AI transcript
0:00:15 Hello, and welcome to the NVIDIA AI Podcast. I’m your host, Noah Kravitz.
0:00:20 In 2018, our guest became the youngest California community college president
0:00:24 when she took over the presidency at Los Angeles Southwest College.
0:00:28 Four years later, Dr. Sahara Wan became president of Mission College,
0:00:31 a public community college in Santa Clara, California,
0:00:34 just a few miles down the road from NVIDIA headquarters.
0:00:38 In just a few short years since then, Dr. Wan has led Mission College
0:00:41 to an increase in the number of degrees and certificates awarded to students,
0:00:45 as well as sustained post-pandemic enrollment increases.
0:00:49 She’s also worked to build strategic partnerships across the Silicon Valley community
0:00:53 and taken a thoughtful and inclusive approach to the role of technology,
0:00:55 including AI, in higher education.
0:00:59 It’s that last bit, the role of AI in the future of education,
0:01:03 the workforce, and lifelong learning that made us think,
0:01:07 we should invite Dr. Wan onto the podcast to explore all this stuff together.
0:01:09 And we’re so glad she accepted.
0:01:11 Dr. Sahara Wan is president of Mission College,
0:01:14 and she’s here with us now to talk about technology,
0:01:19 AI, and the roles of community college and higher education in our society.
0:01:22 Dr. Wan, thank you so much for joining,
0:01:24 and welcome to the NVIDIA AI podcast.
0:01:26 Thank you so much, Noah.
0:01:27 I’m so excited to be here.
0:01:29 We’re very excited to speak with you.
0:01:31 Maybe we can start, you can start,
0:01:34 by telling the audience just a little bit about Mission College.
0:01:36 We know it’s in Santa Clara.
0:01:38 We know you’re in the heart of Silicon Valley.
0:01:40 Tell us a little more beyond that.
0:01:40 Absolutely.
0:01:46 So Mission College is, I feel like, a hidden gem of Santa Clara and the Silicon Valley.
0:01:49 I would say we’re our premier community college in the area.
0:01:54 We’ve been here for 50 years, and we just are celebrating our 50-year anniversary this year.
0:01:55 Oh, amazing.
0:01:58 You know, I think one of the things that makes Mission so special has been
0:02:03 the inception of this college really came from centering the students in our work,
0:02:09 even 50 years ago, and wanting to create a safe space for individuals from every background,
0:02:13 you know, refugees, you know, single parents, underprivileged populations,
0:02:18 to come and find a place where they could feel supported, a sense of belonging,
0:02:22 and to really bring their full authentic selves to the experiences of education
0:02:25 so that they could go and become change makers in our community.
0:02:26 So Mission is a really special place,
0:02:30 and we’ve been educating the Silicon Valley for over 50 years now.
0:02:36 Incredible. And so I think you spoke and maybe hinted at it a little bit just now,
0:02:39 but what inspired you to take the role to lead Mission College,
0:02:45 and how does your own journey influence, you know, the way you lead and your vision for the institution?
0:02:51 Sure. So I was a community college student myself, was not that great of a student in high school,
0:02:57 really, and, you know, really found my way after I graduated and into community college.
0:03:04 When I was graduating with my bachelor’s, I ended up getting an unpaid internship at the community college that I had gone to.
0:03:06 And when I graduated, I was like, oh my gosh, I need a job.
0:03:08 I just graduated from college.
0:03:13 And so I had never thought to work at a college, right, and applied at the one I had been working at.
0:03:20 And they hired me in EOPS Care and Cow Works, which is a funded program that helps underrepresented populations,
0:03:23 single parents to have educational opportunities.
0:03:27 And I just really fell in love with education.
0:03:31 And I think I’d always been sort of a nerd and liked to learn, but hopefully a cool nerd.
0:03:38 But, you know, going into education and really that population, serving that population, it hit home for me.
0:03:43 It was where I really found my calling and I knew forever, like, this is, if I could do this forever,
0:03:47 I would have just supporting people and their dreams and students and their families.
0:03:50 And so becoming a college president was never really part of the plan.
0:04:02 But, you know, served in a number of capacities over the last 20 years in higher ed, from unpaid intern all the way to vice president of administrative services before I became a president.
0:04:09 And so, you know, again, when missions presidency opened up, I was not looking for a job.
0:04:13 I had one and I was happy serving my students in South Central Los Angeles.
0:04:15 But one of my mentors called me and said the job was open.
0:04:18 Like, she was adamant, like, this is where you’re supposed to be.
0:04:19 These are your people.
0:04:20 You’re supposed to be here.
0:04:23 I was like, oh, OK, well, let me let me do some homework.
0:04:28 And in researching, really found that Mission College was about the work, right?
0:04:30 We didn’t just talk about equity work.
0:04:30 We did the work.
0:04:38 And I was so impressed about what had been happening even before I got here that it really it felt like it called to me, right?
0:04:42 The work called to me, the equity work, the values of our institution called to me.
0:04:47 And so, you know, applied and was, you know, honored to be able to serve as president.
0:04:48 And so I’m here now.
0:04:49 Fantastic.
0:04:59 I think when when people think of Silicon Valley, you know, especially people outside of the valley, outside of California, maybe outside of the tech industry, all these different things.
0:05:05 You know, there’s an impression that for I think a lot of people just names come to mind, you know, the big tech company names and that kind of thing.
0:05:08 Silicon Valley is a diverse place.
0:05:17 Can you talk a little bit about that diversity and then how that sort of impacts or defines Mission’s role in serving the community?
0:05:18 Absolutely.
0:05:21 So, yeah, I mean, Silicon Valley, you think, oh, tech companies, right?
0:05:26 But Silicon Valley is an incredibly rich tapestry of diversity.
0:05:30 Mission College is a federally recognized HSI, Hispanic Serving Institution.
0:05:41 And, you know, when refugees needed a place to go, they came to Mission College, right?
0:05:45 We were working with Apple before tech industries were really like a techie.
0:05:51 So, you know, the diversity of our of our area is incredibly rich.
0:06:00 It also brings a sense of community that I think people don’t realize because Silicon Valley can seem so broad or even like tech companies.
0:06:03 Maybe it’s like a cold place or, you know, not that welcoming.
0:06:07 But I would say the communities who live here are about community.
0:06:11 This is a part of their cultures and what they look for.
0:06:15 And so I think Mission College really provides that safe space where the people find community.
0:06:17 How many students at Mission?
0:06:21 So we have about 7000 students a semester and we’ve been growing.
0:06:26 I think the last four or five years were up about 10 percent in enrollment, which is great.
0:06:26 Yeah.
0:06:27 No, especially post pandemic.
0:06:29 I mentioned the intro.
0:06:36 It’s it’s if anybody listening has ties to education at any level, it’s it’s been a challenge the past several years for sure.
0:06:43 Are they and forgive me if this isn’t the right term to use, but is it a commuter school or their residents?
0:06:43 Sure.
0:06:44 So we are a community college.
0:06:46 We don’t have housing on campus currently.
0:06:49 It is something in the plans for the future.
0:06:57 But we definitely serve pretty much the most underrepresented populations in the Silicon Valley area and are in communities.
0:07:03 I think it’s about 75 percent of our students are on financial aid and most of them are part time because they work full time.
0:07:05 They take care of their families.
0:07:05 They have children.
0:07:09 So those are a majority of our students.
0:07:10 Got it.
0:07:11 Let’s talk about technology.
0:07:13 Talk about AI and technology.
0:07:39 And I think to start with, maybe, you know, when it comes to thinking about technology and and, you know, the increasing role it’s playing in shaping society, but the workforce in particular and the mission of preparing students to be lifelong learners, also to be whether it’s entering the workforce or finding, you know, a new path in the workforce, opening up new opportunities, that kind of thing.
0:07:42 How do you think about the role of technology sort of broadly?
0:07:55 And then maybe or maybe this is the answer you can get right into sharing some of the highlights of how mission has been integrating emerging tech into curriculum and into kind of the overall experience for students.
0:08:01 Sure. So, I mean, number one, we are in Silicon Valley, so I would hope we are open and embracing technology.
0:08:08 But with mission in particular, and my perspective with AI and education is that it is the future.
0:08:09 And it’s not even the future.
0:08:11 It’s happening right now.
0:08:24 And if we don’t lean in and be open and embrace, it’s going to pass us by and it’s going to be a disservice to our students, the communities we serve, because they rely on us for educational opportunities and to be able to make those accessible to the communities that we serve.
0:08:31 So, I’m really proud of that since getting in touch with NVIDIA and our California Community College system partnering with NVIDIA.
0:08:36 We are the first California Community College to have actually gone through the partnership with NVIDIA.
0:08:42 Our faculty have been certified to the NVIDIA certifications and have passed all the exams.
0:08:46 And they’re actually teaching curriculum that is mapped to NVIDIA’s content.
0:08:49 And we’ve just launched our AI certificate.
0:08:52 And so we’re really happy to make that an available opportunity.
0:08:57 And we also offer free tuition to anyone in our service area, as well as free meals.
0:09:04 So not only are we creating pathways for educational opportunity, we’re trying to remove as many barriers as possible.
0:09:07 So this is as accessible as possible to the populations that need access.
0:09:11 Our AI learning is happening, I think, at all levels.
0:09:16 We have faculty who are taking sabbaticals to be trained in AI and become experts.
0:09:25 We have different team members going to different trainings, like with Play Lab and ChatGVT and other tools to bring those to the college.
0:09:33 And we’ve also really been trying to embrace AI as a way to close equity gaps and improve response time to students who are in need.
0:09:48 So one of the projects where we’ve actually implemented an operationalized AI to improve our operations is our Mission Cares form, which is a single form that students can fill out if they are in need of housing support, food and security.
0:09:56 Or again, if they think they qualify for special learning community and we triage, right, those those and their applications.
0:09:59 So the student doesn’t need to apply to all these programs individually.
0:10:00 They fill one right out.
0:10:05 The issue we had had was our team then had to go in and triage all of these students.
0:10:08 And there were a lot of people touching the spreadsheet.
0:10:10 There were a lot of spreadsheets.
0:10:15 We’re sort of being spent going to this system over here and this is here.
0:10:16 And do they qualify?
0:10:17 Did they apply before?
0:10:17 Right.
0:10:24 And so, you know, a lot of man hours being wasted, sort of triaging instead of actually serving students.
0:10:26 And so, you know, again, our team really leaned in.
0:10:32 We partnered with an AI company who helped us to really look at our systems and automate them.
0:10:38 And I’m really proud to say that we used Agentic AI to automate a lot of those processes.
0:10:44 And so now a manager just gets an email that says these students applied and qualify for your program.
0:10:51 The student automatically gets information the minute they click submit that they’ve qualified and this is what you need help with.
0:10:57 And one example I can give you where this is making a difference is if a student is unhoused and on Friday afternoon they’re asking for help.
0:11:03 They’re not waiting till Monday or Tuesday when the manager comes back and triage without that they’re qualified.
0:11:10 But the minute they click submit, there’s contact information, there’s resources, they’re getting assistance immediately.
0:11:15 And the manager can quickly assess and get that student the resources they need.
0:11:24 So that’s just one example of hopefully the many that we’re looking at to help AI or use AI to help our operations and, of course, serve students to the best of our ability.
0:11:26 No, that’s fantastic.
0:11:36 That’s, you know, obviously one of the things that AI, the way that we talk about it now, is so good at is automating that sort of, I don’t mean busy work and that the work’s not important.
0:11:38 Clearly, in this case, it’s hugely important, right?
0:11:48 But when you find those processes that the computer is good at, the systems are good at automating, like you said, it really just makes all the difference.
0:12:05 And you can spend your energies immediately on the work itself, which in your case, serving students from a curriculum standpoint, from, you know, thinking about teaching and learning, how do you, how have your faculty, you know, and again, you’re in Silicon Valley, the college has been there forever.
0:12:12 So new technologies, I’m sure, aren’t new, or it’s not a new thing for the faculty to, you know, consider new technologies, be approached with them.
0:12:20 But what’s the consensus, what’s the feeling amongst the faculty about AI and the current uses and, you know, the potential?
0:12:23 You know, I think it’s always going to be mixed, right?
0:12:27 There’s the first adopters and then there’s the people who are like, let’s watch and see.
0:12:28 Some people are a little fearful.
0:12:31 They’ve watched iRobot and they’re like, what’s going on?
0:12:37 You know, I think it’s been mixed, but I will say that everyone has kept an open mind, which I appreciate, right?
0:12:37 That’s great.
0:12:48 And so from there, it’s really been having those first adopters go and learn and then bring back those resources so that colleagues can hear from one another about how am I using AI?
0:12:50 How has this helped my students, right?
0:12:54 You know, of course, cheating is always sort of the concern, right?
0:12:56 We went through college without AI.
0:12:58 It’s very different if you have AI at school.
0:13:17 But, you know, even how you teach, right, so that you can come, you can measure comprehension and learning by changing the scenarios and the activities that you do in the classroom where you can leverage AI as a strength and as a tool, but also have the student decipher and explain and show their learning in a different way.
0:13:31 And so I think, you know, we have an equity community practice, and I do think that that professional learning tied with the AI learning that we’re doing, because professional learning is one of our strategic goals as well as a college, have really helped us to sort of position ourselves.
0:13:43 So as things move quickly, which they are, right, every day, there’s a new tool, a new company coming up, a new service that’s being offered, we’re able to evaluate quickly and collaboratively and collegially with our different stakeholders on campus.
0:13:52 I also think, you know, as a college president, trying to keep people calm, keep people focused, and also excited about the opportunities as part of the role.
0:14:10 And so, for me, I’m planning on creating an AI task force to really get the college sort of all of our stakeholders in the same room to assess what do we want to do, where are we going, let’s do an environmental scan, because some people are really ahead of the game, and they’re doing stuff, and we wouldn’t even know, right, because they’re like in their classroom excited.
0:14:22 And so doing an environmental scan, where are we using AI, how are we using AI, where are there opportunities, and also doing like an AI summit to be able to share information and exciting best practices that people would want.
0:14:23 Their colleagues to know their colleagues to know about.
0:14:28 So those are some things that we’re doing right now that I think have some really great opportunities ahead for us.
0:14:30 No, that sounds fantastic.
0:14:36 The AI summit idea is terrific and something that works, I mean, in education as well as other industries.
0:14:38 It’s all about that exchange of information.
0:14:52 Listening to you describe sort of the mix of excitement and some fear and some trepidation makes me think of, not to date myself, but I was in undergrad when the internet,
0:14:59 kind of late 90s, so kind of just before that first dot-com boom and the internet started to become, you know, a mainstream thing.
0:15:00 Right.
0:15:05 And, you know, similar but different conversations about, you know, keep it out of the classroom.
0:15:06 How is it changing things?
0:15:07 It’s going to enable cheating.
0:15:08 It’s this, it’s that.
0:15:12 And, you know, it’s, yeah, it’s all those things, right?
0:15:30 Thinking about it from the other perspective of your students, how do you make sure that technology is a tool for empowerment, a tool that potentially can help all students, you know, achieve more and do more and not some sort of a barrier or obstacle that they have to overcome?
0:15:32 You know, that’s a great question.
0:15:38 And I think we always knew that there was a digital divide and obviously that became really, really obvious.
0:15:53 And during the pandemic, it just became a very clear line between the haves and the have-nots where you would think, you know, people should think they have Wi-Fi at home, they have a cell phone, those things became apparent that that’s not the case, right?
0:15:58 So for us at Mission, we start all of our decision-making with centering the students, right?
0:16:00 How is what we’re doing going to impact students?
0:16:02 What do they need from us to be successful?
0:16:06 Because we are in service to our students and their dreams and their families.
0:16:20 And so from that starting point, what we’ve tried to do is if AI is being integrated into a classroom to make sure that it’s an accessible tool for all individuals who are enrolled in that class and that they don’t have to buy anything special or do anything special.
0:16:25 Also, most of our classrooms, our classes are actually OER and zero-cost textbooks.
0:16:35 So we’ve done a huge effort to make sure that we keep costs down and not, you know, add expensive tools and costs to students who are already maybe struggling to just be here and get to the door.
0:16:45 And then we’re also looking at things like college-wide licenses for things like ChatGPT or, you know, some other tools that would be able to be installed on all of our computer labs.
0:16:50 And that way, any student who needs access is able to come to campus and access those without any barriers.
0:16:51 So those are some things that we’ve been doing.
0:17:08 But throughout all of it, you know, in addition to the laptops and the hotspots, all those programs and providing those resources, I think that those are some areas that we’ve really been focusing on to ensure that we don’t exasperate the equity gaps that we know exist already because of technology.
0:17:11 I’m speaking with Dr. Sahir Awan.
0:17:27 Dr. Awan is president of Mission College in Silicon Valley, and we’ve been discussing her own educational background and journey, leading her to take the presidency in 2022, as well as Mission College’s work with students, with faculty.
0:17:42 And really, I think the core of the college and the way that you talk about the college’s mission and the way that you speak of the work that you’re doing and serving the community, I think seems to be really reflected in your approach and everything you’re talking about, specific to technology.
0:17:58 When you think ahead and when your students think ahead to what comes after life at Mission, so how do you prepare your students and faculty to harness the potential of AI and, you know, kind of stay relevant, so to speak?
0:18:05 How do you prepare your students and how do you prepare them for their chosen field in a world, in a workforce that’s changing so rapidly?
0:18:16 And as you’ve discussed, and I think it’s this way for lots of people, but certainly a lot of your student body has a lot of other things to juggle beyond staying on top of the latest of AI, right?
0:18:17 So how do you approach that?
0:18:18 Sure.
0:18:22 So I think the first thing is to make sure that people have information and that it’s accessible easily.
0:18:27 I know we have a student newsletter, we have an employee newsletter, we have virtual town halls.
0:18:32 I mean, if you don’t know what’s happening at Mission, you’re choosing that, we are letting you know what’s happening, right?
0:18:41 Partnering with our partners and bringing guest speakers in so that students can hear about, like, career paths that, you know, maybe not, didn’t exist a year ago, right?
0:18:52 And also things like paid internships have been so important in putting students into these spaces where they may not have had access before, but now they’ve had enough education to be able to do the work.
0:18:54 And so they’re building that workforce development.
0:19:09 Our mentorship, the alumni connection, and then also making opportunities that are very intentional about bringing professionals to the campus to talk to and mentor our students have been ways that we’ve been focusing on the student engagement and information sharing.
0:19:13 And I think with faculty, again, professional learning is one of our strategic goals at Mission College.
0:19:16 We’ve been putting a lot of dedicated resources into that.
0:19:18 And AI is, of course, at the front.
0:19:29 We’re building a dedicated workspace where we can have professional learning happen and we can have labs and individuals can come and play with these tools that they may be scared to install on their own computer.
0:19:32 We’ve got kind of them that you’ll, you know, gain some confidence, right?
0:19:33 Yeah, yeah.
0:19:36 But the reality is, you know, you’re absolutely right that things are changing so quickly.
0:19:38 So we’re doing our best.
0:19:45 But I think that the mindset and leveraging our community partners and being very intentional about what we’re trying to achieve, right?
0:19:46 Well, what problem are we trying to solve?
0:19:50 Keeping that at the center because it’s easy to get lost as well.
0:19:51 There is a lot happening.
0:19:59 And, I mean, as a president, I get emails and ads soliciting, we have a new AI tool and, you know, you should implement this and how can it impact students?
0:20:05 And so it’s easy to get lost in all of the sort of chatter and quick pace that things are happening at.
0:20:09 I’m just a podcast host and it makes my head spin so I can only imagine.
0:20:15 Well, but at the end of the day, I think it really is keeping in our minds what problem are we trying to solve?
0:20:16 Who are our end users?
0:20:19 What outcomes do we want for those individuals, right?
0:20:41 And if we center those sort of questions, I think that guides the work and helps us to be more strategic in what we’re bringing in, whether it’s professional learning opportunities for our faculty, new partnerships, new tools, new technology that we’re sharing with students, or even, again, those paid internship opportunities, which we continue to pursue with our partners because not only of a benefit to them, but to the students.
0:20:50 Can you speak to any of those internships or other professional development initiatives that you have right now with companies in the area?
0:20:57 Oh, sure. I mean, we are one of the few community colleges, I think, that is actually supporting paid internships for our students.
0:20:59 So we have partnered with Stanford University.
0:21:04 Our students go and do real-world lab work before they graduate, applied materials.
0:21:10 We have the only transportation apprenticeship program in the country here at Mission College.
0:21:11 Oh, is that right?
0:21:20 Yeah. So, you know, we are training the workers in our community and we’re making sure that in the past, I know, I’m sure you remember too, right?
0:21:22 Like I said, I had an unpaid internship.
0:21:29 They asked me to go while I was trying to work full-time and go to school full-time and do an unpaid internship to graduate, right?
0:21:33 And so we are trying to make sure that a student doesn’t necessarily have that free time.
0:21:40 They’re taking care of their families, their, you know, their kids, themselves, they’re working full-time, they’re paying rent.
0:21:43 And so, you know, they don’t have free time to give you.
0:21:45 And so those paid internships have made a huge difference.
0:21:51 And we’re continuing to pursue those through grants and pre-apprenticeship grants, workforce development grants.
0:21:57 We have so many in the works, but I’m really thankful to our partners who continue to work with us for those opportunities.
0:21:59 That’s great.
0:22:11 You spoke earlier about the importance of equity, diversity, how Mission College has always served a diverse and largely underrepresented community or cross-section of communities.
0:22:18 How is Mission working to ensure that advances in technology, we talked about the digital divide earlier, you mentioned.
0:22:34 How do you approach trying to make sure that advances don’t leave these historically underrepresented or marginalized communities behind and to make sure that everybody, but particularly these communities, are benefiting from the advances?
0:22:41 Well, unfortunately, Noah, the reality is that, you know, our underrepresented populations are underrepresented.
0:22:44 That has happened already.
0:22:53 And so I think the role of California community colleges and Mission College specifically is to really be intentional about the work we’re doing, right?
0:22:56 And not to just talk about it like, yeah, there’s equity gaps and, yeah, we should close them, right?
0:23:02 How are we closing equity gaps and what are we doing about those equity gaps, right?
0:23:04 What are those equity gaps?
0:23:12 So I think being very explicit, oftentimes there’s some shame, I think, that comes from those equity gaps that when a college has them, you know, you feel bad.
0:23:14 You love your students, you don’t want them to have equity gaps, right?
0:23:22 And again, these are imperfect systems that were never built for students of color, for women, for, you know, most of the majority of the population going to college.
0:23:32 And so in these systems that were not built for these students, they are doing their best to try to show up every day through systemic barriers to get to us.
0:23:36 So the way we approach it is how can we serve students?
0:23:38 How can we center them in everything that we do?
0:23:42 What barriers are they experiencing internally and externally?
0:23:48 And how do we play a role in removing those to create a more level playing field for them, right?
0:23:52 We have a Strengthening Student Equity workbook that our college created.
0:23:56 And there’s a great image of a student carrying a backpack up a very rocky hill.
0:23:59 And, you know, the backpack is all of those internal struggles, right?
0:24:01 How am I going to feed my family?
0:24:02 How am I going to make rent?
0:24:05 You know, are my kids safe, right?
0:24:08 How am I going to get them to school today if I have my car broke down, right?
0:24:13 Those are internal things that they’re dealing with that we may not know anything about, right?
0:24:14 And then there’s the external struggles, right?
0:24:15 How am I going to pay for college?
0:24:17 How am I going to get to this class?
0:24:20 You know, I don’t have any time for homework because I’m working full time.
0:24:21 What am I going to do, right?
0:24:29 And so understanding our students, creating relationships with them, and then really figuring out what support services are going to make the most impact.
0:24:31 And also taking the shame out of it.
0:24:32 These systems are not perfect.
0:24:33 We’re doing our best.
0:24:36 And if something doesn’t work, we’re going to try again and do something different.
0:24:43 You know, I would say my vision at Mission College is to create a college that doesn’t exist, one that has 100% success rates and no equity gaps.
0:24:45 So until we hit that point, we have work to do.
0:24:49 And if we had all the answers, we’d be doing those things already.
0:24:58 So it’s really being open to innovation, open to partnerships, and taking ego out of it and knowing that at the end of the day, the students are the center of our work.
0:25:04 And at the end of the day, how they feel and what they experience is the most important thing that we need to work through.
0:25:12 So when it comes to technology, you know, we’re doing our best, you know, laptops, hotspots, creating safe spaces on campus.
0:25:16 We actually did a really cool new addition to campus, which are Zoom pods.
0:25:24 We bought Zoom pods because those are, we noticed a lot of students were, after the pandemic, taking in-person and online courses on campus.
0:25:31 But then you see a student at, like, the cafeteria trying to do a Zoom class, and they have their phones on, and there’s noise, and people are eating.
0:25:40 So we invested in things like Zoom pods, which have been, I think that was one of our best investments, to see students having, like, a little pod.
0:25:42 They work.
0:25:44 You see them, they’re not watching movies in there.
0:25:46 They’re working, right?
0:25:50 They’re in there just performing the work that they need to get done.
0:25:55 And so things like that, right, being open to, like, we never had Zoom pods when I was going to college, right?
0:26:00 But looking at what the students need and addressing those through technology and resources.
0:26:13 I don’t want to share any insider corporate secrets here, but I will say that the private phone booth rooms, very popular on certain corporate campuses as well.
0:26:14 We’ll leave it at that.
0:26:20 Absolutely, and I think you bring up a great point, which is, you know, sometimes certain industries or sectors can get very groupthink, right?
0:26:23 We get sort of stuck in, like, well, this is our normal way of doing things.
0:26:25 There is no normal anymore.
0:26:35 Like, we really do not be thinking about what are our corporate partners, our private partners, non-profit partners doing to meet the needs of our students, and how can we best embrace those things that are working?
0:26:43 The discussion about Zoom pods made me think about change in, you know, in the tech industry, other industries, you know, as well, obviously.
0:26:55 But has mission gone to more of a hybrid in-person distance learning approach since the pandemic, or has it always – what’s – maybe you can speak to sort of what that’s like.
0:27:04 And I’m thinking about what student expectations are like, because I’m thinking about it from the perspective of a worker, having that flexibility can be so huge, right?
0:27:05 So what’s it like at mission?
0:27:06 Sure.
0:27:14 So, you know, obviously during the pandemic, having been a president through the pandemic at a different college, it was definitely an interesting experience to take an entire –
0:27:14 Oh, right.
0:27:15 2022.
0:27:16 I’m sorry.
0:27:16 Yes.
0:27:17 My apologies.
0:27:25 Because, you know, being in 2020 and seeing, like – I mean, I took a whole college online in two weeks, everything, operations, to classes, to everything.
0:27:31 So never thought I’d live through a pandemic or college through it, but so it was an experience, right?
0:27:36 Probably never thought you could stand up a complete online college in two weeks either, but you did that, so yeah.
0:27:42 But, you know, coming to mission in 2022, you know, they were still recovering when I got here, right?
0:27:47 There were – employees were starting to come back to work, you know, the students were starting to come back.
0:27:54 And the way scheduling work works is we really try to schedule what the students need, right?
0:27:58 So if the students are enrolling in online classes and there’s wait lists, we’ll open up more.
0:28:01 If they want in-person classes, we’ll open up more.
0:28:08 So the way it’s really gone after the pandemic has been about a 60% in-person, 40% online.
0:28:14 It may shift a little bit in percentage up and down every year, but that’s really been where we’re at.
0:28:20 And I will say I’m still really pleased because other colleges have not recovered fully from the pandemic.
0:28:24 There’s still a heavy online presence, and that’s not a bad thing.
0:28:31 But I think, as I shared, a lot of students are taking a mix of both these days, and it’s really about convenience and getting the classes done as quickly as they can.
0:28:34 You mentioned you’re a first-generation college student yourself.
0:28:39 How has that experience shaped your approach to your work?
0:28:47 But in particular, you know, when I hear you talk about student-centered and, you know, equity and inclusion and diversity,
0:28:53 but really coming down to talking about you’re there to serve, the college is there to serve each and every student that you have.
0:28:58 How much does your own experience going through college influence what you do now?
0:29:02 I’ll be honest, I think it influences it a lot, but hopefully in a good way.
0:29:04 I mean, I’m the daughter of immigrants.
0:29:05 My dad’s from Kenya.
0:29:06 My mom’s from Kuwait.
0:29:08 I’m first-generation, born and raised here with my younger brother.
0:29:10 You know, community college student.
0:29:17 I would have loved to graduate and go to, like, USC or, you know, UCLA, like all these great schools, you know, growing up in Southern California.
0:29:20 There’s no way we could have afforded that, right?
0:29:26 So I went, I actually went to my local community college and graduated, transferred, went to a CSU and just kept going.
0:29:27 You know, I’m a doctor now.
0:29:35 But going through those experiences where I was, you know, waitressing and trying to go to class, working full-time and doing a double master’s,
0:29:42 like, there were always, you know, the privilege of being able to just go to school was not something that I had, right?
0:29:52 And being aware that I, you know, culturally, financially, right, that community college was where I landed and it was the best thing for me.
0:29:54 It gave me perspective, right?
0:30:01 And again, I think working in EOPS CalWORKs, supporting our most underrepresented and disproportionately impacted students changed my perspective.
0:30:10 Because from a work capacity, I was serving just, you know, foster youth, individuals who they were on, you know, cash aid from the county.
0:30:12 They were homeless.
0:30:14 They had not eaten in three days, you know.
0:30:24 And so to have that understanding and exposure, not only having been a student through the programs that I went through, but also to serve those students very early in my career.
0:30:27 That was, you know, 20 years ago before I ever thought.
0:30:31 But I carried that with me, right?
0:30:38 And even when I went from student services to admin services, you know, budget and, you know, remembering that these are not widgets, right?
0:30:41 This is school supplies for our students.
0:30:44 This is money so they can get a bus pass to get to us.
0:30:50 This is food for the food pantry, you know, going and buying the food for the food pantry and filling it up, you know.
0:30:58 So all throughout all my all of my career, right, throughout all of my career, I have centered the students because I was one and my brother was one.
0:31:05 And, you know, we went through my mother went to community college, you know, so I I have seen it.
0:31:10 I’ve experienced it and I’ve kept their experiences as close to me as I can.
0:31:19 You know, I remember being a college student and not knowing who our college president was and like, oh, my God, the president’s there, you know, like, oh, no, people are scared.
0:31:21 And I don’t want that for our students.
0:31:22 I want them to know that I’m available.
0:31:23 My door is open.
0:31:24 We are accessible.
0:31:25 We’re here in service to you.
0:31:30 So I want them to know that I’m supportive and, you know, we are going to do our best for them.
0:31:35 So I do think my personal experiences have definitely guided my way through through these.
0:31:36 A little bit.
0:31:36 Yeah.
0:31:36 Yeah.
0:31:37 No.
0:31:37 Amazing.
0:31:38 That’s fantastic.
0:31:42 So you mentioned mission has been around for 50 years.
0:31:50 I won’t ask you to predict the next 50 years, but looking ahead, how do you see the role of community colleges in general?
0:31:53 And you can speak to mission specifically evolving.
0:31:56 And we’re talking about AI and we’re talking about technology.
0:32:06 But also as these things affect, you know, there’s obviously a lot of conversation right now about what does the workforce look like in 5, 10, 15 years?
0:32:10 And, you know, jobs come and go over time.
0:32:11 This has always happened.
0:32:12 But right now there’s a lot of focus on that.
0:32:18 So what do you see as community colleges evolving role as we move into the future?
0:32:32 Well, I think community colleges have to be at the forefront and we have to be a partner with the employers who are looking for qualified workforces, workforce development, educational opportunity and economic mobility.
0:32:33 They’re all hand in hand.
0:32:42 You know, the reality is if community colleges are not at the forefront, the equity gaps that exist will be bigger because it’s this type of education,
0:32:45 these types of programs are not easily accessible and they are new.
0:32:51 And if you don’t have privilege, right, you may have more of a struggle trying to find these programs.
0:32:53 I have a, you know, a story really quick.
0:32:57 We have a program that works with high school students and they’re on our campus.
0:33:02 They went through one of our certificate programs over the summer.
0:33:03 It’s an intense program and the student is 18.
0:33:06 He went through, I think he works for NVIDIA now.
0:33:12 And he’s, you know, 18 and got a career, right, with a salary.
0:33:14 He did that through educational opportunities.
0:33:18 He received economic mobility for him and his family because.
0:33:19 Right, right there.
0:33:19 Yeah.
0:33:32 If we are not at the forefront, if we’re not open, and especially with our partners, that’s the piece that I think is going to make or break the colleges in the future is making sure partners know we can offer free workforce development opportunities for you.
0:33:33 Tell us what you need.
0:33:36 Let us be a couple and build this for you and they will, we will get people through.
0:33:44 So I think if, if the colleges are positioned and we’re open to those partnerships, we’re going to be in a good place for our students in the next few years.
0:33:45 Yeah.
0:33:47 Any advice for those students?
0:33:54 Students in college, in college now, I have a high schooler myself thinking about what’s next after high school.
0:34:06 You know, not just in general as students and thinking about going to college and everything, but thinking about everything that we’ve discussed with the role of technology and AI, obviously growing and growing.
0:34:12 But the importance of keeping people at the center of it, of keeping everybody, of holding everybody together and being inclusive.
0:34:13 Parting thoughts, advice?
0:34:14 Yeah.
0:34:19 I mean, we’re living through a very difficult time, I think, within our country right now.
0:34:23 One that I never thought I would, again, see lots of surprises in these as a millennium.
0:34:24 Right.
0:34:29 I think the first thing I would say is that your dreams matter and you should never stop dreaming.
0:34:34 I’ve had undocumented students in my office over the summer and some of the things they said just broke me.
0:34:44 Like, and to make sure our students, any student knows that your dreams are important, that we need you and that you are going to be the future decision maker.
0:34:50 And if you don’t keep dreaming, if you don’t put the effort in, that’s what oppressive systems want.
0:34:56 And at the end of the day, you’ll be the one who suffers because you stopped, stopped caring, stopped dreaming, stopped investing in yourself.
0:35:03 There is only good things that can come if you lean in and whatever your dream may be, or even if you don’t know what it is yet.
0:35:07 Right. To just keep going and figure it out and don’t be afraid to ask for help.
0:35:12 Right. And don’t quit because someone told you you weren’t good enough or you weren’t going to make it.
0:35:14 Because, I mean, a lot of people have told me that they still do.
0:35:17 So, you know, you can’t, the haters are going to hate.
0:35:23 You can’t let them get into how you feel about yourself and just know that you’re capable.
0:35:28 And there are people in your corner, like Mission College, like other colleges who want you to be successful.
0:35:32 Just, just come and try and we’ll make sure you get to where you need to be.
0:35:36 Fantastic. Missioncollege.edu is the website?
0:35:52 For listeners who want to know more about Mission College, about the work that you’re doing with anything we’ve talked about, but AI and technology in particular, the website, the best place to go, social media, where should their next stop be online?
0:36:01 Yeah, I think missioncollege.edu is the best place. We are Mission College in Santa Clara, Northern California. There is an LA Mission, but that is the other Mission College.
0:36:10 Make sure you’re laying on the right website. But yeah, missioncollege.edu. And of course, you can always reach out. I’m on social media, Mission SC Prez with a Z.
0:36:15 You can follow us on GoToMissionSC as well for our social media handles.
0:36:18 So yeah, we’re easy to find and looking forward to being found.
0:36:38 Go find them, everybody. Dr. Awan, Sahara Awan, thank you so much for joining the AI podcast. Really a pleasure to talk to you. And, you know, lots of food for thought, whether you’re an educator, a parent of students like I am, or a student yourself, or, you know, just a lifelong learner.
0:36:48 There’s a lot to think about, a lot of exciting stuff to come, but also I think a lot of, as you put it, intentional work that we should be doing every day to make sure that we’re using all of this in the ways that we want.
0:36:51 Yeah. Thank you so much, Noah, for having me. Such a pleasure.
0:37:38 Thank you. Thank you.
0:37:40 Thank you.
0:00:20 In 2018, our guest became the youngest California community college president
0:00:24 when she took over the presidency at Los Angeles Southwest College.
0:00:28 Four years later, Dr. Sahara Wan became president of Mission College,
0:00:31 a public community college in Santa Clara, California,
0:00:34 just a few miles down the road from NVIDIA headquarters.
0:00:38 In just a few short years since then, Dr. Wan has led Mission College
0:00:41 to an increase in the number of degrees and certificates awarded to students,
0:00:45 as well as sustained post-pandemic enrollment increases.
0:00:49 She’s also worked to build strategic partnerships across the Silicon Valley community
0:00:53 and taken a thoughtful and inclusive approach to the role of technology,
0:00:55 including AI, in higher education.
0:00:59 It’s that last bit, the role of AI in the future of education,
0:01:03 the workforce, and lifelong learning that made us think,
0:01:07 we should invite Dr. Wan onto the podcast to explore all this stuff together.
0:01:09 And we’re so glad she accepted.
0:01:11 Dr. Sahara Wan is president of Mission College,
0:01:14 and she’s here with us now to talk about technology,
0:01:19 AI, and the roles of community college and higher education in our society.
0:01:22 Dr. Wan, thank you so much for joining,
0:01:24 and welcome to the NVIDIA AI podcast.
0:01:26 Thank you so much, Noah.
0:01:27 I’m so excited to be here.
0:01:29 We’re very excited to speak with you.
0:01:31 Maybe we can start, you can start,
0:01:34 by telling the audience just a little bit about Mission College.
0:01:36 We know it’s in Santa Clara.
0:01:38 We know you’re in the heart of Silicon Valley.
0:01:40 Tell us a little more beyond that.
0:01:40 Absolutely.
0:01:46 So Mission College is, I feel like, a hidden gem of Santa Clara and the Silicon Valley.
0:01:49 I would say we’re our premier community college in the area.
0:01:54 We’ve been here for 50 years, and we just are celebrating our 50-year anniversary this year.
0:01:55 Oh, amazing.
0:01:58 You know, I think one of the things that makes Mission so special has been
0:02:03 the inception of this college really came from centering the students in our work,
0:02:09 even 50 years ago, and wanting to create a safe space for individuals from every background,
0:02:13 you know, refugees, you know, single parents, underprivileged populations,
0:02:18 to come and find a place where they could feel supported, a sense of belonging,
0:02:22 and to really bring their full authentic selves to the experiences of education
0:02:25 so that they could go and become change makers in our community.
0:02:26 So Mission is a really special place,
0:02:30 and we’ve been educating the Silicon Valley for over 50 years now.
0:02:36 Incredible. And so I think you spoke and maybe hinted at it a little bit just now,
0:02:39 but what inspired you to take the role to lead Mission College,
0:02:45 and how does your own journey influence, you know, the way you lead and your vision for the institution?
0:02:51 Sure. So I was a community college student myself, was not that great of a student in high school,
0:02:57 really, and, you know, really found my way after I graduated and into community college.
0:03:04 When I was graduating with my bachelor’s, I ended up getting an unpaid internship at the community college that I had gone to.
0:03:06 And when I graduated, I was like, oh my gosh, I need a job.
0:03:08 I just graduated from college.
0:03:13 And so I had never thought to work at a college, right, and applied at the one I had been working at.
0:03:20 And they hired me in EOPS Care and Cow Works, which is a funded program that helps underrepresented populations,
0:03:23 single parents to have educational opportunities.
0:03:27 And I just really fell in love with education.
0:03:31 And I think I’d always been sort of a nerd and liked to learn, but hopefully a cool nerd.
0:03:38 But, you know, going into education and really that population, serving that population, it hit home for me.
0:03:43 It was where I really found my calling and I knew forever, like, this is, if I could do this forever,
0:03:47 I would have just supporting people and their dreams and students and their families.
0:03:50 And so becoming a college president was never really part of the plan.
0:04:02 But, you know, served in a number of capacities over the last 20 years in higher ed, from unpaid intern all the way to vice president of administrative services before I became a president.
0:04:09 And so, you know, again, when missions presidency opened up, I was not looking for a job.
0:04:13 I had one and I was happy serving my students in South Central Los Angeles.
0:04:15 But one of my mentors called me and said the job was open.
0:04:18 Like, she was adamant, like, this is where you’re supposed to be.
0:04:19 These are your people.
0:04:20 You’re supposed to be here.
0:04:23 I was like, oh, OK, well, let me let me do some homework.
0:04:28 And in researching, really found that Mission College was about the work, right?
0:04:30 We didn’t just talk about equity work.
0:04:30 We did the work.
0:04:38 And I was so impressed about what had been happening even before I got here that it really it felt like it called to me, right?
0:04:42 The work called to me, the equity work, the values of our institution called to me.
0:04:47 And so, you know, applied and was, you know, honored to be able to serve as president.
0:04:48 And so I’m here now.
0:04:49 Fantastic.
0:04:59 I think when when people think of Silicon Valley, you know, especially people outside of the valley, outside of California, maybe outside of the tech industry, all these different things.
0:05:05 You know, there’s an impression that for I think a lot of people just names come to mind, you know, the big tech company names and that kind of thing.
0:05:08 Silicon Valley is a diverse place.
0:05:17 Can you talk a little bit about that diversity and then how that sort of impacts or defines Mission’s role in serving the community?
0:05:18 Absolutely.
0:05:21 So, yeah, I mean, Silicon Valley, you think, oh, tech companies, right?
0:05:26 But Silicon Valley is an incredibly rich tapestry of diversity.
0:05:30 Mission College is a federally recognized HSI, Hispanic Serving Institution.
0:05:41 And, you know, when refugees needed a place to go, they came to Mission College, right?
0:05:45 We were working with Apple before tech industries were really like a techie.
0:05:51 So, you know, the diversity of our of our area is incredibly rich.
0:06:00 It also brings a sense of community that I think people don’t realize because Silicon Valley can seem so broad or even like tech companies.
0:06:03 Maybe it’s like a cold place or, you know, not that welcoming.
0:06:07 But I would say the communities who live here are about community.
0:06:11 This is a part of their cultures and what they look for.
0:06:15 And so I think Mission College really provides that safe space where the people find community.
0:06:17 How many students at Mission?
0:06:21 So we have about 7000 students a semester and we’ve been growing.
0:06:26 I think the last four or five years were up about 10 percent in enrollment, which is great.
0:06:26 Yeah.
0:06:27 No, especially post pandemic.
0:06:29 I mentioned the intro.
0:06:36 It’s it’s if anybody listening has ties to education at any level, it’s it’s been a challenge the past several years for sure.
0:06:43 Are they and forgive me if this isn’t the right term to use, but is it a commuter school or their residents?
0:06:43 Sure.
0:06:44 So we are a community college.
0:06:46 We don’t have housing on campus currently.
0:06:49 It is something in the plans for the future.
0:06:57 But we definitely serve pretty much the most underrepresented populations in the Silicon Valley area and are in communities.
0:07:03 I think it’s about 75 percent of our students are on financial aid and most of them are part time because they work full time.
0:07:05 They take care of their families.
0:07:05 They have children.
0:07:09 So those are a majority of our students.
0:07:10 Got it.
0:07:11 Let’s talk about technology.
0:07:13 Talk about AI and technology.
0:07:39 And I think to start with, maybe, you know, when it comes to thinking about technology and and, you know, the increasing role it’s playing in shaping society, but the workforce in particular and the mission of preparing students to be lifelong learners, also to be whether it’s entering the workforce or finding, you know, a new path in the workforce, opening up new opportunities, that kind of thing.
0:07:42 How do you think about the role of technology sort of broadly?
0:07:55 And then maybe or maybe this is the answer you can get right into sharing some of the highlights of how mission has been integrating emerging tech into curriculum and into kind of the overall experience for students.
0:08:01 Sure. So, I mean, number one, we are in Silicon Valley, so I would hope we are open and embracing technology.
0:08:08 But with mission in particular, and my perspective with AI and education is that it is the future.
0:08:09 And it’s not even the future.
0:08:11 It’s happening right now.
0:08:24 And if we don’t lean in and be open and embrace, it’s going to pass us by and it’s going to be a disservice to our students, the communities we serve, because they rely on us for educational opportunities and to be able to make those accessible to the communities that we serve.
0:08:31 So, I’m really proud of that since getting in touch with NVIDIA and our California Community College system partnering with NVIDIA.
0:08:36 We are the first California Community College to have actually gone through the partnership with NVIDIA.
0:08:42 Our faculty have been certified to the NVIDIA certifications and have passed all the exams.
0:08:46 And they’re actually teaching curriculum that is mapped to NVIDIA’s content.
0:08:49 And we’ve just launched our AI certificate.
0:08:52 And so we’re really happy to make that an available opportunity.
0:08:57 And we also offer free tuition to anyone in our service area, as well as free meals.
0:09:04 So not only are we creating pathways for educational opportunity, we’re trying to remove as many barriers as possible.
0:09:07 So this is as accessible as possible to the populations that need access.
0:09:11 Our AI learning is happening, I think, at all levels.
0:09:16 We have faculty who are taking sabbaticals to be trained in AI and become experts.
0:09:25 We have different team members going to different trainings, like with Play Lab and ChatGVT and other tools to bring those to the college.
0:09:33 And we’ve also really been trying to embrace AI as a way to close equity gaps and improve response time to students who are in need.
0:09:48 So one of the projects where we’ve actually implemented an operationalized AI to improve our operations is our Mission Cares form, which is a single form that students can fill out if they are in need of housing support, food and security.
0:09:56 Or again, if they think they qualify for special learning community and we triage, right, those those and their applications.
0:09:59 So the student doesn’t need to apply to all these programs individually.
0:10:00 They fill one right out.
0:10:05 The issue we had had was our team then had to go in and triage all of these students.
0:10:08 And there were a lot of people touching the spreadsheet.
0:10:10 There were a lot of spreadsheets.
0:10:15 We’re sort of being spent going to this system over here and this is here.
0:10:16 And do they qualify?
0:10:17 Did they apply before?
0:10:17 Right.
0:10:24 And so, you know, a lot of man hours being wasted, sort of triaging instead of actually serving students.
0:10:26 And so, you know, again, our team really leaned in.
0:10:32 We partnered with an AI company who helped us to really look at our systems and automate them.
0:10:38 And I’m really proud to say that we used Agentic AI to automate a lot of those processes.
0:10:44 And so now a manager just gets an email that says these students applied and qualify for your program.
0:10:51 The student automatically gets information the minute they click submit that they’ve qualified and this is what you need help with.
0:10:57 And one example I can give you where this is making a difference is if a student is unhoused and on Friday afternoon they’re asking for help.
0:11:03 They’re not waiting till Monday or Tuesday when the manager comes back and triage without that they’re qualified.
0:11:10 But the minute they click submit, there’s contact information, there’s resources, they’re getting assistance immediately.
0:11:15 And the manager can quickly assess and get that student the resources they need.
0:11:24 So that’s just one example of hopefully the many that we’re looking at to help AI or use AI to help our operations and, of course, serve students to the best of our ability.
0:11:26 No, that’s fantastic.
0:11:36 That’s, you know, obviously one of the things that AI, the way that we talk about it now, is so good at is automating that sort of, I don’t mean busy work and that the work’s not important.
0:11:38 Clearly, in this case, it’s hugely important, right?
0:11:48 But when you find those processes that the computer is good at, the systems are good at automating, like you said, it really just makes all the difference.
0:12:05 And you can spend your energies immediately on the work itself, which in your case, serving students from a curriculum standpoint, from, you know, thinking about teaching and learning, how do you, how have your faculty, you know, and again, you’re in Silicon Valley, the college has been there forever.
0:12:12 So new technologies, I’m sure, aren’t new, or it’s not a new thing for the faculty to, you know, consider new technologies, be approached with them.
0:12:20 But what’s the consensus, what’s the feeling amongst the faculty about AI and the current uses and, you know, the potential?
0:12:23 You know, I think it’s always going to be mixed, right?
0:12:27 There’s the first adopters and then there’s the people who are like, let’s watch and see.
0:12:28 Some people are a little fearful.
0:12:31 They’ve watched iRobot and they’re like, what’s going on?
0:12:37 You know, I think it’s been mixed, but I will say that everyone has kept an open mind, which I appreciate, right?
0:12:37 That’s great.
0:12:48 And so from there, it’s really been having those first adopters go and learn and then bring back those resources so that colleagues can hear from one another about how am I using AI?
0:12:50 How has this helped my students, right?
0:12:54 You know, of course, cheating is always sort of the concern, right?
0:12:56 We went through college without AI.
0:12:58 It’s very different if you have AI at school.
0:13:17 But, you know, even how you teach, right, so that you can come, you can measure comprehension and learning by changing the scenarios and the activities that you do in the classroom where you can leverage AI as a strength and as a tool, but also have the student decipher and explain and show their learning in a different way.
0:13:31 And so I think, you know, we have an equity community practice, and I do think that that professional learning tied with the AI learning that we’re doing, because professional learning is one of our strategic goals as well as a college, have really helped us to sort of position ourselves.
0:13:43 So as things move quickly, which they are, right, every day, there’s a new tool, a new company coming up, a new service that’s being offered, we’re able to evaluate quickly and collaboratively and collegially with our different stakeholders on campus.
0:13:52 I also think, you know, as a college president, trying to keep people calm, keep people focused, and also excited about the opportunities as part of the role.
0:14:10 And so, for me, I’m planning on creating an AI task force to really get the college sort of all of our stakeholders in the same room to assess what do we want to do, where are we going, let’s do an environmental scan, because some people are really ahead of the game, and they’re doing stuff, and we wouldn’t even know, right, because they’re like in their classroom excited.
0:14:22 And so doing an environmental scan, where are we using AI, how are we using AI, where are there opportunities, and also doing like an AI summit to be able to share information and exciting best practices that people would want.
0:14:23 Their colleagues to know their colleagues to know about.
0:14:28 So those are some things that we’re doing right now that I think have some really great opportunities ahead for us.
0:14:30 No, that sounds fantastic.
0:14:36 The AI summit idea is terrific and something that works, I mean, in education as well as other industries.
0:14:38 It’s all about that exchange of information.
0:14:52 Listening to you describe sort of the mix of excitement and some fear and some trepidation makes me think of, not to date myself, but I was in undergrad when the internet,
0:14:59 kind of late 90s, so kind of just before that first dot-com boom and the internet started to become, you know, a mainstream thing.
0:15:00 Right.
0:15:05 And, you know, similar but different conversations about, you know, keep it out of the classroom.
0:15:06 How is it changing things?
0:15:07 It’s going to enable cheating.
0:15:08 It’s this, it’s that.
0:15:12 And, you know, it’s, yeah, it’s all those things, right?
0:15:30 Thinking about it from the other perspective of your students, how do you make sure that technology is a tool for empowerment, a tool that potentially can help all students, you know, achieve more and do more and not some sort of a barrier or obstacle that they have to overcome?
0:15:32 You know, that’s a great question.
0:15:38 And I think we always knew that there was a digital divide and obviously that became really, really obvious.
0:15:53 And during the pandemic, it just became a very clear line between the haves and the have-nots where you would think, you know, people should think they have Wi-Fi at home, they have a cell phone, those things became apparent that that’s not the case, right?
0:15:58 So for us at Mission, we start all of our decision-making with centering the students, right?
0:16:00 How is what we’re doing going to impact students?
0:16:02 What do they need from us to be successful?
0:16:06 Because we are in service to our students and their dreams and their families.
0:16:20 And so from that starting point, what we’ve tried to do is if AI is being integrated into a classroom to make sure that it’s an accessible tool for all individuals who are enrolled in that class and that they don’t have to buy anything special or do anything special.
0:16:25 Also, most of our classrooms, our classes are actually OER and zero-cost textbooks.
0:16:35 So we’ve done a huge effort to make sure that we keep costs down and not, you know, add expensive tools and costs to students who are already maybe struggling to just be here and get to the door.
0:16:45 And then we’re also looking at things like college-wide licenses for things like ChatGPT or, you know, some other tools that would be able to be installed on all of our computer labs.
0:16:50 And that way, any student who needs access is able to come to campus and access those without any barriers.
0:16:51 So those are some things that we’ve been doing.
0:17:08 But throughout all of it, you know, in addition to the laptops and the hotspots, all those programs and providing those resources, I think that those are some areas that we’ve really been focusing on to ensure that we don’t exasperate the equity gaps that we know exist already because of technology.
0:17:11 I’m speaking with Dr. Sahir Awan.
0:17:27 Dr. Awan is president of Mission College in Silicon Valley, and we’ve been discussing her own educational background and journey, leading her to take the presidency in 2022, as well as Mission College’s work with students, with faculty.
0:17:42 And really, I think the core of the college and the way that you talk about the college’s mission and the way that you speak of the work that you’re doing and serving the community, I think seems to be really reflected in your approach and everything you’re talking about, specific to technology.
0:17:58 When you think ahead and when your students think ahead to what comes after life at Mission, so how do you prepare your students and faculty to harness the potential of AI and, you know, kind of stay relevant, so to speak?
0:18:05 How do you prepare your students and how do you prepare them for their chosen field in a world, in a workforce that’s changing so rapidly?
0:18:16 And as you’ve discussed, and I think it’s this way for lots of people, but certainly a lot of your student body has a lot of other things to juggle beyond staying on top of the latest of AI, right?
0:18:17 So how do you approach that?
0:18:18 Sure.
0:18:22 So I think the first thing is to make sure that people have information and that it’s accessible easily.
0:18:27 I know we have a student newsletter, we have an employee newsletter, we have virtual town halls.
0:18:32 I mean, if you don’t know what’s happening at Mission, you’re choosing that, we are letting you know what’s happening, right?
0:18:41 Partnering with our partners and bringing guest speakers in so that students can hear about, like, career paths that, you know, maybe not, didn’t exist a year ago, right?
0:18:52 And also things like paid internships have been so important in putting students into these spaces where they may not have had access before, but now they’ve had enough education to be able to do the work.
0:18:54 And so they’re building that workforce development.
0:19:09 Our mentorship, the alumni connection, and then also making opportunities that are very intentional about bringing professionals to the campus to talk to and mentor our students have been ways that we’ve been focusing on the student engagement and information sharing.
0:19:13 And I think with faculty, again, professional learning is one of our strategic goals at Mission College.
0:19:16 We’ve been putting a lot of dedicated resources into that.
0:19:18 And AI is, of course, at the front.
0:19:29 We’re building a dedicated workspace where we can have professional learning happen and we can have labs and individuals can come and play with these tools that they may be scared to install on their own computer.
0:19:32 We’ve got kind of them that you’ll, you know, gain some confidence, right?
0:19:33 Yeah, yeah.
0:19:36 But the reality is, you know, you’re absolutely right that things are changing so quickly.
0:19:38 So we’re doing our best.
0:19:45 But I think that the mindset and leveraging our community partners and being very intentional about what we’re trying to achieve, right?
0:19:46 Well, what problem are we trying to solve?
0:19:50 Keeping that at the center because it’s easy to get lost as well.
0:19:51 There is a lot happening.
0:19:59 And, I mean, as a president, I get emails and ads soliciting, we have a new AI tool and, you know, you should implement this and how can it impact students?
0:20:05 And so it’s easy to get lost in all of the sort of chatter and quick pace that things are happening at.
0:20:09 I’m just a podcast host and it makes my head spin so I can only imagine.
0:20:15 Well, but at the end of the day, I think it really is keeping in our minds what problem are we trying to solve?
0:20:16 Who are our end users?
0:20:19 What outcomes do we want for those individuals, right?
0:20:41 And if we center those sort of questions, I think that guides the work and helps us to be more strategic in what we’re bringing in, whether it’s professional learning opportunities for our faculty, new partnerships, new tools, new technology that we’re sharing with students, or even, again, those paid internship opportunities, which we continue to pursue with our partners because not only of a benefit to them, but to the students.
0:20:50 Can you speak to any of those internships or other professional development initiatives that you have right now with companies in the area?
0:20:57 Oh, sure. I mean, we are one of the few community colleges, I think, that is actually supporting paid internships for our students.
0:20:59 So we have partnered with Stanford University.
0:21:04 Our students go and do real-world lab work before they graduate, applied materials.
0:21:10 We have the only transportation apprenticeship program in the country here at Mission College.
0:21:11 Oh, is that right?
0:21:20 Yeah. So, you know, we are training the workers in our community and we’re making sure that in the past, I know, I’m sure you remember too, right?
0:21:22 Like I said, I had an unpaid internship.
0:21:29 They asked me to go while I was trying to work full-time and go to school full-time and do an unpaid internship to graduate, right?
0:21:33 And so we are trying to make sure that a student doesn’t necessarily have that free time.
0:21:40 They’re taking care of their families, their, you know, their kids, themselves, they’re working full-time, they’re paying rent.
0:21:43 And so, you know, they don’t have free time to give you.
0:21:45 And so those paid internships have made a huge difference.
0:21:51 And we’re continuing to pursue those through grants and pre-apprenticeship grants, workforce development grants.
0:21:57 We have so many in the works, but I’m really thankful to our partners who continue to work with us for those opportunities.
0:21:59 That’s great.
0:22:11 You spoke earlier about the importance of equity, diversity, how Mission College has always served a diverse and largely underrepresented community or cross-section of communities.
0:22:18 How is Mission working to ensure that advances in technology, we talked about the digital divide earlier, you mentioned.
0:22:34 How do you approach trying to make sure that advances don’t leave these historically underrepresented or marginalized communities behind and to make sure that everybody, but particularly these communities, are benefiting from the advances?
0:22:41 Well, unfortunately, Noah, the reality is that, you know, our underrepresented populations are underrepresented.
0:22:44 That has happened already.
0:22:53 And so I think the role of California community colleges and Mission College specifically is to really be intentional about the work we’re doing, right?
0:22:56 And not to just talk about it like, yeah, there’s equity gaps and, yeah, we should close them, right?
0:23:02 How are we closing equity gaps and what are we doing about those equity gaps, right?
0:23:04 What are those equity gaps?
0:23:12 So I think being very explicit, oftentimes there’s some shame, I think, that comes from those equity gaps that when a college has them, you know, you feel bad.
0:23:14 You love your students, you don’t want them to have equity gaps, right?
0:23:22 And again, these are imperfect systems that were never built for students of color, for women, for, you know, most of the majority of the population going to college.
0:23:32 And so in these systems that were not built for these students, they are doing their best to try to show up every day through systemic barriers to get to us.
0:23:36 So the way we approach it is how can we serve students?
0:23:38 How can we center them in everything that we do?
0:23:42 What barriers are they experiencing internally and externally?
0:23:48 And how do we play a role in removing those to create a more level playing field for them, right?
0:23:52 We have a Strengthening Student Equity workbook that our college created.
0:23:56 And there’s a great image of a student carrying a backpack up a very rocky hill.
0:23:59 And, you know, the backpack is all of those internal struggles, right?
0:24:01 How am I going to feed my family?
0:24:02 How am I going to make rent?
0:24:05 You know, are my kids safe, right?
0:24:08 How am I going to get them to school today if I have my car broke down, right?
0:24:13 Those are internal things that they’re dealing with that we may not know anything about, right?
0:24:14 And then there’s the external struggles, right?
0:24:15 How am I going to pay for college?
0:24:17 How am I going to get to this class?
0:24:20 You know, I don’t have any time for homework because I’m working full time.
0:24:21 What am I going to do, right?
0:24:29 And so understanding our students, creating relationships with them, and then really figuring out what support services are going to make the most impact.
0:24:31 And also taking the shame out of it.
0:24:32 These systems are not perfect.
0:24:33 We’re doing our best.
0:24:36 And if something doesn’t work, we’re going to try again and do something different.
0:24:43 You know, I would say my vision at Mission College is to create a college that doesn’t exist, one that has 100% success rates and no equity gaps.
0:24:45 So until we hit that point, we have work to do.
0:24:49 And if we had all the answers, we’d be doing those things already.
0:24:58 So it’s really being open to innovation, open to partnerships, and taking ego out of it and knowing that at the end of the day, the students are the center of our work.
0:25:04 And at the end of the day, how they feel and what they experience is the most important thing that we need to work through.
0:25:12 So when it comes to technology, you know, we’re doing our best, you know, laptops, hotspots, creating safe spaces on campus.
0:25:16 We actually did a really cool new addition to campus, which are Zoom pods.
0:25:24 We bought Zoom pods because those are, we noticed a lot of students were, after the pandemic, taking in-person and online courses on campus.
0:25:31 But then you see a student at, like, the cafeteria trying to do a Zoom class, and they have their phones on, and there’s noise, and people are eating.
0:25:40 So we invested in things like Zoom pods, which have been, I think that was one of our best investments, to see students having, like, a little pod.
0:25:42 They work.
0:25:44 You see them, they’re not watching movies in there.
0:25:46 They’re working, right?
0:25:50 They’re in there just performing the work that they need to get done.
0:25:55 And so things like that, right, being open to, like, we never had Zoom pods when I was going to college, right?
0:26:00 But looking at what the students need and addressing those through technology and resources.
0:26:13 I don’t want to share any insider corporate secrets here, but I will say that the private phone booth rooms, very popular on certain corporate campuses as well.
0:26:14 We’ll leave it at that.
0:26:20 Absolutely, and I think you bring up a great point, which is, you know, sometimes certain industries or sectors can get very groupthink, right?
0:26:23 We get sort of stuck in, like, well, this is our normal way of doing things.
0:26:25 There is no normal anymore.
0:26:35 Like, we really do not be thinking about what are our corporate partners, our private partners, non-profit partners doing to meet the needs of our students, and how can we best embrace those things that are working?
0:26:43 The discussion about Zoom pods made me think about change in, you know, in the tech industry, other industries, you know, as well, obviously.
0:26:55 But has mission gone to more of a hybrid in-person distance learning approach since the pandemic, or has it always – what’s – maybe you can speak to sort of what that’s like.
0:27:04 And I’m thinking about what student expectations are like, because I’m thinking about it from the perspective of a worker, having that flexibility can be so huge, right?
0:27:05 So what’s it like at mission?
0:27:06 Sure.
0:27:14 So, you know, obviously during the pandemic, having been a president through the pandemic at a different college, it was definitely an interesting experience to take an entire –
0:27:14 Oh, right.
0:27:15 2022.
0:27:16 I’m sorry.
0:27:16 Yes.
0:27:17 My apologies.
0:27:25 Because, you know, being in 2020 and seeing, like – I mean, I took a whole college online in two weeks, everything, operations, to classes, to everything.
0:27:31 So never thought I’d live through a pandemic or college through it, but so it was an experience, right?
0:27:36 Probably never thought you could stand up a complete online college in two weeks either, but you did that, so yeah.
0:27:42 But, you know, coming to mission in 2022, you know, they were still recovering when I got here, right?
0:27:47 There were – employees were starting to come back to work, you know, the students were starting to come back.
0:27:54 And the way scheduling work works is we really try to schedule what the students need, right?
0:27:58 So if the students are enrolling in online classes and there’s wait lists, we’ll open up more.
0:28:01 If they want in-person classes, we’ll open up more.
0:28:08 So the way it’s really gone after the pandemic has been about a 60% in-person, 40% online.
0:28:14 It may shift a little bit in percentage up and down every year, but that’s really been where we’re at.
0:28:20 And I will say I’m still really pleased because other colleges have not recovered fully from the pandemic.
0:28:24 There’s still a heavy online presence, and that’s not a bad thing.
0:28:31 But I think, as I shared, a lot of students are taking a mix of both these days, and it’s really about convenience and getting the classes done as quickly as they can.
0:28:34 You mentioned you’re a first-generation college student yourself.
0:28:39 How has that experience shaped your approach to your work?
0:28:47 But in particular, you know, when I hear you talk about student-centered and, you know, equity and inclusion and diversity,
0:28:53 but really coming down to talking about you’re there to serve, the college is there to serve each and every student that you have.
0:28:58 How much does your own experience going through college influence what you do now?
0:29:02 I’ll be honest, I think it influences it a lot, but hopefully in a good way.
0:29:04 I mean, I’m the daughter of immigrants.
0:29:05 My dad’s from Kenya.
0:29:06 My mom’s from Kuwait.
0:29:08 I’m first-generation, born and raised here with my younger brother.
0:29:10 You know, community college student.
0:29:17 I would have loved to graduate and go to, like, USC or, you know, UCLA, like all these great schools, you know, growing up in Southern California.
0:29:20 There’s no way we could have afforded that, right?
0:29:26 So I went, I actually went to my local community college and graduated, transferred, went to a CSU and just kept going.
0:29:27 You know, I’m a doctor now.
0:29:35 But going through those experiences where I was, you know, waitressing and trying to go to class, working full-time and doing a double master’s,
0:29:42 like, there were always, you know, the privilege of being able to just go to school was not something that I had, right?
0:29:52 And being aware that I, you know, culturally, financially, right, that community college was where I landed and it was the best thing for me.
0:29:54 It gave me perspective, right?
0:30:01 And again, I think working in EOPS CalWORKs, supporting our most underrepresented and disproportionately impacted students changed my perspective.
0:30:10 Because from a work capacity, I was serving just, you know, foster youth, individuals who they were on, you know, cash aid from the county.
0:30:12 They were homeless.
0:30:14 They had not eaten in three days, you know.
0:30:24 And so to have that understanding and exposure, not only having been a student through the programs that I went through, but also to serve those students very early in my career.
0:30:27 That was, you know, 20 years ago before I ever thought.
0:30:31 But I carried that with me, right?
0:30:38 And even when I went from student services to admin services, you know, budget and, you know, remembering that these are not widgets, right?
0:30:41 This is school supplies for our students.
0:30:44 This is money so they can get a bus pass to get to us.
0:30:50 This is food for the food pantry, you know, going and buying the food for the food pantry and filling it up, you know.
0:30:58 So all throughout all my all of my career, right, throughout all of my career, I have centered the students because I was one and my brother was one.
0:31:05 And, you know, we went through my mother went to community college, you know, so I I have seen it.
0:31:10 I’ve experienced it and I’ve kept their experiences as close to me as I can.
0:31:19 You know, I remember being a college student and not knowing who our college president was and like, oh, my God, the president’s there, you know, like, oh, no, people are scared.
0:31:21 And I don’t want that for our students.
0:31:22 I want them to know that I’m available.
0:31:23 My door is open.
0:31:24 We are accessible.
0:31:25 We’re here in service to you.
0:31:30 So I want them to know that I’m supportive and, you know, we are going to do our best for them.
0:31:35 So I do think my personal experiences have definitely guided my way through through these.
0:31:36 A little bit.
0:31:36 Yeah.
0:31:36 Yeah.
0:31:37 No.
0:31:37 Amazing.
0:31:38 That’s fantastic.
0:31:42 So you mentioned mission has been around for 50 years.
0:31:50 I won’t ask you to predict the next 50 years, but looking ahead, how do you see the role of community colleges in general?
0:31:53 And you can speak to mission specifically evolving.
0:31:56 And we’re talking about AI and we’re talking about technology.
0:32:06 But also as these things affect, you know, there’s obviously a lot of conversation right now about what does the workforce look like in 5, 10, 15 years?
0:32:10 And, you know, jobs come and go over time.
0:32:11 This has always happened.
0:32:12 But right now there’s a lot of focus on that.
0:32:18 So what do you see as community colleges evolving role as we move into the future?
0:32:32 Well, I think community colleges have to be at the forefront and we have to be a partner with the employers who are looking for qualified workforces, workforce development, educational opportunity and economic mobility.
0:32:33 They’re all hand in hand.
0:32:42 You know, the reality is if community colleges are not at the forefront, the equity gaps that exist will be bigger because it’s this type of education,
0:32:45 these types of programs are not easily accessible and they are new.
0:32:51 And if you don’t have privilege, right, you may have more of a struggle trying to find these programs.
0:32:53 I have a, you know, a story really quick.
0:32:57 We have a program that works with high school students and they’re on our campus.
0:33:02 They went through one of our certificate programs over the summer.
0:33:03 It’s an intense program and the student is 18.
0:33:06 He went through, I think he works for NVIDIA now.
0:33:12 And he’s, you know, 18 and got a career, right, with a salary.
0:33:14 He did that through educational opportunities.
0:33:18 He received economic mobility for him and his family because.
0:33:19 Right, right there.
0:33:19 Yeah.
0:33:32 If we are not at the forefront, if we’re not open, and especially with our partners, that’s the piece that I think is going to make or break the colleges in the future is making sure partners know we can offer free workforce development opportunities for you.
0:33:33 Tell us what you need.
0:33:36 Let us be a couple and build this for you and they will, we will get people through.
0:33:44 So I think if, if the colleges are positioned and we’re open to those partnerships, we’re going to be in a good place for our students in the next few years.
0:33:45 Yeah.
0:33:47 Any advice for those students?
0:33:54 Students in college, in college now, I have a high schooler myself thinking about what’s next after high school.
0:34:06 You know, not just in general as students and thinking about going to college and everything, but thinking about everything that we’ve discussed with the role of technology and AI, obviously growing and growing.
0:34:12 But the importance of keeping people at the center of it, of keeping everybody, of holding everybody together and being inclusive.
0:34:13 Parting thoughts, advice?
0:34:14 Yeah.
0:34:19 I mean, we’re living through a very difficult time, I think, within our country right now.
0:34:23 One that I never thought I would, again, see lots of surprises in these as a millennium.
0:34:24 Right.
0:34:29 I think the first thing I would say is that your dreams matter and you should never stop dreaming.
0:34:34 I’ve had undocumented students in my office over the summer and some of the things they said just broke me.
0:34:44 Like, and to make sure our students, any student knows that your dreams are important, that we need you and that you are going to be the future decision maker.
0:34:50 And if you don’t keep dreaming, if you don’t put the effort in, that’s what oppressive systems want.
0:34:56 And at the end of the day, you’ll be the one who suffers because you stopped, stopped caring, stopped dreaming, stopped investing in yourself.
0:35:03 There is only good things that can come if you lean in and whatever your dream may be, or even if you don’t know what it is yet.
0:35:07 Right. To just keep going and figure it out and don’t be afraid to ask for help.
0:35:12 Right. And don’t quit because someone told you you weren’t good enough or you weren’t going to make it.
0:35:14 Because, I mean, a lot of people have told me that they still do.
0:35:17 So, you know, you can’t, the haters are going to hate.
0:35:23 You can’t let them get into how you feel about yourself and just know that you’re capable.
0:35:28 And there are people in your corner, like Mission College, like other colleges who want you to be successful.
0:35:32 Just, just come and try and we’ll make sure you get to where you need to be.
0:35:36 Fantastic. Missioncollege.edu is the website?
0:35:52 For listeners who want to know more about Mission College, about the work that you’re doing with anything we’ve talked about, but AI and technology in particular, the website, the best place to go, social media, where should their next stop be online?
0:36:01 Yeah, I think missioncollege.edu is the best place. We are Mission College in Santa Clara, Northern California. There is an LA Mission, but that is the other Mission College.
0:36:10 Make sure you’re laying on the right website. But yeah, missioncollege.edu. And of course, you can always reach out. I’m on social media, Mission SC Prez with a Z.
0:36:15 You can follow us on GoToMissionSC as well for our social media handles.
0:36:18 So yeah, we’re easy to find and looking forward to being found.
0:36:38 Go find them, everybody. Dr. Awan, Sahara Awan, thank you so much for joining the AI podcast. Really a pleasure to talk to you. And, you know, lots of food for thought, whether you’re an educator, a parent of students like I am, or a student yourself, or, you know, just a lifelong learner.
0:36:48 There’s a lot to think about, a lot of exciting stuff to come, but also I think a lot of, as you put it, intentional work that we should be doing every day to make sure that we’re using all of this in the ways that we want.
0:36:51 Yeah. Thank you so much, Noah, for having me. Such a pleasure.
0:37:38 Thank you. Thank you.
0:37:40 Thank you.
Dr. Seher Awan, president of Mission College, shares her inspiring journey from first-generation college student to higher education leader in the heart of Silicon Valley. Discover how Mission College is embracing AI to break barriers, close equity gaps, and empower underrepresented communities through accessible education and innovative student support.
Browse the AI Podcast catalog: ai-podcast.nvidia.com
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