CHAPARRAL

The dawn of a new era for our
Office of Instruction
 

Our new Vice President of Instructional Services, Dawn Lindsay, was chosen from an original pool of 21 applicants after a long process involving dozens of GCC employees. Her selection was finalized by a vote of the Board of Trustees last fall.

     Dr. Lindsay has a long resume as a professor and administrator at several community colleges and at public and private organizations in Maryland, where she grew up. She also has a strong history of community and professional involvement.  Her community participation includes Soroptimist International, Chambers of Commerce, Lion’s Club, UNITY, and Compassion International.  Her professional activities include refereeing for education journals, serving as a member of the American Association of University Women, and participating in the National Association of Female Executives.  Her recent professional development includes ACCJC evaluator training, working on an accreditation site team, taking advanced leadership training from the American Association of Community Colleges, and attending the Curriculum Institute of the California Academic Senate.

     Dawn’s first focus at GCC will be getting to know our faculty and staff and the Glendale community. She is very much enjoying our campus and meeting everyone.  Dr. Lindsay is impressed with our energy, our wonderful programs, and our collegiality.  The beauty of our campus and its well-maintained grounds impress her.  She is anxious to see the parking structure open for the fall, thus alleviating our parking problems and drawing more students back to our campus. Given our college’s stellar reputation as an outstanding educational institution, Dr. Lindsay sees her job as supporting the people who make our campus such an exceptional place.  Why fix something that isn’t broken!

     However, Dr. Lindsay does have some innovative ideas to increase enrollment and to improve curriculum and instruction. To increase enrollment, Dr. Lindsay believes one way is to work to retain the students we already have, and to encourage existing students to take more classes.  Additionally, she believes that we should develop a solid on-line curriculum and enhance our existing hybrid and web enhanced courses; this is still a relatively untapped resource to increase our numbers.  Moreover, she believes we should look at our schedule to determine where there are gaps, and determine if we can offer paired classes so students can maximize their schedules.

      In terms of curriculum and instruction, Dr. Lindsay feels that we need to be vigilant in meeting the needs of our community, and to work toward seamless transfer from high school to community college and from community college to four-year institutions. She also feels that we should provide more programs in the vocational and career arenas.  Finally, she would like to see us evaluate how we are meeting the needs of returning adult students in continuing education.

     Outside of her busy professional life, Dawn Lindsay spends most of her free time driving back and forth to Glendale from Orange County.  That is why she has listed her home on the market, and is very much looking forward to moving to our area by June.  Dawn enjoys spending time with her 18-year-old son James, who may be attending our college next academic year.  She also enjoys working out, playing with her two very spoiled chocolate Labrador Retrievers, and spending time with her many friends.  She also loves wine tasting, cooking, and good movies.

     Dawn was raised in Maryland, where her mother sold real estate until last fall and her father was a science teacher. She has a warm, approachable nature that makes it easy to discuss matters openly with her.  Within the Senate’s purview are academic and professional matters.  These include curriculum, establishing prerequisites and placing courses within disciplines, educational program development, standards and policies regarding student preparation and success, and processes for institutional planning and budget development.  But the Office of Instruction also addresses these matters.  Moreover, some of the Senate’s authority is shared with Academic Affairs (as delineated by our Mutual Gains Document), which is chaired by our VPI.  Therefore, a working relationship with the VPI is vital to the aims of the Academic Senate.  Continuing the tradition set by Steve White and his predecessors, Dr. Lindsay will meet with me each week to discuss academic and professional issues.  Dawn views her role vis-à-vis the Senate as a facilitator and collaborator. She is highly supportive of the Senate, and will do all she can to help us achieve our goals. Dawn left Riverside Community College with accolades from the Academic Senate.

     Dr. Lindsay, welcome to Glendale College.  The Academic Senate looks forward to working with you to make our campus an even better institution than it already is. This looks to be the dawn of an era of continuing and increased collaboration between the Office of Instruction and the Academic Senate. We will be the better for it.

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