each level, providing a “hub”
of activity for daily use and incorporating natural
light as a feature of building circulation.
The expansion is welcome. Nursing currently
has more than a two-year waiting list while
cosmetology students require additional
workspace. And photography students will have a
display gallery for showcasing their award-winning
works.
Chancellor Constance Carroll said that
“City College is recognized as one of the best
community colleges in the nation, especially for
some of its unique vocational programs. The
nursing, cosmetology and photography
departments are excellent and deserve highquality
facilities to match the high quality of the
instruction provided.”
The VTC is the first significant step toward
implementing the 2005 City College facilities
master plan, which calls for modernization and
expansion of infrastructure and new facilities to
accommodate an eventual student population
of 25,000 in the next decade, according to
administrators. Currently, City’s enrollment is
estimated at 16,000.
We—With Excellence | FEBRUARY 2007

N e w s f r o m M e s a C o l l e g e
Rita M. Cepeda, Ed.D.
President
San Diego Mesa College
Greening Mesa
In a January 8 decision,
the San Diego City Council
agreed to sell the SDCCD
2.7 acres for $1.07 million
and to allow a Mesa
College parking structure
to be built on a sliver of
environmentally sensitive
canyon land. In exchange,
SDCCD and the college will
create a number of projects
and programs that will
benefit the local community.
This includes expansion
of the Multiple Habitat
Planning Area (MHPA) on
SDCCD land; establishment
of a campus carbon neutral
program to neutralize
emissions of carbon dioxide;
removal of palm trees from
parts of Tecolote Canyon;
additional landscaping of
neighboring Kearny Mesa
Park; and the creation of
an annual “Canyon Day for
Kids” educational event.
Community groups will also
be involved in developing
landscaping plans, plus
neighbors will have free
use of the campus parking
facility on weekends and
holidays.
Parking Space: the Final
Frontier — Green-Lighted
For more than 25 years, students have struggled
to find a place to park at San Diego Mesa College
while faculty and staff were also adversely
impacted in a variety of ways.
Many have said that parking permits are
regarded not as a means to find parking but as a
license to hunt for parking.
For decades frustrated college officials have
resorted to a host of creative efforts to ease
parking problems that have regularly reached
The Mesa College parking structure (depicted in rendering) is considered a
cornerstone of the Mesa College Facility Master Plan.
crisis proportions. For at least the past seven years,
this included providing a free shuttle service for
students who parked in sanctioned off-campus
lots, primarily Kearny High School.
With funding secured by the 2002 passage of
Proposition S, plans began in earnest to design
and build a parking structure. After several years
of study and advocacy by various campus and
off-campus groups and numerous community
meetings (23 since July 2004), Mesa College has
the green light.
On January 8, the San Diego City Council
approved the SDCCD’s request to build a fourlevel
parking facility where Mesa College Drive
dead ends at Tecolote Canyon.
“Erecting a parking structure that would
accommodate the needs of our students, assuage
the concerns of our neighbors and permit the
reconfiguration of the east entrance to the
college — while maintaining and improving the
environmental integrity of the canyon — has been
no easy feat,” says Mesa College President Rita
Cepeda.
She credits numerous individuals, who, under
the direction of Damon Schamu, SDCCD Vice
Chancellor of Facilities, worked arduously to keep
the construction project on track. At a District
Board of Trustees
meeting on January
25, President Cepeda
also acknowledged and
thanked Chancellor
Constance Carroll and
members of the SDCCD
Board of Trustees
for their leadership,
perseverance, patience
and tenacity.
Testimony by Mesa
College student leaders
before the City Council
also proved invaluable as
they recounted their personal battles with parking
and their concern with safety. “Students love for
the environment and their delight with the design
of a ‘green’ structure helped to convince Council
members that the proposed project represents a
thoughtful, responsible, ecologically sound and
much-needed facility for the future of our college,”
Dr. Cepeda stated.
Groundbreaking is expected in August,
while construction is slated for completion
by October 2008. The facility will provide
an additional 1,066 parking spaces for a campuswide
total of 4,605 available spaces for students,
faculty and staff, and will also house the college’s
police headquarters.
san diego community college district

N e w s f r o m M i r a m a r C o l l e g e
Patricia Hsieh, Ed.D.
President
San Diego Miramar College
Big Day for Miramar College
On January 22 at opposite ends of the Miramar
campus, construction activity began for two longawaited
projects — the Leave a Legacy Plaza and
the 54,000 square foot Hourglass Fieldhouse.
Leave a Legacy Plaza, a park-like open space
to be landscaped with grassy areas, trellises and
a unique water feature, has been designed to
encourage quiet conversation or reflection and
will provide easy access to nearby instructional
facilities and parking. Originally conceived by the
Miramar College Foundation, the plaza provides
an opportunity to honor graduates, family
members and friends, or celebrate a special event
or memory in a unique and lasting way through
Plans for Leave a Legacy Plaza
laser-engraved bricks, sponsored trees, benches
and flags.
Celebrating involvement in the college and a
commitment to education, each brick sponsor
will receive an identical mini-replica keepsake,
reprising their message. All funds raised through
sponsored bricks will support scholarships,
technology improvements and program
innovation. Construction of the Plaza is expected
to start in late August with a grand opening
celebration being planned for September.
The Fieldhouse project is the third and final
phase of the 32-acre Hourglass Park athletics
complex, which includes a gymnasium, team
locker rooms, physical therapy room, fitness
center, dance and aerobics room, office space
for 14 faculty and staff and a shared use parking
facility to accommodate 370 vehicles. Hourglass
Park is a joint development with the City of San
Diego park and recreation department.
Phase one opened in 1994 with multi-use ball
fields, volleyball courts, a snack bar, children’s
play areas and open park space. The second phase,
the $4 million, three-pool Ned Baumer Miramar
College Aquatic Center, opened in 1999.
Completion of the Hourglass athletics complex
will allow for the addition of more Miramar
intercollegiate sports teams. Currently, the college
offers men’s and women’s water polo and men’s
basketball, now in its inaugural season. Because
the college does not yet have a gym, basketball
home games are played at Scripps Ranch High
School while practice is held at nearby Alliant
University. A men’s and women’s swim team will
debut this spring.
A groundbreaking ceremony for the Hourglass
Fieldhouse is being planned for mid-March.
Completion is anticipated in June 2008.
Construction costs of the Leave a Legacy
Plaza is estimated at $18.59 million. Hourglass
Fieldhouse is being funded by Proposition S and is
expected to cost $1.1 million.
We—With Excellence | FEBRUARY 2007

N e w s f r o m C o n t i n u i n g E d u c a t i o n
Anthony E. Beebe, Ed.D.
President
San Diego Continuing Education
Professor Starlene Dahl with
ESL students.
Retirement to “Rewirement”
Starlene Dahl worked for the City of San Diego
for 26 years in progressively more responsible
positions from budget and financial analyst to
management analyst. She would make budget
proposals and recommendations to managers. She
would monitor grant proposals and funding and
charges.
Starlene had excellent skills, job security,
respect, but she realized she was not happy.
Widowed at an early age, Starlene decided
that while her job provided financial stability,
she wanted to see what else there was for her
to do — to feed her soul. She decided that she
would retire from the City at age 55 and “do
what I really want to do, while I could.” Three
years prior to her anticipated departure date, she
attended workshops and counseling at the Metro
Career Center that was located on Aero Drive.
Through assessment testing and conversation she
discovered her aptitude and interests were for
teaching English as a Second Language (ESL).
ESL Professor Richie Mitchell, who teaches
at North City campus, recognized something in
Starlene that was genuine and invited Starlene to
observe her class.
Starlene recalled, “I was captivated by the pure
love of learning in that classroom. The students
were so enthusiastic, so excited and so grateful.
They were identifying pictures on flash cards,
learning the most basic English words and phrases,
and they were glowing. I could picture myself as
their teacher.” While still employed at the City,
she enrolled in the TOEFL (Teachers of English as
Foreign Language) training program at UCSD. She
also served 60 hours as an observer and unofficial
aid to ESL classes at Mid-City campus in City
Heights.
“I was overwhelmed by the gratitude,
cooperation, and learning that was going on…not
only English, but how
“I was
to get along with other
captivated by cultures and how to adapt
to living in America as well.
the pure love
I would be engrossed in
of learning helping, and I would hear
in that
‘thank you, teacher,’ and
not realize that they were
classroom.
talking to me. I wasn’t a
The students teacher, at least not yet.
were so
But they respected me and
what I was doing in the
enthusiastic,
classroom.”
so excited Four-and-a-half
months prior to her
and so
scheduled retirement
grateful.” from the City, Starlene
was offered a class in
pronunciation by the late Nancy Bachman, then
instructional leader for ESL at North City Campus.
“I figured out how to exit my job and begin my
career as a teacher.
“I’ve never looked back. I was so nervous
that first Saturday up in Mira Mesa. But a
student smile, and a ‘thank you teacher,’ makes
it worthwhile every single time I step in the
classroom.”
Since teaching that first class two years ago,
Starlene has already been offered and accepted a
second ESL class at the Clairemont campus.
san diego community college district

kudos
A c c o m p l i s h m e n t s & A c h i e v e m e n t s
District Campuses
Make a Big Showing
at the Martin Luther
King Day Parade
City College and Mesa College students, faculty and staff were part of the SDCCD’s large
contingent that took part in the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Parade held downtown in
January. Mesa’s entry was awarded second place in the parade’s education division while
City placed third. Miramar College, Continuing Education, District Offices and members
of the Board of Trustees also took part in the annual event, including Trustees Marty Block,
Rich Grosch, Bill Schwandt and Peter Zschiesche, as well as Chancellor Constance Carroll.
New Commencement
Venue at Miramar
Weather concerns, combined with
impending construction projects, means
that Miramar College’s commencement
will be moved off campus and indoors for
the May 31 ceremonies. The Torrey Pines
Hilton Ballroom is this year’s site. Miramar
alumna Tracy Jarman, recently appointed
Fire Chief of the City of San Diego Fire-
Rescue Department, is scheduled as
Commencement Speaker. Recently, Chief
Jarman was named the college’s 2007
distinguished alumnus.
City Among Top
Nationally
As the only community college on the
2006 list, City College was ranked among
the top 20 institutions in the United States
for the number of Benjamin A. Gilman
Scholarship participants. Sponsored by
the federal government, this nationwide
competition provides thousands of dollars
for students to study abroad. Four City
College students earned the prestigious
Gilman scholarship in 2006 and one
in 2007.
City College International Education
Coordinator Marion Froelich reported that
City students most recently studied in Italy,
Spain and southern Mexico.
Child Center
Recognized
City College’s Child Development Center
was recently honored by the San Diego
Association for the Education of Young
Children for its collaboration with the
YMCA Childcare Resource Service in
providing services to families and children.
Child Development Center Director
Gloria Lyon accepted the honor on behalf
of the college’s child development center.
National Conference
Heads to Miramar
Miramar Professor Kevin Petti is conference
coordinator for the 21st annual meeting
of the Human Anatomy and Physiology
Society, which will be held on campus
May 26-30. More than 350 educators from
colleges and universities across the country
will attend workshops
on the latest
developments
in the health
and science
fields. Dr. Petti
worked with
a Canadian
graphic arts
firm, Imagineering Media Services,
to develop the clever conference logo.
We—With Excellence | FEBRUARY 2007

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A c c o m p l i s h m e n t s & A c h i e v e m e n t s
All in the Family
Cycling is a passion for Mesa College Music
Professor James Romeo, and his wife,
Angela Liewen-Romeo, an instructional
lab technician at the college. The middleaged
couple took up racing about two years
ago, but have quickly advanced to winner
circles, taking home some of California’s
top honors.
Throughout the past year, Professor
Romeo participated in more than 20
races. He won silver and bronze medals
at the California State Masters Track
Championships, competing in match
sprints and 500-meter sprints. He is
a member of the over-35 San Diego
Cyclo-vets and is coached by Eddie “B”
Borysewicz, 1984 U. S. Olympic bicycling
team head coach and current Polish
National team head coach.
Angela is a member of an all-women’s
team based in Burbank. She scored her first
win at the Ontario Grand Prix in July and
competed in nearly 40 races during the
2006 cycling season. She went on to receive
enough points to lead her category in the
Music Professor James Romeo, above, won silver
and bronze medals in the California State Masters
Track summer 2006 competition.
Mesa College Instructional Lab Technician Angela
Liewen-Romeo, right, celebrates her first win — the
Ontario Grand Prix last July in Ontario, California.
prestigious SoCal Cup, ranking number
one over 160 riders.
The pair trains five to seven days a
week — during lunch, after work and on
weekends, when they take on grueling
routes in the Ramona backcountry or train
at the Velodrome in Balboa Park.
“It has taught me about setting goals,
and reaching and attaining them,” said
Liewen-Romeo.
Statewide Honors for Miramar Alumnus
San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, a Miramar College alumnus, has received the prestigious California Community College Distinguished
Alumni Award for 2006. He was honored recently at the Community College League of California annual convention in Costa Mesa.
Mayor Sanders was selected for the statewide honor for his more than 30 years of career leadership in public safety, charitable
organizations, community service, and now as mayor of one of the largest
cities in the nation.
Career achievements, professional standing and contributions to
community that transcend the norm were the criteria used to qualify for
the statewide recognition.
The former San Diego police chief is the first graduate of a San Diego
Community College District college to receive the state award since 1964,
when City College alumnus Predrag Mitrovich, vice president of San Diego
First National Bank was selected.
Mayor Sanders was also honored by the Miramar College Foundation
this month at an Outstanding Leaders Award Luncheon held at the Joan
Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice. The event raised nearly $6,000 for
Foundation scholarships, including a new Outstanding Leadership award
for a deserving Miramar College student.
San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders speaks at a Miramar College
Foundation luncheon held to honor him as a distinguished Miramar
alumnus. On the far left is San Diego Sheriff Bill Kolender.
10 san diego community college district

kudos
A c c o m p l i s h m e n t s & A c h i e v e m e n t s
Miramar Elections,
Appointments
Richard Bettendorf, dean of Technical
Careers and Workforce Initiatives, has been
appointed Region X representative to the
state Chancellor’s Office Resource Group
for Career Technical Education.
He was also recently elected regional
vice president of California Community
Colleges Association for Occupational
Education.
EOPS Director Joan Thompson
will participate in a People to People
Ambassador delegation to China this
summer to learn more about women’s
representation and participation in higher
education in that nation.
Interim Vice President for Instruction
Kit Foster was recently inducted into
Altrusa International of San Diego, a
community organization which supports
local charities that serve literacy and
children’s health.
ECC Teacher Takes
Top State Honors
Beth Bogage, an advanced level ESL
instructor at the Educational Cultural
Complex, has won the annual Norma
Shapiro Memorial Award for Adult Level
ESL Professionals.
California Teachers of English to
Speakers of Other Languages (CATESOL)
created the Shapiro award for an ESL
Adult Level professional with five or fewer
years of experience in the field who has
demonstrated excellence in teaching,
training and/or writing and plan to make
teaching English as a Second Language
their career.
Beth is scheduled to be recognized at the
CATESOL Conference, set in April in San
Diego, plus receive a library of professional
ESL books.
It’s Designing
Cats and Dogs
Mesa College interior design students and
graduates can be found practicing in a wide
variety of interior design specialties. Now,
we can add critter habitats to the list.
Professors Kim Hansen, left, and Mimi Moore
inside the cat habitat designed by Hansen.
During a weeklong decorating frenzy in
January, 25 Mesa interior design students,
alumni and faculty were among 40
designers who refurbished the San Diego
Humane Society’s 24 dog habitats and 15
cat rooms.
Five Mesa students redecorated a cat
room, while 13 habitats were designed by
17 Mesa alumni.
The pro-bono redesign challenged
student and professional designers to
build beautiful and whimsical habitats that
promote the human-animal bond while
also maintaining animal safety and habitat
durability.
Mesa Professor Kim Hansen created
the “Australian Rolling Hills” habitat.
Other notable décor themes included the
Mad Hatter’s tea party, an Arabian Nights
fantasy, Central Park and a jungle.
The annual American Society of Interior
Design (ASID) local chapter’s community
service project was coordinated by Mesa
graduate Stefanie Wenceslao. Current
chapter president, Nina Closer, is also a
Mesa graduate.
Mesa College’s strong presence in ASID
community service projects primarily is
due to Mesa Interior Design Professor
Mimi Moore. “Community service is built
into our program,” she said.
New Skills Center
Complex for Continuing Education
Construction of the new Continuing Education Skills Center (rendering pictured) could
begin this year. The complex replaces the current skills center located at the Centre City
Campus near City College. The new center will consist of three buildings to house the
automotive and appliance repair programs and the business information technology,
CISCO, graphics and electronic assembly classes. To make room for the new skills center,
land was acquired along the east end of the ECC campus, and 16 structures were demolished
as part of a two-year process.
We—With Excellence | FEBRUARY 2007 11

connections
A l u m n i U p d a t e s & A c h i e v e m e n t s
Miramar College
grad Nancy Canfield
was presented
with a 10News
Leadership Award
for leading an 18-
month fundraising
campaign to find a
new home for the
Rancho Bernardo
Historical Society
Museum.
San Diego Community
College District
3375 Camino del Rio South
San Diego, CA 92108-3883
619-388-6500
www.sdccd.edu
Published quarterly by the
San Diego Community
College District
Board of Trustees:
Marty Block, J.D.; Rich
Grosch; Wm. H. Schwandt;
Maria Nieto Senour, Ph.D.;
Peter Zschiesche
Constance M. Carroll, Ph.D.,
Chancellor
Editor:
John Nunes
Publication Coordinator:
Mary Lee
Contributors:
Carol Beilstein,
Heidi Bunkowske, Lina Heil,
Holly Leahy, Lynne Mayfield,
Sandi Trevisan
Graphic Design:
Capstone Publication
Services
The SDCCD is governed by its
Board of Trustees. No oral or
written representation is binding
on the SDCCD without the express
approval of the Board of Trustees.
From Orphanage to Author to…
Miramar College
alumna Nancy
Canfield, who
was raised in an
orphanage, claims
she has a “genetic
predisposition to
community service.”
Believe it.
She identifies a
noble community
cause and goes for it.
On Thanksgiving
Day, Nancy was
presented with a
10News Leadership
Award for leading an
18-month fundraising
campaign to find a new
home for the Rancho
Bernardo Historical
Society Museum. Since the
campaign launched last
July, Nancy has recruited
five board members and
more than 20 volunteers to
help manage the fundraising
activity. Most importantly,
Nancy Canfield,
fundraiser and
author
she is $111,000 closer to her December 2007 goal.
In addition to volunteering her time on behalf
of the museum, the long-time Rancho Bernardo
resident is director of membership for the San
Diego North Chamber of Commerce, a local
Realtor, secretary for the North County Press Club
and Honorary Mayor of Rancho Bernardo.
Getting involved in community began when
she was raised in St. Agatha’s Home for Children
in New York. For Nancy and four of her eight
siblings, St. Agatha’s provided stability in an
unstable world.
In her recently published autobiography, Home
Kids, Nancy retells her family’s dramatic story
through archival records, newspaper accounts, and
compelling first-hand interviews with fellow and
former residents who found nurture and hope at
St. Agatha’s Home for Children.
All profits from the sale of
her book will be donated to
St. Agatha’s foster and group
homes and the affiliate New York
Foundling Hospital.
Over the course of several
decades, St. Agatha’s original
orphanage has dwindled from
170 acres to seven, and now
is able to serve only severely
disabled orphans. The work
of the Sisters of Charity and
St. Agatha Home Services,
however, continues on a large
scale.
Authoring Home Kids
was the result of a career
change. Nancy had spent 17
years as a human resources
manager with a Scripps
Ranch research company. An
advocate for higher education,
while at RD Instruments she
took classes at nearby Miramar
College and recommended to
all company employees that they
do the same. In 1999, Nancy
received an associate degree in business and a
business certificate of completion.
Meanwhile, she consulted the popular career
guide, What Color is Your Parachute?, and in 2000,
Nancy attended a San Diego State University
writers conference where she experienced an “aha”
moment — she would become an author. But
what to write about? Through a serendipitous
encounter, Nancy reconnected with a former
St. Agatha’s roommate on Classmates.com, and
Home Kids was conceived.
So what’s next for the mother of four children
and three grandchildren? This spring Nancy is
expecting a daughter and twin grandchildren to
move home … bringing new meaning in Nancy’s
life to “home kids.”
12 san diego community college district