I wish to commend everyone who contributed to planning and carrying out the Grand Opening events which celebrated the eagerly-awaited Science Lab Building and Digital Arts and Sculpture Building Complex. Such efforts do “take a village.” It was inspiring to learn of the many hands, including volunteer students, that worked tirelessly to help move into the new facilities in time for the beginning of this semester. I hope you enjoy the stories and photos in this issue of Campus Scene which capture the excitement and euphoria of transition into great new spaces for teaching and learning.

Spring enrollment headcount is up a healthy 5.2 percent over last year! (See story on page 6.) Thanks to concerted efforts by our deans, department chairs, Enrollment Strategies Committee and Marketing-Recruitment Committee outreach team, we took advantage of a number of opportunities to recruit almost 5,000 brand new students to Grossmont College. Overall, applications were up by more than 11 percent! Assisted by a hefty budget augmentation, our advertising campaign “‘Someday’ is NOW!” really took off, with radio, print and targeted direct mail components.

We’re off to an energetic beginning for the 2007-2008 Educational Master Plan process, which will be completed and documented by the Plan’s posting on campus internet before the beginning of the next fiscal year. Thanks to John al-Amin for expediting our planning timeline during this important timeframe leading up to our accreditation site visit during the week of October 22.

Speaking of which, kudos are also due to the more than 100 faculty, support staff and administrators who have labored tirelessly in the development of our accreditation self-study. We now have a full draft of each accreditation standard narrative – description, self-evaluation and planning agendas – to which the campus as a whole has provided input during two discussion forums, the last of which was held on Friday, February 23. The Self-Study Steering Committee, under the leadership of our troika – ESL instructor Chuck Passentino, Associate Dean Dr. Pam Amor, and Accreditation Consultant Dr. Bonnie Price, will now bring the draft to its final stage for review and approval by our employee constituent groups and our District’s Governing Board.