Often people and institutions are defined by how they respond in times of adversity. Over these last few weeks, I have watched the most talented group of people I have ever known come together as one and work non-stop to put our Students First and make sure they have what they need to complete their education. Through courage and hardship, both personal and professional, you have more than endured. You have excelled.

Just one month ago, this crisis had not yet touched our community directly. Quickly though — much more quickly than any of us could have predicted — the crisis escalated; indeed, CSN had its first confirmed positive case this week. By the second week of March, we were preparing for a possible transition to remote learning by April 3. We thought we had a few weeks to prepare.

We did not, of course. We were soon directed to do what seemed impossible: Transition one of the nation’s largest community colleges to a fully remote operation in the span of one week.

And so we did. Together.

There were challenges to becoming fully remote by March 18, to be sure. A few CTE classes and clinicals simply cannot operate remotely. It’s true, too, that some student services were difficult to transition. But your innovation and teamwork made it happen, all while we stayed true to our mission and values.

The Student Union on the Henderson Campus stands empty

Take the Office of Technology Services, which created the website www.csn.edu/collaboration so our faculty and staff have a central hub to access remote learning tools.

The list goes on and on. Campus life, the Multicultural Centers, Facilities and Maintenance, Mail Services, Academic Advising, and so on. Each and every area of this college has performed incredible feats in the face of seemingly overwhelming obstacles. The development has at times moved so quickly that you may not even be aware of all that is now available online to our students. Please take a look at our coronavirus page at www.csn.edu/coronavirus for a full list of resources for both staff and students, as well as an FAQ, links to all communications sent by my office on the topic, and much more.

I am fully confident that our students are receiving the world-class education they’ve come to expect from CSN. I know this because I have seen how the CSN family reacts to a crisis. We share ideas, learn from one another, lean on each other when we need to, and boost our students and our colleagues whenever we are able.

I know this has been a tough time for everyone, including you and your families. As with many of life’s hardships, I know that we will come out of this because we are Vegas Strong and CSN Proud. We will be all the better for it. And the same goes for our CSN We will continue to serve our community and witness our students graduate, complete, transfer and prosper.

Federico

In this issue:

• How You Can Help
• Kudos to All
• Health Sciences Donations
• Chancellor Reilly’s Memo
• Office of Technology Services
• Facilities & Maintenance
• Congratulations on Scholarships
• Virtual Connection
• Spring 2020 Enrollment

How You Can Help

We can only imagine how challenging it must be right now for our students, many of whom have experienced great upheaval in their lives. Our city, the state of Nevada and the world are responding with the well-being of our communities in mind, and I know that our CSN Family is no exception.

If you would like to help, you can do so by supporting the CSN Student Emergency Fund. All donations made before April 17 will be matched by Charles Schwab Bank. This is an extraordinary time in the lives of our students, many of whom have lost income as a result of the social distancing guidelines we are all following. If you can, please consider a donation to the Student Emergency Fund, which provides up to $250 to a student in dire need of financial help. The fund has already distributed over $10,000 to our students — the vast majority in the last three weeks.

Thank you again for always putting our students first, especially now in these challenging times.

Kudos to All

The Advanced & Applied Technologies Department surveyed faculty, and the results show that they have things well in hand when it comes to going remote. Our faculty have responded with incredible enthusiasm and ingenuity.

Professor Barbara Graham’s “virtual classroom.”

Take Geography Professor Barbara Graham, for example. She reports that “Great things happening in the trenches/homes out here!!”

She knew she needed some white boards if she was going to be teaching from home, so she found some on Craigslist. Once the seller realized what she needed them for, they gave them to her for free. When she picked them up, she kept one for herself and delivered others to two more faculty members. They all were able to turn their kitchens into “virtual classrooms!”

There are countless stories like this from faculty and staff all across this great institution, far more than we have room to share here. That’s why we’ve set up an online message board where you can share your good news stories, praise those who’ve helped, encourage our students and your colleagues, and generally spread good cheer during a time when it’s more necessary than ever. Even if you don’t have anything to post, please visit the board and read the short stories from your students and colleagues. They are all incredibly inspirational. Thank you to everyone who has shared their story so far.

Here are two of the many kudos already posted:

• I want to thank Professor Chris King for going above and beyond. Obviously he couldn’t hold office hours in person for concerns and questions, and I was stuck on a lesson for days. When I reached out to him via email, he was kind enough to patiently walk me through the problem step by step over the phone (with my kids yelling in the background haha). He spent a long time explaining the process to me until he was sure I understood it. Thank you Professor King!!
• Super Kudos to Paula Michniewicz of E-Learning who figured out how to take a manual midterm exam and convert it into Canvas activities, all while conducting webinars and Canvas classes! One of my students who had no computer and had relied on the Computer Centers, had bit the bullet and bought one, but was unable to consider buying a printer/scanner. Paula made the online version possible! And the student, when hearing the news, said a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Thank you Paula and Team for all you do!

Health Sciences Donations

Kudos are certainly due to our health sciences faculty and leadership team for their efforts to donate much-needed medical equipment including ventilators, N95 respirators, masks, gloves, and gowns to local health care facilities. We will continue to look for ways to help our community partners in this difficult time. Other NSHE institutions are taking similar actions, as detailed in this NSHE press release.

Chancellor Reilly’s Memo

The Board of Regents will hold a special meeting via teleconference on April 7 to discuss and resolve issues surrounding this crisis. Chancellor Thom Reilly brought up several related issues in his March 25 memo, such as classifying the COVID-19 pandemic as an extenuating circumstance for faculty who want to request a pause in the tenure evaluation timeline, permitting a satisfactory grade for students to earn credit for a course and making that available to students through the end of the semester, delinquent student accounts and deferred payments, clarifications about the hiring freeze, and student withdrawals.

Office of Technology Services

As you can imagine, OTS has been one of the busiest offices at the college since the decision was made to go remote. And they have performed spectacularly. In addition to creating the central hub on the website, the OTS crews have created virtual teams for all CSN departments, and made the Microsoft Teams software available on all employee laptops so that everyone could continue to meet, share resources and collaborate as if they were still on campus.

OTS also worked with our mobile communication vendor to acquire critical hot spot devices at a reduced cost so those without internet connections at home can connect. They also prepared laptops and purchased Microsoft Surface tablets with keyboard for use by employees and students who needed them.

I can’t say enough about how important their hard work has been.

Facilities & Maintenance

It is said that crisis reveals character, and nowhere has that been more evident than among our facilities and maintenance team. While most of us have been at home, crews have been hard at work on our campuses deep cleaning and disinfecting everything. This work will continue throughout the time faculty, staff and students are working remotely.

Crews remain hard at work on our new Health & Science Building on the Henderson Campus

Our maintenance and technical services teams continue to support campus buildings addressing critical life safety projects and building support. In addition, our construction planning and grounds teams have been working with contractors and vendors to maintain our grounds and fields and continue working on ongoing construction projects including the Health & Science Building.

Approximately 40 staff members are on campus responding to emergency situations as they arise. CSN has in excess of 1.6 million square feet throughout our campuses, sites and centers, and the staff is ensuring that our buildings are maintained and operational in preparation for resumption of activities on campus.

Finally, our safety officer has been working to ensure that employees on campus have the necessary materials including sanitizing wipes, masks, and gloves in addition to maintaining appropriate distancing to ensure they are kept safe; supporting faculty, staff, and students with inquiries, and performing safety reviews and investigations as needed.

Congratulations on Scholarships

I want to personally congratulate several CSN students who were awarded prestigious scholarships.

Mary Raycialyn Jacobe Anteza and Amanda Uren won scholarships from the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. Both are studying in our top-notch cybersecurity program and are scheduled to graduate this semester.

Mary was selected as a PTK 2020 New Century Workforce Pathway Scholar and will receive a $1,250 scholarship. Amanda was named a 2020 New Century Transfer Pathway Scholar and will receive a $2,250 scholarship.

Mengting He was awarded an $8,000 scholarship from the Hite Family/MGM Scholarship fund through the CSN Foundation. Mengting recently completed a nursing degree at CSN and is moving on to Nevada State College. This is the first of five such scholarships that will be awarded.

Congratulations to all of these outstanding students!

Virtual Connection

The Multicultural Center in collaboration with several offices including Campus Life, First Year Experience, and Career & Transfer Services has launched a Canvas shell for virtual programming called The Spot: Engaging Virtually. What an innovative idea! Student engagement opportunities such as Movie Mondays and Adulting 101 sessions are now available virtually for all CSN students to enjoy and continue their development. Activities will be offered through the The Spot’s conference feature or a link will redirect the student to the necessary site. The shell is one more access point for our students to build connections and access resources such as the virtual library and online tutoring. Questions about The Spot can be directed to Nadia Czesky or Natalie Nelson at diversity@csn.edu

Henderson Campus Life and the Multicultural Center are working together to ensure faculty and staff stay connected, too. All CSN faculty and staff can complete an interest survey that will connect them to an interest group and help launch various social events. Fill out your survey today so we can better support one another during this time.

ASCSN is hosting Coyote Fireside Chats on their Instagram feeds featuring live discussions about student life in this remote learning environment.

Spring 2020 Enrollment

Please review the latest enrollment report at the link below. This updated report reflects our spring enrollment through March 13. Visit the Institutional Research web page to see additional enrollment and institutional data.

See the Enrollment Report

“The College of Southern Nevada empowers our students and communities to achieve, succeed, and prosper.”

• CSN’s new Mission Statement

“CSN is recognized as a leader among community colleges in fostering student success, shared governance, and performance excellence.”

• CSN’s new Vision Statement

Our new mission and vision statements were approved today by the NSHE Board of Regents. Together, they encapsulate our purpose in a few simple words, but they are more than that. To me, our mission affirms our focus on student learning and success in the classroom, in life, and in the economy. Our mission also affirms our responsibility and impact on our diverse communities.

Along with our new mission and vision statements, the Board also approved our revised strategic plan, which you are all aware we have been working extremely hard on. I want to thank everyone involved, particularly Patty Charlton and Dr. Joshua Levin, who led the strategic planning team and worked hard to ensure the plan reflects the needs of our students and our diverse communities.

Please take a moment to review the revised plan, which you will recall was put together with a great deal of input from our internal and external stakeholders. I am proud of what the team produced. This is more than a document, but rather a guide that lays out what we want to accomplish and how best to get there. In short: It is a roadmap to help ensure that we are always doing our best for our students.

Federico

In this issue:

• NSHE Regents Meeting
• Update: Important Coronavirus Precautions
• CSN & Workforce Connections Partnership
• Accreditation Update
• Henderson Health & Science Building
• MGM Foundation Supports Scholarships
• 2020 Census
• CSN Connections
• Raymond Santana Comes to CSN
• CSN Ombuds Coffee Corner
• 48th Annual Commencement Ceremony
• Spring 2020 Enrollment

NSHE Regents Meeting

The NSHE Board of Regents has been meeting on our Henderson Campus this week. I hope you got the opportunity to attend, as many important topics were discussed. In addition to approving our strategic plan and mi

ssion statement, as I discussed above, the Re

gents also approved several very important awards.

• The 2020 CSN Regents’ Scholar is Jennifer Stevens, whose inspirational story should drive everyone to work as hard as she does.
• CSN Surgical Technology instructor Cris Aguilar won the Regents’ Teaching Award for non-tenured faculty at community colleges.
• Mark Wherry, CSN’s Director of Vocal Music, took home the Creative Activities Award for community colleges.
• And 23 CSN faculty members were awarded tenure. Congratulations!

Update: Important Coronavirus Precautions

There is understandable concern regarding the coronavirus, and rest assured that CSN is taking the matter seriously. As of today, there have been no confirmed cases reported in Nevada — the Southern Nevada Health District did announce the first presumptive positive case of COVID-19 in a Clark County Resident. Test results are considered “presumptive positive” until the result is confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

At CSN, we have created a website, www.csn.edu/coronavirus, to help keep the campus community up to date. You can see the latest news from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention there, as well as updates from the Southern Nevada Health District. You can also read about precautions that we are already taking at CSN.

There is growing fear and misinformation surrounding the coronavirus. CSN supports all students, faculty and staff members regardless of their ethnicity or background. We are committed to creating a campus free of bias. Students in need of support are encouraged to contact CAPS and all members of the CSN community should report acts of bias or discrimination to the Office of Institutional Equity & Title IX.

Additionally, should you have any questions or concerns about CSN’s precautions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Carey Sedlacek in Environmental Health & Safety at 702-651-4817.

MUTLICAMPUS UPDATE

CSN & Workforce Connections Partnership

We are pleased to announce a developing partnership between CSN and Workforce Connections of Las Vegas. Workforce Connections provides access to 17 community agencies and services to individuals seeking employment, housing, food and transportation support through a one-stop delivery system and several affiliate centers serving southern Nevada. CSN and Workforce Connections are joining forces to create one-stop service centers at CSN’s three student unions. The partnership is an important step in our efforts to eradicate equity gaps, scale resources and create seamless student services. As we continue to move forward together in our efforts to implement the multi-campus model, your continued support and collaboration is critical and greatly appreciated.

Discussions surrounding the addition of these exciting new wraparound services have been occurring for a number of months. Please read my blog post, linked below, to learn more about our implementation plans regarding some of our planned wraparound services.

As usual, we will keep you informed of our progress.

Read More on the President’s Blog

CSN ACADEMICS

Accreditation Update

The CSN accreditation steering committee is actively working on collecting data to show mission fulfillment and institutional effectiveness for the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities as part of the formal accreditation process. The NWCCU’s accreditation standards have been updated this year. You may review them at the link below, and learn more about the accreditation process on our accreditation page. Please know that the full engagement of every faculty and staff member will be necessary for a successful accreditation process.

In the spring 2021 semester, we will submit our year six Policies, Regulations and Financial Review report. This will be followed in spring 2022 when we submit our year seven Evaluation of Institutional Effectiveness report. All of this is in preparation for the formal site visit from NWCCU in the fall of 2022.

See the 2020 NWCCU Accreditation Standards

CSN/NSC Health & Science Building

Construction has already begun on the new Health & Science building on our Henderson Campus, which will be operated by CSN and Nevada State.

I am so pleased that the CSN Foundation was able to raise $6 million to contribute to the health and science building on our Henderson Campus. The funds came from community leaders and our own CSN employees, so thank you for all you’ve done and continue to do. As you know, this building will be a game changer for our students when it opens in fall 2021, as it will support the workforce demand in the region for skilled nurses and will expand biology classes so students can move through their program of study faster.

MGM Foundation Supports Scholarships

I want to offer my sincere thanks to the employees of MGM and the MGM Foundation for their generous support of CSN High School with a $40,000 grant toward scholarships. Combined with previous donations, the MGM Foundation’s gifts will now support 60 CSN High School students who are working on obtaining associate degrees before they even graduate high school! Thank you, MGM, on behalf of our students.

2020 Census

As you know, 2020 is a Census year and I’m pleased to be working with our other NSHE institutions and the 2020 Nevada Statewide Census Complete Count Committee to make sure all of our students are counted. Participating in the Census opens opportunities to bring valuable resources to our community. Participating in the Census, which is free, fast and confidential, can help bring in more than $67 billion in funding. CSN will be working to host Census Days of Action on campus, in coordination with student government, and I encourage each of you to take part.

It’s important to note, the Census will not ask for personal information like citizenship status, or ask for a donation. To learn more, visit www.census.nv.gov

CSN EVENTS

CSN Connections

Thank you to all the CSN staff who volunteered at our Spring 2020 Connections events. This is a proud tradition for CSN and helps connect our students to the college. Our staff goes above and beyond each year to make sure our students are taken care of, included cooking up thousands of burgers and hotdogs for them. Thank you all!

Raymond Santana Comes to CSN

I was so pleased to attend the first Den Talk speaker series with Raymond Santana Jr, one of the five men convicted of the 1989 sexual assault of a woman jogging in Central Park. The men were all later exonerated and have become known as “The Exonerated Five.” The daylong visit was an important opportunity for our students and staff to learn from Mr. Santana. The evening culminated with intimate question and answer session led by our very own Natalie Nelson, who is Mr. Santana’s cousin. The Nicholas J. Horn theatre was completely full, and we opened an overflow room to welcome all those who came. Thank you to all those involved in planning this event, including student government and Sean Tory.

CSN Ombuds Coffee Corner

Chief Information Officer Mugunth Vaithylingam will join the Ombuds Coffee Corner from 9 to 10 a.m. on March 12 in the Charleston Campus Student Union for an informal gathering with coffee and doughnuts. Please take this chance to stop by, chat with the CIO and the Ombuds and enjoy some coffee.

Find out all the details

48th Annual Commencement Ceremony

Mark your calendar, our 2020 Commencement Ceremony will take place on Monday May 18 at 6 p.m. at UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center. Commencement is my favorite event of the year and I hope to see you all there as we watch our students graduate and head into the world to prosper.

CSN ENROLLMENT

Spring 2020 Enrollment

Please review the latest enrollment report at the link below. This updated report reflects our spring enrollment through March 2. Visit the Institutional Research web page to see additional enrollment and institutional data.

See the Enrollment Report

January & February 2020 Chronicle

Welcome to the beginning of our 2020 Spring Semester. I hope you are rested and ready to continue on our students first agenda. As I discussed during convocation, we are making amazing progress on our journey to performance excellence. I want you to know that CSN is one of the most improved colleges of our size in the country! Because of all of your hard work, I am so pleased to report that we are on target to reach a combined 40 percent graduation and transfer rate.  Our most recent IPEDS data show that we have graduation rates of 14 percent and a 26 percent transfer rate! This puts us well on our way to reaching the NSHE goal of 49.5 percent by 2025. This data is proof that your hard work is paying off and we should all celebrate the progress we are making in our student success efforts. I thank you on behalf of all our students and Southern Nevada stakeholders.

See our detailed presentation from last month’s Board of Regents meeting, read more on the Newsroom blog, watch the Convocation event online, and download the Convocation PowerPoint presentation.

In this issue:

• MLK Parade
• University Legal Services 
• Latin Chamber Luncheon 
• Campus Commuter 
• Chief Human Resources Officer
• CSN Leadership Academy
• Student Email Changes
• Mariachi Plata
• Holiday Party
• Dr. Paul E. Meacham
• Enrollment Report

Martin Luther King Jr. Parade

Nearly 100 CSN students, faculty and staff participated in the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Parade in downtown Las Vegas last month. It was a beautiful day and I enjoyed spending time at this meaningful event with our students, who showed off their dance moves all morning long. The CSN float was organized by the African American Heritage Committee, led by Campus Life Development Coordinator Sean Tory. A big thanks to all those who helped make this parade a success.

University Legal Services

I’m pleased to let you know that the UNLV Immigration Clinic is now offering its services to all CSN faculty, staff and students. The clinic opened in 2018 and recently expanded to include CSN. The clinic can provide help on a variety of immigration issues, including DACA renewals, deportation issues and children’s rights. We held a wonderful event on Thursday night where community members were able to come in for free legal help. My thanks to Gov. Steve Sisolak, NSHE Chancellor Thom Reilly, UNLV President Marta Meana, UNLV Boyd School of Law Dean Daniel Hamilton, Immigration Clinic Director Michael Kagan, North Las Vegas Campus Vice President & Provost Clarissa Cota and everyone who helped make the event such a success.

Latin Chamber Luncheon

Recently I was able to share the good news about CSN with members of the Las Vegas Latin Chamber of Commerce. The state of CSN is strong and our future is bright. I know that many of the small businesses in our community struggle to hire the best local talent. We are working very hard here at CSN to make that a thing of the past and our numbers are telling. As I noted above, our graduation rates have doubled from 7 percent in 2016 to 14 percent in 2021 and our transfer rate has increased from 15 percent to 26 percent in the same time period. I am always pleased to share the good work happening at CSN with our Southern Nevada community. For more on the Chamber luncheon, see the CSN Newsroom article.

Campus Commuter

I hope you all have seen the new Campus Commuter shuttles on our campuses, which we are piloting in partnership with Nevada State College to help solve a transportation issue faced by many of our students. As the program launches, rides are free of charge to both CSN and NSC students. There are two routes with stops at all three CSN campuses, the East Las Vegas Library and NSC’s campus in Henderson. Many thanks to those who have helped put our students first in this endeavor and learn more about this program by visiting www.csn.edu/csnshuttle.

Chief Human Resources Officer

I am thrilled to welcome Dr. Bill Dial to CSN as our new Chief Human Resources Officer. As I noted in my earlier announcement, the previous candidate for this position withdrew acceptance of our offer. Dr. Dial’s first day at CSN will be this Monday, February 3. He brings with him a wealth of experience in human resources, joining us from Metropolitan Community College in Kansas City, where he served in the same position. Previously, he had served in human resources leadership roles for more than 10 years at Richland College in Dallas and Red Rocks Community College in Lakewood, Colorado.

Dr. Dial holds a Bachelor of Science in Education from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville; a master of science in human resources management from Lindenwood University in St. Louis; and a Ph.D. in organizational management from Capella University in Minneapolis. For more about Dial, please see his resume.

Please join me in welcoming him to the CSN family.

CSN Leadership Academy

I am pleased to offer my congratulations to the first cohort of CSN employees in the CSN Leadership Academy. The academy will be a wonderful personal reflection and development opportunity. It utilizes the well-regarded 7 Habits of Highly Effective People model of principle-based leadership, and concentrates on proactivity, strengthening time management, ethical decision-making, and communication competency.

There were more than 140 applications submitted! The first cohort began last month and cohorts will begin in fall 2020 and spring 2021 semesters as well. Those cohorts will be announced at a later date. Those who started in January include:

Student Email Changes

Starting on February 1, all official communications coming from CSN to active students will be directed only to the official, CSN-issued email address that you were assigned when you created your account. Please start checking this email account starting now to ensure that you are able to see important notifications that come from CSN. Read more online.

Mariachi Plata

What an amazing celebration of our students! In December, we celebrated our new competitive Mariachi Plata with an incredible performance in the Horn Theatre. Prior to the performance on the North Las Vegas Campus, our students took home third place in a national mariachi competition in San Antonio, Texas, and students Jose Mejia and Precious Carrasco took first and second, respectively, in the vocalist competition. The sold-out concert was truly a community event, featuring performances from a number of local mariachis. You can read see an album of photos on the CSN Facebook page. (As a reminder, you do not need a Facebook account to view these photos) and see their performance on YouTube.  https://www.facebook.com/pg/CSNNV/photos/?tab=album&album_id=10156829209193603

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Lah95FvBOQ&feature=youtu.be

Holiday Party

It was truly a pleasure to celebrate the holidays with the CSN family last month. The events team did a wonderful job transforming the Charleston Campus student union ballrooms into a beautiful space to celebrate the hard work and dedication of our faculty and staff to make sure students succeed. I was honored to present a $500 gift card to CSN student Cecilia Belio, who won the inaugural contest and designed this year’s beautiful holiday card. Belio is studying sonography at CSN and uses her artwork as a way to relax and destress. Please see photos from our holiday party here.

Dr. Paul E. Meacham

As you know, the CSN community mourned the loss of former CSN President Paul E. Meacham in December. Dr. Meacham was a very influential figure in the CSN history, as our first African-American president and the longest tenured president at CSN. The student services building on our Charleston Campus is named in honor of Dr. Meacham’s dedication to our students. Read more about Dr. Meacham here. http://blog.csn.edu/?p=2690

Enrollment Report

Please review the latest enrollment report at the link below. This updated report reflects our spring enrollment through January 28. Visit the Institutional Research web page to see additional enrollment and institutional data. See the enrollment report.