Are we ready for dialogue?

Fall semester is in full swing, and yet again, we face many challenges. The accreditation visit is right around the corner, and tireless preparations continue. Yes, we can be sure that there will always be something in the recommendation section of the accreditation report, but isn’t that normal? We will pull together and improve in those areas. At least, SLO is not a foreign language anymore. Much has happened since last spring. Currently, we have facilitators on the campus who will write a formal report describing both their findings and recommendations in light of the Technical Assistance report. A forum with both Dr. John Nixon and Dr. Phil Maynard was informative, to say the least. Topics discussed at the forum included: trust issues, transparency in decision making, Board meetings as an inappropriate venue for participatory governance, and the Board’s responsibility regarding the evaluation and hiring of the college president. Dialogue, dialogue.... Are we ready for one?

     KH Consulting Group is now meeting with all campus constituent groups so that everyone will be surveyed. Hopefully, after all internal and external screenings, we will have a District-wide master plan. I am very excited about the external screenings which will help the college to integrate both the needs of the community and the demands of the workforce market in our long-term plan. In the past, we have done beautiful marketing pieces to promote our programs and services to the community, but not a study of the community’s needs until now.

     The newly formed CEO Hiring Advisory Committee represents administrators, students, faculty, classified staff and community leaders. As we all know, the final decision will be made by the Board of Trustees. Good luck to this committee. It is not an easy role. The CSEA representatives serving on this committee are Hoover Zariani, Tzoler Oukayan, and Samir Abou-Rass. Remember, we are only as strong as our members, and there is no better time to become involved.

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