Governing Board Meeting Highlights

At the November 17, meeting, the Governing Board:

  • Announced in closed session that the Board unanimously voted for Dec. 23, 2009, to be a CSEA Recognition Day.
  • Chancellor Cindy L. Miles announced that Dr. Stuart Savin had been selected as Cuyamaca College President starting April 12, 2010. She said that Dr. Savin worked for 10 years in business and industry before discovering his passion for community colleges. He has 10 years of senior administrative experience in community colleges as well as proven experience in finance, technology, assessment, accreditation, facilities, fundraising, campus development and community partnerships. He holds a doctorate in education from Oregon State University, a masters in education administration from State University of New York and a bachelor’s in general studies from University of Connecticut.
  • Heard GC Foundation Board Member Judy Garrett make a donation of $13,500 to the Cuyamaca College Foundation for another Osher scholarship in memory of her late father. Previously at the GC Foundation Gala in October, she also donated $13,500 for an Osher scholarship. Governing Board President Bill Garrett said he hopes wife Judy’s donation will inspire others to donate for Osher scholarships.
  • Heard Governing Board Trustees express appreciation for Judy Garrett’s donation and the enjoyable time they had at the GC Gala.
  • Heard GC Student Trustee Christopher Enders express appreciation for faculty, staff and administrators.
  • Heard GC President Dr. Sunny Cooke report on the GC Foundation Gala results, an update on the five-year Strategic Plan, recent financial aid numbers, the Grossmont Symphony Orchestra’s upcoming performance of The Nutcracker, the recent memorial service for former softball player Krystin Gemar, and annual Chili Cookoff/Year-end celebration on Dec. 16.
  • Voted to return the 2010-2011 Academic Calendar to the Calendar Committee for more discussion about Veterans Day 2010.
  • Considered the District Quarterly Financial reports, which included the Trust Fund Report.
  • In Staff Communications, heard GC Academic Senate President Chris Hill report that at last week’s Academic Senate statewide Plenary Session workshops and presentations were held on pre-requisites for general education courses, balancing basic skills and equity issues and developing institutional strategic planning, as well as the future of community colleges.

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.

Football team to play in US Bank Beach Bowl

The GC Griffins football team (7-3) will make its seventh post-season appearance in nine years on Saturday, Nov. 21, with a 6 p.m. game in Torrance, Calif. against perennial power El Camino (9-2) in the 9th annual US Bank Beach Bowl. El Camino’s head coach is John Featherstone, former Griffins assistant coach.

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‘April Showers’ movie on Columbine

A special viewing of the movie “April Showers,” a dramatized retelling from the survivors’ perspective of Colorado’s Columbine High School shootings, plus a personal appearance by the film’s writer/director Andrew Robinson, who himself ran for safety on that fateful day in 1999, will be hosted by the Student Services Dept. starting at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 19, in the Student Center. Admission is free. The event is part of the college’s Safety & Awareness Week. The 98-minute film, which is rated “R,” was released in theaters this past April in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the Columbine tragedy. Set in a middle-class suburban neighborhood, April Showers, filmed in Omaha and Plattsmouth, Neb., focuses on the lives of a handful of teachers and students as they attempt to make sense of a world that has just been turned upside down by one of their own. The cast includes Tom Arnold (“True Lies”), Daryl Sabara (“Spy Kids”), Kelly Blatz (“Prom Night”) and Janel Parrish (“Bratz”). For more information about the movie, visit www.AprilShowersMovie.com .

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TV news story on Coach Howie

NBC 7/39 recent did a news story on women’s soccer coach Howie Hawver. TV reporter Greg Bledsoe said newsroom employees shed a few tears after watching it. NBC’s The Today Show has inquired about re-airing portions of the local story. Here is the link to the story in case you missed it: http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/sports/70109342.html . Howie was recently named 2009 co-coach of the year for the nine-team Pacific Coast Athletic Conference by his fellow coaches. Next year’s Coach of the Year award will be called the Howie Hawver Coach of the Year Award.

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LTRC Thanksgiving schedule

The Grossmont Learning & Technology Resource Center will close for the Thanksgiving holiday at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 25. Please do not schedule any activities in the LTRC past 4 p.m. on that day. The LTRC will reopen on Monday, Nov. 30, at 8 a.m.

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ASGC in Mother Goose Parade on Sunday

Marc Valenzuela, ASGC president, along with ASGC board members and other GC students will be riding on an antique fire truck this Sunday at the 63rd annual Mother Goose Parade in El Cajon. Tens of thousands of people are expected to line the 2.5-mile parade route along Main Street and wave to the GC students. The fire truck is a completely restored 1975 Crown truck owned by Mark Mendelsohn of Professional Medical Supply of El Cajon. If you attend be sure to yell hello to the GC students.

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GC Foundation Gala Raised $93K

The Grossmont College Foundation reports a net of $93,000, including $24,000 towards new Osher scholarships, was raised at its recent Gala fund-raiser, held Oct. 24, at the Barona Valley Ranch Resort & Casino. The theme for the eighth annual Gala was “Reaching New Heights With You,” which was appropriate since the net total was a record-setter. Special thanks go to three Grossmont College Foundation Board Members who served as co-chairs: Judy Garrett, Vicki Whitmire and Karol Schoen. Another special thanks goes to Judy Garrett for her $13,500 donation for an Osher scholarship. Judy made the donation in memory of her father, Reynold Stone (1921-2009), who taught at community colleges in New York and Tennessee.

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Review Of 5-Year Strategic Plan Continues

Review is continuing by campus constituencies of the 2010-2016 Grossmont College Strategic Plan. The Plan sets out ambitious six-year goals and strategic directions that the college will pursue as it responds to the changing educational needs of the community. The Plan focuses the college’s commitment on its community, students, and employees by encouraging new thinking and efforts to help Grossmont College address the dynamic educational, economic, civic and workforce needs of the region. Through a collegial planning process, the college has refined goals and strategies to reflect the most current assessment of needs and opportunities facing the East San Diego County region. The Plan will be available for Governing Board prior to the December meeting.

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Financial Aid

Michael Copenhaver, Grossmont College director of financial aid, reports that the Grossmont College Financial Aid Office distributed $14.8 million in financial aid during the 2008-2009 academic year, compared to $13.1 million in financial aid during the 2007-2008 academic year. Copenhaver said his office is on track to distribute between $14 million and $15.5 million during the current 2009-2010 academic year. At the end of September 2009, the percentage of FAFSA applicants had increased by 24 percent for 2009-2010, compared to the same nine-month period for 2008-2009. The FAFSA, the federal government’s instrument for calculating need-based aid, is used by colleges and universities to determine financial aid eligibility for federal and state aid programs.

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International Students

GC’s Admissions and Records Dept. reports that the number of international students enrolled in the Fall 2009 semester is 699, which is an identical number to the total of international students enrolled in Fall 2008. However, this current semester’s group of international students is enrolled in 222 more units, a total of 8,949, compared to Fall 2008. These students bring richness to the college and we are delighted that the challenging economic times aren’t deterring our international students from attending Grossmont College.

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Safety & Awareness Week

There are several events on campus this week, Nov. 16-19, that are part of Safety & Awareness Week, hosted by Grossmont College Student Services. The events offer helpful information about personal health and safety awareness. The schedule includes:

  • Recognizing and Preventing Violence on Campus for Students, 10-11 a.m., ASGC Board Room. Recognizing and Preventing Violence in the Workplace, 11:30-12:30 p.m., ASGC Board Room. Driver Safety and the Dangers of Cell Phone & Texting, 1-1:40 p.m., Griffin Gate. Fire Safety/Prevention, 1:50-2:30 p.m., Griffin Gate; and Health Services Info Table, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m., Main Quad.
  • Great American Smokeout, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Main Quad; and Viewing of “April Showers,” a film about the Columbine shootings and how one victim survived. Filmmaker Andrew Robinson is expected to attend, starts at 6:30 p.m., Student Center.
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Grossmont Symphony Orchestra To Perform Nutcracker

Leaping Cossacks! The Grossmont Symphony Orchestra will partner with the San Diego Ballet for two special performances of The Nutcracker on Dec. 4 and 5 at the 1,142-seat East County Performing Arts Center in El Cajon. Don’t miss this favorite holiday event featuring 100 beautifully costumed dancers, reveling in Tchaikovsky’s beloved score on an enchanting journey through a landscape of Yuletide dreams. Bring the entire family to enjoy flurries of snowflakes, visions of sugarplums and a legion of rats. The production is directed and choreographed by Robin Sheretz-Morgan and Javier Velasco. Performance times are 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 4, and 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 5. Premium tickets are priced at $52 per person. Standard tickets are priced at $42 for adults, $40 for students and active military, and $22 for students. Tickets can be purchased online at http://tickets.cyt.org and click “View all Productions,” or phone (619)440-2277.

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Memorial Service For Former Student, Krystin Gemar

Our thoughts and prayers are extended to the family of Kyrstin Gemar who played on the GC softball team in 2006 and 2007 (team captain, MVP, consecutive conference championships) before transferring to Dickinson State University in Dickinson, North Dakota. Krystin and two friends from the Dickinson softball team passed away earlier this month. They were found on Tuesday, Nov. 3, in a vehicle pulled from a pond. Krystin was 22. A memorial service was held in the GC Main Quad on Saturday, Nov. 14. All costs of the event were paid by family and friends of Krystin.

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Recent Events

  • A birthday celebration was held on Sunday, Nov. 8 for Howie Hawver, GC’s head women’s soccer coach. Hawver, with over 200 career victories at GC, is the only head coach Grossmont women’s program has ever had. In the past 14 seasons, his teams have made 12 state playoff appearances. Hawver is battling ALS, often referred to as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
  • The GC Student Veteran Organization participated with an exhibit table at the Veterans Resource Fair on Thursday, Nov. 12, at the VFW Post in El Cajon. The event was presented by U.S. Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-El Cajon).
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Recent Honors

  • Our “Campus Scene” newsletter recently won a writing award from the San Diego Press Club. The award was in the internal publications category.
  • Did you know that GC photographer Steven Harvey shot the album cover for Michael Jackson’s “Off The Wall” album? The year was 1980.
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Upcoming Events

  • Mental Mapping, Photographs in Context, an installation by David Wing, Nov. 16 to Dec. 17, Hyde Art Gallery.
  • The Grossmont College Theatre Arts will present “Sylvia” on Nov. 18, 19, 20, 21 at 7:30 p.m., Nov. 21 at 2 p.m., at the Lab Theatre. The director is Henry J. Jordan. Sylvia is a dog who has found a new home with Greg and Kate. As the affection between Greg and Sylvia grows stronger, a stronger resentment increases between Kate and her husband and his new best friend, Sylvia. All works out in the end; but the journey, at critical points in the characters’ lives, makes for a delightful experience in the theatre.
  • Financial Aid Scholarship Fund-raising BBQ, 11:30 a.m., Friday, Nov. 20, Main Quad.
  • Grossmont Master Chorale, 7:30 p.m., Friday, Nov. 20, All Saints Episcopal Church, 625 Pennsylvania Ave., San Diego.
  • 17th Annual Griffin Speech and Debate Tournament, Nov. 21-22. The headquarters will be in the Student Center, but the competition will take place in 50 classrooms across the entire campus. About 20 colleges, both two-year and four-year schools, are expected to attend.
  • Grossmont Master Chorale, 2 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 22, St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in La Mesa.
  • Griffin Radio is scheduled to participate for the 11th consecutive year at the San Diego Blood Bank’s Chargers Blood Drive XXXI on Tuesday, Nov. 24, at the Town and Country Hotel and Convention Center.
  • Breaking Boundaries, Grossmont College Dance Dept., Dec. 3, 4, 5 at 7:30 p.m., Dec. 5 and 6 at 2 p.m., Stagehouse Theatre.
  • Adult Reentry Orientation, Thursday, Dec. 10, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Griffin Gate.
  • Chili Cook-off/Year-end celebration, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 16, Administrative Quad and College Conference Room.
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Fall Sports Report

  • The Griffins football team had a record of 7-2 overall and 3-2 in conference prior to the regular season’s final game on Saturday, Nov. 14 game at Saddleback. The team may be eligible to play in a bowl game based on their winning record.
  • Men’s Water Polo team qualified for the Southern California Regionals by winning the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference that was recently hosted by GC at the Kroc Center. GC beat SD Mesa 19-7 in the championship game. The team was slated to play Riverside College in the playoffs.
  • Women’s Water Polo won the PCAC tournament, but will not advance to the playoffs based on the power rankings and an overall record of 13-14.
  • Women’s Volleyball will not advance to the playoffs. Their recent record was 7-13 with two games remaining.
  • Women’s Soccer will not advance to the playoffs. Their recent record was 7-7-1 with two games remaining. The team was scheduled to finish this season this past weekend.