They often go unnoticed in the big scheme of things, but their work keeps us out of trouble. They reside off the beaten track in CC3. They always have smiles to share, we well as money. I find great solace that, under the leadership of Sharon Waymire, Yan, Svetlana, Venus, and Amy…their team of 5…keep our financial house in order. This week we had our “exit interview” with the State Auditor’s office upon completion of their 6 week review of our books. There were no findings….zero….none. We had the best possible score on this process, impressing the auditors. As well, we hired an additional team member (Maria) for the year to help sort out the Foundation’s books. We have also successfully completed this process and Mark Collins and Maria did an outstanding job of figuring us out. In summary…we run a good ship. Thank you to the 7 of you for making this so.
Noting the theme of appreciation I have for Cascadia when I wrote to you about Bastyr, and given the paragraph above, I would like to hear from YOU regarding what you appreciate about Cascadia. Would you mind responding to this post or sending me a private email? We sometimes focus large amounts of energy on the challenges; let’s take a moment to focus on the positives. I would really love to hear from your perspective about what YOU appreciate. I’ll compile those into a future list to share with everyone.
As we get close to summer, I have started to put my summer “to do” list together. I thought I’d share:
- There will be employee evals and end of the year reports to compile. Committee chairs can expect the email from me soon outlining report requirements.
- We will have work groups on the Academic Plan, the Cavolines, Tent City, and the Foundation….among others. (Those are just the ones in which I am involved. Thanks to you who offer to help on these summertime work groups.
- We continue to get ready to welcome our first cohort of Bachelor’s students. Our new instructors and support staff are churning away already at this.
- We are hosting the Fast Pitch quarter-finals. Attached to the cover email are the materials for helping students enter the competition to pitch a socially responsible start-up idea to a panel of judges. $125,000 in grant money will be awarded to successful pitches. Take a look and please encourage our students to participate. In fact, if YOU have a start-up idea, this may be something that interests you as well.
Finally, Terence, Mari and I will be in Japan next week as guests of the Trajal Tourism and Hospitality College. They visited us last fall as we began teaching their students in our English Language Program. We were invited to visit their campuses in Osaka and Tokyo next week. Meagan will be acting President during this time, but I will stay connected via email. I look forward to visiting our partner colleges and seeing Japan for the first time.
Have a great weekend!
Integrate It! 
I appreciate my college for giving me opportunities to do what I do best. As a former international student, I am guiding international students to the right direction. how cool is that! 🙂
I appreciate Cascadia’s commitment to sustainable practices and all the students, staff and faculty for being so welcoming to myself and Abigail (the new BASSP team members). I also appreciate Cascadia’s openness to new ideas – Food Forest and Tent City for example. This is a fantastic, energizing and inspiring place to be!
I am inspired by all the conscious conversations at Cascadia around intercultural competence, working well with and embracing difference inside and outside the classroom, addressing student’s needs and concerns about group work, and of course the commitment to social and ecological justice and wellbeing – aka sustainability. I am grateful to be a new faculty member at a college that is so committed to living its values. I also feel very welcome. Thank you.
What I appreciate:
– My work family and fellow Cascadians
– The Faculty
– The Support from area to area
– The involvement of building students and their futures
– The want to be here, the enjoyment of what I do.
– Always learning something new; whether it be about someone or learning more about our past, present and future
Thank You for everything