President/CEO Message
August 19, 2021
Thank you for attending today's Professional Development Day activities. It felt good to be with you virtually on Zoom. I am motivated and ready to lead Compton College and the Compton Community College District during the 2021-2022 year and look forward to receiving your creative input on meeting the initiatives and activities that support student success. Thank you to Pilar Huffman, professional development manager, for coordinating today's event. My presentation from today is available online here.
The Compton CCD Board of Trustees held a retreat on July 24, 2021. They discussed the results of its annual self-evaluation which included progress toward its goals for January 1 - June 30, 2021, and drafted goals for the 2021-2022 year. At the August 17, 2021 Board Meeting, Board members approved their goals for 2021-2022 which are available online here. The Board of Trustees' goals align with Compton College 2024, the Compton College 2021-2022 Goals, and focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The President/CEO Message - August 19, 2021, includes COVID-19 information and other campus-related updates.
Compton College COVID-19 Update
Los Angeles County's Daily COVID-19 Data webpage reports 4,046 newly recorded confirmed cases in Los Angeles County as of 6:00 p.m. on August 18, 2021. The county now has a total of 1,359,672 reported cases (including cases reported by Long Beach and Pasadena health departments). For more information, go to publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus/data/. Compton College is operating at Level 4 - Severe Infection Rate according to the Compton CCD Pandemic Outbreak - Emergency Operations Plan.
Fall 2021 Enrollment Update
As of today, August 19, 2021, Compton College has generated 1,074 FTES for the Fall 2021 term. Our fill rate is currently 47%, and our seats filled is 7,084. Click here to view today's enrollment snapshot. Once again, please encourage interested students to enroll today as some sections are already full.
The fall semester begins this Saturday, August 21, 2021, with weekday classes beginning on Monday, August 23, 2021. A list of open classes is available here.
Fall 2021 Student Communications
All currently enrolled students received the following emails this week via their @compton.edu email.
Emails sent to currently enrolled students are available on the Student Information and Communications webpage. Students are encouraged to check their @compton.edu email regularly for important information and deadlines.
Fall 2021 Compton Tartars Athletics Departmtnet
The Tartars Athletics Department is in full swing with practices currently taking place on campus! The 2021 fall sports season will include football, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's cross country, and women's volleyball.
Compton College's student-athletes are looking forward to returning to intercollegiate competition for the first time since March 9, 2020, which was the last day Compton College participated in athletic seasons before the pandemic shutdown.
We are excited to welcome our new and returning student-athletes and support them in their academic and athletic journeys. To add to the excitement, this will be the first year Compton College competes in Women's Volleyball. The Athletics Department will also be pioneering a new effort in the Community College system by providing meals to student-athletes during away contests through a partnership with Uber Eats.
With the first home game quickly approaching, a decision was made to allow spectators at athletic events at 25 percent capacity within the stadium and gymnasium, with face coverings required at all times. Game tickets will be sold online only via credit card to eliminate cash transactions and assist with tracking attendance. Additional signage will be added to the facilities to inform the public of the campus policies for athletic events.
The schedule for all Tartar games may be viewed here. Please follow the Tartar Athletics Department on Instagram and Twitter to stay up to date on all things athletics!
Cafeteria Update
As mentioned in the President/CEO Message - May 27, 2021, President/CEO Message - June 21, 2021, and the President/CEO Message - July 8, 2021, we are trying to open the cafeteria, which will be operated by Everytable, as soon as possible for the fall semester. Unfotunatley, the completion of the cafeteria remodel has been delayed again due to the necessary restroom repairs. Once those repairs have been completed we will need the final inspection from the Los Angeles County Health Department before opening. As mentioned in the President/CEO Message - July 8, 2021, I will not publicize a date for opening until the facility is completed and food is available in the cafeteria. Until then, we will continue to have a food truck on campus for students and employees, and the Everytable vending machine located in Tartar Village.
I apologize for the delay in opening the cafeteria, and we will provide updates in future President/CEO Messages.
Compton Community College District Credit Rating Update
Compton CCD has experienced positive rating upgrades in the past, starting in 2009 reflecting the District's hard work in achieving accreditation and stable finances. At this time, the District is rated A1 by Moody's Investor Service with a "Positive Outlook". In March 2020 Standard and Poor's upgraded the District to AA - which is one level higher than Moody's current rating. The Compton CCD Credit rating history is available here.
Currently the District's "Positive Outlook" is being evaluated by Moody's Investor Service with the potential of an upgrade to Aa3. The District's strong management, financial operations, and reserve levels, tax base, and pension and post-employment benefits liabilities are key indicators in the analysis. We remain optimistic about the upgrade and will have a determination early in September 2021.
New Zoom Retention Policy
As mentioned in the President/CEO Message - June 17, 2021, Zoom is a free online conferencing service available to all Compton College employees through the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office agreement. By nature, Zoom cloud storage is intended for temporary, non-archival storage and provides access to recordings for the immediate or active academic term. Meeting hosts are expected to assess their recordings on a routine basis. If long-term storage is deemed necessary, they should download and transfer their cloud recordings to other college-approved long-term archival storage solutions such as their Microsoft OneDrive account.
To proactively manage both instructional and non-instructional Zoom cloud recordings, our Information Technology Services (ITS) Department has issued the following policy statement:
On Wednesday, September 1, 2021, Compton College will apply a six-month retention policy to all Zoom cloud recordings.
- All Zoom recordings will be retained for 180 days.
- After 180 days, recordings will be placed in the meeting host's Trash for an additional 15 days.
- Once the 15-day Trash countdown expires, the recordings will be permanently deleted.
This retention policy only applies to Zoom meeting cloud recordings hosted on https://compton-edu.zoom.us. The Compton College ITS Department will remind all employees one week before each retention policy is activated.
President/CEO Closing the Loop
Today, I announced Compton College would develop and schedule Summer Enrichment Activities on our campus beginning in summer 2022. We will allocate $100,000 for faculty and departments to submit proposals to offer a summer program. The process and deadlines will be announced by Friday, October 1, 2021, by Sheri Berger, vice president of Academic Affairs. In addition, we will develop a Request for Proposal for agencies to utilize our campus for summer enrichment programs for pre-collegiate students from the Compton CCD service area. If you have any creative input regarding summer enrichment activities at Compton College, please email me at kcurry@compton.edu.
As we begin the 2021-2022 year, I want to remind everyone of a statement I made a
couple of years ago, about the importance of Classified Staff participating in professional
development activities and campus committee meetings. With prior approval from their
manager/supervisor, I encourage all Classified Staff to participate in the professional
development activities offered through the Professional Development Department.
As mentioned in the President/CEO Message - August 31, 2020, President/CEO Message - November 30, 2020, President/CEO Message - December 17, 2020, and the President/CEO Message - February 1, 2021, I discussed the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office's Institutional
Effectiveness Partnership Initiative (IEPI). The Institutional Innovation and Effectiveness
Plan was approved in January 2021 and included a budget of $10,000 to provide the
Compton College community with opportunities to participate in nationwide and statewide
webinars and workshops regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). If you are
interested in attending a DEI-related seminar or webinar, please contact Tina Kuperman,
Director of Diversity, Compliance, and Title IX, at tkuperman@compton.edu for information on submitting a proposal to utilize these funds. I have asked Tina
Kuperman to work with the EEO Advisory Committee to provide me with their recommended
funding by October 1, 2021. Please note, these funds are only available during the
2021-2022 year.
Final Thoughts
As I reflect on the theme from today's Professional Development Day 1 'Affirming Diversity as a Culturally Responsive College," the 2021-2022 year will bring many challenges and successes for Compton College and the Compton CCD. However, there are no challenges that will keep us from reaching our Compton College 2024 goals or increasing our enrollment and retention of our students. I want to thank everyone for all you do to support our students' success and wish everyone an excellent beginning to the 2021-2022 year.
In closing, the fall semester begins this Saturday, and I hope you are as excited as I am to welcome our students back for this semester.
Please be safe,
Keith Curry, Ed.D.
(preferred pronouns: he/him/his)
President/CEO
Compton College
