Grossmont College's OTA students use ingenuity to help disabled

“Garden on the Go” 

For the past decade, a Grossmont College Occupational Therapy Assistant class has proven that necessity is indeed the mother of invention.

“Tip Grip To-Go” 

To help answer the perpetual question of what an occupational therapy assistant does, students each year put on a fair to demonstrate simple, low-cost devices they’ve created to make everyday tasks easier for family members and others with physical impairments.

The homemade adaptive devices like Brenda Guzman’s “Tip Grip To-Go,” and Patricia Ambrosia’s “Garden on the Go,” are the kind of inventions so simple and nifty that they often leave viewers wondering why they aren’t already in existence.

Grossmont, Cuyamaca colleges offering four-week intersession classes

Registration is now open for spring intersession classes at Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges. Students attend classes Jan. 2-27 and can complete a course, including those satisfying general education requirements, in just four weeks.

The deadline for registering is Jan. 2. The cost of the courses is the same $46 per unit that applies for regular-session classes, with most classes meeting daily for 2.5 hours and earning students three units.

Registration for regular spring semester classes has also begun, with classes starting Jan. 29.

Grossmont College instructors a distinguished pair

Biology professor Michael Golden

A veteran biology professor and a German instructor at Grossmont have been selected by their peers as recipients of the 2017-18 Distinguished Faculty Awards for their excellence as educators and exemplary service to the college.

Biology instructor Michael Golden received the award for full-time faculty, and German instructor Astrid Ronke was picked for the adjunct award.

German instructor Astrid Ronke

College President Nabil Abu-Ghazaleh said the faculty awards recognize the two faculty members’ immeasurable contributions and their stellar work representing the excellence of Grossmont College.

 “Our students thrive because of the commitment and caring of faculty like Professor Golden and Dr. Ronke,” he said. “Grossmont College is truly fortunate to benefit from their knowledge and remarkable abilities to connect with their students.”

Construction of new Center for Water Studies set to begin at Cuyamaca College

Cuyamaca College is set to begin construction on a state-of-the-art Center for Water Studies aimed at training the next generation of industry professionals to manage and operate California’s complex water and wastewater systems.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the first component of the project – the Field Operations Skills Yard – is scheduled for Nov. 9 at 9:30 a.m. next to the “L” Building at the Cuyamaca College campus, 900 Rancho San Diego Parkway, in Rancho San Diego. When completed, the Field Operations Skills Yard will include a fully operational, above-ground water distribution and an underground wastewater collection system that will enable students to apply their science, technology, engineering and mathematics knowledge in a learning-by-doing, career-preparation environment.

“Cuyamaca College is a leader in workforce training for the water and wastewater industry, and the Center for Water Studies will further strengthen our status as a trailblazer in the profession,” said Cuyamaca College President Julianna Barnes.

A California Community College Strong Workforce grant is providing $192,000 for the Field Operations Skills Yard. Additional contributions for the above-ground network of pipes, pumps, valves, meters and other equipment is being provided by donations from the waterworks industry. A National Science Foundation grant is providing $72,000.

The Field Operations Skills Yard is projected to be completed in time for spring semester classes.



Donald Jones

“These fully operational water and wastewater systems will be used to replicate many of the entry-level tasks employees perform as they begin their careers in the water and wastewater industry,” said Don Jones, the National Science Foundation grant manager who has helped spearhead the creation of Center for Water Studies. “It’s the culmination of a many years long pipe dream.”



The second component of the Center for Water Studies involves relocating Cuyamaca College’s Water & Wastewater Technology program to a renovated L Building, which sits next to the Field Operations Skill Yard and which will be transformed to house, among other things, a water quality analysis classroom and a shop area for backflow prevention and cross-connection control training. In addition, two other classrooms will be remodeled to accommodate approximately 40 water and wastewater technology students each.