President's Office
February 25, 2026
ONE (1) Bachelor’s Degree in Building Trades Management Approved
Foothill College has received full approval for its third bachelor’s degree. Official word from the State Chancellor’s Office arrived on Monday. In her congratulatory letter, Chancellor Sonya Christian wrote, “Research consistently shows that community college baccalaureate degree programs expand access to high-quality, affordable four-year degrees for students who might otherwise be left out, particularly non-traditional, low-income, and place-bound learners.”
This approval from the Board of Governors was a hard-fought win, achieved after reaching agreement with objecting CSUs and following an independent report by WestEd. The report concluded that “both real-time and traditional labor market indicators demonstrate strong demand for occupations aligned to the proposed BDP. Within San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties, there are no baccalaureate degree programs closely aligned to the occupations for which the proposed BDP would prepare students. Given there are projected to be 1,053 average annual job openings between 2024 and 2034—with no closely aligned bachelor’s degree-level programs present—there is clear evidence of unmet workforce need.”
After years of patience and persistence, Foothill College is now free to begin offering this distinctive degree to those enrolled in registered apprenticeships. Kudos to Phuong Tran! This was her labor of love and an extraordinary achievement. The entire Workforce Team has much to celebrate.
TWO (2) First Accelerated Certificate
If you follow Foothill College on social media, you may have seen that we’re scheduling an accelerated degree program. The Payroll Preparation Certificate in Accounting can now be completed in just 12 weeks. Once the State Workforce Board shares final approval criteria—beyond those already negotiated through the regulatory process—this program is likely to qualify for Workforce Pell Grants.
Why? Because it’s offered in under 15 weeks and backed by strong wage and job placement data that meet federal thresholds. Thanks to the Accounting Department’s forward-thinking design of stackable certificates, the college was able to schedule this program within those parameters. There’s already strong interest from our workforce training partners.
THREE (3) Mission Informed Planning Council Recap
The Mission Informed Planning Council met on Friday. Of note is the possibility that we may adjust our resources if the early retirement incentive is approved by the Board in March or April. A three-phase deliberation process for any resulting changes was presented for feedback. Additional opportunities for input will occur through stakeholder and senate meetings. If you’d like to help shape what that deliberation process looks like, please engage your representatives.
FOUR (4) The Silicon Valley Index Is Out
This Friday, I’ll be joining a district team at San José State University for the annual release (and inevitable reflection) on the Silicon Valley Index. I’ve received my complimentary copy and shared here..
If you’d like an executive summary, you may find it in the prose of Russell Hancock, CEO of Joint Venture Silicon Valley. His comments on educational outcomes particularly stood out—see the excerpt below.
Dear Friends:
We remain a region in the throes of transition, rife with contradiction. Our population is aging, our birth rate is historically low, and our rates of influx are off. Hiring practices in our driving industries now prioritize growth outside the region as much as within, and much of the local hiring requires an extremely rarefied skill set.
Our economy is somehow robust even though the headlines scream layoffs. There are mounting fears that would hang those layoffs on artificial intelligence, but there’s scant evidence, at least so far. What we do see is a complex cocktail of external factors (tumult in Washington, escalating tensions overseas, punishing rates) and internal ones (over-hiring during the pandemic, high housing prices) that have forced the brakes to the blistering pace we saw through the ’10s.
In light of this, we should probably celebrate a regional economy that has mostly kept its place, absorbing 40,000 post-pandemic layoffs without any corresponding uptick in unemployment. If measured by productivity, revenues, profitability, or market cap, our companies are thriving. Our fabled innovation engine is as hot as it has ever been, generating $92 billion in venture capital and more angel activity than ever before. We have more patents, the highest concentration of unicorns, and we are undoubtedly the nation’s epicenter for AI.
But it’s really tense out there.
Many of our stressors are longstanding: disappointing educational outcomes, disparities by race, our staggering housing costs, the rise of homelessness, stagnating wages, and a grotesque set of income and wealth gaps. But there are more recent developments that are equally concerning: transit staring at a fiscal cliff, inflation rates above the national average, workforce tensions in tech, and some very disturbing mental health trends (especially among the young).
Not surprisingly, we have seen manifestations of populist fervor here, as in other parts of the country. It’s being paired with a widespread distrust in tech, something unthinkable a generation ago.
Our challenge—and our opportunity—lies in managing the transitions ahead. Is the slowdown our chance to catch up? If we use thoughtful infill strategies to provide housing, will we come closer to meeting demand? Can we get ahead on our lagging infrastructure? Can AI amplify knowledge work rather than eliminate it? Can we design enough roles to make the resulting prosperity more widely shared? Can we create pipelines for those new roles and improve educational outcomes for our region’s youth?
As we transition, it will be crucial to have the metrics at hand. We’re pleased to provide them.
Yours,
Russell Hancock
President & Chief Executive Officer
FIVE (5) Spring Training
On a personal note, I made my way to Scottsdale, Ariz., over the weekend for some time at Giants Spring Training. Every game I attended resulted in a Giants win! While out and about, I ran into a recent Foothill retiree—do you recognize his relaxed countenance?
Yours in service,
Kristina
Dr. Kristina Whalen
President, Foothill College