Major report on Pima’s transformation

I am pleased to announce that “SHIFT HAPPENS @ Pima Community College: The Future of Working and Learning,” an in-depth report chronicling the transformational changes that have occurred at Pima over the past half-decade, is available online.

The report was produced by Jamai Blivin, founder and CEO of Innovate+Educate, which focuses on education and workforce strategies, and Dr. Merrilea Mayo, founder of Mayo Enterprises LCC, which focuses on innovation, workforce, technology and the future of learning.

As you know, the College has come a long way in a relatively short time. Because of the courage and creativity of faculty, staff, administrators and the Governing Board, Pima is shifting in multiple ways so that current and future students can have meaningful and relevant careers and lives.

I want to thank the PCC Foundation and the many units of the College that worked with Ms. Bliven and Dr. Mayo on the report. I also want to thank Tucson Foundations and the Pima Association of Governments for their support.

New VP of Instruction, Downtown Campus

Here is a message I sent to the College community regarding PCC’s new Vice President of Instruction at our Downtown Campus:

I am pleased to announce that Dr. Lamata D. Mitchell is the College’s new Vice President of Instruction for Downtown Campus.

Dr. Lamata Mitchell

Lamata, who fills a vacant position at Downtown Campus, has served for nearly 20 years as a community college instructor and administrator. She has a strong background in mission fulfillment, accreditation, mentoring, student affairs and curriculum development.

Since January 2010, Lamata has been Dean of Communication at Rock Valley College, a two-year college in Rockford, Ill. As Dean, she is responsible for offering quality programs that align with the strategic goals and initiatives for the more than 3,300 students in Rock Valley’s Communication Division.

Lamata has 20 years’ teaching experience in English at Rock Valley, where she was instrumental in developing a course in Non-Western Literature, 1800-present. She also taught British Literature, 1800-present; Shakespeare; and other courses.

Lamata has a doctorate in English from Northern Illinois University, a master of arts in English from Andrews University in Michigan, a master of arts in Publishing and Journalism from Loughborough University in the United Kingdom, and a bachelor of arts in English and Philosophy from Trent University in the United Kingdom.

I want to thank the members of the search committee for their work. Also, Pat Houston and Ian Roark should be commended for their leadership in the position in an interim capacity.

Lamata’s first day at the College will be Sept. 26. She reports to Dr. David Doré, President of the Downtown and Northwest campuses. Please join me in welcoming Lamata to the College.

Addressing abrasiveness in higher education

In June, I presented at the Harvard Colloquium on Abrasive Conduct in Higher Education. I had presented at the 2014 colloquium. Last year, I described deficiencies at PCC described by the Higher Learning Commission, the College’s accreditor, and our response, as chronicled in our Self-Study Report.

In this year’s presentation, I outlined new changes at PCC to meet our challenges. These include employee committee review of policies and practices, civility training for more than 1,300 employees, Supervision in the 21st Century leadership training, College-wide sexual harassment response training, and efforts by our Institutional Climate Cooperative.

The goal of these efforts, simply put: Less meanness. More civility. More respect. More communication. More niceness.

This was the third annual colloquium on abrasiveness. There likely will be a fourth and a fifth. Culture change in higher education requires clear expectations, effective communication and acceptance of collective responsibility. It takes time, as we at PCC know. The hope is meetings on the topic will eventually be unnecessary.

21st-century supervision

The College held its inaugural “Supervision in the 21^st Century” training recently, with Director Gary Cruze and his team in Organizational Effectiveness & Development devising and facilitating an informative and thought-provoking session.

The inaugural class focused on strategic communications in the workplace. Twenty-five supervisors have been selected to go through the six-month curriculum.

I opened the session by stressing the importance of understanding the relationships between and among doers, supervisors, managers and leaders. I gave examples from my work experience to illustrate the need for meeting needs even with limited resources.

For instance, when I worked at Centralia College as the Chief Human Resource officer, I created my own filing system because I only had a half-time secretary. At Evergreen State College, I developed a sexual harassment training program for students. I created a curriculum, a train-the-trainer program, and guided my students to deliver the training in a peer-to-peer model.

My main point: As a supervisor you have a responsibility to devise ways to get done the work that needs to be done. You are responsible for the success of your work unit. You also must meet the charge of developing your employees. Effective, professional supervision through all levels of the College hierarchy is crucial if we are to improve the work experience of our employees, and to become a premier community college.

Welcome, Dr. David Dore

It was my great pleasure last week to attend a welcome reception for Dr. David Doré, the new president of our Northwest Campus.

David is a top-notch addition to Pima, with nearly three decades’ experience in teaching and community college leadership. David’s wide-ranging background serving students, combined with vast administrative expertise, will serve the College well.

At last week’s reception, David shared his vision for forging partnerships with the K-12 and university systems and with the business community. He spoke about working toward Pima’s overall goal of creating a student-centered institution and keeping students engaged to enhance their opportunities for academic success. It was particularly great to hear from David that every person he has met at the Northwest Campus has talked about students and how much they care about students.

David, who started on July 1, comes to us from Mesa Community College where he was the Dean of Instruction for Career and Technical Education (CTE). Since July 2013, he has been responsible for 150 degree and certificate programs and also oversaw the newly created Arizona Advanced Manufacturing Institute. David plans to use this expertise to help determine what types of new CTE programs might best serve the Northwest Campus and this region.

David holds a Doctorate of Education from Pepperdine University, a Master of Business Administration from Georgetown University, a Master of Education from Boston College, a Master of Theological Studies from Santa Clara University and a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Gannon University.

In our search for a new president of Northwest, the search committee wanted to find someone who is passionate about students and passionate about the community. Without a doubt, David meets those criteria.

And please mark your calendars, a welcome reception for Dr. Erica Holmes, our new Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Services, will be held Monday, July 21 from 3:30 to 5 p.m. in the lunch room at the District Office. Hope to see you there.