Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Opening sessions: quality not quantity


"A spade is a spade, and it is worse than useless to say that it is something else."
—Trollope, 1859

     I MISSED yesterday’s “Chancellor's opening session.” Luckily, Tere Fluegeman has posted highlights of the dang thing, which occurred in beauteous Saddleback College. (Evidently, video of the session is also available.)
     Something in Tere’s notes caught my eye:
     Chancellor Gary Poertner announced that the Chancellor's Opening Session will occur just once per year, at the beginning of fall term, to better support flex week activities. He encouraged attendance and said he will strive to keep the session informative from a district-wide perspective so that it will be worthwhile investment of time.
     Wow. Gary is streamlining. Hope he tosses out that bust of RR too.
     A reliable friend wrote me to say that
     You've missed a good [opening session]. The Chancellor's [part] was quite good. Your name was called. You received a service pin! 20 years! [Well, no. 25 years.] That's a long time. 
     Gary's address covered mostly Accreditation. It was informative, to the point…. The other speakers were also succinct….
     And the Faculty Association (union) luncheon?
     The luncheon was interesting to say the least.
     So I gather.
     According to Tere, Board Prez Nancy Padberg had accreditation on her mind. And Chancellor Gary Poertner? He offered “an overview of district-wide efforts toward resolving accreditation issues and working more collaboratively and constructively. 'Accreditation warnings are a great motivator for getting this done,' he said."
     Some people got up there to urge everyone to “view communication as a ‘shared responsibility,’ requiring both sender and receiver to take an interest in staying informed."
     So it looks like Gary's streamlining efforts have left some balderdash, 'cause that there's enough to puke a dog off a gut wagon.
     I do wish people would just call a spade a spade.

IN THE NEWS:

Eric Patton out as San Clemente football coach (OCVarsity.com)
     Veteran San Clemente football coach Eric Patton has been replaced by interim coach and Tritons athletic director Jon Hamro fewer than three weeks before the start of the season, the school announced Tuesday.
     Patton has been a key focus of an investigation into a sports equipment and apparel company's alleged kickbacks to Orange County coaches.
. . .
     Patton has been part of an investigation into the financial records of coaches throughout Orange County and Southern California* who had business dealings with the now-defunct Lapes Athletic Team Sales (LAPES) of Laguna Hills. Several Orange County coaches, including other high-profile football coaches, allegedly were part of a long-standing slush fund operation….
*Including Saddleback College coaches

4 comments:

Hal Croves said...

I got your years right. Am I more reliable than said friend? "I went to the opening session. The only be-knighting going on was the faculty service awards. You were be-knighted with a 25 year service pin! sir bvt. "service pins, we don't need no stinkin service pins.""

Anonymous said...

Said friend made a typo. It was 25 years. BvT, you must have been a teenager when you started at IVC! Congratulations!

Anonymous said...

Why not just toss out the constitution while you're at it, bvd?

Anonymous said...

I find it delightfully refreshing that the Chancellor is considerate of everyone's time. I feel like he is honest in wanting to solve some of our problems, rather than deny we have them.

I also think we scored with Dr. Werle. She is going to bring some integrity to the college administration if she can stay strong.

Congratulations, bvt, on twenty five years! Hope I make it that long.

Roy's obituary in LA Times and Register: "we were lucky to have you while we did"

  This ran in the Sunday December 24, 2023 edition of the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register : July 14, 1955 - November 20, 2...