The Weekly News: Week 18

by Sandra Fowler-Hill • 2019-11-18 12:52:30

Dr. Sandra Fowler-Hill in front of Chime Tower

National Honors

Clark College has been named a 2020 Best for Vets college in the Career and Technical College category by Military Times—just one of 19 colleges across the nation to receive this designation. It’s the third year in a row Clark has earned Best for Vets status. Kudos to everyone in the Veterans Resource Center, as well as everyone across the college who helps support our student veterans!

New VP of DEI named

Please join me in congratulating Rashida Willard, who hasaccepted the appointment as the new Vice President for Diversity, Equity andInclusion at Clark College. This is an important milestone for the Office ofDiversity, Equity and Inclusion and a positive leap forward for the college insupporting our staff, faculty and students.

Rashida stepped into the role as interim 17 months ago whilestill the Director of Operations and Risk Management in AdministrativeServices. She has taken on additional responsibilities in service to thecollege and she has earned the respect of her peers, our students, and thecommunity as a strong and effective leader.

During this interim period, she has created and developedstructures, spaces, and programs to help remove barriers for students and she’sleading the effort to create a culturally competent campus to help studentssucceed. She is deeply invested in this work and passionate about creatinginclusive, safe, and welcoming environments where all students have maximumopportunities to succeed.

Rashida holds a master’s degree in Business Administration, abachelor’s degree in Business Administration, and an associate degree inOrganizational Dynamics. She is currently attending Concordia University,pursuing a doctorate in Education with a concentration in ProfessionalLeadership, Inquiry and Transformation.

Under Rashida’s leadership, the ODEI team has built goodmomentum, developing new initiatives and programs that will help our collegemove forward.

Please join me in congratulating and thanking Rashida foraccepting this role.

Penguin Power!

We did it, Penguins! We won the Walktober challenge betweenClark College, Lower Columbia College, and WSU Vancouver. Our 68 Walktoberparticipants averaged 9,694 steps during the month of October, winning us atrophy and bragging rights. Special shout-outs to our top Penguin walkers:

  • 1st place: Sydney Brahmavar(Environmental Science) – 843,756 steps
  • 2nd place: Aaron McPherson(Facilities Services) – 826,264 steps
  • 3rd place: Travis Kibota(Biology) – 720,732 steps
  • Departmental winner:Environmental Science, with an average daily total of 27,218 steps

… And, of course, to Interim Director of Talent Acquisition andDevelopment Vanessa Neal, who led our Walktober efforts. I invite all Walktoberparticipants to join Vanessa, Oswald, and myself at noon on November 20 at theJapanese Friendship Garden (or inside O’Connell if it’s raining) for a groupphoto with our fabulous trophy.

Kudos to the STEM Team

Thanks to dozens of STEM Unit students, staff, and facultyvolunteers who hosted the Elementary Science Olympiad on Saturday, inconjunction with the Southwest Washington Science Olympiad (WSO). Eighteenteams of third-through-fifth graders from throughout Southwest Washingtonparticipated, representing 14 schools from 8 school districts, with a total 270students. The challenging and motivating events of WSO align with WashingtonState Learning Standards. The events throughout the day were designed toenhance and strengthen both science content and processing skills.

And, thanks to the Clark College Surveying and GeomaticsDepartment, in conjunction with the United States Forest Service, for hostingGeographic Information Systems (GIS) Day on Friday. GIS is a scientific frameworkfor gathering, analyzing and visualizing geographic data to help us make betterdecisions. GIS Day included a number of speakers, displays, and interactivegeospatial activities.

Also, congratulations to STEM Dean Peter Williams on his recentpresentation with Dr. Carli Schiffner, SBCTC Deputy Executive Director ofEducation, and Dr. Gita Bangera, Dean of the RISE Learning Center at BellevueCollege, on “Scaling Up Classroom Undergraduate Research Experiences Statewide”at the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U)Transforming STEM Higher Education conference in Chicago, Illinois.

Timeto nominate outstanding employees

There are three employee award programs nowaccepting nominations. I hope you will look around you and decide to make anomination: the Lora Whitfield Social Equity Award, the quarterly ClassifiedExcellence Award, and the Exceptional Administrative Exempt Award.

TheLora Whitfield Social Equity Award honors a member of the Clark Collegecommunity that has demonstrated a sustainedcommitment to advancing equity. Award recipients will receive a plaque along with $1,000funded by the Clark College Foundation. This award will be presented at OpeningDay before the beginning of fall quarter each year. This 2020 inaugural year,the award will be announced during State of the College in winter quarter.

For 2020, nominations should be submitted by November29 for the Executive Cabinet to review and select an award winner byState of the College in January.

Please nominate a Clark College Employee byvisiting the Lora Whitfield Social Equity Award page and fill out the online submission form.

Do you know of an outstanding Classified employee atClark? Have you been looking for a meaningful way to say “thank you” to thatperson who has gone above and beyond in their service to you, your departmentor the college community? Now is your chance to acknowledge that specialperson.

Also, nominations are being accepted for outstanding Classifiedemployee at Clark for the 2019 Fall Quarter Award. Please continuereading for more information. Submissions can be made by filling out the onlinesubmission form. Please only submit a nomination for the current quarter. Thedeadline is 5:00 p.m. onFriday, November 22. For questions, contact Vanessa Neal, vneal@clark.edu in Human Resources.

And, a new award for 2020 is the ClarkCollege Administrator and Exempt Excellence Award honoring two Exempt staffmembers who contribute in significant ways toward building a positive climate,inclusive environment, and improving the quality of life at Clark has beencreated. Submissions can be made by filling out the online submission form by 5:00 p.m. onFriday, December 13. For questions, contact Lisa Wolfson, lwolfson@clark.edu in the Office of thePresident.

Selectionwill be based on the following criteria:

  • Exemplary Work Performance
    • Excellence in work performance
    • Makes a significant impact on the College (give examples ofinvolvement, attitude, helpfulness, etc.).
    • Contributes and demonstrates commitment to the College’s missionand core values.
  • Initiative and Collaboration
    • Positive interaction and engagement with all community partners(faculty, staff, students and the public)
    • Exhibits respect for fellow workers and students
  • Special Achievements or Contributions to the College Community
    • Initiates or actively participates in projects for thebetterment of the college community
    • Serves in leadership roles with campus groups/committees and/orexternal college partners
    • Displays consistent interest in and active support of diversity;seeks and promotes interaction with and between groups with differingideologies, cultures, socioeconomic status, etc.

Recipients of this award will receive a glass plaque and $1,000funded through an anonymous donor’s contributions to the Clark CollegeFoundation. These awards will typically be announced on Open Day before thebeginning of fall quarter each year. This inaugural year (2019-2020), theawards will be presented at the State of the College address during winterquarter.

To be eligible, the nominees must be a current full-timeAdministrative employee who has been in their current position for more thantwelve (12) months. Members of the President’s Executive Cabinet are noteligible to be nominated.

Congratulations, Dr. Donald Appert

The award-winning ClarkCollege Orchestra will present its Fall concert as part of the 2019-20 seasoncelebrating the 30th anniversary of Music Director/Conductor DonaldAppert onWednesday, December 4 at Skyview High School. 

This all-orchestral extravaganzawill include La Valse by MauriceRavel, Nuages and Fêtes fromClaude Debussy’s Nocturnes,andJosef Suk’s Symphony No. 1 in E minor. The performanceis at 7:30 p.m. and admission is free and open to thepublic. Donations to the Orchestra General Fund will beaccepted at the door.

For complete information aboutall the Clark College Music Department concerts including the orchestra, concert band, jazz ensemble, and choirs,please see http://www.clark.edu/campus-life/arts-events/music/music-concerts.

We arefortunate to have such treasures at Clark College.

Student Enrollment

Clark College began registering students for Winter quarter thispast week for priority registration. While Clark’s ctcLink Project Managementteam works to provide access to queries that will help manage enrollment, I askfor your patience. Planning and Effectiveness is working to redevelop ourenrollment management tools in Tableau to be available to all during winterquarter.

Open Enrollment foremployees

It’s that time – a chance to review and make changes to yourpublic employee benefits. Open enrollment ends Saturday, November 30. To makechanges go to My Account on thePEBB website. If you have questions about your benefits or account, pleasecontact one of our benefits team members:

Reflections from thispast week and looking ahead

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 all the staff that I’ve seenacross the campus in Finance, HR, Student Services, Instruction, Planning andEffectiveness, and IT who have been problem-solving throughout the week. Changeis hard, and this has been exhausting and frustrating work. This amazing teamhas risen to the challenge. The whole state community college system has beenwatching us to see how this is done. Congratulations again, Penguin Nation.You’ve got this!

This next week I look forward to my firstquarterly meeting between the WSUV Executive Team and Clark College ExecutiveTeam. The following day the Clark College Executive Team is participating in adaylong retreat with Dr. Kathy Obear, continuing to work on improving ourselvesas a team.

Congratulations to the Penguin Men and Women who are running theNWAC Cross Country Championship in Lacey today (Monday, November 18). GoPenguins!!

I will be in Seattle the remainder of theweek with Shanda Haluapo, Associate Vice President of Planning andEffectiveness and Clark College Accreditation Liaison Officer, at the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities Annual Conference on Student Success, where I lookforward to learning more about the new Eligibility Requirements andAccreditation Standards for 2020. I plan to stay in Seattle for the weekend tohave an early holiday with my family.

This coming weekend will be a busy one on campus, withperformances of “A Bright New Boise” in the Decker Theatre in Frost Arts CenterThursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m.; Men’s and Women’sBasketball games in O’ConnellSports Complex; and the Clark College Jazz Band, under the direction of Dr.Doug Harris, presenting its “A Salute to the Big Bands” on Saturday at 7:30p.m. in Gaiser Student Center.

And just because Walktober is over, that doesn’t mean we Penguinsshould stop being active: Get ready for the Fall Free Fun Run and Walk nextTuesday, November 26, at 1:15 p.m. in front of the Cannell Library.Registration is free and starts at 1:00 pm.

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