About Elaine: Elaine has been a leader on campus for 34 years. She serves as Vice President of the Faculty Association and is the Chair of the Kinesiology Department. She has a BA in English and an MA in Economics.
Before joining SMC back in 1990, Elaine had a long volleyball career, earning an impressive share of accolades. She was a collegiate All-American volleyball player at UCLA and Utah State University. Elaine was on the USA indoor volleyball national team and lived and trained at the US Olympic Center in Colorado Springs. Her team played exhibition matches in Europe and Asia. In 1978, they were the 2nd US group to enter China. (The US Ping Pong team was first.)
Elaine went on to play professionally in Italy from 1980 to 1987. After her time in Italy, she enjoyed a 12-year career playing pro beach volleyball, and represented the US on the FIVB world beach tour. In 1990, Elaine won a world championship title. During her years on the US and world tour, she was ranked in the top four players in the world.
A: I was hired at SMC to coach the women's volleyball team. The position was a one-year temporary spot. I fell in love with our students and teaching and applied for the permanent job. When I was in the final interview with Dr. Moore and Randy Lawson, I challenged Dr. Moore to a tennis match for the job. He laughed! We never played and I got the job.
I wish I had known in the beginning how much impact we have on our students and how much we would learn from them. We are lucky enough to be part of our students' lives for a semester or more. I have seen students make huge changes in their lives. Not only physically but mentally, too. They have taught me about their cultures, religions, beliefs, and so much more. I have always felt that the time I spend with my students is the best part of my day.
There are times that they need our help. There are many resources that we can point students to. Once I realized that every class has at least a few students that need some help, I included information in my Canvas shell or syllabus. I always make time for students' questions and try to respond to their emails in a timely manner.
I also wish I had learned about the FA when I started out. It wasn't until the Administration was giving me a hard time that I realized what the FA does for faculty. My work on the Negotiations Team and as an officer in the union is extremely important to me. We support faculty and in doing so, help students.
A: I would say there are two sources for my optimism: First, there are a few very special people on this campus that make significant contributions to our college every day. These are administrative assistants, faculty, and staff that love students and truly want to make an impact on students’ experience at SMC. They are giving of themselves and willing to push up their sleeves whenever asked to help. These are people that don’t rush away when students need them. They want to help.
The other source of my optimism is the students -- students like last year‘s AS President, Cecilia Jeong, give me hope for the future. These people will positively impact the world.
A: My greatest concerns center on the financial aspect of our college. We are constantly being told that we are on a financial cliff and that SMC’s solution is to cut classes. I think that should be the last thing we do, especially while we are in hold harmless. We are here to teach students. Why would we cancel classes? The classes are our product. By cancelling classes, we are not serving our students. Before the start of a semester, the LACC District lets classes stay open with 13 students! They have a minimum seat requirement of 18 students, but if a class is at 13 before the start of school, they won't cancel the class. This provides students with options. We all know that many students add classes at the last minute. At SMC, cancelling these sections that means fewer choices.
