Santa Rosa Junior College Board of Trustees announced emergency funding and the opening of vaccination sites at the Santa Rosa and Petaluma campuses at a Zoom meeting Feb. 9.
The Santa Rosa clinic offers vaccinations to students only, while the Petaluma clinic is open to the public.
Dr. Katherine Magee, interim associate dean of the nursing program, said the COVID-19 mass clinic started vaccinations for over 160 students on Jan. 30 and Jan. 31 in the Race building on Santa Rosa campus.
The first of the two-dose Moderna vaccines were administered by a volunteer team of 20 licensed faculty and 16 graduating nursing students. Dr. Magee said none of the 91% of her students who were vaccinated reported adverse reactions.
Students will receive the second dose of the vaccine on Feb. 27 and Feb. 28.
This clinic was conducted in part to satisfy health students’ state-mandated vaccination requirements for program completion. Vaccines were obtained by Rebecca Norwick, director of Student Health Services, and the clinic was a collaborative effort between Health Sciences and Student Health Services.
Dr. Matthew Long, executive dean of the Petaluma campus, said the SRJC Petaluma Fitness Center opened as a county vaccination site Tuesday. The Petaluma Health Center is providing the vaccinations by appointment. The site is open Tuesdays through Saturdays 9 a.m.–6 p.m.
SRJC President Dr. Frank Chong announced JC employees 70 years old and older have started receiving vaccinations.
He also said that summer classes will still be taught virtually, but wasn’t conclusive about fall semester.
“We are going to be working with our faculty leaders and union collaborators to make sure we lead by science and safety first, as we have throughout this pandemic,” he said.
Pedro Avila, vice president of student services, said the financial aid office was awarded $800,000 in emergency grants to students who have suffered loss of income due to COVID-19 and don’t qualify for aid from the Cares Act, such as undocumented, non-credit, and international students.
Board of Trustees Member Mariana Martinez said the ad hoc racial justice committee is looking for one student member. Students who are interested should email Mariana Martinez, Dorothy Battenfeld or Jordan Burns.
Delashay Carmona-Benson said the Student Government Assembly began their own Bring Your Own Business Expo and will be working with all Chambers of Commerce within a 100-mile radius to bring in more benefits to the Club Card Premium.
She also announced that the Black Student Union will have a panel on Feb. 23 with Shirley King, daughter of B.B. King; Zakiya Hooker, daughter of John Lee Hooker; Tony Saunders, son of Merl Saunders; and Josh White III, son of Josh White.
Brad Davis, dean of workforce development, said Sonoma County Clean Power gave the entrepreneurship program $150,000 in grant money for students to start their businesses. The third annual pitch competition is May 20.
Serafin Fernandez, senior director of capital projects, gave an update about Measure H construction projects: the SRJC Petaluma Student Life Center is complete and the science addition is wrapping up, the Doyle Library first floor media services are complete and work on portable classrooms at Shone Farm will start in a week. He also reported zero COVID-19 cases among the construction workers.
SRJC Trustee Maggie Fishman said that the Foundation Board continues to facilitate eight different fundraising programs with a goal of $6.7 million to be used for the Petaluma campus agricultural and natural resources, STEM, new student housing and various athletic programs. Over $1.8 million has been raised so far.
Kinesiology faculty member Tara Jacobson announced a Yoga 200-hour Teacher Training Certification through SRJC Petaluma. The program is much cheaper for SRJC students than private programs, costing $460 in tuition versus $2,500–$3,000, and is more flexible for students who don’t want to take classes continuously.
Dr. Nikki Slovak, a behavioral sciences anthropology faculty member, was awarded the Mellon American Council of Learned Societies Community College Faculty Fellowship of $40,000 for humanities and social sciences research. She was one of 26 instructors to receive the award, and plans to use the money to research orphaned museum collections in South America.
