Well done, Clark College!

It’s Day Five of the ctcLink conversion,and I’m so proud of our ctcLink team that has put in such long days this weekto help the college through the transition. This has been a herculean taskrequiring patience, perseverance, flexibility, creativity, humor and grace.Please, as you see them, join me in thanking them for their extraordinary work:

• Susan Maxwell, myClark ctcLink ProjectDirector
• Sabra Sand, Director of Business Servicesand Financial Management Pillar Lead
• Mirranda Saari, Associate Dean ofEnrollment Services and Registrar and Campus Solution Pillar Lead
• Guisela Eberle, Human Resources AssistantDirector and Human Capital Management Pillar Lead
• Genevieve Howard, Associate Vice Presidentof Instruction and Instructional Lead
• Andy Barsotti, Director of Data Servicesand ITS Lead
• Tanya Kerr, ctcLink Internal Controls andBusiness Analyst (Campus Solutions and Financial Management)
• Jennifer Ward, Program Manager for myClarkctcLink
• Shanda Haluapo, Associate Vice President ofPlanning and Effectiveness and myClark ctcLink Executive Sponsor

This really is a team sport. I thankeveryone who has made this our No. 1 priority this week. I know it’s beenconsuming. The long-term benefits to our staff and our employees will besignificant.

We also have student resources you can help share withstudents as they log onto their new and improved MyClark. It’s vitallyimportant they’re in the system by next week. Registration for winter termstarts next Friday. Thank you to our faculty, our staff, our StudentAmbassadors, and Tech Hub crew for helping students make the jump onto our newplatform.

Well Done, Penguins Soccer Team!

Congratulationsto our amazing Clark College women’s soccer team! They concluded their 2019regular season on Saturday, October 26. They have gone 64 league games withouta loss, dating back to October 2014; claimed their fourth Southern Region titlein a row; and have earned a bye for the first round of the NWAC soccertournament.

Weare set to host the NWAC quarterfinal round at Kim Christensen Field at noon onSaturday, November 9. We will be host to the winner of the Tacoma CC vs.Columbia Basin CC game set for next week. You will be hearing more aboutshowing your Penguin spirit with a new cool scarf that will be available soon.Go Penguins!!

Columbia Writers Series next week

This looks like aninteresting lunchtime event next Thursday on campus: The Clark College ColumbiaWriters Series kicks off its 2019-2020 season with “The Female Gaze” featuring2019 National Book Awards Fiction long-listers Kali Fajardo-Anstine (Sabrina& Corina) and Kimberly King Parsons (Black Light).This event, which is free and open to the public, will be held on Thursday,November 7, from noon to 2:00 p.m. in PUB 161.

The event includes a reading and discussionon building buzz around debut short story collections and highlighting the manyfaces of contemporary female identity in literature. It will feature briefreadings, a moderated conversation, and question-and-answer session followed bya book signing.

“The Female Gaze” is presented by the National Book Foundation and Clark College in a new partnership. Information about the ColumbiaWriters Series is available at www.clark.edu/cc/cws.

Reflections from this past week

Once again, I want to share my appreciationfor the Clark ctcLink team who have done an amazing job throughout the goLiveconversion. I am inspired by the dedication of the leadership team and theproblem-solving that I’ve seen across the campus in Finance, HR, StudentServices, Instruction, Planning and Effectiveness, and IT throughout the week.Change is hard, and this amazing team has risen to the challenge. The wholestate community college system has been watching us to see how this is done.Congratulations again, Penguin Nation. You’ve got this!

Thanks, Oswald, for stopping by in your“penguin burger” costume to share some treats with us yesterday. I enjoyedseeing some very creative costumes as I walked across the campus yesterday.

I’m looking forward to celebratingIndigenous cultures at our Annual POWWOW tonight with the DreamcatcherScholarship recognition and Grand Entry with drummers and dancers. It should bea great way to end the week.

Finally, I’ve walked 152,926 steps this Walktober around the college and onthe weekends in my neighborhood. Don’t forget to turn in your steps to vneal@clark.edu to help Clark win theWalktober Challenge. Keep on walking, Penguin Nation!