In one month this semester will be just days away from final grades and a welcome recess before the new semester begins. Between now and then, we all have opportunities galore to enjoy the wealth of faculty and student creativity through such wonderful events as the Faculty Art Show which opens November 14, the fall play "The Miracle Worker," vocal and instrumental jazz concerts, fall sports play-offs, and the always lovely Master Chorale concert. Opening our hearts to the families of many of our low-income students by giving them holiday baskets of food, clothes, toys, and supplies will give all who participate joy and love in abundance, proving that together we are a good and generous family looking out for those we teach.

On November 17, students will begin registering for Spring 2004 classes. Students look to their faculty and friendly staff and managers to listen to their questions and help them make decisions about classes to take, from whom to obtain specific information about transfer options, and why persisting with their commitment to college now is worth their hard work and often stressed lives. "Stick with it" and "Yes, you can do it" are only trite if offered to someone who is already on course and not about to quit!

Did you notice how the SLO Campus sparkled on November 3 and 4? Did you see the College in the news as it hosted the California Community Colleges Board of Governors November meeting? Our performance as a college was superb – from how especially clean the Student Conference Center was, how good the grounds looked, how well every detail of meeting rooms and meal arrangements was handled, how professionally the web cast was done, to how flawlessly all of us involved in the hosting cooperated in the planning and implementation of what has been called "a gracious hosting by a very fine college." My grateful appreciation to these Cuesta employees who made the Board of Governors' visit to Cuesta College such an outstanding success: Christina Holloway, Monette Blackwell, Ed Maduli, Terry Reece, Jeff Malmen, Pat Elias, Steve Massey, Janice House, Jay Chalfant, Pete Sysak, Scott Roark, Stephan Gunsaulus, Jill Huber, Elaine Coates, Maria Greenway, John Knutson, James Miley, Keith Lilley, Linda Long, Guyla Amyx, Barbara George, Susan Dressler, Toni Sommer, Harry Schade, and everyone else who worked so hard behind the scenes to ensure that our guests had an enjoyable experience. Forgive me if I have left out names, but it truly was a campus-wide effort.

"Brilliant!" was what I heard members of the audience exclaim after part-time music instructor and highly accomplished pianist Rudolf Budginas charmed them with his piano recitals last weekend. As I listened to Rudolf I understood why the music faculty had invested in such a grand, grand piano, how incredibly lucky we are that such highly talented musicians and teachers choose this area to settle, and how good it is that we can work and thrive in new buildings funded by the State.

"Superb!" was what Board members and all of us who attended the October and November Board of Trustees meetings said about the four faculty sabbatical reports. Learn what Guyla Amyx now knows about majolica ceramics by looking at her website at http://www.amyxart.com/MAJOLICA/majolica.html, seeing some of her work in the Faculty Art Show entitled "Abruptly Opinionated" in the Cuesta Gallery (November 14-January 30), or in her studio as she helps students expand their repertoire. Talk to Kent Brudney about his appointment from the American Political Science Association as an unpaid scholar in residence, which has enabled him to help develop an outreach professional development program that will benefit all government and political science community college teachers in the U.S. If Metadata is an unfamiliar word, go talk with Tina Lau who spent her sabbatical studying emerging standards for cataloging print and electronic materials, which will be used for organizing the Cuesta College and Environmental Archives. Did you ever struggle over those word problems in a math class? Were they a snap for you to do or did you grumble over them? Borrow Judy Barclay's soon to be published math book about word problems, which she produced during her sabbatical so she and her colleagues would have practical word problems to help students apply the algebraic formulae they can memorize but not understand. These sabbaticals were superb because they were done with such zeal and commitment to sophisticated professional development, and because they resulted in work immediately useful to Cuesta’s faculty and their colleagues as well as students. And "superb" is how I will feel when the College can once again afford to fund faculty sabbaticals.

As we approach the Thanksgiving Holiday, join me in remembering those who are hungry, forced out of their homes by fire, grieving the loss of a loved one, or in need of kind words and gentle smiles. I am thankful each of our students has chosen to study somewhere in our district and grateful to each of you for your dedication to our students and this college.