Dear colleagues,
Just like that, June is nearly behind us already. Like every year, June brings many celebrations of student (and employee) success. And in long legislative years, it holds key answers to the college's fiscal situation. Here are my updates on those items and more:
Before elaborating on campus celebrations, I have important budget-related news. Oregon’s long legislative session has not quite yet wrapped, but will do so soon. In the end, we’ll not likely see significant changes on the budget news I provided a couple of weeks ago. I did want to add an important clarification on my budget update: while there are not any new general fund reductions at this time, we did make a recent change to an auxiliary service. After many years of serving us well, the LBCC Printing Services will cease operations later this summer. We are still working with impacted employees, and to issue a communication to campus so employees can update their printing and digital packet plans. Look for an email next week that will have more details. Despite attempts to generate revenue through this service, we have been running a deficit due to changes in equipment costs and reduced dependence on hard copies of documents. That said, I know this will be a service loss and it will have an employee impact. Please reach out if you have questions or would like to discuss this more.
As mentioned, we’ve had a series of spring success ceremonies. Earlier this spring, I attended the Open Oregon OER Champion awards. As is often the case, LBCC had a very strong showing with several winners. Notably, Will Fleming was recognized for his success in technical writing courses; Kanoe Bunney and Isabelle Havet were recognized for faculty leadership in equity. Deron Carter was honored for open pedagogy innovation, and Jessica Maddox was named an OER all-star. Congratulations, all! Learn more about the 2025 OER Champion Awards.
One of the most lively and festive spring events is our Automotive and Heavy Equipment/Diesel Tool Ceremony. The event has a "Christmas morning" feel, as the students receive and open their tools to mark the completion of the first year of the program. Sponsored by partners and foundations (with costs also shared by the students themselves), these tools enable students to get to work in local industry. Mike LeBlanc was our emcee, with amazing event support from Justin Williams and the LBCC Foundation. In making my remarks, I reflected on the support from families and friends in the large audience, and the strong faculty connection that helps students succeed in the classroom, in the shop and in local industry.
Speaking of employee success, our Human Resources team hosted a fun and festive Employee Recognition Ceremony recently. We’ve been working with our employee partners to bring this event back from its COVID hiatus, and I think our HR team hit a home run in the relaunch. This time, we honored retirees and also service award winners, and it sounds like that tradition will continue in future years. The retirement resolutions are always lovely to hear, and we honored hundreds of years of service to LBCC. Thanks to those who attended, and to the HR crew for the event and the treats :)
I wrote about Commencement already in a budget note, but do want to again thank Leslie Hammond and the Roadrunner Marathon for the outstanding staff support to get our students across the finish line. I’m still abuzz with pride from watching so many family members walk with their students across the platform to gather their diplomas. We’ll work to streamline this a bit next year to speed up the process but fear not, the family walk is here to stay! As an aside, Meg Roland recently shared a clip of a university graduation where a student was chased by campus police when he attempted to carry his baby across the graduation stage. It makes me even more appreciative of our family-friendly campus.
Our recent Nursing Pinning was also a heartwarming and family-friendly event, with several nursing students being pinned by relatives who are also nurses. Many of those relatives, I was pleased to see, were also LBCC graduates. Retiring Nursing instructor Marcy Shanks was the keynote speaker, and I also made remarks, emphasizing the vital role of health professions in our region’s economy.
I missed the event due to work travel, but am told that the NAACP Juneteenth celebration at LBCC was a big success. Jason Dorsette and our EDI team helped host this gathering, which had to be moved indoors due to rare June rain, and the Commons was jam-packed with attendees. Board chair Jeff Davis attended and provided a rave review afterward.
In addition to the many celebrations this month, I have also had several board meetings and events for external agencies. I spoke on shared governance and advocacy at AAWCC’s Leaders Institute in Austin (with expenses paid by AAWCC National) and served on the national board and nominating committee for NACCE (the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship). NACCE’s spring meeting was virtual (thankfully!) as was the Oregon Small Business Advisory Council’s gathering. I also co-hosted the West Coast Presidents Roundtable, a virtual gathering of leaders responding to federal policy changes on behalf of their colleges.
Last month, I wrote about global education and our efforts to host delegations and bring more international students to LBCC. As I write this report, I am in lovely London with an LBCC team preparing for an Electric Vehicle maintenance collaboration with a college in the United Kingdom. Fortunately, a grant from a global foundation covered all expenses to make this possible, and will also pay for students to come to LBCC from England in October. We’ll send a funded student delegation to England next year as well. Thanks, Mike LeBlanc, for sharing your EV knowledge with the cohort, and also to Beth Lyons and Katie Winder for logistical and programmatic support.
There are changes coming to the LBCC Board of Education as a result of the May special election. This month, we bid farewell to Vice Chair Stacie Wyss-Schoenborn and to board member John Sarna. Both served for approximately four years on the LBCC Board. Replacing them will be Rachel Biscoe (Zone 2-3A) and Brad Longman (Zone 5). We’ll swear in those new members next month - congratulations, Rachel and Brad!
Earlier this month, the LBCC Foundation hosted its annual Night at the Knights event at Goss Stadium. Board members, donors and elected officials joined in the celebration, and we awarded one scholarship every inning (for the first 9 innings, anyway). The game went into extras, with the Knights losing, but an LBCC player on the opposing team got a key hit--hard to cheer against that! I threw out the ceremonial first pitch and also spent an enjoyable couple of innings in the radio broadcast booth with Knights CEO (and LBCC star supporter) Dan Segel.
At home, Ella has been sleeping very late after the much-anticipated end of the school year (lucky her!). Emily is on a volunteering expedition this week in marine biology (also lucky her!). Since I have had to be on the road a bit lately, I am looking forward to a little time off at home with Allison around the Independence Day holiday.
Best wishes to you all for a wonderful start to July!
Thanks,
Lisa