December 2025
- The Scuttle Team
- Dec 1, 2025
- 27 min read
Editor's Note
As the semester begins to wind down and finals week draws near, let's take a moment to reflect on these last few months. I began writing and editing for The Scuttle in August and the months since have been a whirlwind. We belong to a special campus community and it's truly a privilege to have the opportunity to write about Cabrillo College events and happenings. This position has given me such valuable insight into the college and has allowed me to forge new and meaningful connections with folks on campus. This issue will be our last of the semester until we pick back up in February.
Below you will find fascinating perspectives on various Cabrillo issues, Read Josephine Fahey's editorial on how the college intends to deal with cuts to precalculus that are being imposed by the state legislature. In November, Fahey and I collaborated on an article about the growing presence of generative A.I. at Cabrillo and how the campus community feels about the technology. Read what students and faculty had to say about these issues and more below.
For questions, comments, or interest in getting involved with The Scuttle, email isblevin@cabrillo.edu or jofahey@cabrillo.edu. Here's to another semester of The Scuttle. Have a restful winter break.
-Isabella Blevins
Announcements and Events
Second Harvest Food Bank Fresh Market
Second Harvest Food Bank is proud to sponsor Fresh Markets at Cabrillo campuses. All students are welcome to stop by and choose from an abundant selection of food, from fresh produce to packaged goods. Stop by the Multipurpose Room at the Watsonville Center on December 3 from 11-12:30pm and the Library Quad in Aptos on December 8 from 9:30-11am to make your selections.
Cabrillo Choir’s Winter Concerts
The Cabrillo Symphonic and Youth Choruses are celebrating the holidays with their upcoming winter concerts! The event welcomes Dr. Carlin Truong to the stage, come out and enjoy an evening of music and holiday cheer. See poster for dates and details.
Collins Housing Solutions
For individuals struggling with housing in the Santa Cruz area, Collins Housing Solutions is a company that strategizes one’s well-being holistically. Through services that extend beyond homing and affordable housing development, Collins Housing is dedicated to its community's success. The Collins team connects clients to affordable health care, employment opportunities, and mental health resources. To apply for assistance, visit their website. For internship and employment opportunities through the company, reach out to Keith Collins at Keith@CollinsHousingSolutions.com
Open Supplemental Instruction Leader Positions in the HUB
The HUB is hiring SI Leaders for the Spring 2026 semester. Students with the ability to provide tutoring in accounting, biology, chemistry, and economics are encouraged to apply! See poster for more details.
Finals Week Schedule
With the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, don't let these important dates pass you by. December 13 is the last day of instruction and the last day to file for a pass/no pass grade through Etrieve. Access your finals schedule here.
SNAP Relief Gift Cards
Students currently enrolled at Cabrillo College who have been impacted by the SNAP withholdings are entitled to a free $100 gift card to the Cabrillo Cafeteria. Cabrillo is dedicated to supporting students through times of uncertainty. Scan the QR code to apply.
Navigating new technology: How is the Cabrillo College community facing generative A.I.?
Like many other colleges and universities around the world, Cabrillo College is grappling with the role of artificial intelligence in higher education. Where many other campuses have developed uniform and consistent A.I. policies, Cabrillo has opted to leave policy-making to the sovereignty of each academic department.
A.I. continues to push the boundaries of technology, defy what was previously thought possible, and challenge how we understand learning. Since its abrupt inception, generative A.I. has permeated virtually every aspect of modern life, especially within the workplace and higher education. As seminal as it is, there is an ethical conversation to be had about A.I. and its academic applications. Many embrace its efficacy and practicality; others question whether generative A.I. disturbs the sanctity of human thought and creation. Currently, the Cabrillo community is navigating the ways in which generative A.I. helps and harms scholastic fields.
Steve Schessler, who serves as English Department Chair, Lead Honors Faculty, and First Year Experience Faculty Coordinator, took on the role of developing an A.I. policy for instructors across campus to use.
Adapted from Arizona State University, the policy consists of a stoplight system with three levels of A.I. use. In green light courses, students are "generally permitted” to use generative A.I.--as long as they cite it and stay within whatever guidelines their professor sets up. Yellow light means that A.I. use is “permitted under some circumstances or with explicit permission.” In a course like this, generative A.I. could be allowed for some assignments and totally restricted for others. Courses with a red light policy prohibit A.I. use. Schessler said he sent a copy of the policy to all Cabrillo faculty, but he’s not sure if everyone uses it.
He employs the yellow light system for his classes because he believes that generative A.I. can help students with outlining and brainstorming ideas for essays. However, he emphasized that generative A.I. must not write the students’ papers for them.
“One of the challenges with A.I., especially with widespread use, is its being positioned as the best common way to express something. We don’t want that because there’s no expression there,” Schessler said.
Kianna, 33, a Computer Applications and Business Technology (CABT) student, argues that it’s hard to navigate class-specific A.I. policies. Preferring to go by her first name only, Kianna said the line between what counts as plagiarism has become murky.
“It’s frustrating, I guess. I don’t exactly know what I’m supposed to be doing.” she said.
In favor of the stoplight system is Business Information student Yeimi Rivas, 25. Rivas said she appreciates when her professors inform the class of their A.I. policy at the beginning of the semester.
“That helps when they let us know ahead of time,” she said.
Rivas believes that the stoplight system helps balance students’ A.I. use and remove the temptation to spend more time utilizing it.
Among the questions of institutionalization of A.I. is a larger, more philosophical concern. Faculty and students alike wonder what the effects of A.I. will be long term.
Kianna expressed concern for the research and information retention skills that she feels students lose when they rely on generative A.I. to conduct their research for them. She previously attended Cabrillo from 2005 to 2020–before the A.I. boom. She recalled a time when students could be found between the stacks at the college library doing research for a paper or project. Now, Kianna says
she sees many of her classmates using ChatGPT for research.
“They’re taking the easy way out. They’re not doing the research, they’re not retaining the information,” Kianna said.
Ezra Knox, 20, is concerned about the implementation of A.I. in everyday life. As a political science major, he believes the lack of legislative A.I. regulation is frustrating and that the companies and political figures pushing the technology are part of the problem.
“You’re harming humanity more than you’re helping it. It’s not assisting people, it’s replacing people and it’s also making people stupider.”
Knox also highlighted the inevitable cognitive ramifications of students' frequent generative A.I. use.
“I wish we could make more of an effort to tell people what the detriment is to using A.I.,when you use ChatGPT to outsource your critical thinking, what actually happens.” He added, “You need to understand what you are losing in the process of doing that and the potential risks you get in creating your entire career off of work that you never even did.”
Doubling down on this idea, Rivas said she wished for more of an explanation from professors on why students should not rely on generative A.I. Although she’s found it useful for creative brainstorming and learning how to do certain functions in Microsoft Word and Excel, she can’t shake her concern about long-term effects of A.I. reliance.
“It’s slowing us down. It doesn’t make our brains actually think,” she said.
Some English faculty espoused concerns about the sterile nature of A.I.-generated writing.
Cheryl Chaffin, English professor and Director of the Honors Transfer Program, bemoans the lack of “spirit” and “energy” within A.I. writing.
“It’s just kind of straight facts that have been collated together without any personal voice from the student,” Chaffin said.
English professor Letitia Scott-Curtis believes that along with the loss of personal voice and style in writing, generative A.I. also erodes critical thinking skills and students’ ability to read deeply and connect with literature. She also said that generative A.I. does a serious disservice to students outside of the realm of academia. She pointed out how easy it is to be deceived by A.I.-generated content that appears real, especially as it relates to the news and how people attempt to inform themselves on current events.
“That’s foundational to the idea of what participating in democracy really is all about, so that’s terrifying.”
In her classes, Scott-Curtis has an A.I. policy that is similar to the stoplight system that was shared by Schessler. On some assignments, she allows students to use and cite A.I.; on others, she prohibits its use.
“I have found there are still students who use it and don’t cite it…So it’s sort of frustrating,” she said, “I’m not doing the red light…[and] there are clearly students who are not even citing it, which is puzzling to me.”
Despite the many challenges that student A.I. use has caused, Scott-Curtis understands why many students may turn to the likes of ChatGPT for academic help.
“There were a lot of things that changed about education when the pandemic was happening because we were so concerned about students’ mental health..and there was definitely Covid learning loss,” she said, adding, “If you’ve got learning loss..and you’re struggling, and now you’ve got this tool that’s so accessible and can kind of provide you with what you need, it’s that slippery slope..All of a sudden you’re relying on this tool.”
Jeff Bergamini, a computer science instructor, said that in his 12 years of teaching at Cabrillo, A.I. had very little impact on the pedagogy of his classroom up until two years ago.
“Since then, I have considered many potential responses and likely paths this all may take, but things are changing quickly both in education and in society overall.”
He explains that A.I. and its potential are evolving every day; it would be irresponsible to believe any current assumptions about where it will lead us. The trajectory of A.I. and its ethicality is “...entirely dependent on how we can harness it, which I'm honestly skeptical about.”
There's no denying the power of Generative A.I. In software development, Bergamini said, “it can certainly be a productivity boost when used effectively.”
But to what extent and under what circumstances? Bergamini is concerned by students' over-reliance on Generative A.I. and how he sees it being abused.
“There is a certain type of student who has assumed A.I. is their buddy that will help them through everything without having to learn much of anything. It's hard to watch that happen… The tragedy is not recognizing that the act you're performing is something a third grader could do. And it's worth exactly the amount of effort you put into it.”
Bergamini navigates the leading dilemma that academia faces regarding A.I. For years, academic institutions have strived for accessibility and outreach. When A.I. is being used as a tool for some and overused by others, how should instructors, advisors, and mentors govern its use?
“I struggle to see a good use for it in my courses, especially the introductory courses.”
Andrew Thach, another Computer Science instructor at Cabrillo, adopts a similar ideology.
Thach comments that in computer science, students learn skills like problem solving, troubleshooting, and logical reasoning. He believes that students are using A.I. to “speed up their workflow,” but shouldn’t be used in ways that stunt the development of these abilities. He argues that an inquisitive student will use Generative A.I. to probe every step of a problem and try to fully understand the levels of reasoning along the way.
In a past essay, Thach identifies and defines two different ideologies, the “techno-skeptic” and the “techno-optimist”.
Thach models the techno-skeptic through the works of Aldous Huxley and Kevin Kelly, and suggests that this person believes technology and innovation ultimately lead to the degradation of cognitive competence. A techno-optimist, inspired by author and journalist Matt Ridley's philosophies, argues for the evolutionary benefits of technological advancements, which lead humans to a prosperous society.
Quoted from his essay, “In my view, with today’s growing technological innovations, it is up to the user to scrutinize the irony or hypocrisy of 'using', as he or she may be the one being used."
Thach, in his essay, notes how technology companies have economic motivations to make a user dependent on it’s product. In his interview he said, “I think it’s useful, but should be used responsibly.”
These archetypes mirror the theoretical paradigms we see in generative A.I. discourse today.
When asked about the strategies instructors are employing to mitigate over-reliance, Thach said that “Our conversations involve measuring how many students are 'abusing' it, and finding ways to discuss how our pedagogy should change.”
Thach and Bergamini agree that academic integrity, under a student's rights and responsibilities, acts as an authoritative guideline for generative A.I. policies.
Micheal Turing, 21, an engineering major who opted to use an alias, highlights how having a tool such as generative A.I. readily available has helped their educational success.
“Engineering is a highly technical field…when questions are frequent and small, asking ChatGPT to clarify or explain a concept is 10 times more efficient than regularly bugging a teacher.”
“I’ll often ask it to explain concepts like I’m five, just to get the conceptual understanding down.”
Turing points out that for students who don't have expendable time, whether they are a parent, working full time, have a heavy course load, or even a commuter, A.I. aids their academic success
But he acknowledges that A.I. is a tool used to cut corners, and some people are cutting off too much.
Turing thinks that how students use A.I. is a spectrum, “You have a tiny amount of people who say they don't use it at all, and those who use it so much it's disgusting.” He places himself in between, among a demographic of people who understand its caveats and have the self-restraint to use it solely as an educational device.
“Seeing someone get full marks for an A.I.-generated discussion post is discouraging… Why even try if you know someone is getting the same grade for a fraction of the effort you put in?”
Turing finds an irony among students who are overly dependent on generative A.I. “Those who do understand how it works will ask hyper-specific questions to extract a certain answer. It’s fiendish.” He said that by using A.I., students are learning how to ask powerful questions, but it's a skill being misused.
Turing acknowledges the pros and cons of A.I. uses and believes that regulating it is a tricky business.
“Trying to…impose rules on something that is a resource for some and a crutch for others would only cause problems. It will inevitably exclude a whole group of people.”
But, he points out that leaving it up to the user's discretion to use A.I. responsibly would leave too much room for abuse.
“Now, students are graduating from lower-division coursework without the proper learning foundations to succeed.” Turing said that working with people who are incompetent because of their addictive A.I. usage is concerning, especially in the engineering fields.
At the same time, Turing said wanting to impose rules that are too harsh or outright banning it comes from a place of “conservative fanaticism”.
When asked about what institutions might do to prevent over-usage and reliance, he suggests teaching students about A.I.: “...how it works and how to use it properly…”, rather than treating it like a taboo, is the best course of action.
The discourse on generative A.I. begs the question: Is there such a thing as ethical A.I. use in academia?
Raina Chelise, a Communications professor, said that to her, ethical A.I. use is defined by individual accountability. She appreciates when students are transparent about when they’ve used ChatGPT or another generative A.I. program as an academic tool. Chelise describes herself as “A.I.-curious” and chooses to see the benefits that can arise from introducing A.I. into the classroom.
“I just think it’s really a fun way to begin the brainstorming process because it helps us look at things a little bit differently,” she said, explaining that generative A.I. can be helpful to students when they’re outlining their speeches in her class.
“There’s not many of us who see the upside to A.I.,” Chelise added.
“For a student that might be learning English or might be feeling stumped creatively, it can really, really just kind of give them a head start,” said John Robertson, a CABT professor.
Robertson and Chelise both acknowledged the likely permanence of A.I. in academia and that its perks still come with drawbacks.
“Unfortunately, A.I. does kind of usurp that whole process of creating something from scratch, which I think is a huge loss, just cognitively speaking,” Robertson said.
Chelise said that A.I. presents an “amazing opportunity,” but that our lack of control over it can be “frightening.”
Both Chelise and Robertson see the college’s policy of letting departments form their A.I. procedures as an issue.
“We’re not unified. Students are given a different message every time. That’s really confusing and probably really frustrating,” said Chelise.
Eliana Troncoso, 26, offers a different perspective. The nursing major at Cabrillo said, “When it comes to high risk careers and fields, I can very rarely justify its use. People depend on you.”
Troncoso is passionate about public health and firmly believes that it’s a moral responsibility for her and her peers to be competent within their field.
She said, “I can’t let myself use A.I. with a good conscience.”
Troncoso explains that at a certain point in nursing education, using A.I. as a learning assistant becomes moot. When asked how A.I. is being used within her field, she said, “You wouldn't even try because you would get an answer so far from the mark.”
She argues that using generative A.I in preparatory courses will only set an individual up for failure later in their career. “It doesn't allow you to build those essential learning habits; habits that will benefit you throughout your life and career.”
“Health sciences require insane amounts of memorization. A.I. isn't going to do that for you.”
She recalls a time when the practicality of A.I. was made apparent: A teacher used generative A.I. to create fake patients, which the students used to identify inconsistencies or fallacies per case. To Troncoso, it was “eye-opening” and revealed exactly how using generative A.I. can “go wrong”.
“We joke about it too… like, ‘hold on, let me ask ChatGPT,’ while a patient is seizing.”
Troncoso’s experiences with generative A.I. highlight the moral conflicts when A.I. use sacrifices cognitive capabilities for efficacy.
“I think A.I. does have a role at Cabrillo but a limited one,” said Maria Alvarez, 28–a biology major who opted to use a pseudonym for this article.
Alvarez ponders where exactly to draw the line on academic A.I. use. She considers it useful for “supportive tasks”--organizing, assisting with correct spelling and grammar, structuring notes–but highlights that A.I. is not a human and should never be treated as such or given a voice.
“A.I. is the next step in that it's powerful, new, sometimes impressive, but still just a tool.”
–Isabella Blevins, Josephine Fahey
Cabrillo Math Students Speak Out on Math 4 Cuts
Editorial
On November 3, math students and faculty filtered into the Horticulture Conference Room for the highly anticipated Board of Trustees Meeting. All were waiting for the action motion for the joint resolution between the ASCC and the Faculty Senate, regarding Assembly Bill 1705.
During public comment, math students of all backgrounds approached the podium, advocating for the necessity of Math 4 (pre-calculus) as a major contributing factor to their success in mathematics.
Starr Wenn, a recent Cabrillo graduate and current UCSC physics major, recalls her time tutoring a student:
“I had become aware that it was this student's second or third time taking the course [Math 4]. I told the student… that there was an initiative to remove Math 4. That potentially, they might lose the opportunity to take the course again. I assure you, the look on that student's face was not relief; it was dread, it was concern. Removing pre-calculus is not going to provoke equity in the way that the policy suggests. In fact, it will take it away.”
On September 30, 2022, the statewide legislative act AB 1705, regarding the placement measures for entry-level college English and math courses, was approved by the California Legislative Council Bureau.
AB 1705 requires the placement of first-year students with satisfactory high school academic measures into college-level equivalent math and English courses, effectively eliminating the need for colleges to offer prerequisite and support courses that underrepresented students may require.
The assembly bill states, “The act requires a community college district or community college to maximize the probability that students will enter and complete transfer-level coursework in English and Mathematics within one year.”
Wenn suggests that on the surface, this act seems equitable. However, when considering the placement measures enacted and the types of students being excluded, the consequences are damaging.
Victoria Levin, an adult student from Russia, explained at the Board of Trustees meeting that it had been 20 years between her graduating from high school and starting at Cabrillo. If she had not been placed in college algebra, a pre-transfer level course no longer offered at Cabrillo, she would not have had a successful math career.
Students like Victoria, non-traditional, underrepresented, and marginalized students, are being affected by these cuts. Offering pre-transfer level math and English courses to supplement students' educational background is a resource essential to closing the education equity gap.
Cabrillo math instructor, Paula Reuschling, brought to the trustees' attention the alarming percentage of high school students across Santa Cruz County who scored proficient or advanced in math in 2025 according to CAASPP standards. Percentages range from Pajaro Valley High School’s 8.87% to Santa Cruz High School's 50.62%, with an estimated average of 32.42% students scoring proficient to advanced across eight high schools. This means an average of 67.58% of students did not receive sufficient math instruction during their high school years.
Passing the ASCC and Faculty Senate resolution has been a long and arduous journey. It was first drafted by former Cabrillo Student Trustee, Cody Jarvis, in February 2025. Jarvis spent months between the Legislative Advocacy Subcommittee, the Faculty Senate, and the administration making amendments and adjusting the language. Jarvis said that some administrators worked against the resolution, and the drafting process was difficult.
By April, it was complete, and the ASCC took its resolution to the Student Senate for California Community Colleges General Assembly in Los Angeles, where it was passed unanimously. After their national victory, it was presented to the Board of Trustees to be agendized for the following March meeting, but was ignored. Jarvis graduated from Cabrillo and resigned from the Board of Trustees, meaning the resolution would be tabled until the following semester when a new Student Trustee was appointed. Despite the apparent urgency, it was not agendized until November.
The administration's dissension from the joint resolution may trace back to a larger issue: Cabrillo’s dropping student enrollment. AB 1705 encourages students to complete transfer-level courses within the standardized timeline of one to two years, thus providing Cabrillo with more income from tuition and performance-based funding. While education funds are under scrutiny at the federal level, is this really what Cabrillo needs?
To add perspective, a community member brought up an interesting point during their public comment: The initiative to take away pre-calculus leaves a vacancy in the diversity of courses we offer. Therefore, counteracting any increasing enrollment efforts during a deficit.
The Board of Trustees nodded empathetically. The vote to pass the joint resolution was unanimous, and attendees gave a celebratory standing ovation.
Although passing the resolution at the local level is a significant victory, Math 4 has not been guaranteed an exemption from cuts. Through skimped levels of placement done by collegiate and high school measures, Math 4 and other pre-transfer level classes are still at risk due to lowering enrollment.
The Board of Trustees argues that the joint resolution has no differential significance to the placement policies outlined in AB 1705.
A quote from the Board of Trustees Meeting November 3 Agenda, "AB 1705...and thus the existing statute already allows for the approach advocated in the resolution."
To ensure that Cabrillo continues to offer Math 4 and other pre-transfer courses, there needs to be legislative reform that confirms Cabrillo is placing under-prepared students in classes that support their personal success.
That's why Trustee Adam Spickler called for a motion amendment to place responsibility on the Legislative Advocacy Subcommittee, chaired by Trustee Donna Ziel, to protect Cabrillo College from AB 1705.
Jarvis said “This has been a huge project, and faculty and student voices have prevailed, but this is not the end of it.”
The joint resolution was a valiant stride in advocating for student equity and success, and the initiative to keep Math 4 must be pursued further. Students should continue to reach out to the Cabrillo trustees, expressing their concern for the future of Math 4 and pre-transfer level courses.
–Josephine Fahey
Resources About AB 1705
A college in transition:
Presidential hiring process continues with candidate forum
The final selection process for Cabrillo College’s next president will now begin as the four finalists participated in a community-wide forum on November 12.
At the forum, each candidate spoke for 45 minutes and answered 10 questions that were developed using input from the Cabrillo College community. The questions tackled a variety of topics, many of them focusing on the enrollment and financial challenges the college faces, as well as how accessible the college is to all students and the resources and policies that can affirm that accessibility.
The first speaker was Jenn Capps, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at Cal Poly Humboldt. Capps has a PhD in Counseling Psychology and served as Dean of the College of Professional Studies at Metropolitan State University of Denver before moving to Humboldt.
“My aspiration in life has always been to work with young people,” she said.
Capps said she was drawn to the position because of Cabrillo’s mission of student-centered success. Speaking about Cabrillo's mission of student equity, she stressed the importance of “embedding culturally relevant curriculum” and ensuring that students have ample access to campus resources and support systems. “We need to bubble wrap our students with choices,” Capps said.
When asked how she aims to support Cabrillo's diverse student population, she pointed to the importance of “creating spaces for people to feel included.” At Cal Poly Humboldt, Capps started a Dreamer Center for undocumented students and a center for LGBTQ+ students.
Capps said she sees low enrollment, insufficient funding, and a current underappreciation of higher education as emerging challenges that the next Cabrillo president will have to reckon with. All of those things, she said, “dovetail” into budget challenges, which she suggested could be addressed with greater self-advocacy from the college. She praised Cabrillo for being an “exceptional” school and suggested “reintroducing Cabrillo to the world at large and “advocacy” as solutions to falling enrollment and a shrinking budget.
Communication, transparency, and leveraging shared governance are valuable skills that Capps said she’d bring to the position.
Cabrillo’s Assistant Superintendent and Vice President of Instruction, Travaris Harris, was the second candidate to speak at the forum. Harris has been at Cabrillo for over two years and previously worked at Harper College in Illinois, where he started as Dean of Business and Social Sciences and rose through the ranks to become Associate Provost for Student Success.
As someone who was a first-year college student, Harris said he understands the importance of resources and support programs to students. He cited Early Alert, First Year Experience, and accelerated cohorts as programs that have been helpful for students. Adhering to the accelerated cohort model, one of his goals includes launching an eight-week business program at the Watsonville Center. “Black and indigenous people of color consistently do better in 8-week format classes,” he said.
Harris said he also wants to expand the Watsonville Center to accommodate more accelerated and hybrid courses and offer a childcare center for students with kids.
To build upon Cabrillo's Umoja Scholars program–which is designed to support college students of African descent–Harris said he’s working to create a pipeline for students from Cabrillo to Sacramento State University which he described as having an “exceptional Umoja program.”
Harris’s solutions to the college’s low enrollment include growing the dual enrollment program and building partnerships and apprenticeships with local businesses to ensure that Cabrillo’s career education prepares students with the necessary skills to enter the workforce.
“I’m very much a proponent of looking at obstacles as opportunities,” Harris said.
Finalist María Villagómez was next to speak. Villagómez is Assistant Superintendent and Vice President/Academic Affairs and Accreditation Liaison Officer at Santa Barbara City College.
She has spent 25 years working within California’s community college system. Villagómez has an MA in Spanish Linguistic, Culture, and Literature; an MA in Education, Curriculum, Teaching and Learning with an emphasis in Educational Leadership; and an EdD in Educational Leadership.
Villagómez said it was important to check in with students regularly. Before the forum, she said she visited the Watsonville Center and spoke with students at that campus. “I would want to be present at that campus on a regular basis. It is a special community, it reminds me of my upbringing.”
When asked how she’d approach collective bargaining with faculty unions, she said, “I believe in unions. My parents were farmworkers and they benefitted from the efforts of the UFW [United Farm Workers].”
Villagómez’s ideas for boosting enrollment include encouraging higher rates of dual enrollment for high school students and increasing international student enrollment.
In response to dwindling state and federal funding for academic institutions, she proposed that Cabrillo find self-sufficient ways to procure funds, such as holding an annual, community-wide fundraising gala.
Recently, Cabrillo has given out early retirement incentives to full-time faculty.Villagómez said she would not support laying off faculty and staff to save the college money. “I know the feeling, and that would be my absolute last resort.” She recalled how all of the administrators were laid off at a previous college she worked at.
The evening’s last finalist to speak was Tia Robinson-Cooper, former chancellor at Ivy Tech Community College in Indiana. She has a EdD in Counseling and Adult Higher Education, an MBA in Business Administration, and a MS in Organizational Leadership.
Robinson-Cooper said her personal leadership philosophy is “If it’s good for students, then it’s the right thing to do.”
She said she believes in meeting students where they’re at and tailoring programs to their needs. Her ideas for increasing enrollment include creating a student-centered scheduling strategy, offering weekend and accelerated classes, building pipelines for adult learners, and providing credit for prior learning. She said that the college’s offered programs should align with the needs of the local workforce. Robinson-Cooper said she has been “successful at increasing outcomes at six community colleges in five different states.”
When asked how she would promote representation of the Watsonville Center, Robinson-Cooper said she would ensure the inclusion of leaders at both campuses. “The reason why that’s important is because there’s a different type of student, different population, different workforce needs, and different communities,” she said.
When it comes to helping the college navigate operational costs and times of financial hardship, Robinson-Cooper said she’d focus on enrollment growth strategies and evaluate the outcome of the current retirement incentive program, with the possibility of rolling out a second incentive.
“I think for me, it’s really going to be prioritizing digging into the fiscal position so that we’re not only solving the problem today, but we are also looking at some long-term sustainability and viability,” she said.
Sometime this winter, the Cabrillo College Board of Trustees will vote to select the next president.
–Isabella Blevins
Art by Luca Lyn from the Porter Gulch Review 2024
Porter Gulch Class Feature
The Porter Gulch Review is Cabrillo's Annual art and poetry publication, which features work from Cabrillo students, faculty, and contributors from around the world. This publication is created and edited entirely by students registered for the English 1B Production class.
Started in 1984 as a club run by Cabrillo Instructor Kirby Wilkins, this publication is a hallmark of the creative endeavors of the Cabrillo community for the past 40 years. In its infancy, the publication was a creative outlet for students.
In the late 90s, David Sullivan, the current Instructor and English Faculty at Cabrillo, took over the Reviews as an introductory literary course, opening it up to a larger community. Since then, the publication's reach has grown significantly, attracting authors from Japan, Iraq, Kenya, and Norway. Sullivan said, “This international scope enriches the introduction to literature class, which teaches students how to think critically about newly minted work.”
In 1999, the class started publishing an online version, which features students' books and poetry critiques, and analysis, along with interviews of the published authors.
The students lead every aspect of production, from analyzing and selecting the hundreds of art and poetry submissions to be published, to organizing the annual Porter Gulch poetry reading event. They apply themselves in several ways; they learn how to operate digital media software, how to discuss ambiguous and difficult subject matters collaboratively. The poetry published in each edition grapples with challenging topics such as war, grief, sexuality, addiction, and so much more.
Sullivan said, “Those topics resonate with the students, who come to see that literature isn’t just something to be analyzed but something to be felt.”
By the end of the semester, students have collaborated to create a resonant amalgamation of poetry, art, and analysis to be distributed to the community for free.
If you would like to be a part of the editing and production team for the 41st edition of the Porter Gulch Review, registration for Spring 2026 is currently open under ENGL 1B Composition and Literature with David Sullivan.
-Josephine Fahey
Club Spotlight
Zine!! Club
Calling all artists! The “Zine!! Club” is making an imprint on Cabrillo. Perhaps you've seen their brightly colored posters on campus or picked up one of their adorable mini zines at club rush. At the “Zine!! Club,” you can kick back with a cup of tea and a snack while folding your own illustrations into a zine. Meetings are bi-weekly on Wednesdays at 4:30pm in Vapa Room 2008. Those interested in joining may email yaefuruta@yahoo.com for more information.
How will Cabrillo College ensure student equity and success?
To ensure success for all students, Cabrillo College will soon put a new Student Equity and Achievement (SEA) Plan into effect. The plan will be in effect for the next three years, until 2028.
Developments from the previous plan brought about an array of distinct student-oriented programs. To increase enrollment, the college started “Seahawks prep events” which prepare incoming students for college life. The Umoja Scholars program partnered with organizations on and off campus to increase black student enrollment. First Year Experience programs provide new students with built-in tools to succeed in transfer-level math courses and encourage them to complete transfer-level math and English by the end of their first year. To aid students who intend to transfer, the college highlights transfer opportunities and provides support for the classes that a student needs to transfer. In an effort to help students persist and persevere, the college launched three programs: Men of Character and High Achievement (MOCHA) to help male students succeed, as well as the Native American Student Support Committee and the Native Equity Program.
The 2025-2028 SEA Plan aims to build upon these initiatives and address needs that have not been met. According to the plan’s executive summary, its “overarching goal is to eliminate disproportionate impact and fully close equity gaps for all students.” Examining disproportionate impact measures shows that Native American/Alaska Native and Black or African American students continue to be impacted. Additionally, an emerging gap in persistence and transfer among Hispanic and Latino males has been identified. The college’s equity planning, therefore, maintains a strong focus on these groups.
To mitigate and alleviate disproportionate impact, the college’s Equity Department has developed several “key strategies.”
Beginning with the moment new students enroll, the college aims to provide them with plenty of orientation through programs like Seahawks Prep and Running Start. Additionally, First Year Experience programs will be expanded to be more culturally responsive to incoming high school graduates who are Latino, low-income, or disproportionately impacted in other ways. Courses will also become more flexible, with multiple start-dates being offered during, fall, winter, spring, and summer.
To increase the number of students who transfer out of Cabrillo, the SEA Plan includes several ways to assist prospective transfer students. Some of these initiatives include increasing the number and type of transfer workshops Cabrillo offers and building more connections with regional universities. An annual “Transfer Signing Day” will recognize students with transfer apparel and celebration on campus and social media. To build on school-sponsored math support, the college plans to offer more Math Plus cohorts that specifically target first-generation, Latino, and LGBTQIA+ students. Similar to Math Plus, the college will also offer an English Plus bridge program for first-year and reentry students. More broadly, there will be more academic support and regular check-ins for first-year students.
Strategies for encouraging persistence among students include checking in with students in cohort programs and conducting regular grade checks. The college is currently developing strength-based and culturally responsive curricula that increase visibility and involvement for Black, Latino male, and LGBTQ+ students.
Moving forward, Cabrillo will continue to focus on male student success and retention. The MOCHA program will receive more support from both campuses so that it can increase its outreach to students and keep fostering a community of academic and social support for its members.
–Isabella Blevins
Student Submissions
The Scuttle encourages students to submit their writing/art for publication in our monthly issues. Below are two students' creative writing contributions. If you're interested in submitting something of your own, use this form.
"Decay"
Everything is fine,
they said.
It’ll sort itself out.
Keep going to class,
Keep working your job.
Everything’s fine,
they said.
We’re figuring it out.
Keep your head down,
Keep working.
It’s alright,
they said.
Don’t think
about it.
Don’t do anything
about it.
It’s okay,
they said.
We’re all in this together.
Here they come,
shut your trap.
It could be worse,
they said.
We’re alive.
We’re fed.
We’re safe
from some.
It’s liveable,
they said.
We’ll make the most of it.
We’ll watch our tone
and bow low,
lower.
It’s all gone to shit,
we said.
We need more.
They averted our gaze.
they had no obligations
to us.
They had more
than enough.
And so they took it all.
–Vasken
Vasken is a teenager with a passion for writing who is interested in the current state of affairs. According to them, "'Decay' is a poem meant to comment on the present and possible future in these unprecedented times."
"A Stranger"
A stranger. Strong arms and shoulders. Eyes that were so dark brown it was hard to make out the irises. Shoulder-length black hair. Freckles under her eyes. Her nails neat and small. These are the things I noticed about her. A complete stranger, but she came with a familiarity, a curiosity. Something telling me it’s going to be you.
It wasn’t love at first sight, no, something silly and stupid. But every morning, when she would walk into class, there was an aureole around her—a soft light outlining her figure. She tends to remain taciturn most of the time—staying quiet, saying little. So when she does speak, I savour each syllable. When she speaks, I cannot hide my honest smile. When she tells a joke, I laugh harder than the pun deserves. She seems to take and shape every space that she’s in. And all I want is for everyone else to go away when she is near. Why do I feel like this? When others touch her, why do I care so much?
Our friendship blossoms, gentle flowers blooming in my garden. A diner, sharing a menu. On the beach, counting constellations. In the theater, watching a movie. In all this smallness, it feels like everything. My garden is flourishing, but I am unaware of the storm. The storm that will pull all the roots out of the ground, the storm that will force the trees to fall. I am gullible. I am completely oblivious.
I swear I see tears in her eyes, but I can’t tell through my own. I beg her not to leave. I plead, giving her reasons to stay. But walking out the door, out of my life, she is a stranger yet again. A stranger.
–Trinity Szoke
Szoke said this piece came from a 15-minute writing exercise she did in response to the word "stranger."
ASCC Monthly Report
In an effort to keep the student body informed and educated, The Scuttle and the Associated Students of Cabrillo College (ASCC) have initiated a collaboration that aims to strengthen the bond between students and the executive functions of Cabrillo College.
Associated Students of Cabrillo College meetings are held every Thursday from 3:30-5pm. The meetings are usually held at the Aptos campus in SAC East room 225. Meetings on the third Thursday of each month are held at the Watsonville Center in room A150. Student Senate meetings are open to all students, and attending is a great way to stay informed about important decisions and events that impact your life as a Cabrillo student. The Scuttle publishes information from each meeting that is the most relevant and important to students, but we encourage students to attend senate meetings themselves.
The Student Senate has two open positions for Inter-Club Council Chair and Public Relations Director. Students who wish to nominate themselves for candidacy for either of these positions must do so at any ASCC meeting and fill out the Student Senate Application.
November 6, 2025
A work group will be formed through the legislative advocacy subcommittee to address reform changes to AB 1705.
The Cabrillo College Board of Trustees is moving forward with the search for a new District V Trustee, following the death of former Trustee Manuel Berstein. There are concerns within the Cabrillo community about maintaining adequate representation of Watsonville, especially since the Cabrillo presidential search is also underway.
EOPS (Extended Opportunity Programs and Services) will host meal card distribution on December 1.
The ICC and Advisor Handbooks will be updated and enforced beginning spring 2026.
November 13, 2025
At the end of the 2025-2026 academic year, cuts to funding for free student printing will take place. With these cuts, students may have to start paying a rate per page printed. There will be more information to come.
The Freedom Center is a study center available in Watsonville. They offer a free and open environment where any community member, including Cabrillo students, can study. The Freedom Center is located at 475 Union Street in Watsonville.
Information was also shared at this meeting about Collins Housing Solutions (See info above).
Keep an eye out for our next issue on December 1st!
Follow us on Instagram: @the_cabrillo_scuttle
Keep an eye out for our next issue
Follow us on Instagram: @the_cabrillo_scuttle
For questions, comments, or interest in getting involved with The Scuttle, email isblevin@cabrillo.edu or jofahey@cabrillo.edu.
Comments