News Release www.grossmont.net                                                                College and Community Relations       CONTACT: Susan Herney, GC Community Relations 619 644-7840 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 26, 2002

Grossmont's Zoe Close Receives Prestigious Vasconcellos Award Faculty Association of California Community Colleges

     EL CAJON - The Faculty Association of California Community Colleges (FACCC) honored Grossmont College's Zoe Close with the prestigious John Vasconcellos Award at an event in Anaheim attended by faculty from all over California.

     "We are proud of Zoe Close and her many contributions to Grossmont College, and to faculty organizations statewide," said Dr. Ted Martinez, Jr., Grossmont College president. "She has won FACC's most prestigious award for faculty members at California's community colleges." The recipient of the Vasconcellos Award is selected by the Faculty Association's Board of Governors from among those nominated from throughout California. Recipients are honored for their outstanding contributions on behalf of the community colleges at both local and state levels.

     The award bears the name of the California legislator, John Vasconcellos, in honor of his many contributions to the community college system, the most significant being the authorship of AB1725, the omnibus community college reform legislation.

     Close is chair of the Philosophy, Humanities and Religious Studies Department at Grossmont College and is vice president and negotiator for United Faculty. She was elected and served on the FACCC board of governors for three years, and as FACCC's chair of staff development. She has been instrumental in organizing statewide conferences, a workshop series, and initiating the workshops-to-go, a program designed to bring professional development directly to faculty at their colleges.

     Close is president of the California Community College Independents (CCCI), the statewide organization that represents faculty at districts which have independent bargaining agents. She serves on Chancellor Nussbaum's Consultation Council, the advisory body to the California Community College Board of Governors, and is chair of the statewide Council of Faculty Organizations (COFO). She also serves and has been an officer of the Faculty Coalition of Public Higher Education (FCPHE), a faculty organization which creates a link between the community colleges and the four year institutions in California.