Governing Board Meeting Highlights

At the January 19, meeting, the Governing Board:

  • Trustees offered new year’s greetings and congratulated President Sunny Cooke on the Spring 2010 Convocation, held earlier in the day. They noted Dr. Cooke’s inspiring words, as well as energy, optimism and well-run program.
  • In addition, Trustees congratulated Dr. Chris Hill, who attended the meeting, on her President’s Leadership Award. Also recognized at the Board meeting was Dr. Oralee Holder who received the President’s Leadership award as well. Dr. Stuart Savin, Cuyamaca College’s new president who will begin in April, attended the meeting.
  • Trustees mentioned GC events they had recently attended, including Mary Kay Rosinki and the Corrections Academy graduation and Deanna Weeks and the School of Nursing pinning ceremony. Trustee Bill Garrett noted Vice President Tim Flood’s comment about preparing for dealing with on-campus construction, which will begin in June: “We’ve done it before, we can do it again.”
  • The Board heard reports on the Grossmont College Foundation 2008-2009 Fiscal Year, GCCCD Auxiliary and Prop. R Performance Audit and Performance Review. Steve Devan, GC Foundation Board President, gave an update on Bernard Osher Perpetual Scholarships and three new Foundation board members, including Pat Sprecco, Ron Oberndorfer and Robert Lazarus.
  • In another report, Joel Javines, Director of Campus Police, reported on the regional power outage that closed the campus at 3 p.m. earlier in the day.
  • Dr. Cooke reported on the power outage (a message was posted on the college website and on the main phone line). She also said of the 1,772 sections offered for Spring 2010, approximately 1,300 are filled. She also noted the availability of H1N1 vaccines and mentioned upcoming events, including the new Hyde Art Gallery exhibit and “Inside the Actor’s Process: Improvisation.”
  • Chancellor Miles reported on the District Services Survey results, an update on the hiring process for open positions and future budget prospects. She said the GC Convocation was “remarkable. Kudos to everyone.” She also expressed condolences on the passing of the wife of Sid Wells, District Warehouse Supervisor.
  • The agenda was approved on consent, and there were no announcements from closed session.

Other Governing Board highlights will appear in the Courier which is distributed electronically from the District Office. Hard copies are available in the Mail Room.

Enrollment Strategies

Below are enrollment comparisions as of January 15, 2010 for Spring 2010 as compared to Spring 2009:

  Spring 2010 Spring 2009 Count Variance %Variance
Headcount 17,948.0 17,016.0 +932.0 +5.2%
Units 163,363.0 155,045.5 +8,317.5 +5.1%

Open registration for Spring 2010 began on Dec. 9. Of the 1,772 sections offered for Spring 2010, approximately 1,100 were closed as of the week of Jan. 11. Drop-for-nonpayment occurred on Jan. 15.

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Spring 2010 Convocation

We held a very successful Spring 2010 Convocation this morning. The program included President’s Remarks, facilities update and a keynote address delivered by Dr. Janine Graziano-King and Dr. Rachel Singer. The title of their informative address was “Working with Educationally Underprepared Students: A Holistic Approach.” Both of them are from Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn, N.Y., and have worked on the Washington Center’s National Project on Assessing Learning in Learning Communities.

Also at Convocation we announced the 2009-2010 President’s Leadership Award recipients. In addition to recognizing leadership in service to students, faculty and staff, the criteria for the President’s Leadership Award include a positive personal characteristics, extraordinary professional skills and behavior, effective communicator, uses highly effective interpersonal skills and leads by example. This year, we had two recipients for this award – Dr. Chris Hill, GC Academic Senate President, and Dr. Oralee Holder, English Instructor and Chair of the English Department. Congratulations to them both!

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Resolution Kickoff

We began the New Year with a Resolution Kickoff program referred to as our GC Faculty/Staff Fitness Club. Our Fitness Center and Weight Room was open for all GC faculty and staff from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays, Jan. 4 to 15. Admission was free. Participants brought their own small workout towel and their staff ID. Exercise Science Instructor Cheryl Kerns-Campbell wanted to test the institutional-wide interest in work-day fitness opportunities here on campus. Her goal was to develop a consistent set of weekly work-out times to promote wellness and well-being among our faculty/staff and administrators. This pilot program was very successful. According to AD Jim Spillers, 128 faculty and staff participated over the eight days. We are considering repeating this opportunity at other times of the year.

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H1N1 Vaccines Available

We will begin the Spring 2010 semester next week by offering free H1N1 (swine flu) and seasonal flu vaccinations to all students, faculty and staff in the Student Health Services Office (while supplies last). Previously, the vaccine was limited on campus to priority groups, including pregnant women, young adults and adults with chronic medical conditions. Thanks to our Health Services staff and nursing student volunteers, we provided 900 H1N1 flu vaccine doses from December 9-18. Now, the entire college community has the opportunity to take advantage of this free vaccine in our Health Services office Monday-Friday.

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Student Success!

  • Grossmont College's 14th Corrections Academy (CA) completion ceremony was held on Dec. 18 in the Student Center, with 65 CA cadets graduating and nearly 300 guests in attendance. Master of Ceremonies was CA Lead Instructor Larry Ingraham. Governing Board President Bill Garrett, Trustees Deanna Weeks and Mary Kay Rosinski and Student Trustee Christopher Enders attended, along with Chancellor Miles and Vice Presidents John Colson and Tim Flood.
  • Grossmont College’s School of Nursing held a pinning ceremony on Dec. 16 for 37 new graduates. Established in 1967, the School of Nursing has graduated more than 5,000 nurses during its four-decade history. The nursing program is fully accredited by the California Board of Registered Nursing (BRN) and the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission.
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Sports Report

  • After winning the 22nd annual Grossmont College Holiday Basketball Tournament held on campus Dec. 28-30, the Lady Griffs Women’s Basketball team had a recent record of 13-4 and 1-1 in conference. They hosted home games against Palomar and Cuyamaca last week.
  • The Men’s Basketball team recently completed a tough non-conference campaign, losing eight games by three points or less. They are looking to improve their record in conference games. Their recent record was 2-11 overall and 2-3 in conference.
  • Official practices began last Friday, Jan. 15, for several Spring sports, including baseball, softball, men’s volleyball, men’s and women’s tennis, badminton, and men’s and women’s swim and dive.
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Upcoming Events

  • The Hyde Art Gallery will present “Connectivity,” an exhibit of 17 pieces by sculptor Miya Hannan, from Jan. 25 through Feb. 25. The opening event reception will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 5.
  • “Inside the Actor’s Process: Improvisation,” presented by the Theatre Arts Dept., will be presented at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 5 and 6, and 2 p.m. on Feb. 6. Inside the Actor’s Process is the college’s annual Spring Tour Show. Improvisation is a tool for acting. Through the presentations of scenes and monologues, characters will be developed by the tour actors using improvisational skills (timing, teamwork and listening).
  • The Spring 2010 Scholarship Awards Breakfast will be held on Saturday, Feb. 6, in the Student Center. Breakfast begins at 9:30 a.m., with the program beginning at 10 a.m.
  • The San Diego Blood Bank will hold a blood drive on Tuesday and Wednesday, Feb. 16 and 17, from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Main Quad.
  • The Career Center will present “Occupational Outlook for 2010, Slow Recovery,” a workshop featuring information on the labor market, from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 17 at the Career Center. Information also will be available on the fastest growing sectors of the economy.
  • The Adult Reentry Program will host “Driving for Academic Success,” a free informational meeting for adults interested in retraining for new jobs and careers, from 10 a.m. to noon on Tuesday, Feb. 23, at the Career Center. Speaking at this event will be GC Counselor Dr. T. Ford.
  • The Concert Band will perform at 7:30 a.m. on March 1 with the Grossmont High School band at Cuyamaca College.
  • The Theatre Arts Dept. will present “I Love You Because” at 7:30 p.m. on March 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20 and at 2 p.m. on March 13 and 20. The modern-day, musical love story is set in New York City and features a young, uptight greeting card writer and a flighty photographer. Along with their eccentric friends and siblings, they learn to love each other, not in spite of their faults, but because of them.