Vol. XXXVII, No. 15, April 28, 2008

This Week at Valencia

Monday, April 28

Student Affairs Leadership Team, 10 a.m., Osceola Campus, 2-219B

Thursday, May 1

OSD/SAC meeting, 8 a.m., East Campus, 5-112

Atlas Access Manager’s meeting, 9 a.m., West Campus, SSB-110

Wednesday, August 20

Academic Assembly, 8:30 a.m., East Campus

District Board of Trustees Meeting Summary

Reports

Winter Park Campus Update - Dr. Ruth Prather, provost of the Winter Park and East campuses, announced at the Board of Trustees April meeting that Valencia’s Brain Bowl team won the National Academic Quiz Tournaments Intercollegiate Tournament (NAQT ICT)title for community colleges on Saturday, April 12 at Washington University in St. Louis. This marks Valencia's fifth community college national championship in the seven years this tournament has existed. Valencia also won in 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2007.

Dr. Prather then introduced a report on the experiences of two Winter Park faculty with the Endowed Chair Program. Endowed chair recipient Jean Marie Führman, professor of English, reading and humanities, attended a fantasy and science fiction writing workshop at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire. From the experience, Professor Führman said, she gained insight into how to place commercial fiction in the marketplace and the need for science fiction writers in the classroom to teach scientific principles. Ilyse Kusnetz, professor of English, used her chair to attend the Bread Loaf School at Middlebury College in Vermont for an 11-day writing immersion program. Professor Kusnetz said that she returned to the classroom bursting with creative ideas for her own students and practical advice too: Bread Loaf guides you on where to submit your work and how to negotiate a contract.

Winter Park Student Government Association Report - Matt Vanture, Winter Park SGA president, gave an update on community service projects that Winter Park’s Student Government Association organized including Green Up Day, a visit to Give Kids the World, a house-building project for Habitat for Humanity, Keep America Beautiful, and toy donations to the Winter Park Community Center.

AtD Update - Dr. Joyce Romano, vice president of Student Affairs, led the discussion on Valencia’s work for Achieving the Dream. Valencia’s AtD project is tied to a four-year grant that began in the spring of 2006 and ends in the fall of 2009 (the initiatives launched in response to the grant, however, are slated to continue beyond the grant’s ending). The purpose of the project, Dr. Romano said, is to reduce performance gaps between under-prepared and college-ready students, between racial and ethnic groups, and between math course success rates and success rates in other disciplines. In addition, Dr. Romano said, the initiative has focused on particular courses (pre-algebra, beginning algebra, intermediate algebra, college algebra, freshman composition and U.S. government). Planning for AtD began in 2004-05; Phase 2 involved the creation of linked (or LinC) courses that pair Student Success (SLS), an elective course that teaches students how to be successful in college, with development math; Phase 3 in 2007 expanded linked courses to other disciplines; and the 4th phase focused on the expansion of the Student Success course, requiring students who are mandated into three or more prep courses to enroll in SLS. AtD leaders are now studying whether to require students with two prep course requirements to take Student Success. Currently over 80 schools across the country participate in AtD. Hillsborough, Tallahassee and Broward community colleges are other Florida schools that now participate; Valencia was among the first college’s to get involved.

Dr. Romano then introduced Dr. Julie Phelps, AtD project director, who gave a presentation on how the program has expanded since it began. She provided data that showed the increases in the number of course sections for each strategy associated with AtD. Regarding student participation, Dr. Phelps said that the various initiatives have impacted 22,000 students so far, ahead of the projected 20,000 students that they hoped to reach by the end of grant.

Ann Puyana, assistant vice president of Academic Affairs, collected and analyzed AtD data, looking at student success( passing with C or better), pass rates and return rates (persistence). Ms. Puyana said that while gaps still exist, they have surpassed their goals in numbers and still have a year-and-a-half left on the grant. Dr. Sanford Shugart, Valencia president, added that there have been improvements shown in five of the six courses targeted by AtD. Data, Ms. Puyana said, was not as good in MAT 0012 (pre-algebra), the lowest level of math. She said that in interpreting the data, she concluded that MAT 0012 students may be challenged in a way that the normal classroom method of delivery is not a way that students can succeed, and that the college was looking at providing alternative instructional methods for students who have taken the course once or twice already. Dr. Shugart added that the good news is that the number of students in MAT 0012 is a declining number since area high schools are sending us fewer students who are underprepared. He said that success patterns such as these have been really hard to move, but that if we could improve student success in these gateway courses the benefits would cascade to other courses and lead to improved graduation rates over time. For the next phase of AtD, Valencia is committed to participating in the Foundation of Excellence—a study involving 9 hallmarks of best practices for first-year students—where we will be comparing ourselves to these benchmarks.

Faculty Development Report - Posing the question, how do we prepare faculty to meet the needs of the students we’re talking about, Dr. Kaye Walter, executive vice president and chief learning officer, introduced Helen Clarke, director of the Teaching/Learning Academy, and Patrick Nellis, director of Faculty Development. Dr. Walter said that Valencia is a model for other community colleges for faculty development. Ms. Clarke told the board that the college created the Teaching/Learning Academy in 2001 and developed a thoughtful curriculum for what a professor, librarian or counselor would need to have a skill set that fits with the concept of a learning college. Mr. Nellis said that the learning college shifts the focus of a teacher from how well did I teach to how well did my students learn. The Teaching/Learning Academy curriculum began with targeting newly hired faculty and then reached out to part-time faculty through the Associate Faculty Program. There are currently 1,230 part-time teachers and 430 full-time teachers, Mr. Nellis said, and the Teaching/Learning Academy sees to it that all faculty experience the same coordinated comprehensive curriculum with incentives for ongoing professional development. The challenge for faculty, he said, is that once they have tenure how do they stay engaged. As a result, the college created a post-tenure incentive; Mr. Nellis said that he expects over 60% participation in this program. Mr. Nellis said that the return on investment for Valencia is quite extensive as a result of these measures. He said there have been organizational changes as well, including changes to the tenure process, a step in pay, and greater emphasis on professional development.

Construction Report - Keith Houck, vice president, Administrative Services, showed the board an updated map of West Campus showing the new Allied Health Building (bldg. 10) opening Fall 2008, the Signature Building (bldg. 8) to be ready by January 2009, and the Joint-Use Building (bldg. 11) opening Fall 2009. The Signature Building, he said, will be the campuses’ first to have the front entrance facing the lake. In addition to the new buildings, $8 million worth of rehab work to existing buildings is planned after staff and students move into the new buildings. The map also showed a new parking lot which added another 500 parking spaces and which puts us ahead of new building needs. New compressors were also added as part of an energy program which will allow the college to save energy costs. On East Campus, Mr. Houck said, the parking lot is failing, creating the need to redo the north lot which will add over 300 spaces. Finally, Mr. Houck said that the Way Finding Committee should start installing new signage on all campuses later this month.

Faculty Council Report - Rose Watson, president of the Collegewide Faculty Council, said that faculty are discussing ways to engage students outside the classroom. She said the faculty council met with Dr. Stan Stone, vice president, Human Resources and Diversity, and Bill Mullowney, vice president, Policy and General Council, about what kind of options faculty have in the event they are accused of discrimination or other allegations.

Valencia Foundation Report - Valencia Trustee Raymer Maguire III reported that the annual Taste for Learning event was held last Saturday. He said that a trip to Augusta (home of the Master’s golf tournament) went for $22,000 in a silent auction along with 93 other auction items. As a result of the event, the foundation was able to raise $600,000 in new money for scholarships.

President’s Report - Dr. Shugart began his report by noting the celebration of the fortieth anniversary of the college that took place in conjunction with the Taste for Learning event. At a pre-reception, forty former board members, administrators, faculty and staff were recognized for their contributions to the college over the last four decades.

Turning his discussion to the legislature, Dr. Shugart invited Mr. Houck and Bill Mullowney, college counsel, to bring the board up to speed on the status of pending appropriations to the college as they are being discussed in Tallahassee. Mr. Houck began with an overview of the state’s finances. With regard to Valencia, Mr. Houck said that the college currently has a budget of $66,943,651 for 2007-08. Proposed in the Florida House budget is $66,493,530 in funding for Valencia for 2008-09; the Senate budget proposal is slightly less with $65,657,349. Mr. Houck expects the final budget will be $1.5 million down from the current budget. He added that because the college trimmed its budget last year we are able to weather an adjustment this year.

Mr. Mullowney said that in both the Senate and House, there were proposed bills providing for a six percent increase in tuition. He also said that there was talk of establishing a user fee for distance learning courses. The president hopes to have briefings with the board before the next board meeting so that they can make informed decisions regarding tuition.

Dr. Shugart ended his remarks by saying that the board would be pleased to know that their leadership won awards recently. Maria Grulich, trustee, and Dr. Silvia Zapico, provost of the Osceola Campus, were two of 11 women to receive the first-ever Hispanic Women Who Make the Difference Awards on March 22 at an Orlando luncheon sponsored by ImpreMedia Company, the parent company of La Prensa.

New Business

North Parking Lot Renovation/Expansion – East Campus - Ed Ames, director of Procurement and Auxiliary Services, discussed the Request for Proposals process for the North Parking Lot Renovation/Expansion for East Campus. On April 14, Mr. Ames said that Procurement held a public evaluation meeting to review proposals. Based on the evaluation and scoring of proposals, the committee’s recommendation was to go with JCB firm. The schedule for completing the parking lot is this summer.

Consent Agenda - The following items were considered and approved under consent agenda: Non-Mandatory Transfer of Funds to Current Restricted Fund 2; Request to Reserve Fund Balance for Purchase of Land and Equipment; Policy Amendments including Contracts for Administrative, Professional and Instructional Personnel, and Display of Posters, Signs or Other Materials; Policy Deletions; Additions, Deletions or Modifications of Courses and Programs; Valencia Enterprise Courses and Fees; Human Resources Agenda; Submissions of Grant Proposals; and Property Deletion.

Fortieth Commencement Ceremony

Commencement ceremonies will be held at 10 a.m. this Saturday, May 3, at Silver Spurs Arena, Osceola Heritage Park in Kissimmee. Please allow adequate travel time.

All ceremony participants are to wear full academic regalia and report to room number 157, between 9-9:30 a.m. Staff will be available at the main entrance to direct you to this room.

Please remember that a ticket is necessary for each family member, including children, regardless of age. If you wish to obtain tickets for guests, please contact Krystal Cortez, administrative assistant, Admissions and Records, ext. 1506.

Notice for Full-Time 12-Month Employees:  Annual/Fiscal Year Salary Distribution Change

Beginning in July an important change will be made to the way your annual/fiscal year salary is distributed. This change will affect ALL full-time 12-month employees and includes full-time career service employees, full-time administrators, full-time professional employees, full-time counselors and librarians.  The change does not apply to work study, part-time hourly and adjunct employees. Ten-month faculty, eight-month faculty, and four-month faculty will not be affected by this change. 

During the month of May, Human Resources will be conducting meetings on each campus to explain the change. Once meetings are scheduled and announced, employees will be encouraged to attend. In an effort to provide information in multiple formats the meetings will be published in the Bulletin; an issue of HR Notes will be devoted to this subject; a notice will be posted on the HR Web site; and a college-wide email will be sent. Other methods of communicating the change are also under consideration.

Please share this notice with others in your area that may be affected by this change. Contact Human Resources at ext. 8033 or Payroll at ext. 8100 if you have any questions. 

Mark Your Calendar for Academic Assembly

Academic Assembly will be held the morning of Wednesday, August 20 on Valencia's East Campus. This traditional "welcome back" is an important gathering for all full-time faculty and professional staff that provides an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of our colleagues while also gaining information and updates regarding work underway and future plans. Please save the date for this event. Additional information and details will be forthcoming.

Leadership Valencia

Banner for Beginners (Finance & Procurement) - Banner for Beginners includes Finance and Procurement. April 30, 8-11:30 a.m., Winter Park Campus, Room 219, Registration Code: TBB-5.

Refresh Banner for Finance & Procurement - Open to all who have attended a Beginner’s Class. April 30, 1-3:30 p.m., Winter Park Campus, Room 219, Registration Code: TBR-5.

Banner: Faculty Schedule, Course Schedule and Reassign Time Entry Training - This training will be for all Administrative Assistants to the Dean and academic department Staff Assistants for entering courses, faculty schedule, faculty load and re-assign time. May 5, 10 a.m.-12 noon, Osceola Campus, Room 2-116, Registration Code: TBAN-1.

Microsoft Office Essentials ONLINE - This face-to-face workshop will introduce attendees to the new Microsoft Office 2007 Ribbon interface, as well as exploring features such as the MS office button, contextual tabs, and SmartArt Graphics. May 12, 3-4:30 p.m., West Campus, Room 6-326A, Registration Code: TMOEO.

Institutional Review Board (IRB) Training - Part I and II - Planning to conduct a study involving Valencia students or employees? Not sure if your study needs to comply with Valencia's new mandatory Institutional Review Board (IRB) process for research projects? The Valencia IRB process is designed to encourage faculty, staff and student research while protecting the participants, the college, and even the researcher. Part I provides an overview of human search protection; and how our IRB works with an aim to be as unintrusive as possible while complying with Federal regulations. Completion of the Part I workshop satisfies the IRB training requirement for investigators of Valencia projects that have been approved through expedited or full review. Part II will walk you through the Valencia IRB application process through interactive discussions, including questions and discussion of examples. Contact Liz Gombash at ext. 2919 or lgombash@valenciacc.edu for "Upon Request" training.

To register for any Leadership Valencia workshop go to http://valenciacc.edu/leadership/regstr.cfm. Please be sure you have the approval of your direct supervisor prior to registering for a workshop. If aworkshop is canceled, only those registered will receive a cancellation e-mail.To view the status of any workshops go to the Leadership Valencia calendar located online.

Procurement News

The Procurement Office along with Facilities hosted our first sustainability meeting on West Campus March 12. We heard speakers from the City of Orlando, Orange County, UCF, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and Helene Loiselle from Valencia Community College. Vendors who participated in the trade show were Peninsular Paper, OUC, Office Depot, Welbro Construction, Johnson Wax, American Ad Specialties, Buckeye Cleaning, State Contract Carpet, Steelcase, Teknion LLC, Lawton Brothers, Baker Barrios Architects, Florida Business Interiors, and Pioneer Ram. Each speaker and trade show vendor had something to share and all who participated walked away with a better understanding of ‘going green’. 

Update on Collegewide Multi-Functional Units - Procurement has recently completed the replacement of 110 old worn-out analog copiers with new digital multi-functional units. Many departments that would have had to go without new equipment were able to get new multi-functional devices with no up-front costs. We were able to accomplish this through the efficiencies of contract pricing, standardization, right-sizing the units for the need, contract management – which includes consolidated invoicing for greater accountability, and the elimination of inefficient devices. These new units have the capability of printing, faxing, scanning, scanning to e-mail and copying. This means a savings to all departments.

With the new multi-functional units, there is no cost for printing, faxing or scanning. The toner is included in the price of our service contract with the company. The service contract is paid out of a college-wide account along with the copy paper and staples needed. Departments are encouraged to utilize one of the new multi-functional machines instead of the added expense of non-essential desk top equipment and very expensive toner purchases to support them. We understand that in some cases this may not always work, but if it is the exception rather than the rule, we are moving in the right direction. Thank you for your continued support in this effort.

Please contact Ed Ames or Mary Ellen Davies if you have any questions concerning the new multi-functional devices.

Banner Tip: Using Item Text on Banner Requisitions - When creating a Banner requisition where additional information needs to be added to a description line, use the ‘Item Text’ under Options so that it will print on the Purchase Order.  Do not use Document Text or Commodity Text.

Valencia Foundation's Endowed Chairs for Learning Leadership

Endowed chair awards fund learning experiences and educational resources for full-time faculty on continuing contract.  Applications are now being accepted for 23 chairs which have a total value of $91,300. Don't miss out on this opportunity. The guidelines, application, and list of available chairs can be found on the Foundation's Web site at http://www.valencia.org. The deadline to apply is Wednesday, May 7.

If you have questions about the Endowed Chair Program or application process, please contact Becky Gallup at ext. 3218 or email bgallup@valenciacc.edu.

Kudos

Congratulations to the following members of the tenure Class of 2008:

Tony Beninati, professor of History and Business, Osceola Camus, winner of the Excellence in Scholarship of Teaching and Learning award

Katherine Harris, librarian, East Campus, recognized for Outstanding Learning Outcome

Leann Hudson, professor of Nursing, West Campus, winner of the Student Services Excellence Award.

Tenure recommendations will be made to the District Board of Trustees at the June meeting.

Anne Whitt, English adjunct professor, was presented with the PTK Professor of the Year Award at the Osceola Campus Annual Leadership Awards on April 15. Anne has taught at the Osceola Campus for almost 20 years and she always been one of the most sought after teachers on English composition.

Valencia Enterprises is offering a DiSC® Certified Trainer Workshop on June 13.This designation provides you with credentials that demonstrate your in-depth understanding of DiSC and its applications. It ensures that you are grounded in the newest DiSC research and provides a way for you to demonstrate your commitment to excellence and innovation. You'll be able to deliver your own DiSC learning activities knowing you have a complete understanding of DiSC. To enroll, contact the Client Service Center at 407-582-6688.

E-mail  achievements, awards, recognitions and relevant information for the college community to Mary Jane Jones in the Marketing and Media Relations office. Deadline for submission is 5 p.m. on Tuesday to be included in the following Monday’s publication. Mary Jane can be reached at ext.1017, mc 4-34 or mjjones@valenciacc.edu