Good evening President Sullivan, Governing Board members, Chancellor Gonzales, CEC members, colleagues and guests.

Thank you for this opportunity to introduce myself.  My name is Camille Newton, and I have the privilege and responsibility of representing the faculty of the Maricopa County Community Colleges as Faculty Executive Council President for the coming year.  

I began my work in Maricopa in 2012 as residential faculty in English at South Mountain Community College.  Over the next 6 years I served as an Assessment Coordinator, an HLC Quality Initiative Co-Chair, and as Faculty Senate President.  In 2018 I became one of the Guided Pathway Mapping Team Leads, supporting faculty as they created clear and coherent curriculum maps that lead students directly to their educational goals.  For the past two years, I have served as a faculty lead in the District Center for Curriculum and Transfer Articulation, supporting the work of Curriculum Redesign and the refinement of business processes that institutionalize our Guided Pathways efforts. 

I share this history partly as an introduction, but also because I believe my work in faculty and District leadership has prepared me for the work I will do this year.  These experiences showed me the power of collaborative, cooperative approaches when working toward common goals.  In this spirit of shared governance, I look forward to the coming year of collaborating with colleagues, administration, and the Governing Board to support students, faculty, staff, and the Maricopa Community Colleges.  

But tonight is not only about an introduction; it is an opportunity to celebrate recent successful conclusions. 

First, faculty want to recognize Rio Salado President Kate Smith for the successful completion of her doctorate.  Congratulations, Dr. Smith!

Second, we want to acknowledge and celebrate the work of Ana Chandler, who on July 1st will finish her role as the co-president of Employee Representation. It’s always a challenge to start something from scratch, and for the last two years Ana and Shannon Monge worked tirelessly to build the structure, processes, and practices necessary to create an integrated system for staff representation at MCCCD.  Along the way they have consistently collaborated with their faculty and administrative colleagues, by both including us in their efforts and also by supporting ours. In cooperation with their Employee Representation colleagues, they have restored the important voice of the staff, invigorating the shared governance that makes Maricopa successful. I have admired Ana’s work as I’ve been transitioning into my new role; I appreciate her cooperative approach to solving problems, her courage when challenging assumptions and sharing difficult perspectives, and her passionate, unwavering commitment to student support and success. Thank you, Ana, for providing an example of successful leadership and thank you for all that you have done and will continue to do for Maricopa.  

I appreciate the opportunity to share some time with you all tonight.  Thank you, and good evening.

Camille