Greetings From Dr. Kinnamon
Dear Colleagues,
As I head into my third week at College of the Desert, I continue to be impressed with the quality and dedication of the leadership, faculty, staff and supporters of this college. I have committed to keep you informed regarding the progress of current reviews and analysis involving college operations and programs. Accordingly, I want to provide a progress report on several items.
During my first week at COD, I contacted the Southern California Football Association Commissioner to offer my full support and the cooperation of the college and to communicate the College’s commitment to ensure the football program’s compliance with all applicable intercollegiate athletic rules and regulations. The Commissioner began his inquiry into the allegations regarding the football program recruitment and eligibility practices this week with the full cooperation of the Board, my office and staff. We do not yet know when the review will conclude or when findings will be available for review and consideration by the Board. When we have more information we will share it with you.
In addition, you should be aware that the Board of Trustees authorized the President’s office to identify and retain an individual or firm that has no existing business relationship with the College to investigate any additional allegations or matters outside the jurisdiction of the Commissioner’s review and return to the Board with findings and recommendations. Again, I will share more on this when we have additional information.
Finally, I want to share with you some information about an ongoing matter involving my former employer and a personnel issue I remain involved in there. As you know, it is the usual and customary policy to not comment on personnel matters due to our respect for employees' rights to privacy. I can say however, that I am currently attempting to resolve some outstanding personnel and legal issues with my former employer. The COD Board of Trustees has been fully aware of these matters as well as my efforts to resolve the matter quickly and without litigation.
It is my sincere desire to successfully navigate all of these issues and to do my best to keep you informed as we progress.
I remain honored to serve as your Superintendent/President and look forward to working with you to insure that we deliver the highest quality education possible for our students.
Sincerely,
Joel L. Kinnamon
Superintendent/President
College of the Desert