Podcast Episode 4: Caring Campus at Cypress College
On Episode 4 of the Cypress College Campus Podcast, Cypress College President Dr. Scott W. Thayer interviews classified staff members Belinda Allan and Cari Jorgensen, the co-leaders of the Cypress College Caring Campus Initiative. This project helps create a welcoming and supportive environment for our staff and our students.
Transcript
SCOTT THAYER: Hello, and welcome to the fourth episode of the Cypress College Campus Podcast. I’m Scott Thayer, the president of Cypress College and your host. This podcast shares the stories of our colleagues, students, alumni, and advocates. On today’s show, I interview classified staff members Belinda Allan and Cari Jorgensen.
Belinda and Cari are co-leaders of the Cypress College Caring Campus initiative.
In this role, they lead classified staff and efforts to ensure we are creating a welcoming and supportive environment for our students. In her primary role, Belinda is the administrative assistant in the Office of the Dean of Student Support Services. Cari is a web content specialist in the Office of Campus Communications.
Welcome, Belinda and Cari. Thank you for joining us on the podcast.
As we gear up for winter and spring registration, this seems like a good time to talk about the various initiatives of Caring Campus to help our students on a successful journey here at Cypress College. So, let’s start. Let’s start by having you tell us a little bit about yourself. So, Belinda, let’s start with you. How long have you been at Cypress College?
BELINDA ALLAN: Officially, I’ve been an employee here—oh goodness, I think we’re looking at seven years.
SCOTT THAYER: Seven? OK.
BELINDA ALLAN: But I’ve been at Cypress College for 12, going on 13.
SCOTT THAYER: All right. So, employee for seven, but here for 12. So, what are the other five? Student?
BELINDA ALLAN: I was a student, and I was a student worker, student worker—and adult hourly.
SCOTT THAYER: All right.
BELINDA ALLAN: I was a sub. Did a bunch of things.
SCOTT THAYER: So, yeah, you’ve seen Cypress College in different capacity, as a student, as an hourly, as a sub, as now a permanent employee.
BELINDA ALLAN: Yes, absolutely.
SCOTT THAYER: All right. Well, so, how did you find Cypress?
BELINDA ALLAN: I live down the street.
SCOTT THAYER: All right, so, you’re in the community? That’s good.
BELINDA ALLAN: Yes. Yes. I actually—when I first started going back to school, I went to Golden West. And there wasn’t a fit. So, then I thought, it’s down the street. I’m going to go check out Cypress. And almost immediately, almost immediately, it was home.
My first class was really difficult, but even that, I felt like, OK, there’s—the people here, the support I was getting, I connected with the CalWORKs and the EOPS folks, and I was home.
And then through that, became a student worker, first in the EOPS, and then with the Career Planning Center. And Deann Burch was like another mother to me. And just the whole experience of just being a student here and then becoming a student worker and becoming more involved, it just screamed home to me.
So, I’ve actually really encouraged some of my friends that needed to go back to school, you know, Cypress College. All their kids have come here now, and they’re funneled through my offices. And especially when I was with career, I made sure that they all went through the career offices and saw what they had and were able to get appointments. And this home for me has just grown for all my friends as well.
BELINDA ALLAN: So—
SCOTT THAYER: No, that’s great.
BELINDA ALLAN: —becoming an employee here was just the icing on the cake.
SCOTT THAYER: So, when did you realize that you wanted to stay as an employee versus saying just you’re a student worker? So, was there a moment in time said, you know what? I want to stay here in this role permanently?
BELINDA ALLAN: There was, yes. Yes. Because I actually came here to be a radiologist. And there was a moment that I realized radiology might not be for me. There’s a lot of bodily fluids, and I thought this might not be for me. So, what am I going to do? And at that time, I was working in the Career Planning Center.
And something about the Career Planning Center, something about their goals and the reason that they were there to help students and to help them figure out what it is that they’re going to do, I mean, why do students go to school? To get a job, to be in a career.
So, they were so, instrumental in helping students with that that I thought, I want to be a part of this. And through that, then I was able to branch out into other areas of the campus and find out what this campus as a whole does for our students.
It’s been a tremendous journey for me, so, just from that student to where I am now and being able to turn around and help others.
SCOTT THAYER: No, that’s great. Working in the Career and Planning Center, and it actually worked for you. I’d love to hear that story, that Career Planning. So, kudos to the work they’re doing.
BELINDA ALLAN: Oh, yes.
SCOTT THAYER: And, Cari, so, Cari, what about you? How about you can describe some of your time here at Cypress? How long have you been here? How long have you been here at Cypress?
CARI JORGENSEN: I have been here eight years this month, actually.
SCOTT THAYER: Eight years. So, seven and eight. All right, good. So, how did you find Cypress? Like, why Cypress College?
CARI JORGENSEN: Well, similar to Belinda, my parents actually live very close to here, so, I grew up around here. I was working for a magazine publishing company, and then I was really, really wanted to get into education. And so, I was applying everywhere, but I knew I really wanted to be here, just from the ties from childhood. We would come here to the swap meet when we were little.
SCOTT THAYER: Oh yeah, the swap meets on the weekend.
CARI JORGENSEN: So, I applied, and luckily, Marc hired me. So, here I am.
SCOTT THAYER: All right. Well, no, it’s great to know. I mean, we are a community college. And being in the community is important that we serve our community. It’s great to hear both of your stories, that you were local, it was close, and you decided to give the college a try. And here we are, both of you now working together at Cypress and also, giving back through Caring Campus, which I think is a great thing.
So, I guess just a follow up, if you could describe your time here at the college and some of the impact, the impact has had on you. And you can start. Either one can go first. There’s no order on this one.
CARI JORGENSEN: Well, when I came here for my interview, I still know the first person who talked to me, and that was Tori Felipe. And she works in our office now.
SCOTT THAYER: All right.
CARI JORGENSEN: And she was so, helpful. And I noticed that everybody was. No matter what I encountered, she walked me up here because at the time it was in Academic Computing.
She walked me up here for the bigger part of the interview. And Ae Young walked by and she’s like, you’re going to do great. No idea who she was at the time.
SCOTT THAYER: All right.
CARI JORGENSEN: But so, encouraging and everybody was so, friendly. And I really liked that atmosphere. And I was like, please let me get this job because everybody was so, kind and warm. And it was a fantastic atmosphere that I see on this campus.
SCOTT THAYER: No, that’s great to hear. And your time, the impact the college has had, Belinda.
BELINDA ALLAN: There’s so, much it’s invested. For me personally, it has impacted my entire life. Everything that I do—before I came here, I actually worked at a hospital and was an executive assistant for one of the VPs at a nearby hospital.
And my work being close to where I lived, I would call it a value that I have actually.
It is something I need to have because, where I worked before it, the commute, getting into the office, it sometimes take me a hour and a half to get back and forth from work. So, that’s a good 3 hours. I had young children. I was a single mom.
So, that’s why I went back to school to begin with and learning through the Career Planning Center, everything that they do for students and being able to do all of that because I was working there, the assessments, the learning more about myself, all of that, it just, it made such an impact on me and on my family that I could be home in a moment’s notice for my children.
I have three boys, and I’ve raised all three of them on my own. But the two older ones—I have a 31- and a 32-year-old.
So, when I was here, they were getting into high school. They needed me. And high schoolers will never tell their parents how much they need them. They really, really need you.
So, being able to be down the street from them and they knew I could make all the band things, and I could be there for everything, they knew that. I would be there for everything. And when my youngest was born, he has a whole story all into his own. He was 1 pound, 14 ounces when he was born.
SCOTT THAYER: Wow, wow
BELINDA ALLAN: He was born at 25 weeks. So, he needed me. So, when I started here and worked with CalWORKs, they really helped me be able to find daycare for him.
The things that they did, just basic—it’s a basic needs things for me—that they were able to provide and do for me and even give me the direction where to go.
It has changed my entire family’s lives, from what the heck are we going to do at this point? We don’t know, when I lost my job. What are we going to do? How are we going to pay the bills? How is anything going to happen? To hey, we have a plan. We know what we’re going to do. We have people that are going to support us. That’s where this campus became a second family to us, to me and my children.
I will still run into people—In fact, in the division I work in now, I work with the EOPS and CalWORKs— and they are like, oh, there’s your children, there’s your boys. They still, even though my boys are in their 30s, they act like they’re these little guys that they’re there for—
They have wonderful memories of the school, which it just made them seeing me be able to fulfill a lifelong dream of getting a degree and then the support I got to even go on to Fullerton and get my bachelor’s, them seeing that gave them hope. That, oh, this is possible.
We’ve gone from this. We’re kind of destitute, and we’re kind of in emergency situations here to, there are people that are going to support us. There are people that are going to help us, and there are people out there that want to.
And that’s what we found here at Cypress.
SCOTT THAYER: No, I mean, that’s full circle, right? From taking advantage of the programs, you mentioned CalWORKs, you mentioned working in the Career Center and now working with those programs in support of those students coming forward, I think that is a great 360, if you will. All the way around and seeing the success. So, exciting to hear.
So, Cari, I know we’re going to talk about Caring Campus in a second, but what do you do during the day? Like we talk about a regular—Belinda is sharing her experience. What about—
BELINDA ALLAN: Belinda’s sharing too much.
SCOTT THAYER: —what’s the regular—in your role, what is your daytime job here at Cypress?
CARI JORGENSEN: Of course. Of course. So, day to day I work on the website, social media, marquee, and just about anything that comes across my desk. A lot of requests, it’s making sure the home page has an exciting video on it or hey, we’re closed this weekend or whatever it is, some information that students need and all of that kind of thing.
SCOTT THAYER: All right. So, you are the outward facing. You’re the one behind the screen to make sure that all the information we’re putting out is accurate, up to date, that web content. Very important stuff.
BELINDA ALLAN: She’s amazing.
SCOTT THAYER: Yeah, the marquee. Thank you for the invitation. On the first day—we talked about that earlier. My first day, I was on the marquee. I was like, wow, Cypress is a special place. I feel really welcome. And so, you’re behind that, so, thank you.
CARI JORGENSEN: I was. You’re welcome.
SCOTT THAYER: So, let’s talk about Caring Campus specifically. Now, this is what we came to really dig into. So, the first question is, what is Caring Campus?
BELINDA ALLAN: You put it better.
CARI JORGENSEN: OK, all right. So, it is a group of classified employees who are working together to ensure student success, to put it succinctly.
SCOTT THAYER: Well, that is a succinct definition. Anything to add, Belinda, on what Caring Campus is? A group of classified employees.
BELINDA ALLAN: It is a group of classified employees. Yes.
CARI JORGENSEN: Did you want to add more?
BELINDA ALLAN: I mean, obviously, we get together every month and we do more than just that, but that is the goal.
SCOTT THAYER: OK. No, that is very—I mean, I appreciate that. That is straight to the point. So, let’s talk about some highlights. What are some of the things that you all are doing to support the campus through the Caring Campus initiative? Some highlights? There’s some things that you’d like to uplift.
CARI JORGENSEN: Sure. So, this year, we decided to focus on some equity walks. So, we looked at wayfinding for students, even for employees. Not everyone knows where everything is. We’re in our office, our building. So, we might not know what’s over there.
So, the group of us, there are about 20 of us on Caring Campus, went around to different buildings, and we encouraged our members to go to a building that they don’t work in and then look for, OK, is this accessible? Is there a sign that tells me this is where the professors are or this is where the dean is or whatever the building is? You want to add to that?
SCOTT THAYER: So, wayfinding. Make sure people know—whenever they’re going, they know the directional signage that it’s accurate.
BELINDA ALLAN: Our original initiatives, though, were to put together a resource guide, which we have done. And it is on our website, and we keep it updated. We actually have Diana Domingo. She, this year, updated it for us. So, we have somebody update it every year. Every semester we try to do. The warm welcome was another initiative that we had, which is how many of us get a phone call or somebody comes into your office and they are in the wrong place altogether?
That we do nothing with that but that was part of the resource guide, was learn what other people do. So, when somebody does come in, you’re not just saying, oh, that’s not us, go there. No, now you are walking them to their office because you know where to go. Or you’re sending an email introducing that student to this person and letting them know that, hey, if you’re not getting a response or if you need more assistance, please come back to me.
So, it’s that warm handoff so, that they know you’re not just pushing them off on somebody else you want to help. It gives them that you do want to help. It’s like, oh, I can come back to you. I’ve had many students come back to me for another question, but they know that I’ll have an answer or that even if I don’t have an answer,
I know how to get an answer. I know how to get them to the right person. And that’s what that warm handoff was for. So, we did have the original initiatives that I feel we fulfilled and we are—
CARI JORGENSEN: And we still do.
BELINDA ALLAN: —good. We’re still doing them. And then we’ve created—every year, we look at something different. So, this year was wayfinding. What was last year?
CARI JORGENSEN: Last year was the food.
BELINDA ALLAN: So—Oh yes, the food pass.
CARI JORGENSEN: The food pass specifically.
BELINDA ALLAN: Many questions— students were having many questions. So, it was just to get some answers on what were we doing with the food pass. How could this be easier for the students? What could we do to help? Which many of our Caring Campus folk were sitting down there at those tables handing out food pass cards for the first semester was a little crazy.
So, I think it’s gotten better.
I can see that it’s gotten better, but that first semester was pretty chaotic for the first couple of weeks there. So, Caring Campus stepped in just to be another body, another person that could help. And sometimes, that’s all students need, is somebody else there just to listen and say, this is frustrating to me, I absolutely understand.
Let me help you. That’s all they want.
SCOTT THAYER: Just not being another number, actually listening, taking—
BELINDA ALLAN: Yes, they’re a human. They’re a person that needs help.
SCOTT THAYER: No, yeah, that’s important. It’s important we talk about enrollment, engagement, retention, all those things. And I guess with even in the name Caring Campus, it’s just appropriate. Caring about the experience of the students.
So, I heard resource guide, these equity walks with destination, and then supporting our food pass, which is, right now, our students get $12 a day.
They had to get a card. And I know last year we were rolling it out. There were some bumps in the road, but they got smoothed out. So, the Caring Campus team helped with that. So, that’s great to hear.
And so, I guess another question, why did Caring Campus resonate so strongly with you? So, what made you gravitate to say, we want to do this initiative called Caring Campus?
CARI JORGENSEN: Well, initially— and I’m sure you have the same experience too, where we didn’t really know anything about it. It was new to the campus. We were asked to be part of the initial cohort. But then as we started doing the program, we’re like, oh, this is really exciting. This is another way to help students.
Many of us don’t have student-facing positions. So, when we’re able to be out there, this is just another way to engage and to say, oh, hey, we can help you with this x, y, z.
SCOTT THAYER: So, how does that lead to student success? How do you see that connection? Well,
BELINDA ALLAN: I see that the people that the students have to see are the classified. We’re not sitting in a classroom, but we’re sitting behind that desk to help you with registration, to help you with financial aid, to help you get from the thought of, hey, I should go back to school or I need to go to school to actually getting into that classroom. That is all classified folk.
But our classified folk are exhausted.
So, Caring Campus was a way of saying, hey, classified need to take care of each other, take care of our students, take care of our faculty, take care of the people that obviously, at this point, need a little care, because the pandemic was tiring to all of us.
And this all happened during the pandemic.
So, this is when this all started up, and we were all trying to figure out, what do we do now? How do we do this? And just scrambling to get things online and all the things that we all had to do to get this to work.
And we realized, if our cups are empty, there is no other way that we can help students. When we take care of each other, when we take care of our fellow classified and our fellow staff, they take that extra step to help the students. And students are more successful when they get here and feel that home feeling like I felt.
I was only able to make it here because of the support I got. And with the pandemic just draining everybody, we needed our staff to be taken care of so that they could take care of our students. So, that’s how I see that we are helping students’ success, is because our staff and our classified, everybody is more willing to help.
They’re more willing to take that extra step to walk somebody to an office or to write that email or to look up some information for a student instead of just saying, you know what? I don’t have time. You do it yourself, which was happening before this, because people were so tired. They didn’t know what else to do to help students, because we were all in this chaotic, don’t come back to campus.
None of us were ready for this. So, being able to turn around and help each other and help other classified, that’s what I really love is, when I see other classified and they come to our events or they see that we are handing out swag to students as they— just as an encouragement, that, hey, finals are next week.
That’s what we’re going to be doing in a couple of weeks. Or last semester was, welcome back. Just being out there and supporting them and letting them know that there are people here that do support them, that, I see, is just a huge part of their success. It’s just knowing there are— somebody here to have your back. Somebody is here for you. And that to me is huge.
SCOTT THAYER: It’s appropriately titled, Caring Campus. Living that title is so important. We are one Cypress as well. Collectively, we together can do more. And I think that’s so, important. I guess the last question I have—one of the last question is, for anyone who’s listening, what’s your pitch to others to become involved with Caring Campus?
What would you tell them?
BELINDA ALLAN: Oh, gosh.
CARI JORGENSEN: Honestly, I think most classified are already doing it. And so, it’s just a member— a member? A matter of joining because most classified that at least I’ve seen or from what students tell me, they are willing to help. They are walking the student somewhere. They are saying, oh, well, here’s a map. This is exactly how you get there, if they cannot physically go. They’re doing all the things that Caring Campus does, anyway. They just need to be a part of it, officially.
BELINDA ALLAN: We’re just putting a label on it.
But being able to do those last couple little things that we do— when we do give out the swag— I call it bling— but when we do give it out, just the joy on a student’s face, that, oh, you’re giving this to me for free? I don’t have to do anything?
CARI JORGENSEN: One student hugged me.
BELINDA ALLAN: Oh, my gosh, it’s— yes, they are so excited, and it does help fill up your cup. I’m going to say, yeah, it helps— we’re like the Grinch, with your heart grew three sizes. It does grow just realizing that student, sometimes they even come to you like, you just see they’re so, done. And then they walk away with this spring in their step, and they’re happy.
And I did that. I handed you a cup, and it made you feel like this. I feel like my little heart has just grown three sizes, and it makes me want to help the next person. And then that person is even feeling good. So, it just keeps rolling on.
SCOTT THAYER: It’s contagious, right?
BELINDA ALLAN: Yes. It keeps it rolling, and everyone gets the Caring Campus bug. It’s like the flu.
SCOTT THAYER: No, hopefully not. Hopefully not. As we close out, question for you, I was wondering what the motto we take this journey together means to you.
CARI JORGENSEN: That’s a good question. For me, it’s I can go to anybody and they’re going to help me with whatever issue that I might be having, or— because that’s just what it is here, I feel like everybody’s willing to help. And I think everybody’s willing to help students as well. So, we are saying, OK, we’re going to go with you or you are going to go with me or you’re going to go with me and do all these things, and we’re all going to take care of each other and be like you said, one.
SCOTT THAYER: One.
CARI JORGENSEN: Yeah.
SCOTT THAYER: No, that’s great. We take this journey together. You’re not alone.
BELINDA ALLAN: You’re not alone.
Students, you’re not alone. And you don’t have to navigate the paperwork. And there are some very confusing procedures. You don’t have to navigate it alone. I’m here to help you. We’re here to do it together. I’ll even show you where the best study spots are. And I will give you all of the tips and tips, tips and tips, tips and tips that I learned when I was here.
I was on that journey. I’m still on that journey. I mean, everybody’s on that journey, but I started that journey here as well, and I know how much that affected my life, was people— before we even had the wording but people joining me on my educational journey. So, I want to be there for our students and do the same.
So, Caring Campus to me allows me to do that. It gives me not only the motivation and everything. It gives me the time. Because I can say, I have a Caring Campus thing, so, I’m going to have to not be at my desk today. And it’s just as important as me being at my desk, is me doing this Caring Campus thing.
So, that right there gives me— just that is what allows me to do the things that I do, is that, as we said earlier, that most of our classified do this, but you’ve got to put that label on it to be able to say, hey, I’m going to go do a Caring Campus thing. You just can’t leave your desk.
But if you say you’re going to do a Caring Campus thing, then you can have somebody else watch that front desk or do something else so, that you basically have the allowance to go do that. You are allowed to go away from your desk and do that and step away from your day-to-day work to do this extra thing for your students.
And that’s what I think Caring campus does for our classified, is give them that— allows them to do that. And I think many of our classified, even though they want to do that, they feel that they can’t. They feel that they can’t step away. Because their work is so important where they are, they don’t want to miss out, but having the label of Caring Campus allows them to say, wait, this is just as important. This work is as important as my desk work. Let me step away and not only refill myself but also, help a student and see them in a different light. And that’s where I have seen that journey of I’m with you, and that’s what Caring Campus allows me to do that journey with students.
Because I am no longer student-facing in the position I am. I was with the Career Planning Center, but I’m not with the Career Planning Center anymore. So, I don’t see students at a front desk daily. So, it has allowed me to reach out again and take that journey with students and let them have that help, give them that assistance that I have.
I have a lot of knowledge in this little brain because I was here, so—
SCOTT THAYER: So, they’re not alone. They’re not. Not alone.
It’s a contagious effort. And we wanted to just remind everybody, the name is so, appropriate, Caring Campus, in this community, helping each other on the journey as one. So, I want to thank you both for joining us and thank you for the invaluable work that you do in both of your official roles and as leaders of the Caring Campus initiative. It’s critically important, and we see you. So, thank you.
My Thanks to today’s guests Belinda Allan and Cari Jorgensen. This will be it for episode number 4 of the Cypress College Campus Podcast. We will be back again next month. Thanks for joining us. We’ll see you next time.