Week of November 27, 2023

Hi Clovis Fam,

I hope you all had a wonderful and filling Thanksgiving. Filled with great and too much food as well as with time enjoying family and friends.

Coming back on Monday was much harder due to the extra time off to catch up on rest and relaxation as well as some small projects. Also, there was a slight chill in the air helping us to feel like the winter season is upon us.

Due to the 4-day weekend, I won’t have too much to report this week, but it was nice to be in the office for a full week since I have been in and out of the office for the past 3 weeks.

As many of you know, I had the pleasure of spending my Thanksgiving doing what I love most: serving. I spent Thanksgiving dinner with over 200 of my closest friends at the Fresno Rescue Mission Center. It dawned on me early in the week that I had moved?!!!!! LOL. I wasn’t going to be able to go to my usual place at a church to serve those not able to have dinner with friends and loved ones. This has been my tradition since I was a younger (LOL) adult. Ever since my daughters were 6 and 7, we started serving as a family. So, through the help of some of you, my church, and several people in the community, I was connected with places, here in town, that serve Thanksgiving meals. Stephanie connected me with the Fresno Rescue Mission. I filled out the volunteer online form, watched the required video and was set to serve. It was amazing. To see so many people, some families with children smiling and glad to be able to fellowship and spend thanksgiving in a loving space and not isolated and alone. Many of you asked what I was doing for Thanksgiving and when I told you, some of you stated that you would like to join me. I will let you know next year and any time that I am volunteering in the community, and you are welcome to join me. Some of you have already implemented community service or service-learning opportunities into your curriculum or programs. I thank you and encourage any of you who were thinking about engaging our students in community service or service-learning projects to do so. Also, there is funding for service-learning projects.

On Saturday, I came to campus to watch the Women’s’ Soccer Play off game. It was the most exciting soccer game that I have ever seen. The bleachers were full. Tony played the national anthem. Our drum line played. We had our donor Jami De La Cerda and her son Elijiah come. Several of you were there as well. Cindy and a reporter were there taking pictures. It was amazing to see the community support and the women played like champions. In double overtime and after the shoot out round, we came up short. The agony of defeat was real. Our women soccer showed grace and class as they congratulated the winning team. They then turned and applauded the supporters in the stands. The crowd stood and gave them a standing ovation. In the huddle each woman talked about how thankful they were for having each other and the experience. The coaches and even our donor and her son told them how proud they were. The crowd stayed until the women came out of the huddle (this was about 20 minutes) and applauded them. Great display of the Clovis Spirit. Congrats to the women soccer and the coaches for an outstanding season. One that I will never forget.

On Monday, I attended the Presidents Cabinet meeting where we had our deans and our VPI join us to have a discussion about F3 Ag Tech grant and the credit versus noncredit offerings as well as the CBE discussion about course offerings. Later in the afternoon, at Chancellor’s Cabinet we talked about the great strides in enrollment recovery. Great job Clovis as we are getting closer to the pre-pandemic enrollment level. We also talked about personnel changes at the District Office due to a recent resignation that may have an impact on application review in January. This position was responsible for checking for fraud and duplications. The goal is to try to reduce disruption to the spring Reg-to-Go efforts by having someone come in over the break. We also talked about scheduling contract training for managers with regards to the new CSEA contract and lastly, we talked about telecommuting and how to implement it.

On Tuesday, I met with the Vice Presidents and informed them of the information from the Chancellor ‘s Cabinet meeting. After, I was at the Dean of Physical, Computer Science and Distance Education Final Interviews and decision-making meetings and discussions. In the afternoon, I met with the ASG President, and we talked about location space for them as well as an office space in general. I ended the day with my quarterly Latinx/ Hispanic Community Advisory meeting where we talked about the last three data documents from the Integrated 2035 meeting, and we also talked about the October Facilities report.

On Wednesday, we had a wonderful CCC Giving Tuesday donation amount reveal. I can’t thank you all enough for the generous donations that you each gave to support our students through scholarships, the Crush Food Pantry, and the Crush Clothing Closet. We raised an amazing amount of $35,263.00. Thanks to Tony for providing an impromptu and fabulous drum roll leading up to the announcement of the total. In the afternoon, we had the CCC Integrated 2035 committee meeting with the consultants. This is the last meeting of the fall semester. We discussed the placement of proposed buildings as well as landscaping ideas.

On Thursday, we completed the Final interviews for the Success Coach position. Hats off to the committee chairs Sasha and Bonita (this was their first time leading the selection process.) The candidates were all wonderful and although the decision was tough, I believe that the selection will be a benefit to our students. Both this position and the Dean position have been submitted for the December Board meeting. In the afternoon, I met with both Tyler and Caryss to talk about process improvements to the Classified and Management Priority Position process. We will be looking at developing an earlier timeline for this process to occur to allow more input and preparation by managers. We are also looking at using the form to provide more information such as the position needed to comply with state, federal or any other regulation. I ended my day by having the President’s Business Industry and Community Advisory Committee meeting where we also discussed the data from the Integrated 2035 reports and were given our hard copies of the Focus Forward Stories of Hope magazine where one of our students Daniel Avila was highlighted.

After my advisory meeting ended, I attempted to go to the Student’s Art Show and Concert, but they were cleaning up after I arrived. Tony said that they recorded it and that I could watch it later. I know the students did a fabulous job and I look forward to seeing the recording.

On Friday, I had the opportunity to celebrate the incredible Financial Aid team for all their hard work and commitment to assuring that not only is the College is in compliance with state and federal guidelines, but also keeping up with all the changes. We celebrated them at both campuses, and I finished my day celebrating them at the Herndon Campus, followed with a planned community meeting.

I sent an email this morning regarding the news of VP Marco’s retirement effective January 3, 2024. I unfortunately only caught the end of VP Marco’s surprise retirement party thrown by his Student Services team. But I was able to spend a little time wishing him well. We will have a college retirement party for him on a date that he chooses prior to his last day on campus. This will be coming in an email.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. As you are enjoying time with family and friends, please keep Maya Davis in your prayers as she lost her mother a couple of days ago.

I am so very thankful for each of you. A special thank you to Jake, Kimberly and the Business Office, Bonnie, Lorrie, James, Monica, Marco and Nathan for taking care of unexpected situation this morning. All of you put the needs of our students first and were able to develop a plan and implement a plan of action which resulted in a good outcome. Thank you for taking care of our students.

Relax, stay safe and take care of yourselves and each other.

In service,

Kim E. Armstrong, Ph.D.