IMPACTING STUDENT LIFE, DIRECTOR WILL BE MISSED

Since Sept. 14, the position of director of student leadership and civic engagement at MHCC has been vacant.

Because this vacancy affects Student Life activities at Mt. Hood, John Hamblin, executive dean of student development, has been assisting to fast-track the process of hiring a new staff member for this important role.

The individual who previously held this role was Justin Core, coming to MHCC with “over 25 years of experience in student life areas” according to Hamblin. His stay at Mt. Hood lasted only one school year.

Hamblin described the several positive impacts Core had on Student Life while at MHCC. He said Core helped foster a new relationship with Oregon Food Bank (OFB) to boost college’s Barney’s Pantry, a service available to students in need of food while on campus.

Along with teaming up with OFB, the Pantry was relocated to a larger space in the Student Union. It now includes a fridge to store perishable food items, provided through the new partnership.

Hamblin praised Core for his focus on student needs.

Last school year, the pantry “served around 500 students. Over 4,000 meals were given out during that period of time, which really speaks to his care and compassion to leadership and food, housing, and security for our students,” he said of Core. “His awareness on that level was really, really strong.”

Bob Hansen, Associated Student Government (ASG) president for 2018-19, said Core “would always ask the question, ‘How does this benefit students?’ when he would make decisions.”

Hamblin also noticed an increase in student engagement and involvement. Core would frequently update him about the number of attendees at events throughout the school year, he said.

Looking ahead, Hamblin has set a timeline of six weeks to fill the vacant role. This timeline started when the position was posted on the MHCC (Career) web pages roughly one week after Core’s final day. If the hiring process goes as planned, Mt. Hood would see a new staff member in place by the beginning of November.

Meantime, Hamblin is the interim supervisor of the ASG/Student Life area.

He said he does not believe Core’s absence will affect students, since a lot of programming and planning took place prior to his resignation.

“I think we’ve got a very capable team that’s managing the transition very well. My hope is that we keep the time-frame very limited to minimize the impact,” Hamblin shared.

“The last time this position was vacant, it was  for over nine months; I think that did have a substantial impact,” he said – referencing the departure of David Sussman.

As for other student programs looking for formal approval and assistance with projects, as well as having things signed off, Hamblin said leaders should “communicate with me, communicate with Doctor (Abio Ayeliya, ASG faculty adviser) and Cassie (James, Student Union assistant and fiscal manager), and we’ll get the process taken care of.”