Our main campus and Education Centers are once again open for onsite classes and services, and it is great to be back! This was made evident on Wednesday, February 23 when Student Life and Leadership, under the direction of Sherry Titus, hosted the successful Comet Together event. After being predominately online for the past two years, it was wonderful to see the different departments come together to welcome back our employees and students. Even in the rain, students were able to learn about the helpful services we provide to support their academic success. Also, a special thank you to Palomar TV for capturing some of the festivities. You can find the video they produced here. I am appreciative of all those who supported this event, including Trustee Kartik Raju and the entire Executive Team who were present for the event. I sincerely believe this marks the start of a great new chapter for Palomar.
Accreditation
Our accreditation site visit is here! The upcoming week will consist of several meetings where the visiting team will be looking for evidence of what we wrote on our Institutional Self Evaluation Report (ISER). Over the past month, the visiting team has reviewed our ISER and our supporting evidence. They will now have the opportunity to ask us questions about the information we submitted. Beginning Monday, and lasting through Thursday morning, the visiting team will virtually engage us through a series of interviews.
Open Forums:
- Monday, February 28th (4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.)
- Tuesday, March 1st (10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.)
Exit Report:
- Thursday, March 3rd (11:00 a.m.)
You can sign up to attend these meetings on the Accreditation webpage. As a reminder, if you are in a meeting with the accreditation peer review team, please make sure your camera is on, and you show your Palomar spirit by using one of our 75th Anniversary backgrounds. These backgrounds are loaded in your zoom background collection, or they can also be found here. The entire visit will be virtual, but we are convinced our Comet Pride will come through. This visit represents the culmination of all the work, effort, and dedication our colleagues put forth to prepare for this event that takes place every seven years. I am grateful to all who made this visit a success.
Women’s History Month
Women’s History Month begins this upcoming week on March 1st. There are many exciting events planned, including workshops focused on topics such as Women and the Labor Movement, Live Poetry, Working Moms, Gender Non-Conformity, Imposter Syndrome, Chicana Art, and more. All events will be held online. You can find the schedule and links here. Also attached is a flyer for your convenience. In support of these events, many faculty are offering their classes extra credit for attendance. Please consider in what ways you can support these events.
The Week in Review
Campus Engagement
The Palomar Black Staff and Faculty Staff Association (PBFSA) continued to host events in honor of the Black History Month Workshop Series: Black History: Wellness of Spirit, Strength of Will. I was able to attend two events this week: the Meet Palomar College Black Counseling Faculty Discussion Panel and the Domestic Violence, Intimate Partner Abuse and Impact on the Developing Brain and Black Families workshop. I left both workshops with excellent resources and invaluable information.
This week I attended three budget focused events: the Budget Committee, the State of the Budget meeting, and a Budget Review meeting (with Trustee Christian Garcia and Board President Norma Miyamoto). All three of these events are designed to keep Palomar’s fiscal health, and potential concerns, as a central priority. We also successfully submitted our February Fiscal Monitor Report. If you are interested in reviewing it, it can be found here.
This week also consisted of meeting with Palomar employees. I held my monthly President Office Hours, and I was pleasantly surprised by the many different individuals who made the effort to connect. Although these meetings are only 20 minutes in length, it really helps for me to get a good sense of what amazing activities are happening on campus. I also visited the Graphic Communications department thanks to the invitation from professor Wade Rollins. Please continue to invite me so I can learn more about your specific area/department.
Meeting with constituent leadership remains a priority, and this week I had the opportunity to meet with CCE, CAST, and AA to discuss topics such as hiring priorities, reorganization, and updating handbooks. I also continue to meet with PBFSA leadership to make sure that we as an institution continue to prioritize what is important to our Palomar Black faculty, staff, and students. The week ended with a College Council meeting where discussion took place regarding the importance of transitioning to gender-neutral language in our Board Policies and Administrative Procedures. A very big thank you to Professor Jenny Ferrero for all the work she has done in this area. We also continued our discussion regarding enrollment challenges, and professors Cynthia Cordova and Eduardo Aguilar presented on recommendations for becoming an authentic Hispanic Serving Institution.
I would like to formally thank Disability Resource Center Director, Shauna Moriarty, her staff, and faculty who hosted Trustee Kartik Raju for a tour. I also appreciate the efforts of Escondido Center Director, Tom Medel, who toured Trustee Christian Garcia and myself on Friday morning. Being able to see our services and facilities up close makes a significant difference when establishing district policy and operation plans.
Last Thursday, the Emergency Medical Education Paramedic Academy Graduation and Awards Ceremony took place. I was joined by Board President Norma Miyamoto, Trustee Mark Evilsizer, Vice President Jack Kahn, and Dean Susan Wyche. It is always a highlight to see our students achieve the milestone of graduation, and to know they will make significant contributions in our communities.
COVID-19
We held our weekly COVID-19 Return to Campus and COVID-19 Update meeting. We discussed current COVID infection rates in the region and specifics regarding our return to campus. The process of hiring a team of campus COVID-19 monitors and establishing monitoring stations remain a top priority. If you missed the meeting, here is the link to the recording.
Next Thursday, March 3rd, the District will be distributing antigen test kits for employees at a distribution event to be announced. Forthcoming is communication regarding COVID-19 supplemental sick leave. Also, an updated set of Frequently Asked Questions was sent via email and posted on the COVID-19 webpage under the Employee Communications library section. A special thank you to Health Services for hosting our vaccination and immunization event this past Thursday. The COVID-19 Onsite Testing Schedule for February 22 – May 27 is now posted on the website.
Comets of the Week
Palomar’s very own Women’s Basketball Team are the 2021-2022 Pacific Coast Conference Champions! The Lady Comets finished the season with an overall 24-2 conference record. Congratulations to Head Coach, Leigh Marshall, and the entire team!
Have a great upcoming week. Go Comets!
For pictures of the various events, follow:
Twitter: @palomardrstar
Instagram: @palomardrstar
