President's Newsburst - October 2012

PRESIDENT’S NEWSBURST

OCTOBER 2012

President's Message

Election season is most definitely upon us!  Soon, many citizens will be voting via a mail-in ballot and Tuesday November 6, 2012 will be the big day.  In more ways than one, the fate of our Nation, our College and our District will be determined by this election.  We are fortunate to live in a democratic society where we have the privilege and responsibility to participate in this process as voters.  Our responsibility includes being informed on the issues, weighing pros/cons, and impacts of our vote.

The most often heard excuse for not voting in an election is "my vote won't really make a difference." Yet history is full of examples about the power of the single vote. So, on election day, every vote matters and your vote will help decide the future. 

If you are not already registered to vote, the exciting news is that Californians can now register to vote online. Now, any U.S. citizens and California resident with a driver's license and social security number can securely register to vote online at the California Secretary of State's website, www.RegisterToVote.Ca.Gov. Also, please encourage everyone in your family to get out and vote and help determine the future in our country. You can even help register a friend, family member, neighbor or colleague who is not registered to vote by e-mailing them a voter registration form by visiting www.VoteTheChange.com.

Get Informed about Proposition V

Prop. V is a $398 million bond measure appearing on the November 6 ballot. The GCCCD Board of Trustees recognized the need for long-range planning to ensure that Grossmont and Cuyamaca Colleges have adequate, up-to-date learning environments and technology infrastructure so that we can continue to provide relevant education and training to prepare students for university transfer and the 21st century workforce.  Prop. V would provide funding for facilities to meet the projected educational needs of our community, improve job training and veterans services for East County, and expand, update and replace our aging classrooms, infrastructure and technology systems. General information about Prop. V is available on our district website www.gcccd.edu/advancement-communications/proposition-v/default.html.

Get Informed about Proposition 30

Prop 30, known as the Schools and Safety Protection Act, is a tax measure sponsored by Gov. Jerry Brown to help balance the California budget. Money from the measure would avert $5 billion in midyear cuts to K-12 schools and $1 billion in cuts to higher education. The measure would temporarily raise the state sales tax by a quarter-cent for four years (2013-2016), and increase taxes on a sliding scale for those making more than $250,000 a year for seven years (tax years 2012-2018) to help close California's budget deficit.

If Prop. 30 fails, California's community colleges would lose $338 million in funding, which would result in cutting enrollment by 85,000 full-time equivalent students. Our District would be cut by $5.6 million, losing funding for the equivalent of 1,227 full-time students. In preparing for this worse-case scenario, the District has already cut 310 class sections, on top of the 1,600 class sections that have been eliminated over the past four years.

If Prop 30 is approved, funds from an education protection account established with these Prop 30 temporary taxes would be apportioned with 89% to K-12, and 11% to higher education. Community colleges would get $209 million in 2012-2013 and more than $3 billion over the next seven years. For GCCCD, this would prevent the $5.6 million cut and give us an increase this year estimated at $705,000. Thus, the District would be able to restore the 310 class sections we cut in the event of Prop 30 failing, plus we would be able to add another 40 classes. 

A competing tax measure, Prop 38, provides revenue for K-12 and early childhood education, but none for community colleges or universities. If both measures pass with more than 50% of the vote, the measure with the highest number of votes will be enacted.

Three informational forums have been scheduled to provide an opportunity to answer your questions about the upcoming crucial election so that you can make informed decisions and share with others about the impact of the November election on the college district. The dates for the forums include:

·         Tuesday, Oct. 16, 12:30-1:30 p.m., Grossmont College, Health & Sciences Building, 34-170

·         Wednesday, Oct. 17, 12:30-1:30 p.m., District Services South Annex Conference Room

·         Thursday, Oct. 18, 12:30-1:30 p.m., Cuyamaca College Student Center, I-208, Meeting Room 2.

Around The Campus

·         Welcome to Dr. Howard Irvin as our new Interim Dean of Counseling and Enrollment Services. Dr. Irvin has an extensive background serving in the California Community College System with over seven years of experience as an administrator. During this interim period, while the College continues with its nationwide search for a permanent Dean of Counseling, the following programs will be reporting to Dr. Irvin: Admissions and Records, EOPS/CARE, DSPS (Assistive Technology Center), Career Services (Career Center, Student Employment, Adult Re-entry), and CalWORKs.

·         The deadline to apply for Fall 2012 graduation is Oct.12. Please encourage all your students nearing graduation to take this important step!  Students should be directed to contact Admissions & Records to apply for graduation. 

·         Employee Wellness:  The GC Wellness Initiative and Professional Development Committee are committed to helping you improve your health and wellness by providing employee fitness classes at no cost. Zumba will be held from 5:30 to 6: 30 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays in 42-101. Yoga will be held from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. on Tuesdays in 42-101, and from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. on Fridays in the Health & Science Complex Lower Lobby. Recreation swimming is available from 4 to 4:50 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays, and from 11 to 11:50 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If you have any questions, please contact Sharon Vilarino. 

Volunteer-Led Activity Groups with your colleagues and co-workers offers fun, "good-for-the-soul" exercise. Join Linda Daley for walking at 9 a.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays, and Laura Murphey at 9 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Join Agustin Albarran for cycling at noon on Wednesdays.  Beginning jogging is available at 5:15 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays with Denise Schulmeyer. For hiking, contact Will Pines (North County), Bernadette Black (Cowles Mountain) and Anita Martinez (Mission Trails). Read more about the wellness activities at http://www.grossmont.edu/wellness/.

Take the opportunity to eat healthy, support locally grown produce and support a local school! Pershing Middle School on Navajo Road offers a Farmer's Market on Thursday afternoons from 4-7pm on the school's athletic field.  Stop by to stock up on healthy foods for you healthy lifestyle.

·         Planning is underway by the Faculty Professional Development Committee for Spring 2013 Flex Week. The theme for Spring 2013 Flex Week is "Faculty Success." The deadline for the call for workshops for Flex Week is Oct. 17. The form is available via a link on the Professional Development website, www.grossmont.edu/staffdevelop. If you have any questions, please contact the committee chairs, Mark Goodman, Mark.Goodman@gcccd.edu, ext.7886, or Cindi Harris, Cindi.Harris@gcccd.edu, ext. 7502.

·         Approximately 17 members of Grossmont College will tour the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena on Friday, October 26. The tour is expected to include a multimedia presentation on JPL entitled "Journey to the Planets and Beyond," which provides an overview of the Laboratory's activities and accomplishments. Guests may also visit the Von Karman Visitor Center, the Space Flight Operations Facility, and the Spacecraft Assembly Facility. This will be an all-day event, leaving the Grossmont College area around 8:30 a.m., and returning in the evening.

Dreamkeepers!

This year the Dreamkeepers window was only open for one week before all emergency grant funds were expended.  Thank you to all those that referred our students in need to the fund designed to help students stay in college.  The Grossmont College Financial Aid Office allocated Dreamkeeper Grant funds to students who are enrolled in at least six units with a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher and can demonstrate an "emergency" need.  

 All faculty, staff and administrators are invited to become a free e-mail subscriber to The Summit, the Grossmont College student newspaper. Evan Wirig, Media Communications, is encouraging you to activate your subscription by visiting www.gcsummit.com and type your e-mail address at the top left box. Whenever news breaks, you will receive an e-mail headline alert.

In The Community

·         Grossmont and Cuyamaca student leaders came together in a Day of Service on Friday, Oct. 5 at Noah Homes as they assisted in planting their winter garden. Noah Homes provides residential homes and services for adults with developmental disabilities.

·         Our nursing students will be visible in the community on Saturday, Oct. 13 with an exhibit booth at the El Cajon Safety & Career Expo from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Fire Station 6, 100 East Lexington Ave. The free family fun will include a Home Depot Kids Workshop, child I.D., Heartland Fire Safety Trailer and senior resource. For more information, visit www.HeartlandFire.org.

·         Several community groups have scheduled informational meetings about Proposition V, the GCCCD facilities bond measure appearing on the Nov. 6 ballot. The groups include: Lemon Grove Rotary on Monday, Oct. 8; Alpine-Mountain Empire Chamber on Tuesday, Oct. 9; Kiwanis Club of Alpine on Saturday, Oct. 13; and Santee Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday, Oct. 16.

·         The San Diego East County Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with GCCCD, will offer a series of "How-To" workshops designed to assist small business owners in East County. The workshops are free of charge and each workshop will be held from 9 to 11 a.m. at the Chamber's Community Room, 201 S. Magnolia Ave. in El Cajon. The first workshop, "Generational Diversity in the Workplace," will be presented on Tuesday, Oct. 30, by Victoria Hankins, professional development instructor with the San Diego and Imperial County Workplace Learning Resource Center (WpLRC). This workshop will offer tips on how managers and staff can foster good working relationships between generations, including understanding sources of generational conflict and how to minimize it, how to identify each generation's value system, what motivates each generation, how each generation defines success and appreciating and gaining respect for what is important to each generation. For more information about the series, contact the San Diego East County Chamber at (619) 440-6161, or visit www.eastcountychamber.org.

·         Grossmont and Cuyamaca students are planning to participate at the Mother Goose Parade in El Cajon on Sunday, Nov. 18th. All those interested in participating are encouraged to attend the parade and cheer for the students and college mascots as they pass by riding on an antique fire truck. The parade is the largest parade in San Diego County and the largest west of the Mississippi. The parade will begin at Magnolia and Main Street in El Cajon, head along Main Street to North Second Street, turns north and then end at Madison Avenue. For more parade information, visit www.mothergooseparade.org http://www.mothergooseparade.org/. For information about GC students in the parade, contact Peg Marcus, president, ASGC.

Honors

·         GC History instructors Carlos Contreras and Oscar Canedo have been selected by the American Historical Association (AHA) for its "Bridging Cultures at Community Colleges" project. Contreras and Canedo are among 24 faculty members from 12 community colleges in the U.S. that will work over the next three years on a project called "American History, Atlantic and Pacific." As part of the project, community college faculty members will reframe the origins of the United States within a broad geographical and chronological context, including recommending revisions to U.S. History courses such as the U.S. History Survey, often considered as a general education course. The National Endowment for the Humanities is supporting this project through cooperative agreement with the AHA.

·         Retired psychology faculty member Teresa Jacob has been recognized by Stanford University for exceptional teaching. She was selected for the honor by Stanford freshmen and GC graduate Daniel McKay. Incoming Stanford freshmen were invited to acknowledge a former teacher or mentor who played a significant role in their intellectual, academic, social and personal development, and McKay selected Dr. Jacob. McKay was the student speaker at the 2012 Commencement ceremony.

Upcoming campus events

·         More than 50 artwork pieces created by 30 different Art Department faculty members are on display through Oct. 25 at the Hyde Art Gallery, located in Building #25. The mixed-media exhibition represents the various disciplines that exist within the Grossmont College Art Department, including photography, jewelry, painting and drawing and ceramics and sculpture.

·         This is the second year of our campuswide "one-book, one-campus" project. Students in classrooms across the campus will be discussing "Silent Spring," the book credited with helping to launch the environmental movement of the 1960s. Related activities will include student art work, student debates, film showings, biology posters and essay contests. The "Silent Spring" film screening will be held at 10:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 9 at Griffin Gate.  For the latest schedule, visit www.grossmont.edu/english/SilentSpring.

·         The Grossmont College Theater Arts program will present "Mauritius" at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 11, 12, 13 and at 2 p.m. on Oct. 13 at the Stagehouse Theater in Building #21. General admission is $15 per person. Tickets are available at the door and online at the Theatre Arts Department website, www.grossmont.edu/theatrebrochure. The play features adult language and may not be suitable for young children. For more information, phone ext. 7234.

·         College Transfer Day is Wednesday, Oct. 10, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., in the Main Quad. The Transfer Center is anticipating representatives from six UC's, nine CSU's, more than one dozen out-of-state schools and two dozen or so independent or private schools. There are three things you can do to help students consider their transfer options: (1) Encourage students to attend the College Transfer Fair; (2) Add your name to the list of faculty, administrators and staff who are willing to share information about their alma mater(s) with students. (3). Wear the t-shirt of your alma mater on Wednesday, October 10th.

·         GC Women's Tennis Coach Megan Haber is inviting everyone to step back in time with the fourth annual "Whites and Woods Doubles Tournament," a round-robin doubles tournament and fundraiser benefiting the Grossmont College men's and women's tennis teams and the West Hills High School tennis teams, starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Oct.13, at the GC tennis courts on campus. Players are encouraged to wear all white and use wooden rackets (wooden rackets will be available for rent for $5). Cost to play is $40 per team. For more information, contact Nathan Welden at (619) 920-9052, or visit www.FletcherHillsTennis.com, click "Tournaments."

·         East County native, writer and artist Mindy Solis, former Grossmont College Creative Writing student, will present a reading dedicated to the stories and poems of the people of San Diego's East County at Grossmont College at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 17 in Griffin Gate. The public is invited to attend this free event, which is part of Grossmont College's Creative Writing Program's Fall Reading Series and the Lester Bangs Memorial Reading, named after the deceased rock `n' roll critic and former Grossmont College student. Solis is the editor of "The Far East: Everything Just As It Is," an anthology of writings that combines non-fiction and poetry to create a portrait of life in East San Diego County.

·         The Afro-Cuban Ensemble will perform with the Grossmont College Jazz Ensemble at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 18 at Cuyamaca College Performing Arts Theatre. Also, the Grossmont Concert Band will perform its fall concert at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 22. Admission for both concerts is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and military and $5 for students.

·         The Career Center will host "Career Week" from Oct. 15 to 18. All workshops and activities will be held in the Career Center, Building #60, Room #140. Free reviews of resumes will be available from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 15. On Tuesday, Oct. 16, two workshops will be held: "The Perfect Match," a workshop about researching your employer, from 10 to 11:30 a.m., and "The Interview" on interviewing tips from 1 to 2:30 p.m. On Thursday, Oct. 18, a workshop called "Successful Employment After Your '40s, '50s and '60s" will be held from 10 to 11:30 a.m. The 34th annual Career Expo with approximately 50 exhibitors will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 17 in the Main Quad. A fashion show also will be held from 11 a.m. to noon during Career Expo. Students are encouraged to come prepared with their resume and proper interview attire. For a complete list of Career Week workshops and clinics, including the time and location, visit www.grossmont.edu/careercenter, click "News & Events" and "Workshops," or please call the Career Center at ext. 7614.

·         Grossmont College will be the site of the Grossmont Union High School District's ninth annual "Got Plans?," a free career and career fair for high school students and parents, from 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 20. The public is invited to attend. More than 6,000 students are expected to attend and take advantage of free information about educational and career options after high school. Admissions representatives from over 90 public and private universities, community colleges, vocational schools, and the military are expected to attend. Free workshops will review options at four-year universities, two-year colleges, financial aid and career opportunities, as well as SAT/ACT tests. Some sessions will be offered in Spanish and Arabic. The event is a partnership between the high school district and the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District.  It will be the first time "Got Plans?" has been held at Grossmont College. For more information, visit www.ghusd.net.

·         The Inter-Club Council will host an all-campus yard sale from 7 to 11 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 27 in Parking Lot #7. Only registered student organizations will be allowed to sell, but the entire campus and members of the public are invited to donate items and, of course, stop by and shop!

·         The Grossmont College Dance Department will present "Breaking Boundaries," a student- choreographed dance concert, at 7:30 p.m., Thursday through Sunday, Nov. 1 to 3, at the Joan B. Kroc Theatre. 6611 University Ave., San Diego. The concert, showcasing a variety of dance genres, including modern dance, ballet, jazz, and hip-hop, will be choreographed and performed by dance students. Admission tickets at the door are $13 per person (cash only). For more information, visit www.grossmont.edu/dance, or call the Dance Department at 644-7766.

Recent campus events

·         Among the books discussed at the recent A Celebration of Banned Books: "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carlson, "Howl" by Allen Ginsberg, "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac and "Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky. It was part of our campus' participation in the American Library Association's annual Banned Books Week.

·         Grossmont graduate and Army Reserves veteran Justin Dile spoke at a recent press conference about the impact of budget cuts on veterans. Click here for a link http://www.gcccd.edu/news/2012/10/10032012veterans-news-conference.html  to a story about the press conference.

·         The Office Professional Training program recently held a fundraiser at Mountain Mike's pizza restaurant. OPT students also sold pizza in the Main Quad. More than $400 was raised from the pizza sale, donations and an opportunity drawing held at the restaurant.