Grand Rapids Community College’s next President, Kathryn Rogalski, spoke to faculty and staff as a part of GRCC’s Opening and Learning Day ceremony, held on Jan. 7, during a brief campus visit before starting her new role in March.
“Thank you, all of you,” she said. “I just need to take a minute to soak up this time. I am overwhelmed with gratitude. I am thrilled to be here as your next president. I am proud to say that I will be the 12th president of Grand Rapids Community College,” Rogalski said.
She also credited Interim President Steven Triezenberg for leading the college through the presidential transition.
”I also want to say a special thank you to Dr. Triezenberg,” she said. “Dr. Triezenberg has done an amazing job – I can tell from the few times that I’ve had the opportunity to meet with him – of taking care of this great institution, and I feel confident that coming in after Dr. T., I will be well prepared to serve and to do the best I can to continue to build on the strengths that all of you have brought to this institution.”
Rogalski is currently in the process of moving from her job at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College to GRCC, and will be back to GRCC this spring.
“I want to say that in the next couple of months, I’ll be in transition, but I’ll be thinking about you, and I can’t wait to get back here. I’ll be back in March. I definitely look forward to learning more about the community college, learning more about the community and learning more about all of your strengths,” Rogalski said, “My focus when I start is going to be to listen. I will be here to listen to you. I will be here to learn from you. And I really want to learn what we need to do to continue, to build on our strengths and to strengthen what we do for our communities and do that together.”
As for now, Rogalski said, “I also want to thank you so much for the warm welcome I received. I’m not even here officially yet, and I’ve been overwhelmed with the kindness of the community, the kindness of the faculty and the staff, and I feel all of your excitement and your care for this college and this community. And honestly, that’s what brought me here. I knew coming in that this was an amazing institution that I wanted to be a part of, and I wanted to be able to lead. And I’m just thrilled to be able to be part of this next chapter. I think it’s going to be a really good one.”
In the spirit of transitions, the Board of Trustees is going through one of their own. Outgoing Board Chair Brandy Lovelady Mitchell said, “As the past immediate board chair, what has been illuminated for me are a couple of values that I want to lift up right now just to be explicit. Integrity, excellence, and inclusion,” Mitchell started, “During the course of my tenure as the board chair, I got to hear so many different examples of how you were living out those values. And I really appreciate it. It’s important for us to stay anchored in that as we usher in our next chapter in iteration. I know that you will do that. Your engagement manifested in surveys, and emails, and your participation in listening sessions, and showing up in the various ways to engage the presidential search. I thank you for that. I want to say that it has been my greatest honor and pleasure serving on the board, in particular serving as your chair, and I want to harness all of the energy that you all give every day to students and to one another into this next transition.”
Incoming Board Chair Salvador Lopez is a GRCC alumnus, who reminisced on his time as a student (23 years ago) in his speech.
“Standing here today, I feel something very familiar. Many of the same nerves, the same excitement, and the same hope, because I know what a place can do to a student’s life, and GRCC is a change maker,” Lopez said.
“I’ll continue our commitment to a strong partnership with faculty and staff. Your experience in day-to-day leadership is the heart of this institution,” he said. “And I’m looking forward to listening, learning, and supporting the work you do for students. Our focus is on the successful presidential transition. I am co-leading the transition team to ensure our new president is well-oriented, well-supported, and set up for early momentum in partnership with the campus community. Thank you again for your patience, dedication, and passion.”
Provost and Executive Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs, Sheila Jones, finished the opening ceremony, reminding the audience about campus safety in light of the recent shooting at Brown University.
“In collaboration with GRCC Police Chief Whitman, I want to remind you of the practice at our college to lock classroom doors during class. This is an important protocol to help protect our students and ourselves in the event of an active assailant situation. The message is a simple one: Please lock the doors,” Jones said.
Jones also shared recent achievements surrounding new additions to campus, the Center for Career and Professional Readiness, the Rec Center, and the Student Health Clinic. Jones said the Tutoring and Learning Center for Social and Behavioral Sciences will be opening soon.
Jones additionally talked about an upcoming project that will be a part of the Learning Resources Center renovation.
“We are going to tell our story and celebrate GRCC history with the time capsule project in conjunction with our Learning Resources Center renovations,” Jones said. “The time capsule will be incorporated and open to view as an interior archive element in the new space.”
Books were added to the radar of faculty and staff as well: “More Essential Than Ever” and “Grand Rapids Grassroots: An Anthology,” “We will engage in reading and learning together, beginning with continuing conversations about the book, ‘More Essential Than Ever.’ We know how essential our college is to the community. The book shares an updated take on the guided Pathways model. … Our discussions will include review and reflection on how the national prospective research can guide what we do here at GRCC,” Jones said, “Launching this month, we will begin reading essays from ‘Grand Rapids Grassroots: an Anthology,’ a collection that centers on activism and civic engagement in Grand Rapids. Copies of the anthology are available in the library on the fifth floor of RJF in the circulation room.”
It is unclear whether the books are also available for students at this time.
