Office of Instruction and Student Development Update April 3, 2015
Fall Convocation August 20—Call for Proposals
Margaret J. Wheatley once said that, "All change, even very large and powerful change, begins
when a few people start talking with one another about something they care about." We would like
the fall convocation to explore ways to invigorate positive changes in our college community,
while highlighting the actions we are taking to increase persistence, student success and
achievement. They could range from small things to major paradigm shifts.
Faculty and staff are encouraged to submit proposals for activities that you feel should be offered
during convocation. Proposals could focus on what might be an impetus for change and/or how
we can somehow make a deeper and more lasting impact on student success. All proposals should
be submitted via the online proposal form: online proposal form.
Progress on Faculty and Staff Hiring
Human Resources staff, working with our administrative and faculty colleagues, is continuing the
search process for several faculty positions. Faculty positions that are in the final interview stages
are Art, Construction Technology, Counseling (2 positions), Early Childhood Education, English,
and History/Political Science (Del Norte). The Automotive Technology position will be restarted
in August. Ultimately, each screening committee will recommend finalists to the President, who
will then forward a recommendation to the Board of Trustees. The faculty and staff willing to serve
on these screening committees should be commended for the time and effort they’re putting in to
the process.
Pending Board approval next week:
 Burk McBride will begin on April 8 as the new Manager for Public Safety;
 Catherine Cox will begin her tenure as the new Director of Library and Technology
Enhanced Instruction on July 15;
 Clifford LaMastus will be named as a Student Services Specialist to support our Veterans
Resource Center; and
 Daniel Potts will begin service as a Public Safety Officer for our Del Norte campus on
April 8.
Concurrent and Dual Enrollment Update
The college has a long history of offering courses to concurrently enrolled students by allowing
high school and home schooled students access to our curriculum on our various campuses and
sites and through the Academy of the Redwoods program. We piloted a dual enrollment program
where we made several CR courses available at the high school for high school students before and
after the traditional high school hours of operation.
I’ve been meeting with the Academic Senate Co-Presidents, the Deans and the administrative
leadership of Northern Humboldt Unified and Eureka City Schools to discuss expanding the dual
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enrollment initiative to give more students an opportunity to complete college-level coursework to
earn college credits while they’re pursuing their high school diploma.
Expanding our dual enrollment initiative will require two separate educational systems to work
collaboratively to advance multiple interests: students’ high school and college completion,
student readiness for college work, course articulation, and faculty qualifications. The Deans and
I will work closely with the Academic Senate to develop a conceptual framework that upholds our
academic quality and outlines some processes and protocols to discuss with our high school
partners.
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