2024-2025 Year in Review!
As we look back at the accomplishments of our students, faculty, and staff, we are filled with pride and anticipation for the future. The 2024-2025 year truly showcased the spirit of the Eagles – resilient, dedicated, and ready to soar!
Fall 2025 Convocation and Faculty Flex Day
On August 14 and August 15, the College held its Convocation and Faculty Flex Days.
Convocation and Faculty Flex Day Agenda
This year's Convocation Workshop Facilitator is Kern Beare: Kern Beare is a former Silicon Valley communications executive who, throughout his professional career, maintained deep roots in the fields of interpersonal communication and conflict resolution. Today he leads non-profit seminars and workshops on how to heal relationships and unleash our capacity for creative collaboration.
Kern's work in this field began in the 1980s, at the height of the Cold War, when he received a two-year fellowship from the Beyond War foundation, a fellowship that led to running educational programs on the obsolescence of war in the nuclear age and the imperative of learning to resolve conflict without violence.
In the 1990s, Beyond War became the Foundation for Global Community, extending its mission to include social and environmental issues. He served on the board of the new organization and helped to develop and expand offerings of educational workshops.
In the early 2000s, Kern co-founded Global MindShift, a nonprofit enterprise that offered facilitated online workshops on the essential skills we need to survive and thrive in today’s interconnected and interdependent world.
In 2017, following the U.S. Presidential election, Kern launched the Difficult Conversations Project, an initiative to help address our national divide.
Kern holds a BA in psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles. He and his wife Amy have two grown sons - Joseph and Will - and live in Mountain View, California.
College of the Siskiyous (Siskiyous) is going 100% Smoke and Tobacco FREE!
On May 20, 2025, the Board of Trustees unanimously voted to adopt BP/AP 3570 Smoke and Tobacco Free Campus. Implementation of the tobacco-free policy will be January 1, 2026. Smoke Free High Country will continue supporting Siskiyous by providing quit resources, signage, and education. The next steps for implementation include educating new and returning students, aiding students and employees who are interested in quitting, and promoting cessation to potential students, faculty, and staff as a healthier place to live, work, and play!
Tobacco-free campus policies have been shown to improve physical and mental health among campus attendants, reduce toxic litter, and create a trigger-free environment that better supports students and staff who are trying to quit tobacco. Interested in obtaining resources to quit? Visit Kick It California or Text 'Quit Smoking' to 66819 or 'Quit Vaping' to 66819.
Well folks… we are there! We are eagerly looking forward to the start of the fall semester and being able to re-connect with our students, faculty, and staff. If you have a class or an activity you would like or need to promote, now is the time to send information to the Public Relations Office. Students are ready to register! Let us let them know what we will be offering this fall. Are you teaching a new, never (or has but it has been a long time) offered class? Let us know and we will get the word out.
Save the Date! Ground-Breaking event for new Student Housing Facility
You are invited to join us for this historic event as we officially break ground on the new mission-driven student housing community that will provide affordable and sustainable quality housing for our students. The ground-breaking event will take place Friday, October 10, from 2:00 to 4:00 pm in Parking Lot C at the Weed Campus.
39th Annual COS Foundation Scholarship Fundraising Dinner and Auction
The 2025 Scholarship Fundraising Dinner will be held at the Sons of Italy Memorial Hall in Weed on Saturday, October 11. This year's theme is "Masquerade – Black & White".
Tickets are now on sale - $30 per person and may be purchased from staff in Building 95 at the Weed Campus or from COS Foundation and Scholarship Committee members. Proceeds from this event support the COS Foundation Scholarship Program. The members of the Weed Sons of Italy will provide the catering. Please help us support our students by attending this fun event.
Reminder… Siskiyous Publicity (Creating Flyers, Programs, Digital Ads, and more)
Please remember that all publicity, promotional, and marketing materials must be submitted to the Public Relations Office (email pio@siskiyous.edu) before being posted, printed, or distributed on campus and in the community. This includes images used in social media posts and other print publications. This process ensures that all materials meet branding and accessibility standards. Questions - send an email, call the office, or stop by for a chat. We are happy to meet and discuss.
Stay Connected
Sign up today for COS Connect. This is a free system used to notify students and staff of emergency-situations, campus closures, or general information. To sign up click on the COS Connect button located on the COS homepage and follow the directions to get sign up. Need help, send an email, call the office, or stop by for a chat.
Come Join Our Team
We are looking for new volunteers to join the Eagle's Nest team. Volunteers work as cashiers, screening items as they come in, price merchandise, repair items, research antiques, etc. There is never a dull moment at the Eagles Nest. We are also looking for student workers. If you know of anyone who may be interested in volunteering or working as a paid student worker, have them call (530) 938-4663 or stop by the Eagle’s Nest Shop to speak with Angel Keen, Shop Supervisor.
Upcoming Activities & Events:
Event dates, times, and locations based on information available at the time of publication and are subject to change.
August 2025
September 2025
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College of the Siskiyous has been actively contributing to the Common Cloud Data Platform (CCDP) Pilot Project, a statewide initiative designed to modernize how California Community Colleges manage, analyze, and report critical data. We are currently at a 15-month milestone in the project timeline with more work remaining. Alongside other participating colleges, COS has played a key role in beta testing and validating new reporting tools, providing real-world feedback to ensure the system meets the operational needs of districts across the California Community College system.
Our department has tested MIS and 320 reporting features, explored Chancellor's Office dashboard functionality, and worked closely with project leads and Ellucian to identify and resolve challenges with large data loads, validation rules, and user workflows. The COS experience—particularly in translating complex reporting requirements into functional, accurate outputs—has directly informed system refinements and even contributed a predictive analytic regression model for enrollment forecasting that, if implemented, will benefit colleges statewide.
When the CCDP project is complete, COS will gain:
By investing time and expertise in the pilot phase, COS is not only preparing to leverage these tools for our own planning and assessment needs but is also helping shape a system that will streamline compliance reporting and expand analytical capabilities across California's community colleges. We are excited to be a part of Cohort 1 for this project as we get to help shape how the final product will be delivered to the California Community College system.
The Business Office is expanding! Please join us in welcoming our new team members:
As we close out FY 2024–2025, prepare for the auditors' visit in late October, and move into FY 2025–2026, it's a busy and exciting time. With this exceptional team, we are confident in our ability to support students with all their financial needs this semester.
It has been a very busy summer with lots of projects.
Projects Completed:
Projects In Progress:
Upcoming projects:
August is here and more and more students are back. We've had a busy summer and we've accomplished much. On Saturday, August 2nd, we held a very successful event call "Soar & Explore". We had many students, parents, and their family members here and our students were able to meet with departments from Student Services, the Business Office, Food Services, and the Bookstore. In addition to feeding everyone, we helped students finish up their financial aid files, register for classes, create payment plans, buy their books, sign-up for support services, check into the Lodges, and much more. Many staff and faculty came in on a Saturday for this special event. It was a wonderful time, very helpful for our students, and was super appreciated by their parents. Thank you to all that came and participated.
I want to highlight Steph Wroten, TRiO Director, and the entire TRiO office. This year they organized and hosted another successful summer program for our Upward Bound students. They had fun, travelled, learned, and were well taken care of. Steph and her crew do this each year and it is no small task. It was more challenging this year due to all the tree removal happening across campus but the team persevered, and the students had a great time. Thank you, TRiO Department, for being rockstars!
As a reminder to the entire campus, the Veterans Resource Center is not to be used for employee use. The Veterans Resource Center is only for use by Veteran Students and is required of each California Community College to have on campus. Employees should not be using it for personal use to take breaks, use the microwave, wash dishes, store food, or anything else. It is not the staff lounge. Please be respectful of our Veterans and their dedicated space. Thank you!
I would like to acknowledge a couple new members of Students Services at COS. Sarah Jobson is our new Director of Student Housing & Student Life. Sarah has been a great addition already and has jumped right on board and got to work. We are glad you are here! Heather Collins, is our new Student Access Services Counselor. Heather is well qualified and we are so grateful she has joined us and we are all excited to be working with you. Welcome!
I am looking forward to the start of a new fall semester and seeing more students on campus. Summer always goes quickly but I never complain when we have so many students back. Come check out the Student Center and all the great new additions of games, entertainment, and more. Welcome back!
Outreach and Retention was busy in this summer with creating swag bags for the Kids Basketball Camp, as well as creating swag bags for recruits! We're providing tours almost every week this summer for potential students and their families. As you pass by the office, you may see a different set-up; feel free to say hi and see what changes are in store! O&R met with SCOE, SiskiyouWORKS, College Options, and other COS offices to plan out events for the 25-26 academic year. Stay tuned for more information about KinderCaminata, Siskiyous Preview Day & College Fair, 8th Grade Inspiration Day, COS Holiday Dinner, and more! The Eaglepalooza (formally known as Week of Welcome) schedule will be posted this week! If you or your department is interested in hosting an event at the beginning of the Fall semester, please reach out to me ASAP. If you have any questions, I am happy to work with you.
On Tuesday, July 1st, we hosted an academy COS orientation for our POST cadets that brought together 10 different departments across campus to present their programs and services. Whether it was assisting in ordering official transcripts for evaluation, verifying VA requirements, signing up for CalFresh, setting up payment plans, or getting Financial Aid squared away, the departments were able to help each cadet with their needs. Thank you to all who participated in the orientation and thank you to the academy staff for allowing us into your space!
Siskiyous Fire Camp Ignites Excitement and Success
The inaugural Siskiyous Fire Camp held in June was a resounding success thanks to the dedication and support of everyone involved! Sixty-five campers kicked off each day in Physical Training (PT) attire, taking on fitness challenges led by Instructor Jenelle Walker, Chief Monty Messenger, and Captain Ryan Benson.
Following PT, campers tackled a full lineup of hands-on training activities on the Fire Camp Training Grounds. These included Rope Rescue, Search and Rescue drills under smoky conditions, Forcible Entry, Car Fire Extinguishment, a 35-Foot Ladder Climb, Wildland Hose Deployment, Fire Engine Roll-ups, CPR and Emergency Medical Response, Fire Shelter Deployment, and even a Hazardous Materials Decontamination. We also had an incredible hands-on experience with Cal Fire's EDITH trailer, where the campers learned how to escape from their home in the event of a fire.
A heartfelt thank-you goes out to all who contributed their time, expertise, and encouragement to make this event possible. We truly appreciate the kind words and overwhelming support from our community!
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