GCC Listening Session a Success
Last Thursday, the MCCCD Governing Board met at GCC to conduct the second of many "Listening Sessions" being held at the Maricopa colleges. Approximately 230 people attended, representing westside businesses, educational institutions, public safety, and other entities. The Governing Board members heard from a variety of speakers and learned much about GCC and our surrounding community. Invited speakers included Glendale Mayor Elaine Scruggs, who spoke about Glendale growth; ASU West Provost Elaine Maimon, presenting an overview of transfer and higher education linkages; APS Community Relations Manager Martin Samaniego, addressing demographic changes; and WESTMARC Executive Director Diane McCarthy, speaking on West Valley economic development. Speakers during the open public forum included Shirlene Fant Rand, publisher of Glendale Magazine; Nathan Farmer and Robert Gaytan, student government leaders; Perry Hill, superintendent of the Glendale Elementary School District; Captain Elio Pompa, Glendale Fire Department, and many others. I've received many positive comments from those who attended, and I thank the dozens of GCC employees and units who made the event so successful: Community Relations, Facilities, Maintenance and Operations, Student Life, Media Center, Innovation Center, Performing Arts, College Safety, GCC North, Faculty Senate, Innovation Center, Academic Advisement, and Food Services/Aramark.

A New Home for GCC Administration Offices
This week, most administrative offices have completed their moves into the newly renovated Administration Building. This includes the president's office (Rm. 102), those of the deans and associate deans of instruction, Institutional Effectiveness, Personnel, ACE Plus, the AZTEC Program, and Multicultural Affairs. Community Relations, along with Community Education, will move into the building in mid-March. Phone extensions remain the same. Special thanks to David Rodriguez and Library staff for hosting me and Roxie Helbert for the past 10 months -- The rent was very reasonable!

Student Success Stories
I've received lots of good news about student achievements in the past week:

Psychology Honors Students All seven research proposals from GCC psychology students to the upcoming Western Psychiatric Association Conference general session were accepted--a major accomplishment when competing against students from major universities nationwide. Research mentors among the faculty--Sue Oliver, BJ Jacobs and Ladonna Lewis--continue doing a great job in making our program and Psi Beta chapter a national model.

Musicians Place High The GCC Guitar Ensemble won first place in Chamber Music at the Maricopa Community Colleges Outstanding Music Performers Competition for the fourth consecutive year. (The ensemble also performed at our Listening Session and set a soothing tone with their music--Thank you!) GCC students swept the top three places for solo guitar, took a first-place ranking for marimba, and student pianists placed high as well. Congratulations to students and faculty members Chuck Hulihan, Doug Nottingham, Christina Eide, and John Akin for continuing yet another GCC tradition of excellence.

All Arizona Academic Team 2003 Congratulations to two GCC students for their recent rankings in the 2003 All Arizona Academic Team: Marlene DeForrest, Second Team; and Veronica Brown, Third Team. We applaud their strong commitment to both academics and community service.

Employee Success Stories

Innovator of the Year Award The GCC Employee & Student Recognition Awards Program implemented a user-friendly, online system to recognize outstanding achievements of students and employees, and their hard work paid off by winning the GCC 2003 Innovator of the Year Award. Congratulations to Sally Hervey, Don Jensen-Bobadilla, Karen Minnihan, Janet Reckmeyer, Suzanne Smelser, and Patricia Rhodes Vogel. Best wishes as you advance to the District-level competition. Another outstanding nomination was "Adjunct Faculty: In the Loop." Details on both projects are at http://www.gc.maricopa.edu/ted/ioty

Nursing Partnership Grows Stronger Thunderbird Samaritan Medical Center (TSMC) Interim CEO Colleen Hallberg spoke at our Listening Session and reinforced the importance of our thriving partnership that address the state's nursing shortage. On Feb. 4, GCC and TSMC celebrated the new cohort of the Essential Careers Pathway Project, a partnership that prepares selected TSMC employees for successful application to the GCC Nursing Program and GWCC Imaging Programs. We have two cohorts and 29 students total. My thanks to Chuck Jeffery for sharing this update.

Campus Climate Listening Sessions Update
This semester I am meeting with all employee and constituent groups to listen to issues of concern and interest. The purpose of this series of meetings is to assess our progress and prepare for the work still to be done regarding campus climate issues. Specifically, the sessions address the most salient issues gleaned from the Fall 2001 Campus Climate study: diversity, morale, communication, fairness, leadership, and decision-making/governance. I encourage you to attend these meetings as they are scheduled for your employee group. Compiled responses will be communicated to employees, and I will keep you informed about action taken resulting from these listening sessions.

Women's Leadership Group Luncheon
The President of Midwestern University, Dr. Kathleen Goeppinger, will be the featured guest speaker at the Thurs., March 13 luncheon of the Women's Leadership Group as it celebrates Women's Month in March. The event will be held from noon to 1:30 p.m. in the Student Union Lounge. Midwestern ranks among our most important academic partners, and I am sure Dr. Goeppinger will have important things to say. I'm pleased that my office is helping sponsor student ticket costs. RSVPs to Pam Nelson (5-3680) or Amanda Dunnagan (5-3473) are required by March 5.

Digitized Master Plan
The primary architect working with us on campus master planning, Jeremy Jones of DWL, attended the Listening Session last week and shared with me this newly digitized watercolor sketch of the Campus Facilities Master Plan -- and I'm pleased to share it with you. (click on the image to open a larger version on the Web):