Week of July 15, 2024

Good morning Fam,

I hope everyone had a safe and relaxing weekend. Mine not so much lol.

I had not anticipated the amount of backlash and concerns regarding the press release about my appointment as Acting/Interim President of Fresno City College. All weekend I had to reassure people in the Clovis community that I was only going to Fresno City College to fill in until they got their new permanent President. When I got to church on Sunday, several people were waiting for me to ask what was going on. I also sent personal texts and emails to the mayor, the CUSD Superintendent, and some of our major donors.

When I came in on Monday, I had Bonnie send out an email from my office explaining the need at Fresno City College and that I would absolutely be back. I received several emails and texts of congratulations, and I responded that I was just going over to help until they got their new President. They asked, “Suppose they try to make you stay,” to which I said, “I will not be putting an application in. I’m coming back home!”

On Monday I walked around both Willow and Herndon campuses and asked everyone that I saw if they had any questions or comments about the announcement made on Friday. Several of you freely expressed your views and I thank you for allowing me to explain in more detail.

I also attended the President’s Council where we talked about the logistics of the announcement and then moved to other issues about how to communicate about world issues and if there was any need to prepare for protests on our campus in light of the assassination attempt on former President Trump. I then had a meeting with the Soroptimist President and Vice President to debrief about the Dream It Be It Conference held last semester and to prepare for hosting the conference again next spring. We had over 47 high school girls on our campus and this is an excellent outreach opportunity for those not considering college due to having life hardships. Last year Soroptimist awarded $32K in scholarships to Clovis Community College students.

I ended my day by going to Chancellor’s Cabinet where we talked about Ars and BPs and possible agenda items for the August Communications Council meeting.

On Tuesday, we had VPC where we reviewed notes from the Chancellor’s Cabinet and we finalized Phase 2 of the move to AC3 after the first phase of moves. Phase 2 addressed the locations of MESA (AC1-116), Basic Needs (AC1-114), Teaching and Learning Center (HC-Building A), and the LGBTQIA+ space (AC1-262 – the current Business Office). We will continue conversations regarding Phase 3 in the next few weeks.

I then had a Zoom meeting with Achieving the Dream. This was a meeting with all the presidents in the 2024 cohort class. We talked about challenges and I told them of my appointment to serve as Interim President at FCC and they will work with us during this transition. They asked what we had planned for Convocation and for introducing the Achieving the Dream Framework to our campuses. I told them that our coaches will be providing a video which we will play on our Opening Day and that they are scheduled to come to campus for our first meeting in mid-September. I told them that Bonnie would be providing them with Monica’s information so that she could be included in all communications but that I would remain involved at the presidential level. The last part of the day, I continued interviewing for the VPAS position.

On Wednesday, I started my day with Coffee with the President at the Starbucks on Perrin and Sommerville. We had Crush there and with moms coming in to get coffee it was a nice touch to see Crush interacting with the kids. Thanks, Crush and Crush’s handler for helping Crush walk from the car into the coffee shop and navigating the sidewalk and steps. It's amazing what Crush has to go through and not being able to see, and that suit has to be hot.

I was busy from the time that I got there at 8:45 a.m. to a few minutes after it was scheduled to end at 10:30 a.m. Thank you Dean Ruben Diaz for bringing this incredible community opportunity to our attention. It worked out well because I had faculty from FCC and CCC, CCC Classified Professionals, people from my advisory groups, and community leads from EECU come. The topic was my taking on the role of Interim President at FCC. The timing could not have been more perfect for the Coffee with the President because the community wanted to know what was going on and I had the opportunity to explain it to them myself. I was thankful for the opportunity. As I was leaving, there was a table of men having a meeting outside the coffee shop. Stephanie and I stopped and talked to them. One of the young men just graduated from Clovis East and had not yet registered for classes. His dad was the owner of the company who was hosting the meeting. We talked for a while about Clovis and why he should come. We invited him to come to Crush Days and to contact us. Recruitment is everyone’s responsibility and I certainly try to do my part when I am out and about.

I attended the S2J2 Education and Skill Building Workshop where we continue to work together as a regional collective to build our workforce. Directly following that meeting, I had a meeting with the CEO of the Fresno Black Chamber of Commerce. We talked about ways we could continue and expand our partnership. We are looking at ways to bring free access to electric bikes to our students. I ended my day by going to Walmart in preparation for my trip to the CCLC CEO Academy where we will spend 2 ½ days talking about strategies to address pending state budget issues and the impact on our colleges.

As I was walking to Walmart from the parking lot, I was approached by a young man selling water to support his wrestling club. I asked the young man for which school, and to my joy he said Clovis Community College and that he wanted to be a nurse. I asked him if he knew who I was and he said no. I told him that I was his president and we continued to talk. I asked him to google the information that he did not know and I said goodbye and went in to Walmart. When I came out about 30 minutes later, he saw me and ran over and told me all the answers that he did not have before. I told Mohammed that he did me Clovis Proud and he beamed with joy. After I got to my car, I returned and called him by name and gave him a donation. Told him to keep the bottles of water. It is moments like this that remind me of just how proud I am to serve as your president. Everyone is student-centered and has a student-first mindset at Clovis and we always create opportunities…one student at a time.

On Thursday, I took a train to Riverside, California to attend the CCLC CEO Academy. I went to the reception where it was nice to see new CEOs, some who were in new roles and others that I met over the past couple of years. They all knew that I was going to help at FCC. So again I had to explain that I was coming back when they appointed their new president. All this explaining is exhausting.

On Friday morning, I completed the Title IX training and the State Center Prevention training and continued with the VPAS position interviews before starting my day at the CEO Academy. I will be at the academy until Sunday. I will be returning to Fresno via the bus and train (not American Airlines).

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Please do something that gives you and someone else joy.

Stay safe and I look forward to seeing you on Monday.

As always, proud to serve you,

Kim E. Armstrong, Ph.D.