Week of June 24, 2024

Happy Friday Clovis Fam,

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and that this week was fulfilling. I am filled with so much pride right now that I am beaming and just want to convey to you how much I could not be more encouraged and happy. I will get to the beginning of this week later so please bear with me.

I have had the best experience with the Vice President of Student Services (VPSS) Candidate’s Public Forums. I must say, as I sat in the forums I was impressed with the intentionality and thoughtfulness of the questions asked of the finalists. Vice Chancellor Julianna Mosier informed me that there were 38 questions submitted; and of those they could only select just under half (14) due to time constraints. The questions were robust, in-depth, and very much reflective of the understanding of the needs of our college. The number of people in the room and the number of people who were watching online were outstanding. We also had several community leaders and Clovis retirees in attendance. I want to thank the committee for doing a fabulous job and committing to bring forth stellar finalists. I appreciate the power of the participatory process and the dedication that was put forth, which is evidence of how employing the true spirit and application of a participatory governance model has the highest value to the future of an organization. I am looking forward to the comments from the forums. I will be reading each one as I deliberate the decision. This selection will be OUR next VPSS therefore the decision should not be mine alone. A million times, thank you for sharing your voice in this important selection.

Now, let’s go back to earlier in the week. This reflection will probably be short since Thursday and Friday I was in interviews all day, and will not have anything else to report until all comments are received and that won’t be until after 5 p.m. on July 2nd.

From Sunday through Tuesday, I was in Los Angeles at the California Black CEO Retreat. I took the train down and it was simply delightful, and the weather was beautiful. It was way better than my recent flying experience. Even the bus ride from Bakersfield to LA was good, with all its bells and whistles. The train conductor pointed out Allensworth and I found that to be nice even though that was not one of the stops.

I was part of the planning committee this year for the retreat, and it was great to see all of our hard work come together. There are 29 African American Community College Presidents and 20 were in attendance. The Conference was held at the USC Race and Equity Center. USC’s campus was incredible and since this was my first time on the campus I was in awe. One thing that impressed me about the campus was that it was a gated and secured campus. You were required to show ID and an invitation QR code authorizing your ability to be on campus. I am sure this one measure provided students and parents with a strong sense of safety in a world where school shootings occur.

For the one and a half days we did the following:

  • A panel discussion of the needs of new Black Community College CEOs ( I was not a new one this year)
  • Discussed a unified strategy to counter politicized attacks on DEI both here and across the country.
  • Experts talked about fundraising and investment opportunities for our colleges.
  • A session on post-CEO life financial wealth preparation.
  • Received updated information on the Community College to HBCU Transfer Agreement
  • Discussed effective self-care practices for Black Executives.
  • I closed out by leading a discussion on the next steps.

We have already secured locations for the next three years. Next year, the retreat will be at Sac State, followed by San Diego State, and then back to USC. We also have determined who will be on the next year’s planning committee. I have several ideas and tips to bring forward for discussion. Most of them are in connection with how to get transfer agreements with our HBCU partners and I was given support on my goal to also use the partnership to help recruit faculty from HBCUs to the District.

I was inspired to see that one of the buildings was named after Dr. Verna and Peter Dauterive, an African American husband and wife USC alumni, who donated $30M to construct a state-of-the-art building. This is the building that USC Race and Equity Center resides in. When it was announced in 2008 of the generous gift, this was the largest donation given to an institution of higher learning in the country by an African American person or family.

In my conversation with the USC Race and Equity Center, Dr. Shaun Harper, I expressed how CCC may not be able to join the Alliance membership due to cost. Dr. Harper graciously waived the annual $18,000 fee for us so that we can be a member. I am beyond words and so grateful.

It has been a good week. This next week we will be reviewing the finalists for the Vice President of Administrative Services (VPAS) position. If you have any VPAS interview questions, please forward them to me and Bonnie by Tuesday, July 2nd, and I will incorporate them into my list. Please be reminded that even though I was not able to use the same format/process as with the VPSS, due to the guidelines of the Personnel Commission, I still was able to form a committee comprised of people at the VP level or above to interview the finalists. This committee will provide me with feedback and I will meet with the chair of both committees to get full feedback. Your voices will continue to be heard.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

My pride in serving you keeps growing,

Kim E. Armstrong, Ph.D.