Welcome Back
Dear State Center Community College Students, Faculty and Staff,
Congratulations on your successful completion of the first week of the Spring semester! With all the busyness that comes with a new year, I want to pause and express my gratitude and welcome you all back. I am so grateful for you – our students, faculty, staff, and administrators– who showed up and looked out for one another through these difficult 20 months, even as you faced your own exhaustion and private struggles. Especially those that have been working face to face on our campuses (i.e. library staff, IT staff, tutors, faculty, counselors, administrators, and others) to ensure students are successful. Because of you, we have kept our colleges and community safe and thriving. It is good to see those of you on campus and to those of you joining us remotely, you are a vital part of our community, and we look forward to connecting. I hope that each of you had a wonderful break and enjoyed special time with friends and family. I look forward to the semester ahead and with a renewed enthusiasm for work and study, together we can continue our commitment to support student access, success and equity.
Our nation has witnessed the formation of a wide ideological divide and a test of its democracy. At Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¹ÙÍø, we must hold ourselves to a higher standard that begins with civility and respect for others. As we begin this new academic year, I encourage you to respect the right of others to express ideas you may passionately disagree with. Remember, we are all valued members of the Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¹ÙÍø family.
As we kick-start 2022, all that we do will be driven by our commitment to real impact through our education while staying true to our mission of supporting the colleges to promote educational opportunities for students to transform their lives and our region.
The start of a new year provides an ideal time to reflect on where we have been and where we are heading. There have been major challenges facing us as a community and as a nation. Although COVID-19 continues to be a challenge, we have never lost sight of our number one priority which is the safety of our students, faculty and staff. Our enhanced safety protocols, including vaccination and testing requirements, along with new masking recommendations, are designed to protect our students, faculty, staff and community.
I am happy to announce that starting next week, the testing centers at all four colleges will be expanded to allow for any student or staff member to be tested. Be on the lookout for an announcement from your College President next week sharing more details as to how to access this valuable service.
My sincere gratitude to the faculty, classified professionals, and managers for your support and collaborative efforts over the last few days, relating to the beginning of the Spring Semester and the latest wave of the pandemic. It truly is impressive how we have been able to make adjustments in order to continue to provide some on ground instruction and services as well as continue to provide online services. I also want to thank the student workers and staff who are working at each of the colleges to help implement the Entry to Campus protocols. To date, District-wide we are offering approximately 50% of our course offerings on site. Before the Winter Break, the Colleges had initially planned for a higher percentage of on-ground classes, but we started to adjust for an increase in student demand for remote offerings.
Let's stay focused on the many positive things happening in our District. We have award winning students, athletes, faculty, and staff. We are keeping our promise to the voters who helped us pass Measure C, our $485 million facilities bond. As a result, every campus has new state-of-the-art buildings in progress or ones that have been completed. We have new campuses coming to West Fresno with a completion date of 2022 and new First Responders campus in Southeast Fresno with a completion date of 2023. In Madera, the new Academic Village 2 building will be completed by Spring 2023. Reedley recently completed their Math and Science building, and they will begin construction on the Fine and Performing Center soon. Also new Child Development Centers at Fresno City College and Reedley will be completed shortly. Clovis is on track to have an Applied Tech Building soon. Despite the decline in enrollment, we have had a dramatic increase in the number of degrees and certificates.
We are doing all that we can do to ensure the return to our college campuses is safe and successful. Yet, we need your help. Here is what you can do:
- Wear a mask. Continue to wear a mask that offers a good fit and good filtration, such as a surgical mask or KN95. N95 and KN95 masks have been and will continue to be distributed to faculty, staff, and students at the Colleges and District Office.
Due to a recent increase in COVID-19 cases, the California Department of Public Health has extended the mandate that everyone in California wears a mask in indoor public spaces and workplaces. Learn more at: www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/COVID-19/guidance-for-face-coverings - Get vaccinated and boosted. Vaccines remain the most powerful tool against the spread of COVID-19. The colleges and community continue to offer vaccinations. Information can be found at the California Department of Public Health My Turn website at: https://myturn.ca.gov/. Vaccines are also widely available at pharmacies, usually by appointment:
- For employees:
- For students:
- Note: Student workers must enter the information into both systems
- If you feel sick, stay home. If you are an employee, work with your supervisor. If you are a student, let your faculty member know.
- Get tested. More information will be available next week regarding how you will be able to access your college's testing center.
- Follow the Campus Entry protocols at your site.
If you have any creative input regarding responding to the new wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, please forward them to cassy.wilkinson@scccd.edu.
I am deeply grateful to each of you for your contributions and extraordinary dedication to our students; I am honored to be a part of such a remarkable and talented community.
With my best wishes for a healthy and successful 2022. Let's do this!
Cheers,
Dr. Carole Goldsmith
Chancellor
