By Fleur Bailey
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

With climate change moving at an expeditious pace and much attention being paid to global warming, City College is keeping green job training at the top of the list.

City College is currently in the process of identifying the new programs that will provide practical training to students for employment in solar, wind, energy efficiency and geothermal fields.

The Board of Trustees has passed a resolution to create a Bridge To Green Jobs Program, with an evaluation on the process every three months.

“The Bridge to Green Jobs Program is a bridge training program to teach job force skills,” trustee John Rizzo said. “Things are moving forward. We are meeting people in the city and working with the mayor’s Office of Workforce Development.”

The program will be based at the Southeast campus with the hope to remove barriers to employment, provide opportunities to traditionally under-represented groups and transform undeserved communities.

“We are working on bringing the employers to the table,” trustee Chris Jackson said. “We are meeting in the next few weeks to create employment agreements with solar panel installation companies, bio-diesel companies and grease collecting companies.”

Kristin Charles, dean of grants and resource development at City College is responsible for identifying sources and applying for funding. She hopes the funding for the programs will be available for classes to start in the fall.

“We are looking very closely as there are a lot of stimulus dollars related to green training,” she said. “We are also watching the labor market info as we need to know there’s a place for the students to go once they’re trained.”

Instructor Jerry Bernstein, bottom right, instructs students in the basics of solar panel installation during a public interest workshop at the Evans Campus on Feb. 7. ISSAC CRUMMEY / THE GUARDSMAN

By Fleur Bailey
STAFF WRITER

City College is implementing new educational programs as a pathway to new jobs in the green technology industry.

A directive to create green training programs and establish a green jobs industry advisory group was passed unanimously by the City College board of trustees on Jan. 29.

The board intends to establish a group to help the district’s faculty develop curriculum and establish major educational programs to provide training for employment in the green industry.

“This stimulus package from the government is going to make the renewable energy industry grow exponentially like we’ve never seen before,” Trustee John Rizzo said. “It’s going to be historic growth of this industry.”

The new programs will provide hands-on training that will  lead to employment opportunites in green energy industries like solar, wind, energy efficiency and geothermal fields. It may also lead to jobs in biodiversity and environmental sciences, and positions specialized for green industry, such as project management and sales.

“The green industry is excited to have this training program,” Rizzo said. “I believe the economy will change in the next ten years. We will switch over to green technologies and City College will be a part of it. This resolution makes the creation of a major green jobs training a priority for the board of trustees.”

New board member Chris Jackson is working with the Southeast Jobs Coalition, a group of community-based organizations which proposes to create jobs and workforce development in San Francisco’s Bayview and Hunter’s Point communities.

“An electricity of change needs to happen locally at our community college,” Jackson said. “I am very happy to see that people are looking forward to train our students for the next generation.”

The coalition provides access to all San Francisco residents, but it asks City College to target outreach to groups which are traditionally underrepresented.

“We are specifically engineering the training to those of low-income, people of color, limited-English speakers and women,” extend the programs in the Southeast and Mission campuses. We hope to devote between $45,000-$50,000 to the Student Ambassador Program for outreach and recruitment.”

The coalition aims to involve all members of society, but especially residents in neighborhoods who have suffered the effects of an earlier era of a “pollution-based” economy.

“These are double-digit unemployment rate areas,” Jackson said. “Bayview and Hunters Point are in a serious recession. The country may have a cold right now, but Bayview has pneumonia.”

General education student Kendell Lewis has returned to college after he was laid off from his job at San Francisco City and County’s Department of Parks and Recreation.

“I’m going through a tough time right now,” the 25-year-old black man said. “Nobody is hiring. The economy is going down, things are changing and I have to change too. I came back to school to get some credentials as the recession is getting out of hand. The green jobs program is a good opportunity and the more help we can get the better. After all, green is where we’re going.”

Jackson said the lack of diversity in the bio-tech industry leaves little room for those with entry level skills. He believes the industry imploded as those with higher skills received more resources and those with lower skills received less.

“We hope to change that with this training,” he said. “We are providing an opportunity to unite the community with labor and business through sustainable technology and green jobs.”
City College is already offering a new solar technology workshop at the Evans campus and will be introducing a hybrid car technology class for the fall semester.

David Dias, project coordinator for the Alternative Transportation Technology and Energy Initiative at the Evans campus, has recruited students for the solar technology class.

“The program serves as a preview to the construction 101 class,” Dias said. “It prepares students to move into the workforce. There is a big push for the new technologies of the future to meet energy needs.”

With the work and enthusiasm of those involved, City College is on board with the crucial need for change in our environment and our economy.

“We hope to hit the ground running with this,” Rizzo said. “Within the next month we aim to create a road map of how we will do it. This training is not just for the underprivileged. The industry is going to need people who know what they are doing.”

By Ellen Silk & Doug Ahlgren
News Editor & Staff Writer

From left to right: Newly-elected board of trustees members Milton Marks III, Chris Jackson, Dr. Natalie Berg, and Steve Ngo were officiall sworn in on Jan. 5 at the Wellness Center. JESSICA LUTHI / THE GUARDSMAN

The 2008 board of trustees unanimously approved Dr. Don Griffin’s contract at a Dec. 19, 2008 meeting and confirmed him as chancellor through June 2012, at an initial salary of $287,000 per year according to his employment contract. Griffin has 38 years of service at City College, both as an instructor and administrator. He has been the interim chancellor at City College since March 2008.

“My many years of experience in positions of ever-increasing responsibility at City College of San Francisco have prepared me for this new post,” Griffin said. “I look forward to working with the board of trustees as well as the faculty and staff to continue the college’s legacy of excellence and service to our students and communities.”

Board of Trustee

New City College board of trustees members Steve Ngo and Chris Jackson, along with returning members Dr. Natalie Berg and Milton Marks III, were sworn-in during a ceremony at the Wellness Center on Jan. 5.

All four trustees won their four-year seats after a seven-month election process ending in November 2008. Incumbents Marks and Berg along with former members Rodel Rodis and former City College Police Chief Carl Kohler ran in the nine person, four seat election for the seven member board.  Nearly 200 people watched as Senator Mark Leno swore-in Berg and Ngo. San Francisco Supervisor David Campos and Superior Court Judge Teri Jackson officiated the oaths for Marks and Jackson respectively.

“The Trustees recognize the difficult challenging budgetary times we are experiencing,” said Board President Lawrence Wong.
The Budget Crisis was a major topic of the ceremony. “I am very privileged to serve City College students and the community. I am confident that we will get through this,” Ngo said. She feels, the crisis has to be a number one priority for the college board.

This is Ngo and Jackon’s first time to serve the City College Board of Trustees. However both have experience in other forms of civic government. Ngo has served on other boards including the South East Asian Community Center, CollegeWorks and as a student representative at Hastings College. He is currently an attorney at San Francisco legal firm Minami Tamaki. In his senior year at San Francisco State University, Jackson served as Associated Student President and created Project Connect, which helps K-12 students connect with college . He currently works as a policy analyst for the San Francisco Labor Council.

“This is a great opportunity to bring an under served voice to the halls of government through the board,” said Jackson. During his time on the board he hopes to protect basic skills-and-outreach programs, as well as bring more “green jobs” training and sustainability education to the college.