From the Desk of the President

As we reach the end of the fall 2021 semester, the end of the calendar year and 21 months of living through a pandemic, please know of my deepest indebtedness for each of you, your love for the College and our students, your patience, and, in many cases, your sacrifices. As I say often, know your efforts have not gone unnoticed.

I also hope you will join me in taking a moment to exhale, reflect on the good work we accomplished – TOGETHER - and express gratitude. I hope that you will remember that considering the ongoing worldwide pandemic, you continued to execute on our College’s purpose with perseverance, resolve and fidelity - a tribute to the work we do individually and collectively, daily.

And yet, for nearly 60 years, through floods and pandemics, we have remained a beacon of light in the many communities we serve. In fact, we continued to overcome pandemic-related barriers and create new opportunities for those we are called to serve, as evidenced by some of our successes:

• Office of Academic Affairs – created a new entrepreneurship diploma and a one-year online certificate program for Radiology Informatics

• Office of College Advancement – announced the establishment of an initiative that will build a more diverse police and emergency medical technician talent pool and promoted a project management webinar

• Office of Finance – completed renovation of the third floor of our Lebanon Campus and introduced a new website this semester enhancing the students’ bookstore ordering process

• Office of Human Resources – increased inclusive interview and hiring practices by partnering with the Office of Inclusion, Diversity and Belonging and retained our healthcare plan with Capitol Blue Cross with no-cost increases for employees

• Office of Inclusion, Diversity and Belonging – renewed our focus on Title IX compliance and celebrated HACC’s Military and Veterans Affairs Department receiving four awards from the Pennsylvania National Guard Association (PNGAS)

• Office of Information Technology and Learning Experience – implemented Ellucian’s Degree Works software, which offers degree auditing and educational planning capabilities and created five HyFlex classrooms collegewide

• Office of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management – engaged Ruffalo Noel Levitz in helping us update our strategic enrollment management plan and supported cross-unit collaborations on projects such as Degree Works, DE-CHS, No Pay, Blue Icon, and Navigate to improve the student experience

• Office of Workforce Development – provided a pharmacy class to seniors in the Harrisburg Public School district and provided WorkKeys to a school district replacing the Commonwealth’s Keystone Exams

As you reflect on some of these successes, I, once again, want to thank you for maintaining confidence in the College to make our students’ experience as successful as possible; keeping your standards high; and working together to maintain a healthy and safe environment for each other and our students to not only succeed but thrive.

I encourage each of you to make time over the next several weeks for yourself and hope you are able to celebrate your resilience and courage in navigating another pandemic-infected semester and reflect on how we can make 2022 even better. By doing so, I hope we return re-energized and ready to focus on our students and their success in and out of the classroom.

As you take some time for yourself, I would like to encourage you to continue taking the proper precautions to protect yourselves and those you love while on break. Know that I eagerly look forward to welcoming you back in January – healthy – to conquer another year like only HACC hawks can.

I wish you a happy and healthy holiday season to include a happy Hanukkah, a Merry Christmas and a peaceful Kwanzaa.

“Being a champion for all students means just that: all students. Not just the ones who are likeable and want help but also the ones who might resist your efforts. Even then, your core values drive you to stay true to this belief. This unwavering hope and faith can be the model to inspire others to do the same for all students.” ~Jimmy Casas