I hope this update finds everyone in good spirits as we head into the new week. Below is a brief recap of my Campus and Community Engagement activities from the previous week.

Campus Engagement

• Held my monthly meetings with the Professional Development Team (PD), the Palomar Faculty Federation (PFF), the Council of Classified Employees (CCE), the Administrative Association (AA) and the Confidential and Supervisory Team (CAST). These meetings are always informative and productive.
• Visited our nursing students on their first day of phlebotomy labs. Thank you, Professor Monique Lineback and Professor Estella Morgan for inviting me to the class.
• Hosted my monthly President’s Open Office Hours.
• Attended the always informative Access and Equity Hour hosted by the Disability Resource Center (DRC). At this week’s event, the DRC demonstrated the importance of accessible educational material. Thank you to presenters Crystal Velasco and Sarah Baker from the ATC who walked us through live demonstrations.
• Attended the Associated Student Government’s (ASG) Spring Retreat. I always enjoy supporting ASG’s leadership development efforts. We have an incredible set of colleagues who love what they do. It is evident by the intentionality and effort they put forth in giving our student leaders amazing growth opportunities. Thank you, Sherry Titus, Pippa Pierce, Kimberly Rocca, and Amaris Gonzalez for inviting me to speak to our student leaders.
• Attended several Black History Month Workshops. This week’s presentation included one by our new faculty member Sherehe Hollins. This workshop was entitled “De la Misma Raíz: From the Same Root.” The presentation focused on the pre-Columbian African presence in America, Africa’s influence in Spain, colonialism in New Spain and its effects on the formation of a Mexican identity.
• Attended the Palomar Women’s Basketball playoff game against Rio Hondo. The Comets had a strong win (79-49). A big congratulations to our phenomenal student-athletes, Head Coach Leigh Marshall, Assistant Coach Chris Kroesch, Assistant Coach Damian Cephas, and Kailey Rowan.

Community Engagement

• Attended the Community College League of California’s 2023 Government Relations Webinar with Trustee Roberto Rodriguez and Trustee Jacqueline Kaiser. This meeting addressed important information regarding legislation and proposals discussed in Sacramento and Washington, D.C. that will impact Palomar College.
• Attended Orientation for the Wheelhouse Institute. I am honored to be one of thirteen CEOs selected for this Fellowship. The 2023 UC Davis Wheelhouse Center for Community College Leadership and Research is dedicated to developing leadership skills specific to the role of the Community College CEO. I am excited to spend my Spring Break at UC Davis this upcoming March!
• Presented to students of the C2C Pathways (Clubhouse-to-College/Career) program at the Boys and Girls Club of San Marcos. C2C Pathways is a workforce readiness program that equips teens with soft and hard skills related to S.T.E.A.M. professions.
• Attended the 2023 North County Apprenticeships & Vocational Training Expo. At this event, I had the opportunity to speak with potential students and representatives from apprenticeship programs across the County. We had over 380 high school students from over 30 schools attend this event! A very big thank you to all who made this event a success!
• Attended the Black/African American Community Advisory Council Meeting. At this meeting, co-facilitator Cheryl Kearse, CDO Carmelino Cruz and others in attendance learned a great deal from our community partners about how Palomar College can better serve the needs of potential, and existing, Black/African American students and employees.
• Greeted La Costa Glen retirees on a tour of our incredible Palomar College Library/Learning Resource Center. It was wonderful to show them some of the beautiful sweeping views from the 4th floor. One of the retirees was a former MiraCosta college governing board trustee and a former community college president from Hawaii. Thank you, Dennis Astl, for always being a great Palomar tour guide!
• Met with Congressman Scott Peters and staffers to show them some our amazing facilities and programs. Thank you, Dean Susan Wyche, VPI Tina Recalde, PIO Julie Lanthier Bandy, faculty member Sergio Hernandez, and faculty member Georg Kast who gave him a great tour!

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Update

• Next month is Women’s History Month! Our campus has many events planned for the entire month of March. There will be film screenings, panel discussions, demonstrations, and many other types of activities. Please view the calendar at this link. I highly encourage everyone to support and attend these events. We are very excited about these educational, insightful, and uplifting events planned for our Palomar community.

Upcoming Event

• Please consider attending the culmination of our Black History Month workshops by supporting the BBQ fundraiser taking place this Tuesday, February 28^th from 5:00pm-8:00pm at the Mesa Rim Climbing Center. For more information please visit the PBFSA website here.
• Please join the formal Welcome Event for our new Assistant Superintendents/Vice Presidents Drs. Todd McDonald and Tina Recalde this Wednesday, March 1^st at 1:00. For more information please access the flyer here. They have been with us for a little over a month, and we are very excited to give them a warm Comet Family welcome.

Comet of the Week

The Comet of the Week is Norma Villa Cortez from Workforce, Community, and Continuing Education (WCCE)! She was nominated by Associate Dean, Nichol Roe. Nichol noted, “Over the last few months, Norma had been collaborating with the San Diego County Office of Education to host an Apprenticeship Expo at Palomar College. Initially, they had plans to host the Expo under the clock tower and give campus tours to high school students. Unfortunately, with a 90% chance of rain and 300 high school student RSVPs, we did not have an indoor space on campus big enough to accommodate. We were minutes away from canceling the whole thing when Norma’s quick thinking and ‘can-do’ attitude made it happen. The event was a HUGE success! Over 30 apprenticeship vendors tabled alongside Palomar’s Outreach team and Work Experience faculty, and over 380 high school students, from roughly 25 different high schools, attended the Expo. Thank you, Norma, for making this awesome event possible!”

As you may recall, last week’s Comet of the Week was Linda Morrow from the Library and Learning Resource Center. Librarian Morrow reached out to me and let me know that it takes a team of librarians, and library staff, to put together these beautiful displays throughout the year at all our library locations. She wanted to make sure that her display teammates received proper credit. Therefore, this week we recognize (from the San Marcos campus) Alexandra Doyle Bauer, Mihail Cuibus, Lisa Franson, Victoria Ganguli, and Sylvia Contreras (from the Rancho Bernardo Education Center) Tamara Weintraub and Monica Diego-Schmidt (from the Escondido Education Center) Katy Farrell and Emilce Sirkin and (from the Fallbrook Education Center) Timothy Martin. Thank you all for putting together these fantastic, educational, and inspiring displays for our entire Palomar College community to enjoy!

Have a great upcoming week. Go Comets!

 

For pictures of the various events, follow:
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