CCEU Report

Ever-Changing Times

So it is down to the wire as I write this little note, trying to think of one thing I want to share with our friends of the teaching unit. I tried to narrow down one thought, but that just doesn’t make for good reporting. So let me just give a brief account of some of the things we have accomplished and/or changed.

Some of you have noticed new faces around campus due to the latest shift for our custodial staff. While there are some kinks to work out to make sure the staff has access to classrooms that are in use well into the late hours, and the ability to meet all of the critical demands of a campus the size of Cabrillo, the positive thing is the staff members feel more connected to the community. You see them, and they see you, which allows for more collaboration about the worksites and a feeling of inclusion. The invisible veil separating the day walkers from the night walkers has been lifted.

While many of you were out touring the wine country, or visiting relatives around the state, or pretending your retirement fund will really cover the lifestyle you want to have, some of us were left behind to make sure grades were published, MIS was done, buildings were up to code, temporary braille labels for the 800 bldg. were in place, enrollment reports were in, and the books were fixed and closed (not in a Bernie Madoff kind of way) so that the Spring semester could be laid to rest.

 

by Alta Northcutt
CCEU President

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we geared up for the summer session before anyone knew what hit us. Now this is what goes on every summer and winter break, only this year we did it with fewer people. Even though we are in a “no cut” budget year, that does not mean we are in a restoration mode. The cuts we have already experienced are just now being realized, as expectations of who does what—and what we no longer do—are starting to surface.

Students have grown accustomed to some things, and so have we as a college, but with a reduction in the workforce, sometimes you are going to hear “we just can’t do that.” We love our jobs, we do them the best we can with what we have, and as we all know, this is a unified effort because what we produce as a college doesn’t just take place in the classroom. We are stronger together, more hands make light work, the force is strong with us, and, well, you get the picture, but if you need more motivation insert corny cliché here _______.

In the end let me extend a hearty welcome to the fall semester. We are eager to see this through and look forward to doing it in new ways. Things they are a-changing, and sometimes that’s for the better.