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.

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

Clark College Theatre starts its 2019-2020 season with A Bright New Boise by Samuel D. Hunter.

Winner of the 2011 Obie Award for Playwrighting
and nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play, A Bright New Boise is a darkly funny examination of American
religion set in the staff room of an Idaho Hobby Lobby. Will, who has fled his
rural hometown after a scandal at his Evangelical church, comes to the Hobby
Lobby, not only for employment, but also to rekindle a relationship with Alex,
his brooding teenage son. Alex works there along with Leroy, his adopted
brother and protector, and Anna, a hapless young woman who reads bland fiction
but hopes for dramatic endings. As their manager, foul-mouthed Pauline, tries
ceaselessly to find order (and profit) in the chaos of small business, these
lost souls of the Hobby Lobby confront an unyielding world through the
beige-tinted impossibility of modern faith.

This
production’s cast includes: E
Andres Houseman as Will, Linda Owsley as Pauline, Corinne Stephens as Anna,
Keegan Harrison as Leroy, and Brenden Kinnee as Alex. The show is directed by
Mark Owsley.

This show contains adult themes,
language, and content.

Show Dates: November 15, 16, 21, 22, and 23. All show times are at 7:30 p.m. in the Decker Theatre, Frost Arts Center, on Clark College’s main campus. Maps and directions are available at www.clark.edu/maps.

Ticket Information: Students (with ID)
$10; Alumni (with membership) $10; Senior Citizens $12; General Admission $15.
Tickets may be purchased online at http://www.clarkbookstore.com/site_theatre.asp, or call 360-992-2815.

If you need accommodation
due to a disability in order to fully participate in this event, contact Clark
College’s Disability Support Services Office at 360-992-2314 or 360-991-0901
(VP), or visit Penguin Union Building room 013, as soon as possible.

The Clark College Columbia Writers Series kicks off its 2019-2020 season with “The Female Gaze” with 2019 National Book Awards Fiction Longlisters 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 Penguin Union Building (PUB) room 161 on Clark College’s main campus.

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.

“The Female Gaze” is presented
by the National Book Foundation and Clark
College in a new partnership.

Kali Fajardo-Anstine is
from Denver, Colorado. Her fiction has appeared in The American
Scholar, Boston Review, Bellevue Literary Review, The Idaho Review,
Southwestern American Literature, and elsewhere. Kali has received
fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, and Hedgebrook. She received her
MFA from the University of Wyoming and has lived across the country, from
Durango, Colorado, to Key West, Florida.

Born in Lubbock,
Texas, Kimberly King Parsons received her MFA from
Columbia University. Her fiction has been published in The Paris
Review, Best Small Fictions 2017, Black Warrior Review, No
Tokens, Ninth Letter, and The Kenyon Review, among others.

The Columbia Writers Series was launched at Clark College in 1988, bringing local, national and international authors to the college and the region. After “The Female Gaze,” this year’s lineup will continue with the writer Terese Mailhot on Monday, January 27; the poet Ilya Kaminsky will read during spring term.

Information
about the Columbia Writers Series is available at www.clark.edu/cc/cws.

This
event is held on Clark College’s main campus at 1933 Ft. Vancouver Way. Directions
and maps are available online. Individuals
who need accommodation due to a disability in order to fully participate in
this event should contact Clark College’s Disability Support Services (DSS)
Office at 360-992-2314 or 360-991-0901 (VP). The DSS office is located in room
013 in Clark’s Penguin Union Building.

The Clark College women’s soccer team concluded their 2019 regular season on Saturday, October 26. With the 3-1 win over Clackamas, the Penguins went undefeated in Southern Region play.

This continues a near-historic winning streak for Penguin women’s soccer: They have now gone 64 league games without a loss, dating back to October 17, 2014. With this win, the team has claimed their fourth NWAC Southern Region title in a row and have earned a bye for the first round of the conference tournament.

The Penguins are set to host the NWAC quarterfinal round at Kim Christensen Field on Clark College’s main campus at noon on Saturday, November 9. They will be host to the winner of the Tacoma Community College vs. Columbia Basin Community College game, to be held on Wednesday, November 6 at 1:00 p.m.

Photo: Clark College/Jenny Shadley

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.

• Heather Adams, Clark College staff    
• Christhian Canseco, Account Manager ESCO Corporation
• Justin Flint, ASCC student leader
• Tanisha Harris, CASA Program Specialist YWCA Clark County
• Jane Jacobsen, Clark College Board of Trustees Chair
• Evans Kaame, ASCC student President
• Catharine Keane, Clark College staff
• Tanya Kerr, Clark College staff
• Eric Merrill, Clark College Foundation Board Chair
• Dannie Nordsiden, Automotive Technology Instructor
• Danielle Plesser, Clark College staff
• Donivee Randall-Jones, Professor of Nursing
• 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.

For more information about community
involvement, please go to www.clark.edu/presidential-search or
email presidentialsearch@clark.edu.

All interested candidates should
contact Gold Hill Associates for questions regarding the application process or
inquiries.

Preston Pulliams, President and Owner, Gold Hill Associates
1065 Stigger Road
Jackson, Mississippi 39209
Email: preston@goldhillassociates.com
Web: http://collegepresidentsearch.com

Photo: Clark College/Jenny Shadley

On Friday, Nov. 1, Clark College welcomes
the community as it hosts “Educating for the Seventh Generation,” a celebration
of Indigenous cultures.

The event will begin at 5:00 p.m. with free food and
refreshments. At 5:15 p.m., dancers from the Ke Kukui Foundation will perform. At
5:45 p.m., there will be a welcoming address and the presentation of the
Dreamcatcher Scholarship, which supports a Clark College student of Indigenous
ancestry. Grand Entry for a powwow will begin at 6:00 p.m., followed by an
Aztec performance at 6:15 p.m. The colors will retire at 10:00 p.m. Informational
tables and vendors selling Native arts and crafts will also be at the event.

The event, which
is free and open to the public, will be held in the Gaiser Student Center on
Clark College’s main campus. Clark College is located at 1933 Fort Vancouver
Way, Vancouver. Driving directions and parking maps are available at www.clark.edu/maps. Anyone
needing accommodation due to a disability in order to fully participate in this
event should contact Clark College’s Disability Support Services Office at
(360) 992-2314 or (360) 991-0901 (VP), prior to the event.

This
is the 10th year
that Clark College has coordinated and hosted an event in honor of Native
American Heritage Month. It is one of four signature events hosted by the
college annually to celebrate diverse cultures. According to organizers, “Educating
for the Seventh Generation” references “our responsibility to teach the future
Seventh Generation to maintain our resources, traditions and customs. It is the
way of caring and preserving for the Seventh Generation, which is a true
sustainable practice.”

Information about this event is online at www.clark.edu/cc/native-american. Information about Native American Heritage Month is available at http://nativeamericanheritagemonth.gov/about/index.html. Images from the 2018 celebration are available via Clark’s Flickr album at https://www.flickr.com/photos/clark_college/albums/72157699995239382.

The ribbon is cut on the next 10 years of Clark College at CTC.

Clark College Interim President Sandra Fowler-Hill and ASCC President Evans Kaame celebrate the 10th anniversary of Clark College at Columbia Tech Center with a traditional Vancouver Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cutting.

Business and community leaders joined Clark College on Monday, October 14 for a Vancouver Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting to celebrate a milestone. Clark College first opened Columbia Tech Center in east Clark County in fall 2009.

Responding to feedback from employers and residents in East Vancouver, the college refreshed its offerings at Columbia Tech Center to be a hub for business and technical education.

“Columbia Tech Center is today a bustling campus on the east side with a wide range of programs available to our students. We are grateful for the community’s support over the years and renew our commitment to serving the community in a way that best meets their needs.”

Clark College Interim President Sandra Fowler-Hill

The
college has worked to create a series of course offerings this fall that will
allow students to pursue career-oriented higher education in subjects that
include business, information technology, computer support, and project management—all
without having to travel to the college’s main campus near downtown Vancouver.
Most classes are scheduled to run just two days a week (Tuesday and Thursday),
allowing students to plan their studies around work and/or life obligations.

We are committed to offering business classes at Columbia Tech to provide our students viable pathways forward to earning the new skills that they need to be successful–whether that be a single course, a certificate or a degree.”

Professor Adnan Hamideh, Division Chair, Clark College Business Administration Department

Hamideh is also preparing to create a business degree path for office administration, he said. The school already offers accounting, marketing, management and business administration. About 7,000 full-time students take business classes at Clark College he said.

Additionally, Clark College Economic and Community Development, which provides non-credit continuing education and customized training, has relocated to the Columbia Tech Center location.

Last month, ECD moved its business classes from a leased space in downtown Vancouver to the Columbia Tech Center, said Kevin Witte, vice president of the program. The move was in part a way to help the college save money, but it also moved students closer to some of the city’s larger employers, including WaferTech.

Witte said participating employers include Boeing Co, and they request specific skills for students to learn, which the college incorporates into its training.

Business and community leaders toured the college’s nationally recognized Mechatronics lab. The engineering program focuses on both electrical and mechanical systems. It is a foundational training program for advanced manufacturing. Graduates earn an average of $88,000 as mechatronics engineers and 100 percent of Clark’s graduates are finding jobs in their chosen field.

The college has also expanded the range of class offerings serving Running Start students, a popular state program that allows high school students to earn college credit, tuition-free, while still in high school. The expanded offerings provide more opportunities for families with children attending high schools in the eastern portion of the college’s service district, which covers Camas, Washougal, and parts of the Columbia Gorge.

ASCC President Evans Kaame spoke to the business leaders and elected officials thanking them for their support of Clark College students over the years.

“Because you care, students at Clark have opportunities to succeed. Our students are better prepared to go out and do great things.”

ASCC President Evans Kaame

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.

Preston Pulliams, President and Owner, Gold Hill Associates
1065 Stigger Road
Jackson, Mississippi 39209
Email: preston@goldhillassociates.com
Web: http://collegepresidentsearch.com

For questions regarding community
involvement and the process itself, please email presidentialsearch@clark.edu

Left to right: Hanan Al-Zubaidy, Kayla Escott, and Chippi Bello

Congratulations to Hanan Al-Zubaidy, Chippi Bello, and Kayla Escott, Clark College’s three representatives at the Social Justice Leadership Institute this year. They have demonstrated a commitment  to making our college a more inclusive and social justice-minded place.

This is a yearlong program to foster leadership identity among historically underrepresented groups. It allows leaders to develop a network of colleagues system wide. It also helps develop a pipeline of employees able to move into higher leadership positions.

Clark’s representatives attended at three-day retreat in August to kick off the program. They’ll attend five workshops during the academic year and will graduate from the program in June. As part of the curriculum, they’ll attend the Faculty and Staff of Color Conference (FSOCC) to be held in Spokane next month.

Clark College Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion supports this program. It helps to develop and implement comprehensive professional development to improve employee intercultural and multicultural competencies as part of the college’s strategic goals.

Images provided by Chippi Bello.