President's Update: October 3, 2024

Dear Shasta College community,

The accreditation focused site visit is over! Thank you to all of you who participated in this process, including most recently by meeting with the site visit team or attending the Open Forum and/or the Exit Report. While the draft final report won't come in to me till next week, and while the Commission won't issue its formal decision until sometime between their Jan. 8 meeting and 30 days of that, my belief is that there will be no compliance findings. The team said they were impressed by the speediness and thoroughness with which we responded to and addressed their questions about the two core inquiries. They shared with me they were very impressed with the measures we took to address the RSI concerns they had for our online classes. And on top of that, the site visit team had a great visit here thanks to all of you.  At the Exit Report, team chair Dr. Greg Schultz (CEO of Citrus College) spoke glowingly of our campus community, how welcomed they felt, how every single person they met was willing to help, and how beautiful the campus looks. In short, he said, the site visit team had exactly the same experience that our students have when they come to Shasta College. That’s the best compliment we could have received! The team noted our excellent work on many fronts regarding equity and inclusion. They said while they could highlight many areas, they specifically mentioned SCAILE and our Veteran’s Center, which they said was so important not only in terms of the service they provide but as a symbol of our commitment to our veterans. While I was asked not to attend, I had many reports that the Open Forum was exceptionally well attended, and you all did a great job reflecting on our accomplishments and mission. I was delighted by the reports I heard and wished I could have attended. Again, while I don't want to jinx things by taking a victory lap right now, I do want to express my deep gratitude to all of you and to our ALO, Will Breitbach, who has done such invaluable work over many years to guide us through this process.

A few other things I'd like to mention:

Last week I had the privilege of attending the unveiling of the study Understanding the Phenomenon: A Qualitative Investigation of the McConnell Scholars Program at the McConnell Foundation headquarters in Redding. The study was co-authored by three of Shasta College’s own: Dr. Kate Mahar (AVP of SCAILE; see above!), Sara Phillips (Director of the Center of Excellence - EWD), and Heather Wylie (instructor, sociology), as well as others. The study has particular relevance for students in our large, mostly rural region. McConnell did a wonderful job honoring the work and its creators, and our colleagues in turn did a wonderful job representing the college. Two nights later I was attending an Expect More Tehama event in Red Bluff, and several attendees who had been at the McConnell event reached out to me to express their appreciation for the study. One commented, “Everyone in Sacramento should read this book!”

You may recall I shared the idea of becoming known as a college that puts teaching first and prioritizes student learning.  You will receive an email with options to participate in Focus Groups in the coming weeks to explore this idea. I encourage you to sign up and share your thoughts.

If you haven't been checking out Marketing Director Peter Griggs' News2Muse email, you should - it's always inspiring (and funny!). Note the many great activities being put on this month by Program Coordinator Derrick Pringle's Umoja program. I recently received this message about the program's volunteer efforts:  Tyler Fuller, Community Volunteer Ambassador for the National Park Service shared, “Umoja has been volunteering at Whiskeytown the last Saturday of every month during the school year. Their contributions have been incredibly helpful for the park and our volunteer program. They are very professional and a pleasure to work with. . . . We look forward to continuing our volunteering program with them this year, and we hope to expand to more Shasta College students!”

And some disappointing news. Governor Newsom opted not to sign two bills that are important not just for the community college system but also for our state. Senate Bill 895 (Roth, D-Riverside) and Assembly Bill 2104 (Soria, D-Fresno) were supported by industry, labor, and community college leaders, and would have provided pathways for students to pursue a bachelor's degree in nursing (BSN) at their local community college. I am not sure what the rationale for his decision was, but the Governor has been a strong supporter of our career technical programs, and I would not be surprised to see the bills return in some form sooner rather than later. Meantime, Shasta College is continuing to explore other baccalaureate degree offerings to complement the one (Health Information Management) that we have been authorized to offer so far. The good news is that the state is considering new baccalaureate proposals twice a year now (for now). The primary directives are a) any new programs must serve a documented employment need, and b) they may not duplicate programs at a CSU or UC.  

Finally, as noted above, the site visit team had lots of good things to say about how the campus looks. If you have not done so recently, drive around the front entrance, our 700, 100, and 2200 buildings, and around our Theatre. You will see some remarkable work that's been done. Many thanks to Administrative Services, Physical Plant, and our Bond team for the great work you've done on this. I don't know when I've last seen the campus look so good. I do know I keep having people come up to me with smiles on their faces, talking about how happy it makes them. Makes me happy too!