CSEA Chapter 429 has recently concluded its elections and the following are the officers for 2009 and 2010:

 

President-Mark Millett

1st Vice-President-John Ieronimo

Coalinga Area Vice-President-Juan Rubio

Lemoore Area Vice-President-Keith Brock

Treasurer-Janet Young

Secretary-Hillary Davis

CPRO-Scott Young

Our focus in November continued to be on evaluations, bylaws, the calendar and the impact of student learning outcomes on workload. Evaluation season is almost behind us, and it appears we may have survived with only a handful of process issues.

 

We have received word from CTA that our revised bylaws have been approved with one minor correction, so we’ll be taking the bylaws to the membership for ratification. At this meeting, we’ll also be ratifying the academic calendars through 2011.

 

On November 3, the association met with the district regarding the impact of student learning outcomes on workload. It was nice to have both presidents and Dr. Gornick present at the table as we brainstormed and drafted a memorandum of understanding. The MOU is still in draft form, but we hope to have a finalized version before the end of the semester.

We have scheduled outreach for area high schools for January and February.  $1,000.00 scholarships will be offered to high school seniors who attend a workshop and complete a survey.  Details on our workshop dates and times are listed on the Cash for College Web site, click here to view.  

We will also be hosting FAFSA Saturdays in Lemoore, Coalinga and Firebaugh.  These events will be open to students, the community or anyone interested in completing the FAFSA.  Staff will be available to answer financial aid and scholarship questions.  The events will take place from 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

 

Please welcome Leticia Lopez as our newest employee in the financial aid department as a financial aid coordinator.   Leticia graduated from Wellesley College with her bachelor’s degree in sociology and Spanish.  Before joining us, she worked at Central Valley General Hospital as the rural health marketing coordinator for Central Valley Health Clinic.  Being raised in Avenal, she has a great understanding of the community and population we serve in our district and we are excited to have her join our department. 

Join us in welcoming Leticia to the Coalinga campus!

January as always is a busy month for the foundation, finishing 2008 and starting 2009.

 

By now you should have all received the WHCCF 2007 Annual Report. This is to let you know just a few of the ways in which foundation funds are being invested.  You may have read about our President's Scholars or about Antonio Gomez a WHC alum from Huron now at UCLA.  Then we have our long list of supporters without whom the foundation could not exist.  Thank you to everyone for your support of our colleges and our students.

 

We are in the midst of a one-year long Datatel Colleague Advancement training and implementation.  This comprehensive database will allow us to collect and store information on alumni, donors, prospects and friends. It allows us to collect names, contact information, relationships and giving history.  There are plans to expand our use of the database to include using it for a more streamlined bookkeeping system as well. 

We have installed a DS-3 line between the North District Center and the Coalinga campus.  This will increase the bandwidth and speed of all data and phone transactions for the North District Center.  Hopefully they noticed an improvement.

 

The foundation office has purchased the Datatel Adavancement module which will automate the functions of the foundation office and interface with Datatel to provide better functionality.  The implementation process kicked off in November.  They are planning on being live on the new system November of 2009.

 

We will be installing a new version of the library software (SIRSI) next week.  This will add some new functionality to the libraries' cataloging and circulation processes.

 

BOGUS EMAILS - Spammers are getting more and more sophisticated. They send email continually where they spoof email addresses.  If you hit reply on many of these messages, you will see the return address is something completely different than the from: address.  Please just delete these messages.  If you ever receive messages that just don't look right, or you don't recognize the address - just delete them.  You will never receive messages from anyone in ITS asking for personal information or passwords.  You should never respond to any emails that do this.

There is a strong increase in student calls and emails to the help desk, and the video conference classes are gearing up for spring.

 

There is exiting news for our senior secretary, Lupe Alvarado is expecting another addition to her family sometime this summer! 

Our newest member of the team, Tom Robb, ed tech specialist for faculty support on the Coalinga campus, seems to be settling in and providing all kinds of great new ideas for faculty to use in their online courses. 

Lenore Simonson, ed tech specialist for faculty support on the Lemoore campus, has been doing a terrific job keeping our online processes on track. 

Idelle Mahrt, our Help Desk coordinator, is working harder than ever to respond to students' emails and phone calls during this busy time of year- we really appreciate her unique skill set in this area. 

Finally, Joe Savopolos has not only supported our distance learning video conference classrooms and meeting rooms, but has worked hard to make sure we have been able to purchase additional grant-funded equipment for four new rooms this year throughout our service area.

I’m not a numbers person but sometimes numbers really tell the tale.  Did you know that 94 percent of our students would recommend West Hills to a family or friend?  At NDC, that number is an astonishing 99 percent.  I was reminded of why these numbers are so high during Xtreme Registration on Jan. 9th at WHCL.  I was at the front desk of the library with a visitor when I heard Stephanie Droker say to a student and her mother—“It may take six professionals to solve this problem but we’re going to get you registered.”  Later in the evening, Stephanie was over in the admin building with Mark Millett, still trying to solve the student’s problem.  They were successful.  Sometimes it takes extreme measures to solve problems.  I am reminded of my first week at Cal Poly as a fresh-faced kid from Corcoran who didn’t know a soul.  A Week of Welcome counselor did for me what Stephanie did for the WHCL student at Xtreme Registration.  I will be forever grateful to that WOW counselor and I’m forever grateful to people like Stephanie who go the extra mile for our students.

 

All employees should have received the Lemoore report to the community in their homes in Dec.  Watch for Coalinga's soon.  Everyone should have received a copy of Dialogue at home at the first of the year.  If you have not received these publications, please let me know. 

 

With budget cuts, marketing is looking for ways to reduce expenditures.  We'll be reducing the number of Dialogues and have cut back on our radio advertisements from three week runs to just two weeks.  These "buys" happen when open enrollment begins for each semester and just before the semester begins.   Television has been cut from our budget for the year.  We're still committed to doing high school yearbook ads and a few map ads and directories that are popular with newcomers to the area.  Other than that, our print ads are at a minimum.  MySpace continues to bring us strong results so we're continuing to reach out to students through social media.

 

Don't forget to check the portal regularly for picture of the week updates and announcements.  If you have submissions, please send them to Felicia and she can post them for you.

While these are difficult economic times, there still is much to be thankful for.  I would like to share two shining examples:

Good news for local families…

Throughout the year, One Stop staff receive numerous requests for assistance from Fresno County Supportive Services staff, walk-ins, community members and local churches.  Thanks to Chevron, these local families had a much brighter Christmas.  For the past two years, staff from the Coalinga One Stop have assisted Chevron by interviewing families and helping in the selection process.   Once a family has been chosen, youth from the One Stop Program are responsible for the family from beginning to end, from selecting gifts, wrapping presents and delivering the gifts to the selected families.  Staff report that shopping may take up to days for each family as  everyone in the home receives a gift. The project spends between $450-$500 on each family.  Children usually receive: pair of shoes, socks, pants, shirt or sweater, jacket and a toy selected from their wish list.  Parents usually receive a jacket and necessary household items such as a heater or blankets and a gift card to Save Mart for $50-$100.  

In 2007, Chevron donated $7,000, which provided gifts for 15 families. 

This past year, with Chevron’s contribution of $10,000,00, the Coalinga One Stop Youth assisted 20 families. This is truly a gift to be thankful for! Special thanks to Chevron, Gerardo (Jerry) Escalante, Anna Espinoza and the rest of the Coalinga One Stop Staff and youth participants.

Good news for Veterans…

Due to the success with the current veterans' grant project with Fresno County Workforce Investment Board, WHCCD has received a new veteran support grant.  The "Veterans Employment – Related Assistance Program" (VEAP) will receive $792,970 over the next two years. This grant will allow the colleges to serve 70 veterans from our communities, support marketing strategies and offer high job demand vocational training. Although veterans have highly developed skills in a variety of areas, research indicates that these skills are not directly transferable to positions in the civilian work environment.  VEAP grant funds will be used to provide comprehensive services to assist veterans in making a smooth transition from the military to civilian workforce. WHCCD will use these new VEAP funds to continue to serve additional local veterans including those recently separated and/or vets with service-connected disabilities, campaign veterans, significant barriers or eligible spouses while enhancing the service delivery of the existing program. The grant supports WIA staffing to work with veterans and provides for faculty salaries to enhance capacity. 

Our program partners include Fresno County Workforce Investment Board, Kings County Job Training Office, Lemoore Naval Air Station - Transition Assistance Program, Coalinga State Hospital, Floway Pumps, Inland Star Distribution and California Overnight Transit.

 

Special thanks to Robert Pimental, Leonard Bass, Susie Briones and Cathy Barabe for all their hard work in securing this new opportunity for our service men and women.