Throughout the month of November we will have numerous opportunities to give back to our region. The virtual Pack the Pantry campaign, sponsored by Cal Coast Credit Union and the San Diego Food Bank, starts on Monday, November 1st. Since it is virtual, donations are easily made by using the Palomar College donation page. All donations benefit our Anita & Stan Maag Food and Nutrition Center.
A Palomar drive-thru food distribution event will be held on Saturday, November 20th, from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. in parking lot 12. This event is sponsored by the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council, the Palomar Faculty Federation, and the Council of Classified Employees. Free turkeys, and all accompaniments, will be provided while supplies last. Flyers in English and Spanish are attached. Thank you PFF and CCE for your continuous generosity!
The Palomar College Foundation will also host Giving Tuesday on November 30th. Giving Tuesday is a fantastic way to directly support the success of Palomar College students. Watch your email for more information!
This month, First Generation College Day is on November 8th, and it provides an opportunity for us to celebrate first generation college students. Our amazing TRIO team will be hosting an event to hear first generation student stories from a panel that includes employees and community members. Recognizing, understanding, and ameliorating the systemic barriers these students face within higher education will be time well spent.
The Week in Review
Campus Engagement
First and foremost, a thank you and huge congratulations to the Palomar College Foundation for an incredibly successful annual President’s Golf Classic. This event raised over $165,000 to directly support the success of our students. I was personally able to witness the large amount of coordination and effort this event takes for it to be a success. We are very fortunate to have such a great team of Foundation colleagues, and Board of Directors, who support and promote this event. A special thank you to our Foundation Executive Director, Stacy Rungaitis, who deserves a special round of applause for her leadership!
This week I had the privilege of touring our Early Childhood Education Lab School (ECELS) at the main campus. It was awesome to engage with our youngest Palomar Comets and to meet the dedicated employees who make the Lab School a success! Thank you to Coordinator, Tamara Holthaus, and Child Development Professor, Jenny Fererro, for the invitation and the fabulous tour.
I also toured the Fallbrook Education Center this week, and I gained valuable insight into how our expansion plans can better serve our students throughout the northern part of the District. Thank you to Education Center Director, Ryan Williams, and Education Center Coordinator, Yvette Maynard, for sharing their time and valuable expertise.
My week ended by attending the Palomar Comet Concert Hour Saturday night. I was pleasantly surprised to see our music and dance programs come together to produce a wonderful live show at the Howard Brubeck Theater. It was a phenomenal performance led by Musical Director, Heather Barclay. Our Contemporary Dance Ensemble Director, Dr. Molly Faulkner, also did an amazing job with the dance element of the show.
My faculty meetings also continue. This past week I had a productive meeting with two of our active adjunct faculty leaders, Anastasia Zavodny and Will Dalrymple. We discussed how to better support, and integrate, adjunct faculty into our campus community. The positive contributions of our adjunct faculty cannot be overstated. They are critical to the success of our students and institution.
I was also fortunate to be interviewed by San Diego State University doctoral students to discuss Women in Community College Leadership. Thank you to our Articulation Officer, Benjamin Mudgett for the invitation. I look forward to seeing the research this dynamic group of students will produce.
Community Engagement
In the early part of the week, I connected with Chancellors and Superintendent/Presidents throughout the county to discuss Latino/a student success. The agreed upon priority is to develop ways to better facilitate educational pathways from the community colleges to 4-year degrees to doctoral level achievements. We recognize this initiative is one that will take the commitment, and collaboration, of all institutional leaders in the region.
The Aspen Social Equity Leadership Session that I attended this past week featured a discussion on how to recognize and name different manifestations of racialized tensions and how to best navigate these systemic barriers. The discussion was led by Dr. DeAngela Burns-Wallace, the Kansas Secretary of Administration. It was informative and provided applicable suggestions for creating an inclusive campus environment using an approach called the Three Pillars of Accountability.
COVID-19 Update
We are continuing to increase employee and student compliance with our vaccination and immunization policies and address the intricacies of the Cleared4 platform. Everyone who is onsite at the main campus, or education center, should be taking the daily health questionnaire by using their personal link. If you are having trouble finding your personal link, the help desk can assist you. To aid in the accessibility of the questionnaire, for our community members and for employees with connectivity concerns, our Information Services team updated the kiosks on the main campus and at the education centers. We are very appreciative to all who are working to keep our sites safe and healthy. If you missed the COVID-19 Return to Campus and COVID-19 Update, here is the link.
Accreditation
Our all-campus forum on accreditation will be held this Wednesday, November 3rd at 10:00 a.m. During the forum we will discuss our self-evaluation report and our upcoming accreditation “virtual” site visit in February. Our Vision, Mission, and Values are central to everything we do at Palomar College and will be the focal point of our discussion during the forum. Here is the Zoom link.
Comets of the Week
I was very impressed this week with the Palomar Comet Concert Band Series. I would like to recognize as Comets of the Week the entire Preforming Arts department. It is an impressive undertaking to hold live performances with the level of detail needed to integrate COVID-19 safety protocols while also maintaining artistic integrity. Let’s please continue to support our preforming arts community. You can find a listing of upcoming events at https://www.palomar.edu/palomarperforms/
Have a great upcoming week. Go Comets!
For pictures of the various events, follow:
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