I was so glad for the four day weekend—Feb 15th-18th. Returning from the ATD conference in Anaheim put me so behind that it was a grueling week with not very many hours of sleep. So, waking up, Friday morning and feeling the space of the four day weekend was refreshing.

The only scheduled event for the day was a facilities walk about to review the summer 2013 projects. I met up with Sean James, Exec Director of Administrative Services; Jim Coggins, Director of Facilities; and Craig Rouse, KCCD Facilities Project Manager. Everyone was in weekend clothing and Sean particularly had warned me to wear comfortable shoes. We walked through the various buildings including FACE, SAM, Art, Industrial Technology, Science and Engineering.

I was impressed at the wonderful amphitheater we have and had a discussion about the possibility of opening it as the culminating event for the centennial year celebrations. This might be a stretch but miracles do happen….. We also checked out the chillers that will be replaced this summer and I got an opportunity to peek into the tunnels. Our facilities gang works tirelessly to stretch the meager dollars have. Thank you!

Mostly what struck me is that we do have a fabulous campus and we must invest the resources to keep this place functional and beautiful for the generations to come. With the capital allocations dwindling from the state, we must start seriously considering partnering with our local community to support us to restore our campus and the learning environments. We are the community’s college.

I am so happy to be back at Bakersfield College.

Summer 2013 projects at BC. Replacing chillers.
Sonya Christian, Jim Coggins (Dir of Facilities), Sean James (Exec Dir of Admin Services)

In the tunnels. Feb 15, 2013