Word cloud with the number 216 centered and surrounded by encouraging words and words of gratitude for employees of Glendale Community College like excellence, diligence, vital, professional, efforts, appreciate, thank you, faculty, value and more.

In case you haven’t noticed, it is already close to the middle of April! That means much for us as faculty–finals are approaching, student anxiety is building, and Commencement is just around the corner. In the land of PAR (Peer Assistance and Review), it means that Probationary Faculty are nearly done with the process for the year. All that remains is a final meeting with a dean and department chair to get feedback from the IDP (Individual Development Plan) review process known as PARc (Peer Assistance and Review committee), and those will all be done by the end of next week. Hooray!

The purpose of this blog entry is simple: I want to express my sincere gratitude to all the people involved in making PAR a success on a yearly basis, and to shed light on (or remind you of) the sheer magnitude of this yearly undertaking. I would like to start by taking a closer look at the number of people associated with PAR for AY 2018 – 2019 (yeah, there is a bit of overlap here, but this isn’t scientific data, people!).

  • 70 Probationary Faculty (that’s 70 IDPs!)
  • 99 PAR Mentors
  • 20 Department Chairs
  • 16 Appointive Faculty PARc
  • 4 Deans
  • 3 Administrative Assistants
  • 1 Faculty Senate President
  • 1 VPAA
  • 1 President
  • Oh! And I almost forgot…1 PAR Facilitator/Faculty Developer…LOL!

For those that didn’t add while reading that list, those numbers equal

216

That’s right. Roughly 216 people (out of nearly 600 full-time GCC employees) here on campus at GCC played a direct role in the PAR process this year. That is about a third of all full-time GCC employees. If we only consider the Residential faculty, we have about 200 of the 262 Residential faculty involved. And, these numbers don’t include all the people that help keep this campus running on a daily basis to allow this great work to happen!

Take a moment. Let that significance soak in.

Not only does this show that PAR is a big undertaking, but it should speak to the importance of PAR and Probationary Faculty. As an institution, we dedicate a large amount of resources to finding, securing, cultivating, and supporting the absolute best faculty possible because we understand the importance and value of doing so.

Take a moment. Let that significance soak in.

Now, this is the part of the post where it would be really cool to list everyone involved in order to express gratitude, but that would make this entry crazy long (like when the music starts playing over the end of an acceptance speech at the Academy Awards), so instead, I will say THANK YOU to all of you this way:

Probationary Faculty

Thank you for being dedicated to your profession, your students, your department, your college, and yourself enough to pour time into YOU through the PAR process all year long. It is often hard to take time to better yourself when there are so many other people that are counting on you to be present and prepared, but your demonstration of growth reiterates your commitment to ALL of your responsibilities. So, thank you for putting time into you.

PAR Mentors

Thank you for being dedicated to your profession, your students, your department, your college, and yourself enough to make yourself available for others. By wanting to be part of your colleagues’ professional lives and help them develop, you show your desire to provide the best community college experience possible for students. So, thank you for putting time into other faculty.

Department Chairs

Thank you for being dedicated to your profession, your students, your department, your college, and yourself enough to spend extra time on those newest faculty in your department. There are countless extra responsibilities that come with the title of department chair, but you also have a unique position to model for new faculty the breadth the job Residential Faculty entails; I greatly appreciate you taking this as seriously as you do. So, thank you for putting time into your department.

Appointive Faculty PARc Members

Thank you for being dedicated to your profession, your students, your department, your college, and yourself enough feel compelled to answer the call to serve. You provide thoughtful guidance, wisdom, support, and assurance to probationary faculty and the work they do. By volunteering your time to read your colleagues’ IDPs, you continue to exemplify the excellence of GCC faculty while adding value to faculty contributions and Residential Faculty district wide. So, thank you for putting time into your profession.

Administration Members

Thank you for being dedicated to your profession, your colleagues, your office, your college, and yourself enough to always be willing and available to support GCC efforts. Your diligence and commitment to your role in the success of all we do here at GCC, and thus, student success, is vital and commendable. And your continued support of existing programs and initiatives, as well as new ideas and innovations helps make GCC what it is. So, thank you for putting time into GCC.

thank you

I know PAR is only one of many important, impactful programs here at GCC and MCCCD, but it is demonstrative of the power we have as a collective body of informed, dedicated, passionate, and determined human beings. We do great work; we do even greater work together.

Take a moment. Let that significance soak in.

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