Grossmont College instructor gets international award for textbook

Dave Dillon shares book with student Hollyann Miller

Grossmont College Counselor and Professor Dave Dillon whose open-education textbook won a national textbook excellence award in Philadelphia in June has garnered global recognition.

The international, non-profit Open Education Consortium has selected “Blueprint for Success in College and Career” for an Open Education Award for Excellence. Its 17 winners represent 10 countries from North and South America, Latin America, the European Union and Asia.

The Open Education Consortium is a network of organizations that seek to eliminate barriers worldwide to high-quality education. Open Educational Resources, including Dillon’s award-winning book, are regarded as a way to reduce high textbook costs by acquiring educational material available online through the public domain or an open license and adapting the information for classroom use.

Top faculty lauded at Grossmont, Cuyamaca colleges

Irene Palacios received Grossmont College's faculty award.

From the cotton fields of Arizona to a boyhood spent in Uganda, the four Grossmont and Cuyamaca College instructors honored by their colleagues this fall traversed unpredictable paths leading them to the two East County colleges.

What the honorees have in common is their exemplary service and contributions to the colleges, where each was introduced at convocation as the year’s standout faculty. Grossmont College math instructor Irene Palacios was lauded with the full-time Distinguished Faculty Award, and Computer Science and Information Systems instructor Julie Hansen was selected as the adjunct winner of the same award. At Cuyamaca College, English as a Second Language instructor Manuel Mancillas-Gomez was the winner of the Outstanding Faculty Award for full-time faculty, and English instructor Robert Stafford was selected as the adjunct winner.

“I always look forward to the announcement of winning faculty,” said Chancellor Cindy L. Miles. “Without exception, they represent the best qualities of commitment and caring in their interaction with students. They take great pride in the progress students make and they find satisfaction in knowing that as educators, they make a difference.”

Grossmont College student Caitlin Radigan is overcoming the odds

Caitlin Radigan 

Caitlin Radigan has overcome the kind of challenges she wouldn’t wish on anybody. An adolescence lost to drug abuse. Eight-hundred and ninety-one days in Juvenile Hall. Sexual assault as a young child. Foster care and group homes.

But the 26-year-old single mother has persevered. She is on track to graduate from Grossmont College in the spring of 2020 with an associate degree for transfer in business administration and plans to enroll at San Diego State University next fall.She was awarded the Albert and June Van Zanten Foster Youth Scholarship for fall 2019 by the Foundation for Grossmont & Cuyamaca Colleges. 

Radigan credits Grossmont College’s bevy of support with helping her reach her goals.

“No matter what your situation, whether you’re a parent, low-income or don’t know what you want to do, you will be provided with a team of people who will get you to where you need to go,” Radigan said. “Grossmont College will make it happen.”

Public invited to accreditation open forums to be held at Grossmont, Cuyamaca colleges

The community is invited to attend open forums being held October 1 and 2 at Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges to learn more about the administration of the colleges, the programs and goals of the respective schools, and to provide feedback about the needs of the community.

At Grossmont College, the forums will be held from 10-11 a.m. on Tuesday, October 1 and from 1:30-2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 2. Both forums will be held in the 2^nd floor lobby of Building 34, the Health and Sciences Center.

At Cuyamaca College, the forums will be held from 5-6 p.m. on Tuesday, October 1 and on Wednesday, October 2 from 11 a.m. to noon. Both sessions will be held in I-207 on the second floor of the Student Center.

The forums are being held as part of site visits September 30 through October 3 by a team of peers who will make a recommendation to the Accrediting Commission of Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) on reaffirmation of the colleges’ accreditation. The commission is expected to determine the colleges’ reaccreditation at its January meeting.

“The Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District Governing Board and administrators, faculty, staff, students, and community supporters at Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges have worked hard to ensure that the colleges are maximizing opportunities for all of our students to be successful in achieving their academic and personal goals,” said District Chancellor Cindy L. Miles. “We are proud of the colleges and the work that is being done to continuously improve and meet the ACCJC standards of good practice.”

The purpose of accreditation is to assure students and the community that institutions of higher education maintain a high level of quality and support continuous improvement. In order to be accredited, Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges participate in a multi-tiered process designed to help the colleges assess and improve their overall effectiveness. As accredited institutions, Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges are able to administer federal financial aid programs and credits earned at the colleges can be transferred to other institutions of higher education.

Grossmont College’s institutional self-evaluation report and Cuyamaca College’s institutional self-evaluation report are available for review on the college websites.

Cuyamaca College ECHO Chamber Music Series features top musicians

The ECHO Chamber Music Series, now in its third year, is taking its 2019-2020 season at Cuyamaca College’s Samuel M. Ciccati Performing Arts Theatre to new heights with 14 concerts featuring performers such as Jason Vieaux, Bach Collegium, the Dalí Quartet, and members of the San Diego Symphony and other internationally acclaimed musicians who have performed across the globe.

The season kicks off Sept. 28,with members of the San Diego Symphony performing works from the Elbe to the Moldau. The concert will feature San Diego Symphony principal oboist Sarah Skuster; the Symphony’s English horn player Andrea Overturf; Symphony bassoonist Ryan Simmons; Symphony violinist Julia Pautz; Symphony’s principal bassist Jeremy Kurtz-Harris; Symphony violist Ethan Pernela; and UC San Diego lecturer and harpsichordist extraordinaire Takae Ohnishi.

The ECHO Chamber Music Series (ECHO is an acronym for East County Harmonics Organization) is underwritten by Sam Ersan, a vice chairman of the San Diego Symphony Board of Directors who has helped transform the chamber music landscape in San Diego County through his support of classical musical organizations, including the San Diego Symphony, the Pacific Symphony, The Colburn School, the Philharmonic Society and Mainly Mozart. Ersan also is the founder of the Camera Lucida piano quartet and the Myriad Trio, both of whom will perform this season.

 The Samuel M. Ciccati Theatre, named in honor of Samuel M. Ciccati, former president, philanthropist and generous supporter of Cuyamaca College, is the only music venue in East County appropriately designed for musical performances of this caliber. Each year, Cuyamaca College presents concerts in a variety of genres that are open to the public for a nominal ticket price as part of a commitment to serving the East County community.

“Rarely will you find a concert series of this magnitude and star power anywhere but a leading concert hall, let alone a community college,” said Cuyamaca College President Julianna Barnes. “We are honored to present among the finest lineups of chamber music in San Diego County and we are grateful to Mr. Ersan for his generous and continuing support.”