Week of September 16, 2024

Good morning, Colleagues!

Herndon

I begin this communication with gratitude for our Herndon Campus staff, who have been sharing with me their thoughts for strengthening operations and improving communication, thereby providing better services to our Herndon-based students and staff. Effective immediately, I will host some of my small group meetings at Herndon (e.g., Vice President's Council) and meet monthly with Herndon staff to continue this work. Joining me at the monthly Herndon Campus meetings will be at least one Vice President starting in October with VPAS, Kimberly Duong.

Thank you to all the staff who attended last week's meeting and shared their ideas. We began the semester on Opening Day with a message of hope as a vehicle for change. The staff who attended and spoke at the meeting as well as privately with me after the meeting are helping to steer us on the best path forward. I am grateful for your honesty and your faith in us!

Teaching and Learning Center

James Ortez is working with Interim Dean Teresa Mendes and a small group of faculty, including Instructional Designer Tracy Stuntz and AS President Max Hembd, to create a workable space for the Teaching and Learning Center at the Herndon Campus. This is a work in progress. To complement this effort, I have asked James to recruit for and fill two faculty coordinator positions which are on hiatus this semester: DEIA and Professional Development. Faculty in these roles will join Tracy Stuntz in helping us provide a comprehensive suite of support services for all faculty (adjunct and full-time, instructional and non-instructional) at the Center.

James will send out a call to fill both positions for Spring 2025, so please watch for the emails.

Events

I had the pleasure to attend numerous college or district related events last week beginning last Tuesday with the Presidential Debate Watch Party hosted by the Clovis Law Society (and their faculty advisor, Charlotte Samuels). The group hosted a voter registration event in the hour preceding the debate and provided free food for students attending the watch party. They will be hosting a Constitution Day activity tomorrow. Please show your support by attending!

I want to thank the Outreach and Student Activities Office as well as Counseling Offices for a stellar College Night. Our exhibit at the Convention Center was impressive and hard to miss, and we met with many area students looking for information on various programs. The Outreach and Student Activities Offices were busy as they joined efforts with the Financial Aid Office staff, Vice Presidents’ and Deans’ Office staff, and the SCCCD Foundation to host our annual Scholarship Ceremony. I want to extend a special thank you to Bonnie Boonthavongkham for her coordination efforts! We awarded over 200 scholarships worth more than $150,000 to our students, and we celebrated these students in a full house of family, friends, staff, and community members last Thursday!

On Friday, I had the pleasure of sitting down for lunch with new faculty Jay McDaniel (Chemistry) and Clayton Plake (English) at the District Office. They attended an onboarding session for new full-time faculty hosted by HR. I enjoyed getting to know them a little better outside of the meetings that happen on campus.

Back on campus in the afternoon, I was thrilled by the official welcome provided by our Athletics Department and the women's soccer team ahead of their game facing Evergreen College! Thank you to James Sewell, Coach Ramirez, Dean Mendes, and the women's soccer team for this celebration and congratulations to the team on their win!

We are celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, so keep an eye out for events on our campus this week and next. Thanks you, Student Activities, for the free coffee and pan dulce this morning!

Wishing you a fantastic week 6!

Monica Chahal, Ed.D.