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:

1. Bolster the Role of 社区 Colleges in Workforce Development
2. Fund Key Education 和 Workforce Programs
3. 支持梦想家
4. Reform Student Aid for Today’s 学生
5. Focus Student Tax Policy on Those Who Can Benefit Most
6. 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.