First 100 Days: Days 31-60
Becoming a Knight: The first 60 days
星期1
The beginning of my second month as president was spent in Washington D.C. 一个星期 与受托人 Tamra Jackson, Wilma Cartagena, 和 Phylicia Hancock Lewis as we participated in the 社区 College National Legislative Summit to advocate for federal education dollars for 皇冠8868会员登录 Valley College 和 Washington state. 在 our visit, we met with Senator Maria Cantwell, Representative Dan Newhouse, 和 Representative 金正日Schrier. We advocated for the American Association of 社区 Colleges 和 Association of 社区 College Trustees federal legislative priorities, which included a variety of programs within each of the following categories:
- Bolster the Role of 社区 Colleges in Workforce Development
- Fund Key Education 和 Workforce Programs
- 支持梦想家
- Reform Student Aid for Today’s 学生
- Focus Student Tax Policy on Those Who Can Benefit Most
- 农业法案
My week ended with Knight at the Wild at the Town Toyota Center, which was the first large-scale community event that I attended where WVC was a major sponsor 和 participant 在社区里. Collectively, the college had more than 100 students, staff, faculty, 和 administrators attend this local hockey tournament event. 在…的支持下 the WVC基金会, student programs, student services, athletics, alumni, 和 volunteers, the event demonstrated the collaborative approach of campus 和 community engagement that I envisioned but had not witnessed until this point. What an amazing event for our students, employees, alumni, 和 members of the community.
星期2
This week was my third full week on campus 和 in the office without holidays, state, or national obligations that required me to be away. This time was invaluable 和 provided more opportunities to learn 和 participate more intimately with the many facets of the campus, 和 the priorities of the different communities that the college 服务.
星期3
I returned to Lacey 和 Olympia to attend the Washington Association of 社区 和 Technical Colleges (ACT) meetings. This included attending the Capital Budget Committee meetings as I am a new member. The committee reviewed the 2023-25 Capital Request for New Appropriations 和 reported on recommendations. 资本投资 serve students 和 communities 和 there is an extensive list of major projects 和 minor works that represent most if not all colleges in Washington that warrant support 考虑.
星期4
I spent my last week predominantly at the 皇冠8868会员登录 campus 和 this was the first opportunity for me to attend a WVC基金会 board meeting. Agriculture faculty members 旧金山Sarmiento, 杰夫·布洛克, 和 Frank Sarmiento-Torres provided a comprehensive overview 和 a tour of our on-campus facilities for the Hispanic Orchard Employee Education Program (HOEEP) which is recognized throughout the state as one of the best. HOEEP also follows Washington’s Integrated Basic Education 和 Skills Training Programs (I-BEST) model.
I was able to attend more campus 和 community events, including the “Do Good, Drink Beer” fundraiser that was sponsored by the WVC基金会, 和 the annual 皇冠8868会员登录 山谷宴会.
That Friday, I finished the week by attending the Laser Tag event in the evening. As a former faculty member, student services representative, 和 someone that believes that students’ curricular, co-curricular, 和 extra-curricular experiences should be the cornerstone of education, I could not have imagined ending my first 60 days in any other way, with students! A special thanks go out to ASWVC 和 艾琳·托夫 for sponsoring this event.