Week of June 3, 2024

Hi Clovis Fam,

How is everybody? I hope everyone is gearing up for the heat. You’ve got your AC working both at home and in your cars. You’ve got your pools and pool accessories all in place and are ready with sunshades and sunscreen.

Well, this report will be short as well as probably the next few as I will be out of town most of the next few days.

On Saturday, I had the extreme pleasure of walking with a group of amazing Clovis individuals, both classified professionals, faculty, and students in the Pride Parade. Kirt and Leslie held the brand-new and outstanding banner and led the Clovis steppers in the parade. Emilee had a wagon filled with rainbow fans, our CCC RASFA tee shirts, our rainbow alliance Clovis horns (which were a big hit- made by Emilee ), and rainbow keychains. Emilee left to take care of the Clovis booth and Bonita lugged all of our water bottles, fans, horns, and keychains in her backpack. I met Stephanie’s partner and they paraded with us. Naomi and Rebeka were there, as well as Jodi and her family. It was also nice to see all the students. As we paraded down the street (noticed I said “paraded” because we did not just walk…No, No, No, No, we “PARADED!” We waved, we yelled, and we even danced. Next year I think we will need Clovis and rainbow flags and a flag corp. I think we will also need our drumline. We will also NEED our own original Clovis fight song! Ralph LOL. Thank you to everyone who took time out of their busy weekend to represent. It was good as people cheered and even yelled, “THAT’S MY SCHOOL!!!!” when they saw us. I felt proud as last year I marched alone.

On Sunday, after church, I went to the 31st Annual African American High School Graduation Recognition Celebration. A sponsorship/scholarship opportunities ceremony sponsored by the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. San Joaquin Valley Alumnae Chapter. They had approximately 440 graduates and they gave out approximately $144,000 in scholarships. I was so inspired by this longstanding commitment to the African American graduating class from Fresno County Schools that I was able to give my first scholarship of $1000 to Quennel Kempe who will be coming to us in the fall. He also received scholarships from CalViva Health and Clovis Unified School District. It was an incredible cultural event. We sang the Black National Anthem. And, we honored the late Dr. Francine Broadous Oputa, who I had the honor of working with and knowing last year before her untimely passing. We honored her legacy by carrying on the Rites of Tradition, there was dancing and tap dancing and in addition to the keynote speaker Fredy Tshibanda, we had the presentation of the stole that were made in Kenya and have been for years just for the celebration. I also had the pleasure of being introduced to Christina Wells’ husband. Honorable Ryan I. Wells. It’s always special for me to get to meet your family even if for a brief moment. Thank you for allowing me that honor.

Once the African American High School Recognition Ceremony was over, I had the pleasure of attending the Second Annual Latinx High School Celebration which was presented by Fresno Unified School District. It was also a wonderful cultural experience we had Baile Focloico, Mariachi, and Baile Azteca performances. They displayed all the Latinx flags represented and in addition to the incredible student speakers, they also had a ceremony of presenting the stoles. Although I was not on stage I did procession in with the others who were there to support these students. We are looking to continue and grow this grassroots student-developed recognition. There was no scholarship program but I did pledge to give $1000.00 to help continue the celebration.

On Monday, I had the President’s Council and we talked about our EEO and AG Tech presentations. I then had Chancellor’s Cabinet where we reviewed the Board meeting agenda and did run-throughs of our presentation. We talked about Convocation and were provided Telework usage updates.

On Tuesday I reviewed the information from Chancellors Cabinet with the VPs who were present (Lorrie is on vacation). I then went to the June Board meeting. We had our Student Trustee Haiden sworn in. This year's Student Trustee is from Clovis. He was making motions and really represented us well on his first day serving on the board. We then had the Ag Tech presentation and our very own Teresa and Matthew were the stars of the show. They provided our board with accurate and thorough information about the processes for both faculty involvement and curricula development. They also were well poised to answer questions that stemmed from the interest of our board. Great job and they represented Clovis magnificently. I then gave my dedication to diversity and the EEO 2024 annual report. We were approved for the HBCU and the Student-Athlete travel to Oregon. It was a long board meeting with all the presentations and with a Closed Session. When the board returned from the Closed Session, it was announced that my contract had been approved for an additional year. I am proud to have the opportunity to serve you for an additional year.

On Wednesday morning, I did my onboarding video. Then I walked around campus because Bonnie put me out of the office so she could do her onboarding video without me making her laugh or interrupting. (Would I do that ???!!!!). As I walked around I told everyone about how IT had raised the bar of expectations of the video and how Bonnie had upped her game too. Now we have a competition going on about who’s area will have the best onboarding video. I will give a prize to the best one. It’s on y’all. I have also been asked to have a viewing party so I will provide popcorn and drinks (soda !!!!), and we have bloopers to look at too. We will make it happen. Thank you to everyone and know that this video will not only let new people know what we do but who we are. I am looking forward to seeing the final project. Stephanie and videographer Johnny Soto are doing a great job.

After I returned from being banished from my own office, I met via Zoom our Achieving the Dream coaches. They wanted to meet with me before our team goes to the mandatory orientation meeting next week down in New Orleans. The team going is Max, Gurdeep, Ryan, and myself. There will be a lot to learn. Our data coach knows my previous data coach and my first president from Arkansas. They will help us to take a look at all that we are doing and assess what our capacity is with resources to do what we do, as well as they will help us to make sure that we address initiative fatigue. We will develop a plan to incorporate the Guided Pathways initiative into all that we do as the grant is almost over. We will discuss and develop a plan of how to best proceed as a college. This will truly be a participatory and inclusive process. This will be the framework by which we use data to determine what our next steps are and how to navigate our current processes and culture. I am excited to be going on this journey with you.

After work, I had the pleasure of joining Jami De la Cerda for the graduation ceremony of her son Elijah. It was a wonderful ceremony. All of her staff from DLC attended as did some of their students. I was thrilled to be asked to attend something so special.

On Thursday, I had the honor of welcoming our new ASG officers and senators. Maricarmen is doing a great job with these types of training for our student leaders. Our new Student Trustee also attended. I talked to them about the importance of their individual and collective voices as well as their responsibility to serve as the voice of the students on committees, on campus, and in the community. They are a great group of student leaders, and I am excited to work with them.

After my time with our ASG leaders, I went to the District Office for my evaluation with the Chancellor. I walked in a little smug because the board had already extended my contract another year. Well, I was told that it had not been signed by the Chancellor yet. I said “Point made,” let me check my little self 😊. Eval went well.

After the evaluation, we talked about positions. I am proud to announce that Clovis will be granted the Faculty positions that were requested. We have been approved to hire Chemistry, Digital Arts, and Tutoring Coordinator. I must say that I was very proud to hear this approval. It was because you went back to the drawing board and with little time went through a process by which to identify your needs in terms of faculty. I was able to communicate the participatory process and that these positions are what everyone in the room put forth. Thank you all for working together and pushing to get this done. I am proud of you for having faith in the participatory governance model and seeing it work. I hope you continue to see that your voice does matter and that it is heard. This time you came out with the win! She is also revisiting the hiring of the Marketing Specialist. And, I talked to her about our immediate needs to get our website updated prior to ACCJC and she is looking into getting someone to come in and help all colleges get our websites updated. We got everything that we asked for. Next time we will ask for more than 3 positions and anything else. We may or may not get it but I want to encourage you to ALWAYS ask!!!!! Please continue to let me know your needs and any gaps that you see. Your voice is important and I will always go to bat for you.

I came back and met with grandparents who both have PhDs (Male-engineering and female-economics). Dr. J has a Ph.D. in Engineering and did mapping of the moon back in the late 60’s and is also credited with working with the armed services to develop the GPS system. His wife is the first female to earn a doctorate in Economics from Cambridge. I met them when I was out and about and they heard about Matthew’s Mechatronics program and want their grandson to come here. Way to go, Matthew, your excellence speaks for itself. Thanks to Gurdeep and Monica for sitting in the meeting ready to answer any questions. This couple asked what could they do for us and I have lots of ideas on how they can help. Monica will take the lead on some of the academic opportunities that these two renowned intellectuals can provide.

On Thursday before I left campus, I received communication from Kimberly that the internet was out at Herndon and that Teng was on site assessing that it would take a while to restore. Right after I left (after 6 pm), I got a text from Gurdeep. The power went out at our main campus. I made a U-turn and returned to campus. Luckily it was only out for about 20 minutes. Still have no clarification from PG&E on what caused the outage but I was thankful to both Gurdeep and Moises for being here, for communicating the issues, and for checking on everyone and all classes.

On Friday, I spent the day in the Exit Audit meeting via Zoom followed by all-day final interviews for the EOPS Director position. Thank you to the committee for their dedication to the process and for making sure to bring forth good finalists.

It was a great week. I walked away fulfilled and satisfied. I could not be more proud to work with any group of people than I am right now, here today to be here with you. Please keep your voices and make them loud and strong. Please continue to work together collaboratively, removing silos to get the results that we seek. Please continue to just be you, your wonderful authentic selves. Thank you for letting the Clovis Spirit shine bright.

Have a great, safe, and cool weekend everyone. Proud to call you my Clovis Fam.

In service,

Kim E. Armstrong, Ph.D.