Week of July 1, 2024

Hi Clovis Fam,

Well, I hope everyone had a great weekend and I also hope that you all had a great July 4th.

I want to start my weekly reflection and activities report by congratulating our Robotics Team. I failed to include them in my report last week and did not want to neglect it again this week. Our Crush Engineering Club, under the leadership of advisor Gurinder Khaira, engineering faculty, informed us that they were in the MATE ROV International Competition in Kingsport, Tennessee. They took first place in their division! They also won the Team Grover Award for helping other teams. Student Robert Voss won the Best Co-Pilot Award as well. Congratulations to them!

Also, on May 30, our Clovis Community College Europa Research Team presented their research to collaborators and other Europa scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California and discussed next steps in this ongoing research collaboration between Clovis Community College and JPL. They rocked it! David and Jeff presented in person, and Mady was able to present via Zoom from her summer research experience in Arkansas. Thank you, Michelle, for leading our students in this incredible life-changing opportunity.

Monday, I had our Presidents Council and Chancellor’s Cabinet. In Cabinet we reviewed the Board agenda and were told that Clovis is leading the way with getting evaluations completed. We have a 78% evaluation completion rate, and the next closest (FCC) only has 47% completion rate. Way to go CLOVIS!!!!!

I went to the Clovis City Council meeting afterward and I left at 9:30 pm. They were nowhere near being finished when I left. However, one of the earlier items was the introduction of the first City of Clovis Youth Ambassadors. These are sophomores and juniors who were taught about city government and what resources the city has. Diane Pearce, a City Council member, actually said, “I know Dr. Armstrong wants to talk to you”. So I took the opportunity to pass out my cards to parents and grandparent and I followed a few of them out after the presentation, took pictures with the students, and talked to them about doing STEM research at Clovis 😊.

I got to visit Herndon and found out that Cathy, Margee, and Penny all completed the RAD training. They showed me their videos of them fighting our SCCCD PD (they had to fight two people and escape!) These women were fearless and were able to get out of bad situations. I was very proud to see them do so well at saving themselves. Nice work!

Tuesday, I spent all morning with Cindy, Lorrie, Kira, Maricarmen, Ana Mendoza (student), Sergio, Angel, James, and a vendor representative as we walked through the entire campus (inside and outside) to talk about updating signage to build upon our desire to increase student engagement, to create a welcoming environment, and to build upon our desire to create a sense of belonging. This took about 4 hours of incredible conversations and thoughtful, student-centered decisions on communications via signage all over campus. We talked about lights for evening students to be able to see the signs. We also talked about our branding and colors to brighten up the campus and to have the signs stand out. This initiative aligns with the information received in our Integrated 2035 plan to really create a front door experience. We put ourselves in the mindset of first-time students and community members who are coming to the campus for the first time. I enjoyed the time, seeing the campus through their eyes. The time spent was not only impactful but eye-opening. Thank you everyone for your genuine and student-centered approach to this initiative.

I was able to get a report from the District IT on the viewing of the focus groups; over 430 people viewed. We received 48 completed surveys of the final candidates for the VPSS position.

I spent most of the afternoon investigating the information that Lorrie brought to me about the contractors needing to cut off the water for three days straight. She proposed July 12-14 (Friday – Sunday) as the days as to not cause as much disruption to our ability to do our jobs. We looked at having porta potties on site to allow people to still go to the bathroom. However, I don’t know about you, but,,, I am NOT a fan of porta potties. And, if it’s 112 degrees outside, it would be 135 in the porta potty. People told me about the really nice porta potties; while I appreciate the insight that there are really some swank porta potties... yeah, NO! Then there was the issue of classes and the soccer field which is due to be germinated a couple of days prior to having no water for three days. I want to thank James Ortez (representing Monica) and Leslie for looking into what classes would be impacted and how to best communicate and make the best decision. I talked with Kira about what services would be impacted. Sergio, Angel, and Robbie were part of the conversations about how to best proceed and what would be alternate plans for impacted areas.

I ended my day by going to our July Board meeting.

Wednesday, I spent the entire day in interviews for the VPAS position. Thank you so very much for the questions that you sent forward. They were GOOD!!!! Again, I can tell the passion for and commitment to making sure that we make the best selection. VC Dave El Fattal joined me in my time with the finalists. In between interviews for the VPAS position, I was working with Sergio and Christine at the District to get more clarification. First, I was told that we would have “domestic water”. Well, I googled that and that made it seem like we could still come to work. Sergio got people at the DO on the phone and we were then told that we would not have “domestic” water but would have “irrigation” water so the grass and soccer fields would still get watered but we would not have drinking or toilet water nor will our chillers for air-conditioning. Hence no one could be in our buildings at the Willow Campus. We deliberated about them shutting off the water at noon or 3:30 pm however, they said they needed three days to take care of the issue. I want to make sure that they have ample time to take care of the issue and we (hopefully, as construction plans often times are longer than originally planned) are not then having to juggle and figure out what to do on Monday July 15. I will also be sending out an updated message regarding option for work during that water outage. As you may recall, we were told that the demolition to the Gender-Neutral bathroom would be completed before Monday on the first day of classes and it was not. Bonnie sent out an email to let everyone know about the Willow campus being closed on Friday July 12th. I will have meetings at the DO as will others, if you have prearranged off campus meetings, please attend those meetings or any other off campus meetings. If you have any on- campus meetings, please make alternative plans. If you are at the Herndon campus and/or are scheduled to telework, please continue to do so. Please do not come to the Willow campus during the time we are without water and air conditioning- July 12-14. I apologize for this inconvenience, and I want to thank all of you who were part of the decision-making process. There were several pieces to consider.

Thursday was July 4th. I spent the day looking over the VPSS forum feedback, notes from the committee, and my personal notes. I also spent the day looking over my input from the VPAS committee and the answers to my and your questions. I also ate good food, rested, and volunteered to help the Clovis Kiwanis with their 4th of July fireworks celebration at Clovis High School. It was nice to see Nader and his family out at the fireworks. Glad he came over to me (I was selling tickets) and introduced me to his wife and kids. After I volunteered, I stayed and saw the most incredible fireworks.

Friday was a light day. Just met with community members and did more review of the finalists for both the VPSS and VPAS positions. Had more discussions about the upcoming water outage situation with Dr. Goldsmith and Shannon from the District Office. I will wait to resend the updated message on Monday. So, please look out for new steps. I am confident that we will continue with the full day closure for Friday the 12th. I received the reference check information and the full statements from the VPSS forums. (Previously, I received only a summary of the comments.)

Although this has been a short week, we had a lot going on. I want to continue to let you know how much I appreciate you and your willingness to discuss views on the water closing as well as the issues with the delays of getting the soccer field practice ready and your input with the finalist VP positions. It is because of our collective voice that we are doing what needs to be done to continue to grow as a culture, community, environment of excellence. I continue to be proud to serve you.

Hope everyone has a great and safe weekend. I hope most of you are having a long weekend and/or are enjoying summer vacations with family and friends. Please be safe in all your travels and know that I look forward to seeing you on Monday.

In service,

Kim E. Armstrong, Ph.D.