In this column, employees of Glendale College with different roles engage in dialogue about their departments/divisions, as well as thoughts about a more student-centered campus. Partners are given the same three questions to ask one another, and the option of additional questions and/or taking a selfie together. If you are interested in participating in this dialogue, please feel free to email Sandy Somo or Julie Gamberg (ssomo@glendale.edu; jgamberg@glendale.edu)
It's been about 16 years in the Health Sciences Division. I worked in our Nursing Resource Lab, and then went on to become a tenured full-time faculty member in the Nursing Department. I still serve as a faculty member and I have release time as Assistant Director. I enjoy teaching our students!.
It takes many resources to help this program succeed. For example, we lost clinical rotations due to the pandemic and our director had to find alternative training sites and come up with creative ways to help students meet their requirements. Each clinical training site has a long list of requirements that students and faculty must meet before they can rotate there and our classified support staff does a fantastic job helping us meet that goal. The program must adhere to the regulations under the California Board of Registered Nursing, under the Department of Consumer Affairs; this means we have regularly scheduled visits so we are approved to continue offering our nursing program. Now that we are seeking national accreditation, we are constantly working on top of everything we are trying to do to serve students. It's a very busy department.
Many of our nursing students have multiple family obligations and they have difficulty finding affordable childcare options. We have classes in the mornings and evenings, along with 12-hour shifts, and I am often asked if we have child care on campus. I would also suggest more mental health counseling as we have students entering a field that is still recovering from everything that has transpired in the last two years. I think we all could work on making more connections across divisions; it's always interesting to hear about each other's developments. It's difficult when everyone is so busy, I miss the days of the weekly lunches offered by the students training in the culinary program at Los Robles; I feel those lunches gave us time to connect for a good cause.
I enjoyed my time talking with Dr. Hacopian and she and I both felt we could talk all evening. Initially, I missed her phone calls because I was helping students; she was gracious, reminding me that "students are the priority!" We started diving into our love for teaching and helping students, especially our community college students who are managing multiple responsibilities. We reflected on the pre-pandemic days where she attended our nursing pinning completion ceremonies and she expressed her joy celebrating student success in our program. She has a love for medicine and education and her commitment to education is inspiring! We shared how much fun we had dancing at last year's commencement drive-thru event and we look forward to celebrating our students! We had an opportunity to share some of the challenges she navigates as a board member and I shared some of the issues we encounter in the nursing program. I gained some insight into her role and the many contributions she has made during her longstanding career. Her thoughts on a holistic approach with students resonated with me as that is how nursing approaches patient care, and I love connecting with and building rapport with my students. I am grateful for this opportunity and I look forward to connecting with Dr. Hacopian in the future.
I was first elected to the GCC Board of Trustees in 2001, and subsequently, was re-elected to serve five more terms, each term consisting of four years. I was just reaffirmed for a sixth term (without any opposition) in order that I may continue serving our students, employees, and internal/external constituencies. In addition, I have served as GCC Board of Trustees President for five years. I extend my appreciation to my colleagues on the Board who voted for me unanimously (on five different occasions) to become the Board President.
It has been a tough couple of years for everyone due to the pandemic. Having said that, I want the readers to know that our faculty and staff have been terrific in transitioning to remote teaching and working modalities. This sincere dedication did result in students doing extremely well under such difficult circumstances.
As a board member, I am fully aware that not every policy, nor every decision we make can fulfill everyone’s expectations and personal needs. In fact, sometimes, as board members, we are the recipients of opposing perspectives, which makes the path to navigate ahead more challenging. However, with Dr. Viar’s effective leadership, we’ve been able to improve our analytical skills in order to better navigate through rough roads.
I think a ‘student-centered campus’ can become the ‘great-equalizer,’ as we begin to recognize and better understand each student’s needs. We know that many of our community college students lack just the basic needs of survival. How can these students be successful or even think about class attendance when they do not have enough to eat?
I am a firm believer that a more integrated, ‘holistic approach,’ or a ‘360 viewpoint’ approach is the only comprehensive way to students’ success. Having spent more than 45 years in education in a variety of roles and levels (from pre-K to being an adjunct for graduate schools), I have seen over and over again that we must address students’ basic needs first, coupled with social/emotional and academic needs in order to ensure that learning is sustainable, continuous and successful.
As Board President, I am very interested in the data that supports this notion. In addition, I am extremely aware that the social media platforms can assist us further in assessing and making our campus a more friendly ‘student-centered’ environment. Through the advent of technology, we can do a better job in training every student as to where they can each receive assistance from as we learn as well from their personal needs assessment how to serve them better.
Indeed, it was great connecting with Michelle. We have seen each other during many GCC events, but never had the opportunity to connect on such a personal level. A very impressive individual who has dreams and goals, and knows how to achieve them. During our conversation it quickly became evident that she has the innate ability to do many things at the same time. Being an outstanding asset for our nursing program, mother of two young children, and being interested in continuing her education are just to name a few. She is contemplating getting her doctorate. I applaud her for wanting to reach this goal as well, and will be available to provide her with assistance, only if she needs it. This was an amazing experience. Kudos to Chaparral editors for having this vision and affording this opportunity to GCC family members to connect with each other.
With much appreciation,
Armine Hacopian
Glendale Community College | 1500 North Verdugo Road, Glendale, California 91208 | Tel: 818.240.1000
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