This content was published: July 10, 2006. Phone numbers, email addresses, and other information may have changed.
Big gathering celebrates student success at Sylvania Campus
Photos and story by James Hill
What do the pictured PCC Sylvania students have in common? They all are carrying nine credits or more, and are on either the Honor’s, Dean’s or President’s lists. However, they didn’t do it alone. They were among the 180 students and staff who gathered last month in the Technology Classroom Building to celebrate students’ academic success at PCC.
Diane Mulligan, dean of Student Development at Sylvania, welcomed students and asked those present to recognize the family, friends, instructors and PCC staff who have supported their efforts to get an education. Linda Gerber, interim campus president at Sylvania, reiterated the theme by congratulating students for their ability to juggle the responsibilities of work, family and school so successfully.
“Our primary goal here at PCC is to create an environment in which each student is given an opportunity to fully realize their potential, not just as a student, but as an individual, a professional, and a member of a democratic society in a rapidly changing world,” said Christine Chairsell, vice president of Academic and Student Affairs. “Your academic achievement is one measure of the extent to which we attain this very lofty goal.”
This inaugural event, to be implemented district-wide in future years, was organized by Pattie Hill, project assistant for Sylvania ROOTS and Upward Bound as part of her 2006 PCC Leadership Internship project. While students throughout the district now receive emails each term congratulating them for their appointment to one of the lists, Hill feels that PCC can do more and bring high achieving students together for a more personal interaction.
“I feel it’s very important to give these students the commendation they deserve,” Hill said. “It’s important to them personally, but I feel it’s just as important to the future of PCC and the extent to which our students identify with and support the institution.”
About James Hill
James G. Hill, an award-winning journalist and public relations writer, is the Director of Public Relations at Portland Community College. A graduate of Portland State University, James has worked as a section editor for the Newberg Graphic... more »