Page 8 - Reedleyt Exponent 7-5-18 E-edition

Jon Earnest / The Exponent
Donna Berry officially began her duties July 2 as interim president at Reedley College, although she has been involved in the transition process since being approved for the interim post on June 12 by the State Center Community College District Board of Trustees.
Continued from page A1
cellor Paul Parnell.
“She’s known my goals to
move up,” Berry said.
There has been immedi-
ate work to do, what Berry called continuing “strong momentum” on many proj- ects. Those include continu- ing steps to transition Madera to a full community college and working with the Guided Pathways program.
‘What’s different than my role [as vice president] is that I’ll be a lot more involved in the community,” she said. “I was in some things, I’ll be in- volved in a lot more.”
Berry brings experience to the interim president job with her seven years at the college and relationships built with faculty, staff and students.
“It’s nice having the his- tory. I’ve always felt when I came here that this is a hidden gem,” she said. “The programs that Reedley College has to of- fer are great for the students.”
Before coming to Reed-
The Reedley Exponent A8 Thursday, July 5, 2018 BERRY
ley, the Porterville native was director of administra- tive services for seven years at Porterville College, where she earned an associate’s de- gree in business administra- tion. She earlier worked eight years teaching and as an ad- ministrator for the Porterville Unified School District.
Berry began her education career after working nearly 20 years in the business world, including seven years as plant controller and human resourc- es manager for Josten’s. Inc. in Porterville. She has man- aged to mix the contrasting careers with great success.
“You don’t always find that combination with your finance staff,” she said. “It’s important to keep those con- nections with the academic and classified staff, because they are the ones that are clos- est to our students.”
Much of Berry’s duties will involve closely working with Reedley and Madera projects that gradually are moving toward reality with the passage of Measure C in
June 2016.
“We’re getting ready to
break ground in a month or so in Madera for [the] ag and technology [facility],” she said. “Reedley is moving for- ward on the Math Science and Engineering, with final design work. Architects will be work- ing on final plans. We hope to break ground next spring or summer.”
Berry said she takes pride in how the campus has im- proved during her time here and under Caldwell’s lead- ership. She shared how the college initially was put on warning during an accredita- tion visit.
“We’ve made a multitude of changes,” she said. “I know a lot of the work was helping with the integrated planning.”
Berry plans to continue some of Caldwell’s popular campus routines, such as “piz- za with the president.” She said it’s important to keep those connections and close ties as the “face” of the college.
“I’m excited for the oppor- tunity,” she said.
individual major.
“The criteria is what the
program offers to its students, community and its industry partners,” he said. “One of the things we pride ourselves oniswetrytobeasactivein the community with as many different groups and organiza- tions as possible.”
Those activities include volunteer work by the natu- ral resources and forestry program. Rodriguez said the group is involved with Camp Sequoia and activities in the city.
“Our ag business program works with the Reedley Taste of the Town and other events downtown,” he said. “We’re al- ways trying to figure out how to incorporate our local area into what we’re doing.”
In addition to the three counties listed, students from as far away as Grass Valley and the San Diego region also are involved with the pro- gram.
Rodriguez said the award is one that college faculty, staff and students all value.
“It’s nice to be recognized by your peers,” he said.
AG AWARD Continued from page A1
top state recognition. Previ- ous awards came in 1994, 1997, 2004 and 2007. The col- lege has had an agricultural program for all 94 years of its existence, and the CATA has been in existence for 99 years.
“We’re judged by peers from six different regions of California,” Rodriguez said. “North Coast, Superior, South- ern, South Coast, Central and San Joaquin. They send rep- resentatives to the FFA con- vention, where they meet and score schools and choose a winner.”
Rodriguez said judges look at a program’s instructional methods and techniques that they use. He said colleges that do hands-on activities and real world-based education will be highly rated.
“They look at what we can do to develop our students to have them learn what’s cur- rent in industry now,” he said.
In its overview presenta- tion, Reedley College touts its ability to serve students
Photo Contributed
The Reedley College Ag and Natural Resources program was recognized as the outstanding community college program in California by the California Agricultural Teachers Association at the association’s annual awards banquet on June 28 in San Luis Obispo. Pictured at the event (from left) are department officials Gary Wenter, Kent Kinney, Dave Lopes, Sam Rodriguez, Desi Molyneux, Nancy Gutierrez, Juan Rodriguez, LarryDinis, KevinWoodard,DavidClark(dean),NickDeftereos(departmentchair).NotpicturedareDr.TimSmith,LouieLong,JoshSoderlund, Ken Willet (farm manager), Mary Lou Wright (AGNR secretary) and Kassandra Davis-Schmall (CTE administrative aide).
in Fresno, Tulare and Kings Counties.
“Our mission is to moti- vate and inspire students to succeed,” the presentation stated. “We do this by pro-
viding a myriad of hands- on learning opportunities through lecture and labora- tory experiences focusing on real world situations and ap- plications.” The presentation
stated how students have mul- tiple opportunities through each program area to experi- ence the agriculture industry first hand through field trips, guest speakers and work ex-
perience opportunities. Rodriguez said the Ag and
Natural Resources depart- ment stresses the motto of “Learning by Doing” when it comes to instruction in each
017110