Virtual commencements for very real accomplishments at Cuyamaca, Grossmont colleges

The Grossmont and Cuyamaca College classes of 2020 will make their mark in history in virtual commencements as graduates in the era of COVID-19.

Almost 2,745 graduates from the two colleges will receive 5,754 degrees and certificates in virtual ceremonies held June 3 for Cuyamaca College and June 4 for Grossmont College.

Digital processions of electronic slides featuring the accomplishments of individual graduates will take the place of the traditional march of regalia-adorned students, faculty, staff and administrators. With the spread of COVID-19, the colleges opted for online commencements to protect the health and safety of the community.

Governing Board calls for additional community college funding

Facing devastating budget cuts because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Governing Board of the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District is calling on state and federal elected officials to advocate for additional funding for community colleges.

The board passed a resolution Tuesday night, “In support of federal advocacy to prioritize stable community college funding,” saying that additional funding is needed to deal with the impacts caused by the pandemic.

Bill McGreevy new VP of administrative services at Grossmont College

Bill McGreevy, an administrator with more than 25 years’ experience in higher education, has been appointed vice president of Administrative Services at Grossmont College.

“Mr. McGreevy’s background in educational leadership and administration, as well as specific experience in campus budget and construction management, make him an invaluable addition to the college,” said Grossmont College President Nabil Abu-Ghazaleh.

Grossmont College hosting drive-thru food, diaper distribution for military, veterans

A free drive-thru food and diaper distribution for any active duty military, veterans, Guard and reservists will be held noon Saturday, May 16, in parking lot 5B at Grossmont College.

The distribution is on a first-come, first-served basis and military or veteran IDs are required. The event is hosted by Grossmont College in partnership with Courage to Call, Feeding San Diego, Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) and Support the Enlisted Project (STEP). The first 600 households will be served.

CAPS: Last to leave, first to serve

CAPS helped set up the COVID-19 test site at Grossmont College.

While the rest of us have been working from the safe confines of home, Campus and Parking Services employees have remained at the colleges, the lone civilian sentries helping to keep the campuses secure.

From monitoring Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges to preventing unauthorized access to the closed campuses, along with helping with the initial distribution of laptop computers, Campus and Parking Services staff have shown they do much more than their most visible duty of writing parking tickets.

“Campus and Parking Services employees are here for every closure, whether it be holidays, winter break, 4/10 summer schedules, weekends, campus or countywide power outages, and now COVID-19, so it’s not unusual for us to be the lone presence,” said CAPS Director Nicole Conklin.

Fall semester classes mostly online or remote at Grossmont, Cuyamaca colleges

Citing health and safety concerns arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, almost all classes for the fall semester at Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges will be offered online or remotely.

For fall, only classes that are most difficult to convert to online will be held on the campuses, including health and science labs, and certain career technical education courses.

The colleges have been solely offering online and remote classes since March, adhering to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s stay-at-home order. All classes for the colleges’ summer session beginning June 22 will also be held online.

With the possibility of a second wave of coronavirus cases that could lead to another stay-at-home order, Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District leaders decided to minimize the number of students congregating at the campuses this fall, Chancellor Lynn Neault said. 

“We are doing our best to anticipate and plan in a climate of ambiguity since we know our students and community are counting on us for the future,” Neault said.

College and district leaders are working on plans to gradually open the campuses for employees and a limited number of students to adhere to physical distancing and facility sanitation recommendations issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Classrooms, laboratories and offices at both campuses are being assessed to determine how they must be modified to best protect the health of students and employees.

Culinary Arts instructor relishes sharing recipes

Sheltering at home during the COVID-19 pandemic has sparked an enthusiasm for cooking and baking unlike anything that Grossmont College Culinary Arts instructor Helen Coyne has ever seen.

Perhaps it is the simple act of cooking for loved ones during a time of anxiety and peril that is so appealing. Either as an expression of love or merely a way to occupy time, whipping up a home-cooked meal or baking a loaf of sourdough bread have never seemed so enticing.

During a recent meeting with division faculty, Javier Ayala, dean of Career and Technical Education, called upon Coyne to share some cooking tips and recipes. The instructor of the college’s home cooking essentials class happily obliged.

Sean Burger: his heart is in his new job

Sean Burger

Grossmont College student Sean Burger was well on his way toward getting his dream job as an echo technician, performing diagnostic heart testing for cardiac patients. The COVID-19 crisis sped up his career path a bit.

Burger, a student in Grossmont College’s cardiovascular technology program, had done his six-week clinical studies last summer at Sharp Memorial Hospital in Kearny Mesa, and had planned to resume his clinical work at the hospital this spring. Then COVID-19 struck, and hospitals no longer allowed students to do their clinical work.

Burger couldn’t do his clinicals, but he so impressed his bosses at Sharp Memorial Hospital that they decided to hire him instead.

“I couldn’t be there as a student, but I could be there as an employee,” he said. Burger started his new job April 27, even as he continues with his coursework leading to graduation in June.