The month of April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month
April marks Sexual Assault Awareness Month, a time dedicated to shedding light on this critical issue and fostering a culture of safety, respect, and empowerment. The theme of Sexual Assault Awareness Month 2024 is "Building Connected Communities."
Sexual assault remains a pervasive problem, impacting individuals of all genders, ages, races, and backgrounds. It not only inflicts physical harm but also leaves lasting emotional and psychological scars. This month serves as an opportunity for us to come together as a community to acknowledge the prevalence of sexual violence and take meaningful action to address it.
Want to make a difference? The National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) developed a quick YouTube video titled 'What you can do to make a difference.' The video can be accessed here. A number of resources can also be accessed here. You can also raise awareness by wearing denim on Denim Day which is scheduled for Wednesday April 24, 2024. This is a day of action and awareness in which people are encouraged to wear denim to combat victim blaming and educate others about sexual violence.
Diversity Equity Inclusion Awareness Month
April is the California Community Colleges' Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Awareness Month. It provides us with the opportunity to reflect on our commitment to providing our students, faculty and staff with inclusive and equitable learning and working environments in which there is a sense of belonging, safety, and support. In acknowledgement of DEI Awareness Month, please see the list of local and Chancellor's Office events below.
Community College Month
The 2024 Community College Month theme is "Cultivating Skills for the Future." The #CCMonth campaign emphasizes the importance of continuous learning and skill development in today's rapidly evolving world. By cultivating skills, individuals not only prepare themselves for the challenges of the future but also enhance their adaptability and resilience. This message serves as a reminder of the transformative power of education and the endless opportunities it presents for personal and professional growth.
Choosing College of the Siskiyous for your higher education needs is a wise decision for several reasons:
Overall, College of the Siskiyous offers a supportive and enriching learning environment that prepares students for future success, whether they choose to enter the workforce or continue their education at a four-year institution. Furthermore, the College of the Siskiyous has recently been approved to offer a Bachelor of Science in Paramedicine.
If you have not visited our campus recently, we encourage you to schedule a campus tour. Tours can be scheduled Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. To schedule a tour contact Basecamp by calling (888) 397-4339 or (530) 938-5847. You can also fill out our tour request form (PDF), save it, and email to info@siskiyous.edu.
Missing Murdered Indigenous Peoples (MMIP) Day Event
Sunday, May 5, 2024, will be recognized across the United States and Canada as the National Awareness Day for Missing or Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) and Girls. MMIW Day 2024 provides us with the opportunity to unite in solidarity to honor the lives of Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit individuals who have been taken from us too soon.
On Monday May 6 we will recognize the ongoing crisis of violence and systemic injustices that disproportionately affect Indigenous communities. It is a day to amplify their voices, demand justice, and commit to meaningful action to end this epidemic of violence. The campus and community are invited to join us from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm in the Student Center (located on the Weed Campus) to obtain information and to advocate. Together, let us strive for healing, accountability, and the empowerment of Indigenous peoples everywhere. This event is coordinated by College of the Siskiyous, Quartz Valley Indian Reservation Tribe, Karuk Tribe and the Siskiyou Domestic Violence and Crisis Center.
Teacher Appreciation Week (May 6 - 10, 2024)!
As we celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week, I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to all our educators both at the College and in the County. Your passion, dedication, and steadfast commitment to your students are deeply appreciated and valued. Please know that your hard work does not go unnoticed, and we see you making a difference in the lives of so many. Thank you for being an exceptional educator and for your continued contributions to our community.
Graduation 2024
Students who have petitioned to graduate have been sent information about the event and what to expect. If you have questions about Graduation 2024 or would like to help with the event send an email to pio@siskiyous.edu. Graduation will be held at the Weed Campus Football Stadium on Friday, May 17 beginning at 6:00 pm. All students who plan to participate in the ceremony should also plan to attend rehearsal to be held earlier in the day at 1:00 pm.
COS Foundation Board Supports Siskiyous Students
At the last Foundation Board of Directors meeting, members approved two new funding requests that will directly support Siskiyous students.
Students who are eligible to become PTK members will have their membership fee paid by the COS Foundation. To ensure longevity of this endeavor, the COS Foundation will happily accept donations to support this activity. Anyone who would like to help may do so by giving a one-time or annual donation or participating in the employee monthly payroll deduction program.
The Foundation also voted to cover the 'out of pocket' costs for dual-enrolled K-12 grade students in 2024-2025. This means there will be 'zero' cost applied for Siskiyou County K-12 grade students who enroll in classes at College of the Siskiyous next year.
Stay Connected
Sign up today for COS Connect. This is a free system used to notify students and staff of emergency-situations, campus closures, or general information. To sign up click on the COS Connect button located on the COS homepage and follow the directions to get signed up.
Upcoming Activities & Events:
Event dates, times, and locations based on information available at the time of publication and are subject to change.
April 2024
May 2024
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Vice President, Student Services
The spring semester is moving faster than it seems possible. Graduation is right around the corner and coming up soon will be our annual 8th Grade Inspiration Day (April 18) and Kinder Caminata (May 10). We are in the midst of a lot of hiring, conferences, and professional development, and reporting to various government agencies. It has been a whirlwind. Along the way we continue to serve students and keep them at the forefront of all we do.
A team of eight staff members were able to attend the CSSO conference in March, and we there we were able to hear from our colleagues and Student Services leaders from across the State. There is a lot of legislation that is being considered or has already been passed that will have far reaching impacts across the system. It is important that we continue to keep abreast of regulatory changes. Thank you to Janice Porterfield, Josh Collins, Stephanie Wroten, Michelle Knudsen, Samantha Dean, Meghan Witherell, and JonJon Junpradub for going with me to the conference and for having some fun while there. We did an escape room one evening and we managed to get out with 9 seconds left on the clock! It was intense but it was incredibly fun. We also enjoyed some of the ethnic cuisine found in San Francisco. It was an enlightening and entertaining conference.
Resident Assistant hiring is open for the 2024 - 2025 Academic School Year. If you know anyone that would make a great Resident Assistant (RA) within Student Housing, direct them to the Student Housing (Lodges) web page to fill out an application and to look over the RA job description
This spring semester has shown a strong retention of residents living on campus coming through the fall semester compared to the previous year. Student Housing is looking to open student leadership within housing and will be posting the Lodge Government Representative (LGR) position soon. Students or residents that may not feel like they fit the RA role but want to be a part of housing's resident government, can still be a part of housing staff by being an LGR. Applications and position descriptions will be posted on the housing page soon.
Calling all Graduates-to-be!
Get ready to strut your stuff in style with our cap and gowns available now at the Weed Campus Gift & Book Shop! Just $35 gets you everything you need: cap, gown, diploma cover, and tassel with your graduate year.
Need a pristine look for your graduation photos? We have you covered with our steaming services for only $10!
And do not miss our End-of-Semester sales for perfect graduation gifts! Stop by today and make your graduation day unforgettable!
The purchase cutoff date for this year (FY 23-24) is April 15. We ask that all office and departments plan appropriately as this deadline applies to all areas of the district including categorical and grant programs that are required to spend out their funds by June 30, as well as the summer classes which should already be planning/purchasing for their programs. The only exceptions to this cutoff date will be for perishable items (i.e., cafeteria, etc.) and emergencies (i.e., maintenance, safety, etc.). Any requests (of any size) made after April 15, will require a Vice President's signature to be considered for processing. Please let the Business Office know as soon as possible so that we can track for end of year closing.
Purchase Order requests for FY 24-25 can be submitted early. However, we will not process the requests until mid to late June/beginning of July. Be sure to highlight the fiscal year with your request.
Business Office Hours (NEW- until further notice): Monday – Friday 10:00 am to 3:00 pm
Due to several extremely time-sensitive projects, the Business Office will be open for walk-in traffic, phone calls and emails from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. The times outside of this will be for the staff to work on projects and other time-sensitive activities. We apologize for the reduced time, but it is necessary for us to complete priority projects
Budgets & Reconciliations
Please clear up any negative amounts in your FY 23-24 budgets as soon as possible and send budget changes as soon as possible. Business Office staff are working to enter these requests as they are received and will begin end of the year processing very soon. Your help with reviewing budgets and submitting changes is appreciated. The final deadline for budget changes is Thursday, June 27 (except for payroll line items).
The Business Office is working to complete the FY 24-25 Tentative Budget. Budget Managers will be contacted soon for clarification of submitted budgets. We appreciate your quick response as we have a very tight deadline to meet.
Questions… contact the Business Office. Send email to: BusinessOffice@siskiyous.edu. This will help to ensure a timely response
Our wonderful Food Services Staff have implemented the new TOAST mobile ordering application and are starting to see some orders coming through. Consider using this app to pre-order and pre-pay for your food - reducing your wait time! Scan the QR code to access the app!
Remember if your department is in need of yummy catering services from our own creative COS staff, be sure to reach out to Rob at rgiordanengo@siskiyous.edu to see what delightful delicacies can be created for your events!
College of the Siskiyous is one of seven institutions participating in the Common Cloud Data Platform (CCDP) project. This is a demonstration project initiated by the California Community College Chancellor's Office (CCCO). It will build a single cloud-based interface that the CCCO can use to receive and view data from all schools participating in the project. This interface can also be used by the CCCO to produce MIS and 320 reports at that state level. If this demonstration project is successful, this solution can be rolled out to all schools in the system. This project is scheduled to be completed in June 2026.
Technology Services has completed its Operational Plan for FY 24-25. This plan will be presented to the Technology Advisory Committee (TAC) later this month. Shortly thereafter, it will be presented to the Board and published.
The Client Services (CS) Team will be implementing the workstation refresh on all workstations in Academic Affairs in the second half of this calendar year.
The Enterprise Application (ES) team has addressed concerns regarding accessibility issues with Self-Service Banner 9 and will be launching SSB 9 in the non-production environment this month so that business units can perform testing. The ES Team also continues to work with the Business Office and Admissions & Records departments to implement the Nelnet application, which will give students the ability to establish payment plans.
The Infrastructure Services (IS) Team has begun implementation of the Network Infrastructure Refresh project, which includes replacing seventy network switches and sixty wireless access points across both campuses.
Fire Academy 45 is approaching the finish line with 32 Cadets. Graduation will be Friday, May 3 beginning at 11:00 am, in the Theater. The public is invited to attend. The Cadets have recently completed the Structure Fire Module along with the required State Fire Training Certification testing. They are now in the last module of Wildland Firefighting and have already completed two weeks of the module.
You may have noticed in the last couple of weeks a heavy CalFire presence on campus. This is the time of year the Fire Service starts to ramp up for the summer firefighting season. Seasonal Fire Fighters are being rehired and are going through refresher training. The College of the Siskiyous continues to partner with CalFire Siskiyous Unit to provide some of this training.
Fire Technology provided the following classes in the last month for our Fire Fighter community, and we are proud to offer our first Hybrid class in online/in person format.
American Fidelity Open Enrollment
Open Enrollment for American Fidelity's supplemental benefits and Section 125 Plan runs from April 15-19 for full-time staff. If you are currently enrolled in American Fidelity’s pre-tax medical and dependent care program and wish to continue after June 30, you must schedule an appointment to reenroll for 2024-25. Refer to Beverly Muelrath' email sent out April 10 or schedule your in-person appointment.
Hiring Update
HR and our Hiring Committees are rocking the interviewing and hiring process!
Summer Hours
Coming soon! Our first week of 4/10's will be Memorial Day week when we will close on Friday, May 31. We will return to our usual 5/8's work week on Monday, August 4.
Save the Date - 2024 Staff Appreciation Day
This year's celebration is scheduled for Thursday, June 13. More information will follow – expect laughter, camaraderie, an incredible presenter, a great lunch, and more.
Hi Everyone.
It is crazy that more than half of the semester is done, and summer break is just around the corner. Academic Senate has been busy addressing campus-wide initiatives making their way through participatory governance, along with completing important tasks before the semester ends. At the April 8 Academic Senate meeting, we approved the updated Workforce Hiring Guide and the Local-Decision Making Handbook, as well as the Land Acknowledgement Statement. The Senate also approved an SLO Assessment Plan that outlines how SLOs at various levels (e.g., course, program, GE) will be assessed. Finally, we approved the criteria for including a course in our local GE pattern.
I wanted to recognize two faculty members who received tenure last month – Tyler Knudsen and Kirk Thomsen. Tyler Knudsen has been a part of the COS Football Program since 2013, having served as defensive coordinator, coaching special teams and the defensive backs. He became the Interim Head Football Coach in April 2020, and was hired for the permanent position in January 2021. Although I had heard good things about Tyler from students and knew he was Michelle's husband, I didn't get a chance to know him better until he began serving on the Academic Senate these last two years. Although Tyler was nominated for the 'At-Large' position without his knowledge, he still agreed to do it and I am so glad he did. Senate Exec is better with him on it. He has an ability to cut to the heart of the matter and offer common-sense solutions to fix problems. For example, when we were working with the bookstore to find a more efficient way to do textbook submissions, Tyler offered the idea of having a textbook spreadsheet with tabs for each discipline. When a faculty member clicked on their discipline tab, they were provided information about previous textbooks they have used for a particular course. This allows faculty members to easily indicate if they were continuing with a textbook or changing it. I am happy that he is considering staying on as an At-Large Representative because he is an asset to Senate Exec and to the college.
Another faculty member who is a benefit to the College is Kirk Thomsen. Kirk coordinates the EMS department and teaches Paramedic, EMT, EMR, and CPR. He was instrumental in adding the Mendocino satellite Paramedic program and developed COS’ first bachelor’s degree program in Paramedicine. Kirk came to COS in 2020 after retiring from the fire service as Fire Chief. Since he arrived, Kirk has been an incredibly involved faculty member. He currently sits on three important committees (IPB, Curriculum Committee, and Distance Learning) and last semester was elected as the Faculty Association (FA) President. He is the ideal faculty member for an Academic Senate President because he is always willing to help on a committee, be a mentor, or complete a task. He is level-headed, smart, and kind, which is the best combination. I am glad to have him as a colleague.
Thanks for listening.
Andrea Craddock, Ph.D.
Academic Senate President
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