The
culmination of our year is our Commencement ceremony and it was certainly a
spectacular event. As soon as the ceremonies ended, many of us sighed
with relief and hoped to take some well deserved rest. Others of us
rolled up our sleeves, wore jeans and packed our offices for impending moves!
Let me take
a moment to thank each of you for serving our students this past year under
very challenging circumstances. You are the very best!
Warm wishes
for a restful summer.
Sunny
GC CELEBRATES 2010 COMMENCEMENT
|
About 4,000 people attended our 49th annual Commencement ceremony held
on June 3. The entire college celebrated the 1,057 students receiving associate
degrees and 341 students receiving certificates of achievement. The
Commencement speaker was El Cajon Police Chief Pat Sprecco, who earned his
associate degree in administration of justice from Grossmont College in 1976.
His career with the El Cajon
Police Department spans 38 years. Because he did not attend his own graduation
in 1976, Dr. Cooke surprised Chief Sprecco by calling him to be the first name
recited. Cami Perez,
who graduated with honors in the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program,
delivered an outstanding speech as the student speaker. Also recognized were
the two recipients of the 2009-2010 Distinguished Faculty Award, Renee Tuller
and Roxanne Tuscany. Roxanne could not attend because she is currently
traveling to China for a speech/debate tournament with our students. Diedrea
Lewis, a vocal student with the Gospel Choir, sang a beautiful rendition of our
national anthem. Other Commencement notables: 15 graduates earned a 4.0
GPA during their time with us; 181 students graduated with honors; 64 graduates
were from Phi Theta Kappa, the international honors society; 59 graduates wore
red, white and blue tassels because they are military veterans who attended Grossmont
with the support of their veterans benefits; and 44 graduates were
international students. A new addition to the ceremony had graduates
recessing past a “line of honor” (faculty, staff, administrators, Board
members) and was extremely well received.
Thank
you to Agustin Albarran, the entire Commencement team, our music volunteers and
our facilities crew for making the event spectacular!
SUMMER
SEMESTER ENROLLMENT
|
Below are
enrollment comparisons as June 2, 2010 for Summer 2010 as compared to
Summer 2009:
Summer
2010 |
Summer
2009 |
Count
Variance |
% Variance
|
|
Headcount
|
5,640
|
7,662
|
-2,022
|
-26.4%
|
Units
|
22,852.5
|
33,309.5
|
-10,457
|
-31.4%
|
The 2010
Summer Semester begins June 14. Because the number of course offerings have
been cut in half, enrollment is severely impacted! More than half as many
students who are currently enrolled have requested to be placed on a wait list.
About 4,600 students are remain on a wait list.
Our faculty will see huge numbers of
students wanting to crash their courses the first week of summer session. Our
Enrollment Strategies committee has been meeting and developing plans to
accommodate concerned students as they try to crash that first week. Also,
workshops on proactive steps our students can take will be offered.
VOTE
FOR GC AS SAN DIEGO’S BEST
|
Every
member of the Grossmont College family and friends are encouraged to vote
online for Grossmont College as the Best Local College in this year’s San Diego
Union-Tribune 2010 Readers Poll. Let’s not miss this
opportunity. Here is the link: http://www.signonsandiego.com/bestof/2010/nominate/san-diego-life/college-or-university/.
Voting ends on June 27. All voters can enter to win free groceries for a
year from Henry’s Marketplace. Grossmont was selected as “San Diego’s Best” in
2003, 2004, 2007 and 2008. So, let’s make it a “high five.”
NURSING PINNING CEREMONY
|
In
front of an enthusiastic crowd of more than 350 on June 1, the GC School of
Nursing held a pinning ceremony for its Class of 2010, consisting of 31
two-year ADN graduates and 22 LVN-RN graduates. Student speakers included Lisa
Brudvik and Jennifer Smith. The GC School of Nursing began in the fall of 1967
and has graduated over 5300 nursing students.
OPT GRADUATION
|
The
Office of Professional Training (OPT) program graduated its class of
Spring 2010 of 23 students at a ceremony held June 4. The graduates received
$5,150 in scholarships, which they can use for further education and/or job
search expenses. Most of the graduates majored in Accounting or Insurance; 21
students (Fall 2009-Spring 2010) completed the new specialization in
Banking/Finance Services. Six graduates completed “double majors” and four
completed “triple majors.” Twelve different awards were presented, including the
Hugh Leslie Textbook Scholarship, International Association of Administrative
Professionals Scholarship, Outstanding Student Awards and Ultimate OPT Award.
The OPT program has been training students at GC for 25 years since 1984. With
the newest 23 graduates, we have graduated 2,134 students from the program. To
graduate from OPT, students must complete 20 week of intense training and
attend classes for more than 600 hours and achieve in one semester what a
regular Grossmont student might achieve in two or three semesters. The
graduation ceremony is an important occasion to recognize their efforts, their
families’ sacrifices and the dedication of the entire OPT team.
5K WALK FOR OPT
|
OPT
will host a 5K for OPT fundraiser starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday, June 12, at
the Grossmont College track. Entry fees are $20 for each
adult entry (ages 13+), $3 for each child entry (ages 12 and under) and $25 for
race-day registration. Sponsors include Al’s Sport Shop and OPT Alumni
Association. Water and snack stations will be available. Each participant will
be entered into a drawing for prizes. For information, contact Mary Leslie at
ext. 7533.
MOVING IS UNDERWAY
|
Our
relocation efforts into the modular village in Parking Lot #5 are in full
swing. Building 100 offices will be relocated in three shifts to minimize the
disruption and to shorten the time each office area is down. Moving activities
will be ongoing from June 4 to 10. The next few weeks will be
extremely busy as departments work to get their offices packed, moved and their
office contents put away at the end of the move. We have worked to try to
minimize the disruption, but with a move this size, there will definitely be
delays and inconveniences to all involved. This is a monumental task and each
area has worked extremely hard to prepare for the move and its impacts on
students and staff. Thank you for your assistance, patience and support
throughout this move process.
CHANCELLORS/CLASSIFIED
SENATE QUARTERLY AWARD
|
The
Chancellors/Classified Senate Quarterly Award provides an opportunity to honor
employees whose job excellence and work ethic inspires others. The
quarterly award celebrates a classified employee with recognition for outstanding
work. This nomination will give you an opportunity to describe how the
employee has “gone above and beyond” the scope of assigned work duties. We
know there are hardworking dedicated employees, but what has the nominee done
extra for your area and then tell us about it? Please be sure and give specific
examples of how the employee embraces the five key values (Academic
Excellence, Unity, Standardization, Alignment and Resources – go to www.gcccd.edu/about/mission.asp
for an explanation of these values). The deadline for the next quarterly award
is June 11. Submit your nomination today. For more information, please access
the Grossmont-Cuyamaca College Classified Senate website at: www.gcccd.edu/class_senate and
click on “Chancellors Award.”
DEL
MAR FAIR
|
Discount
tickets are available now at the Student Activities Window to the 2010 San
Diego County Fair. Here are the details:
·
$13 unlimited admission ticket (Go every day of the fair for
the price of one day)
·
$7 single-day child
admission (ages 6-12)
·
$7 single-day senior admission (ages 62 & older)
·
$51 value pack (4 single-day admissions, 4 drink coupons, 20 ride
coupons, 1 parking pass)
·
$39.95 ride lover’s pack (single-day admission, one drink coupon,
50 ride coupons)
·
$15 ride coupon sheet (25 ride coupons; each ride requires 3-6
coupons).
Please
note the following about the unlimited admission ticket:
This
ticket is not sold at the fairgrounds. Season pass price is $22 at the fair.
Any age visitor may use this ticket. The ticket is not transferable and must be
presented with a school, state, or government-issued photo ID.
RECENT
HONORS
|
·
GC
Women’s Soccer Coach Howie Hawver
has been honored as the 2010 Pacific Coast Athletic Conference Female Sport
Coach of the Year. Hawver is currently battling ALS, or Amyotrophic Lateral
Sclerosis, often referred to as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. At the beginning of the
season, Howie said he would finish the season, and he did. We applaud Coach
Howie for his courageousness, fortitude and determination to finish the season.
Hawver is the only head coach the Grossmont College women’s soccer program has
ever had. In the past 15 seasons, his teams have made 12 state playoff
appearances. This year, the women’s soccer team did not advance to the
playoffs. The team finished the 2009 campaign with a record of 7-6-1 in
conference play, 8-7-1 overall, and they finished in fifth place out of nine
teams.
·
At
a San Diego East County Chamber of Commerce breakfast on June 4, special
tribute was paid to retiring Grossmont Union High School District
Superintendent Bob Collins. Several certificates and proclamations were
presented to Bob, including a presentation from GCCCD Chancellor Dr. Cindy L.
Miles and Governing Board members Deanna Weeks and Rick Alexander. Dr.
Miles presented Bob with a construction worker helmet that was decorated with
pipes “since Bob builds pipelines,” she said. Bob later called GCCCD “the best
community college district in the state” and “a community treasure.”
BUDGET
NEWS
|
The
State Assembly and Senate have both acted to significantly augment Proposition
98 funding, paid for with taxes in the Senate and a combination of taxes and
borrowing in the Assembly. The Community College League of California believes
the two versions of the budget for community colleges will include:
Assembly:
*
$129 million for enrollment growth (increase of $3 million from governor's
proposal, or about 620 FTES)
*
$22.1 million to eliminate negative COLA
*
$35.8 million to maintain federal funds used last year to reduce categorical
cuts, and to eliminate negative
COLA on categoricals
*
$100 million augmentation for Economic Development
*
rejected $10 million cuts to EOPS and Part-time Faculty Compensation
*
rejected $20 million augmentation to career-technical education
*
rejected adding additional categoricals to flexibility
Senate:
*
$22.9 million to eliminate negative COLA (apportionment and categoricals)
*
rejected $10 million cuts to EOPS and Part-time Faculty Compensation
*
rejected $20 million augmentation to career-technical education
*
rejected adding additional categoricals to flexibility
We
haven't seen language yet regarding the $100 million for Economic Development
approved by the Assembly, but will work with the committees to ensure that the
funds are available for a range of activities, particularly short-term
career-technical education programs that help Californians get back to work.
UPCOMING EVENTS
|
·
The San Diego Blood Bank will host a blood drive in the
Main Quad from 10 a.m. to 3:30 pm. on Tuesday, June 15.
To make an appointment online, go to www.sandiegobloodbank.org.
Click on “Appointments” and “Make an Appointment at a Mobile Blood Drive.”
Enter the sponsor code: GROS.
·
The East County Economic Development Council Foundation
will present its 2010 annual fundraiser in support of the industrial arts
programs of East County schools starting at 6 p.m., on Friday, June 11, at
Cuyamaca College’s Communication Arts Center. The public is invited to attend
an evening of live music featuring acoustic performances by Doyle Dykes and the
Krueger Brothers. A silent and live auction also are planned. Tickets are $50
per person. To order tickets, visit www.EastCountyEDC.org.
Outstanding Career Technical Education students from East County high schools
and Grossmont and Cuyamaca Colleges will be honored. Over the years, the
Foundation has provided $350,000 in monetary awards to local shop classes for
tools, supplies and raw materials, as well as upgrades to machinery.
