Fullerton College President Greg Schulz revealed the school’s record-breaking achievements and effective effort transitioning online to the North Orange County Community College District (NOCCCD) Board of Trustees during Tuesday’s meeting.
Schulz’s State of the College update gave a brief overview of the contents in the Fullerton College 2019-2020 Institutional Effectiveness Report and the new Fullerton College Magazine, with support from the Director of Campus Communications, Lisa McPheron; Vice President of Student Services, Gilbert Contreras and Interim Director of the Office of Institutional Effectiveness, Joseph Ramirez.
NOCCCD Chancellor Cheryl Marshall introduced Schulz to the board.
“In a year filled with challenges, there is much that we had to celebrate at Fullerton College,” Schulz started.
He highlighted the 5,567 degrees and certificates awarded to the 2020 graduating class, the most given in the 171-year history of Fullerton College. According to the annual report, 3,685 associate degrees and 1,882 certificates were awarded, increasing over 2,000 awards from the previous school year.
Schulz added, “Yet the graduating class of 2020 was not the only record-breaking class this past year.”
Notably, 48 full-time professors achieved tenure in the past school year, making them the largest and most diverse cohort of tenured faculty members.
Fullerton College was also identified as a minority-serving institution, continuing to support students in a virtual setting regardless of immigration status. The Grads to Be program has hosted workshops and legal-aid clinics, among other events, to provide resources to undocumented students and students with mixed-status families.
In a continued effort, Fullerton College increased its social media and web presence due to the decline in enrollment numbers from the pandemic. The school’s Promise Program and Outreach Team utilized creative ways to push for student recruitment through virtual platforms.
Schulz touched on the school’s commitment to becoming an antiracist campus, noting its stance with Black Lives Matter.
Several trustees congratulated Schulz for the work and effort taking place at Fullerton College.
“I’ll say one more thing, all but one division are planning to have in-person classes in the fall,” Schulz added in response to a comment from NOCCCD Board Member Evangelina Rosales.
He continued to reveal that the Business and CIS Division will remain entirely online for the fall semester as the division saw great success in the current format. All other divisions will begin transitioning classes in-person in different proportions.
Throughout the presentation, Schulz acknowledged and thanked Fullerton College staff and faculty for making the Hornet community, particularly those who made significant contributions to support students during the pandemic.
“Their love of the college and the district—and our students more importantly—led to things that you got to learn a little bit more about tonight, and I’m really grateful for them,” Schulz said in a final, off-script statement.
Read the full annual Institutional Effectiveness Report here, and view the Fullerton College Magazine here.
