Vote : Diane Lamkin

I am running for the West Valley-Mission Community College Board of Trustees position for Area 5 (Los Gatos, Saratoga, and parts of Campbell) in our district. The West Valley-Mission Community College Board of Trustees has no members who have experience as community college instructors: we need board members who know the classroom. Those making decisions about our lives should have experience living those lives. I would like to bring the instructor's perspective to this board position, as well as my experience of living in this community, in order to best serve the students, staff, faculty, and the District as a whole.  

My most important qualification for this position is my having been a fulltime instructor (Biological Sciences) at Mission College for 28 years. 

I have solid experience in the mission and operation of the community college system.  I participated on numerous faculty hiring committees and tenure evaluation committees as a fulltime faculty member, and I was a long-time member of the Curriculum Review Committee.  As department chair of Biological Sciences I worked closely with laboratory staff members.  I also served as the Faculty Union treasurer on the Executive Board from the time we joined the American Federation of Teachers (AFT 6554) until I retired in 2018.   

I am committed to student success.  I have taught rigorous and intensive Biology courses to hundreds of students, many of whom came to Mission underprepared but determined to transcend their socioeconomic status by achieving a STEM degree.  I understand the level of dedication the students must have and level of support that is needed to help students become successful.  The most important and valuable thing we can provide our students is a world-class education and the tools to achieve it.  I strongly believe that our West Valley-Mission Community College Board of Trustees should have classroom experience as faculty.