Dear Faculty and Staff:

Welcome to the fall semester and the 2018-19 academic year! The first week of a new semester offers many opportunities to engage our students and to demonstrate our commitment to their success. I hope you will join me in finding time to greet our students and help them find their way.

I wanted to extend my sincere appreciation to all of you for attending last week’s All College Day. As a follow-up to the information presented, here are some of the highlights from our time together:

• Thanks to the good efforts of President’s Council and others, we adopted four new priorities for the upcoming year:
• Promote diversity, equity, and inclusion
• Improve the student experience & enhance the learning environment
• Enhance and expand technical and STEAM programs
• Promote employee development, empowerment, and innovation
• Vice President Galbierz provided an update on the budget, indicating that we continue to enjoy a healthy reserve. Information was shared regarding plans to relocate the bookstore to the Student Center. We will be collaborating with the new Campus Learning Environment Committee to identify next steps and to determine best uses for the current Café/Bookstore. Some of you may have been surprised when Todd announced, “student housing is coming.” For further clarification, a local contractor is interested in purchasing land adjacent to SCC. He plans to build apartments for students. We are in the very early stages of discussing the possibility of his new housing development being located on campus. We will be seeking additional input from faculty and staff before moving forward.
• Professor Cirillo provided an overview of the strategies developed to implement the Pathways program. Andrea Compton, Director of Online Learning, provided an update related to activities/programs aimed at advancing our online programs, and Ben Munson introduced our new brand and logo.
• Vice President Davis provided an update regarding the staff compensation project and announced that SCC will move forward this year to implement the plan. Following this announcement, Donna gave an update on the Higher Learning Commission Diversity Report submitted June 2018.
• In each of our presentations, Dr. Bookstaver, Vice President Davis, and I discussed values and emphasized the role that each employee plays in shaping a positive culture and in meeting the needs of students.

I hope you have a wonderful and successful fall semester. Please stop by my office at any time to say “hi” or to share your good ideas about your extraordinary program, department, or service.

Your focus on student success is appreciated.

Barbara

CAMPUS HAPPENINGS

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After much anticipation, we are excited to officially roll out SCC's new written and visual brand to the public! In case you missed Ben’s presentation at last week’s All College Day, here is a look at our new logo:

Don't forget to check out our entire new brand by visiting our style guide! You can also access downloadable content under the Marketing and Communications portal page.

I also invite you to check out the newly designed Board website where you will find copies of the agenda and approved minutes. Cabinet minutes continue to be posted under Faculty and Staff (intranet) Home > All Departments > President’s Office > Cabinet > Meeting Minutes.

Lastly, thank you to our wonderful Student Activities team for welcoming students back to campus with style yesterday with a Bubble Bus!