Reflections from last week
As fall quarter moves forward, I hope your classes and programs are going well. We continue to watch enrollment to see the impact on the college of both the economy and the improvements made to our enrollment processes. (Fall to-date totals: 7,350 FTES and 11,446 student headcount.) There continues to be decline based upon this morning’s enrollment report of -1% than what we have projected in this year’s budget. It is more important than ever to focus our efforts on retention and completion strategies to keep students enrolled who have chosen to study here. I appreciate all the work you are doing to provide our students the supports they need to thrive at Clark.
Recently, I joined the Clark Team at the American Association of Community Colleges’ Pathways 2.0 Institute (Dr. Sachi Horback, Bill Belden, Shanda Haluapo, Dr. Judith Hernandez-Chapar, Jill Darley-Vanis, and Board Chair Jane Jacobsen). We worked with Dr. Chris Hill (our new Pathways Coach) to address creating a culture of teaching and learning at Clark. One of the session highlights from Odessa Community College described the “Caring Side of Guided Pathways”: creating a culture of caring by interacting with students by name, closely monitoring student progress, and scheduling one-on-one conferences with students outside of the classroom. I look forward to supporting a culture of teaching and learning and moving this important work forward while I am here.
This past week the Executive Cabinet worked with a consultant to improve how we lead the college. We had honest conversations on how we lead as a team during this intense retreat. I look forward to continuing to work with this team of talented and exceptional individuals to lead Clark College into the future.
I spent the end of the week with the other college presidents at the Washington Association of Community & Technical Colleges (WACTC) at Peninsula College’s beautiful Longhouse, where we discussed the System’s Vision and Strategic Priorities, ctcLink’s implementation, and the 2020 Supplemental Capital Budget Request (Clark College’s North County Satellite building is No. 5 on the New Appropriations list) among many other topics facing our state system right now.
This next week I look forward to convening the Clark College Equity Advisory Council. This includes over 25 community leaders whom I’ve invited to “build and maintain community connections; inform about what Clark College is doing around diversity efforts; and have the community provide counsel as the College engages in purposeful, institutional-level change that fosters social equity and eliminates systemic disparities among students, faculty and staff.” I am continuing my “Listening Tour” by attending unit meetings this fall. The STEM Unit is up next on my calendar. And, I’ll will look forward to an engaging conversation with donors at the Foundation Conversations event. Finally, I’ll proudly represent Clark College at the WSUV Scholarship Recognition and WSUV Advisory Council this week.
ctcLink – countdown 21 days!
The entire state is watching us to successfully goLive. Our most important training is this week. We’re setting aside time on Friday October 11. Clark College will be closed to the public and to internal customers for the day. October 11 is an in-service day for faculty so there will be no classes. You have two options for training.
Option One: In-person training at the Student Center in Gaiser Hall.
- 8:30 a.m. – fundamentals for all staff
- 9:30 a.m. – fundamentals for all managers
- 10:30 a.m. – financials for anyone who travels or submits expense reports
Please watch for Shanda Haluapo’s email this week with details on all the sessions for Friday October 11.
Option Two: A self-paced Canvas course
Access the course via the following link: https://www.sbctc.edu/colleges-staff/it-support/ctclink/ctclink-training-registration.aspx. (Registration for self-paced courses is available on the right side of the page.)
You should have all received an email from “SBCTC Canvas” for the Fundamentals and Employee Self-Service courses. If you have not received the email, please contact Jennifer Ward.
Faculty members (any status, as long as you teach a class) will receive an invitation to complete CF100: Faculty Self-Servicefrom SBCTC Canvas. Questions? Please contact Jennifer Ward.
ctcLink and Students
We are sending messages out to students as to how the changes impact them. I want you to be aware so you can help students as they navigate through the change. Here’s what we’re asking them to do these next few weeks.
- Change their student information (online or in-person) by Thursday, October 17.
- myClark will not be available from Friday, October 18 until Thursday, October 31.
- Learn how to access their new and improved myClark by going to www.clark.edu/faculty-staff/ctclink/student.php.
- Access the new and improved myClark on Thursday, October 31.
Very important – they can email ctcLink@clark.edu with questions. Thank you to the teams across campus who are making this their No. 1 priority to help our students make the transition.
ctcLink and stress
With this major transition, it’s not uncommon to feel overwhelmed, stressed or anxious. We always want to encourage you to seek out assistance through our Employee Assistance Program. Do you want to know more about how to use your EAP? Here are three upcoming orientation webinars.
| October 9, 2019 2:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m | Register Now | ||
| November 13, 2019 10:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. | Register Now | ||
| December 11, 2019 10:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. | Register Now |
I encourage you to check out your EAP benefits and collectively we’ll keep an eye out on our teams and peers supporting one another.
President Search
New this week, an opportunity for you to weigh in on the college president search. As you know, I am serving in the interim role for this academic year only. I won’t be a candidate for the next president. The search firm (Gold Hill Associates) that is working with our college is looking for input from you as we develop the job description for the president search.
We have an open house underway now (Monday, October 7) until noon in GHL 213. But we also have time set aside Thursday October 10t from 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Click here for more information.
We’ll have announcements over the next several weeks about the process as it gears up. We’ll have numerous opportunities for you to engage and be a part of this process. We need all voices to be heard. Dr. Preston Pulliums of Gold Hill Associates will be on campus all week soliciting feedback to inform our process in selecting the next president.
Faculty award
Congratulations to Instructor Donna Aase, who will receive the Excellence in Teaching Award from the Washington Association for the Education of Speakers of Other Languages at their annual conference coming up this month. Donna teaches ESL students. She’s been directly involved in the curriculum design of nearly all Clark’s ESL offerings. She’s designed an On-Ramp to Business class for ESL students. She’s helped pilot ESL Foundations, Fast Track 1, and classes in IELP.
I’ll share with you a quote from her nomination. Colleague Catherine Johnston wrote, “Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of all of Donna’s achievements and contributions is that she does all of it with such quiet pride. She is somehow calm yet enthusiastic, organized yet flexible, and self-confident yet receptive. Her dedication to her students, colleagues, and profession is unsurpassed. I am fortunate to have Donna as an outstanding colleague, and I am enthusiastic in nominating her for the WAESOL Excellence in Teaching award.” Well said, Catherine, and thank you, Donna, for your exceptional service.
B.U.I.L.D Training Program Success
Thank you everyone at Clark who expressed interest in the B.U.I.L.D Training Program. The response has been overwhelming and positive. It appears we have our first cohort ready to begin the year-long program. That’s exciting!
The purpose of the B.U.I.L.D. Training Program is to build intercultural competency and equity leadership in Clark College staff, faculty and students. This program will provide power, privilege, and inequity opportunities through listening, learning and practicing social equity, in alignment with Clark College’s Strategic and Social Equity Plan.
Thank you to Rashida Willard, Interim AVP of the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and your team for developing this new program. It recognizes that we will all make mistakes along the way but we are committed to build culturally humble employees and broaden understanding, intercultural leadership, and development around social equity
Clark College Grants
Your good work has resulted in three new grants awarded to Clark College. Here are the latest awards.
Workforce Education Services (WES) was awarded $75,000 from SBCTC to expand resources to support students in maintaining eligibility for Basic Food Assistance. This funding supports a Community Resource Liaison, located within WES, who provides individualized support to help our community members navigate the public benefits system, including connection to activities to meet public benefits requirements. With almost one-in-five students reporting food insecurity, this program will ensure that students have the support they need to maintain eligibility for basic food assistance.
Workforce Education Services (WES) was awarded $706,878 from SBCTC to help remove barriers and provide low-income students with access to education and skills training opportunities. The Basic Food, Employment, & Training (BFET) Program provides students with assistance with tuition, books and mandatory fees; childcare payments; eligibility for federal food benefits, if previously denied; and educational advising and personal support. Serving 556 students during 2018-2019, this program provides individualized support to help students achieve their educational and professional goals.
Economic Community Development (ECD)has been awarded five Job Skills Training Grants to provide specialized training – for a total of $238,445. Providing training in Lean Six Sigma and Quality Management Systems, these grants support ECD’s work to provide companies with training for their employees to meet regional workforce needs.
Student Job Support
Career Services has supported 247 student visits for resume and/or cover letter assistance for student employment in the last two weeks – that’s 25 students per day! Thank you for work helping our students be successful in their job application process for student employment. Because of the ctcLink conversion, this process has been condensed into a shorter window of time.
Additionally, Career Services handled 145 visits for Institutional Hire referrals, and most of those folks requesting more than one referral for each visit. While many students were able to find work-study positions as part of their financial aid package, we are happy to report that 42 students (without financial aid) were hired into on-campus Institutional Hire positions.
Students at Penguin Pantry
The food you donated to Penguin Pantry at Opening Day is already in students’ homes – thank you for your generosity. Penguin Pantry served 60 students on our first day of classes, September 23. That’s up 25 percent from the average daily visit last year.
It’s a powerful reminder of the challenges our students face and our commitment to help them along the way. You may have seen the story in the Columbian last last week on the rise of homeless students in Washington State. Here’s the link to that story. For me, it underscores for me, the importance of our work in providing resources and supports for our students. Please remember that you can refer students who are at risk of becoming homeless to our Homelessness Prevention Program at www.clark.edu/cc/housinghelp.
Walking on Campus
The Walktober Challenge is underway! Clark College, Lower Columbia College, and Washington State University Vancouver have challenged one another to see which school collects the most steps in the month of October. I’m all in! I hope you will join me in walking on campus and tracking our steps.
HOW: Participants can use a fitness tracker or a mobile app to track steps. Use the Walktober daily log to indicate how many steps you take each day (you will submit the log at the end of the challenge). The Walktober log is a fillable form and will calculate your steps as you enter them. For your convenience, the log is attached and is also located on the Walktober Challenge website. Also, all types of physical activity can be converted to steps. View the step equivalency chart on the challenge site or click the attachment.
PRIZES: Individual prizes will be awarded to the top three (3) participants with the highest steps! We will also announce the department with the most steps.
LEARN MORE: Clark College Walktober Challenge (scroll to the bottom to view frequently asked questions).
Happy Walking Penguin Nation!
