College of Southern Nevada

Dear CSN Family,

Summer enrollment is fully underway, and we are on pace to exceed last year’s enrollment. Our headcount is up slightly compared to this point last year, while our full-time equivalent enrollment is up more than 11 percent. In other words: More students are taking a lot more classes — and we’re only a little more than half full so far. This is great news for us and our community.

CSN will be a more valuable local asset than ever, and indeed will likely become ever more important as those who have suffered economically during this crisis seek education and job training. Next month, we will launch an enrollment campaign largely focused on getting our community back to work. This targeted, grass-roots campaign will be aimed at quickly retraining displaced workers in critical local industries such as IT, healthcare, manufacturing and construction. This will be done through a combination of our credit and non-credit programs, and many will be of short duration to accommodate funding requirements and their rapid return to work. As I’ve noted, CSN could see a surge in enrollment as our community gets back on its feet — and we are planning for that now.

All of this could mean hundreds or more students who will be new to CSN, and as a consequence there is great interest in our plans for remote placement testing. We are planning to launch our new remote math placement option, Aleks PPL, the week of May 4. This is great news, as it will allow us to better place students into math classes. Students will be able to complete their placement prep and assessment remotely in an online proctor environment. We’ll have more details to announce on Aleks PPL and our plans for English and reading placement soon.

As hard as we have all been working to make sure we succeed in our new, remote environment, I want you to know that we have also successfully transitioned our Prison Education Program to be conducted 100 percent remotely. We are teaching prisoners who are preparing for their lives after prison via live video conferencing. It’s a first for CSN in the prison environment, and I’m glad we’ve been able to do it successfully.

I’d also like to note that CSN and NSHE are moving forward with great momentum on the implementation of corequisite math and English, one of our student success initiatives that is focused on making sure students are prepared for college-level work. We are on track to fully implement by fall 2021.

Lastly, if you missed our Virtual Town Hall last week, we have posted the transcribed video, so please review it to stay updated on the latest news at CSN.

The work continues and together we continue to be Vegas Strong and CSN Proud.

Stay safe and God bless.

• HR Memorandum
• Telecommute Agreement
• Workday Job Aid
• HR FAQs
• Canvas FAQs
• Technology & Collaboration Tools

• Virtual Events for Students
• Community Resources
• Essential Student Services
• Financial Aid FAQs
• Technology & Collaboration Tools

• Nevada Health Response
• Prevention & Treatment
• CDC Situation Summary
• Report Potential Exposure
• NV H&HS Data Dashboard

• Faculty & Staff join us at 10 a.m. Thursday, April 23
• Students join us at 2 p.m. Thursday, April 23
• View last week’s town halls online: Faculty & staff and students.

Federico Zaragoza
President
College of Southern Nevada 

Dear CSN Family,

It was great to connect with over 300 members of the CSN family who participated in our Virtual Town Hall meeting on Friday. Your questions were on topics as varied as placement testing, furloughs, refunds, budget cuts and summer classes. I will go over some of that here for those who missed the meeting, but those interested in hearing more can view the entire meeting online in the coming days.

• We will soon deploy a new math placement testing tool, Aleks PPL, which can be completed remotely. We have a team exploring alternatives to our current placement testing for English and reading. Please look for information on placement testing soon in your CSN email.
• We will remain in a remote learning environment at least through June 30, and non-teaching staff will continue working remotely through at least the end of the spring semester.
• Students who wish to request refunds for fees our courses can file an appeal via the official Student Appeal process.
• As of now, neither the Nevada Promise Scholarship nor state-funded programs such as the Prison Education Program face cuts under our budget reduction plan.
• Students with delinquent accounts and past-due balances can still receive their diplomas, register for classes, and obtain official CSN transcripts through September 30.
• Students who are suffering financial hardship may apply for a cash grant from the CSN Student Emergency Fund.
• Faculty and staff layoffs are not part of the budget reduction plan we submitted at the direction of the chancellor and governor. Under budget cut scenarios of 10 percent or 14 percent, academic and administrative faculty furloughs of 2.3% or 4.6% are proposed for all NSHE institution employees. The details about these possible furloughs — such as when they would happen and how they would be scheduled — are among the details that our team is still working with NSHE on. At this time, potential furloughs do not affect classified employees. As always, we will communicate this information to our CSN community as soon as we know more.

There were some questions for which we do not yet have answers, some of which we said we’d get back to you on, so please keep attending our weekly town halls and watch your CSN email for messages from my office to stay up-to-date on the latest news. I look forward to talking with you and answering even more questions this Thursday in our next Virtual Town Hall. We are a family and that’s how we will remain Vegas Strong and CSN Proud.

Stay safe and God bless.

• HR Memorandum
• Telecommute Agreement
• Workday Job Aid
• HR FAQs
• Canvas FAQs
• Technology & Collaboration Tools

• Virtual Events for Students
• Community Resources
• Essential Student Services
• Financial Aid FAQs
• Technology & Collaboration Tools

• Nevada Health Response
• Prevention & Treatment
• CDC Situation Summary
• Report Potential Exposure
• NV H&HS Data Dashboard

• Faculty & Staff join us at 10 a.m. Thursday, April 23
• Students join us at 2 p.m. Thursday, April 23

Federico Zaragoza
President
College of Southern Nevada 

Dear CSN Family,

As we prepare for budget reductions, the staff in our finance division has been entrenched in budget reviews and our budget reduction proposal in response to requests from the governor and chancellor. Putting this proposal together on such short notice required an extraordinary effort from the CSN team, and I am deeply grateful to all involved.

As you know, many of our students have been financially affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and its social consequences, and we want them to know we are here to help. The Controller’s Office has been working with Student Life and Leadership to ensure that cash grants from the Student Emergency Fund are disbursed in a timely manner each week to students. The student emergency funds have been especially needed as the magnitude of the COVID-19 public health crisis continues to weaken our local economy. A total of $32,340 has been disbursed so far during Spring 2020; 105 students have received funding after the campus closure. Funding has been provided by student government, the Office of Sponsored Projects and the CSN Foundation through generous contributions from within CSN and from the wider community.

I want to remind you all that the CSN bookstores are operating to support our students and staff for the end of the spring semester and beginning of the summer term. The bookstores are offering free shipping for rental textbook returns and for all new online orders. Additionally, a remote textbook buyback option is now available featuring free shipping and quick, easy payment. To accommodate academic faculty currently working remotely, summer and fall semester textbook adoptions can be submitted online, but the bookstore staff is available Monday through Friday to answer any questions. Summer textbooks and materials can be rented or purchased through the campus bookstore website.

Lastly, please join us at 2 p.m. today for our Virtual Town Hall. We will hold these events each week for the next several weeks to be sure we are all communicating with one another during this unprecedented situation.

Thank you all for your dedication to our students, and for remaining Vegas Strong and CSN Proud.

Stay safe and God bless.

Federico Zaragoza
President
College of Southern Nevada 

Dear CSN Family,

Today’s email update highlights important information from Human Resources as we sustain our remote working environment, plan our eventual return to campus, and prepare for several possible budget scenarios.

As you know, at the request of the governor and chancellor, we presented our initial budget reduction proposal to the Board of Regents last week. I am pleased to report that we can achieve the entire $19.5 million budget reduction target without layoffs. However, at either the 10 percent or 14 percent levels of proposed cuts in the fiscal year beginning July 1, furloughs will be required for all NSHE institutions. Should these occur, Human Resources will work proactively to answer questions, address concerns, and most importantly move forward with an equitable approach. At this time, potential furloughs do not affect classified employees.

There have been questions about when we might return to campus. As of now, what we know for certain is that all instruction will remain remote through June 30. While a firm date has not been set for employees to return to campus, our current expectation is that non-teaching staff will remain in their virtual work environment or on paid administrative leave status at least through the remainder of the spring semester. As you know, this situation is fluid and sometimes it changes rapidly so we will keep you informed.

After a month of working under unusual conditions, there has been an increase in requests for assistance in ergonomic workplace guidance. HR works individually with each employee on these requests, as each one is unique. However, we would like to pass along work-from-home ergonomic tips that we hope will help.

Since we are not on campus, I am going to use this opportunity to “post” this Families First Coronavirus Response Act employee rights poster. Please take a moment to learn about federal law regarding paid sick leave and related topics. Should you have questions, please email HRCustomerService@CSN.edu.

Lastly, please remember that we have scheduled a Virtual Town Hall this Friday, and will hold them every week through the beginning of May. We want to make sure all our faculty, staff and students remain aware of the news that affects all of us. 

Thank you all for your hard work and for remaining Vegas Strong and CSN Proud.

Stay safe and God bless.

Federico Zaragoza
President
College of Southern Nevada 

Dear CSN Family,

Today we provide a couple of examples of the work that our student services team is engaged in to launch new remote platforms for delivering core student services in the important areas of student orientation and degree planning.

Our First Year Experience (FYE) team is scheduled to launch a new online student orientation next week. The web-based format will be an interactive experience, with dynamic videos, quiz questions and multiple points of connection to online resources at CSN. The format will generate robust data from pre- and post-tests to inform Academic Advising, Career and Transfer Services, and the Disability Resource Center, on appropriate services that will need to be provided by each of their respective areas. FYE will have the ability to make content, assessment, and student communication updates easily to promote student success.

We are also excited to announce that the Degree Planner platform, an easy-to-use online tool from Starfish (MyCoyotePLAN) that allows students and their advisors to map out and track an entire academic path to graduation, will launch this summer, with August as our target for implementation. Once operational, Degree Planner can also help administrators by providing insights into course demand and influencing decisions on the best times for offering additional course sections.

These are but two of the examples of the “Students First” work undertaken by our student services team to improve student success in this remote environment. 

Finally, we want to remind you that we have scheduled another Virtual Town Hall this Friday and every week through the beginning of May. If you have questions about online services, remote summer instruction or the budget reduction plan, please be sure to attend. Our leadership team will be on hand to make sure you’re getting the information you need.

Rest assured that we will continue to provide you with the most recent information and operational updates that document our collective efforts to stay Vegas Strong and CSN Proud.

Stay safe and God bless.

Federico Zaragoza
President
College of Southern Nevada 

Dear CSN Family,

I am pleased to report that summer enrollment is underway, and it does not appear to be slowing down. Currently, enrollment for this summer is tracking with last year’s enrollment. We are about one-third full so far. That is excellent news for CSN and our students.

Our Academic Affairs team is working hard to transition all on-campus summer classes to the online environment or pushing them into the latter part of the summer session. As you know, all NSHE institutions have been directed to remain in a remote teaching and learning environment until at least June 30 for the vast majority of our classes. 

In accordance with the governor’s and NSHE directives, we are looking to continue our in-person emergency management services instruction and paramedic training. We are also hoping to get our health sciences students back on campus to continue lab experiences that cannot be completed virtually. These programs are the only areas that will be allowed back to campus for instruction before July 1 and are part of the state plan to accelerate graduation of health professionals to assist in the COVID-19 battle.

There may be good news soon for students who need to take placement exams. Because Accuplacer tests cannot be administered off-campus, we have been searching for a solution. We are nearly ready to deploy Aleks PPL as the new math placement tool, which can be deployed remotely — the estimated launch is next week. If you have questions about this launch, summer classes or anything else please attend our Virtual Town Hall this Friday.

Lastly, our CSN Libraries and librarians have been true advocates for students these past few weeks. Anyone with questions about remote library services should visit their website.

Since we transitioned to a remote environment, the libraries have:

• received and responded to 41 email tickets,
• engaged in 168 online chats for a total of 46.2 hours of live one-on-one librarian assistance,
• and filled 35 textbook requests, which required staff to come to campus to collect and send the materials to students.

The work continues and together we continue to be Vegas Strong and CSN Proud.

Stay safe and God bless.

Federico Zaragoza
President
College of Southern Nevada 

Dear CSN Family,

Today’s message focuses on the important role that federal incentives are playing to help address the CSN budget cuts proposed by the governor’s office of up to $19,587,173. I hope you took a moment to read through our proposal and noticed that the first tier of our FY 20-21 proposed cuts — 4 percent — was covered entirely by CARES Act funding. This funding totals $14,078,408, half of which can be used to offset lost revenues and other expenditures related to COVID-19. That equates to $7,039,204. We will apply $6,550,485 to cover the proposed 4 percent cuts, and the remaining $488,719 being applied to our proposed tier 2 cuts. As you can see, these funds are incredibly important to CSN.

The other half of the CARES Act funding will be awarded to students as emergency cash grants to pay for technology, course materials, food, shelter, health care and other essentials. The U.S. Department of Education will not mandate how colleges should allocate the funding, but will make recommendations, such as targeting students based on need. We have formed an internal group to help work on these recommendations and develop a plan for awarding these direct-to-student funds.

We are also waiting for information on the national supplemental funding in the amount of $1 billion that is slated to go to historically black colleges & universities, tribal colleges and universities, and other Minority-Serving Institutions. As you know CSN is both a Minority-Serving Institution and a Hispanic-Serving Institution so we will be eligible for this additional funding. More to come as details become available. 

Our Office of Sponsored Projects may also be able to help our students with additional funding, as well as our community overall. The team is busy working on grant applications for both students who need aid and for prospective students who may need job training as we emerge from this crisis. Look for more information about our workforce development grant efforts in the coming weeks.

Our own Student Emergency Fund puts Students First by directly assisting them financially. With the help of donations from faculty, staff and the community, as well as a challenge match from Charles Schwab Bank and donations from Wells Fargo and AT&T, I am happy to report we have raised nearly $55,000 toward this critical resource. View the list of donors on the CSN Foundation’s page. As you know, this fund can help students pay necessary expenses such as housing, utilities, books, tuition and other costs to make sure the student can attend CSN. More than $23,000 has been granted to students so far — the vast majority since mid-March.

We want to thank you for your participation in our previous town halls and want to remind you of our Virtual Town Halls later this week. These events give faculty, staff and students an opportunity to ask questions of our administration and to receive critical information. We are in this together, and that’s how we will remain Vegas Strong and CSN Proud.

Stay safe and God bless.

Federico Zaragoza
President
College of Southern Nevada