College of Western Idaho (CWI) faculty, staff, leadership, and trustees gathered via Zoom, Wednesday, Jan. 13, for the Spring 2021 College Address. The address, moderated by Vice President of College Relations, Mark Browning kicked off with a welcome from President Bert Glandon and Board of Trustee Chair, Molly Lenty.
“Welcome to 2021,” said Trustee Lenty. “I know for many of us, this last year has brought forward a lot of challenges. However, it has also presented a lot of opportunities. I am so appreciative of the work you have done as faculty and staff to support our students through this past year. You embody the culture at College of Western Idaho and make such a difference in the work you do day in and day out.”
Following updates from Faculty and Staff Senates, President Bert Glandon delivered the State of the College Address commending faculty and staff for their dedication, adaptability, and commitment to delivering high-quality instruction to students.
“We at CWI did not only survive 2020, we excelled… we delivered to our students and community in ways that mattered the most to them. I couldn’t be more proud to be part of an organization that is literally advancing higher education in new and innovative ways.”
Following President Glandon’s remarks, employees had the pleasure of hearing from Provost Denise Aberle-Cannata.
“Ten months ago, CWI had a choice,” Cannata said. “We could either create the worst event in our 11-year history, or we could proceed down the path of creating our finest hour.”
Cannata shared several of the College’s accomplishments over the past year including the creation of five modalities for instruction, safety protocols put in place, and enhancements to instruction and student services made to continue serving students during the pandemic. She encouraged employees to continually look forward and dream big utilizing data to make informed decisions.
“Commit to speaking up, creating ideas, dreaming, and purposefully setting the path CWI is about to embark on. It was big dreams that created CWI. Now isn’t the time to sit back. Now is the time to dream even bigger and determine what we’re going to look like in the course of the next ten years.”
Following Canata, the College’s bold, new brand was unveiled in addition to details on a phased rollout.
The address concluded with guest speaker, Amelia Doty-Jones, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker from St. Luke’s, who spoke on the importance of taking care of personal and mental health ‒ visit CWI's Be Safe, Be Mighty webpage for a list of resources Doty-Jones used during her presentation. The event wrapped up with a live Q&A session with members of President’s Cabinet.
