Governing Board Meeting Highlights

At the December 10, meeting, the Governing Board:

  • Swearing in of Governing Board Members Bill Garrett and Mary Kay Rosinski.
  • Elected as 2009 Board Officers: Bill Garrett as President, Deanna Weeks as Vice President, Greg Barr as Clerk.
  • Heard Student Trustee Dan Lewis announce that the ASGC board room will be made available to students for studying for finals and also commended the Breaking Boundaries Dance Performance.
  • Heard Chancellor Omero Suarez announce that Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District is ready to become a smoke free/tobacco-free campus on Jan. 1, 2009.
  • Discussed the impact of the travel freeze to board members for possible trips planned in 2009 to Sacramento and Washington, D.C. versus the potential positive impact the trips may have on funding for community colleges.
  • Accepted a donation by Biosound Esaote, Inc. of a MyLab30Gold cardiovascular ultrasound system, valued at $65,000 and nine donations of original art to the Hyde Gallery.

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.

Convocation on January 20, 2009 - NEW TIME

Spring 2009 Convocation on Tuesday, January 20 will begin at 10:00 a.m. instead of 8:00 a.m. as originally scheduled. Also on January 20, we will conduct an important Visioning session in the afternoon as part of our year-long strategic planning activities. We are delaying the start of Convocation due to the U.S. Presidential Inauguration scheduled for 9:00 a.m. that same day. As a courtesy to our college community, based on an anticipated high level of interest in this historic inauguration, we will begin our Spring 2009 Convocation with brunch at 10:00 a.m. The program, including welcome, introduction of Governing Board members and State of the College address, will begin at 11:00 a.m. The co-chairs of the Spring 2009 Convocation Committee are Judd Curran and Edda Temoche-Weldele and they have done a great job of putting together a week full of activities around the theme “Innovation.”

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Parking Update

Construction is continuing on-schedule for our new three-story parking structure, which is scheduled for completion in summer 2009. As we prepare to wrap up this fall semester, I am proud to report that we achieved an excellent level of cooperation and assistance from faculty, staff and administrators for our Students First campaign. Everyone’s efforts were truly amazing as we were able to accommodate the second largest fall enrollment in Grossmont’s history with 800 less parking spaces. We are halfway there, with only the spring semester separating us from completing the parking structure and being able to maximize parking needs on campus. Here are some important dates that we are keeping in mind:

  • Dec. 15, 2008, all faculty and staff can park on soccer field.
  • Dec. 18, 2008, last day of shuttle service for fall semester.
  • Dec. 19, 2008, all faculty and staff can resume parking on campus. Shuttle service discontinued until start of spring semester.
  • Jan. 23, 2009, last day to park on campus without special permits.
  • Jan. 26, 2009, shuttle service will resume, and faculty and staff will continue to park off campus.
  • May 29, 2009, last day of shuttle service and off-campus parking.
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Accreditation Draft Results

The site visitors deployed by ACCJC shared their draft report with us. Their observations and findings included very positive comments about the spirit of professionalism, collegiality and future focus of the college. They noted that the college had moved quickly yet carefully to respond to three of the four recommendations. The standards for student learning outcomes, planning and college, district, and board members enhancing productive dialogue and working relationships in service to students had been achieved. The visitors did not see adequate progress on the recommendation for diversity hiring. This districtwide effort will need to move quickly ahead within the next few months through our collegial consultation process. The full report has been made available to each board member as well as the accreditation steering committee. We will receive a formal report from ACCJC in late January 2009.

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On-Campus Visits

We hosted several on-campus visits this week. A team of approximately 15-17 legislative staffers from Sacramento were on campus on December 10th to tour the campus and meet campus leaders. In addition, we hosted public forums in the Student Center for the two chancellor candidates: Dr. Cindy Miles and Dr. Mark Zacovic.

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Child Development Student Association Holiday Drive

Every year, the Grossmont College Child Development Student Association spearheads the “SHARING for the HOLIDAYS” drive. Thanks to the generous support of our faculty and staff we are expecting to help about 10 to 12 families this holiday season. Checks can be made payable to “Sharing for the Holidays Trust Fund.” A special thank you note will be sent to you with the Internal Revenue exemption code to be used for income tax records.

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Supporting Education and Economic Development Committee Visits Healthcare Simulation Lab

Supporting Education and Economic Development Committee Visits Healthcare Simulation Lab

Members of Support Education and Economic Development (SEED) committee visited the healthcare simulation lab on campus and were treated to some hands-on patient care activities in healthcare by nursing professor Joy Zozuk, Associate Dean Debbie Yaddow, and technician Pat Murray.

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Recent Campus Events

  • Earlier today, the Adult Reentry Program hosted “Get Your Life on Track,” a free informational meeting for adults interested in retraining for new jobs and careers. Speakers included former students who successfully returned to the classroom, along with information on admission procedures, transfer programs and financial aid.
  • Last Friday evening, our Cooperative Agencies Resources for Education (CARE) program, which serves several hundred Grossmont College students who are single parents receiving public assistance, hosted a holiday party for about 100 children and their parents.
  • The Smoking Cessation Committee reports that 174 people attended the recent Great American Smokeout event, with 32 people committing to quit for one day and four people actually handed over their cigarettes to be thrown out. Everyone was provided with information about the smoking cessation program available from Student Health Services, and two new smoke-free campus banners were unveiled. On Jan. 1, 2009, by policy of the Governing Board, Grossmont College will be a smoke-free, tobacco-free facility.
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Upcoming Event

  • A year-end celebration will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 17, in the Administrative Quad and College Conference room. There will be a chili cook-off with prizes awarded to the top three winners.
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Recent Honors and Recognition

  • The San Diego Business Journal newspaper has ranked Grossmont as #7 out of 25 local colleges and universities in size of fall enrollment. Among the top 10, Grossmont’s total of 18,206 ranks behind SDSU (36,559), Palomar College (32,283), UCSD (27,688), SD Mesa (21,649), National (20,319) and Southwestern (20,003).
  • Carl Fielden, Jr., Learning Disabilities Specialist Coordinator, Assistive Technology Center, recently gave a presentation at the 20th annual International Conference on Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, held in Anaheim. Carl spoke on “Healthy Helicopter Parenting: Preparing a College-Ready Independent (Rather than Dependent) Young Adult.”
  • Kaiser Permanente has announced that six Grossmont nursing students will share $14,500 in scholarship money. Kaiser also gave scholarship money to nursing students from Point Loma Nazarene University, San Diego City College and Imperial Valley College. Scholarships were primarily based on financial need to assist individuals who are pursuing nursing degrees, Kaiser said.
  • The Grossmont Healthcare District (GHD) board of directors has honored five Grossmont nursing students with Richard Bea RN Memorial Nursing Scholarship awards. Richard Bea was a former Grossmont Hospital nurse and GHD board member. The students include Cyndee Mikelle Seile, Jennifer Monroe, Giovanna Gonzalez, Anjani Shandil and Charlene Velis.
  • The Grossmont/Cuyamaca Speech and Debate Team participated in two recent tournaments. The team was presented with the 3rd Team Sweepstakes Award. Individual winners included Colton Salaz, Vanessa Estrella, Nick Gonzalez, Jessie Wallace, Joseph Fejeran and Sarah Dougall.
  • Grossmont College’s own KGFN radio stations participated in the recent San Diego Blood Bank’s Chargers Blood Drive, held Nov. 25 at the Town and Country Resort Hotel & Convention Center in Mission Valley. The 30th annual Chargers Blood Drive was presented by San Diego County Credit Union.
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