CFI dedicated in honor of former president
Julia Kupisiewicz
Issue date: 5/7/08 Section: News
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As current superintendent/president Michael J. Viera, Ph.D., took the podium, he said: "I am very please with the Center of Innovation and it is the first building to be completed out of the Measure G 2004 Community Facilities Bond," He went on to thank the voters in the district and the cities in the district of the Measure G Bond for a $121 million dollars. "$14 million of what you see right behind me," Viera said. "There will be three more new bond-funded buildings, including the new field house and stadium concessions, as well as the student services building, which will begin construction next month in June. And, finally, a visual arts building, which is scheduled to begin construction in 2010."
Karen Davis, mayor of Glendora, was on hand to help present Viera with a certificate of recognition honoring Citrus College on the dedication of the Louis E. Zellers Center of Innovation. The dedication was a celebration of growth and progress.
Along with the mayor of Glendora, representatives from Rep. David Dreier's office, Assemblyman Anthony Adam's office, Assemblyman Bob Huff's office, Congresswoman Hilda Solis' office, Supervisor Mike Antonovich's office, and Sen. Bob Margett's office were on hand with certificates of recognition of their own.
Carol Horton, vice president of finance/administration services, thanked her staff, administrative assistants, project manger Bob Bradshaw, director of facilities and construction Mike Harrington and staff, James Pierce, a 37-year employee who is Citrus College's chief engineer.
"He is the one who knows where every water line, every sewer line, every gas line is, and if he doesn't know it, he knows how to find it," Horton said. "If we ever lose Jim, the whole understructure of the campus would be just a massive mess." Horton continued to thank the landscapers, supervisor of maintenance, and the sanitation crew. She stressed that the project took a huge number of people to reach completion.
Zellers was the first in line when getting the project off the ground, as well as the construction and/or renovation of 16 buildings within his 18 years of service.
"I learned how to be successful as a community college president by learning to count to three," Zellers said. "It's a five-member board, so you need to get three votes if you plan to be a success."
Zellers said a president or CEO of any community college never enjoyed more consistent support than he had when he was president. He had many 5-0 votes, but when there was a split, the board worked together.
He thanked all of the secretaries who stood by his side through the 18 years. Zellers admitted that his long line of trusted secretaries were dubbed "The Palace Guards."
In Zeller's first years here at Citrus, enrollment was down, and Citrus College was on state stabilization funding. This means when the enrollment is up, the funds roll in. Zellers credits Dr. Pat Rasmussen for her work with shaping up the printed brochures and the logo, and executed a recruiting program that took off. She turned the enrollment numbers around. This resulted in more money for the general fund.
A few weeks after Zellers came on board to Citrus College, he was approached by a department chair and told there were two new faculty members and no offices for them. The original solution was to turn an older classroom into offices with partitions. Zellers popped in to visit the new set of offices and realized there was only one phone in the hallway for a dozen faculty and staff members. "I was curious who answered the telephone," Zellers said.
At this point, Zellers felt the facilities for the staff were a disgrace and sent the wrong impression to the community and the students. This was when he realized Citrus needed a new building, but the state only funded classrooms and infrastructure, but no faculty offices.
Tom Armstrong was the chief instructional officer who put a committee together. Armstrong and the committee came up with every concept that the new building could hold. The building is slated for more than 80 offices for faculty and deans, a new home for the Citrus College Foundation, the Study Abroad Program, Honors Program and the Office of External Relations.
With the dedications and the speeches complete, the doors opened and a board meeting was scheduled to start.
Julia Kupisiewicz can be reached atccclarion@hotmail.com
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