I know many of you will celebrate our nation’s beginnings this holiday weekend with family and friends. Independence Day allows us to observe the traditions we have come to know — family, barbecues, and fireworks — and also reminds us of who we are as Americans.
It has been nearly 250 years since our founders signed the Declaration of Independence as a protest against a tyrannical government and launched the phrase “all men are created equal” into the world, an act of bravery that echoes to this day. All of us strive to live up to that enduring promise. Recent events have made it all the more clear that, although we have come far, we still have much work to do when it comes to ensuring that the American dream is available to all. The fact is that for many in Southern Nevada, CSN is their first step toward attainment of their dreams.
Let us thank those who have protected our freedom, remember those who helped establish it, and thank those who continue to fight for it.
Thank you for all you do to keep the flame of freedom, hope, and opportunity burning brightly in Southern Nevada. Have a safe and happy holiday.
Federico Zaragoza President College of Southern Nevada
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We are living through an extraordinary time, and I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge our collective imperative toward inclusiveness, diversity, and social justice in America. At the same time, Nevada is in the midst of a surge in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases that indicate that the pandemic is far from over. Two Supreme Court decisions last month — upholding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and barring job discrimination based on sexual orientation — reaffirmed long established American principles, and I applaud them. In addition, the Black Lives Matter movement has made tremendous progress in recent weeks following the tragic death of George Floyd and so many others. These steps forward do not come without a cost, nor without those who fight for them. As we celebrate Independence Day this weekend, I encourage everyone to reflect on the American ideal that we are here for each other.
At CSN, I often refer to our faculty, staff and students as a family — and I mean that. No decisions are made here that do not take the well-being of every person in our family into account. That is why, after careful deliberation, we continue to adjust our return to campus timelines. Nothing is more important than your health and safety.
I look forward to the day when we are all back on campus and interacting with one another safely. Until then, please know that we will continue adjusting our plans as necessary and following a minimmum of a two week notification protocol.
Federico
In This Issue:
Returning to Campus Diversity at CSN State Budget Reductions New NSHE Chancellor New Student Services AVP Shared Governance Partners Complete College America Honors CSN Student CSN Students, Faculty Helping Community George Floyd Memorial Scholarship CSN Student Emmy Award Wins IT Services Provider Enrollment and Institutional Data
Returning to Campus
As I referenced above and talked about in Tuesday’s town hall, due to the increase in COVID-19 cases in Nevada recently and the governor’s order to remain in Phase 2 through the end of July, we are delaying our return to campus. Support units and functions scheduled to return prior to July 31 will be evaluated and may be delayed until further notice. Although classes in summer session 2 will continue, a number of safety precautions will be strictly enforced — including social distancing and mandatory face coverings.
Diversity at CSN
At CSN, we consider our diversity one of our greatest strengths. As you know, we recently commissioned the Sawgrass Group to assess our diversity and inclusion efforts at CSN. We expect the results of that report soon. My leadership team and I will carefully review the results and release them to the entire college community.
Additionally, I want you to know that CSN supports the Collective Project, which will launch this fall. This project will directly assist a cohort of first-year, first-time students through exploring how Academic Advising can help with the retention, persistence and completion of African American students. We are also excited to launch our inaugural African American Male Leadership Summit this fall. This Summit seeks to engage, empower, and strengthen African American male students in their leadership skills and connection to CSN. Lastly, the Multicultural Center staff is working to revitalize our African American male mentorship program. Anyone interested in joining the effort can email diversity@csn.edu.
State Budget Reductions
You will recall that the governor has called for unpaid furloughs of one day per month for all state employees in response to an expected $1.3 billion budget shortfall in the upcoming fiscal year. State agencies, including NSHE and CSN, have submitted plans for budget reductions of up to 19 percent. There will be a special session of the Legislature to address the cuts this month. We will keep the entire CSN family informed as decisions that affect all of us are made in Carson City.
New NSHE Chancellor
The NSHE Board of Regents has unanimously selected Dr. Melody Rose as the new system chancellor. Dr. Rose will begin September 1. She is an experienced higher education leader who previously served as Chancellor of the Oregon Higher Education System. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Rose to our family, and in thanking Chancellor Thom Reilly for his service to NSHE and CSN over these last three years.
New Student Services AVP
I also want to extend a warm welcome to C. Tyler Heu to our family. Heu began as our new associate vice president for financial aid and veterans services last month, joining us from Minnesota State University, Mankato, where he was director of financial aid. While we welcome a new member of the CSN family, we also say goodbye to current AVP Victoria Goeke, who is retiring after seven years with the college. We wish her well.
Shared Governance Partners
As I reported last month, I am pleased that the Board of Regents approved the CSN-NFA Collective Bargaining Agreement. This agreement will launch a new era of collaboration and shared governance at CSN. I will be working with the new executive team to put the provisions from the new contract into place.
Please join me in welcoming the new CSN NFA executive team:
Luis Ortega: President
Staci M. Walters: Vice-President
Jill Acree: Chair, Legal Defense
Steve Soltz: Chair, Membership & Bargaining Team
Amin KM: Treasurer
Emily King: Secretary
I also want to welcome the new leaders of the Faculty Senate, Maria Schellhase, Administrative Faculty Assembly, Michelle Chan, and Classified Council, Irma Fregoso (interim). Congratulations! I look forward to working with you all.
Complete College America Honors CSN Student
I want to make sure you saw the wonderful news that CSN student Krista McFarling-Kelly was selected as one of 20 college graduates from around the country to highlight in its CCA 20 for 2020 campaign. Krista, who was selected as our 2020 Student Commencement Speaker, graduated this spring with an associate degree in biology. She plans on studying at the University of Nevada, Reno this fall. Please join me in congratulating her on this tremendous honor.
CSN Students, Faculty Helping Community
Our Medical Laboratory students and faculty have been donating their time and skills this summer to help public health officials fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Instructor Pat Armour is leading the way, helping the team put together 2,000 specimen collection kits each week. When someone is tested for COVID-19, a medical professional inserts a swab into the nose of to extract a sample. That swab must then be placed in a transport tube until it can be tested in a laboratory. Students and faculty are preparing sample collection kits that include a pre-packaged sterile swab and a transport tube containing a sterile liquid in a sealed biohazard bag. I could not be more proud of CSN’s efforts to help the entire community during these uncertain times.
George Floyd Memorial Scholarship
The CSN Foundation is honored to announce the George Floyd Memorial Scholarship. It will serve as a perpetual reminder of the value placed on diversity and education at CSN. Established from the CSN Foundation general scholarship fund, the $2,500 scholarship will be awarded annually beginning in this fall to a student in good standing at CSN with demonstrated studies or knowledge of African American culture or history that can be illustrated through a written essay and application.
The scholarship recipient will be selected by the CSN Foundation 2020 Scholarship Selection Committee, which will review all essays without knowledge of the applicant and make a blind decision as to the best recipient for this scholarship. Anyone interested in contributing to the scholarship should contact Jocelyn Bravo, Coordinator, Philanthropy, CSN Foundation at Jocelyn.Bravo@CSN.edu.
Applications and more details will be available in August on the CSN Foundation website.
I also wanted to let you know that, thanks to generous support from the community, the CSN Foundation has raised nearly $600,000 for student scholarships. Collaborative partnerships with donors from throughout Southern Nevada help the Foundation fulfill its mission of graduating CSN students debt free. I want to thank every donor who helps us put students first.
CSN Student Emmy Award Wins
Once again, our Videography & Film students are showing how outstanding our program really is. Our students won six Student Programming and Craft Emmys at the National Academy of Arts & Sciences Pacific Southwest Chapter Emmy Awards last month. These wins add to an incredible record of 88 nominations and 44 wins in the last six years. Congratulations to all the nominees and the winners. I am proud of each and every one of you.
IT Services Provider
Beginning at 5 p.m. Tuesday, we began our transition to a new IT services provider. Our contract with Ellucian has ended and we are working on selecting a new, permanent vendor. There will be very few noticeable changes for the time being. One change you will see is with the helpdesk. While the local 702-651-4357 number will remain, we are eliminating the 800 number to help cut costs. Please note that you will still be able to email the helpdesk at help.desk@csn.edu, and submit tickets online at www.csn.edu/helpdesk.
Enrollment and Institutional Data
To review the latest enrollment data, visit the Institutional Research Data Dashboard. The site houses publicly available interactive reports created to support institutional decision making.
As you are aware, there has been an increase in COVID-19 cases in Nevada over these last several weeks, leading Gov. Steve Sisolak to extend the state’s Phase 2 reopening plan through the end of July. As a result, CSN will re-evaluate the return to campus for those individuals or work groups identified for return to the workplace, either full-time or on an intermittent basis. Support units and functions scheduled to return prior to July 31 will be evaluated and may be delayed until further notice.
Academic classes associated with summer session 2 scheduled to be on campus will continue. Faculty and students within these sections will be required to wear face coverings at all times on campus, unless on a break period and eating. Additional safety precautions include social distancing of at least six feet, section sizes not greater than 50 percent of the room’s fire code limit, and strictly limiting gatherings to no more than 50 people in a given space.
Your health and safety are paramount. We consider the well-being of our faculty, staff, students and community one of the highest guiding principles of all activities within the college. Since the coronavirus was first diagnosed in Nevada, decision making and actions have been guided by science and data from our federal, state, and local governments and consistent with guidance from the Center of Disease Control and Prevention and state and local health authorities.
During this time, all faculty, staff, students and visitors will complete a self-health assessment questionnaire daily as part of campus entrance requirements. This includes screening for virus symptoms, noting possible exposure to an individual identified with the coronavirus or who is quarantined, and not being directed to self-quarantine. Students enrolled in allied health or EMS courses will continue to be required to have temperature checks on site.
Faculty, staff, and students will report any possible exposure or positive results through our confidential reporting portal at WELLNESS@csn.edu. Faculty or staff will be contacted by Human Resources for further guidance and information. Students will be contacted by our Director of Environment, Health and Safety for further guidance. Receipt of this information is necessary to ensuring the health and wellness of all of our CSN family. The college takes steps to ensure:
Protocols consistent with Southern Nevada Health District reporting (for contact tracing) are addressed;
Campus facilities, if accessed, are closed and property disinfected; and
Reporting requirements consistent with the Department of Education, Clery Act are reviewed.
As we continue our gradual, phased approach to returning to campus, I want to highlight several safety measures that are in effect for anyone visiting CSN’s campuses, sites and centers. We consider the health and safety of our faculty, staff, students and visitors our top priority, so we continue to follow guidelines from state and federal officials, as well as health and safety experts from federal, state and local public health agencies.
All individuals on campus are required to wear face coverings. Coverings are required both indoors and outdoors.
Social distancing of six feet from others is required. Class sizes have been reduced to ensure that distancing occurs among individuals, that not greater than 50 percent of any room’s capacity is reached, as defined by the fire code, and that not greater than 50 individuals are gathered.
Capacity on campus elevators is limited to no more than two riders at a time.
Additional health and safety protocols are important for CSN students, faculty, staff, and community. Most importantly, if you are feeling ill you must not come to campus. Symptoms related to COVID-19 include cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing; or at least two of the following: fever, headache, chills, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, muscle aches, vomiting, nausea or diarrhea.
Additionally, please note:
Students who have been in contact with someone who has been ordered to quarantine or isolate are not permitted on campus until completion of the quarantine period, and must notify Wellness@csn.edu.
Students who have health concerns shall coordinate with appropriate medical professionals.
Additional guidelines and requirements may be implemented as determined by state and NSHE officials, or local agencies.
Students are urged to avoid non-essential travel to the greatest extent possible.
Anyone not wearing a face covering on campus will be advised to wear one. If they refuse, they will be removed from campus.
Please know that these measures are designed with your safety in mind. As our experience with the COVID-19 virus evolves, our policies and plans will evolve with it. As always, we will keep the entire CSN family informed.
Stay safe and God bless.
Federico Zaragoza President College of Southern Nevada
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The feedback we are receiving from our most recent weekly Virtual Town Hall meetings has been extremely positive. Well over 400 people attended last week’s faculty and staff town hall, and while there were many different topics covered, there were several questions about employee furloughs and campus safety. I will touch on both of those topics today.
First, all CSN employees — academic faculty, administrative faculty and classified staff — will be required to take one unpaid furlough day per month beginning in July. This amounts to a 4.6 percent reduction in pay, and it is being implemented at all NSHE institutions through directives from the governor’s office and the Board of Regents. As you know, all state agencies were required to submit proposals for budget reductions of as much as 19 percent for the coming fiscal year due to a large drop in expected revenues resulting from the COVID-19 shutdown. We will soon release more specifics regarding furloughs.
We have noted that our Return to Campus plan, which has been approved by the Board of Regents, includes many measures designed to protect the health and well-being of our students, faculty, staff and visitors as we gradually reopen campus operations in preparation for the fall semester. Among these are:
Masks will be required by all parties on campus when in classrooms, shared spaces and anywhere people are in close proximity to one another.
Plexiglass will be used in places where face-to-face interaction is necessary, such as library desks and so on.
Social distancing will be mandatory on campus — including in classrooms. Our return-to-campus team is hard at work ensuring that there is adequate space for all on-campus classes.
High-touch areas will be cleaned with hospital-grade disinfectant frequently.
Employees must conduct health screenings daily. Anyone who feels sick, even slightly so, must not come to campus.
All employees will undergo mandatory COVID-19 Employee Return to Campus Training. There will be more information from CAPE regarding this training soon.
Again, employees will be notified at least 10 business days before they are required to return to campus. Please keep in touch with your supervisor on this topic.
As the fall semester gets closer, I want to reiterate that we have a robust schedule available for our students. There will be a mix of in-person, hybrid and online courses. Approximately 45 percent of our classes this fall will be fully online and 55 percent will be in-person or hybrid. Some of you have asked about the two categories of online classes listed. Web-Online classes are our traditional online offerings, while Web-Remote are those courses that were originally scheduled to be in-person classes but will now be online.
We are all working very hard to be prepared for a safe return to campus for all our employees and students, and I am looking forward to seeing you all again.
Stay safe and God bless.
Federico Zaragoza President College of Southern Nevada
On this day in 1865, in the small city of Galveston, Texas, the news finally reached the people: All slaves are free. Two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, and two months after his assassination, there was finally a reason for hope.
Today, Juneteenth gives us a chance to reflect and celebrate, as there is new cause for hope in America. The Black Lives Matter movement did not begin with the death of George Floyd, or Rayshard Brooks, or any of the other recent killings of African Americans by police officers. But it has taken on a new vigor in recent weeks as social justice demonstrations across the country continue.
When this nation was founded, an enduring promise was made: That all of us are created equal. Despite our efforts, we have never lived up to that ideal. Today, as in the past, racism, bigotry, hate and intolerance are far too common in our world. It does not have to be so; it shouldn’t be so.
Juneteenth has never been about celebrating the end of something, but a new beginning on our journey toward a more perfect union. We have an opportunity right now in America for another new beginning. Let us not let it slip through our fingers.
Be safe and God bless.
Federico Zaragoza President College of Southern Nevada
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This has been a historic week at CSN with many breaking news stories that have been years in development.
The winds of social change are strong in America. Many changes are occurring as a result of the Black Lives Matter movement and the culmination of two historic U.S. Supreme Court rulings. After years of deliberation, today the Supreme Court ruled in support of continuing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. As an immigrant myself, I am proud of the hard work of the many CSN DACA students, faculty, and staff who worked on this landmark decision. Secondly, on Monday the Court ruled to forbid job discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or transgender status. The ruling reaffirms the commitment to equal protection that every organization should strive to provide its employees. No one should fear for their job because of who they are, period.
It is with great appreciation that I report the good news that at a Special Board of Regents meeting earlier today, the board approved the CSN-NFA Collective Bargaining Agreement that has been years in development. This agreement will launch a new era of collaboration and shared governance at CSN. Kudos to the CSN faculty, the NFA and the CSN collective bargaining team.
We also want to provide a warm CSN welcome to our new Chancellor Dr. Melody Rose. The NSHE Board of Regents unanimously approved the selection of Dr. Rose to the position of Chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education. She is an amazing higher education leader with previous experience as Chancellor of the Oregon Higher Education System.
By way of personal news, last week the regents renewed my contract at CSN for another four years. I said when I arrived at CSN in 2018 that I am here to get the “student success” job done, and together we have made much progress to ensure that our students graduate, complete, transfer and prosper. I feel blessed to be your colleague and hope that you accept my heartfelt appreciation for your hard work on our collective journey to performance excellence and student success.
Now I’d like to address our ongoing Return to Campus discussions. Many administrators are already on campus, and, as we reported to you last week, most employees will be transitioning back throughout the rest of the summer. When you do return to campus, you will notice several changes, such as signage, altered furniture placement to facilitate social distancing, hand sanitizer stations, and Plexiglass in student-facing service areas.
I want to note once again that face masks will be required for faculty, staff and students. You are encouraged to bring your own face mask or cloth covering to campus, though CSN can provide one if necessary. During the campus closure, all campus locations have been thoroughly cleaned and disinfected, and going forward you will notice increased cleaning of high-touch surfaces with hospital-grade disinfectant.
Last week, I told you about the news from the governor’s office that there will be an approximately $900 million budget shortfall for the current fiscal year, and an anticipated $1.3 billion shortfall for the next fiscal year, which begins next month. That equates to a nearly 30 percent drop from expected appropriations. All state agencies, including CSN, had previously been asked to submit plans to cut next year’s budget by 14 percent. The governor asked for plans for another 5 percent cut and has called for a special legislative session.
CSN and our sister NSHE institutions submitted plans in April that called for hiring freezes, travel restrictions and other measures. At the direction of NSHE and the governor’s office, we will also implement furloughs of one day per month for all employees beginning July 1, which amounts to a 4.6 percent reduction in pay. While there will be no reductions in health care or retirement benefits, employees will not receive merit pay increases next year. More news will be forthcoming from Human Resources.
You will also recall that Gov. Steve Sisolak called the state’s community colleges the “first responders” when it comes to rebooting our economy as we move through the COVID-19 crisis and its economic fallout. This week, the Governor’s Office of Economic Development awarded CSN a $2 million grant to help us retrain the region’s workforce for careers in the rapidly developing manufacturing, healthcare and information technology sectors.
This is wonderful news for our community. We will develop Rapid Response Centers that will retrain workers with the skills they need as the state diversifies its economy. You will hear much more on this initiative in the coming months as we fully develop the program.
This has been indeed been an historic week at CSN, for Nevada, and for the county. I am encouraged — and I hope that you are too — because we are moving forward and overcoming every challenge one at a time as a CSN family. We have much work ahead but know that we are in this together.
Stay safe and God bless.
Federico Zaragoza President College of Southern Nevada
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled this morning to uphold the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The Court held that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s decision to end the DACA program was “arbitrary and capricious.” This decision is long overdue and is a tremendous win for our students, our college and our community. As an immigrant who benefitted from the opportunities provided by the American higher education system, I am so happy for our CSN DACA students who can continue to pursue their dreams and aspirations.
As I stated on April 25 and reiterate today, we strongly support all our students at CSN, including DACA-undocumented students. We value the diverse population of students, faculty and staff that make CSN what it is. Indeed, we believe our rich diversity makes us a stronger institution and community partner. As a community college, we must reflect the community we serve, and we do.
It is important to note that the right to protect the DACA program may not be over yet. The Court explained that the decision to unwind the program did not violate the U.S. Constitution. However, the ruling rejected the legal basis on which President Trump’s administration relied on to unwind the program, which was that the program was illegally implemented in the first place. This means that the program could still be terminated in the future.
It is as important now as ever for current DACA recipients to renew their status. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services stopped accepting new DACA applications in 2017 after the program was ended. However, officials continued accepting renewal applications pending today’s decision. Today’s decision now allows eligible recipients to submit new applications.
Chancellor Thom Reilly noted this morning that NSHE and the Board of Regents will continue to work with Nevada’s federal delegation, Gov. Steve Sisolak, and state lawmakers on a permanent solution to DACA.
The UNLV Immigration Clinic’s University Legal Services Program offers free legal advice and representation to the UNLV and CSN communities. This includes free DACA renewals. To schedule an appointment and/or determine your DACA eligibility, call (702) 895-2080 or email immigrationclinic@unlv.nevada.edu. The Immigrant Home Foundation also provides assistance with DACA renewals and other resources to immigrant families. To schedule an appointment, call (702) 889-4431 or email info@immigrantfoundation.org.
I am pleased to inform you that our detailed Return to Campus plan was approved by NSHE on Friday. This plan, available online and outlined below, is designed first and foremost to ensure that we proceed in the safest manner possible.
Our official return to campus began this week, with my cabinet and myself. The rest of our employees will return in a gradual, phased-in approach over the next few weeks and months. Employees not identified as Essential On-Campus personnel will be provided a 10-day notice of return to campus. We want to ensure that all employees are able to properly prepare for their return to campus and coordinate any needs they may have with supervisors or Human Resources. Some employees may be rotating on campus with scheduled days on site and other days remote. Please consult with your supervisor.
Academic deans and select personnel will return to campus next Monday, June 15. A select group of support staff, faculty and lab support personnel will return to campus the week of June 22-29 in preparation for the second summer session. As we progress through our four-stage return, there will be a continued gradual phasing in of faculty and staff returns to campus over July and August, with a modified Fall Convocation scheduled for August 17. Convocation will signal the return of all faculty to campus before the start of the fall semester on August 24. Look for more information about Fall Convocation soon.
Please know that there will be significant changes to campus life, including mandatory masks for faculty, staff and students, strict social distancing guidelines, plexiglass in select areas and many more safety precautions outlined in our plan document.
All employees will be required to complete a self-assessment each day before coming to campus to help prevent the spread of disease. In addition, employees who feel sick, even mildly so, must stay home and notify their supervisor. Employees will soon receive information from CAPE on how to sign up for and take mandatory COVID-19 Prevention Training.
In addition, our Environment, Health & Safety team is working on an Employee Return-to-Campus Handbook and a Student Guide to Health & Safety to help ensure that we are all following safety protocols as we prepare for a new era at CSN.
We are also establishing strict cleaning and disinfection practices on campus. High-touch areas such as door knobs will be cleaned frequently, for example, and cleaning wipes will be made available to employees to help keep their own areas sanitized as necessary.
These measures are designed to keep the entire CSN family safe. We will alter or transform our plan should guidelines from health officials, NSHE or the state of Nevada require that. As always, your safety and well-being will remain our focus, no matter our location.
Thank you all for remaining Vegas strong and CSN proud.
Stay safe and God bless.
Federico Zaragoza President College of Southern Nevada
Welcome to the summer semester! I am excited to see our unduplicated enrollment is comparable to last summer, even as we remain in our remote learning mode. In fact, our FTE is up almost 10 percent as more of our enrolled students are taking on full-time course loads this summer. That speaks not only to our robust online course offerings, but also to our students’ desire to graduate, complete, transfer and prosper.
As you know, instruction will remain mostly remote until July 1, when we begin to phase in labs and CTE courses, which we will do with safety as our topmost consideration.
In addition to the summer semester kickoff this week, registration for the fall semester opens to new students this Friday. I look forward to welcoming them to campus in August — but please know that our campus will look and feel different than you remember it. Cleaning protocols and social distancing guidelines will be in full effect. This will include mandatory face coverings while in classrooms and lab areas, as well as while near other people on campus. It will also include plexiglass in certain areas such as library desks and computer labs, limited capacities in classrooms, spaced-apart seating and staggered schedules.
We have developed a robust academic plan for our fall semester that will include a mix of in-person, hybrid and online courses. Approximately 45 percent of our classes this fall will be fully online and 55 percent will be in-person or hybrid. Some of you may notice that there are two categories of online classes listed. Web-Online classes are our traditional online offerings, while Web-Remote are those courses that were originally scheduled to be in-person classes but will now be online. We will share more details with faculty, staff and students this week.
Finally, while NSHE has not yet received further input from the governor’s office on potential budget reductions, the Board of Regents is moving ahead in preparation for the upcoming fiscal year. You will recall that the governor asked system institutions to prepare for scenarios of 6 percent, 10 percent or 14 percent cuts in fiscal year 2021, which starts July 1. Under the two higher levels of potential cuts, furloughs for faculty and professional staff may be required. Last week, the board approved adjustments to the system’s furlough policy to prepare for this possibility. You can see the details online, but a summary is that these policy adjustments will allow the board to implement furloughs if and when they are declared necessary by state officials.
The governor has indicated that he will call a special session of the Legislature this year. Please know that our internal Budget Reduction Task Force is ready to take on the challenge by looking carefully at both cost-saving and revenue-generating measures. At all times the task force will follow the guiding principles of ensuring student success, maintaining institutional accreditation, honoring shared governance and institutional values, and maintaining business operations.
Federico
In This Issue:
HR Forums for Supervisors
Graduation
Student Emergency Fund
CSN Emmy Nominations
CSN Leadership Academy
Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory Grading Policy
Interim AVP for Academic Affairs
Enrollment and Institutional Data
HR Forums for Supervisors
In preparation for returning to campus, Human Resources is hosting forums for supervisors. This training is designed to prepare supervisors to return to campus and manage the various situations and questions from employees. This is an opportunity to ask HR questions about returning to campus and COVID-19 concerns. This forum is required for all supervisors, so please enroll in one of the remaining sessions if you have not already done so.
Graduation
As I mentioned last month, we were all disappointed about being unable to hold a traditional Commencement Ceremony this year. Because our students have asked us to wait until we can hold a safe, in-person ceremony, we decided to honor the Class of 2020 now by creating a website with videos, the graduation program, profiles of graduates and a message board where anyone can leave congratulatory notes.
I encourage you to visit the site and learn about this amazing class — once again a record-sized graduating class from CSN with 3,753 students earning 3,825 degrees and certificates.
Student Emergency Fund
The CSN Student Emergency Fund has been a critical resource for many of our students who are struggling financially during this crisis. The fund has distributed more than $137,000 in immediate financial assistance to our students since March 1. Along with donors such as ASCSN, the Wells Fargo Foundation, Charles Schwab Bank and the United Way of Southern Nevada, it has been people in the community and CSN family who have risen to the challenge and supported this important endeavor. More than $185,000 has been raised so far. I cannot thank you all enough for the generous support you’ve given to our students.
CSN Emmy Nominations
Our Videography & Film program students have once again outdone their peers with 15 Student Production Emmy Award nominations this year. This was the most nominations of any college in the region, adding to the incredible success of the program. With 88 nominations since 2015, the program has risen to become one of the best in the country.
Congratulations to Program Director John Aliano and all the nominated students. Winners will be announced at a ceremony this month.
CSN Leadership Academy
I want to offer my sincere congratulations to the first graduates of the CSN Leadership Academy! A full 100 percent of the academy’s inaugural class met all requirements and completed the program. The class included employees from classified, administrative faculty, adjunct faculty, tenured faculty, tenure-track faculty and emergency-hire faculty:
Karen Ahern
Robert Bonora
Paula Bourne
Alicia Briancon
Kayla Buscher
Taylor Cayro
Michelle Chan
Shawn Claxton
Angel Clemens
Sabrina Cruz
Sherida Devine
Phillip Dixon
Tamara Flores-Sahagun
Jeff Fulmer
Eileen Hamilton
Emily King
David Leavell
Annette Lord
Angela Nelson-Swearingen
Roberta Palomo
Dana Phillips
Theresa Pugh
Dora Reyes
John Rios
Marissa Robledo
Kenneth Roman
Ashley Snipes
Nancy Swanson
Carla Wright
Carolyn Wright
Graduates reported that they appreciated the inclusive and diverse composition of the class, the ability to network beyond traditional work and social circles, the immediate applicability of the academy experience, the rich curriculum and content that expanded on the 7 Habits principle-centered leadership base, and an emphasis on both professional development and personal enrichment. The CSN Leadership Academy was launched in fall 2019 and developed and facilitated by Dr. Gillian Silver. Annette Lord provided logistical guidance, and Nancy Webb served as the program’s assistant director. Placements for the summer and fall 2020 academy cohorts are being confirmed. The activities will include a variety of live meetings and technology-based activities. For more information, contact Gillian.Silver-Rodis@csn.edu.
Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory Grading Policy
As you know, the Board of Regents amended NSHE grading policy so students will now be permitted to request a satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade rather than a traditional letter grade. Instructors still assign letter grades at the end of the semester, but students have the option to ask for that to be changed to an S/U grade.
The deadline to submit the interest form has passed for students who are graduating in the spring 2020 term, receiving financial aid, or on academic warning or academic probation. It is 5 p.m. Tuesday, June 15 for all other students.
We have prepared Frequently Asked Questions guidelines to help students, faculty and staff understand the process, and I encourage you to make yourself familiar with the details.
Interim AVP for Academic Affairs
I want to thank Caprice Roberson for stepping into the role of interim associate vice president for academic affairs while James McCoy is on temporary assignment at NSHE. Caprice’s broad background at CSN and in the community includes serving on the Faculty Senate, representing AFA while in her role as director of libraries, and leading and coordinating initiatives that focus on diversity and inclusion. In this interim role, Caprice will oversee the following areas, in addition to facilitating the daily tasks that are managed by the AVP of Academic Affairs:
Prison Education
e-Learning
Libraries
Curriculum and Scheduling
Assessment
Guided Pathways/Complete College America/Lumina Foundation work
Please join me in thanking Caprice for taking on this vital position during this critical time.
Enrollment and Institutional Data
To review the latest enrollment data, visit the Institutional Research Data Dashboard. The site houses publicly available interactive reports created to support institutional decision making.
