Faculty and staff at Los Medanos College gathered the week before classes began for All College Day, an annual tradition designed to set the tone for the semester. This year’s event centers on one big theme: Values.
Throughout the day, employees reflected on what the college stands for, debating which values should be emphasized and how many should be formally adopted. Faculty members, Professor Star Steers and Library Director Christina Goff, were invited to share their perspectives on how values guide the classroom and the broader learning environment.
“It feels much better to do work that is based on research or evidence. That was what I wanted to share with my colleagues.” Steers said. “This work has huge effects because our institutional values have large and important effects.”
Goff agreed, noting that values play a role in creating community among both students and staff.
“It is really up to us to define who we are as an institution,” Goff said.
The discussion drew on the work of sociologist Andrew Miles, whose 2015 study The ReGenesis of Values was cited during the event. Miles argues that values are not just abstract ideals but practical tools that shape decision-making in institutions.
Nicole Almassey, director of Outreach and Welcome Services, said the focus on values connects directly to their work in recruitment and community engagement.
“Here we do a lot of things to connect the community to our college, like hosting events such as Senior Saturday, career technical education days and producing materials that highlight the opportunities students have at Los Medanos College,” Almassey said. “It’s important for the community to understand what Los Medanos College stands for and the value education brings to every individual.”
She added that opening day also serves as a way to energize the campus for the year ahead.
“It’s an exciting day because you’re talking about the future and the possibilities, and you’re also aligning across the college—students, staff, faculty and managers—on what you want to achieve in the upcoming months,” she said. “It’s all centered on student success.”
For many faculty and staff, the event was also about collaboration across departments.
“I come from a business background, and there’s a theory that you get your best product by having the most dialogue and including people who don’t always think alike,” Almassey said. “When you listen to everybody’s perspectives and differing thoughts, you usually end up with a really good value.”
Program Coordinator in Outreach and Welcome Services, Jazmin Morales, who attended the event, said the discussions were a reminder that values only matter if they are lived out in daily practice.
“I think it’s really important because you can say you have a lot of values, but if students don’t think about those values when they’re describing LMC to me, it’s kind of like, what’s the point?”, Morales said. “Your values are what describe you as a school.” Morales said that if she could add one value to help define LMC it would be community.
By the end of All College Day, faculty and staff left with a renewed focus on what the college stands for and how to carry those values into the semester. Whether through classroom teaching, recruitment or collaboration across departments, participants agreed that centering the college’s values is key to supporting student success.
