September 2018 Chronicle

Posted on September 7, 2018 by CSN

September 2018

Greetings Colleagues,

I could not have been more excited to kick off convocation activities and start classes over the last two weeks. I’m sure you all felt the same. As we start a new academic year, I want to reiterate what was said on stage at Convocation: This institution will focus on students first and student success so students graduate, transfer, or earn certificates. Every action we take, everything we do, will be with that focus in mind.

– Federico
In this issue:
  • Emergency Preparedness
  • Convocation
  • Congratulations
  • Email and Acceptable Use
  • Financial Aid
  • Student Union Construction
  • CSN Connections
  • Presidential Roundtables
  • Student Short Film Showcase
  • Culinary Excellence
  • Top CIO
  • By the Numbers
  • Campus Safety
Read the President’s Blog

Inside CSN

Emergency Preparedness

Safety and emergency preparedness were a major theme at this year’s Convocation. The safety and security of our faculty, staff and students will always be a top priority at CSN.

At convocation, we eluded to active shooter drills on all of our main campuses this semester. The first of these was to take place on the Charleston Campus the week of September 17.

We have decided to postpone that in favor of sharing information about emergency preparedness first. We will deploy Campus Safety Information Teams on each campus on Wednesday, September 19. We encourage you to come learn about our emergency plan, how to sign up for alerts, where to get training and more. Please visit the link below to view the flier with locations and times.
Learn More About the Safety Team Events

Convocation

My first Convocation Kickoff event last month was both memorable and informative. Thank you all for coming. We have uploaded video and photos of the day’s activities at the links below. This year’s Champions theme could not have been more appropriate as we work to take CSN from good to great.
See Photos Here and a link to the Video at the Bottom of This Page

Congratulations!

We have a fantastic team of faculty and staff here at CSN, so what an honor it was to stand with the winners of the Excellence and Distinguished Awards at Convocation. Each year, the Internal Recongition Committee chooses honorees from among dozens of nominations. Please join me in congratulating all the winners, and be sure to nominate a colleague next year.
Excellence in Assessment Theodore Chodock & Steve Herro
Excellence in Online Teaching Eric Hutchinson
Excellence in Research Kenneth Fernandez & Amanda Hudson
Excellence in Community Service Jet Mitchell & Jennifer Basquiat
Distinguished Administrative Faculty Pat Zozaya
Distinguished Classified Employee Sarah Renkes
Distinguished Full-Time Faculty Charlene Gibson
Distinguished Part-Time Faculty Voltaire Verzosa
Learn More About the Internal Recognition Committee

Email and Acceptable Use
Beginning October 21, all official CSN communications will be sent to students’ CSN email. This email address is available to students as long as they are enrolled at CSN. Faculty and staff will be required to communicate only to these addresses, and email forwarding will no longer be allowed. We need your help to make sure students know about this new policy. Please encourage them to check their CSN email daily.

 

October 21 is also the day that enforcement of the Information Systems & Electronic Resources Acceptable Use Policy begins. You can read the entire policy here. It focuses on digital safety and security. Key items you should be aware of is that email seven years or older will be deleted on a rolling basis and your personal network drive (H:) will be limited to 10 GBs. Additionally, a new password tool will be added to GoCSN that will simplify password resets. During your first login on or after October 21, you will be prompted to update your security questions to allow for the ability to self-reset passwords.

 

Again, please spread the word.
Read the FAQs

Financial Aid
The Department of Education Office of Inspector General has notified CSN that it does not anticipate recommending corrective action regarding audit results from the Compliance and Federal Verification and Reporting Requirements Audit conducted in June covering the award year that began July 1, 2016, through the June 30, 2017. The office found that CSN completed verification of applicant data in accordance with the federal requirements and accurately reported verification results to the department. CSN will receive a draft of the audit report, to which we will have 30 days for any response. The inspector general expressed that they did not anticipate a need for a response. I want to thank the vice president of student affairs and the financial aid team for their hard work taking care of this matter.

Student Unions
Construction has begun on our student unions! Fencing has been erected at all three campuses and site work has begun. Each Student Union will be approximately 29,000 square feet and will provide areas for student government, Student Affairs, a multicultural center, student study and collaboration space, meeting rooms and food service.

Food service has been one of the main areas of focus. Each union will have a food court, and after formal bidding Culinart was selected for their commitment to fresh food offerings, healthy menu choices, and value, as well as their commitment to sustainability (waste reduction, recycling and composting). In addition to the regular food services, they will also provide catering for the college.

These buildings will be much-needed additions to our campuses and are expected to dramatically improve the student experience. They are scheduled to open for the fall 2019 semester.

Upcoming Events

CSN Connections & Club Rush
We will be holding our annual CSN Connections events on September 11, 12 and 13. Students can enjoy great music and free food and drinks, and more importantly they can find out how to get the most out of their time here at CSN. We’ll have information on advising, tuturing, transferring, using the library, and almost anything else that can help students succeed.

As an added bonus this year, students will be able to attend ASCSN’s Club Rush during CSN Connections. We want our students to be involved in their college, so I welcome the opportunity for them to learn more about the clubs available to them. We expect 20 to 25 clubs to participate. They will be manning tables with information on their activities, how to join and more. Pass the word along to your students.

The Connections events are scheduled as follows:

  • Tuesday, September 11, Henderson Campus, behind the C Building from 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m.
  • Wednesday, September 12, North Las Vegas Campus, Main Entrance from 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m.
  • Thursday, September 13, Charleston Campus, D Building from 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m.

We will also have materials available at several Connections table for our MobileSAFETY app and the upcoming Campus Safety Information Team event.

I hope to see you there.

Presidential Roundtables
As I settle in at CSN and learn more about the college, I also want to learn more about you. I have scheduled a faculty and staff presidential roundtable for each campus later this month. Please come with your questions, your concerns, and your thoughts about how we can make CSN an even better place for our students.

Roundtables:

  • Charleston Campus: September 24, 1-2:30 p.m., Building I, Room 108
  • Henderson Campus, September 26, 8:30-10 a.m., Building C, Room 133
  • North Las Vegas Campus, September 27, 10:30 a.m. to noon, Building N, Room 102

We will be annoucing Pizza with the President events in October and we hope you will let your students know about them.

Student Short Film Showcase
CSN’s award-winning Film & Videography Program will present the Seventh Annual Short Film Showcase at 6:30 p.m. Friday, October 12 in the Nicholas J. Horn Theater on CSN’s North Las Vegas Campus. The event is free and open to the public.

On display will be films from CSN students, including several that took home Student Production Emmy Awards this summer. This event started as a way to show off the incredible work done by CSN students, and it keeps growing every year. I am so pleased to know that our students are receiving the kind of quality education they need to succeed in so many diverse fields of study.

Good News

Exemplary Status
The American Culinary Federation has once again awarded our outstanding Culinary Arts, Pastry Arts, and Food and Beverage Management programs exemplary status and a new seven-year accreditation. The ACF awards exemplary status to programs that symbolize the highest educational standards. This status, which runs through 2025, will make it 21 consecutive years that the programs have earned the distinction. Multiple consecutive exemplary ratings like this are an indication of the integrity and quality of the programs, and the hard work of all those involved.

What this means on the ground is that CSN’s students can be assured they are getting the very best education available. Studying in such a top quality program means these students will be comfortable with the rigorous standards that will be expected of them in the job market. The designation gives them a chance to get their Culinarian or Pastry Culinarian certification from ACF after graduation without taking exams. Our students will be one step ahead of the competition – all because they chose to attend CSN.

Congratulations!

Top CIO!
Please join me in congratulating Chief Information Officer Mugunth Vaithylingam for receiving the Most Influential CIO award at 11th annual Global CIO Breakaway Leadership Awards. The honor, which is awarded by peers, is given to those who are identified as breakaway leaders. The Most Influential award is given to a CIO who has an “outsized impact” on their organization.

Congratulations, Mugunth. It is well-deserved honor.

By the Numbers
Look for this section each month to learn about the data that drive discussion and decisions at CSN.

Fall 2018 Enrollment
Please review the latest enrollment report at the link below. This updated report reflects our fall enrollment through September 5. Visit the Institutional Research web page to see additional enrollment and institutional data.
See the Enrollment Report

Campus Safety
We have received several inquiries surrounding the shooting incident on the Charleston Campus last week. I want to let everyone know that the CSN Police Department has concluded its investigation. An emeritus professor was treated for a self-inflicted injury in the hospital and subsequently arrested and charged with possessing a weapon on campus and other charges. I appreciate all of the expressions of concern and interest, and I pledge to keep everyone updated should the situation change. Please know that if your department would like an individual safety review with the CSN Police Department, you may email Chief Darryl Caraballo at csnpd@csn.edu.
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