State Center Community College District staff gathers for Mega Conference

CLOVIS, Calif. (KFSN) -- At the Clovis Veterans Memorial District, the fun started early on Tuesday.

The State Center Community College District had a motivational speech and mascots battling it out on the dance floor.

"Our campuses are spread out over 5,000 square miles, so as a district, we are larger than the state of Connecticut," says Christine Phillips with State Center Community College District. "To get all employees together in one place is such a unique opportunity."

About 300 classified staff members from all four campuses attended the 24th annual Mega Conference.

The theme this year was "Game Changers: Playbook for Classified Success".

"Our classified professionals are our non-instructional support staff, so financial aid, registration, payroll, all the things that it takes to keep the school running and get the business done," Phillips said.

Phillips hopes everyone who attended walked away with a new tool.

"There are a variety of skills that we are offering," she said. "Anything from self-defense to self-care, we got classes on legal updates and things like that."

Mary Haynes has been an employee for five years and works at the downtown office. Attending the conference was a first in her book.

She participated in multiple sessions, including Chair Yoga and the huddle-up session, where experts addressed how to handle uncertainty.

"Of the choices, those were the better fit for me," she said. "Right now, there is a lot of uncertainty going on, so any time you can learn about healthy ways to deal with the pressure and what is going on with the world and in the workplace, I am down for that."

She says networking and putting faces to the names of co-workers from other locations was refreshing.

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