The beginning of Spring 2010 will mark my second anniversary as President of Chabot College. When I arrived, we were challenged with noisy construction, piles of blocks, steel, and cement throughout the campus. Chain link fences were reconfigured every day as the projects progressed and we had to find a new way to get around to our meeting places or classrooms.
We are in a much different space today. Funded through your support for Measure B, two signature buildings, the Community and Student Services Building and the Instructional Office Building, will be opening this Spring. These two buildings, very visible from the main thoroughfare, mark the entrance to our campus from Hesperian Blvd. Solar panels have been installed over parking structures that will generate 20% of the energy consumed on campus. Other existing buildings and centers such as athletic facilities have been retrofitted or refurbished and equipped with the latest teaching technologies.
And that is not all that is new on campus. Chabot received a congressionally directed grant from U.S. Representative Pete Stark's office to support the Nursing Retention Program. We received from the Department of Energy a partnership grant with City College of San Francisco to support the training of students, fleet personnel, and independent shop owners and technicians in the operation, safety, maintenance, and repair of existing and emerging hybrid vehicles. In partnership with Alameda County Workforce Investment Board, Chabot obtained a funded contract to support dislocated and adult learners in our service area through career transitional services, including job search assistance, career counseling, and career development workshops. As you may know, the price of textbooks has skyrocketed in the past few years. To mitigate the cost of books, the bookstore has started a book rental program. We just received word that Chabot has been approved as a grantee for funds from the federal government to expand its book rental program so we can rent textbooks to students in 29 basic skills, career-technical, transfer, and degree courses.
There are positive changes in the administration also. Two new and energetic vice presidents are leading the offices of Academic Services and Business Services, and two former Chabot faculty members are now serving as new deans in Math and Sciences and in Social Sciences. Also, a new Director of Student Life, who came from the ranks of the Chabot Classified Staff, just took office this summer. All of this is evidence that creativity and innovation are alive and well at Chabot College and that the stewardship of our college has been infused with new energy and vitality.
I suggest that because of all of the above, you can make your best career decision by becoming a student at Chabot College. I hope to see you here.