President/CEO Message
January 21, 2021
Campus Community,
As mentioned in the President/CEO Message - January 11, 2021, with the growing number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in California and Los Angeles County, I cannot stress enough how important it is for you to protect your health and the health of others, Compton College students and employees should continue to take precautions against COVID-19, such as wearing face masks, practicing physical distancing, washing your hands, not touching your face, and avoiding contact with those who are sick. Stay home if you feel sick, even if your symptoms are mild. It's better for you, and it keeps others from getting sick, too. Do not come to work, school, or public areas, and do not use public transportation. If you have symptoms of a fever, loss of smell or taste, cough, trouble breathing, or other symptoms of COVID-19, you should stay home and seek medical care. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers additional guidance about what to do if you're sick and how to protect others in your home and community.
The President/CEO Message - January 21, 2021, includes COVID-19 information and other campus-related updates.
Compton College COVID-19 Update
Los Angeles County's current risk level is Tier 1 (widespread), according to California's "Blueprint for a Safer Economy." On January 20, 2021, there were 6,492 newly recorded confirmed cases in Los Angeles County. The county now has a total of 1,038,092 reported cases (including cases reported by Long Beach and Pasadena Health Departments). For more information, go to publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus/data/index. According to the Compton CCD Pandemic Outbreak - Emergency Operations Plan, Compton College continues to operate at Level Four - Severe Infection Rate.
Essential Employees Work Schedule
The current Essential Employees Work Schedule is posted online here.
Reporting a Positive COVID-19 Case
All individuals must notify the Compton College Pandemic Coordinators via email (rbox@compton.edu, rjames@compton.edu, lowens@compton.edu, hparnock@compton.edu, and rsasser@compton.edu) if they are confirmed positive for COVID-19. Provide the following information via your @compton.edu email: your full name; Compton College student ID, if applicable; date of the test, and when and where you were last on campus. The Vice President of Human Resources, Rachelle Sasser, will contact you for additional follow-up information as needed for reporting to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
Spring 2021 Enrollment Update
As of today, January 21, 2021, Compton College has generated 881 FTES for the Spring 2021 semester; the fill rate is currently 35%, and our seats filled is 5,821. The Spring 2021 Enrollment Report is available here. Spring classes begin Tuesday, February 16, 2021.
Winter 2021 Student Resources Available
It's not too late to apply for free resources for the winter term. Laptops, Wi-Fi hotspots, food, housing referrals, and financial assistance are available to currently enrolled students via the Student Resources Form, available here. CARES Act emergency grants are available to those students who have experienced financial hardship and expenses related to the COVID-19 pandemic. For more information and to apply for a grant, visit the CARES Act Grant Program webpage www.compton.edu/studentservices/financialaid/ComptonCollegeCARESActProgram.
Faculty and staff are asked to remind all students to take advantage of these free resources. Questions? Email the Tartar Support Network at tartarsupport@compton.edu.
Achieving the Dream Institutional Capacity Assessment Tool
The deadline to complete the Institutional Capacity Assessment Tool has been extended until Thursday, February 4, 2021. The Institutional Capacity Assessment Tool will take approximately 30 minutes to complete. The results will help guide the college in our work with Achieving the Dream over the next three years. I emailed the link to the survey to all Compton College employees on January 13, 2021.
If you have already completed the Institutional Capacity Assessment Tool, you do not need to complete it again. For the Compton College faculty, Classified staff, and managers/supervisors, who complete the Institutional Capacity Assessment Tool, you may enter your name in an opportunity drawing, where four employees could win $200 each. The end of the survey should direct you to the drawing entry.
Welcome New Compton College Employees
This month, Compton Community College District welcomed three new full-time faculty members, an associate dean of nursing, and a new vice president of administrative services.
Please take a moment to welcome our new colleagues!
- Dr. Abdul Nasser, Vice President of Administrative Services
- Dr. Carol DeLilly, Associate Dean of Nursing
- Jared Gordon, Film/Video, Social Media Instructor
- Nathan Lopez, History Instructor
- Dr. Schetema Nealy, Chemistry Instructor
Thee monthly new employee welcome email, including bios, will be sent to the campus community sometime next week introducing our new employees.
Final Thoughts
Over the next couple of months, we need to work together and promote the various free student resources available to Compton College students. I am particularly concerned with the number of students who are not applying for the Shallow Subsidy Housing Assistance Program, a partnership with the Coalition for Responsible Community Development (CRCD). I talked about the Shallow Subsidy Housing Assistance Program in the President/CEO Message - August 20, 2020, President/CEO Message - August 27, 2020, and the President/CEO Message - September 28, 2020. The goal of the Shallow Subsidy Housing Assistance Program is to prevent homelessness among students experiencing housing instability. This afternoon, I approved the Shallow Subsidy Housing Assistance Program's extension through Wednesday, June 30, 2022. The CRCD will provide up to $300 per month of housing grants (which is an increase from $250 per month), housing stability planning, and linkage to other services. The goal is to provide housing grants for up to 62 students during the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 year. To be eligible, students must complete the Compton College Resource Form, which is available here. Compton College students who are enrolled in at least one unit and experiencing housing instability are eligible for housing grants. Applications will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information on this program, please contact Oluwatosin Williams, Coordinator of Student Services, at owilliams@compton.edu.
The Career Ladders Project released the Equity at Compton College, A Student-Centered Resign Case Study, and Tool - December 2020. A copy of this report is available here. Thank you to everyone at Compton College for your involvement in Guided Pathways. The quote from Citlali Gonzales, Guided Pathways Counselor, CalWORKS, Guided Pathways Tri-chair, symbolizes our work "Opportunities like this are great for building relationships, building our capacity, and building emerging leaders."
On January 19, 2021, I had the opportunity to present at the Scaling Emergency Aid During the Pandemic: Community Colleges Reflect on Lessons from CARES webinar, which generated widespread interest and attracted more than 400 registrants! If you are interested in viewing the presentation, please click here.
Using my Cranium Cafe card, District employees, students, and the community can virtually connect with me. My Cranium Cafe card is available here. Tomorrow, January 22, 2021, I will be online throughout the day, and the 24th person to reach out to me through Cranium Cafe will receive a special prize.
Please be safe, and once again, stay home if you feel sick, even if your symptoms are mild. Tomorrow is Friday!
Keith Curry, Ed.D.
(preferred pronouns: he/him/his)
President/CEO
Compton College
