Julianna Barnes selected as Cuyamaca College president

Julianna Barnes, Cuyamaca College's new president

            Julianna M. Barnes, vice president of student services at San Diego Mesa College, has been selected to serve as president of Cuyamaca College effective October 5.

Barnes was selected following a nationwide search, and was one of three finalists invited to participate in public forums at the Rancho San Diego campus. She emerged as the top choice for president following interviews with district leaders and the Governing Board.

“The people at Cuyamaca College have a unique combination of heart and innovation,” Barnes said. “The faculty and staff at Cuyamaca are student-centered, and they love what they do. I’m looking forward to building on the partnerships that Cuyamaca College already has with the community, industry and other educators.”

Cindy L. Miles, chancellor of the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District, said Barnes’ passion and leadership skills stood out in her qualifications to lead the Rancho San Diego college, which has about 9,000 students. This will be a homecoming of sorts for Barnes, who served as vice president of student services at Cuyamaca College before taking the job at San Diego Mesa College in February 2013.

“I’m delighted to have Dr. Barnes back in our district,” Miles said. “She has amazing enthusiasm for helping students succeed and for collaborating with faculty and staff to ensure that students get the best education possible. Not to mention her competence and creativity. She has the perfect blend of head and heart!”

Diane Stoltz: Cuyamaca College graduate thriving in her new career

Diane Stoltz was one of the nearly 9 million Americans who lost their job during the Great Recession. She turned her life around after enrolling at both Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges.

Now she’s taking the skills she learned and putting them to use in her new career at a North County water district where she inspects water distribution systems and connections.

She’s never been happier.



Diane Stoltz at Cuyamaca College's commencement

“I love Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges,” Stoltz said. “I can’t thank the people there enough.”

Stoltz, 46, had worked for San Diego for about 13 years inspecting vehicles bought and sold by the city.  Less than a year after losing her job, she enrolled first at Grossmont College, then at Cuyamaca.

Stoltz immersed herself in her studies, securing an Associate of Arts Degree in Arts and Humanities along with an Associate of Science Degree in Math and Science in 2013 from Cuyamaca. But after meeting with a Cuyamaca College counselor who suggested she talk to then-Cuyamaca College Water/Wastewater Technology program coordinator Donald Jones, her focus changed.

“I had a background in mechanical maintenance, and the counselor thought it might be a good fit,” Stoltz recalled. “Don used to work for the city of San Diego, he was able to connect with me, and he encouraged me to pursue the program. It was a good call.”

Diversity Dialogues talk of campus at Cuyamaca College

Communication across cultures. Diversity and social justice. The worldwide struggle for African liberation.  Fostering engagement among college men of color. Understanding LGBTQIA issues.

These topics are on tap for fall 2015 at Cuyamaca College’s Diversity Dialogues, a series of workshops focusing on a variety of diversity awareness and social justice issues. 

The typically hour-long workshops have become well-established venues for discussions and exercises centered on topics like race relations and student equity. This semester’s seven workshops are free and open to the public.

Grossmont College's 'Dr. J' shoots for threes as new dean of career, technical education

A former administrator at Monroe Community College in Rochester, N.Y., is Grossmont College’s new dean of career and technical education and workforce development.

Javier Ayala, or “Dr. J.” -- a moniker the Julius Erving fan picked up from his classmates when he earned his doctorate -- oversees 63 vocational departments and programs, including administration of justice, business administration, business technology, child development, computer science and information systems, culinary arts, and hospitality, along with health and workforce initiatives and non-credit instruction.

Javier Ayala introduces himself to Culinary Arts students.

Grossmont College students on a career-technical education or CTE track focus on the skilled trades, applied sciences, and modern technologies that make up the bulk of today’s jobs. The Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District regards workforce and career preparation a critical part of its two colleges’ service to the community, along with meeting student needs for university transfer, general education and basic skills courses.

Grossmont College Theatre Arts season opens with 'A Streetcar Named Desire'

The 2015-16 Grossmont College Theatre Arts season featuring student cast members and crew opens Thursday, Oct. 1 with “A Streetcar Named Desire,” one of the most celebrated plays of the 20^th century.

The play by Tennessee Williams captured the New York Critic’s Circle Award for Best New Play and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama following its 1947 debut. It is an unflinching look at post-World War II America reflected in the crumbling fantasy world of a wistful Southern belle. With her checkered past, Blanche DuBois comes to stay with her sister and brother-in-law in a working-class neighborhood of New Orleans and tensions quickly escalate.

Auto tech at Cuyamaca College back in gear with Ford ASSET

Ford ASSET, the only automotive technology training program of its kind in the county, is revved up to start anew at Cuyamaca College for the fall semester, and there is still time to enroll.

The Aug. 17 start of the fall semester marks the program’s return at the Rancho San Diego college after a recession-driven downturn and the retirement of the veteran instructor who started the program at the college in 1988 put the program in hiatus in 2013.