Reports to the Board of Trustees
Each month, President Torres gives a report on college activities, honors and achievements during the regular meeting of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District Board of Trustees.
Board Meeting of Jan. 13, 2025
First 100 Days
I began my first day as president on Friday, Jan. 3, and since then I’ve enjoyed meeting so many students, faculty members, classified professionals and administrators as they returned to campus for winter quarter. I’ve also started what I call “100 Days of Listening,” in which I’ll be meeting with members of the campus community – individually and in groups – to learn all that I can about their goals, hopes and challenges at the college. I'll be sharing updates and additional information on the President's website.
ICE on Campus Protocol
De Anza has placed posters around the college to help ensure that everyone knows what to do, in the event that immigration agents come on campus. As the posters advise
- Anyone who sees immigration agents on campus should notify the president's office immediately
- Students can be directed to remain in their classroom or a private office of a trusted individual
- Individuals should not give consent for agents to enter any facilities, but instead they should refer or escort the agents to the president's office
The posters also provide the address of our Undocumented Student Resources webpage. Also last month, our Academic Senate approved a resolution in support of vulnerable students and employees and a separate resolution on funding to support AB 540 and undocumented students.
We’ll be making additional efforts to publicize undocumented student rights in coming weeks.
Faculty RSI Training
Our Online Education Center has made great strides in helping to ensure that our faculty members are well-equipped for teaching online – particularly in the area of Regular and Substantive Interaction with students in online courses.
Nearly 500 full- and part-time instructors received Part 1 of the RSI training offered during the district and college opening days last fall, or during the fall quarter. Under our agreement with the Faculty Association, instructors have the option of enrolling in Part 2 or participating in a J1 evaluation. Approximately 300 instructors enrolled in the Part 2 training this winter quarter.
Silicon Valley Reads Kickoff
Everyone is invited to attend the upcoming kickoff event for the 2025 Silicon Valley Reads campaign, which De Anza is hosting at the end of this month. This year’s community reading campaign is focused on three books related to artificial intelligence and the theme of “Empowering Humanity: Technology for a Better World.” The event will include an author panel, moderated by Sal Pizarro of the Mercury News, and will be held on Thursday, Jan. 30, beginning at 7 p.m. in the VPAC auditorium
You can also arrive early, starting at 6 p.m., to view the companion exhibition in the Euphrat Museum of Art. The exhibition features artwork that explores advancing technology and the human touch, in keeping with the exhibition title: “Encoding Empathy.”
Admission to these events is free and open to the community, and the author event will also be livestreamed. You can find more information at deanza.edu/svreads.
De Anza Grad Featured on UC Website
One of our De Anza alums was recently featured by the University of California in an website article highlighting UC students who transferred from other colleges. Vinh Ton transferred from De Anza to UC Davis a year ago. He’s now working toward a bachelor's
degree in Statistical Data Science, with two minors: Theater and Dance, and Asian American Studies.
Ton was accepted to several UCs after high school, but he chose De Anza so he could save money and stay close to his family during his first two years of college. Since transferring to Davis, he’s earned scholarships and worked as a Student Outreach Ambassador for the university’s Transfer Opportunity Program. (Photo credit: Gregory Urquiaga/UC Davis)
De Anza Honored for English and Math Success
Our college was recently honored with two Excellence in Placement awards from the nonprofit Campaign for College Opportunity. The awards recognize colleges that have the highest percentages of students who successfully complete transfer-level English and Math courses within one year of enrollment in the course.
- According to the group’s research, De Anza had an 81.2% rate of success in transfer-level English during the 2022-23 academic year. That was the second highest in the state after Skyline College in San Bruno, which had a rate of 81.7%.
- De Anza had an 81.4% success rate in transfer-level Math. That ranked second in the state after Foothill College’s rate of 82.3%.
Flea Market Earns “Best of Silicon Valley” Honors
The De Anza Flea Market earned second place in the annual “Best of Silicon Valley” rankings by readers of the Metro Silicon Valley. The news site asked its readers to choose their favorite places for shopping, dining and entertainment. As a reminder, the Flea Market is open from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. on the first Saturday of every month – rain or shine.
Football Team Finishes Great Season
Our Mountain Lions football team had their best regular season in recent history last fall, earning a 10-0 record after three consecutive comeback victories. The team went on to play in the division
championship, where they narrowly lost to Monterey Peninsula by a score of 13 to 12.
Also in November, De Anza Football Coach Joe D’Agostino was voted PAC-7 Coach of the Year by his peers in the region. Under D’Agostino’s leadership, the football team produced 16 All-League student-athletes.
The Mountain Lions were also represented at the Community College League of California’s annual convention in November. D’Agostino and Physical Education and Athletics Dean Eric Mendoza gave a workshop presentation on De Anza’s FAST program – the name stands for Football Academic Success Team. FAST supports our student-athletes by providing tutoring and other resources.