In less than one week, thousands of students will walk onto Southwestern College for the fall semester. Some will be returning students but for others, it’ll be their first semester of college. There’s a lot of excitement surrounding those momentous occasions, and it’s a pivotal moment in the life of a student.
A few people who will be welcoming our students to campus that first week are members of the Associated Students Organization. President Mona Dibas has many exciting plans for Welcome Week, including information booths, free food and entertainment. I hope we all come together to support the ASO and their welcoming spirit and help make everyone feel at home the moment they walk onto campus.
A New Face for Southwestern College
The Governing Board has appointed former Palomar College President Robert Deegan as the new interim/superintendent president while we continue the search for a permanent superintendent/president.
Before I welcome Mr. Deegan to Southwestern College, I want to thank Tim Flood for serving as our acting superintendent/president. Tim made this transition so seamless, and we are grateful to him for serving in this role and for continuing to help us in the search for a permanent superintendent/president.
Mr. Deegan is an educator who shares a lot of the same passions with many of us here at Southwestern College. He has a strong student success focus in his leadership and is a champion for diversity and inclusion. We thank him for coming out of retirement to serve our students and our community, I hope you join me in welcoming him to Southwestern College.
The Future of Southwestern College
This November, we’re placing a $400 million general obligation bond on the ballot. With this investment from the taxpayers, Southwestern College will be able to pay for infrastructure and technological repairs and upgrades, build new state-of-the-art classrooms and facilities and continue its investment to create opportunities for our students and our veterans to transfer or gain job skills.
Proposition R Update
The Higher Education Center in National City is an exciting Proposition R project. With the concrete being poured and the walls getting ready to go up, we’re inviting the college community to a groundbreaking for the new Plaza Building. I hope you join us on Aug. 31 at 10 a.m. to celebrate this state-of-the-art, two-story building that will be home to classrooms, labs, a teaching clinic and a 90-person community room.
In other Proposition R news, recently, The San Diego Taxpayers Educational Foundation gave Southwestern College a perfect score for bond reporting and transparency. We are happy to receive this award as we hold transparency as an important value and something we’ll continue to strive for with Proposition R and this new bond.
On Sept. 2, Interim Superintendent/President Deegan will be at the First Friday Breakfast hosted by South Bay Family YMCA to talk about Southwestern College’s past, present and future.
The Jag Kitchen Food Pantry
The Governing Board was honored to help kickoff the food drive for the new Jag Kitchen food pantry created by the Child Development Center and the Associated Students Organization. We thank Associated Students Executive Vice President Jose Gutierrez for inviting us to donate and to Child Development Center Director Patricia Bartow for creating such an important program on our campus. We hope you contact them for ways to get involved and keep an eye out for their donation list.
Acceptance of Funds
Southwestern College has accepted $150,000 from the Innovation and Effectiveness Grant to cover the costs of professional development and training related to enrollment management, budget development and strategic planning. The training will help us improve our practices and address accreditation standards.
