Good evening.

Thank you to Frank Napolitano and Chuck Bernstein for your years of service to the college. We hope that you enjoy your newfound freedom on Thursday nights to the fullest.

On behalf of the full-time faculty, I would like to extend our warmest congratulations to Heidi Holan on her reelection and Flo Appel and Nick Howard on their election to the board of trustees.

We look forward to working with you all to write the next chapter of the College of DuPage with a renewed focus on students, faculty, staff and the community.

Among the first requests of the new board, I would like to ask the following: that there be no interruptions in service from the first day of the semester to the last day of finals involving technology that we use to teach and students need to learn. These interruptions are disruptive and make an already challenging environment all the more so.

Instability and uncertainty are not limited to information technology.

Over the past five years the division of nursing and health sciences has had three different deans, several of which were removed amidst allegations of wrongdoing. This kind of instability makes it difficult for faculty to teach, preparing students for jobs in the field of health care or the next stop in their education. And it makes it difficult for students to learn.

As in the previous cases, the current case came after more than a year of substantiated faculty concerns expressed through a variety of channels. Instead of partnering with faculty to address the issues and move forward, the response has been to ignore or minimize faculty concerns. These actions come at a cost, as is now apparent to all.

I ask that this latest example serve as an opportunity not to continually view faculty as adversaries but as partners in addressing issues. The continued drain in resources for the school and taxpayers is unhelpful and detrimental to the goals of the college.

I would like to congratulate the new dean who is being approved tonight and wish him well, to a long and stabilizing career in a division that badly needs it.

Finally, Monday begins contract negotiations with the College of DuPage adjuncts association. Our adjunct colleagues work hard under difficult conditions for meager compensation. Since they teach the majority of classes at COD, these negotiations should be viewed as an investment in the future of our students and the institution.

Thank you.