Welcome Back!

If you are like me - and, I suspect, many faculty are - then coming back to school in the Fall feels a bit like coming home. Summer for many of us is a change of pace but not exactly the relaxing "break" that many outside of education think we get. . . it is a time when curriculum is developed, programs are revised, grants are written, and all those projects that we simply can't manage to fit in the rest of the academic year are tackled.

It would have been nice to have that illusory break, though, especially after coming through a very dark and difficult time last Spring. For the first time in Mission College history, the Academic Senate had to carry out the full Program Discontinuance process, and as a result several degree and certificate programs have either been recommended for discontinuance or are being extensively revitalized. At the same time, our classified colleagues have faced layoffs and our budgets have been drastically (in some cases, catastrophically) cut.

But Fall is always a time of new beginnings. We once again have a clear accreditation, thanks to the hard work of every faculty and classified staff member on campus. In the meetings and study sessions I have attended as MCAS president over the summer, I have heard more solid discussion on the academic direction of the college, on teaching and learning, and on pedagogy and student needs, than I can remember in the previous three years. And not only from faculty - these discussions are happening at Board meetings, in administrative offices, and all across the campus.

I'm looking forward to working with our new college President, Dr. Laurel Jones, to help Mission College weather the current economic crisis and come out shining. I've been here long enough to know that when we have to, Mission's faculty can accomplish amazing things.

We'll be looking at a number of Academic Senate procedures this year and updating or revising them so that they help us achieve our goals. I'll also be continuing to work closely with the Classified Senate and with the ASB, as well as with the West Valley Academic and Classified Senates, to ensure that participatory governance isn't just a buzzword but a living, breathing practice that we all share in.

 

Cathy Cox
President, Academic Senate
Mission College Academic Senate