A Chair's Parting Words

As I wrap up a two-year stint as your dept. chair, I would like to share a few random thoughts with you all.

First of all, I think I'm a better person for having served as a dept. chair. I've learned to look at a bigger picture than just my small area--be it the evening programs I supervise or my role as a classroom teacher--when making decisions that concern others. I've grown in my knowledge of the various dynamics and interactions between departments and offices at the college level and the division level. Within our department, I've gained insight into how different programs operate and how staff relate to one another. All this increased awareness will continue to help me in advocating for our students and for our staff.

Ultimately, our dept.--no, our calling--is about improving odds of succeeding. The existence of any ESL dept. along with its unique programs and operations is proof that someone cares enough to intervene intensively to prepare language-minority students linguistically, academically, and culturally on their upward-bound educational journey. It's not about providing employment for those who view winning the next contract as an end in itself.

For a long time, I've insisted that actions of our dept. be transparent, that our communications be open, participatory, and responsive, and that the way we organize ourselves be strengthened. I believe we have been well on our way to realizing this multi-faceted goal.

A dept. chair can't do it solo. So I'd like to thank all those who have helped with it during the last couple of years. A very special thank-you to our ADA, Monica Colon, for providing top-notch services, which are exactly what an ESL Dept. chair needs and wants. I would also like to thank all the classified staff and faculty for making the ESL Dept. the fantastic department that it is!

Ours is indeed a high-quality dept., one that has now matured to a point where, even if there is disagreement in a few rare policy issues, for example, folks still trust each other and interact as professional equals. Like many colleagues in the dept., in handling complaints and offering advice, I have been trying to abide by these three criteria: Is it true? Is it helpful? Is it kind?

Because of the current state budget troubles, bean counters have once again reared their confused heads. In their haste to equate our dept. with, say, the Dept. of Behavioral Sciences, some in the administration have blurred a very clear difference between the students who have special needs and want to come to us to take our ESL courses for help and others who do not have the special needs and are required to take Religious Studies 102 to meet a degree requirement, for example. Of course, with our high level of support emphasizing approaches that are more hands-on, more human-contact, and more welcoming, we will never win the race to the cheapest department on campus. But we can win the race to the most highly valued department!

Carol Lowther will become our new chair on Wednesday. She will bring fresh ideas and energy to the position. As a matter of fact, she has already made plans to visit many off-site classes, including in Ramona on her first day as chair, no less. As the dept. changes hands, Carol has also told me to keep administering this dept. blog, which I will turn into more of a resource/idea sharing forum.

I'll leave you with a quotation from the founder of Oreck, who famously said, "Things are never as bad as they seem to the pessimist and never as good as they seem to the optimist." I know I can speak for Carol and myself when I say that we are both realists and we are hopeful about our dept.'s future.

Once again, it has been my great pleasure to serve the dept. these past two years! Best of luck to Carol for a successful term as the ESL Dept. head!

(photo courtesy of Shayla)