Caring Campus Update

Hello everyone,

Welcome to the September edition of the Caring Campus Newsletter! As we settle into the fall semester, it’s inspiring to see how the Caring Campus spirit continues to shine here at PC. Over the summer, we witnessed so many moments of connection and teamwork that remind us how powerful it is when we come together to support one another and our students. In this issue, we’ll celebrate staff who go above and beyond, share highlights from July and August, and introduce our next behavior, which will give us an opportunity to strengthen the bonds that make our campus community feel like home. Thank you for the care and energy you bring each day, together, we are making PC a place where everyone belongs.

With gratitude,

Your Caring Campus Committee

Over the summer months, the Caring Campus Committee stayed busy working on several exciting projects to support students and strengthen our campus community.

• Caring Campus Website – The team dedicated much of July and August to developing a new Caring Campus website, which will be launching soon. This site will serve as a hub for resources, updates, and information on how faculty and staff can get involved.
  
  
• Cross Department Awareness Guide – We also continued expanding and updating the Cross Department Awareness Guide. This important tool helps increase knowledge and collaboration across departments so that students can be better supported no matter where they go on campus. We are thrilled to share the updated guide in October.
  
  
• FLEX Breakout Session – During Fall FLEX, Caring Campus facilitated a breakout session on Caring Campus and the Student Journey. Together, we explored the different stages of a student’s journey and brainstormed activities and strategies that can help us provide meaningful support at each step.

• Welcome Week Success – Caring Campus had strong volunteer support during Welcome Week, with staff covering shifts Monday through Thursday during times when the resource tables were not available. This ensured students across campus always had someone they could turn to for questions. Volunteers walked the campus handing out maps, answering questions, and driving the Caring Campus cart to deliver water. Altogether, 273 bottles of water were shared, along with countless meaningful connections with our students.

• Upcoming Professional Development – The Committee is also finalizing a professional development opportunity in partnership with one of our very own managers this October. More details will be shared soon!
  
  

The Committee is excited to keep this momentum going as we move into fall and look forward to sharing more soon!

The Caring Campus initiative promotes behaviors that create a welcoming and supportive environment for all students, staff, and faculty. A key component of a Caring Campus is Cross Department Awareness. Cross department awareness is recognizing that every department contributes to the student experience.

Cross-department awareness can be as simple as referring students to the correct department or even better - referring to individuals within the department. For example, “You can speak to (staff name) in Student Services regarding (service or concern), let me walk you to their office”.

By practicing cross department awareness, we improve communication and ensure that students receive consistent and caring support regardless of where they go on campus.

Congratulations to Dolores Meurer from the Graphics Department, our July Staff Caught Caring award recipient! Dolores is known for consistently going above and beyond to support the campus community with all things printing—whether it’s creating flyers, updating materials quickly, or stepping in to handle last-minute requests.

A colleague shared, “Her positive attitude and willingness to help, no matter how big or small the request, make a lasting impact. Dolores truly embodies what it means to care and contribute with heart.”

Dolores reflects the spirit of Caring Campus by building strong connections, fostering a welcoming environment, and demonstrating through her actions that every contribution matters.

Congratulations to Matthew Aquino from our Student Services Department, our August Staff Caught Caring award recipient!

A fellow staff member shared “During Welcome Week, Matthew went above and beyond to support a student who was unsure where her class was located in the Trades Building. Without hesitation, he left the Student Services Welcome Table and personally walked her to class. This simple act perfectly reflects the spirit of Caring Campus—creating connections and making students feel supported.”

As classified professionals, we have some of the closest daily interactions with students, giving us a unique perspective on who is truly making an impact. You now have the opportunity to recognize those who go above and beyond to support students and create a caring campus environment! Any classified professional can nominate any PC employee—for "Staff Caught Caring"! Let’s celebrate those who embody the Caring Campus spirit and make PC a better place for all.

#StaffCaughtCaring #CaringCampus #WeArePC

Our Nametags Event has been rescheduled to September 24th from 2:00pm-3:00pm. We are excited to bring everyone together for this fun and meaningful opportunity to connect — mark your calendars!

Get ready for a month of collaboration! October will spotlight our Cross Department Awareness behavior, with activities designed to help us all better understand how our departments work together to drive success for our students.

We are excited to announce that Caring Campus in partnership with Dean, Michelle Miller-Galaz will be facilitating a Classified Professional Development opportunity on October 16th, 2025 at 1:30pm to 2:30pm in the SCCR.

The topic: Understanding AI in Everyday Work.

Please RSVP using the QR code on the flyer. We hope to have you all there and look forward to learning alongside you!

We are excited to announce that we have been working on a website! It will serve as a central hub for updates, resources, and information about upcoming behaviors/activities. Stay tuned for the official launch!

If you encounter any obstacles or resistance when implementing this or future behaviors, please let us know. Your responses will be kept confidential, but we will maintain a record of staff challenges for future review and discussion.