Clark College announced today November 14, 2019 that Rashida Willard has accepted the position of Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the college effective immediately.
“Rashida has earned the respect of her peers, our students and the
community as a strong and effective leader,” said Clark College Interim
President Sandra Fowler-Hill who made the appointment. “She has created and
developed structures, spaces and programs to help remove barriers for students
and she’s leading the effort to create a culturally competent campus to help
students succeed. The college is thrilled to make this announcement.”
Willard joined Clark College four years ago as Operations Manager
of Administrative Services. She has taught as an adjunct professor, has served
as Director of Operations and Risk Manager, and for the past 17 months has
served as Interim Associate Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
During that time, she has developed, aligned and integrated new
and existing initiatives and procedures into a cohesive platform to foster a
more inclusive, welcoming and diverse college community.
“I am deeply invested in this work, and am passionate about
creating inclusive, safe and welcoming environments where all students have maximum opportunities to succeed,” Willard said.
“I am eager to move forward in community and collaboration, building on our
team’s momentum of the last several months.”
Willard was
a participant and graduate of the Social Justice Leadership Institute for the
Washington State Community College System in 2017-2018 and was nominated as a
Real Hero by the Learn Here Project in 2018. She is also a part of the
Vancouver Police Chief’s Diversity Advisory Team.
Willard
holds a master’s degree in Business Administration, a bachelor’s degree in
Business Administration, and an associate degree in Organizational Dynamics.
She is currently attending Concordia University, pursuing a doctorate in
Education with a concentration in Professional Leadership, Inquiry and
Transformation. Her current research explores strategies that faculty and staff
employ to create culturally engaging spaces for students of color attending
predominantly white institutions and how campus racial climate affects their
persistence and completion rates. This research will be used to examine and
identify strategies to close the equity gap among students of color in higher
education.
The Weekly News: Week 17
Veterans Day
Thank you to our student and employee Veterans who have served our country. We have 304 Veterans enrolled at Clark College this fall. I’m so proud of ourVeterans Resource Center that is available to help veterans and their dependents get connected with the resources and networks of support available to them at Clark College and in the local community. The Center provides welcoming staff, mentoring from other student veterans, and tools to succeed academically and personally including subsidized dental care, a Books for Vets program, and tutoring.
ctcLink Success
Congratulations and thank you to our amazing ctcLink team!
89% of our staff have now activated their accounts. 47% of our students and 55% of our faculty have activated their accounts. Here’s a helpful link for students with step-by-step instructions on how to activate their new accounts. The timing is important because registration starts this week with eligible student veterans, and continues in waves through next week.
It’s the beginning of the third week and while we’ve made tremendous progress, and there is still considerable work to be done. I ask for your continued patience right now.
Staff are not able to respond to requests because they are very busy making sure the information is correct in ctcLink. It’s hard on everyone. Our staff want to respond to questions and yet they don’t have the bandwidth at this moment.
Thank you for your continued patience and let’s give grace to one another in every way possible, knowing everyone is doing the best they can.
Congratulations, Athletic Director Laura LeMasters!
What great news to see that our own Laura LeMasters has accepted the position of athletic director at Clark College. Laura joined Clark College as assistant athletic director in 2016 and most recently served as interim athletic director since June. She has a master’s degree in Kinesiology with an option in Sport Management from California State University – Long Beach and a bachelor’s degree in Sport Management with an emphasis in Communication from WSU Pullman.
Laura brings a wealth of experience in student success, college athletics, marketing, operations, and recreation from her prior roles at Occidental College, Central Wyoming College, and Lewis & Clark College. Laura is a strong student advocate and has played an important role in ensuring our compliance with state, federal and NWAC regulations. Laura is committed to continuing our focus on academic and athletic excellence in our athletic department.
Go Penguins!
I watched the Clark College women’s soccer team play hard on Saturday in the rain. The No. 4- ranked Penguins were upset by Tacoma Community College for the NWAC quarterfinal round. It was a tough ending, but much respect to Tacoma and best of luck going forward. Clark Penguins finished the season 11-4-1.Congratulations to our Penguins! You make us proud.
Time for nominations
Do you know of an outstanding Classified employee at Clark? Have you been looking for a meaningful way to say “thank you” to that person who has gone above and beyond in their service to you, your department or the college community? Now is your chance to acknowledge that special person.
We are pleased to announce that nominations are being accepted for the 2019 Fall Quarter Award. Please continue reading for more information. Submissions can be made by filling out the online submission form. Please only submit a nomination for the current quarter.
Nominations will be reviewed by the Classified Staff Awards Committee and will be evaluated entirely on the basis of the information submitted on the nomination form. The deadline is 5:00 p.m. on Friday, November 22, 2019. For questions, contact Vanessa Neal, vneal@clark.edu in Human Resources.
Student enrollment
Each week I’d like to share with you enrollment facts that paint a picture of our student body.
Under the Guided Pathways model, all new, degree-seeking students entering fall 2019 identified their Program of Study, under the six Areas of Study. Here are the paths our students have chosen:
16% Creative & Communication Arts
17% Business & Entrepreneurship
27% Healthcare & Biosciences
3% Advanced Manufacturing & Mechanical
13% Public Service, Society, & Education
23% Science, Technology, & Engineering
We’ll continue to work on program mapping and other vital tools within the framework of Guided Pathways to help our students choose their path and stay on the path. Thank you to the Guided Pathways team for all you do.
Open Enrollment for employees
It’s that time – a chance to review and make changes to your public employee benefits. Open enrollment ends Saturday, November 30. To make changes go toMy Account on the PEBB website. If you have questions about your benefits or account, please contact one of our benefits team members:
This past week I joined Dr. Sachi Horback and Mohammed Maraee, Associate Director of the Southwest Washington Center of Excellence for Semiconductors and Electronics Manufacturers, at Portland Community College’s Swan Island Center to discuss with PCC leadership opportunities to collaborate to meet our regional workforce needs in welding. I enjoyed the McClaskey Culinary Institute’s Tapas Fiesta Bar with the Executive Council last Tuesday. It was delicious! I loved hearing from the students about how they prepared the creative menu selections. I continued my listening tour with a tour of some of the WPTE Programs. Thanks to Interim Dean Armetta Burney and the amazing faculty in Welding, Machining, and Diesel who shared the exciting work they are doing in these areas. I joined Rashida Willard at the Vancouver Education Diversity and Inclusion Committee to discuss with community leaders how we can partner to “grow our own” systemically non-dominant K-12 teachers. It was an interesting discussion with PSU Dean of Education, Dr. Marvin Lynn, sharing information about the Portland Teachers Program that has been a leader in this work for over 30 years. I ended the week with two of our Board of Trustees (Chair Jacobsen and Trustee Bennett) at the statewide Association of College Trustees Legislative Action Committee and Fall Conference in Seattle and was sorry to miss Bingo for Vets Thursday evening.
This week I am looking forward to meeting with the newly formed Clark College Community Equity Council, celebrating November birthdays with you, meeting the President of WSU at the WSUV Advisory Council, and recognizing the ctcLink team at the Board of Trustees meeting on Wednesday evening.
Once again, I want to share my appreciation for the Clark ctcLink team, who have done an amazing job throughout the goLive conversion. I am inspired by the dedication of the leadership team and the problem-solving that I’ve seen across the campus in Finance, HR, Student Services, Instruction, Planning and Effectiveness, and IT throughout the week. Change is hard, and this amazing team has risen to the challenge. The whole state community college system has been watching us to see how this is done. Congratulations again, Penguin Nation. You’ve got this!
Clark College names new Athletic Director
Clark College recently announced
that Laura LeMasters has accepted the position of athletic director at the
college.
LeMasters joined Clark
College as assistant athletic director in 2016 and most recently served as
interim athletic director since June. She has a master’s degree in Kinesiology
with an option in Sport Management from California State University – Long
Beach and a bachelor’s degree in Sport Management with an emphasis in
Communication from WSU Pullman.
LeMasters brings a wealth
of experience in student success, college athletics, marketing, operations, and
recreation from her prior roles at Occidental College, Central Wyoming College,
and Lewis & Clark College.
“Laura is a strong student
advocate and has played an important role in ensuring our compliance with
state, federal and NWAC regulations,” said Vice President of Student Affairs
Bill Belden. “Laura is committed to continuing our focus on academic and
athletic excellence in our athletic department.”
“I am grateful and honored to be selected for the role of athletic director at Clark College,” said LeMasters. “I hope to continue to build the level of commitment to academic and athletic excellence as well as create a student experience for athletes, coaches, staff and the entire student body, that will enhance the pride of Penguin Nation.”
About Clark College Athletics
Penguin Athletics has a proud tradition of competitive success within the Northwest Athletic Conference (NWAC). The department offers 11 intercollegiate sports programs: Baseball; Men’s and Women’s Basketball; Men’s and Women’s Cross Country; Men’s and Women’s Soccer; Softball; Men’s and Women’s Track & Field; and Women’s Volleyball.
Penguin Athletics places great emphasis on academic performance as well as athletic achievement. The program offers student athletes the opportunity to reach their educational goals, as well to pursue meaningful athletic accomplishments. For more information, visit www.clarkpenguins.com.
Photo: Clark College/Jenny Shadley
The Weekly News: Week 16
Well done, Clark College!
It’s Day Five of the ctcLink conversion,
and I’m so proud of our ctcLink team that has put in such long days this week
to help the college through the transition. This has been a herculean task
requiring patience, perseverance, flexibility, creativity, humor and grace.
Please, as you see them, join me in thanking them for their extraordinary work:
Susan Maxwell, myClark ctcLink Project
Director
Sabra Sand, Director of Business Services
and Financial Management Pillar Lead
Mirranda Saari, Associate Dean of
Enrollment Services and Registrar and Campus Solution Pillar Lead
Guisela Eberle, Human Resources Assistant
Director and Human Capital Management Pillar Lead
Genevieve Howard, Associate Vice President
of Instruction and Instructional Lead
Andy Barsotti, Director of Data Services
and ITS Lead
Tanya Kerr, ctcLink Internal Controls and
Business Analyst (Campus Solutions and Financial Management)
Jennifer Ward, Program Manager for myClark
ctcLink
Shanda Haluapo, Associate Vice President of
Planning and Effectiveness and myClark ctcLink Executive Sponsor
This really is a team sport. I thank
everyone who has made this our No. 1 priority this week. I know it’s been
consuming. The long-term benefits to our staff and our employees will be
significant.
We also have student resources you can help share with
students as they log onto their new and improved MyClark. It’s vitally
important they’re in the system by next week. Registration for winter term
starts next Friday. Thank you to our faculty, our staff, our Student
Ambassadors, and Tech Hub crew for helping students make the jump onto our new
platform.
Well Done, Penguins Soccer Team!
Congratulations
to our amazing Clark College women’s soccer team! They concluded their 2019
regular season on Saturday, October 26. They have gone 64 league games without
a loss, dating back to October 2014; claimed their fourth Southern Region title
in a row; and have earned a bye for the first round of the NWAC soccer
tournament.
We
are set to host the NWAC quarterfinal round at Kim Christensen Field at noon on
Saturday, November 9. We will be host to the winner of the Tacoma CC vs.
Columbia Basin CC game set for next week. You will be hearing more about
showing your Penguin spirit with a new cool scarf that will be available soon.
Go Penguins!!
Columbia Writers Series next week
This looks like an
interesting lunchtime event next Thursday on campus: The Clark College Columbia
Writers Series kicks off its 2019-2020 season with “The Female Gaze” featuring
2019 National Book Awards Fiction long-listers Kali Fajardo-Anstine (Sabrina
& Corina) and Kimberly King Parsons (Black Light).
This event, which is free and open to the public, will be held on Thursday,
November 7, from noon to 2:00 p.m. in PUB 161.
The event includes a reading and discussion
on building buzz around debut short story collections and highlighting the many
faces of contemporary female identity in literature. It will feature brief
readings, a moderated conversation, and question-and-answer session followed by
a book signing.
Once again, I want to share my appreciation
for the Clark ctcLink team who have done an amazing job throughout the goLive
conversion. I am inspired by the dedication of the leadership team and the
problem-solving that I’ve seen across the campus in Finance, HR, Student
Services, Instruction, Planning and Effectiveness, and IT throughout the week.
Change is hard, and this amazing team has risen to the challenge. The whole
state community college system has been watching us to see how this is done.
Congratulations again, Penguin Nation. You’ve got this!
Thanks, Oswald, for stopping by in your
“penguin burger” costume to share some treats with us yesterday. I enjoyed
seeing some very creative costumes as I walked across the campus yesterday.
I’m looking forward to celebrating
Indigenous cultures at our Annual POWWOW tonight with the Dreamcatcher
Scholarship recognition and Grand Entry with drummers and dancers. It should be
a great way to end the week.
Finally, I’ve walked 152,926 steps this Walktober around the college and on
the weekends in my neighborhood. Don’t forget to turn in your steps to vneal@clark.edu to help Clark win the
Walktober Challenge. Keep on walking, Penguin Nation!
The Weekly News: Week 15
CtcLink: It’s here!
ctcLink went successfully live at 7:30am
this morning. Yahooo!
Kudos to the entire ctcLink team for making
this a success. I especially want to acknowledge myClark ctcLink Steering Team members who
have led this extraordinary effort over the past five years:
Susan Maxwell, myClark ctcLink Project
Director
Sabra Sand, Director of Business Services
and Financial Management Pillar Lead
Mirranda Saari, Associate Dean of
Enrollment Services and Registrar and Campus Solution Pillar Lead
Guisela Eberle, Human Resources Assistant
Director and Human Capital Management Pillar Lead
Genevieve Howard, Associate Vice President
of Instruction and Instructional Lead
Andy Barsotti, Director of Data Services
and ITS Lead
Tanya Kerr, ctcLink Internal Controls and
Business Analyst (Campus Solutions and Financial Management)
Jennifer Ward, Program Manager for myClark
ctcLink
Shanda Haluapo, Associate Vice President of
Planning and Effectiveness and myClark ctcLink Executive Sponsor
In addition to over 30 staff and managers
who spent this weekend validating data to assure the transition was successful.
Thank you ALL!
I’m
so proud to be part of the Clark team. We’ve got this!!!
I
am grateful to the entire ctcLink team who have been walking us through this
major undertaking along with SBCTC team. I want to affirm something that Shanda
Haluapo said last week in her email to you. She acknowledged that this week
will be full of rewards and challenges as we learn to do our work differently.
She reminded us to have compassion and patience with ourselves and those around
us, because we all do the best we can do.
We’ll have access to the PeopleSoft system
starting tomorrow, October 29. You will get an email with the link and
instructions on how to log into the system. People from the State Board for
Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) will be here to help support us in the
transition. We have resources to support your transition. Please review the employee resources.
I enjoyed attended the second anniversary
open house at the Clark College Penguin Pantry.
It provides students with a safe,
comfortable place to get something to eat, pick up a necessity, and connect
with additional resources and services such as counseling, public benefits,
community food banks and other resources. There’s a great article in the Indy
this month about the pantry and its growth on the campus. Thanks to student
reporter Sandra Fachiol for the story: “Clark’s food pantry strives to reduce student hunger.”
Also
a very special thank you to the Penguin Pantry program assistant, Estancia
Cota. As the Penguin Pantry founding staff member, she is passionate about
holistically meeting students’ needs and understands the larger role that the
Penguin Pantry plays in success, retention and completion. Her work and
commitment to the Penguin Pantry makes a positive difference in the lives of
our students. Here’s the link to find out more about
how you can help and how you can help connect our students with the Penguin
Pantry. Estancia
and student/volunteer Megaera Jarvis presented at the Board of Trustees meeting
that evening on the impact the pantry has made on our students who are
experiencing food insecurity.
Enrollment Update
From
the first day of fall quarter to census day, 281 students left the college,
representing more than 100 FTES. A quarter (25%) of these students were dropped
for nonpayment. The students who left were more likely to be low income,
employed, first generation, and students of color. How can we, as a
college, work together to support these students before they silently leave?
Employee Giving
Campaign
There
are many ways to support students with your time, effort and resources. Just a
reminder the Foundation has launched its annual Employee Giving Campaign. You
can choose where your donation goes and you can help make sure we get a $5,000
corporate match for Penguin Pantry.
As
an added incentive, the department with the highest giving participation will
win a catered meal from Clark College Foundation.
You
also have an opportunity to give to the Phi Theta Kappa Thanksgiving Basket
Fundraiser. Each year the Penguin community is asked to make cash donations to
help buy items for a Thanksgiving dinner for our students in need. The dinner
includes a 10-14 pound turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, yams, green
beans, cranberry sauce, dinner rolls, and a pie. Cash and check donations can
be accepted at the Cashier’s Office until Friday, November 22. This year’s goal
is to raise $3,000 to provide 100 Thanksgiving dinners, with your help.
Reflections from
this past week
This past week was filled with inspiring
presentations and learning about Clark. At the Students with Disabilities
Luncheon, Alyssa Voyles shared her personal journey and inspired us all with
her courage.
At the Board of Trustees work session we
heard four students who were nominated to represent Clark College for the
Washington Transforming Lives Award. Jorge Maravilla was selected by the Board
to represent Clark College. His journey as a student began 2015 in the High
School 21+ program and he earned a Certificate of Proficiency in Supervisory
Management. He shared a very moving story of how his life has been transformed
by attending Clark College.
In addition, the Board of Trustees heard
from two amazing faculty about their recent sabbaticals at their work session.
Jill Darley-Vanis and Erin Staples each shared their sabbatical experience and
the projects that were a result of having time to dive deep into a subject. I
was inspired to hear the impact of their projects on teaching and learning at
Clark. And, Samuel May-Varas was the Faculty Speaker with welding/machining
student, Gloria Razinski, at this month’s Board of Trustees meeting, presenting
on the Welding I-BEST Program.
I wrapped up the week continuing my
“Listening Tour” at the CLASS Unit meeting. I appreciated hearing their passion
for serving students in the Library, Tutoring, and TLC, and everyone’s candor
in sharing the challenges they are facing.
I was honored speak at the Foundation
Scholarship Reception. The O’Connell Sports Center was filled with donors,
event sponsors, scholarship recipients and their support team, families and
loved ones celebrating our students who are on promising pathways. Talented
Clark musicians (Colin Hunt, Ian Engelsman and Riley Lyons) entertained the
group and ASCC President Evans Kaame shared his extraordinary journey to Clark
College.
Finally, I’ve walked 120,971 steps this Walktober around the college and on the weekends in my neighborhood. Keep on walking, Penguin Nation!
Clark College takes next step in hiring new president
Community and college representatives selected to screen and recommend finalists for the next Clark College President.
Community and college representatives have come together to form a Presidential Search Advisory Committee at Clark College. Their job will be to screen applicants and recommend presidential candidate finalists to the Clark College Board of Trustees.
The committee met for the first time on October 11 to review the process, participate in implicit bias training ,and discuss the job description for the next president. The composition of the committee is outlined in Clark College policy 610.025. It includes community leaders as well as college students, staff and faculty.
Suzanne Southerland, Professor of Communication Studies
Al Schauer, Founder PointNorth Consulting
Paul Speer, Clark College Board of Trustees Presidential Search Lead
Brian Taylor, Industrial Sales Manager Siemens
Vicki Sovold-Prendergast, Mount Pleasant School District Superintendent
Dr. Siri Wickramaratne, Geography Instructor
Rashida Willard, Clark College Office Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
The committee’s work is supported by non-voting members Dr. Preston Pulliams, CEO of Gold Hill Associates, and Stephanie Weldy, Interim Executive Assistant to the Board of Trustees.
“Diverse community involvement is key to a transparent, equitable and inclusive process,” said Paul Speer, search lead and member of the Clark College Board of Trustees. “This is a moment in history for Clark College. Our next president will shape the future of the college supporting our students, community, faculty and staff.”
The Board of Trustees, with assistance
from the committee, has now approved the job description which is posted and
being distributed nationwide. It can be found at https://collegepresidentsearch.com/searches/.
Preston Pulliams of Gold Hill Associates is conducting the candidate search. In early October, he held two open houses and conducted numerous individual interviews to get input on the college’s opportunities, challenges and hopes for a new president over the next decade.
The Search Advisory Committee will meet
again in early November to participate in an equity in hiring workshop.
Candidate applications are due mid November. The Committee will review the
qualifying applications and select semi-finalists by late November.
The Board of Trustees plans to approve finalists in December, providing sufficient time to have the candidates visit Clark College in January for interviews, community and college forums. The Board plans to announce the new president in February 2020.
“It’s the most important work we will
do as a board of trustees,” said Speer.
Last
week I had the opportunity to meet with our Nursing faculty, Associate Dean of
Health Sciences, Dean of Business & Health Sciences, and Vice President of
Instruction to learn more about the Nursing Program and the Clark College building
at WSUV. Shortly after our meeting, we received confirmation of the Clark
College Nursing Program’s continued accreditation with Accreditation Commission
for Education in Nursing (ACEN). Congratulations to everyone in our Nursing
program for receiving the largest window of time regarding the next site visit
(2019-2027) and for being recognized by ACEN for “Achievement of Quality and
Excellence in Nursing Education.”
We
celebrated Clark College at Columbia Tech Center’s 10th anniversary last week,
and I was inspired by remarks made by Clark College Associated Student
President Evans Kaame. Thank you to the instructors, staff and
students at Columbia Tech Center who helped host a fun 10-year anniversary
party. Attendees
were able to tour the building and get a glimpse of the learning that happens
there in Mechatronics, Business, and Economic & Community Development
classes. We joined with the Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce
to hold a ribbon cutting. Thanks to all who helped. Read more about the event
in this Columbian
article.
I
was honored receive gifts this week on behalf of Clark College from Vancouver’s
sister city of Joyo, Japan, presented by Nami Inoue, a faculty member in our
Japanese language program who grew up in Joyo. And, thanks to all who stopped
by for a cupcake to celebrate your birthday in October. I look forward to
celebrating the months ahead!
I
just returned from attending the 50th annual Association of Community College
Trustees (ACCT) Leadership Congress in San Francisco with Board Chair Jane
Jacobsen and Trustee Jada Rupley along with 1,850 trustees, presidents, staff,
and other community college stakeholders. Throughout the conference we promoted
the Clark College President Search.
I
was inspired by the words of ACCT Chair Connie Hornbeck: “All of higher
education and industry is changing at a breakneck pace. Community colleges lie
at the nexus of both. We in this room are charged with sustaining the community
college sector no matter what changes come… We can’t predict, but we can and
must be as prepared as possible, as nimble as possible, to keep our
institutions strong for our students.”
Keynote
speaker Barry Posner focused on the key leadership practices trustees and
others need to manage these complex times. Co-author of the book Leadership
in Higher Education, Posner focused on five key strategies based on
research involving 150,000 college and university leaders, ranging from
modeling and inspiring a shared vision to upending existing processes, leading
from the heart, and enabling others to act.
Leaders
of three state community college systems emphasized the importance of local
leadership in navigating a challenging landscape that includes declining state
support and growing student needs. I enjoyed learning along with our trustees
about best practices in presidential searches, recruiting, and onboarding from
other colleges.
This is so important to our work at Clark
College. The Board of Trustees has identified improving the college climate and
employee morale as one of its priorities. Your input is critical to the
process. This year we have added incentive: Everyone who submits a survey has
the option sign up to win one of three $50 gift certificates to Amazon. Please
note that your responses on the Clark College Climate Survey will NOT be
connected to your name if you wish to enter the drawing.
ctcLink – one week away
Please take a minute to get your new your new ctcLink ID (open in Chrome) and get
a sneak peek into the ctcLink PeopleSoft testing
environment
using a Clark College computer at one of the campuses or using a VPN. To get
into the ctcLink PeopleSoft testing environment you will use your new ctcLink
ID and preset password. Your password is your last name – capitalize the first
letter only – and add the @ sign at the end, e.g., Fowlerhill@ is my password.
As
for training? Some people have inadvertently deleted or declined the invitation
for the SBCTC Canvas training. If you did that, please contact Jennifer Ward or call her extension at 2077 so she can reregister you. Thank
you!
We
are confident the result will be a positive for students and employees; far
more user friendly and efficient. But we recognize change presents challenges.
I
want to call out the sustained efforts of everyone on the ctcLink team led by
Project Manager Susan Maxwell and Associate Vice President of Planning and
Effectiveness Shanda Haluapo. Shanda’s next update for us is Wednesday this
week: Please watch for them as they contain vitally important information about
our process now underway!
ctcLink and our students
All student online systems are unavailable as
of October 17 through October 30 while the college upgrades to the state’s new
software system.
Our messaging to students? “Pease bear with
us as we work to improve your online experience. You’ll be signing into the new
improved My Clark on October 31. In the meantime, if you need assistance with
student services, we are here for you.”
In person: Stop by the Information Desk in Gaiser Hall.
What
do students need to know? On October 31, they need to go to myclark.edu. Once
they sign in, they will be given a new ctcLink ID. They need to write it
down. It will be needed to log in to access their information.
Here’s
the great news for students: The new and improved MyClark will offer a
simple, easy pathway for students to register for classes, apply for financial
aid, request unofficial transcripts, and use the schedule planner at Clark
College.
Clarks supports for students
The
Counseling and Health Center is continuing their support groups this fall term!
Please feel free to share the information below with any students you think
would benefit.
Running Start Support Group
– Wednesdays 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m., October 16 – November 20 at the
Counseling and Health Center, HSC 124. This is a space to connect with
other Running Start students navigating the complicated worlds of family,
high school, and college.
Parent Support Group
– Wednesdays 1:00 – 2:00 p.m., October 16 – November 20 at the Counseling
and Health Center, HSC 124. This is an ongoing support group for students
balancing school, life, and parenting.
Both
groups are facilitated by CHC counselors Beth VanBuecken and Valentina
Pishchanskaya-Cayanan. Students can contact Valentina at vcayanan@clark.edu to sign up, or with any
questions. As always, the Counseling and Health Center provides free mental
health counseling and low-cost health services to Clark students. Appointments
can be made by calling 360-992-2614, or by email at chc@clark.edu.
Penguin Pantry turns two!
You
are all invited to the Penguin Pantry second anniversary open house on Wednesday,
October 24, from 12:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. I want to encourage everyone to
bring a donation of canned or boxed food to the open house. As you probably
know, demand for food resources has increased significantly on campus. It may
be that word is getting out among students about this vital resource. Thank you
to everyone who supports it. The Penguin Pantry is in the Science Building
(SCI) in Room 101.
Expanding RAVE
For
years, our RAVE alert system has been sending Clark College employees and
students emergency text and email messages whenever the college experienced a
closure, lockdown, etc. I’m pleased to announce that this service has just been
expanded to include families, parents and visitors to Clark College.
Now
everyone can opt in. All they have to do is text the word “Penguins” to the
number 67283.
This
feature is for any Clark Community member (parent, visitor, etc.) who is not
automatically entered into the system.
There
will be a formal rollout for this feature, as well as a new app called RAVE
Guardian, coming soon. In the meantime, please feel free to share the keyword
and number. Thank you to our emergency management team for your work on this.
Presidential Advisory Committee
I’m excited to announce significant
progress in the search for your next college president.
The Presidential
Search Advisory Committee met for the first time Friday, October 11
for an all-day session that included implicit bias training. They worked
through the wording of the position profile and talked about the upcoming
resume screening process. As a result of their work, the Board of Trustees has
approved the position profile, and it’s up on the website as active recruitment
begins. Among the members of the committee are Clark College students,
employees, faculty and community representatives. Thank you for serving!
Co-chairs: Paul Speer, Clark College Board of Trustees Presidential Search Lead
and Jane Jacobson, Clark College Board of Trustees Chair
Al Schauer, Founder PointNorth Consulting
Brian Taylor, Industrial Sales Manager Siemens
Catharine Keane, Associate Director of Career Services
Dr. Siri Wickramaratne, Geography – Instructor (SOFA)
Eric Merrill, Clark College Foundation Board Chair
Evans Kaame, ASCC President
Heather Adams, Office Of VP Student Affairs – Administrative Services Manager A
Justin Flint, ASCC Club Coordinator
Rashida Willard, Interim AVP of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Suzanne Southerland, Communication Studies – Professor (BEECH) (CCAHE President)
Tanisha Harris, CASA Program Specialist YWCA Clark County
Tanya Kerr, CtcLink Internal Controls and Business Analyst
Vicki Sovold-Prendergast, Mount Pleasant School District Superintendent
Kudos to faculty
Congratulations to William Goforth, our newly
appointed adjunct instructor of Voice! He was one of three finalists chosen on
Sunday at the Oregon District Met auditions. On to Seattle for the Northwest
Regionals in January.
This
week I’m looking forward to attending the Penguin Pantry Open House, as well as
the Board of Trustees work session, where they will be hearing sabbatical
presentations from two faculty members (Jill Darley-Vanis and Erin Staples),
and interviewing four students for the Transforming Lives Award. I’m continuing
my Listening Tour with the Library Faculty and WPEA this week, and celebrating
our students and donors at the Foundation Scholarship Reception on Friday.
Keep
walking through this Walktober, Penguin Nation!
The Weekly News: Week 13
Reflections from this past week
I enjoyed meeting many of you this past week and learning more about the great things faculty are doing in your programs as I stopped in at the STEM, BEECH, and WPTE Unit Meetings and the Economics Department Brown Bag. Tuesday evening I welcomed Ridgefield community leaders and donors to the Foundation’s “Conversations: Boschma Farms” at Windy Hills Winery. Thanks to Kevin Witte, Sachi Horback, Armetta Burney and Lisa Gibert for sharing the exciting vision for Advanced Manufacturing in North Clark County. I also met with the Foundation staff at their regular monthly meeting and heard about the success of the Alumni Phone-athon and the Promising Pathways Campaign.
Kudos to Lora Jenkins of Workforce Education Services (WES) for coordinating a very successful Foster Care Partnership Event. In my opening remarks, I shared my excitement for the changes in our Passport to College program that expands eligibility to include more types of foster care. This summer, the state Legislature improved access for unaccompanied homeless youth. Since 2007, Clark has assisted 120 foster youth. Fifteen of them have graduated with degrees and/or certificates.
The former Clark College Community Advisory Committee has been expanded and convened this week as the Equity Advisory Council at Bridgeview Resource Center. Twenty-one leaders in the community have accepted my invitation to meet monthly to build and maintain community connection; inform about what Clark College is doing around diversity efforts; and 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 appreciate everyone who took time out of your busy schedule to meet with Dr. Preston Pulliums this past week to share your thoughts and ideas about the college and next president. You can follow the Presidential Search process on the Clark Presidential Search website.
Looking for your voice
We’ve sent out the 2019 Climate Survey this past week. I encourage everyone to participate. Here is the link: Clark College 2019 Climate Survey
This is so important to our work at Clark College. The Board of Trustees has identified improving the college climate and employee morale as one of its priorities. Your input is critical to the process. This year we have added incentive: Everyone who submits a survey has the option sign up to win one of three $50 gift certificates to Amazon. Please note that your responses on the Clark College Climate Survey will NOT be connected to your name if you wish to enter the drawing.
Shanda Haluapo is happy to answer any questions you may have about the survey or the process. Thank you for your help!
ctcLink – countdown 17 days!
I’m interested as to how your trainings are going for ctcLink. We all get to the take the employee self-service course to make sure we can submit our time and get paid. As a reminder, SBCTC Canvas sent all of us an email September 30. I clicked “get started” and it took me to the list of courses I need to complete prior to October 28, which is our GoLive date. If you have not received the email, please contact Jennifer Ward.
It’s vital that we know our part of using the new system so that we can turn our focus to the students to help them make the transition. Many of us have some contact with students and we can be that helpful resource for them.
What do students need to know? On October 31, they need to go to myclark.edu. Once they sign in, they will be given a new ctcLink ID. They need to write it down. It will needed to log in to access their information. Here’s the great news for students: The new and improved MyClark will offer a simple easy pathway for students to register for classes, apply for financial aid, request unofficial transcripts, and use the schedule planner at Clark College.
The October 31 date is important for students to sign in and get their newctcLink ID. If they have questions, you can give them the email ctcLink@clark.edu. We’ll also have teams set up at Gaiser to walk them through the changes.
Faculty are a tremendous resource in getting the message to students. We appreciate everyone using all our communications tools to help our students navigate the change.
Exciting Alumni News
The New York Times published a story Thursday about ways that states and institutions are expanding access to college. They highlighted one of our own: Vita Blanco, who graduated from Clark College this spring. Here’s the link to the story: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/10/education/learning/bulletin-board.html. I recently had the honor of joining Vita at the same table at the WSUV Scholarship Reception. She is attending classes now at WSU Vancouver and continuing to be engaged as a student leader.
Enrollment News
For fall 2019, almost half of our students (48%) are enrolled in at least one eLearning class – which includes online and hybrid classes. And eLearning classes have a 7 percentage point higher fill rate (91%) compared to face-to-face and web-enhanced classes (84%). Here’s a question to consider: “Do our students prefer to take eLearning courses or is a function of convenience in fitting their busy schedules?” It’s part of the conversation in the Guided Pathways framework, creating program pathways that schedule courses to meet student needs.
Meet the candidates
This week you have a chance to meet the Director of Athletics finalists on campus. The forums have been set. Resumes and links to provide feedback will be provided on ClarkNet before each forum. Feedback will be gathered for a 48-hour period for each finalist.
Anthony Stone
Tuesday, October 15, 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. in SHL 214
Laura LeMasters
Thursday, October 17, 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. in GHL 213
Our Great Clark College Staff
If you have three minutes, there is a great new video circulating out in the community that highlights one of our own: Jennifer Purinton in the Transitional Studies Department at Clark College. Clark County produced the video to encourage equitable hiring practices under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Jennifer is a great spokesperson for inclusion at Clark – both for what we are doing well and what we can do to improve our practices. Thank you, Jennifer!
Honors for our Alumni Program
Clark College Foundation’s Alumni relations program was acknowledged last week as one of the seven best in the country for the last five years. This is a new nationwide initiative by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). The metrics consider fundraising, boards, alumni awards programs; quality and types of communications like the foundation’s magazine, electronic newsletter, podcasts; affinity programs like the athletics hall of fame and graduation, as well as student-alumni interactions such as career services involvement and mentoring. The foundation hit it out of the park for alumni fundraising—16%—that’s the average annual amount raised over the past five years. Compare that to the national average of about 4%. Congratulations!
Next Week
We have several events next week that I want to make sure you know about. You are all invited.
Ten year celebration at Columbia Tech
You’re invited to join us for a Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting at our Columbia Tech Campus today 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. The Chamber is helping us celebrate our 10-year anniversary at Columbia Tech Center. The ribbon cutting will be outside (weather permitting) at 3:30 p.m. We’ll have light refreshments and we hope to see you there!
Ready for an emergency?
In the event of a major emergency, it is very possible that we will be our own first responders. On Thursday, October 17, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. in PUB 258C, the Emergency Management Planning Committee will hold an Emergency Preparedness Training.
Certified emergency workers will provide this training. We’ll learn the top five priorities for our families in case of an emergency, we’ll have a chance to make our own emergency kits. Thank you, Jeff Kaliner, for bringing this training to Clark College.
And, Clark College is hosting the Indigenous Peoples’ Day Celebration today on the main campus, starting at 1:00 p.m. in Gaiser Student Center – with a panel discussing Missing and Murdered Indigenous People.
I’m also looking forward to seeing the Archer Gallery’s new exhibit of the Art Faculty Biennial Exhibition this week and celebrating October birthdays with you on Tuesday, 2:30 – 3:30 p.m. in the President’s Conference Room. I will be traveling to San Francisco to attend the American Community College Trustees Leadership Convention Congress with Trustee Rupley and Chair Jacobsen on Wednesday. We plan to promote the search for the next president and learn more about national issues facing community colleges.
Keep walking, Penguin Nation! I got in 54,301 steps so far in October. Happy Walktober!
Presidential search open houses
Clark College reached out for community and college input on the selection of the next college President this past week. The search firm, Gold Hill Associates, held an open house as one source of input on what the job profile should include. The profile will be used as the job description during the recruitment process, which begins formally later this month.
There is no formal presentation. “We want this to be a conversation around the priorities of the community and the college,” said Clark College Trustee Paul Speer. “Specifically, we have three questions. (1) What do people see as the biggest opportunities for Clark College over the next decade? (2) What do people see as the biggest challenges for Clark over the next decade? (3) What do people think are the most important qualifications for our new president?”
Clark College will soon announce the formation of it’s Presidential Search Advisory Committee comprised of college students, staff, faculty and community leaders who, with an equity lens, will assist in the search process. They attended equity training sessions Friday, October 11th as their first order of business. They will help formalize the job description to be released later this month.
The Board of Trustees are responsible for the hiring of the next college president. They anticipate a final decision by February 2020. For more information about the process please go to www.clark.edu/presidential-search.
All
interested candidates should contact Gold Hill Associates for questions
regarding the application process or inquiries.
Thank you all who participated in Opening Day for the new academic year! I was honored to be a part of the Clark tradition. I think ASCC President Evans Kaame helped set such a positive uplifting tone, reminding us of our shared vision – supporting our students. Thank you to Chair Jacobsen and Trustee Speer for their welcome message and updates. Thank you to the Executive Cabinet (William Belden, Vice President of Student Affairs; Stefani Coverson, Vice President of Human Resources and Compliance; Shanda Haluapo, Associate Vice President of Planning and Effectiveness; Lisa Gibert, Clark College Foundation CEO; Dr. Sachi Horback, Vice President of Instruction; Kelly Love, Chief Communications Officer; Valerie Moreno, Chief Information Officer; Rashida Willard, Interim Associate Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; Bob Williamson, Vice President of Administrative Services; and Kevin Witte, Vice President of Economic & Community Development). And, thank you to the Guided Pathways Team for an engaging Opening Day presentation, which included the following themes:
Our 3 year completion rate has increased, but opportunity gap has not changed, specifically for our students of color. As we begin to implement the framework and support systems of Guided Pathways we will eliminate our existing racial equity gap.
Our community is becoming more diverse. This means, we need to be intentional about creating a welcoming and supportive environment, meaningful connections with our communities of color, and strong partnerships with education and business entities so we can fully meet the needs of our community.
There has been significant progress strengthening our high school partnerships and we have improved our efforts in recruitment and application.
Lastly, as we move forward we encourage you to continue asking yourself, “Is the work I’m doing following the Equity Minded Framework?”
New Awards announced
I want to thank Rashida Willard and Debi Jenkins who created a special moment in honor of Lora Whitfield. Lora, a highly respected and beloved Early Childhood Education Professor at Clark College passed away in early July. To remember her work and her many acts of love, we decided to introduce a new employee award, the Lora Whitfield Social Equity Award. This award will honor Lora’s legacy and take an important step to recognize Clark College employees based on their exceptional work in removing systemic barriers for our students and employees. Some of you have asked about the poem Debi wrote and recited in Lora’s honor. I’m happy to tell you that it is available to you on Clark 24/7. Thank you, Debi, for finding the words to help mirror all our feelings of love and gratitude for Lora.
I announced a second new award, The Clark College Exceptional Administrative-Exempt Award. As with our Classified and Faculty awards, we want to honor employees who contribute in significant ways to building a positive and inclusive environment, and who exhibit traits of excellence in their role at Clark.
Both of these awards include a $1,000 award and a glass plaque, thanks to Clark College Foundation. We’ll have more details in the next few weeks on the submission process for both awards moving forward.
Honoring our own
One of my favorite moments at Opening Day is seeing the employee awards and acknowledgements. Our annual Exceptional Classified Staff Awards were presented. Congratulations to Amanda Brown in Libraries and Ian Beckett in Art for your exemplary and steadfast work in supporting the college and our students.
Our Exceptional Faculty Awards were first announced in June but presented at Opening Day. Congratulations and thank you to:
Dr. Karl Bailey, Chemistry
Nadine Fattaleh, Chemistry
Deena Godwin, Communication Studies
Zachary Grant, Libraries
Malcolm McCay, Economics
Erin Staples, Health & Physical Education
I’d like to also congratulate everyone who received service awards. I’ll highlight our 25- and 30-year employees.
25 years of service:
Karen Hagen, Clark Foundation
Kristine Barker, Faculty
Kayoko Barnhill, Faculty
Aaron Bingham, Faculty
Don Gonser, Faculty
Bob Hughes, Faculty
Travis Kibota, Faculty
Gail Robinson, Faculty
Kimberly Bower, Student Affairs
30 years of service: Lisa Hasart, Administrative Services
Lynn Boydston, Instruction
Vicki Weese, Instruction
Michael Arnold, Faculty
Welcome Week – do you have your t-shirt?
We gave away t-shirts at Opening Day (I have mine). We still have shirts available to you at Gaiser Hall Room 204. The idea is that we want to welcome our students with a shared message during Welcome Week, “You belong here.” This is a college wide effort to create that sense of belonging and inclusion for all our students. I think the visual also can remind ourselves that we have ability and support to do collegiate work with a student centered approach. I’m so proud of the work you’re all doing.
What’s on your mind?
Several weeks ago I sent out a brief, anonymous survey to all of you in order for me to gather essential information about the college. It’s been a great resource for me to hear more about your concerns and your suggestions for me as your interim president at Clark. Because it was summer quarter, I want to re-open the link to give employees who were off-contract during the summer an opportunity to respond. Here is the link if you haven’t responded yet: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TellMeAboutClark. The survey will be open until September 22.
Ways to work on Goal #4
It’s one of our top ten goals in 2019-2020: “Institutionalize hiring and retention practices that are equitable and inclusive.” To support this effort, I wanted to pass along along a new upcoming training opportunity to help us reach our goals. Human Resources has partnered with the Office of Instruction and the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to offer a four-part webinar series, “Hiring a Diverse Faculty.” The series is hosted by USC Rossier School of Education, Race and Equity Center. Though the title indicates faculty, the concepts apply to all recruitment types. Anyone who has been involved with hiring efforts in the past or in the future is encouraged to attend.
All webinars/gatherings will be held in Gaiser Hall (GHL) room 213 from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at the college’s main campus. We have reserved rooms on the following dates to gather as a group to watch together. Please click on the links below to sign up for sessions.
I met with the Executive Cabinet this week for a daylong strategic planning session. At the heart of our work is the list of ten priorities for Clark College in 2019-2020 as approved by the Board of Trustees. Over the next several weeks, I’ll provide you with more detail as to how we’re going to achieve the goals we’ve set. For today, I’d like to list them out for you:
Increase student engagement and outcomes by implementing Guided Pathways resulting in increased student completion and equity.
Improve the college climate and employee morale, including shared governance.
Develop and implement comprehensive professional development to improve employee intercultural and multicultural competencies.
Institutionalize hiring and retention practices that are equitable and inclusive.
Implement ctcLink technologies.
Respond to the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities’ accreditation recommendations.
Create a long-term budget forecasting, planning, and resource-allocation process.
Foster external partnerships with stakeholders to achieve our goals.
Finalize and implement a holistic plan for campus expansion at Boschma Farms
Hire and onboard the new president.
Most of these will not be a surprise to you. In many cases, these are things we’re already working on. I am very conscious of the fatigue many of you are feeling as you have been engaged in this work over the past year. I want to support you in whatever way I can this year and work together to meet these goals.
Birthday Celebrations
I hosted our first open house to celebrate and recognize faculty and staff birthdays for the months of August and September. Thank you to those who joined me for cupcakes, coffee, and conversation. If you were born in August or September and you missed it, please come to our next open house birthday celebration. Here are the dates for the year:
Tuesday, October 15, 2:30-3:30 p.m.
Tuesday, November 12, 2:30-3:30 p.m.
Thursday, December 5, 2:30-3:30 p.m.
Wednesday, January 15, 2:30-3:30 p.m.
Thursday, February 6, 2:30-3:30 p.m.
Wednesday, March 11, 2:30-3:30 p.m.
Thursday, April 9, 2:30-3:30 p.m.
Thursday, May 7, 2:30-3:30 p.m.
Tuesday, June 9, 2:30-3:30 p.m. (June and July birthdays)
I look forward to seeing and celebrating you on one of these dates!
Welcome Week!
I hope you were able to enjoy the Welcome BBQ Friday on campus. It was fun to meet our student athletes, and I’m grateful to the Foundation for providing lunch to all alumni, students, faculty, staff and friends. I was sorry to miss it. I was at the Foundation Board Retreat and we also enjoyed a little BBQ.
Also, help us commemorate 2019 Welcome Week by wearing your “Welcome Week” T-shirt for a massive group photo Friday, September 27 at noon at Gaiser Student Center. I love the start of the academic year and the return of our students. Each student is a powerful reminder of why we do what we do.
