Greetings, Roadrunners. Somehow, April has flown by. Here are a few highlights and updates…
Many folks have asked for an update on the long legislative session. Oregon legislators are in a "wait and see" mode in anticipation of the updated revenue forecast, which will be released in mid-May. Until then, we won’t have more information on our budget for the next biennium. However, our team is making a strong advocacy push in the Capitol to make the case for fully funding the Community College Support Fund (CCSF) to help build Oregon’s workforce.
While I am providing an update on state issues, I want to mention the terrible tragedy impacting our Umpqua Community College colleagues last weekend. On Friday, after winning a doubleheader at Southwestern Oregon Community College, Umpqua’s softball team was hit by another driver. The team’s head coach, Jami Strinz, and a student athlete, Kiley Jones, were killed in the collision. Several others were injured. More information can be found here. Please keep our UCC family in your thoughts.
This weekend, I will attend the memorial of LBCC friend Wayne Chambers. Wayne has been a strong supporter of our college for many years, along with his wife JoAnn. The Chambers are neighbors of ours up in Dever-Conner/Millersburg, and we will miss Wayne’s strong voice in the local agriculture community.
As happens every spring, this April has kept us hopping with events galore. We began the month with an engaging in-service presentation by Dr. Donna Beegle. I heard from a number of you that you very much appreciated her poverty-informed perspective on working with students and how we can best help set them up for success. I love that Donna has Oregon roots and brings personal and professional knowledge of this topic. Thank you, Foundation team, for bringing her to LBCC.
CTE Signing Day, held at LBCC on April 17, has become a signature event for our technical programs. This year’s event was larger than ever, with 125 students signing their intent to enroll and succeed in our programs. Amy Burbee and Deron Fort, our fearless Signing Day leaders, helped hand out ~$30,000 in scholarships and tuition waiver awards to participants. A favorite element for me was the awarding of tuition scholarships to a few lucky family members in the audience, helping encourage them to come to LBCC to reskill, upskill, or take an extended learning/community education course. Entek’s Linda Campbell, an LBCC alum, provided a very moving keynote address. Kudos to ALL involved; this event is a big lift that pays dividends toward student success and economic mobility. You can watch a full replay of the event here.
I was very proud to introduce a student speaker from LBCC at the All Oregon Academic Team luncheon on April 18 at Chemeketa. This luncheon features academic student honorees from all 17 community colleges and gives us a chance to learn more about our students’ behind-the-scenes challenges and opportunities. Our student speaker, Maria Garcia Villalobos, described her experiences as a mother and a college student, and recognized the support of her extended family in helping her juggle her many responsibilities. Oregon House of Representatives member Ricky Ruiz, a community college graduate from Gresham, provided remarks to the group and encouraged students to continue their education in the future and to serve their community.
To celebrate Community College Month, our team has hosted Chamber of Commerce greeters events at Chinook Hall (April 1) and at Takena Hall (April 24). Next week, we will also host Lebanon’s Greeters event. These gatherings of business leaders give us a great opportunity to bring people into our spaces, to learn about our programs, and to find ways to engage more closely with LBCC. At yesterday’s Greeters, more than half of our 75 attendees had been LBCC students in the past; I’m glad to highlight our role in their leadership and business success journeys. Justin Williams in the Foundation office, along with the entire Foundation team, has expertly planned these gatherings; thanks, Justin!
Also on April 24, we hosted ~200 high school students for a welding competition. I was not able to attend due to a jam-packed schedule, but I heard that the Industrial Arts area was abuzz with this large group of future Roadrunners. Great work, Welding team!
Today, our Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion hosted LB’s second annual Latine High School Leadership Conference featuring guest speaker former Oregon Rep. Teresa Alonso-Leon. Ten local high schools sent a total of 175 students to spend the day at LBCC attending workshops, learning about support services and connecting with staff and peers. All of our valley high schools were represented, but I’ll call out Lebanon High School for sending the largest group of future Roadrunners. Great work, Jason Dorsette, Angel Dorantes, Yanci Duran Aviles, and the large team of campus volunteers.
In addition to the local events, I have been active in our national community college landscape this month. The national conference of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) was held in Nashville and I was pleased to make a presentation about strategies for successful federal advocacy. Having been elected to the national board, I will be serving AACC in a greater capacity for the next three years; the association is recruiting for a new CEO and I look forward to participating in the transition process once the candidate is selected. With all of the possible policy changes in Washington DC and the potential impact on our colleges, it will be a critical time for AACC’s advocacy.
As the busy week almost came to an end, I enjoyed watching LBCC baseball beat Mt. Hood in a 14-inning marathon. I missed the second game, but it looks like brooms were needed for this doubleheader SWEEP. Great job, Coach Peterson and squad! The academic and athletic accomplishments of our baseball and volleyball teams were recently featured in a Democrat-Herald article (sorry, but you may need a subscription due to the paywall).
While walking around campus for all of these events, I have enjoyed watching our staff and students interact. One recent highlight for me is observing the kindness of a Financial Aid staff member who provided some doggie treats to a service animal while assisting a student. Education for All, and treats for a select few! Thank you all for making our students and their supporters feel welcome on campus.
At home, April has also been a whirlwind of activity. Ella’s South Albany High School softball team has a whopping 12 April games, including a few against local rivals Corvallis, Lebanon, and West Albany. Go RedHawks! Emily is making plans for graduate school (Go Emily!). Allison and I, as many parents understand, often feel like we are running hard to keep up. Tomorrow, we’ll join the Albany Boys and Girls Club Annual Auction with other community supporters of the Club. Sunday brings a much-needed day of rest.
Best wishes to you all for a wonderful weekend.
Thanks,
Lisa