Chaparral 2022-2023: 31.4 Reaching Across: Building Bridges with Colleagues

How long have you been at GCC, and what do you do here?

Yeranui

I have been at GCC for 17 years. I started as an intern at the Academic Counseling Department. After my internship, I was hired as an Adjunct Counselor where I worked in General Counseling, Career Education, and taught Student Development classes for credit and noncredit students. I was later hired as the counselor for a program called ACE which was a Title V funded program. When GCC received new Title V and Title III grants, I transitioned into the Program Manager role for our Title III STEM grant. In 2018, I began my current role as Program Manager for Student Equity & Achievement.

What do you wish people knew about your department or division that you think they might not totally understand?

Yeranui

The Student Equity Department delivers race-based programming to its students and endeavors to close equity gaps at GCC. We have created spaces that truly embrace and support our students and we celebrate them along the way. Through everything we do, our goal is to build community and encourage self-advocacy while acknowledging resilience amongst our students. The Student Equity Department is mostly recognized for our learning communities which are the oldest and largest programs under our area. However, I do want to continue spreading the word about ALL of our amazing programs we have worked so hard to put forth for our student groups. In addition to the La Comunidad Learning Community, Black Scholars Learning Community, and the Guardian Scholars Learning Community, the Student Equity Department also offers:

• Career Adventures (a series of seminars designed to help students in their pathway)
• Hombre a Hombre (a Latino empowerment program designed for GCC’s Latino male students)
• Mentoring Men of Color (students are mentored by GCC faculty, staff, or administrators and work on a project together through the course of the academic year)
• Mentoring STEM Students of Color (students are mentored by GCC STEM faculty and work together on a project related to the student's major)
• University Tours (to promote transfer opportunities, students take trips to explore local universities, northern and southern California universities, and HBCU’s)
• Cultural Diversity (programming open to the community that is aimed at offering events, activities, lectures, and workshops that promote and celebrate diversity)

I encourage everyone to share our programming efforts with students that can benefit from our services.

When you think about our movement toward a more student-centered campus, how can the rest of the campus be more supportive of your department/division? 

Yeranui

• When possible, attend our events to support students. Students love seeing faculty and staff at events.
• Send us feedback when you hear students asking for something that we do not offer or if there are suggestions that can help us better serve our students.
• Send us feedback for how we can better communicate our efforts to the campus community.
• Stop by and say hello to us when you are near our office, San Rafael (SR ) 207

Reflections

Yeranui

We both love what we do and expressed the value in how our work positively affects the campus community. It was nice to celebrate Patricia for her hard work and express my gratitude for all she has done for our department. Her training, supportive nature, and patience has allowed many of us to become mini experts and take control of our web content, which is exactly her goal for all of us.

Our conversation naturally centered around self-care when talking about work and life balance. As we mentioned our responsibilities and our work ethic with each other, we discovered that we have a lot in common. Our roles are pretty demanding and oftentimes require immediate attention which then leads to us spending long periods of time focused, sitting at the desk, and on our computers. We promised one another that we would step back when needed and take small breaks. We shared our self-care strategies and it was comforting to talk about my stressors, strengths, and fears with Patricia. I know I have an ally in her! I also made her promise me she would book a trip somewhere fun as soon as she gets home tonight. 🙂

How long have you been at GCC, and what do you do here?

Patricia

I work in the Office of Communications and Community Relations, where I hold the position of web coordinator. My journey at GCC began in 1997, when the college website was under IT. Over the years, I have participated in the redesign process of three iterations of the GCC website!

I oversee our college website and provide web support and guidance to faculty, staff, and students. Each redesign has been unique and addressed relevant priorities as they evolved over time. With advances in technology and dynamic goals in mind, the website continually transforms with purpose and intention. Our current site launched in 2017 with the goals to be student-centered and accessible, to deliver a responsive design, and to align with GCC branding.

What do you wish people knew about your department or division that you think they might not totally understand?

Patricia

Our office helps with the communication of information delivered on various platforms such as web, social media, flyers, email, videos, and ad campaigns. As brand ambassadors for GCC, we want to make sure content is “packaged” in alignment with our brand elements such as official logos, font, and colors. To support this effort, our office created a tool kit that is available on our brand guidelines site for the college community to access logos, templates, as well as resources and guidelines for social media and website use.

When you think about our movement toward a more student-centered campus, how can the rest of the campus be more supportive of your department/division?

Patricia

I believe the movement towards a more student-centered campus is organically creating a collaborative spirit among the campus community, with room to grow and always striving for improvement.

Community members can show support for our department by learning about the story behind our logo, our colors, and our brand; take a moment to discover it or rediscover it at www.glendale.edu/brandguidelines.

With the intention to include all students, we collaborate to find workable options.

Reflections

Patricia

It was a pleasure to connect with Yeranui! I visited her department’s new location in SR 207, a bright, open, and welcoming space for any student who walks in. Yeranui is an advocate for all students, and especially those who have been underserved and underrepresented. She is a strong voice and leader who shines a light on important issues that might otherwise not be heard. She is proud of the counselors and support staff, a team who works passionately to guide students on a path to success. Having worked as a counselor herself, it brings her joy to see students achieve their academic goals. Together, we reflected on our busy schedules and how the day seems to elude us. We shared our similar intentions on taking walks, and how hard it can be in actuality. We acknowledged the importance of self-care. We concluded that it should be a priority for all, and ended our time together with a selfie. It was a pleasure to connect with Yeranui!