Cypress College’s site visit concluded yesterday with a 12:30 Exit Meeting and Oral Report to the Campus. During the meeting, Dr. Lori Gaskin, who chaired the 12-member team, shared both commendations and recommendations.
The shining moment, however, came at the close of the half-hour meeting with Dr. Gaskin talking about the pride members of the campus community have in Cypress College.
“I would like to conclude with perhaps the most powerful commendation. One that was pervasive, shared by nearly everyone with whom we had the pleasure of interacting. We describe it as your espirit de corps — your strong belief in a common purpose to serve the educational needs of your students; and the fact that you carry out this common goal with a strong sense of camaraderie and joy. You live and breathe your core values of collegiality, integrity, excellence and inclusiveness.”
@Cypress will delve into the particulars of the oral report next week. In the meantime, we offer this complete video from the meeting and the following message from Dr. Kasler, who was also singled out by the team as being “beloved by all.”
Dear Colleagues,
The visit is over!!! I can’t guarantee what the outcome of the final accreditation report will be, but I can say that, no matter what it is, I am very proud and appreciative of the work you did to prepare for it, and, more importantly, all you do everyday in working with our students. A four-day visit doesn’t even scratch the surface of what all of you do to help our students succeed. From the discussions I’ve had with several members of the Visiting Team and comments I have heard from a number of our folks who were interviewed by the Visiting Team, the meetings they had with folks on campus, students they talked to, observations they made, etc., is that the Team was very impressed with the work we have done (and continue to do). In my opinion, we are #1, but I may be just a little biased.
As you look at pages 25-28 of the Self Study, you will see that a large number of faculty and staff were involved in preparing this document. Probably “thousands” of hours were spent on it. I am afraid to ask our Maintenance and Operation staff how many hours they spent making our campus/buildings even more beautiful, or the number of hours spent by the Office of Institutional Research and Planning staff preparing documentation “links,” support staff in my office scheduling a “multitude” of meetings and making all of the arrangements for the visit, Academic Computing setting up the technology, etc. I am sure I have missed some areas, but not intentionally. If I were to list the names of all the people who were involved getting ready for accreditation, it would be in the “hundreds” and I know I would miss a few names. THANK YOU!!!
There are a few folks who deserve some extra recognition for the work they did: Cherie Dickey, Santanu Bandyopadhyay and his staff, Mike Kavanaugh and Academic Computing staff, Marc Posner, Pat Humpres, Albert Miranda, Jose Recinos, and the M&O staff. THANK YOU!! THANK YOU!!!
Once again –I can’t thank all of you enough and I am very proud to be your President. Now we can enjoy St. Patricks Day and the weekend.
— Mike
Posted by Marc S. Posner
March 18, 2011 — 4:55 p.m.