April is federally recognized as National Arab American Heritage Month (NAAHM). Nearly four million Americans trace their heritage to an Arab country. In 2017, the Arab American Foundation launched the National Arab American Heritage Month initiative to educate people and to rewrite the stereotype representation of the Arab American community in the United States. In April 2021 President Joe Biden, with the U.S. Department of State, recognized April as National Arab American Heritage Month. Here is a link to a slideshow resource for educators to spread awareness about Arab American culture and history.
Campus and Community Engagement Highlights
This week entailed faculty hiring interviews and numerous standing meetings. Highlights included attending the “Val Sanders and a Few of His Pals” exhibition at the Boehm Gallery. The exhibit was magnificent. It was an honor to meet the 91-year-old energetic emeritus faculty legend!
Also noteworthy, is that at our weekly Executive Special Projects meeting, we discussed our plans to secure an intranet network for the college. Intranets are private networks used to distribute communications exclusively within a workforce, and it would be a major asset for Palomar. At the Budget Committee this week, we reviewed budget timelines, focused on budget assumptions, and discussed HEERF updates. Productive standing meetings also took place with PFF leadership, Palomar Black Faculty and Staff Association representatives, and with the Fallbrook Education Center Community Advisory Council.
Palomar Focus
New Grant for Student Housing
Last month, the California Department of Finance awarded Palomar College a planning grant in the amount of $820,000 to explore the feasibility of building safe-affordable student housing. Here is a link to the San Diego Union-Tribune article published this week that featured the grant.
Palomar Achieves Home College Status
On Friday, April 8th, Palomar College became the 67th California Community College to become a “Home” campus with the California Virtual Campus (CVC). Palomar College students can now take courses on the CVC Exchange and reach their educational goals faster. Palomar College students will apply directly through the CVC to the “Teaching” College and can take up to two CVC Exchange courses per term. The next step for Palomar College will be to become a “Teaching” college. This will mean that students from other California Community Colleges will be able to use the CVC Exchange to enroll in Palomar College online courses.
Phi Theta Kappa Launches Newsletter
Phi Theta Kappa has published its first PTK newsletter to share with the campus community. The newsletter contains what PTK is about, the projects they have worked on, and information about the students who give their time and heart to Phi Theta Kappa at Palomar. Alpha Omega Rho is Palomar’s own Phi Theta Kappa chapter. Initiated in 1994, the chapter has earned various accolades including the designation of a Five Star Chapter.
Spring 2022 Political Economy Days
Palomar’s Political Economy Days are Tuesday- April 19th, Wednesday- April 20th, and Thursday– April 21. Now in its seventeenth year, the purpose of Political Economy Days is to broaden students’ exposure to political, economic, and historical topics. Lectures on a variety of topics feature faculty from Palomar College, SD Mesa College, CSU San Marcos, UCSD, and other educational institutions. All presentations will be held virtually. Here is a link to the schedule and list of speakers. The program is also attached.
Comets of the Week
This week’s Comets of the Week are Nora Kenney-Whitley, Rachel Miller, and Michelle Barton who authored the Rising Scholars Network Grant sponsored by Educational Services and Support Division of the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office. We were notified this week that the grant was funded! The grant provides $172,000 annually (for the next three years) to support our formerly incarcerated and system-impacted students. Palomar’s application ranked 8th of the 59 granted in the entire state. This funding will go a long way in supporting our Palomar College Transitions Program!
Have a great upcoming week. Go Comets!
For pictures of the various events, follow:
Twitter: @palomardrstar
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