Citrus College had the first on-campus convocation of its staff since 2019 On Aug. 26.
Superintendent/President Greg Schulz gave the yearly welcoming speech in person for the first time since he got the position a year ago.
The energy within the Haugh Performing Arts Center was buzzing with enthusiasm from staff who were ready for the start of the new year.
Schulz spoke of the changes Citrus College will embrace starting this year. He celebrated the staff for their accomplishments and expressed his pride in the community. He also spoke of his personal favorite experiences in his first year as superintendent/president.
The changes he spoke of included completing the renovation of the ED Building. He added positions to the superintendent/president’s cabinet and the progress supporting the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion projects.
Schulz said thanks to Measure Y and Measure G, the first infrastructure enhancement Citrus will see this year is the completion of the ED Building. With steady progression, the steel supports have been completed, new HVAC mechanical units have been installed and the exterior and interior framing is underway.
Schulz said he had changed the composition of the superintendent/president’s cabinet, expanding the membership of the existing council. The superintendent/president used to have three vice presidents, a chief of information services officer, a director of human resources officer and an executive assistant.
Last month he has since added three positions to the board: Lan Hao, director of Institutional Research Planning and Effectiveness, Tyesha Thomas, director of Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion, and Melissa Utsuki, executive director of Communications and External Relations.
Thomas, the director of diversity, equality, and inclusion, briefly took over to speak about vital work to be done on campus with the progress of the DEIA+ Committee.
What used to be just the DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) has recently been upgraded to DEIA+. The added A+ includes but is not limited to anti-racism, anti-hate, anti-violence and accountability.
Thomas encourages staff members to join in on DEIA+ projects and attend meetings to get involved in DEIA+ activities.
“This labor of love is not limited to just committee members,” Thomas said.
Schulz recognized the 12 new full-time faculty hires and various faculty members for their years of service to the college, ranging from five to 35 years.
Two staff members recognized for their service include Cliff Wurst, a kinesiology instructor with Citrus since 1992, and Tina Gutierrez, who has been the college’s library media technician since 1987.
With all the 75 faculty members recognized within the longevity awards, they have 985 years of experience combined between them solely at Citrus College. Schulz said he is quite proud of the staff.
“People don’t stay at the same job for 35 years if they’re not happy there,” Schulz said. “Citrus is an environment people feel comfortable and content to work in, or there wouldn’t be 75 staff members recognized for choosing to stay as long as they have.”
Schulz said one of his favorite things is how impressive the student’s accomplishments are like the Citrus Singers performing at Biserica Neagra in Romania, having the highest number of scholar ballers (scholar-athletes with a GPA of 3.0 or higher) ever within the institution’s history this past year, and the Black Scholars Program fundraising for the National Alliance Of Mental Illness and Just For Us Youth.
One of his favorite opportunities over the past 12 months has been to familiarize himself with the college’s surrounding communities, for example, communicating with a few clubs within Glendora, participating in a few parades, and a podcast. Schulz expressed his pride in the community’s feedback, confirming that Citrus makes a difference.
“This is a community that embraces change,” Schulz said.
He informed everyone of the academic additions the college made for the upcoming year, such as the addition of courses provided and the new degrees offered by the college, including new associate degrees offered in business and accounting.
There are 10 new certificates of achievement, three for students on the public accounting track and seven business certificates.
Schulz said Citrus offered 21 dual enrollment courses last summer and is offering 61 courses at K-12 school district sites this fall.
Schulz gave the stage to four students and one alumna and let them share their personal Citrus stories. The speaking students included Nayiri Baghdassarian, Alexis Carlin, Emilio Pichardo, Jessie San and Adam Urena.
