President's Office

February 18, 2026

(1) Important Mission Informed Planning Council (MIPC) Meeting This Friday

The Mission Informed Planning Council (MIPC) will meet this Friday, Feb. 20, from 1–3 p.m. in Room 1901 and online. There are two key items on the agenda I’d like to underscore. First, we will be joined by Savanna McDede, who will provide a full demonstration of Element 451, the client management platform we are exploring to support our student engagement and communication efforts.

You may recall that at our last MIPC meeting, we reviewed a technology map that revealed a landscape that is redundant, costly, and difficult to maintain. This demonstration will help us consider whether a more integrated CRM could simplify that landscape and better align our tools with the retention goals in the Blueprint for Success. If you’ve been wondering what the buzz is about, please come and see!

Second, we will begin to look at a proposed process for how some of the cost savings associated with the early retirement incentive program might be captured and realigned with our college priorities. The process is being brought forward for campus feedback so that we can deliberate together on how best to organize our college in ways that support our two transformative goals: student retention and employee satisfaction. I encourage you to attend, ask questions, and help shape this shared work.

(2) Trip to Washington, D.C.: In Search of Hope

Last week, I traveled to Washington, D.C., for the joint convening of ACCT and AACC, where I joined Chancellor Lambert and our student trustee and Board of Governors appointee, Maria Blaze, to advocate on Capitol Hill for key policy and funding changes that support community colleges. Our conversations with elected officials and congressional staff underscored how essential colleges like Foothill are to expanding opportunity, strengthening the workforce, and advancing equity for students and communities.

Dear Colleague Letter

There is a quietly evolving federal landscape around diversity, equity, and inclusion. For example, a Feb. 14, 2025, Dear Colleague Letter (was that only a year ago!) took an expansive view of how the Supreme Court’s Students for Fair Admissions decision applied to campus life. That letter asserted that nearly all race-conscious perspectives could violate Title VI, which created significant uncertainty for institutions seeking to sustain equity-focused programs.

In late January, the Trump administration dropped its appeal and stepped back from defending this guidance in court, leaving in place rulings that are more supportive of institutional DEI practices and signaling that the letter is no longer being actively enforced. For colleges like Foothill, this shift provides space to reaffirm our commitments to equity and inclusion while continuing to work closely with legal counsel to ensure our efforts remain aligned with federal and state civil rights laws.

Minority-Serving Institution (MSI) and Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) Grants

Building on my experience in Washington, I want to note that the new federal appropriations bill may provide grant funding opportunities. This comes just as we have hired a new districtwide grants developer, Amanda Thomas. Her first day was Feb. 12. Check out her job description.

As I wrote in a 12345 last November, we applied for a Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions (DHSI) grant and scored well, only to be informed that the program has been discontinued. A year later, the 2026 legislative proposals include specific funding for Title III-A and Title V programs, including Strengthening Institutions (SIP), Developing HSIs, and various other MSI designations, with some programs receiving modest increases. If it holds, these investments may provide important opportunities for colleges like ours to seek additional resources for initiatives that close equity gaps, strengthen culturally responsive teaching and services, and build holistic support for historically underserved students.

(3) More Funding Opportunities with Strengthening Community College Training Grants (SCCTG)

The appropriations bill also funds the Strengthening Community College Training Grants (SCCTG) program in the coming year. These grants, which are being supported at approximately $65 million nationally, are designed to help community colleges build and expand workforce programs in partnership with regional employers. For Foothill and our peers, this is a powerful tool to deepen work-based learning, accelerate pathways into high-demand fields, and ensure our students are prepared not only to get jobs, but to thrive in careers that offer real mobility and stability.

(4) Community College Baccalaureate Programs

Closer to home, I also had the opportunity to travel to Long Beach to attend the Community College Baccalaureate Program National Conference, where I met up with our own Evan Gilstrap and Dolores Davison. It was energizing to be in community with leaders from across the country who are building and scaling bachelor’s degree programs within community colleges. This work is expanding access, lowering cost, and bringing high-quality degrees closer to students’ homes and lives.

One of the most promising practices I heard about came from a community college in Prescott, Arizona, which is offering accelerated bachelor’s degrees that require fewer than 120 units. Their model weaves together prior learning assessment, applied and work-based learning, and carefully sequenced coursework to keep students on track and on time, while still meeting rigorous program and accreditation standards. This kind of thoughtful innovation offers us a glimpse of what is possible when we design degrees around students’ realities, not just around inherited structures.

Also present at the conference was ACCJC President Mac Powell, who offered encouraging words about finding degree paths that support student success for all students. He reminded the group that we need degree pathways in all shapes and sizes—traditional, accelerated, online, hybrid, and everything in between—so that every learner can see themselves in a pathway that fits their goals, their families, and their futures.

(5) Attend Classified Professional Development Day

Foothill College is the host site of the districtwide professional development day. I’d like to amplify the invitation from FH Classified Senate President Vanessa Santillan-Nieto. The deadline to attend has been extended. I’d love it if we could double the number of classified professionals attending this year. See the invitation below and the flyer attached.

Dear Classified Community,

You are cordially invited to join us for the 2026 Foothill-De Anza Community College District Classified Professional Development Day on Friday, March 20, hosted by Foothill College.

This year’s theme is Here We Grow Again: Rooted in Purpose, Rising in Community, and we’re hard at work planning a day for you to be in community with classified professionals across the district.

The planning committee is working to provide attendees with a full day of classified professional-specific workshops, opportunities, and, more importantly, meaningful connection time.

RSVP deadline extended to Friday, Feb. 27: Register here

Thank you, as always, for all the ways you show up for our students and for one another.

Yours in service,
Kristina

Dr. Kristina Whalen
President, Foothill College