Board Of Trustees Meeting – 1/19/2017
On Jan. 19, 2017 at 4 p.m., Green River College’s Board of Trustees met in the Administration Building Boardroom, all Trustees present.
The meeting began with the nomination of Jeremy Grisham, a veteran student, for the Transforming Lives award. Grisham was nominated by Tim Lovitt, the Dean of Student Success and Retention on campus. The Transforming Lives award is for current or former students whose lives have changed due to attending a technical or community college.
Lovitt nominated Grisham for his work in the Veterans Conservation Corps, a foundation that focuses on restoring Washington’s rivers, streams, lakes, and open lands with the help of veterans. Grisham attributed his work with this establishment to the sense of hope he felt upon arriving at Green River for his first quarter. Grisham’s hope later turned to positive change when he began working for the Conservation Corps. Ultimately, Grisham would like to use his knowledge from the Corps and become a mental illness counselor using ecotherapy. “I use restoration as a metaphor for both growth and healing trauma. It could be trauma from PTSD… or depression,” Grisham said as he addressed the board.
After, two new faculty members were introduced formally to the board. First was Teresa Buchmann, the new Director of Student Financial Aid, and Shaun Taggart, the Assistant Director of Campus Safety and Transportation.
Following, Green River Foundation presented a campaign to the board. Their campaign’s primary goal was to provide resources to assist students achieve educational success. Foundation members hope to level the playing field for students, remove any barriers in their way, and help build pathways to a living wage career. Foundation members also encouraged donations to be used for students that may suffer from any financial barriers from something as simple as food to heftier purchases such as textbooks.
In both 2015 and 2016, Green River sent one faculty member to the East – West Center in Hawaii. English professors Michael Moreno and Marcie Sims were sent in 2015 and 2016 respectively and presented the effects the program had on their curriculum. The purpose of sending these faculty members was an attempt to infuse Asian studies into Green River’s extensive class list.
Moreno and Sims each studied a different type of Asian culture. Moreno studied Chinese culture while Sims focused Southeast Asian culture. He then took his knowledge from this program and created his curriculum for English 251: Asian American Studies. Moreno has also proposed a Visiting Scholar Program which would bring scholars familiar with Asian literature and teaching it at Green River.
Sims, from her studies on Southeast Asia, was able to develop her Film as Literature class, using films that portray cultures from Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and many others.
In the summer of 2016, the Board requested a safety review. Derek Ronndfelt, director of Campus Safety and Transportation, called a team to review Green River’s safety risks. Most issues were found with the lightning and cameras that are scattered throughout the campus. A lot of foliage covered trees, making lighting difficult, which in turn affects how well a security tape is able to be seen. Ronndfelt proposed a series of both short and long term solutions for all of the issues.
The next Board of Trustees meeting will be held on Feb. 16, 2017.
