New Employees

Please help me welcome new employees approved at the Dec. 14, 2004 Governing Board Meeting: Beth Kovatch, Disability Services and Resources; Dave Hetterly IV, Financial Aid; and Susan Tomaszewski, Fiscal Office.

Convocation Highlights

It was good to see so many of you at Monday's two Convocation sessions. We are embarking on a great semester—celebrating GCC's 40th year, progressing with our Higher Learning Commission (HLC) reports, and starting the planning for the first of many construction projects related to the passage of Maricopa's $951 million bond. We also have some terrific new employees and exciting construction and remodeling projects approaching. For those unable to attend Convocation, the major topics covered were: timelines and priorities for the upcoming Capital Development Program (new construction, renovations, safety and technology upgrades); the widening of 59th Avenue; the Campus Climate study; and the presidential search. Thank you for your enthusiasm and your attendance, and thanks also to Chuck Jeffery, Bobby Sample, College Advancement Services, Employee Services and others who helped produce this kick-off event.

Chemical Spill and Fire Update

GCC experienced a deliberate chemical spill incident and an accidental fire during the break. The chemical incident affected one room in the Center for Learning and the 02 Office Building. The chemical substance was a physical irritant but was not a bio-hazard. Affected areas are being professionally cleaned and reconditioned and will be back in service for classes next week. The fire occurred in the M&O office area and damage is currently being repaired. Al Gonzales is temporarily occupying an office in the Student Union; other M&O personnel are housed temporarily in SU-110. Phone numbers remain the same. Staff are expected to return to their normal work areas in approximately two to three weeks. Thank you to M&O, College Safety and Chuck Jeffery for their performance and cooperation during these two incidents. In fact, GCC's video surveillance tapes scrutinized by Safety personnel led to an arrest in the chemical spill crime. Good work!

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Events at GCC, Jan. 19 and 20

GCC will host two days of commemorative MLK Day events during the week of Jan. 17. On Wed., Jan. 19 at 11:00 a.m., the film "King" will be shown in the Student Union Lounge. On Thurs., Jan. 20, at 11:30 a.m. in the Lounge, the program will consist of a PowerPoint photographic presentation set to a recording of King's moving "I Have a Dream" speech. Following that, Clay Dix, Professor Emeritus at the west campus of ASU, will speak on "The Impact and Legacy of the Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr." I hope many of you will be able to enjoy these educational programs and possibly attend with students or encourage them to attend.

National Mentoring Month

January is National Mentoring Month, which gives me the perfect opportunity to congratulate Program Coordinator Trini Sandoval and her colleagues for the great work being done in the active Gaucho Mentoring Program. Mentoring has been shown to have a significant impact on student success, and I'm happy to say that GCC's program has soared under Trini's leadership. Of particular note are the new, group-mentoring classes developed for nursing students and education students. I understand that we currently have 110 mentors and 220 "mentees" in the program. I enjoy being a mentor myself, and hope many of you will consider participating this year. A Mentors Luncheon will be held on Fri., Jan. 14, 11:00 a.m. I encourage all GCC mentors and interested potential mentors to attend.

Marquee Will Help With Parking

Last semester, during the first weeks of school, we allowed overflow parking on the east-side grass. Given the recent rains, that will be impossible this semester. Our new marquee will be useful next week in directing student traffic to the large north parking lot where parking spaces will be available. Your help in directing them to this area is appreciated.

Holiday Open House Another Success

It was wonderful to see so many of you at the second annual Holiday Open House in the Administration Building in December. It was great to celebrate with faculty, staff, students, alumni and many retired faculty and staff. I greatly appreciate the efforts of Judy Blake and many others who made this event happen.

"Wintosh Wedding"

Network Services and Information Services did a great job producing the "Wintosh Wedding." This was an entertaining way to inform the campus of the uniting of Macintosh and Windows computer platform support in the HTC labs, introduce the employee computer cross-training project, and showcase a brief training session.

Congratulations to…

...Al Gonzales and his crew for the beautiful condition of our campus. I recently received an e-mail from the District's Acting Director of Facilities Planning and Development Arlen Solochek after he visited GCC. He was very complimentary about how the campus looked and remarked especially on the appearance of our "new marquee corner" now that the landscaping is complete.

…Sewing instructor Belva Barrick who had another cover story published in SEWNews Magazine. "Make it Fit: Alterations for Weight Loss" appeared in the January 2005 issue.

…to Esther Anaya-Garcia, Herman Gonzalez, Karen Quinn, Mary Sindel and Trish Vogel who all graduated in December with M.Ed. degrees from NAU—and to all other December 2004 graduates.

Dr. Phillp Randolph
President
Glendale Community College