Community Colleges of Spokane Fall Quarter Update

submitted by Paula Truman

Two classified staff winners, Ashley Schultz, ACT 2 Program Coordinator, won the SCC Classified Staff of the Year, and Christine Burge, SCC Registration Office Support Supervisor, won the STTACC Classified Staff Exemplary Award … congratulations to Ashley and Christine for their work with students.

CCS Human Resources offered a strong training schedule for staff this fall, with both old and new sessions, including Supervisor Series Parts 1-3, How to Get the Most out of your Work/Life Benefits,  FERPA, New Lean Recruitment Training, Sexual Harassment/Discrimination, Monthly Supervisor’s Roundtable, Creating Equitable Learning Environments: Addressing Microaggressions, Search Advocates Training, Being a CCS Ambassador: Help Boost the CCS Image and Enrollment, The Ethics Act: Following the Law, Leave Management, Interview Skills for Internal Applicants, P-Card & Travel, Central Receiving/Facilities/Purchasing, Awkward: Relearning Communication Rules, and Active Shooter.

A new training session that really enhanced the actual well-being for staff and focused on both the work and personal sides of life for both classified and exempt was the How to Get the Most out of your Work/Life Benefits session; staff across the spectrum, from lower paygrades through deans, discussed how to access tuition waivers and how they benefited from the opportunity to use the waivers. It can be a great resource for every employee, and I would strongly urge staff to check it out!

Two upcoming CCS Classified Staff Training and Development training sessions are scheduled for Nov. 19 and Nov. 22; topics include training on Microsoft Teams and the TLC, Teaching and Learning Center, What We Offer Classified Staff.

Although SCC was never closed, we did have a short period of time with no students on campus. The campus is finally echoing with the sounds of students with approximately 50% of our classes in person. Programs requiring in person labs, such as Welding, Cosmetology, Culinary, etc. resumed on campus classes earlier in the Pandemic season with other programs following later. On the service side, culinary offerings resumed first with the opening of the bakery and Orlandos, opening on limited schedules about a year and a half ago. Divisions such as Horticulture/Greenery and Cosmetology resumed business later last year. Sodexo resumed service this quarter, providing coffee, sandwiches, salads, and catering services.  The Allied Health students are getting back into the public volunteer business too, offering free cardiac and vascular ultrasounds to volunteers before their students head out into the community for their clinicals; volunteers see a glimpse of their health, and students get to practice on someone other than the same classmates, day after day!