Welcoming New Trustees to Dragon Country!

Today was a fantastic retreat with our current and new members of the Board of Trustees.

Yesterday, we introduced Trustees Alicia Altamirano, Michele Douglas, H. Russell Frisby, Jr. and Stacey Ullrich to the public following their appointment by Maryland Gov. Wes Moore. They arrived in Dragon Country this morning for warm introductions from other board members and our senior leadership team. They were inquisitive and excited about learning more about the college and asked several helpful questions about board governance and the Carver Policy Governance model.

According to the Carver website, Policy Governance is an integrated set of concepts and principles describing the job of any governing board. It outlines how boards can be successful in their servant-leadership role and in their all-important relationship with management. The model covers all legitimate intentions of corporate governance codes but in a far more comprehensive, theory-based manner.

The training was facilitated by Dr. Cindy Miles, former president of the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District and consultant for the Association of Community College Trustees organization. Today was the first in a series of gatherings for the new members' year-long onboarding process.

We enjoyed an outstanding lunch in the Dragon Fire restaurant, which is serving a delicious selection of Indian cuisine this semester. I am so proud of our student culinary and pastry chefs and hospitality students for their high-caliber service and the impression they gave our new campus leaders.

Executive Vice President and Provost Shantay Grays led our board members on a tour of the Academic Commons, where they learned more about our food pantry and wellness center, our e-sports program, and met Student Government Association President Mudiwa Mawema.

HCC will be well-served by our new trustees, and we can't wait to start the critical work in the months and years ahead!