Monthly internal publication for Clark College staff

1. Vol. 2, No. 1 Jan. 2006
The President’s Perspective
Contents
T here’s a special excitement that comes with the start of a new year.
At Clark College, this new year marks the start of a new quarter and the
The President’s Perspective energy that comes from the return of students, faculty and staff. The month
Page 1 of January is named for Janus, the Roman god who presided over openings,
beginnings and doorways. In fact, Janus was often depicted with two faces
Facilities Master Plan Plots Course to House because he could look backward and forward at the same time. Looking back
Growth of Clark College over the past year, we will celebrate our successes. Looking forward, it is also
Page 2-3
a time to think about the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.
The 2006 Legislative Outlook
Page 4 During my 2005 State of the College speech, I focused on the many ways in
which Clark College is rethinking, reinvnenting and reengineering the way we
Clark College Exceptional Faculty do business to better serve our students and our community. That work --
Pages 5-6 that journey -- continues this year. In my 2006 State of the College address
on January 19, I’ll focus on the critical importance of staying the course that
Clark College Exceptional Staff we have set as we all work together to support our strategic plan, implement
Page 7 our new branding and identity plan, and bring our vision to life.
“Clark College, a respected leader in Southwest Washington, will be nation-
ally recognized for student success and excellence in teaching, empowering
learners to enrich the social, cultural and economic vitality of our region and
the global community.”
Editorial Staff The days just before and after New Year’s are a time for renewed energy and
optimism about the year to come. It’s like opening a book filled with blank
Editor: Barbara Kerr pages waiting to be written or starting down a path in which every step is
Reporters: Nell Gladson & truly “The Next Step.”
Debra Meadow
Graphic Design: Linda Bowman Happy New Year!
Photography: Ian Beckett
Dr. R. Wayne Branch

2. Facilities Master Plan Plots Course to House
Growth of Clark College
C lark College is growing to meet the
needs of the community. To track
that growth, the College has created and is
implementing a Facilities Master Plan. “A
critical part of enrollment growth is keeping
pace by adding, remodeling and renovat-
ing buildings to house new and expanding
programs,” said Bob Knight, Vice President
of Administrative Services. In 2001, the
College formulated a 20-year master plan to
support the strategic goals of the institu-
tion. The current and upcoming projects
from that general plan are keeping Knight
and his colleagues busy with the ongoing
quest for funding, as well as the supervision
of construction.
On Clark’s main campus, the Gaiser Hall
renovation is next on the building agenda.
Starting next summer, the entire Student
Affairs area of Gaiser Hall will be remod-
Above and below: With an expected completion date of late 2007, the entire Student eled to allow for better access and service
Affairs area of Gaiser Hall will be remodeled to allow for better access and service for
for students and visitors. The changes, with
students and visitors.
an expected completion date of late 2007,
will reorient the entrance to Gaiser Hall
to the south. In addition, a new Welcome
Center has been proposed for the lower
level of the Penguin Student Union Build-
ing.
While the Gaiser renovation is underway,
Student Affairs will be relocated to the
County Social Services Building, which is
sometimes called the “T Building.” It is lo-
cated in the so-called “triangle area,” across
Fort Vancouver Way from the main campus.
In that area, three significant projects are
slated to begin soon. The renovation of
the “T Building” will temporarily house Stu-
dent Affairs and Workforce Development
while their permanent facilities are being
built or remodeled. The “T Building” will
also permanently contain the new medical
radiography program.
The Clark Journal 2

3. Facilities Master Plan
The star-shaped building, which currently
houses Clark County Health Services, will
be demolished and replaced with a building
housing Clark College’s Health and Human
Services programs, including dental hygiene,
digital radiology, pharmacy and phlebotomy.
A requested $29 million in growth project
funds will support a new structure in the
triangle area to house a health and advanced
technology facility for biotechnology,
nanotechnology, prosthetics, math, science
and engineering. If the funds are approved,
the new structure would be built during the
2012-2013 biennium.
The College has also put forward a Foster
Hall replacement project. If the proposed
project is approved by legislators and the
State Board for Community and Technical
Colleges, the offices in Foster Hall would be Above: The star-shaped building will be demolished and replaced with a building housing
replaced with a new facility. The replace- Clark College’s Health and Human Services programs.
ment project, which would house the music
and theatre departments, would include a
700-seat auditorium, three classrooms and
12 faculty offices. Also in that complex,
the Child and Family Services facility, now
on the main campus, will be replaced with a
new building in four to five years. The old
Foster Hall would be razed by 2012.
In addition to these centrally located proj-
ects, the Clark Center East, located in the
Columbia Tech Center at 192nd Street and
Mill Plain Boulevard, will be completed by
the end of 2009. The Clark Center East
will house general education classes and
corporate training. The Clark Center at
Washington State University Vancouver
opens this month to nursing, science and
engineering, and general transfer students.
“There will be a lot of facilities growth in
the future to keep pace with enrollment
growth,” said Knight. “We rely on input
from throughout campus to program these
facilities in order to best meet the needs of Above: The renovation of the “T Building” will temporarily house Student Affairs and Work-
a growing and increasingly diverse popula- force Development and will permanently contain the new medical radiography program.
tion.”
January 2006

4. The 2006 Legislative Outlook
A lthough the 2006 Washington State
legislative session is a short one
– only 60 days – it is an important one
quests the establishment of a predictable,
permanent formula for funding faculty
salaries.
that was not funded during the 2005-07
biennial budget process. A stable and pre-
dictable funding source for MO projects
for Clark College. The College’s legisla- has also been requested.
tive agenda for this session, which begins Impact on Clark College
January 9, includes support for fund- Impact on Clark College
ing of faculty salaries, maintenance and Clark College supports the SBCTC
operations of new buildings, and accom- request for continued support for fac- The College supports the SBCTC re-
modations for disabled students. ulty compensation, both increments for quest that includes $42,000 for MO for
full-time faculty as well as increases for Hanna Hall that was never funded. In the
After approval by the College Board of part-time faculty. These salary items were future, a stable funding source for MO
Trustees, Candy Bennett, Executive Dean not funded beyond the first year of the would ensure that our new state-approved
of Planning and Advancement, partners biennium and are critical in maintain- buildings, including the remodel of Stout
each year with Clark College President ing a high quality faculty. Clark College and Gaiser Halls and construction of
R. Wayne Branch to communicate the supports the SBCTC request to establish Clark Center East, are adequately main-
College’s agenda to the local legislative tained over time.
delegation. The delegation includes
12 senators and legislators from Clark Provide Additional Funding for
College’s service district, which covers Students of Disability
Clark and Skamania Counties and the
western third of Klickitat County. The State Board for Community and
“We work closely with the lawmakers Technical Colleges’ (SBCTC) supple-
to gain their assistance and support mental budget requests an additional
for issues that affect Clark College,” $1,500,000 to fund accommodations
said Bennett. for students of disability. Costs for
these mandated services for students,
This year’s Clark College legislative including interpreters and real-time
agenda reflects similar issues identified captioning, have more than doubled
in the legislative agenda of the State in the past five years, outstripping
Board for Community and Technical growth in state and tuition funds.
Colleges:
Impact on Clark College
Provide Continued Support for
Compensation for Faculty The location of both the Washington
State Schools for the Blind and the
The 2005-07 enacted budgets pro- Deaf in Vancouver brings a propor-
vided funding to award faculty salary tionately higher number of students
increments for professional develop- to Clark College whose disability
ment and experience for only 2006. requires extensive accommodations.
However, since faculty earns increments a predictable, permanent formula for Although the state provides some funding
annually, the SBCTC requests $2.4 mil- funding faculty salaries so the College can to offset the additional cost to the College
lion to provide increments in the second retain high quality faculty. of providing accommodations for these
year of the biennium. The 2005-07 en- students, the expenditure out of local
acted budgets provided funding to more Provide Maintenance and Operations funds has averaged close to $400,000 per
closely align part-time faculty salaries with Funds to Sustain New State-Approved year over the last three years. The Col-
full-time faculty salaries for only 2006. Buildings lege requests that the legislature provide
SBCTC requests $6.7 million in funding full funding for accommodations to help
to continue the effort to close the gap SBCTC requests $7.006 million for main- our students of disability access the tools
between part-time and full-time faculty tenance and operations funding (MO) needed to pursue a college education.
salaries in 2007. In addition, SBCTC re-
The Clark Journal

5. Simply Exceptional
I n 2005, Clark College honored three outstanding educators
and two staff members with the College’s Exceptional Faculty
and Exceptional Classified Staff Awards. While these outstand-
ing professionals work in different department, they share com-
mon traits. They are admired by their peers, and they are commit-
ted to student success.
Clark College Exceptional Faculty
“Y ou can’t visit a medical facility in Clark County without
running into an employee trained by John Clausen,” said
a colleague. Clausen is Clark College’s Director of Medical Office
Programs. “I love my subject,” said Clausen, who enjoys help-
ing students with their career goals by instructing them in medical
assisting, billing, coding and transcription. He is a leader both in
and out of the classroom. During his 18 years at Clark College he
has not only taught legions of students, but developed an accred-
ited Medical Assistant Program and a Medical Billing and Coding
Certificate.
“John Clausen is the nicest man I know,” said another peer. “John
has the ability to make every student feel as though they are the
most important student at Clark College. He challenges each and
every student to reach their potential and nurtures in them a hun-
ger to learn. He has a broad knowledge of his discipline.”
“I like the atmosphere with students, the give and take,” said Clau-
sen. He often runs into former students when he goes to medical
facilities. “It was a great honor to receive this recognition,” he said, “a feeling of being really appreciated. The fact that the students
nominated me is moving, but embarrassing, because there are so many outstanding instructors here.”
January 2006

6. A mazing. That’s how colleagues and students describe
Physics Department Chair Richard Shamrell. “You
will not meet anyone more excited about physics than Dick
Shamrell,” said one student, adding that Shamrell “brings
physics concepts to life in the classroom by turning such
simple, everyday actions as walking up and down the stairs
into a physics problem.”
Students and faculty rave about Professor Shamrell, and the
feeling is mutual. He compliments the community of fac-
ulty and staff who welcomed him when he arrived at Clark
College seven years ago. “They are open, giving, engaging,
and have the same goals of making it happen for students,”
said Shamrell.
Of his students Professor Shamrell said, “When I see the
look of understanding on their faces in the classroom or
lab, when I hear their cry of delight as they see the planet
Saturn for the first time, when they ask me questions which
push me to become a better instructor – that is the reason I
am here.”
F or Dr. Jean Watson, who has been teaching for 32 years, receiv-
ing the Exceptional Faculty Award was “a capstone to my
career.”
Dr. Watson is a Health Occupations Instructor and teaches classes
as diverse as Math for Medication Administration and Basic Con-
cepts of Anatomy and Physiology. Colleagues will tell you that
she is an enthusiastic, open-minded, and extremely knowledgeable
instructor who builds student confidence through her steadfast
patience with students’ curious questioning. One student said, “I
believe Jean Watson demonstrates all the qualities you look for in an
instructor. She challenges you to think, keeps the mood upbeat and
presents the class in an organized manner.”
Since 2001, Dr. Watson has been training Clark College students
entering the allied health fields to become highly skilled profes-
sionals and critical thinkers. “I love that the students are so serious
about what they’re doing, so determined,” she said. In return, her
students are, as one student put it, “grateful for her energy and her
passion for ensuring that they truly learn, rather than simply memo-
rize, the course material.”
“I really appreciate the tremendous support of fellow faculty and
the administration in helping me with what I do, which is helping people,” said Dr. Watson. Though she admits that she has con-
templated retirement, she has put that on hold. “The students are constantly pushing me to be a good teacher and wanting all I can
give them,” she said.
The Clark Journal

7. Exceptional Classified Staff
B arbara Davenport can’t imagine doing anything but work-
ing with people, and that’s exactly what she does in her role
as Credentials Evaluator for Health Occupations Programs. In
helping students ascertain what they need in order to be eligible for
nursing and dental hygiene degrees, or pharmacy tech, EMT, and
phlebotomy certificates, her first thought is to make students feel
comfortable. She then guides them through the complicated steps
of being successful in the Health Occupation fields.
Davenport was a student at Clark College, became a peer advisor
and worked her way up to her present position. “I enjoy the job I
do. The opportunity to assist students in making positive steps to-
ward their future is really rewarding,” she said. In addition to mov-
ing students closer to their goals, one instructor noted that Barbara
Davenport’s “smile is indicative of her inner spirit. She’s unfailingly
positive and supportive to students.”
Davenport is regularly involved in campus activities and her work
ethic and sensitivity serve as a role model for other staff members.
“I was truly stunned” at being recognized for excellent service to
Clark College, she said. “I was honored that people thought I did
such a good job for them. I try to do the best I can.”
A n Instructional Technician II in the Business Administration
Division, Jeanette Steinmueller spends countless hours tutoring
accounting students, often juggling up to 25 at once in the Tutoring
Center. With a certificate in accounting, credentials as a CPA, and
tax accounting experience in a large insurance company, Steinmueller
displays a thorough understanding of her subject matter, as well as the
patience and willingness to provide exceptional service to the students
of Clark College.
Without being asked, she prepares handouts to shed light on what one
student termed “the thornier issues.” “If it weren’t for her, I don’t
think I would have made it,” another student said.
Steinmueller has been at Clark College almost eight years and in that
time has developed exceptional technical and computer skills, as well
as an organized and systematic approach to tutoring. Her supervisor,
Stephen Walsh, said, “Her diligence and people skills have contributed
greatly to the completion rate in our accounting and business math
classes. The students come to class raving about her.”
“I am excited, honored and overwhelmed to have received this award,”
Steinmueller said. “I feel privileged.” She added, “I love interacting
with students on a daily basis. I go home feeling like I’ve made a posi-
tive difference in people’s lives.”
January 2006