Week of March 11, 2024
Hi Fam,
How are you? I spend time every week telling you about me and what I do. I wanted to make sure that you know that you are first on my mind in all that I do every day. So, even though I may not ask you how you are in this format, I wanted you to know that in addition to making sure that we focus on the holistic needs of our students, it is equally as important that we take time to afford the same level of respect and courtesy for one another. A few decades ago, we were taught to leave our personal lives at the door when we came to work. I want to challenge each of us to take the extra time and put extra effort into checking on the well-being of each other. Let us be okay with crying with each other when we have loss, disappointment, or heartache and to laugh and celebrate with each other when we bring new life into the world, have graduations, marriages, and new homes. As I look to you as family, I stated in my first Opening Day address that I see us as a functional family 😊. Please continue to feel free to create a safe space to be vulnerable and authentic in this space.
This week, I will be providing a reflection and activity report for two weeks. Next week I will be out of town all but one day. I will be in LA (not back in Louisiana, but in the original LA) on Tuesday and Wednesday at the ACCJC peer review required meeting. I will then take a train from LA to San Diego to join our team for the Guided Pathways Institute #6 for the remainder of the week.
Now for my weekly reflection 😊. This past Sunday, I went to my church where we celebrated International Day. We dressed in cultural attire representative of the diverse culture in our church. I wore one of my African dresses with a head wrap. The clothes seen throughout our congregation were a beautiful sight. After church, I came to campus and spent time with my model airplane group. There were more than our usual combat and flying exhibitions. We also had remote cars and trucks. But I also got to spend time with the drone operator who showed me an aerial view of our beautiful and large college. It looks way bigger from the air than what I see when I drive around the perimeter. The weather was beautiful and although I missed my hour of sleep, it was a very relaxing day. It felt good to have time to spend on campus seeing all the remote cars and planes and people walking their dogs and playing with their kids.
On Monday, we had our President’s Council in the morning. We were joined by Dr. Frost and Dr. Goldsmith to look at graduation requirements - Physical Education. No decisions just discussions of the different views, and requirements across the District. I then drove to the District Office to attend the Chancellor’s Cabinet meeting. We reviewed our enrollment. Congratulations everyone!! We are still up in comparison to 2019 (pre-COVID). We reviewed the status of BPs and ARs. After Chancellor’s Cabinet, I attended the City of Clovis Council meeting where we had a student from the Speech and Debate Club speak during Public Comments, and the Council Members and Mayor stated how wonderfully organized and great the luncheon was last week. Congratulations to everyone who made it a top-notch and elegant event. The Mayor also stated that they have learned a lot about the College and are glad we are in this community.
On Tuesday, it was Kids Day and when I drove into work, I saw our Crush Fam out there on the corner braving the rain and early morning chill with the newspaper and raising money. CCC had a goal of raising $1,000.00 for Kids Day and we crushed it by raising $1113.22. Thank you to the volunteers – you were awesome! As for me, I spent the majority of the morning in interviews for the Chemistry Faculty position (or I would have been out there too for Kids Day). I then drove to Reedley College to attend the March SCCCD Board meeting. At the board meeting, we celebrated the newly-tenured faculty from all four colleges. Congratulations to our following faculty members on their incredible milestone in their careers:
- Clayton Albertson, Head Coach & Kinesiology
- David Cao, Chemistry
- Stephanie Coffman, Biology
- Dawn Hart, Art
- Lawton Nichols, Computer Science
- Helena Reed, Occupational Therapy Assistant
- Charlotte Samuels, Political Science
- Tracy Stuntz, Instructional Designer
- Christina Wells, Communication
On Wednesday morning, I was the speaker at the Wake Up Clovis Event for the Clovis Chamber of Commerce. I spoke on what we have to offer at the College and I provided them with the 2023-2024 Clovis Annual Report. When I returned to campus, I filmed two videos: 1) the VPSS selection process, and 2.) a welcome for the SBDC Luncheon since I will not be able to make it. After, I had the most pleasant surprise visit from Pao Vang and Cheri Cruz from The Fresno Center. Pao Vang could not make it to the President’s Luncheon, so he and his team stopped by my office to gift me with a beautiful Hmong tapestry of the Hmong village. The tapestry was hand-woven and sent over all the way from Laos. But, that was not all. They also gifted me with a beautiful Hmong silver necklace called xauv, and when Pao placed it around my neck, he said to me, ‘You’re initiated into the Hmong community.’ Ya’ll, I am now Hmong – and I knew after meeting Silas and getting to know The Fresno Center, that one day I will be Hmong (I even told my daughters), and now I am!! Pao also shared the history of xauv, that it is not just a piece of jewelry, but that it is a reminder of when the Hmong people were captured and enslaved by the Chinese, and used as a form of identification. Now, xauv is worn more as decorative and Hmong people wear it proudly while remembering their history and who they are. I am honored to be gifted the xauv and will wear it proudly. I was excited to share the moment with Bonnie (who secretly knew of this) and Johnny, who happened to have his professional camera to take the photos. I ended my day by attending the Soroptimist International of Clovis meeting
On Thursday, we hosted the Integrated State Center 2035 focus groups to talk about where we are in the process and to spend time going over the facilities plan and getting your input. We had a great turnout with over 60 people attending including faculty, classified professionals, students, and administrators. Thank you for sharing your voice and making sure that it is heard and documented. After the Integrated 2035 meeting, I left for the airport to leave to go to San Diego to attend the CCLC CEO Symposium. I will be gone until Sunday.
I look forward to getting back on campus and seeing you. I continually pray and hope that you all have a great weekend. That you are all safe and get to spend time with friends and family. Hug someone a little tighter for me. Spend time with your elders and show them and the generation behind them that our elders are to be valued and respected. Also, take time to take care of yourself. You are special to me and I want to remind you to put your oxygen mask on first so that you can continue to give to our students and each other.
In service,
Kim E. Armstrong, Ph.D.
