President's Update: July 1, 2024

Dear Shasta College community,

I hope you are all having a great summer so far - with July 1, we are just about at the midway point the summer.

July 1 is also my first day in my new role as President of Shasta College. I just wanted to use this occasion to say thank you to a whole bunch of people:  to the Board of Trustees and hiring committee for their confidence in me; my colleagues in the English Department, the Academic Senate, and on Cabinet; the amazing instructional Dean Team; the Office of Instruction staff and especially Executive Assistant Courtney Vigna; my new staff in the President's Office who have been so helpful in getting me set up in my new "home" (with help from Physical Plant and IT!); and Dr. Kevin O'Rorke, who has ably guided us through the past six months as our interim.  When I arrived at Shasta College in January 1997, I never would have imagined that one day I would become a dean, and then a vice president, and now a president.  It has been quite a journey, and many people have helped me along the way.  Thank you!

I have an uncle who I have become close to since my mother passed several years ago.  Uncle Ben is in his 80s, a Navy vet, and a former executive in the aerospace industry. When I shared with him the news I had been named president, he sent me what he called a “pep talk," but essentially it was just some good advice:  work hard and keep a clear head. That is exactly what I intend to do in this new role. My intent is keep doing all the things we have done in the last few years that have brought us so much success - don't fix what isn't broken. At the same time, I intend to explore ways in which we can continue to make Shasta College a place that welcomes all students and that is focused on innovation and excellent instruction.  I hope to have many allies in you in all these efforts.

So now a bit of business:  July 1 is a start date for some others beside me, including interim Vice President of Instruction, Ioanna "Yanna" Iatridis. As the new Vice President of Instruction, Ioanna will be taking my place on Academic Senate, Curriculum Committee, and the Evaluation Process Oversight Committee for Faculty tenure review.  Dr. Zack Zweigle starts today as Dean of Health Sciences.  And Mark Klever, recently from College of the Siskiyous, will be starting today as Dean of BACTE (Business, Agriculture, and Career Technical Education).  We are happy to have you all aboard in your new roles!

We are not only halfway through summer but halfway through the summer session.  A brief enrollment update:  it's up!  For summer we seem to be holding steady at a 10-11% increase over Summer 2023, and going back several semesters/sessions we have continued to increase our enrollments.  So we are trending in the right direction, with the biggest gains coming in in-person instruction.  Overall, we've picked up around 750 FTES (our primary source of funding) in the past four semesters/sessions alone.  But we are still down about 800 FTES from the last "normal" year - 2019.  Given how low unemployment is (low unemployment often equals low enrollments), these enrollment gains are quite heartening.  I appreciate all the hard work that went into our new outreach efforts from Student Services and Marketing and creative scheduling on the part of the administrative professionals and deans of the instructional divisions.  Regarding the state budget, we are expecting to receive more information on community college budgets early this week and hope to provide an update when that comes through.  

Finally, as you look around campus or at our downtown Health Sciences building, you'll see some great new images of Shasta College as well as our new 75th anniversary logo, created by our amazing Marketing department.  You'll be hearing a lot about the 75th this year as we use it as an opportunity to communicate to the community how we have tried to fulfill our mission to it and how grateful we are for the community's continued support.  

That's it. Thank you all in advance for supporting me as I try to support you.  Have a great July 4th!   

Best,
Frank