Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Coyote Center grand opening highlights community support and blended use

Lauren Lancaster, president of the Associated Students of
CGCC,  cuts the ceremonial ribbon of the new Coyote
Center during the Sept. 24 grand opening.
More than 150 guests gathered on Sept. 25 for the grand opening of the Chandler-Gilbert Community College (CGCC) Coyote Center on the Pecos Campus. The event was held in the shadow of the two-story, 74,859-square-foot building and featured Maricopa Community College District speakers, elected officials representing local cities and towns, the architects and construction company who created the unique multi-use building, and college representatives and students using the facility.  Cutting the ceremonial ribbon was student Lauren  Lancaster, president of the Associated Students of  CGCC.

The building is one of a few in the nation to blend academics, athletics, enrollment services and student services to impact the success of each student which was noted by CGCC President Linda Lujan in her comments. View the Town of Gilbert news and video segment.


Launched in conjunction with the opening of the building was the introduction of a new model of student service that eliminates waiting in multiple lines and provides more efficient service. Students check in at the welcome desk and if they cannot be helped immediately, they are placed in the appropriate electronic queue. With nearly all student services located in the Coyote Center, students can find the much of the support they need in one location.

Athletics was also greatly impacted with the addition of a gym to the Pecos Campus, allowing the centralization of all nine athletic teams and their coaching staff to one campus. Located in the center of the building, the gym is now the largest gathering space for athletic, college or community events with bleacher seating for 1,000.

Most spaces were intentionally designed for this multi-use as well as adaptability and flexibility, according to CGCC Vice President of Administrative Services Jacalyn Askin. Many of the spaces can be easily reconfigured to adapt to the ever-changing needs of higher education. The facility also features a Veterans Center, classrooms and a 4,000-square-foot fitness center.

As part of the college’s ongoing commitment to environmental stewardship and sustainability, the building incorporates many sustainable operations that make it certifiable LEED Gold rating. The facility was completed on-time and under budget with the full cost of $28.6 million coming from the public's approval of the 2004 General Obligation Bond Funds.

View the program to learn more about the Coyote Center at cgc.edu/coyotecenter.


Dean of Students Daniel Herbst
brought levity to the ceremonial
occasion by taking a picture from the
podium before his comments. 
Herbst's resulting photo


CGCC president to present at national climate change summit

Maricopa Community Colleges will be well represented at the American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) 2014 Summit on Climate Leadership in Boston on October 1-3. Chandler-Gilbert Community College President Linda Lujan will join Irene Kovala and Jan Gehler, presidents of Glendale Community College and Scottsdale Community College respectively as well as more than 250 college and university leaders from across the nation.

Lujan, who serves on the ACUPCC Steering Committee, will present two sessions at the summit including Sustainability in Conservative Communities and Presidential Reflections and Summit Conclusion: A Central Question About Scaling Up.

The ACUPCC Summit reflects the centrality of higher education’s role in preparing new generations to meet the challenges of climate change. The program focuses on ways to build on the success of climate action plans and sustainability initiatives on ACUPCC campuses and develop solutions to the most pressing environmental problems facing our communities.

"Sustainability is a far-reaching, complex concept and topic that has far more relevancy to education than many people realize,” said Lujan, who also serves on the American Association of Community Colleges Sustainability Task Force. “Not only can higher education directly influence sustainability research and practice in classrooms and labs, but as business entities, colleges and universities can model best practices in sustainability. We can also serve as a catalyst and convener for important conversations all dimensions of the subject. It's an honor to represent the Maricopa Community College District in this work."

More than 680 colleges and universities in the U.S. are current ACUPCC signatories, representing all 50 states, D.C., and every category of public and private higher education institution. These signatories are committed to achieving carbon neutrality and represent more than 6.5 million students – one third of all college students in the nation.

“The summit is a key opportunity for ACUPCC presidents and their sustainability teams to work together to shape higher education’s critical role in advancing sustainability and addressing climate change at the national level,” said Portland State University President Wim Wiewel, chair of the ACUPCC Steering Committee. “The launch of the National Climate Assessment this past spring has given us a clear mandate and an excellent springboard for climate action. It’s imperative for higher education to respond and help lead our society in defining and achieving a sustainable future.”

The summit was designed by a group of 30 college and university presidents with the support of a committee of seven local institutions, and is organized into five tracks . CO2 impact from attendee travel, meeting space, and guest accommodations is being offset through purchase by The Revere Hotel of carbon offsets from Native Energy, Inc.

Monday, September 22, 2014

Performing arts programs win two ariZoni awards

Award-winning makeup and hair 
for SeussicalFeatured are The 
Bird Girls Laura Loose (purple), 
Shelby Daeffler (orange) and 
Abbeney Davis (green). 

Chandler-Gilbert Community College’s performing arts program received two ariZoni Theatre Awards on Monday, Sept. 15. CGCC received 10 nominations for the annual awards program, eight for the spring 2014 musical Seussical and two for the spring 2014 theater production The Bold, The Young and The Murdered

Awards were presented to student Laura Loose for hair and makeup design in Seussical and CGCC Performing Arts Center Facilities Coordinator Ron Keller for property design for The Bold, the Young and the Murdered. The award ceremony also featured the Seussical cast performing "Oh the Things you can Think" from the show. 

"I’m grateful for the opportunity to share in the success of Seussical,” said Laura Loose, who earned her cosmetology license at Eastern Arizona Academy of Cosmetology while attending Eastern Arizona College. "Receiving this award is such an honor. It confirms to me that I can do what I love with cosmetology in combination with theatre and music. I thoroughly enjoyed coming up with costume and makeup ideas with Patti (Duggar) that were over-the-top and reflected the unique imagination of Dr. Seuss."

The Bold, the Young and the Murdered utilized
the stage for the set, props and actors, but cleverly
included the audience as part of the the soap opera
filming studio which placed every member of
the audience directly in the heart of the action on stage.


Seussical nominations
  • Overall Production
  • Director - Sally Jesse
  • Musical Direction - Marc Denton
  • Actor in a Major Role - Samuel Loose
  • Costume Design - Patti Dugger
  • Hair and Makeup Design - Laura Loose
  • Sound Design - John Jackson
  • Property Design - Ron Keller 
The Bold, The Young and The Murdered nominations
  • Scenic Design - Ron Keller 
  • Property Design - Ron Keller





Friday, September 19, 2014

CGCC students land 3 of 6 spots to national leadership conference

Gabriel Lopez, Ashton Brackens, MEN club advisor Jill
Wendt, Alex Kneip and Tony Little, MEN club advisor.
Three members of the Male Empowerment Network (MEN) chapter at Chandler-Gilbert Community College were selected to attend the Men of Color Student Leadership Institute on Oct. 16-19 in Burlingame, California near San Francisco.

The Men of Color Student Leadership Institute is an intensive two-and-a-half-day leadership seminar sponsored by the Presidents’ Roundtable for selected men enrolled in one of the minority male programs across the country.  Six students were chosen to represent Maricopa Community College District and awarded scholarships to attend, including Ashton Brackens, Alexander Kneip, and Gabriel Lopez from CGCC.

“I’m ecstatic to be chosen,” said Alex Kneip, president of the CGCC MEN chapter. “I’m honored to be one of the few selected for this opportunity. I’m looking forward to the experiences which I hope will help me grow personally and provide me with the skills to be more of a positive influence to those around me.”

The student track of the institute will focus on Self-Image, College Completion and Career Readiness, Personal Health and Wellness, Entrepreneurship, Develop your Independent Nature and Lifestyle, Financial Literacy, and Parenting and Relationships.

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Jarvis to receive emeritus distinction

Ana Jarvis, Spanish faculty at Chandler-Gilbert Community College (CGCC), will be honored with emeritus distinction at the Maricopa County Community College District governing board meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 23. Jarvis was nominated by Virginia Edwards, division chair of Modern Languages and Humanities, and Spanish faculty Cynthia Bingham.

Jarvis was one of the first instructors hired at CGCC when it was still an educational center of Mesa Community College in 1987, and she was CGCC’s first Spanish faculty. During those early years when CGCC was emerging as an accredited institution, Jarvis taught a variety of Spanish classes and worked on developing a strong foreign language program. As the years went by, other languages were added to the department. She was instrumental in starting CGCC's Spanish honor society, Sigma Delta Mu, and an annual Foreign Language Night. For many years she helped plan International Student Week activities with CGCC’s International Student Office.

Jarvis was a key contributor to CGCC’s Marketing Committee and the International/Intercultural Education Committee. She is a gifted and prolific author whose "Como Se Dice" books are used by colleges and universities locally and nationally.

Edwards and Bingham note in the nomination, “Most of all, Ana has been a strong advocate for her students and her profession. She is known for mentoring and tutoring students and for introducing the beauty of the Spanish language and culture to thousands over the years. She has a sharp wit and a great sense of humor. She will be fondly remembered for her valiant resistance to the onslaught of technology, defiantly tapping on her typewriter long after those around her converted to computers, email, and online student information systems. She will be remembered as a dear friend and supportive colleague to many faculty and staff at CGCC.”