SPEAKER 1: August 12th, 2020, getting ready for the fall
semester convocation.
And it just wouldn't be right without the car club saying
hello to start with.
So we'd like to at least welcome you back in the car club style.
Club, you got something to say to our faculty and staff?
[ENGINE REVVING]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
SPEAKER 2: Welcome back.
Here's to another great year at Chaffey.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
SPEAKER 3: Hi.
Welcome back, guys.
SPEAKER 4: Here's to another great year.
SPEAKER 5: Welcome back.
SPEAKER 6: Looking forward to get back on campus.
Hope everybody had a great summer.
SPEAKER 7: Welcome back, and let's have a great year.
SPEAKER 8: Hi, guys.
Welcome back.
Let's have a good year.
SPEAKER 9: Can't wait to see you guys this year.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
SPEAKER 10: Welcome back.
Wish you were here.
SPEAKER 11: And here's to another great year.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
SPEAKER 12: All right, I think that does it.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
CINDY WALKER: Welcome back, Chaffey family.
I've missed you during my sabbatical year.
Glad to be back.
I usually say something about hoping
that you're refreshed from your summer vacations,
but I really can't say that this year.
In fact, most of you have probably spent the summer
rethinking your online courses, learning, reading,
and having important conversations about racism
in the United States, or maybe even joining Black Lives Matter
protests.
Even though I've been deeply engaged
in equity work and training at Chaffey for many years,
I too found that I needed to go deeper in my own learning
and self-reflection, really examining my own practices
and engaging in anti-racist activity.
I look forward to learning and growing
with you, my Chaffey colleagues, and figuring out ways
that we can disrupt systems of oppression and racism
that often subtly, and sometimes not so subtly,
are embedded in higher education.
I'm committed to working towards a future that really embraces,
celebrates, and honors the dignity, experiences, history,
stories, and voices of students, faculty, staff, managers
of color, and that centers and places equity-mindedness
at the center of all decision-making, policies
and practices.
Thank you for being part of Chaffey College.
We are at a place that can transform
the lives of our students if we design it to do that.
TRISHA ALBERTSON: Hello and welcome.
I'm Trisha Albertson, Classified Senate President,
and accountant in the Budgeting and Fiscal Services Office.
I also represent our classified professionals
statewide as the treasurer on the executive board
with the California Community Colleges Classified Senate.
Classified Senate represents all classified professionals
and shared governance, non-bargaining areas
on campus and statewide.
As college professionals, we use our knowledge and experience
to help guide our campuses.
We work to provide an extra layer of support
to students, usually in procedural matters.
That work complements the support students
receive from faculty.
Right now, the world is changing,
and times are rocky, to say the least.
We understand that, for effective change to occur,
we need to be willing to tear down the current norms
and to be active in rebuilding a better society.
We must be unified with our students, faculty,
and community.
Classified Senate will be part of this healing
process across the campus, the community, the state,
and nationwide.
We will do everything in our power
to work to support all students and our colleagues
towards an impactful and meaningful change
for our futures.
Classified Senate has already been
making movements in these areas through
professional development workshops and leadership
conferences.
Classified professionals have been educating ourselves
about change in our environment and in our students' lives.
Additionally, last year, Classified Senate
provided five student scholarships
to those who had been impacted by the criminal justice system.
We know that there is still a lot to be done.
Classified Senate wants to be the catalyst of change
and improve the lives of our students and community.
Please join us, and help us in this journey.
If you have any ideas, please reach out to Classified Senate.
Thank you for your time.
BARON BROWN: Hey.
My name is Baron Brown, and I was fortunate enough
to be elected as your Faculty Senate President.
I'm thankful and humbled by your confidence,
and I hope that all of you are doing well.
I hope your family is doing well, and your loved ones,
and that you're exercising good self-care, because remember,
you can't give your best unless you're at your best.
And I'd like to thank Dr. Shannon, the executive team
and our governing board.
I look forward to the continued support
from our institutional leaders, and anticipate
great synergy between faculty senate,
the governing board, executive deans, and directors.
And I couldn't complete this brief welcome without
acknowledging and congratulating our new senators,
who are Karin Nelson, Lisa Doget, Christina Holdiness,
Elizabeth Encarnacion, Tamari Jenkins, Jeff Harlow--
welcome back, Jeff--
and Stephen-- or Steph-an, Villasenor.
It depends on how Mr. Villasenor wants that pronounced.
And I must thank our outgoing senators, Doug Duno,
Charmaine Fipps, RoseAnn Osmanian, Jon Ausubel,
and Rachel Arciniega.
We all appreciate the great work that you all
put in during your faculty senate terms.
Thank you very much.
And this year's theme is future-mindedness.
And last year's theme was a sense of belonging.
But I posit that future-mindedness should always
include a sense of belonging for our students, employees,
and all of our stakeholders.
They have to feel like they're part of the Chaffey family,
and that we actually care.
So I hope that all of us can work within that spirit.
And as for future-mindedness, I see three primary drivers--
I'll try to hit them all--
to work toward.
And I'm going to try to work towards them,
and I hope that all of you can consider these.
Future-mindedness equals preparation.
So on that note, I'd like to discuss
what the Senate [INAUDIBLE] weekly meeting schedule.
Our dedicated senators meet once a week every week, on Tuesdays,
and we conduct the Senate's important business.
However, we have still a lot to learn, for many of us,
about Senate's duties, responsibilities,
and the [INAUDIBLE] in our 10+2.
And so I'd like to know if Senate would entertain
taking at least one of our meeting sessions every month
and having structured training or dedicated committee work.
And if we can do that, we can always be prepared, always stay
ahead of the curve, and be proactive and strategic,
and not reactive and behind the curve at the moment.
Second is future-mindedness should
equal empathy and care for all.
We spend a lot of time showing our concern and our care
for our students and about their welfare, which is appropriate.
However, how well do we care for each other in the Chaffey
family?
And we need to have that kind of consanguinity,
that kind of mutual support.
So have you made a phone call to any
of your colleagues or friends in the Chaffey family?
Have you received a phone call or text or an email
from anyone?
And I challenge everyone to reach out to someone.
And please do that.
You can set this target wherever you are.
You don't have to be in a formal leadership position on campus
in order to set this tone.
You can lead from wherever you are.
So please, lead and set this tone.
And third is future-mindedness equals
the truth, warts and all.
And we need to be transparent.
And regardless of the discipline,
our students are going to want to talk
about racial injustice and social inequities and all
these things.
They're going to want to decompress.
Even if it's online, they're going to want to.
And so we have to be ready for that.
And no discipline is immune from it.
But what we have to also do is include everyone
in the conversation, and talk about the history
of this country and the contributions made by everyone,
because that will make whatever subject
it is more relevant to all of our students.
So can we include multiculturalism
in every discipline offered at Chaffey?
Arguably, I believe we can.
Is it relevant?
Yes, it is.
Does it matter?
Yes, it does.
OK?
And let's stop framing the conversation by saying it's
such a difficult conversation to have.
Every time we say that, it's self-defeating
and it's a self-fulfilling prophecy.
So let's just say it's a necessary and urgent
conversation, and please consider
taking our BLOOM training.
And if you enter BLOOM training with an open mind
and an open heart, you will definitely learn something.
And don't take BLOOM in order to qualify for a hiring committee.
That's not very genuine.
OK?
Our goal is organizational transformation,
changing culture within our institution.
I think we can do that.
In fact, I'm confident that we can.
So have a great semester, and remember, in order
for us to prepare the next generation of leaders
for the future, we have to tell them--
we're compelled-- the truth about the past
as it impacts the present and their individual futures
as Chaffey graduates.
Thank you.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
TRISHA ALBERTSON: Good morning.
I'm Trisha Albertson, Accounting and Budgeting Services,
and the Classified Senate president.
HOPE ELL: And I'm Hope Ell, Executive Assistant
in the Office of Instruction, and Recording Officer
for the Classified Senate.
TRISHA ALBERTSON: We are here today
to introduce Caring Campus.
Caring Campus is a partnership between the Chancellor's Office
and the Institute for Evidence-Based Change.
Caring Campus promotes staff involvement in student success,
and works towards developing a culture
of meaningful connectedness with students.
The program accomplishes this by establishing
behavioral commitments that everyone on campus can do.
HOPE ELL: Chaffey College worked with IEBC
to establish a Caring Campus group.
That group, comprised of 39 classified professionals,
met three times before COVID-19 closed the campus,
and established three behavioral commitments
that we plan to implement.
Those commitments are name tag, 10-foot rule,
and warm hand-offs.
A brief description of each.
Behavioral commitment number one is name tag.
Wear one.
If you don't have one, get one.
Everyone can, and should, wear their name tag every day.
The Caring Campus group will be working with marketing
on options and standardization.
Behavioral commitment number two, the 10-foot rule.
If you're within 10 feet of someone, anyone--
student, faculty, staff, administrator--
acknowledge them.
Smile.
Nod.
Make eye contact.
Say hello.
Be welcoming, but not intrusive.
Behavioral commitment number three, the warm hand-off.
Call ahead.
Walk the person to the location.
Use detailed maps.
Have a point of contact in each office.
Create frequently asked questions
and implement referral cards.
TRISHA ALBERTSON: Shortly after the group established
these commitments, COVID-19 threw us
into a completely new reality.
This has caused the group to refocus on how
to implement these commitments.
Name tags and the 10-foot rule were
great for in-person interaction, but implementing them online
is not feasible.
Warm hand-offs are still important, even
in the online environment.
So Caring Campus will be focusing on implementation
of that behavior.
HOPE ELL: So what is a warm hand-off?
It's making sure that the customer, or in our case,
our students, get the information they
need with the least amount of steps possible.
It means providing as much help and information
as possible to make that student feel like you care.
Caring Campus will be looking at ways
to make warm hand-offs easier for everyone
in the online environment, as well as in person
once we get back to campus.
TRISHA ALBERTSON: This is where you come in.
We are asking you for some feedback on examples of what
a warm hand-off is, and what it isn't.
Share with the Caring Campus committee
good and bad examples, why it benefited the students,
or what could have been improved.
Have you found anything particular helpful
in getting students to the right place
or helping them find what they need online?
We need to show our students and the community
that we are truly a caring campus.
So please reach out to anyone on the committee with your ideas
and suggestions.
Thank you, and let's have a great semester.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
LAURA HOPE: Hi, everybody.
My name's Laura Hope.
I'm the Associate Superintendent of Instruction
and Institutional Effectiveness.
And it's really a pleasure to greet you all this morning.
I know it's kind of unusual.
We're all working from home these days,
so you're in my office with me today.
And my intern is also here.
This is Dottie.
She's my intern who spends a lot of Zoom meetings with me.
So she's going to join.
But I'm here, really, this morning
to remind you of a couple of things,
and forecast some of what we're going
to be focused on this year.
At a time when things are so terribly uncertain,
not only for us, but for students,
it's incredibly important that we
refocus our energy and our attention on our students'
needs.
As you know, many of our students
are economically unstable.
They've got unstable social networks or family networks.
They've got a lot of responsibilities
and multiple jobs.
And so while we're trying to manage
supporting their education, we need
to make sure that we're the most steadfast thing in their lives.
You just heard a little bit about the Caring Campus
effort, which connects to Guided Pathways,
as well as the college's effort to make sure
that we're putting students first in all things.
So I'm really appreciative of that work.
And I think it's worthwhile to note that, as we build out
our sense of community in our academic and career
communities, we're not only highlighting
the needs of students in terms of a sense of belonging,
which we focused on last year, but we're also
building in a sense about a student's thoughts
for the future.
And that's really what I'm here to let you know about today.
Every year over the next three years,
we've been focusing on three big things.
And last year, we focused on a sense of belonging.
And this year, we're focusing on future-mindedness.
That's a particular challenge when, for our students,
and maybe for all of us, too, it's
very easy to just stay focused on yesterday, today,
and tomorrow.
But like the work that we've already
done as it relates to hope, engage, succeed,
we know that an education is the most important investment
that a student can make today in a better tomorrow.
So while we're in this time of uncertainty,
helping our students persist and believe
that that investment in today is going to pay off tomorrow
is some of our most important work.
So this year, you're going to hear
a lot more about future-mindedness
and helping students build momentum
around future-mindedness.
And I hope that you'll participate
in a lot of the learning opportunities
to make that a much bigger part of the work
that you do with students.
Part of helping to focus on the future with our students
is listening to them.
And it's my big pleasure today to transition
to the next segment, which features research
that IR, specifically Kevin Curwin,
on a survey that we conducted in spring among 6,000 students who
responded to the survey, and let us
know what the spring was like for them as they transitioned
into a fully online environment.
The things that they have to say to us
are important for us to take to heart as we refocus
our energy on their experience, and I really
want to thank the IR team, and Kevin in particular,
for his amazing work.
I know you're going to enjoy hearing everything he
has to say.
We're also going to do some other surveys.
Specifically, the next one will be with the faculty.
So I'll be working with the Senate and the association
to develop a survey so we can track the faculty experience.
But let's make sure that today is a way to recenter ourselves
around why we're all here.
And that is to help our students have a better future.
So thank you for listening.
And Dottie thanks you, too.
And it's my pleasure to welcome Kevin Curwin,
our senior research analyst from IR.
And I know you're going to be very interested to hear
what he has to say.
Thanks so much.
Bye.
KEVIN CURWIN: Thank you, Laura, and good morning, everyone.
I'm grateful to be here to be able to share
with you the results of the survey
that we sent to all of our enrolled students
in the spring.
We worked together with the Distance Education
team, the Guided Pathways team, and others
to develop the survey, and we sent it
to all of our enrolled adult students via email on May 8th.
And we continued to collect responses
throughout the month of June.
We ended up with over 5,000 responses
and a completion rate of 84%.
So that's 84% of the students who
clicked on that link in their email completed the survey.
So we got a lot of rich information
that we can use to draw conclusions
about what the students were experiencing in the spring.
We asked a variety of questions, including
multiple choice, checklist items,
as well as open-ended items.
And then we took those open-ended comments
and coded them into themes so that we could
summarize what was going on.
As we go through the results here,
I'll include a breakdown of some of those multiple choice,
checklist items, but also some student quotes, which
were largely the response to this question
that we asked at the end.
It says, if we could solve one problem for you, what
would that be.
So we got a lot of rich information from this question,
and I hope that it can help as you're designing
your courses for the fall.
To start out with, we asked about their satisfaction
with the college's support and communication
during the online transition.
And as we can see from this chart here,
a large majority, over 80%, were either
very satisfied or generally satisfied
with the college's support during the transition
to remote learning.
Similarly, with communication about changes
to their education, over 80% were either very satisfied
or generally satisfied with that, as well.
We started out by asking them some questions
about technology.
What kind of devices do you have available to access
course material?
What do you prefer to use, and what do you use the most often?
We found that a majority of our students, but not all of them,
have access to a computer or cell phone.
About 90% had a computer or a Chromebook,
although they were also sharing those devices with others.
There was about 5% or 6% of the students that
didn't have a Chromebook, didn't have a computer,
didn't have a cell phone.
They were trying to complete their coursework in the spring
without any of these devices.
22% reported facing challenges related to reliable internet
service.
So I want to talk a bit more about the internet connection
issues, as well as sharing devices.
This is a student who says, "I have a very basic internet
and very basic phone plan.
I feel like I'm taking these classes with one hand tied
behind my back."
Some students were using their cell phone's data plan.
They were using it as a hotspot for their computer.
They were traveling to a friend or family's home
to use their internet or use their computer
to access their coursework.
Many students talked about the difficulties
with finding internet access.
Since everything was closed or shut down,
they couldn't come to campus, they couldn't go to Starbucks
and sit in the Starbucks to access the internet.
And many are also sharing devices.
"I share my computer with my sister, who is also a Chaffey
College student, and our course meets at the same time
every week."
Previously, when they're taking in-person classes,
that's not a problem.
But now that everything is online via Zoom,
suddenly there's competition for that computer that
previously didn't exist.
Others talked about now my children are
home, K-12 students, and now they're at home,
and they need to use a computer to take their courses online,
and I'm trying to do the same thing.
And so there's a lot more competition
for these devices in the home now than there used to be.
And those two things combined, internet issues and device
access issues, combined to make everything
about the online course more difficult.
Submitting assignments, taking tests,
accessing course material, attending
lectures all were made more difficult by the fact
that internet connection issues or internet
access is unreliable and their access to these devices
are unreliable.
When it comes to the format, many of our students
prefer to either not meet virtually at all
or to meet virtually sometimes.
Only 23% prefer to meet virtually at a fixed time.
44% prefer to meet virtually sometimes,
and 33% would prefer to not meet at all.
So very loud and clear throughout the comments,
as well, the students prefer asynchronous arrangements.
Their work and family routines were disruptive--
were disrupted, excuse me--
were disrupted, and now they need
to be able to access the course material whenever they can,
whenever they can get access to the internet and that computer,
whenever they're not working.
Their work schedules had changed,
so they prefer those asynchronous arrangements.
However, by themselves, those asynchronous setup
is not going to be enough.
So the students still want to have communication
and interaction with their instructors
and with their classmates.
There were a few comments along the lines of I
feel like I'm teaching myself this material,
PowerPoint slides aren't enough.
And so while they prefer asynchronous arrangements,
they very much still desire communication and interaction
with their instructors, as well as each other.
Some of the activities that they found the most helpful while
learning online included course files and content available
online, instructor videos reviewing the content,
or recorded lectures, online lectures via Zoom,
or finding ways to communicate with their classmates.
Here's a student speaking about recorded lectures.
"I wish all teachers could record class
because even when I'm on Zoom, sometimes
I need to attend to children at home."
So even those students who are able to attend
a synchronous lecture talked about the possibility
of interruptions.
I need to take care of my children,
my dog starts barking, the dog needs to go outside,
someone knocks at the door, I don't have a quiet place
to sit and study, so my family is constantly interrupting me.
So even for those synchronous sessions,
students who are able to attend would
like to be able to access the recordings later.
Especially with those internet connection issues--
we've all been on Zoom and see how it goes.
Sometimes people will freeze.
The audio stops or stutters.
And the students don't want to miss
any important material because of their internet connection
issues.
So making those recordings available later
would allow them to see the parts
that they missed because of whatever
happened during lecture.
Students discussed a variety of challenges that they faced.
And their work schedules, their family care responsibilities,
their academic routines were all greatly disrupted.
About one third reported not having a quiet place to study,
and many were having challenges with motivation,
difficulty focusing or paying attention,
and their motivation to complete coursework.
There's a thread of everything that's going on right now,
my problems with work, my family's issues,
people are sick, I just really can't focus on my schoolwork.
Here's a student saying, "my whole family has been home,
and I just don't get the privacy and focused mindset
that I could get going into the classroom."
We'll talk more about the difficulties
of finding a quiet place to study here in a moment.
Here's a student that just kind of illustrates
how much their responsibilities and their routines
changed since the beginning of the semester.
"At the beginning of the spring semester,
I just had to focus on my schoolwork, my homework,
and then there would be extra time.
After March 20th, my responsibilities
grew to tutoring my sisters of second and fourth grade,
teaching them how to use Microsoft Teams and computer
programs, and some projects.
My parents don't know English.
My brother works every day but Sunday.
I would have to still work Thursday through Sunday,
and make sure my sister finished the week's
homework by Wednesday.
This toll began weighing on me, and with not enough time
in the week, I didn't do as well in my classes
as I knew I would have."
Other students discussed working more
since the beginning of the pandemic.
I'm now working overtime as an essential worker,
I'm now working more because my father lost their job,
I'm now working more so that my family can keep our home.
So some students lost income, were saying at home,
were able to work from home.
Others were working more.
They had family care responsibilities
that they didn't have before.
And so their personal lives were greatly disrupted,
and that had a large impact on their academic routines,
as well.
23% reported a loss of income.
Again, 32% reported not having a quiet place to study.
Many are concerned with their grades, over 50%.
39% were concerned with communication
with their instructors.
My only way to communicate with my instructor now is email,
and I have these questions about the coursework.
So communication with instructors
was a very big concern, not only in the checklist item
that we asked, but in the open-ended comments, as well.
Here's a student talking about their lack of a quiet place
to study, but also the internet access
issues that they were having.
"My laptop would only make up internet services
certain places throughout my home,
and it was not always reliable to stay in one spot.
Also, I live in a home with 11 other people,
including my 7-month-old and my one-year-old babies.
There's hardly anywhere to go where it was quiet."
"My major problem is that, while my kids were in school,
I would study.
I cannot sit for long periods of time and get my work done
without being interrupted."
Finding a quiet place to study is a challenge
for many of our students, and many of them
talked about it in the comments.
This also has an impact on testing.
Time on tests, specifically, was one
of the most commonly reported accessibility
issues, and one of the most common themes in the comments,
as well.
"Please, no timed tests.
My house is not a place to take a test.
It's loud and uncomfortable.
I don't even have a comfortable chair or desk."
So many of our students don't have a quiet place to study,
they don't have a quiet place to study that has internet access,
or here, some of them don't even have a comfortable place
to sit and study.
"Online exams were very difficult to complete at home,
as I live in a more secluded area where the internet goes
out.
I couldn't even go somewhere else
because everywhere was closed.
It wouldn't have mattered, but exams were timed.
Thus, my grades suffered every time I got kicked out.
It took several minutes to log back in,
but the time never stopped."
Combined with these concerns, students also
discussed the difficulty navigating online courses when
every course was different.
My course in this subject operates this way.
I log on to this place to get the assignments,
I turn them in this way.
My other course is completely different.
Here's a student that says, "each teacher posts
things in different places.
I have to learn where to find things
from each different teacher.
Sometimes things don't get posted or I don't see them."
Many of the students expressed a desire for more of the course
to take place in Canvas, and to not
have to go to other locations to access their course materials.
So in closing, some of the major themes of the student responses
were inconsistent internet access and the difficulty
of sharing computers and digital devices with others.
These issues are pervasive, and cause further
challenges when completing other parts of the course.
When taking a test, when accessing course material
or submitting assignments.
And this also, combined with the lack of a quiet place to study,
made things very difficult.
What works well on one device may not work well on another.
Some of our students are using Chromebooks
that we've distributed and made available to them.
They're very grateful for that program and those devices.
However, some of the course material that's posted
doesn't really work that well with the Chromebook.
So thinking about how to host your course
content in a way that's accessible to the greatest
number of digital devices would be worthwhile.
For instance, PowerPoint slides can be a challenge
for some people to access.
If they're hosted in a PDF form or even on Google Slides,
it will be more accessible to a greater number of students.
Some are not working.
Others are now working more.
There's not a consistent experience across the students,
where they're all at home now and they have more time.
Some of them are working more.
They have more childcare responsibilities
or other concerns.
The students are resilient, and they
are grateful for everything that we've been doing in the spring.
The success rates, retention rates
were as good or better than they were in spring of 2019.
This student says, "thank you for your constant support
and outreach.
I appreciate Chaffey and their faculty.
I love online courses and being able to work on my own time,
and having that freedom has helped
encourage me to finish school while working around
my schedule and continue forward."
Thank you.
VICKY VALLE: Hi, everyone.
My name is Vicky Valle.
And in case you can't tell from the quote we just saw,
it's time for the Puck Award.
What is the Puck Award?
Puck Award is given to those who skate to where
the puck is going to be.
They've done something innovative,
found a unique solution to a problem,
or enhanced the work or learning environment
in a way that is creative.
Now, I know that that sounds like a lot of us here
at Chaffey, especially this year.
And even though we all deserve the award,
today we're going to look at those individuals who
stood out from the rest and were nominated by their colleague.
Here they are.
Alberto Corona, Angela Cardinale, Joe Vallejo,
We have a duo, Charmaine Phipps and Kyle Pennet.
We have another duo, Robert Stoner and Michael Stoner,
Marlene Soto, Rose Ann Osmanian, and Shelley Eckvahl.
And for the teams, we have Frontline COVID-19 Online
Student Support, Kim George and Sharon Alton,
Jo Alvarez and Tara Paul, and the Distance Ed team.
Prizes will be given for three categories-- staff, faculty,
and team.
Each of the categories gets the trophy,
and the staff and faculty categories
will get a prize of $1,000 of travel and conference.
Now, let's see what the nominators have
to say about the nominees, and let's find out
who the winners are.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[APPLAUSE]
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
[DRUM ROLL]
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
Congratulations to all of our winners,
and also all of our nominees.
And now, we get to move into the retiree recognition
and the service awards.
And following that, we'll get to hear
from our superintendent and president, Dr. Henry Shannon.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
HENRY SHANNON: Good morning.
Welcome to the 2020 fall semester at Chaffey College.
First, I would like to take this opportunity
to recognize our retirees and service award recipients.
Congratulations to you all, and thank you
for your wonderful contributions to Chaffey College.
I also would like to acknowledge the wonderful leadership
of our governing board and their respective officers.
They continue to do a great job.
Thank you to each of you for your commitment to our college.
As your superintendent and president, I want all of you
to take a moment and take a deep breath,
because 2020 has thus far shown itself, well,
to be a little crazy.
So take a breath.
Despite the 2020 challenges and opportunities,
remember how strong each of you are.
Remember how strong our students are.
In the spring, we pivoted our entire way to online.
And we finished strong.
And now, the fall semester is about to begin.
There is no doubt that we have what
it takes to finish this term and this year very strong.
But the best way to do it is for all of us working together.
We must embrace that we are in this together,
and that we're not alone.
Colleges and universities from around the state, the nation,
and the world are facing similar challenges.
With everything facing us, now is the time, maybe
more than ever, for us to think ahead,
to plan and to strategize.
Now is the time to be future-minded.
Since this is our theme this year,
we are already on the right track.
I do believe firmly that that's true.
If we do not think ahead to determine how best
we can meet the needs of our students
as an institution, shame on us.
We are not serving them to their potential,
nor are we working toward ours.
When I think about the theme future-mindedness,
and on a personal level, I think of my grandchildren.
My wife, Gwendolyn and I, as many of you know,
have 10 grandchildren.
The youngest are my four-year-old twin
granddaughters.
And I've watched them navigate their tablets and the internet.
And sometimes, they do it better than I do.
They find their videos, they sing their songs,
they hear rhymes, and they're not even in kindergarten yet.
I share this because things have been changing for a long time.
Things are not how I learned, or even how you learned.
The hardest part of meeting our students where they are
is figuring out how they got there.
Thinking ahead, will my grandchildren
even have printed textbooks in the future?
Well, distance education.
It'll be the norm and part of their lives.
These questions are vital.
And higher education, I believe, is
at the cusp of showing that we can pivot when we need to,
whether that means teaching online or learning how
to teach in ways that are different than what
we are used to doing.
They say, to know where you're going,
one must know where he or she has been.
Over the past year, Chaffey College
has shined, despite the clouds.
Let's start with COVID-19.
This global pandemic virtually stopped our normal way
of living.
But not for Chaffey College faculty and staff.
You showed how well you continue to serve students, even
in the middle of this pandemic.
First, we moved entirely online.
How did we do this?
Well, it required a lot of teamwork.
The entire campus community stepped up
in the midst of a crisis.
And that said, we had some wonderful leaders helping us
through this process.
Thank you.
Thank you to our Distance Education team
and the distance education coaches
for helping us transition to remote instruction.
Great work.
Faculty and staff, you stepped up
to hand out more than 2,000 loaner laptops to students,
sometimes in the rain, ensuring that our Panthers could
finish their spring semester and continue with their coursework
throughout the summer.
As long as the students stay enrolled
and registered in classes, they can keep using this technology.
So thank you to all of you who helped make that happen.
Our Information Technology Services team
have worked hard to keep our systems running and helping
our faculty and staff with their remote work.
Thank you to them.
Employees in our STEM programs worked hard over the summer
to assure our students could still gain lab experiences.
Staff assembled lab kits, equipment and supplies
to conduct safe experiments from home,
and distributed them in drive-through format on campus.
The Wignall Museum also showed us that they can be very nimble.
They've already held not one, but two online
exhibits to showcase the work of our student artists.
This format gave our students more exposure
than they normally would have gotten in an in-person format.
Our Chaffey journalism students did not
let COVID-19 stop them from learning their trade.
Staff members from The Breeze newspaper
worked with STEM summer interns to learn about their research
projects and share them with a general audience.
The Panther Care program transformed its pantry
to a drive-thru format, holding more than 20
at our three campuses locations since April,
serving more than 650 students.
I remember seeing staff in the rain, because it
does rain in Southern California,
holding out bags of food to our students who need it the most.
This is how we do things at Chaffey College.
We do not let anything stop us from serving our students.
We have a brand-new website.
I'll be honest, in my 13 years at Chaffey College,
I was not sure if this day would come.
I'm so glad it has.
I know it's new and different, but it looks 100% better,
and we'll get used to it together.
I also want to thank our leaders running our Safe Campus
Reopening workgroup--
Susan Hardie, Steve Lux, Troy Ament.
They're working to get us ready for our phased-in return
to campus.
Also, thank you, Troy, and your staff
for working daily on our campus to ensure operations
are running smoothly.
And last but not least, thank you to our executive team--
Lisa Bailey, Laura Hope, Melanie Siddiqi, Alisha Rosas,
and their respective staff for their strategic
work to steer us through these very difficult times.
While I love sharing good news, there is no doubt that,
despite our efforts, that we still have a long road ahead,
with many, many unknown things before us.
The bad news is that we all know we have some sacrifices that we
must make in the coming months with the state's $54.6 billion
deficit.
And unlike the recession in 2008,
students appear to be less enthusiastic about using
this economic downturn to get ahead in their studies,
judging by our current fall enrollment numbers.
However, it is important to recognize
that most of Chaffey's programs, particularly
those that help our most vulnerable students,
will remain at the 2019-2020 levels of support.
We need to continue to work together
so that Chaffey College can maintain
its high level of service, as our students can
get the preparation they need for the workforce.
This is more critical than ever for our community's
economic health.
For us to manage the good news with the bad,
we, again, have to work together.
We need to remember, in order for us to be forward thinkers,
we need to determine how we can reach our future goals
from where we are currently.
We are stronger together, Chaffey College.
2020 also brought to the spotlight something
that is not new to any of us, myself included.
Over the summer, an issue for which I am passionate about
reached a boiling point.
The deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery,
and others put this country's treatment of civil rights
at center stage.
Given the current circumstances, some
might say that those deaths and resulting Black Lives Matters
protests and riots could not have come
at a more unfortunate time.
But ensuring the equity of all people
should never be a matter of convenience.
We all need to play a role in giving our students
a fair shake so that anyone--
anyone-- regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation,
or country of origin can achieve their dreams
through hard work and support.
The webinars that we have held through the Center for Culture
and Social Justice to address this and other equity issues
will continue throughout the year.
And I encourage you to join us as a show of support
and encouragement for our students.
We need to show our students that they belong in the Chaffey
College community.
Even though many are working remotely,
they need to see our Zoom sessions as safe spaces
where they can share and reflect on how these experiences have
affected them.
It's through these moments that we all grow.
And again, this is something that
is powerful when done together.
If we stand together against racism and injustice,
the greater the chance for change.
If we are to attempt to be forward-thinking,
I believe equity and a sense of belonging
for all should be the foundation for all
that we do at Chaffey College.
As this school year starts, I encourage
you to try and connect yourself to as many positive things as
possible.
I know these are trying times.
Remember the good that is out there,
and align yourself there.
I know that sometimes all the negative news
can be exhausting.
Find joy in connecting with our beautiful students, who
are continuing to show up despite the challenges
that they are facing.
Participate in our college's program
to connect with other members from our campus community.
I encourage you to check out our One Book, One College selection
this year, which is titled Symptoms of Being Human
by Jeff Garvin.
I also hope you remember how critical your work is.
Each of you is changing lives, and in some cases,
generationally.
As the family members of our current students
see what education does and tries it out for themselves,
this results in having more educated people
having better jobs and living better lives.
This, in turn, results in better communities.
Such a ripple effect is the epitome
of being what future-minded is all about.
What we do for our students today impacts all of us
tomorrow.
In closing, I want to personally thank you
for being a part of the Chaffey College family.
Together, we are improving lives through education.
Here's to a wonderful 2021 academic school year.
Go Panthers.
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