President's Office

Reports to the Board of Trustees

April. 3, 2026, Board Meeting

Each month, President Kristina Whalen gives a report on college activities, honors, and achievements during the regular meeting of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District Board of Trustees.

View Board Reports Archive

Awards & Achievements

Palo Alto Middle College High School Growth

March, 2027

The PA Middle College High School will grow to 120-125 students this year. The school is still processing applications and will add more students before the summer. They will hold their first graduation ceremony on June 2 in our very own Smithwick, and about 35% of their students have opted to stay at Foothill after graduation. The school is growing according to their initial enrollment plan. As Principal Emil Garrison noted last quarter" Our integration into the Foothill College campus continues to yield incredible results. During fall quarter 2025, PAMC students took 89 unique courses through Foothill College. Overwhelmingly, PAMC students enjoy the educational opportunities and college experiences available through Foothill. This January, at the Winter Quarter Club Day, three PAMC trailblazers launched a brand-new college club they founded themselves. Optimism is everywhere—from the excitement of starting a new term of classes to the simple, daily joy our students find in the atmosphere at Foothill.... The success of our students is more than just academic—it is truly inspirational. At PAMC, we aren't just witnessing growth; we are watching the next generation of leaders realize their own potential. The great achievements our students are experiencing are also due to the incredible partnership and support provided by Foothill College, including all faculty and staff. Thank you, Foothill!"

 

EMT-ESL Collaboration

March, 2026

Foothill recently launched its first EMS–ESL collaborative workshop, a hands-on exchange designed for real-world impact. While EMT students practiced taking vitals and teaching CPR, they gained vital experience communicating across language barriers—a skill they will use daily in the field. Simultaneously, ESL students practiced English in a high-stakes, practical setting while gaining essential life-saving skills and learning how to respond in an emergency. 

The energy in the room was positive, and the success of this event was a true team effort.  

The faculty is excited to continue building this next quarter, with plans to expand the partnership by having ESL students participate as patient actors in EMT and paramedic training scenarios. 

A special thanks to Kathi Elizabeth, Glenn Kurisu, and the EMS faculty and students for their dedication and for helping bring this vision to life. 

 

League of Innovation Conference on March 15th

March 15, 2026

Zach Cembellin, Karl Welch, Ron Zinger and Laurence Lew presented at the League of Innovation Conference on March 15th. They shared how our existing programs, including Foothill's Innovation Challenge, Research Service and Leadership Symposium, Science Learning Institute, and Emerging Technologies Institute, collaborated across divisions and with industry to develop an incubation program for students. The program aims to give students the opportunity to gain real-world skills in transforming their ideas from conception to fruition and, eventually, to pitching their products to industry leaders. The session detailed how such an infrastructure can be scaled and how students can utilize these opportunities to enhance their credentials both on paper and with real-world learned skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, conflict resolution, and project execution.

 

SLI leads STEM workshop for students and parents at Lakewood Elementary School

March, 2026

The Science Learning Institute's STEM Impact Team of student leaders presented a workshop titled "Nuestro Lugar en STEM" at Lakewood Tech Elementary School in Sunnyvale. The event consisted of two concurrent activities: a workshop for Spanish-speaking parents on preparing for higher education and the benefits of STEM education, presented by two student leaders entirely in Spanish. The other activity was 3 hands-on STEM activities for 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders (the children of the parents in the other workshop), such as slime making and building a tower out of marshmallows and dry pasta. The STEM Impact team members, all of whom are first-generation Latinx students, wanted to share their own knowledge and love of STEM with the community in a way that would have benefited them and their parents when they were young. Seventeen families from the school attended for a total of almost 50 children and parents. It was an amazing collaboration with the city of Sunnyvale and the Columbia Neighborhood Center. 

Thank you to SLI Director Sophia Kim and the SLI Team.

 

Rad Tech Students Excel at the Radiologic Technology Conference

Student Bowl winners at the Radiologic Technology (ACERT) Conference in Las Vegas, NV, on Feb. 4th – 5th

Sixteen students and three faculty/clinical instructors from the Radiologic Technology Program attended the Association of Collegiate Educators in Radiologic Technology (ACERT) Conference in Las Vegas, NV, on Feb. 4th–5th. This is a national conference representing both bachelor's and associate-level Radiologic Technology Programs.  Attendees were comprised of didactic and clinical educators as well as students.  There were around 1000 attendees this year, most of whom were students.   
Students from the Foothill College Rad Tech Program competed in the Student Bowl on Wednesday evening.  Five second year students made it into the top 100 (Kevin Antolin, Ryan Hanning, Hailey Hiett, Summer Le, Jayson Agibuay).  Jayson Agibuay made it into the top 30 out of over 430 students competing.  
All second-year students competed in the poster competition with posters they created in their RT62A research class taught by Melissa Wu.  There were two categories in the competition: literature review and original research.  Foothill College students earned rankings in both categories out of 32 submissions from across the country:  
  
Literature Review 
Second Place 
PMCT: Gunshot Edition 
Riley Neill, Nicole Hill, Rhea Alexander 
  
Second Place 
Theranostics: A Dual Approach for Treating Thyroid Cancer  
Samantha Davis, Aundria Vargas, Erwin Rodriguez  
  
Third Place 
A Breath You Can’t Take Back  
Edheleen Adres, Elizabeth Godoy, Luis Martinez  
  
Original Research 
First Place 
Breaking the Cycle: The Impact of Improper Sani-Cloth Use on Microbial Contamination 
Sydney Emerson, Bridget Foley, Chris Jao 
  
The rad tech students are looking forward to applying to participate in the upcoming Research & Service Leadership Symposium to share their work with our campus community. 

Thank you to Rachelle Campbell, Radiologic Technology Program Director Melissa Wu, Radiologic Technology Program Faculty, and Clinic Coordinator Kirk McKinlay, Radiologic Technology Program Faculty.

 

Newly designed website goes live

April 13, 2026

The new Foothill College website has been designed to exceed the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA in advance of the national April 24 deadline. The new site is easy to navigate, mobile friendly, and rich in videos and images. It is also welcoming and designed to communicate Foothill’s ethos of Love. Once live, the website will continue to be built out with new video content and images.  

Thank you to the Marketing team and to all the faculty and staff who have worked so hard to update their content. 

A special thanks to the Foothill College Marketing Team, Edna Hernandez Amezcua, Srichandana Chakilam, Julie Ceballos, and Tanya Marutova. 

 

Foothill Speech and Debate Team Continues to Impress!

March 20-22 , 2026

The Foothill Speech and Debate Team competed at the Bernacchi Invitational at Diablo Valley College, where our students faced a field of 22 competing schools and delivered truly inspiring performances. For many of them, this was their first collegiate tournament, yet they demonstrated confidence, professionalism, and remarkable poise.  

🏅 Jonah Copeland – 4th Place, Novice Extemporaneous Speaking 

🏅 Jian Cabungan (Dual Enrollment Student) – Finalist, Novice Prose Interpretation 

🥇 Garifalia “Gigi” Tsiglieris – Gold Medal, Novice IPDA Debate 

Thank you to Professor Anju Vriksha and Foothill Speech and Debate students. 

 

Tools for Transition and Work (TTW) program Offers New Certificate

March, 2026

Foothill College’s Tools for Transition & Work (TTW) program has received state approval for a new Certificate of Achievement in Independence and Career Readiness, creating a formal, transcriptable credential that recognizes the work neurodivergent students do to build independence, career readiness, and skills for adult life. 

 The one-year, cohort-based program includes more than 40 units of coursework in communication, digital literacy, financial and life skills, health and wellness, work experience, and personal development, helping students strengthen executive functioning, self-advocacy, and workplace readiness. This milestone follows a five-year effort to modernize and streamline the curriculum in collaboration with faculty and students across the college, resulting in a clearer and more intentional pathway. 

Press Release

Thank you to Professor Ben Kaupp and the TTW Team . 

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Strategic Updates

Packard 101

March 12-13, 2026

President Whalen attended a day-long internship program at the Lucille Packard Children's Hospital on March 13 with other community leaders. She learned about the use of AI in health care operations, toured the facility with its innovative use of art as wayfinding, and went on three “rotations” with health care professionals, which included radiology, pain management, and technology. 

Thanks to Foundation Board Member Dianna Bautista.

 

Student Services Retreat

March 17, 2026

On March 17, the Student Services Division held a division-wide retreat focused on strengthening interdepartmental collaboration and cross-training. The day was designed as an interactive experience, with learning facilitated through retro game show-style activities that encouraged engagement, connection, and shared problem-solving across departments. Staff were introduced to new tools to support their work, including training on NotebookLM and a homegrown resource, Foothill SHARE (Staff Help, Answers, Resources, and Essentials), designed to streamline access to information and improve coordinated student support. The retreat also featured a keynote address by Alecia Barillas, who emphasized the importance of growth mindset language in all student interactions, reinforcing our commitment to fostering a culture of care and equity in Student Services. 

Watch a video here!

Thanks to the Student Services Cross-Training Retreat: Come On Down! The 80s Game Show Edition took place last month. Check out this video invitation to give you a sense of the vibe .

 

ACCJC Visit

March 23, 2026

The ACCJC peer review visit centered on Foothill’s newly designed and deeply integrated Student Learning Outcomes (SLO) process, and our college shone brightly. The review team conveyed deep reverence for the level of engagement, sense of ownership, and genuine appreciation for professional growth and learning they heard throughout their conversations with faculty and deans.

Leads: Stacy Gleixner, Dolores Davison.

Participating leaders: Allison Meezan, Amber La Piana, Amy Shidler, Ben Kaupp, David Marasco, Denise Giotta,  Eric Reed, Jeff Bissel, Jordan Fong, Judy Walgren, Jue Thao, Kyle Taylor, Lene Whitley-Putz, Patricia Crespo-Martin, Pia Staana, Sally Baldwin, Voltaire Villanueva, and Warren Voyce. 

 

Strengthening Partnerships with Transfer Institutions

March 27, 2026

Chancellor Lambert and President Whalen visited SJSU on March 27th.

We lunched while discussing some dual admission and other opportunities and toured the recently opened AI Center for Civic & Public Good in the campus and community MLK Library. We also visited the Interdisciplinary Building Cyber Lab to meet for a brief demonstration of their humanoid and caninoid robots.  

Thank you to President CynthiaTeniente-Matson, Provost, Vin Cascino, Dean Mehrdad Aliasgari, and Dean Michael Meth.

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Events

Pasta for Vets

March 27, 2026  

On March 27, Foothill College staff and administrators attended and supported the annual Los Altos Rotary “Past for Vets” fund raiser. Foothill veterans, both past and present, shared their powerful stories and the event raised over $60K to support our Veterans. Thank you to Chancellor Lee Lambert for joining the event. 

Thank you to Los Altos Rotary Veterans Committee members Susie Mielke, GaeAnn Spence, Jack Kelly, Lindsay Carpenter, Bernadine Fong, Karen Greguras, Kathy Lera, and also Ron Labetich and the Foothill College Veterans Center staff.

 

 

Dick Henning Celebration of Life

March 29, 2026 

On Sunday, March 29, over 250 people gathered in the Smithwick Theatre to remember Dick Henning, former director of the Foothill Celebrity Forum. Dick lived a full and active life and was remembered with great fondness by all attendees. The event was emceed by Stan Scardino. Kristina Whalen welcomed the crowd full of Dick's family, friends, and colleagues. Dick's son provided family remembrances, and Bernadine Fong provided a robust retrospective of his time at Foothill College, the beginnings and growth of the Celebrity Forum, and the many people he took on an African Safari. Ann Chocktow rounded out the program by recounting Henning's contributions to Rotary, including the integration of women. A toast to Dick took place in the courtyard during a reception. 

Thanks to Los Altos Rotary and Foothill College staff. 

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Invitation

Jean Thomas Student Success Center Building Dedication

April 23, 2026, 11:30 a.m.—1 p.m., Building 8200 

Foothill College proudly invites the community to a special building dedication and renaming ceremony honoring Dr. Jean Thomas. This historic event celebrates her enduring legacy as a Counselor, founder of the Pass the Torch program, and her profound contributions to student success, equity, and belonging long before those values were widely centered in higher education. This dedication will represent the first building named in honor of an African American and woman within the Foothill-DeAnza College District.

Organized by April Henderson.

 

Day on the Hill 

May 4th, 9:30 a.m. - 1 p.m., 2026  

Please join hundreds of community members as they visit Foothill to learn about our programs and services. There will be campus tours, workshops, and a chance to meet faculty and staff...and we’ll feed you too.

Organized by: Foothill College Outreach Team