June 2023 A & F Times
Table of Contents
- June Column
- What is an FM-er?
- Look At What We Are Doing!
- Sustainability on Campus
- Events & Happenings
- Anniversaries and Newly Hired
- Thank you for your contributions
June Column
Laura Lupei, AVP University
Budget, Resource Planning
and Analysis
As Spring moves into Summer, I can really feel the energy change on campus. Commencement has given us a chance to celebrate the successes of our graduates and the end of another academic year. Many of the students are gone, our calendars are more open and so are the parking lots. Hopefully many of us are also able to take some well-deserved time off.
The long summer days have a different pace than the academic year, yet summer is always a busy time for those of us in Administration and Finance. Though there are less students on campus, the work doesn’t always slow down. Facilities is busy cleaning the dorms and getting projects done that can’t be completed during the academic year. The campus is filled with guests who are participating in conferences hosted by Conferences and Events Services keeping our dining and operational units busy earning extra revenue for the campus. All of Financial Services is working on fiscal year end close. In the Budget Office, we are finalizing the budget for the next year and closing out the current year. And there are many more of us, continuing our work to support the students and each other and preparing for the return of the students in the fall and a new class of incoming students.
We have had some challenging years recently as we have struggled with a drop of enrollment and budget constraints but we have made progress in reducing our deficit this year. We have also just graduated our last big class this year in May 2023, which means we can start to grow our enrollment again starting in Fall 2024. That will be the first time we have an incoming class that will be larger than our graduating class. This will both increase enrollment and help with the budget constraints. We still have challenges ahead, but I hope we are able to take some time this summer to recharge and celebrate our successes. Thanks to all of you for the work you have done to support our students this year and all of the work you do throughout the summer!
What is an “FM-er”?
Patty Couret
Director of Facilities Business Services
My story at SSU started 25 years ago. I was a student assistant and progressed to where I am today – a story that may be similar to many of you. When I was a student, I did not say to myself, “I am going to have a career in facilities management!” – there is no degree in facilities science and management - it is a field that I fell into serendipitously.
What is Facilities Management? Difficult to define but essentially it is a department of being “all things to all people, all the time”. For example, what happens when a goat is roaming campus because it escaped from the neighbor’s property? Call Facilities! We have now added “goat whisperer” to our portfolio.
We start our day creating an intentional and methodical plan to ensure a clean, safe environment in support of the university's mission and strategic plan. This is so that at the end of the day, we can check off all the tasks needed to preserve and maintain the campus’ largest asset – its physical buildings and grounds. Yet, it almost never happens that way. A typical day has been compared to juggling 10 balls in the air while driving a motorcycle… going 60 miles per hour. It can be intense. At the end of the day, we make plans to be with loved ones, rest, recharge and prepare for the next day. Who would have guessed that the next day meant 1 a.m. when that emergency call comes through due to a power outage, broken water line, and/or incident in the residence halls. Quickly, a team is pulled together to address the emergency before business hours resume so that we can set the stage for the campus community to thrive.
There are many days when it can feel like defeat, but when faced with challenges, it also brings new opportunities. Currently I have the privilege of serving as chair of the CSU Facilities Administration Business (FAB) Affinity Group and am one of the original members of the Chancellor’s Office Women In Facilities program. We come together to create "Facilities Management University"; share accomplishments, identify solutions to challenges, define best practices with our campus partners, and build comradery. What we have learned is that it is not about doing “easy” better - instead the focus is learning how to make “hard” better. The group was invited to join the CSU Business Conference which offers the opportunity to evaluate and compare where we are on the spectrum of effectiveness and efficiency. I am proud to say that SSU is the leader in service level documentation and computerized work control systems and there is much more to achieve.
The FAB group’s next focus is career path planning and cultivating leaders in the field of facilities. I never say, "I HAVE to work at Facilities", instead I say "I GET to work at Facilities". It's hard, challenging and full of complexities of epic proportions that seem endless but it also is rewarding to be in the front row and witness our collective success and it is the best way to experience tremendous personal growth. When I made the decision 25 years ago to accept a job at SSU, I was saying yes to working for an organization that is invested in the lives of the next generation - that in itself is rewarding - everything after that is a bonus.
Look At What We Are Doing!
Commencement 2023! It's a wrap!
A & F personnel were busy working, not just during the festivities, but in preparation for the friends and family members coming to celebrate their graduates. Not only does the landscaping and grounds look perfect for Commencement, there are hundreds of chairs that need to be set up on the Weill Lawn. Our staff was busy volunteering at the Cultural Commencement Ceremonies and during the weekend of commencement. Our folks served in every job needed to pull off this wonderful weekend: from Staff Check In, to serving as Ushers; we drove carts, helped with parking, worked the concessions, handed out diplomas, assisted with Regalia for the Platform, lined up our graduates, assisted with alumni pin distribution and other Alumni Association activities. Congratulations to our graduates and THANK YOU to everyone that helped make this a seamless event for our Graduates, their friends and their families.
Scoops of Gratitude
How about them Seawolves!
The 2022-2023 season was pretty amazing for our Student Athletes and Coaches! 10 out of the 11 teams reached the postseason. Here's a brief recap of how our teams fared this year:
- 6 CCAA Tournament appearances – Most in the conference (second year in a row)
- 5 NCAA Tournament appearances – Women’s Soccer, Volleyball, Men’s Golf, Softball, Track & Field
- We hosted both the NCAA Men’s Golf tournament AND the NCAA Softball tournament
- Track and Field - Best finish in school history at the CCAA Championships Gianna Bomarito - 1st place in the 10,000 meters, setting a conference and school record. At the NCAA National Championships, Gianna placed 15th overall in the 10,000m. She finished the year as the second best freshman and 7th overall in the country in the 10,000m event!
- 2 CCAA Championships – Women’s Soccer and Softball
- 2 CCAA Tournament Championship Game appearances (volleyball and women’s soccer)
- 11 CCAA Major Awards (player of the year, coach of the year, etc)
- 3 CCAA Players of the Year – Lexi Zandonella-Arasa (WSOC), Jaylen Wells (MBB), Anna Zoia-Buescher (SB)
- 5 CCAA Freshman of the Year – Annette Sotelo (WSOC), Gianna Bomarito (WXC), Talia Gutman (WGOLF), Charlie Johnson (Softball) and Giana Bomarito again for Track and Field – Gianna is the first athlete in conference history to win both! (Most in the conference)
- 1 CCAA Defensive Player of the Year – Julia Pritchard (WSOC)
- 2 CCAA Coach of the Year – Emiria Salzmann (WSOC), Jen Bridges (Softball)
- 31 All-CCAA selections · 13 All-Region selections
- 5 All-American selection – Lexi Zandonella-Arasa (WSOC), Julia Pritchard (two time All-American) (WSOC), Jen Trephan (VB), Jaylen Wells (MBB), Anna Zoia-Buescher (SB)
- 27 – CCAA Player of the Week awards
- Men’s Golf and Softball both ranked top-10 in the nation
- 30 Academic All-District Selections
- Marika Liesick - first female baseball player in CCAA and SSU history. Pitched 3 innings without giving up an earned run this season.
- Men's Golf WON the NCAA Regional Tournament and Griffin Pace took first in the tournament!! Golf advanced to the quarterfinals at the NCAA National Champions but ultimately fell to Barry University. The team finished tied for 5th overall, the best finish since 2010. Colin Huang placed 11th individually which was the best finish by a Sonoma State golfer since 2009.
Presenting the 2022-2023 Seawolf honorees!
Sustainability at SSU
Shovel ready for solar!
On May 10, the campus celebrated the groundbreaking for the Solar Array Project. This project has been years in the making and will provide the campus with 4.5 megawatts of clean, renewable energy, 1.5 megawatt battery storage capacity, not to mention the financial savings to campus. Our agreement with Total Energies includes the installation of the solar arrays, and they will control and maintain the equipment and will sell the power generated to Sonoma State University under a power purchase agreement, for a 30 year period, estimated to save the University about $6 million. When the 30 years is up, the equipment and power generated will belong to SSU. Work in earnest will begin on May 22 and extend through November 6. The equipment will be fully operational in 2024 and we will celebrate again when the equipment goes live. Please visit our calendar for the full schedule, including parking lot closures.
Events & Happenings
The End of the Fiscal Year is rapidly approaching
The last day of the Fiscal year is June 30, 2023. The financial services folks have lots to do between now and then and certain activities have been paused for the remainder of the 2022-2023 Fiscal year. Don't miss an important deadline and find out all the Closing Dates for Fiscal Year 2022-2023 and add the Campus Year-End Calendar to your Gmail Calendar.
Coming soon to the Green Music Center!
Have you looked to see what is happening at the Green Music Center this summer? Starting with their 4th of July celebration and continuing through September, concerts and movies are on the schedule. Find out when Kool & the Gang, or what movies are playing and purchase tickets at their Summer at the Green 2023 webpage.
Anniversaries and Newly Hired
The following individuals were hired or celebrated working at Sonoma State University in April! Welcome to our new employee and congratulations to those celebrating anniversaries!
| Name | Department |
|---|---|
| Cristobal Valencia Alvarez | Culinary Services |
| Name | Department |
|---|---|
| Allan Timblin | Culinary Services |
| Gia Telles | Housekeeping |
| Frances Little | Financial Aid |
| Adriana Moreno | Receipts Receivables |
| Noelle Fisette | Employee Relations and Compliance Services |
| Don Cortes | Culinary Services |
| Jared Chasey | Athletics |
| Kimberly Lillo | Talent Acquisition and Workforce Admin |
| Sergio Ortega | Housekeeping |
| Alison Schneider | Housekeeping |
| Joe Flocchini | Operations and Engineering |
| Megan Varnadore | Risk Management & Safety Services |
| David Salinas | Housekeeping |
| Steven Motley | Operations and Engineering |
| Nicholas Arnold | Workstation Security and Services |
| Eleanor Henderson | Enterprise Applications |
| Patricia Simmons | Purchasing |
| Raymond Blabon | Culinary Services |
| Teresa James | Enterprise Applications |
Thank you for your contributions!
Your contributions to the newsletter are what make it fun to read. From sharing what your colleagues are up to, photos, articles and more! Thank you for continuing to contribute. Please send to hodenfie@sonoma.edu.
