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[Rock Music]
Good morning. My name is Caitlin Rouse. I'm proud to serve as the Vice President of
the Associated Students of Clark College, our student government.
It is my honor to welcome you to the 2013 State of the College Address.
This morning Steffany Whitmore will perform the National Anthem. A member of the Women's Choral
Ensemble and Concert Choir, Steffany has been singing at Clark College for three years.
She is working on her associate of arts degree in order to transfer and continue music education at a university.
She says music for her is emotion. "Without it I wouldn't be able to express myself."
Please join me in welcoming Steffany Whitmore, and please rise for our National Anthem. [Applause]
[Singing: Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,]
[What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?]
[Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,]
[O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?]
[And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,]
[Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.]
[O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave]
[O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?] [Applause] -Thank you.
Thank you, Steffany. Everyone, please be seated.
So now, please welcome Clark College President Bob Knight. [Applause]
Thank you for that introduction, Caitlin, and Stefanny, thank you for that wonderful rendition of our
National Anthem. At Clark College, we're all about the student, and we don't do anything without our students involved.
And we had two examples just now of student success - a beautiful song by one of our students, and
then one of our student leaders here who is stepping up to the plate.
And on behalf of her President who can't make it. He's got class, something going on, so couldn't make it. [Laughs]
Thank you, Caitlin for that.
And thank you to each and every one of you her today because you care about Clark College,
you care about our students, and you care about our community.
I'm sure there are other things you could be doing right now, but you've chosen to listen to me talk about
the wonderful things that many of the folks in this room are doing at Clark College. And the wonderful
things that are going on here, and so I just thank each and every one of you for being here and caring about our
college and our community. So I have to go through the list of folks who are here, some of the dignitaries.
I will apologize ahead of time. I will probably miss a few of you. But that's my fault, and I'll take blame for that ahead of time.
So I would first of all like to recognize our Board of Trustees, who are exemplary volunteers of their time
on behalf of our students, and so I'll mention all of their names.
And if you could hold your applause until I mention all of their names.
Our Chair Jada Rupley, Vice Chair Royce Pollard, Trustee Jack Burkman, Trustee Sherry Parker, and Trustee Royce Pollard. Thank you
for your- what you do. And Rekah! You know, our newest trustee. [Laughter]. Sorry, and I had note here to mention
you're the newest trustee. Rekah Strong, thank you for being here. Sorry. [Applause]
We've got representatives from Senator Marie Cantwell, Kimberly Panchera, and Senator Murray, Katie Whittier.
Thank you for being here. [Applause] And so I don't know if anybody from the City Council or the Mayor is here.
Larry Smith, thank you for being here, and Jack Burkman, one of our trustees, obviously, City Council.
And we have on behalf of the police department acting Commander Doug Lewis in the back of the room.
Thank you for being here. [Applause] I'd also like to thank our educational and business partners.
And I'll mention them, and then we'll do the applause at the end.
Dr. Twyla Barnes, VSD Super Intendent-Evergreen Schools John Dieter, Vancouver Regional Library Director Nancy Tessman,
Paul Montague from Identity Clark County. Our business partners SEH, Mr. Ito and Pat MCDonnell representing SEH.
Thank you for being here. Jeanne Bennett, and I think she brought her entire staff with her.
From Southwest Washington Development Center. Thank you for being here.
And we've got Vancouver Business Journal representative here John McDonagh, so let's give them a hand for being here.
Thank you very much. [Applause]
I'd also like to recognize our Foundation board members. The chair of our Foundation board Rick Takach,
and Ed Geiger from the Foundation board. Is there anyone else from the Foundation Board that's here?
Greg Wallace who is the incoming head of the Foundation board. Thank you for being here. [Applause]
I'd also like to thank all of the Alumni board, PAC board folks that support our Foundation and our college.
Thank you for being here, so let's give them a big hand. [Applause]
And as always Dan and Val Ogden, you're here each and every year, former representative of our state for many, many years.
Val, you're just diligent for showing up to my State of the College.
I know at least two people are going to show up each year for my State of the College, so
thank you for being here, Val. [Applause]
I think Edri Geiger is here representing the Vancouver School District. Are you here, Edri?
I had your name down here. Maybe she didn't make it.
And then I'd like to recognize a good community friend, Harvey Fink, who's a very successful business owner.
He's a patriot, and he loves Clark College. He's a big supporter of Clark College.
Very good friend of mine, and thank you for showing up, Harvey, for this. [Applause]
And I've got a note here that we have a representative from the City of Battleground, Robert Maul,
a Community Development Director, I think. Robert, you here? Thank you for showing. I appreciate it. [Applause]
And last but not least, I'd like to thank my wife Paula. I don't really recognize her very often.
But she doesn't want- as I go out the door, don't say anything.
[Laughter] But today I'm going to say something, so Paula, than you for always being there and supporting
me, and being the silent leader behind me. Thank you. [Applause]
This October 1, Clark College will celebrate its eightieth anniversary.
It's hard to believe because it just seems like yesterday that we were celebrating our seventy-fifth anniversary.
Turning eighty is an impressive achievement, especially in our times of rapid growth and quick change.
If you ask people who are eighty, and I know there's at least one or two of you out in the audience, [Laughter]
Harvey why are you laughing? [Laughter] If you ask people who are eighty, many will tell you
that they're vibrant, healthy, and they have a special vitality. I think that's true about Clark College.
It was also true for a special friend that we lost last year. Bob Moser was Clark's Director of Public Relations for thirty years.
He worked with our alumni association to build our chime tower. He led our fiftieth anniversary celebration.
After leaving Clark, he served as commissioner for Port of Vancouver for eighteen years.
But he also stayed active at the college. He would call or visit with news and story ideas about Clark people.
I considered him a friend. He came to so many of the events at Clark College including
our recent 2012 holiday reception in December. I last saw him at Clark College basketball game right before he passed.
Bob never lost his sense of excitement, and he always was smiling. He left a great legacy of service for our college,
and in our community. We will miss him. In honor of Bob and his love for basketball and popcorn, we will have
a Bob Moser Night on February 16 at our home basketball game against Tacoma.
And we're going to offer everybody who shows up free popcorn in honor of Bob. And I spoke to Mary Lou [Moser]
shortly after Bob's passing- his wife. And told her a story that the last I saw him was at the basketball game,
and it was halftime and he was leaving. I asked him if he was coming back, and he says,
"No, because you don't have any popcorn in the concession stand." And it was a pre-season game
and we hadn't gotten the concessions set up yet. So Mary Lou chuckled because she said, "he told me that story."
[Laughter] So I was thinking, we have to- So I called her and said we'd like to honor him if you're ok, and
have a night where we honor him and give everyone free popcorn, and she just laughed.
And she enjoyed it, so I'm glad we're going to do that. That'll be February 16th. It'll be halftime of the men's game.
Which starts at 5 pm, so roughly 6 pm is when we'll honor Bob Moser.
When you've been part of a region eighty years, most people know your name, they know of you,
but they may not know much about you. Or they may remember you as you were years ago.
They may not know you as you are today. Not long ago I was talking to a member of the business community.
He asked me what makes Clark College unique? I hesitated for a minute, and then I began to talk about our
stellar programs and our wonderful community support and our talented faculty and our community support through the foundation.
And afterwards as I reflected on my response, I realized I had to do a better job of quickly communicating
what makes Clark unique. It was a great question. In fact there are two important questions I want to talk
about this morning: who is Clark College today? and what makes us unique?
I think the best way to answer those questions is to hear from the people who know the college best.
Above everything else Clark College is all about the student. That statement may sound very simple,
and obvious, but I feel it is critically important to keep that statement at the forefront of everything we do here at Clark.
I believe that many organizations fail because they forget why they exist.
We're not going to do that here at Clark College. Each quarter we welcome up to 16,000 students.
Each year we serve 26,000 students in our region. Think about that.
We're not a small college that many people remember. We are big, and we're continuing to grow.
Last year in terms of for credit classes, we became the largest single campus community college,
for credit in the state of Washington. We are the comprehensive college in the state of Washington.
Forty percent of our students are taking transfer courses to get their transfer degree, to get to their four-year college or university.
Forty-two percent of our students are taking career or technical programs to get a certificate and
go right into the workforce. And then the other sixteen percent are a mix of adult basic education,
English as a second language students, mature learners, and others. Clark is home to the largest
Engineering department in the pacific northwest. Clark enrolls twice as many
engineering FTEs, which is Full-Time Equivalent students, than community or technical college in the state of Washington.
Serving more than a hundred equivalent full-time students by a number of exceptional and innovative faculty
that work there in the Engineering department. We are the college for Nursing, Dental Hygiene, Welding, Machining,
Automotive, Diesel, and many other programs. Just yesterday I was having lunch with some donors, and one of the
donors spoke out and said that, "my nephew graduated from your Automotive Toyota program, and because that
program was so good, they moved up right into the Lexus maintenance program in Toyota." And so she
was very proud of what Clark did for her nephew. Clark is expanding to meet the needs of our region
through our nationally respected medical programs and new programs including health informatics,
the use of information technology, and health and care management. And Megatronics, which blends technical and
mechanical systems used in manufacturing and technology. Today Clark College is working
smarter. We are using LEAN processes to take a fresh look at the services we offer.
In simple terms, LEAN process helps you work smarter. Our Corporate and Continuing Education department provides
LEAN training to businesses throughout our region. Now we are using it to improve our services to our students
and starting a couple of pilot projects in Student Affairs and in the Office of Instruction.
And now we're conducting more LEAN events in the future with Admin Services and Human Resources
doing a LEAN event in February. Clark is home to the largest Running Start program in the state. This year we welcomed
more than 1,800 Running Start students, up nine percent from last year.
It is the largest Running Start class in our history.
We are a leader in eLearning. Roughly twenty percent of our credit, non-Basic Education students
take at least one online class. Clark is the college of choice for more than ninety International students.
Students who could gone to college anywhere in the world, but they chose Clark.
Clark is also home to a brand new Diversity Center that we opened in September.
Clark is a Plus Fifty Mentor college in the national Plus Fifty program. We are a pioneer in mature learning.
We are the source for corporate training and continuing education in southwest Washington also
Clark is a vibrant presence throughout our community. We offer outstanding classes at our main campus,
Columbia Tech Center, and Washington State University Vancouver. Last fall, our Corporate and Continuing Education
department to the West Coast Building in Downtown Vancouver. This move allowed us to expand learning opportunities
for students in continuing education and mature learning. It also allows for us to provide more support for our business community.
We hope that our presence also supports regional aspirations for downtown Vancouver to continue to be a vibrant
place to live, visit, and do business. That move allowed us to make another exciting step. This quarter
after months of planning, we welcomed the students from our Basic Education and English As A Second Language
classes to our main campus. Those programs were offered at Town Plaza. They are now just across
the street, behind me, on the Fort Vancouver Way. Nearly 1,400 students took basic education classes at Clark College
last fall. After this address, I hope you'll join visiting our new home for Basic Education and welcoming our faculty and
our students. And we're hopeful that those students will not only come to the main campus, they'll cross the road and
and after they've completed their adult basic education and take college courses.
Today Clark College is a regional partner to the Columbia River Economic Development Council,
Southwest Washington Workforce Development Council, our local school districts, Washington State University of Vancouver,
the High Tech Council Clark County, and many more outstanding organizations, and we
to include some health organizations. But we value those partnerships,
and we need to have those partnerships in support of our students.
Clark is a regional leader. We are one of the largest employers in southwest Washington with over 1,100
employees, full- and part-time. We're home to scores of outstanding arts, humanities, multicultural,
and athletic events for the entire community.
Clark is connected through online student services, through our website, and on social media.
You can find us on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube. In fact, personal connections are part of what makes Clark College unique.
So like most institutions today Clark College is facing important challenges.
Our state funding is dramatically lower than what we had in our 75th anniversary.
Back then about 60% of our funding came from the state. Today it is down below 40%.
That has lead to budget cuts across the college. This year as we continue to deal with high enrollment, everyone
at the college has taken a 3% pay cut, while they continue to serve tens of thousands of students, and
do it with fewer dollars and resources. Their service to our students and our region has been remarkable.
Our people are a vitally important part of what makes Clark College unique.
At this time, I would like to ask all of my staff, faculty to please stand and be recognized for the hard
work that you do. So all of you that work here at Clark College, please stand up and let's give a round of applause.
Thank you. [Applause] Thank you for all you do.
That got your blood flowing. I saw someone starting to fall asleep, so I thought- [Laughter] That wasn't in the script.
But anyway. [Laughter] Budget cuts mean that our students are paying more for tuition.
More and more are seeking financial aid and student loans. By November of this year, Financial Aid office had served nearly
10,000 students and had awarded nearly $60 million in financial aid.
We know what this means. It means that our students rely more and more on student loans. Not just for their education,
but for their everyday expenses. This means more debt for our students.
It will not only impact them and their future. It will impact our region.
It will have long-term consequences, not only for our students, but for our regional economy.
One of our challenges is perception about community colleges, not necessarily in our region but
across the country. For years some people would say community colleges somehow provide a lesser education
than four-year institutions. Today people realize that that's not true.
Our classes are excellent and challenging. They're taught by outstanding faculty whose only job
is to teach. They're not doing research. They're not trying to publish a paper. And our faculty are still able to teach
in classes that are small enough to provide personal attention. Average class size at Clark College is 21.
I can't tell you how many alumni have told me that they got a better education while they were at Clark than they did
going to a four-year college or university. At many of those four-year colleges and universities, students were
being taught by TAs in much larger classes sizes. And I want to be clear that I'm not talking about
our great partner WSUV, nor am I trying to put down four-year colleges or universities. [Laughter]
I'm just bragging about Clark College. [More laughter]
I'm saying that Clark College is a great option with very high standards.
Because we serve the community, we offer more than a hundred programs. In coming decade, Clark College may join
other community and technical colleges in offering applied baccalaureate programs. We would only do
so in programs that are not being offered in our region currently, and we would do this in
coordination with our partner WSUV. There are many details we would have to consider, and we need to have a
college-wide discussion about it. But there is interest in developing baccalaureate of applied science degrees in areas
including Human Services, Business Management, and Dental Hygiene. These discussions support
the state goal of increasing the total number of baccalaureate degrees awarded in our state
to 42,400 by the year of 2019. We also face challenges when it comes to defining achieving student success.
It's been said that community colleges are experts at multitasking to serve students.
Some of our students come here to earn an Associate degree. Some want job training.
Some want to upgrade their skills. Some want personal enrichment. At a community college, graduation statistics
alone don't tell it all. Many of our students aren't sure about their career path. Some need basic skills before
they can enter college-level courses. Some transfer to a four-year university without an Associate degree.
If graduation is the only measure, none of these students would be counted as success.
But we know that they are. They succeed because they got the education that they were seeking.
So we want to ensure that our students complete their education no matter what their goals are.
Last year in the 2012 State of the College Address, I know all of you are remembering what I said,
I announced an exciting new program Penguin Promise. It is a partnership of Clark College, the Clark College Foundation,
and the Boys and Girls Club of Southwest Washington. It provides a pathway for some members of the
Boys and Girls Club to enter and complete their education at Clark College. They will receive scholarships for tuition,
fees and books, and a program mentor. When they graduate, they'll be eligible to compete for a transfer
scholarship to a four-year anniversary. Just think what it would mean if we could do this for every student
in our region that meets that criteria. And that is a long term vision that we have here.
I am proud to say that our partners in the Clark College Foundation have already received commitments
for over $500,000 in donations towards that exciting program. With their support- [Applause]
With their support, we have 18 students who are now in the Penguin Promise program. We can't wait to welcome them
here to Clark College in a few years. Our Foundation continues to do exceptional work.
Just this past year, we spent nearly a year in forming a strategic plan for our Foundation.
That strategic plan meshes with our strategic plan, and it's in line with us, and so,
that's the first time in our history that we've done that. And so I think it will bode well for the future of Clark College
and for our students. Also in the past year, our Foundation has obtained a $1.5 million commitment for our Dental Hygiene
program, as I mentioned over $500,000 in commitments toward our Penguin Promise scholarships,
and while doing that, they received a National CASE Award, which is- recognizes Foundations and their philanthropic
leadership. It's the second year in a row for our Foundation.
So again, thank you to our Foundation for what they're doing. [Applause]
So ironically, sort of like the College, because of the work that they do, they have a perception problem also.
Some people believe that we have more money, and enough money to meet our needs. That's absolutely not true.
Just a few years ago we created a wishlist, and this summer as we were going over building the Foundation's
Strategic Plan we sort of tallied up some of those. We had a list totaling over $100 million worth of needs
for Clark College. And we had kind of to cut the list off. That list could have gone on.
We do need additional support from our community because we're not going to settle to be
the just the average college in Washington state. What's made the difference at our college
is the help of, support from our community donors through our Foundation, and they've created that margin
margin of excellence. And so we're not going to rest on our laurels, and we're going to continue to seek
additional community support, so we can provide that equipment and those needs
in the classroom for our faculty and on behalf of our students.
Your support is vital to our success. Your support is what makes Clark College what it is today.
Without the support of our donors, we would not be able to provide that margin of excellence.
We're lucky to have, Rosalba. She's great.
An English writer Gilbert Chesterton said that "education is the soul of a society as it passes from one generation
into another. Last January at a meeting in Olympia State Representative Ross Hunter put it another way.
He told the community college trustees from across our state to dream big.
He said we needed an injection of imagination. How do we grow more Microsofts and Boeings?
How do we educate more and more people in a more effective way?
Those are more great questions. Two years ago in the 2011 State of the College Address, I talked about some of
our own aspirations for the future, not just who we are but who we want to be.
This is what I said: We want to ensure that our students get the support that they need in our classrooms and
through our advisors and counselors achieve their academic goals.
We want to be a healthy Penguin Nation. We want to be sustainable and green.
We want to be clean and litter-free. Our aspirations also include a new building devoted to science,
technology, engineering, and math. We call it STEM on the west side of Fort Vancouver Way.
They also include a brand new facility similar to Clark College at Columbia Technical Center in northern or
central Clark County. I'm excited to tell you that we're making progress on every one of those aspirations.
Next year during our 80th anniversary, we will take a giant next step into our future by
breaking ground on our new STEM building. That exciting, state of the art building is scheduled to open
in the 2015-2016 academic year. In the coming months, we hope to announce the location
for a new facility in northern central county. We believe that that's a worthy aspiration
by the end of this decade. When I first outlined those plans I called it our Vision 2020, for the clarity of our vision.
We hope that both facilities will be serving students by the end of this decade or the early 20s.
Last fall, we formally unveiled Vision 2020 as a college-wide initiative. Across the college faculty, staff,
students, and administrators are having important discussions about important questions.
In 2020 what will our college be like? what will each unit be like? What will our students need?
What will our community need? I will now ask for all units across the college to formalize those discussions,
and provide their key points to Planning and Effectiveness, so that we can capture their in-put into the Vision 2020
Vision 2020 and all our goals take teamwork, leadership, and yes, vision.
I look forward to sharing our Vision 2020 with you in my 2014 State of the College Address, and that's a tease for you
to be here next year, ok? So, I hope I've answered that question: who is Clark College today?
But the other question is just as important: what makes Clark College unique? First and foremost,
it's our people. Each year, at opening day for faculty and staff and during our State of the College Address,
I present Presidential Coins. I give them to people who provide exemplary service to Clark students,
and work for the college and the community. They don't know that they're receiving the coin until I call their names.
Today I'm proud to honor four members of our college community. Our first honoree is truly one of
the unsung heroes at Clark College. She touches students' lives daily through her teaching critical thinking skills and
and career exploration courses, and her counseling sessions with students.
Students consistently praise and appreciate her for helping them find direction in their education path. One of our
Student Success Speakers at a Board of Trustees Meeting recently identified her by name as playing a key role in
helping him determining his career path. He is currently a student at Harvard Extension, and he still thinks
her talent, skill, and personality was a determining factor in his success.
She is also a talented leader. She stepped up to the plate to serve as Human Development Department Chair and
Counseling Department Head when a vacancy arose two years ago, and she played a pivotal role
in transitioning the relocation of the Counseling Department. She was the point person
at the time at working with her team to develop the Counseling Department operational plan.
Earlier this year, she was selected as the winner of the 2012 Esther Matthews Award, given by the Oregon
Career Development Association, awarded to an individual who has demonstrated life-long leadership,
scholarship, and professional commitment to the career development field.
Overall, she is the kind of person who makes Clark College a special place for students, staff, and faculty
by her cheerful demeanor, strong work ethic, and consistent student focus. Carol Mackewich goes above and beyond.
[Applause] She goes above and beyond the call of duty on behalf of our students. Carol, would you please come forward?
[Applause] Carol? There you are. Ok. [More applause]
Our next honorees is one of the unsung heroes of the Financial Aid office at Clark College.
She works in the background as an IT Specialist to make sure we can have the computer systems
and information needed to do our jobs. She is available both within our office and throughout Student Affairs
and IT to answer questions and help with computer application problems.
Financial Aid forms are all online, so she's our go-to person for students with computer problems when they are trying
to complete a submit require documents, such as minor things like loan applications, entrance counseling,
master promissory notes, social security and student ID issues. She developed a process to
streamline reporting to the Department of Education. She has one of those positions that is so vital to
Financial Aid, but she is mostly unrecognized until something goes wrong.
Anna Perros would you please come forward. [Applause and cheers]
I had got word that Anna might leave early today because she wasn't feeling too well, so I'm glad you made it through, Anna.
After finishing his master's work at WSU at Pullman, he came to work at Clark as an adjunct professor
teaching a number of classes in CAD, Math, and Business Technology.
After teaching at Clark for two years, he took his CAD experience and went to work at Portland engineering firm
CH2M Hill, where he rose through the ranks to lead the CAD unit for the entire enterprise.
He left CH2M Hill and after a brief private stint as a consultant, went to work at Intel Corporation in
Hillsboro, Oregon as a Software Engineer. After 13 years at Intel, he returned to Clark to work as Data Space
Administrator and Software Developer, and brought to Clark his extensive technical expertise and management skills.
He has been instrumental in creating an application development team at Clark College.
Under his leadership, the Software Development staff has created a number of important databases and database
applications to automate processes at Clark College. He has collaborated with the Web Development team and
Communications and Marketing on web applications and to standardize database systems and
development methodologies. He's also made important contributions at the state level to develop methodologies
of standards of extracting data from our legacy administrative systems.
This foundational work has made all of the teams' subsequent work possible.
He has a knack for translating highly technical topics in a way the lay person can understand.
That's me. [Laughter] He's cheerful and eager to assist his customers in finding solutions to problems
and we're fortunate to have him as a member of the Penguin Nation. Would Andy Barsotti please come forward?
[Applause and cheers] Andy is the second member of his married team to earn a Presidential Award. We handed
his wife Tina one I think a couple of years ago.
Our last honoree has taught at Clark College since 1996 and earned her tenure in 2009.
A graduate of Clark College's Dental Hygiene program, she currently serves as the Director of that program. So she
was a student in it and now she's the Director of the program. As a college leader in assessment,
she served from 2010 to 2012 as Outcomes Assessment Coordinator for the Career and Technical programs,
and deserves a huge thank you for moving assessment forward at the college.
An avid runner, she has participated on Clark College's Hood to Coast team and can often be seen
running through campus. In addition to all of this Brenda Walstead is in the process of completing her PhD in
Educational Leadership. Brenda, would you please come forward? [Applause]
So, funny story is that I run in the same van as Brenda to Hood to Coast each year, and the running joke has been
they are all begging for a Presidential Coin, and I said it's never going to happen to any of you!
[Laughter] That's Tim Cook, Brenda Walstead, Veronica Brock. So I've kind of broken my promise on this one.
So this, that one was tough. [Laughter]
Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, "Nothing great is ever achieved without enthusiasm."
I think our enthusiasm is part of what makes Clark College unique. We are optimists, even in challenging times.
But when I thought more about that question what makes Clark College unique, I think it's also
because Clark is first in so many ways.
Clark is first because nearly eighty years ago Clark was the first college established in southwest Washington.
Then and now we are a beacon for the higher education for our citizens. Clark is first because Clark
is now the largest single campus community college in Washington state. Clark is first because Clark
is home to the largest Running Start program in the state. Clark is first because the first choice of more than half of
the students who graduate from high school in Clark County and on to college.
Clark is first because it is a regional leader in workforce development and training.
Clark is first because Clark is a regional and national leader in programs such as Nursing, Dental Hygiene,
Early Childhood Education, and stat-of-the-art Mechatronics.
Clark is first because if you want to make a real difference in supporting the future of our region, you should consider
a gift to Clark College through the Clark College Foundation first. [Laughter]
You passing the hat around? Do we have the hat going around? [Laughter]
Clark is first because to achieve all of the aspirations that we have for our students and our region
we must all work together - students, faculty, staff, administrators, partners, supporters, community leaders.
Together we can support our students' dreams and fulfill our vision for our college and our region by putting
Clark College first. Thank you very much. [Applause]
[Music]