EMSS Team Members:

Good morning, EMSS team - I apologize from deviating from our standard Friday messaging, but I was unable to get this sent out Friday as intended. I hope you all had a good weekend and the opportunity to decompress a bit. I am grateful for the warmth and sunshine we enjoyed at the end of last week, and I am choosing to embrace them as a physical representation of the brightening of our campus situation compared to the last time I shared a division message. While the difficult times are not behind us, I believe we are charting a path forward to healing and an era of increased trust and accountability for Cal Poly Humboldt, and EMSS in particular. The successful cultural graduation celebrations, and the off-site commencement ceremonies this weekend, were an excellent opportunity to honor our graduating students, and a reminder of why we do this work we have all chosen.

In the coming days, I will be sharing additional information about a change in our end-of-the-year celebration that had been planned for the end of this month. While there is still much to celebrate that was accomplished in the past year, the time, quite honestly, does not feel right for celebration – instead, we’ll focus on re-connecting and building the bridges that are needed most right now.

I do want to share a few accolades with you this week, in the spirit of recognizing the good work that continues within EMSS, even during times of great challenge. Many thanks to all who have continued the daily work of our campus despite the obstacles of remote and hybrid work, and who have remained laser-focused on serving our current and future students.

Cultural Graduation Celebrations

Last week saw these amazing celebrations for our graduating seniors, with the All Native Graduation Celebration Thursday, followed Friday by the Queer Graduation Celebration, Black Graduation Celebration, ADPI+MENA Graduation Celebration and Latine/x Graduation Celebration. All together, we welcomed 100s of students and family members coming together to honor these graduates. Many thanks to the team members who pivoted to new locations and support needs in order to ensure these very special events happened, despite the campus closure.

Spring Preview

On April 13, which I know feels like long ago, we welcomed over 600 students and guests during our last Preview for the semester. Thank you to all the volunteers, staff and faculty who showcased for our prospective students what Cal Poly has to offer. We have received many kudos and feedback on having great programming in comparison to other institutions. Big shoutout to Sulaina Banks for the planning and execution of these two great Preview events, and to all who made them a reality.

Financial Aid Packaging

After significant delay due to federal changes, Financial Aid packages for 2024-25 have started being released!  The week of April 15, over 7,000 students received their award notifications, including over 4,000 prospective new students, and an additional 2,300 students received packages last week. Packages will continue to roll out in the coming weeks as recent FAFSA submissions are processed. HUGE shout out to Carlos Diaz, Lead Systems Analyst in Financial Aid, for making it happen - and to the whole Financial Aid Team for continuing to navigate a very bumpy FAFSA year.

New Hires, Departures and Position Changes

We are sad to announce that Kali Rothrock left the CARES team at the end of April. We will miss her and her incredible contributions to our team, but please join us in wishing her well as she takes on a new role with College of the Redwoods.

Friday was the final work day for our Associate Dean of Students Molly Kresl, who spent almost 10 years at Humboldt and showed a strong dedication to our students and their needs in her time with us. Please be sure to wish her well, as I do, in all that comes next for her.

Chris Guillén transitioned from his role in the Financial Aid Office to joining the Office of Records & Registration as the Associate Director of Articulation & Evaluations starting May 1. Please join us in welcoming Chris to this new role within the division!

Accolades

Kudos to Joellen Clark-Peterson for organizing and leading the 2nd round of Spring Preview Housing tours!  We toured hundreds of prospective residents in Housing buildings over the 2 Spring Preview events.

Thank you to Carly Strand who sent out Housing room selection times and guarantees to 950 continuing students, along with 524 freshmen and 227 transfers, in this first round of assignments.

Congratulations to Peggy Metzger for recently earning her credentials as a NASFAA Certified Financial Aid Administrator, completing a program that culminated in the successful passage of an extensive knowledge exam.

Reminders

Please remember to return any Dining J-ware of Ozzi boxes to the J or the College Creek Marketplace that you may have.

As always, if you have items for inclusion in this division communication, share them with me via e-mail, or with the EMSS Leadership Team member in your area.

Take care of yourselves and each other,

Chrissy Holliday

Vice President, EMSS

Cal Poly Humboldt