800 reasons to celebrate

To commence is to begin. On Sunday, our students will receive confirmation that coming to St. Louis Community College was the right thing to do. There will be smiles, laughter and a few tears as we celebrate our student’s dedication and hard work. This is just the beginning for them – aren’t you glad to be a part of their success? I know I am – it’s what we do best: prepare students to complete their studies and take on the world. I’ll see you on Sunday.

Although much is being done to prepare for Commencement this weekend, we’ve had lots of activity on the campus. I spent some time at the Homeplate Garden with Mark Manteuffel. There’s so much going on down there – if you get the chance, stop by and take a look! We chatted about all the different approaches to gardening, raised plant beds and watering systems. There are also areas of the garden that contain beautiful native/prairie plants. Scott Gevaert also has been hard at work helping to plant flowers, trees and other plants to enhance the garden.

I know last month we asked you to vote for the Homeplate garden in the Second Nature Climate Leadership award. Although many of us put in our daily votes, we didn’t win – but thanks for all your effort! I also want to thank Brian Bozek, Mark Manteuffel, Mary Caldwell, Kedra Tolson and Rachel Gomez for their work in getting the video shot, loaded on the voting web site, and promoted on the campus and in the community.

During the STLCC Board of Trustee meeting, Dr. Joe Worth was approved as Vice President, student affairs. Joe, do you feel any different from yesterday since your approval? Stephen White was also approved as the new dean for the MSET division. I look forward to working with both of them and I hope you’ll join me in sending congrats their way.

Around the campus

• On Monday, the TRIO graduate reception takes place from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the Student Center lower level patio. If you can, stop by and congratulate these fine graduates.
•  Next week, I’ll be traveling to Lake of the Ozarks for the Missouri Community College Association’s annual Trustee and Administrators Spring Conference.

Around the district

• The 2013 Missouri legislative session wraps up today and I want to thank Ann Brand for all her hard work. It’s been a busy session and Ann has represented STLCC well working with legislators on tax credits, higher education funding and retirement bills. Thanks Ann!

And finally, with more than 800 students gathering at the Chaifetz Arena on Sunday, let’s be mindful of their future, their beginning and what they’re stepping into. I know for some us it’s been a while since we graduated from college. Remember how that felt? Good. Let’s keep that in mind and celebrate on Sunday.

Thanks for reading the blog – from now on, we’ll publish the blog every two weeks until the fall semester begins.

Community is our middle name

Many different sounds can be heard around campus this time of year: a sigh of relief, a happy yelp, and quite possibly, the loud honking of geese. All those sounds (even the geese!) indicate the end of finals week and the beginning of new and exciting challenges. Some of our students are off to a four-year institution. Some of them have learned new skills to increase their marketability on a job. Some of them have found the right place to be for a second chance. All of them have come through these doors for one reason – St. Louis Community College does expand minds and change lives. In our rush to get through the semester, we should never lose sight of that. We’re doing good work, and our student community appreciates it!

I saw their appreciation and happy faces at our annual Graduate Reception. I had a great time listening to the students and hearing about future plans and college choices. And I’m especially grateful for faculty and staff coming who stopped by to say hello.

Congratulations to Gwen Nixon and our Student Government Association for hosting the annual Student Recognition Banquet last Friday evening!  Everything from the decorations to the dinner to the program was wonderful. We were also joined by Dr. Craig Larson, STLCC Board of Trustees, Dr. Craig Klimczak, vice chancellor for Technology and Educational Support Services and Castella Henderson, director of institutional development. A good time was had by all!

As most of you know, I have made two recommendations to Chancellor Dorsey for action by the Board of Trustees at their May meeting: Dr. Joseph Worth for vice president-student affairs, and Stephen White for dean, MSET division. Congratulations to both Joe and Stephen.

Around the campus

• We held a successful Lunch and Learn session (sponsored by the SGA) focused on campus safety and security. More than 130 students, faculty and staff attended the session and gave helpful comments and suggestions. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I am proud of this campus and the way we pull together to keep the campus and student community informed. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please send an email to PIM@stlcc.edu.
• Not only do we focus on safety and security, we also focus on wellness. The Wellness committee honored those who “stepped it up” around campus and rowed their way to fitness. Many medals, certificates and awards were handed out, and I know the next time the walking and rowing contests are offered, the campus community will be ready to compete!
• The campus governance councils had their final meetings of this year.  A big thank you goes to Heather Allen and Mark Manteuffel for serving as the leaders of the FVIAC and the FVAC respectively.
• Tonight, we’ll finish the week by honoring our nursing students during the annual Nursing Pinning event. Congratulations to all of our students!

Thanks for reading the blog. Next week, we’ll chat about Commencement!

Rain, rain, go away …

Did we really have three straight days of spring? I think we did and I loved it! Well, keep your fingers crossed for more – doesn’t seem likely with this rain and cold temps.

The campus was alive with recognition and celebrations this week. We started Monday with the Service Awards. We recognized employees with five to 45 years of service and honored employees deemed outstanding by their peers. Let’s congratulate Bryant “T” Williamson (Outstanding Full-time Classified Staff), Patricia Oakes (Outstanding Part-time Classified Staff), John Furlong (Outstanding Professional Staff) and April Garrison (Outstanding New Faculty). We also honored our Outstanding Adjunct Faculty of the Year: Collette Lewis in Business and Human Development, Russell Rosener in Liberal Arts and Zoe Geist in Math, Science, Engineering and Technology. We also bid farewell to our retirees: Susan Appelbaum, Tim Croskey, Nancy Linzy, Eilene Lyons, Donna Nelson and David Wigg. A wonderful time was had by all – and I’m hearing from Public Information & Marketing that the Notes of Appreciation cards were all taken – all 200 cards! What a wonderful way to show appreciation for your colleagues! I’m proud of our campus.

Our students also took center stage this week. Congratulations go to Mike Cave who received the Grogg Award during a campus ceremony yesterday. Holly Shanks also was honored with the Diana Kirby Spirit Award. Student reporters from the Forum are feeling pretty good after receiving 12 awards at the 2013 Missouri College Media Association. The Forum competed against other state community colleges, including the Montage at STLCC-Meramec and the Scene at STLCC-Forest Park. The staff placed in several categories including news writing, editorial writing, entertainment review and feature writing.

Did you get a chance to come to the Assessment meeting on Wednesday? If not, you missed out on some wonderful presentations. We heard about great projects from both Academic Affairs and Student Affairs – - all with the interest of improving processes to enhance student success. I applaud those departments who presented: English, reading, business administration, engineering, human services biology, mathematics, academic support services and career and employment services.

AROUND THE CAMPUS

• The Student Government Association is really busy! On Wednesday, they will sponsor a Lunch and Learn Safety Forum from 11 a.m. to noon in the Multipurpose Room. We invite you to attend the forum to learn about the procedures that the campuses follow to keep students, faculty and staff safe; learn about the methods of communicating to students, faculty and staff in an emergency situation; and exchange ideas about how to improve in these areas.
• Earlier in the week, I had lunch with the Student Government Association. They shared their projects and accomplishments for the academic year. They are also super excited about their awards banquet. I hope to see you tonight at the Hilton St. Louis Airport hotel – the reception begins at 6 p.m., dinner at 7 p.m. Kim Hudson (KTVI) will serve as the emcee for the evening. This is always a good time to celebrate our students.
• The campus community finished up interviewing sessions for the VPAA candidates. Thanks to all of you for interviewing the candidates and chatting with them during open forum sessions.
• The Florissant Valley College Chorus put on a wonderful concert last night. Kudos to Dr. Paul Higdon and all the talented students who make these concerts a treat!
• I also had the chance to see some striking artwork during the FV Student Art Exhibition – I applaud the arts faculty for nurturing these gifted students.
• Right before the Service Awards, I had a chance to view the SEED students’ community action plan posters. During their time at FV, SEED students develop a Community Action Plan to take to their countries to give back to their home communities.  They arrive with ideas about a plan they’d like to implement, but we help them to develop the plan by exposing them to many different types of community service opportunities in the St. Louis community.  An ideal Community Action Plan is a project which requires little if any funding, and can be accomplished through the leadership skills of the SEED graduates in mobilizing volunteers. I was really impressed with the hard work they put into their presentations and “elevator” speeches.
• I would like to encourage faculty and staff to come out and celebrate with our graduates at the Graduate Reception. As always, it will be held in the Multipurpose Room from 2 to 3 p.m. Thursday, May 9. KCFV will join us and supply the music, the graduates and their families will supply us with smiles and excitement for the upcoming Commencement ceremony. By the way, Commencement will take place at the Chaifetz Arena at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, May 19.

 AROUND THE DISTRICT

• I’m looking forward to participating today in a workshop devoted to staff from Workforce Solutions Group and FV engineering faculty. We’ll work around issues related to the MO Manufacturing grant and discuss the next phase of the Aerospace Institute.

Thanks for reading the blog, and I look forward to “chatting” with you next week.

Due to a power outage …

My week began in San Francisco celebrating Florissant Valley student Antonio Parker as he was named to the 2013 USA Today All-USA Community College Academic Team and identified as a New Century Scholar.  Antonio is highlighted on the STLCC web page right now so you can read his story.

A power outage toward the end of the week provided a few anxious moments for the campus, but showed the creativity of our faculty. I have to say, I enjoyed seeing our faculty take their classes outside on what was a beautiful afternoon – Paul Higdon had the chorus practicing near the Theater, LaRhonda Wilson was involved in a class exercise on the lawn, Jennifer Medeiros had a class meeting at Taurus and Terry Freeman took advantage of the patio between Engineering and Training Center.  Paul Nygard, Dave Wigg, Bob Langnas and Ana Coelho moved right ahead with class business in rooms lighted through the windows.  I am sure there are many others who kept learning alive at Florissant Valley – thanks to the entire campus community!

We aren’t sure what caused the power outage. As most of you know, the power went down twice – the second time it went down and came up, power was spotty on campus – - indicating the outage may have caused damage to the main electrical distribution system.  We are working to determine the cause. Thanks to all of you for your patience!

KUDOS

Kudos to the winners of the first quarter Safety Program for 2013! To be eligible for the quarter each department must complete three months of safety training, complete three months of departmental inspections and have no injuries for the quarter. The winners are:

Day Housekeeping, Scott Martin – 10 quarters

Buildings/Grounds, Shipping/Receiving, Scott Martin & John Ferlisi – 2 quarters

Evening Housekeeping – Keith Reece – 6 quarters

Maintenance/HVAC – Gary Roney – 1 quarter

Auxiliary Services, Bookstore – Laura Stevens – 2 quarters

The FV English department recently recognized the winners of their annual student writing competition, departmental student of the year, and the recipient of the Al Bell Memorial Scholarship.  

Best Short Story – Natalie Bast, “All in a Day’s Work”

Best Poem – T’keyah Thomas, “Prisoner”

Best Essay – Buck Coomer, “M.A.R.”

Best One-Act Play – Buck Coomer, “Creepers”

English department Student of the Year – Natalie Bast

Al Bell Memorial Scholarship – Holly Shanks

Congrats to all! 

UPCOMING EVENTS

Service Awards – On Monday, we’ll celebrate the Service Awards. I hope to see you at 2 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room. We’ll take time to honor faculty, staff and retirees for their years of service. Employee awards will also be announced. Click here to see the list of Service Award recipients.

Grogg Awards – This week marks the beginning of our student award season.  At 2 p.m. on  Thursday, we’ll honor the outstanding student in our broadcasting program during the Grogg Awards. This recognition is an annual tradition in the spring semester at Florissant Valley and was established in memory of Philip Grogg, who had been a KCFV/communications student here.

SGA Banquet – On May 3rd, the Student Government Association Awards Banquet will showcase the academic, athletic and service achievements of our students. It takes place at 6 p.m. at the Hilton St. Louis Airport Hotel. I hope to see you there!

Thanks for reading the blog and have a wonderful weekend!

A wonderful week in review

Are you hoping that these April showers bring May flowers, or are you hoping that the rain goes away? I’ll stand by Mark Twain’s quote: ‘in the spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours.’ The balmy days turning into rainy days turning into cold days has kept all of us on our toes!

Another important issue keeping us on our toes is planning. This week, you’ve had the opportunity to work with a facilitator around the vision and core values statement. There’s one last session today, so hopefully, you can attend – 1 to 3 p.m. in PDR-A. I also had a chance to meet with the vice presidents and deans to get the wheels turning on our Strategic Priorities planning document. This is something you should all be discussing as well as generating ideas – in the coming weeks, you’ll be hearing more about this from the vice presidents and deans.

I had a great time at the Institute for Interdisciplinary and Global Studies student symposium! Several students and staff came out to sample Italian cuisine and celebrate learning! It’s always inspiring for me to hear students discuss what they learn from traveling abroad and service learning projects.

We had a productive manager, program coordinator and department chair meeting. The final budget reduction numbers were discussed and Dr. Craig Klimczak chatted with us about some changes we’ll see on campus beginning July 1st. Our classroom computer technology support services will now be managed by TESS. The Meramec and Wildwood campuses already operate in this manner and I believe the transition for our campus will be seamless. I appreciate all the thoughtful questions and feedback I received at the meeting.

Let’s congratulate our 38th David L. Underwood lecturer: Mary Luebke! Several campus community members as well as FV retirees (who were on campus for their annual meeting) gathered to hear the announcement and celebrate with a reception in the library.

Tidbits
· This is the last weekend for “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” at the Terry M. Fischer Theatre. Performances will run at 8 p.m. April 19 and 20. The play is directed by our own Mary Luebke!
· Today is the last day to sign up for 2013 Annual employee benefits! If you need additional information or have questions, please contact Deb Neale in Business Services at ext. 4203.
· The STLCC Board of Trustee meeting will be held in the Student Center Multipurpose Room at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 25th. It will be preceded by Chancellor Dorsey’s open forum. Hope to see you there!
· This weekend, I’ll be accompanying FV student and PTK member Antonio Parker to the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) Convention in San Francisco, Calif. As you know, he was recently named a 2013 Coca-Cola New Century Scholar, and received the highest All-USA Community College Academic Team application score in Missouri.

Thanks for reading the blog! I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

A busy week indeed!

You can always tell the time of year by the amount of activities we have on campus. And I’m sure since Monday is tax day, we’ll all be a bit busier! This week, the Cardinals kicked off the 2013-14 season and we kicked off interview season with MSET dean and Vice President-Student Affairs candidates visiting the campus. There were several open forums, and the candidates got a good feel for the campus community. Many positive comments from the candidates came my way – I want to thank all of you who participated in the forums and the committees that screened and interviewed the candidates.

On a more serious note – the St. Louis region has seen many changes in the weather lately – what started off as a balmy week turned into serious storms Wednesday night. The North County area, along with other cities and towns, suffered extensive damage to businesses, homes, trees and cars. I’m glad that there were no serious injuries. I know so many of us want to help. KPLR reported this morning on the clean up in Hazelwood – -please click on this link to see what you can do.

The SOAR event that I mentioned in last week’s blog was a resounding success! Annie Wagganer tells me that 68 faculty and staff engaged and supported 162 students. A sincere thanks goes out to the SOAR team and the campus community members that supported them. As Annie says, we “heart” our students – what a wonderful way to show we care!

Next Thursday, we’ll announce the 2013 David L. Underwood Memorial Lecturer. Underwood recipients exhibit excellence in instruction and a genuine, humanistic concern for students, faculty, staff—and all of education. Hope to see you there – the event begins at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, on the second floor of the library. Look for some of the FV retirees to be in attendance as they will be on the campus for their annual luncheon. It’s always fun to welcome them back to campus to chat and share in the Underwood announcement honor.

Get your bowling shoes on! This afternoon, the College will take part in “Bowling for Scholars,” our annual fund raiser to help students purchase or rent textbooks and instructional materials for their classes.

Tidbits:

• Tonight marks the opening of “The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” at the Terry M. Fischer Theatre. Performances will run at 8 p.m. April 12, 13, 19 and 20 and 2 p.m. April 14. The performance on April 12 is sign interpreted.
• Don’t forget to sign up! The 2013 Annual employee benefits election period runs through Friday, April 19. If you need additional information or have questions, please contact Deb Neale in Business Services at ext. 4203.
• You still have time to nominate someone for Outstanding New Faculty, or Classified and Professional staff recognition (to be announced during the Service Awards, 2 p.m., April 29th), please contact Kedra Tolson  for guidelines. 
• There was great attendance at the first STLCC Core Values and Vision session. You have a few more chances to participate – 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 17^th in TC 202/204 and 1 to 3 p.m. Friday, April 19^th in PDR-A.
• Please continue to vote for our video highlighting campus green projects and initiatives. You can vote for the video (every day!) by clicking here. Vote vote vote!

Thanks for reading the blog and have a great weekend!

… the blog entry where I talk about campus community participation

Spring is in the air – really this time I think it is! April is Community College month and we, at Florissant Valley have had a terrific start this week. We started off with a vote drive! If you haven’t heard, our campus is being recognized this month as one of 20 colleges and universities nationwide that exemplify the mission of the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). As part of this finalist standing, we put together a short video highlighting campus green projects and initiatives. You can vote for the video (every day!) by clicking here. Vote vote vote!

On Wednesday, the campus was alive with the annual Green Fair sponsored by our campus Sustainability Committee. There were a number of booths set up; some with items for sale and others sharing information about gardening, greening up your life and getting out on the trails for walking or riding. I appreciated the music provided and all of this was enhanced with sunshine and temperatures that encouraged a short walk outside.

Yesterday marked the beginning our Arts and Education Fund drive. A small but enthusiastic crowd gathered on the third floor of the library to hear Treasure Shields Redmond & Kathleen Finneran share some of their poems and the genesis for them. If you need more information about the A&E drive, please contact John Furlong.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

• Fifth State Bonding Bill – The Missouri legislature, with just six weeks remaining in the session, is considering a number of bills that will have major impact on higher education in the state. The House will soon vote on a bill that will bring before the voters the Fifth State Bonding Bill that, if approved, will provide significant funding for building and renovation for designated projects including colleges and universities.
• Funding – Also being considered are changes to the eligibility and continuation requirements for the Bright Flight, Access and A + scholarship programs. We are working with legislators to ensure the changes take in to account the needs of community college students. Of most interest, however, is a proposed new formula for funding higher education. The model is the result of months of study, work and public hearings by the Joint Committee on Education.  The new model contains some innovative ideas about higher education expected outcomes and funding but includes one item that all community colleges strongly oppose. The formula would deduct 50 percent of all local property taxes from the amount of funding we receive from the state. We feel this unfairly penalizes our students and our voters and are working to remove the deductions.
• Budget – Finally, the Senate has begun work on the State’s $25 billion budget. This House version includes some $20 million in new money for higher education and increases to Access and A + scholarships. Missouri’s final budget must be passed by May 10 so we have very busy month ahead. 

As I look over my calendar for the next few weeks, I note several events in which our campus community can participate – if we choose to do so.  As we think about student retention, College goals and values and new colleagues coming to FV, we should also think about our role in shaping the direction of the campus and College as well. Here are campus events and activities to consider:

Student Outreach And Registration – 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 8 & 9, Multipurpose Room

FV faculty have put together an event to reach out to our students to help promote Fall 2013 registration. You can help students:

• determine which classes they need next
• learn how to use online STLCC resources
• answer questions about degree options
• register ONLINE for Fall 2013 classes

Contact Jen Medeiros or Annie Wagganer to participate (there will be resources available to support you when assisting students), OR stop by to support your colleagues and FV students. SOAR is a group effort from the team that went to the 2012 League for Innovation Learning College Summit: Amy Bird, Cindy Campbell, Tom Dieckmann, David Doering, Julie Fickas, Christine Lewis, Jennifer Medeiros, Chris Stephens, Roger Thomas and Annie Wagganer. Let’s thank them for conceiving and planning this event!

VPSA, Liberal Arts dean and MSET dean candidates – next week will also offer us the chance to meet candidates for some of the administrative positions open at Flo Valley. Please see the table below:

Tuesday, April 9	Thursday, April 11	Monday, April 15	Tuesday, April 16
MSET Dean Candidates	VPSA Candidates	LA Dean Candidates	MSET Dean Candidates
9 a.m., 10:15 a.m.	9 a.m., 10:15 a.m., 11:30 a.m.	9 a.m., 10:15 a.m., 11:30 a.m.	10:15 a.m.
TC 202/204	TC 202/204	TC 202/204	TC 202/204

Vision and Core Values discussion – last week, we all received an email from Chancellor Dorsey about a draft vision statement for the college and a set of draft values to guide our work. There are three sessions scheduled for Flo Valley so that your comments and thoughts can further develop those visions and values. Please plan to participate in one session – as we move forward, the final product of this work will also set the values for the campus. Those days and times are as follows:

April   9          1 – 3 p.m.                      TC 202/204                    

April 17          4:30 – 6:30 p.m.          TC 202/204       

April 19          1 – 3 p.m.                     PDR-A     

This is a very busy time of the year for all of us, but I would encourage you to participate in these processes. You have a voice – these events call for us to participate and take action.

Thanks for reading the blog and have a great weekend!