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November 22, 2009

Colleagues:

Thanksgiving is a time of reflection, and celebrating others who have enriched our lives, supported us and challenged us into realizing our potential. This Sunday morning as I look out the window and see the dynamic skies of Oregon with the sunlight brightening up the remaining autumn colored leaves on the trees, I can’t help but say out loud for the zillionth time “what a beautiful place we live in!”

I am thankful that I am here in the United States of America, and here at Lane Community College. Lane to me is an extraordinary place and everyday exemplifies Dale Parnell’s statement that we do “common things uncommonly well.” Recently, at our state-wide meeting of instructional administrators, I was struck that Lane really does do thing well, whether it is the way we engage with the American Graduation Initiative, reviewing our Strategic Directions, or talking about the legislation on the Applied Baccalaureate. We engage in these discussions with depth and vigor that is very unique to us (which is probably why we are all so exhausted J ). In the spirit of Thanksgiving I want to thank each and every one of you for your engagement that makes us individually and collectively who we are.

Let’s celebrate a few highlights:

Accreditation:

We had our five-year regular interim visit on November 4 th and 5 th. The evaluators, in their exit interview, confirmed that there were no recommendations that Lane would need to work on. YES!

I want to thank and recognize the many individuals who worked on our Interim Report, and especially:

Craig Taylor: Standards One, Six, Nine, and overall editor
Mary Brau: Standard Two and overall editor
Kate Barry: Standard Three
Don McNair: Standard Four
Dennis Carr: Standard Four
Nadine Williams: Standard Five
Todd Lutz: Standard Six
Greg Morgan: Standard Seven
Dave Willis: Standard Eight
Mark Williams: Standard Eight
Anna Kate Malliris: Accreditation coordinator
Laura Martin: Technical Editor

Thanks also to all of you who made yourselves available to meet with the evaluators on November 4 th. In addition to many of those listed above, this includes:

Managers : Andrea Newton, Bert Logan, Barb Delansky, Brian Kelly, Deanna Murphy, Jerry deLeon, Ken Murdoff, Laurie Swanson-Gribskov, Mary Parthemer, Mary Spilde, Nancy Hart, Paul Croker, Rick Williams, Rodger Bates, Sarah Ulerick, Sheryl Berman, Stacey Schultz, Susan Carkin, 

Faculty Jim Salt, Margaret Robertson, Dennis Gilbert, Co-Chair, Faculty Council, Andy Salzman, Mary Brau, Barbara Breaden, Sheila Broderick, Christina Howard, Tamara Pinkas, Stephen Selph, Melinda Beane, David Duemler, Windy Lightheart, Sabrina Bailey, Sandy Jensen, Valerie Metcalf, Charlene LaRoux, Susie Cousar, Vicky Kirkpatrick, Greg Evans, Wendy Simmons, Kate Sullivan, Stan Taylor, Katie Morrison-Graham.

Classified: Bob Baldwin, Lida Herburger, Elizabeth Andrade

Students: James Manning, President, ASLCC; Lucas Polzin, Chair, Student Affairs Council; a group from ASLCC (student government)

Board of Education: Pat Albright, Tony McCown, Roger Hall

 Kudos:

Mary Spilde was one of the seven alums recognized

by Oregon State University recognized as "Alumni Fellows. As highlighted in their write-up about Mary:

Mary exemplifies the very highest goals of our College of Education. After emigrating from Scotland to Oregon and realizing that she couldn't use her Scottish law degree without petitioning the Oregon Supreme Court, Mary found her passion at community colleges, working in support of adult learning. While working at nearby Linn-Benton Community College, she completed her master's degree and doctoral degree at our College of Education and has since gone on to become recognized as one of the very best community college leaders in the country. Mary serves as chair for the American Association of Community Colleges' Board, co-chair of Oregon's Post-Secondary Quality Education Commission, and board member for the National Institute for Leadership Development and National Committee for Cooperative Education. It's an honor for us to be able to recognize Mary and the truly wonderful work that she does.

 Common Things Done Uncommonly Well:

There are many

ways that we do, “common things uncommonly well.” For example, Laundry Services at the college has been doing an amazing job handling increased demands.

As a comparison in pounds:

Those are dramatic numbers, the total increase in poundage for
all of LCC:

September - October 08’ = 28,480
September – October 09’ = 43,490 a 52.7% increase

So thanks to Sharmean Heffernan and her Specialized Support Services crew!

That’s all for now. Until next time …..

Sonya