Vol. XXXIV, No. 6

February 14, 2005

This Week at Valencia.

Monday, February 14:
Osceola Campus Building 3 Grand Opening, 4 p.m.

Tuesday, February 15:
District Board of Trustees, 8:30 a.m., Winter Park, Rm 225

Visions & Voices: Jane Hirshfield, 1 p.m., West 6-101

SALT meeting, 3 p.m., East 3-113

Wednesday, February 16:
CEC, 8:30 a.m., DTC

Career Staff Council, 10 a.m., Winter Park, Rm 246

DOT, Deans & Teams, 1 p.m., East 3-113

Friday, February 18:
Faculty Senate, 1 p.m., East 3-113

Theater Night Out for Valencia Alumni & Friends, 6:30 p.m., East Building 3 Atrium

"Into the Woods", East Campus PAC, Fri.-Sat., 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m.

The latest from Leadership Valencia

Goodbye Informs: Valencia's Form Generator - This workshop will provide an overview of the new online Forms generator, an alternative to Informs. Learn how to save your department time in completing Valencia's many forms. Tuesday, February 15, 1:00 - 4:00 p.m., West Campus, Room 6-221, registration code GGIF.

Safe Browsing on the Internet - Would you like to learn how to keep your computer healthy and avoid annoying pop-ups when browsing the internet? If so, then this hands-on workshop is just for you. Some of the topics covered will include safe browsing on the internet, CD's for freeware and cleaning software, AD Aware, Spy Bot, and more. Thursday, February 17, 3:00 - 5:00 p.m., West Campus, Room 6-221, registration code TSBI.

ILP Review Panel - This workshop is designed to help prepare Individualized Learning Plan (ILP) Review Panelists for the second review of tenure candidates ILP work. Panelists will examine the elements and requirements of the pre-tenure portfolio and assess sample artifacts using the Portfolio Evaluation Rubric. Note: All panelists serving on Year-2 Panels must attend this workshop. If you have already attended a workshop on the Year-2 ILP meeting, you do not have attend again. Monday, February 21, 2:30 - 4:30 p.m., East Campus, Room 5-217D, registration code LILPR4.

Home Fire Safety - This workshop is designed to help identify and eliminate common household fire hazards. Some of the topics that will be covered are preparation and training for household fires and emergencies, using the EDITH program, identifying different types of fires, and proper use of fire extinguishers. Tuesday, February 22, 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m., Osceola Campus, Room 2-223, registration code GFIRE.

Improving Your Health (Sponsored by FACC) - This workshop is designed to compare popular diet techniques with emphasis on walking and sound nutrition. Tuesday, February 22, 1:30 - 3:30 p.m. East Campus, Room 6-110, registration code GHEALTH.

Alternative Dispute Resolution - Dispute Resolution can be painless and inexpensive. Come join us for this informative and interactive workshop exploring alternatives to the legal system. Wednesday, February 23, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m., East Campus, Room 3-113, registration code GMADR.

To register for any Leadership Valencia workshop, mail a completed registration form to DTC-1, fax to ext. 3134, or register online at http://valenciacc.edu/leadership/regstr.asp.

Election - Sick Leave Pool Board

YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!! Ballots were sent to all Sick Leave Pool members on Monday, February 14, by email and interoffice mail. If you are a member of SLP and don't receive a ballot by Wednesday, Feb 16, please call Sue Bouchard, extension 1780. Your vote is due in Human Resources by Friday, Feb 25.

Kudos

Angelique Smith, Manager of the Teaching and Learning Center, West Campus, presented at the 25th annual Florida Educational Technology Conference on January 27, 2005. Her topic "EAP PowerPoint Project: How Voice Narration Changes the World" was attended by over 150 conference participants. Due to the feedback from this presentation, Angelique is presenting again in March 2006.

Thank you.

Words can not express how grateful I am to my Valencia family for the outpouring of love during the sudden passing of my beloved husband, Allen. The cards, flowers, calls and hugs were so much appreciated. Please, go home tonight, hug your family and hold them tight, because none of us know when God might need us and call us home.
                                           -Denise Bell

Update: Achieving the Dream Initiative

Submitted by Susan Kelley, Core Team facilitator, on behalf of the Achieving the Dream Core Team: Nick Bekas, Aida Diaz, Tracy Edwards, Rhonda Glover, Sophia Graff, Rhonney Grant, Morgan Phillips, Louise Pitts, Ann Puyana, Joyce Romano, Sandy Shugart, Michael Shugg, Martha Williams, Silvia Zapico

Recently, in a college-wide email, Dr. Shugart noted that much progress has been made in the Achieving the Dream Initiative's work, and that you would be hearing about additional opportunities that would be made available for participation. This report is intended to bring you up to date on the work and to share information about opportunities to participate during the coming weeks.

You may recall that the Achieving the Dream (ATD) Initiative aims to identify and close the performance gaps among students from different ethnic and economic backgrounds. The 2004-05 academic year has been devoted to planning, and a four-year grant proposal will be submitted to the Lumina Foundation on May 1 to request funds to implement those plans during the 2005-2009 period.

We are nearing the completion of our initial research, and we are approaching a point at which we want to collaborate with a large number of faculty and staff to identify the student performance gaps on which we want to focus with the aid of Lumina Foundation funds and the strategies that we will use to close student performance gaps.

To do that, we are inviting a large group of faculty and staff to an Achieving the Dream meeting which will be held in the spirit of the college-wide "Big Meetings" that have helped to guide our work over the past several years. The meeting will be held March 11 on the East Campus, and is tentatively scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. and end at 4:30 p.m. Invitations are being sent out this week to a representative group of several hundred faculty and staff who work directly with the students who are the focus of this project, as well as those who serve on the governing councils and college committees related to this work. All full-time faculty will be invited.

If you have a special interest in participating and want to make sure you are on the list, please contact Rita Moore at ext 3417, or email rmoore38@valenciacc.edu,and she will add your name to the invitation list.

Selecting Strategies for Focus: In Fall 2004, the College planned a collegewide Learning Day at which we intended to explore the Achieving the Dream Initiative. However, as we are all aware, three hurricanes intervened and the Learning Day had to be cancelled.

In order to re-start the work after the hurricanes, the Core Team for the ATD Initiative invited a group of 35 college leaders from all sectors (faculty, career service staff, professional staff, and administrators) to meet on October 8, and we considered a group of 100 strategies (compiled by Nick Bekas with college wide input) that have been tried at Valencia to improve the success of at-risk students. The leadership group reached consensus on a short list of the strategies to be given further consideration based on their "ripeness," scalability, and effectiveness.

Key Measures: Based on the recommendations of the leadership team that met on October 8, the Core Team adopted the following measures around which to focus the Lumina grant and the ATD Initiative, in each case comparing rates among students based on ethnicity as well as the overall rates of each cohort compared to past cohorts, since it is the hope that the performance of all students will improve as the performance gaps are closed among and between students from different ethnic backgrounds:

1. Increased percentage of students completing mathematics and increased competency in mathematics.

2. Increased percentage of students completing the college prep sequence.

3. Increased percentage of students reaching benchmarks or progression points post-prep and prior to graduation. (The ATD Data Team is working to define and recommend these points to us.)

4. Increased graduation rates.

Strategy Teams: The Core Team grouped the short list of strategies into three categories: Learning Communities, Supplemental Learning, and Other Strategies (largely focused on the transition from high school into and through the first year of college). You may recall that email was sent out collegewide in November and December 2004, seeking members to serve on three Strategy Teams to study and make recommendations regarding the short list of strategies. Fifty-two faculty, staff, and administrators volunteered to serve on these three teams, and have reviewed the strategies and related data, identified any strategies that may have been missed that should be considered, and are preparing recommendations to the College. Those recommendations will be considered at the Achieving the Dream Initiative meeting on March 11.

Data Team: The Data Team, facilitated by Rhonda Glover, is reviewing data related to the strategies being studied, providing assistance to the Strategy Teams, and undertaking transcript analysis. An important part of the Data Team's work is to assist in identifying critical benchmark or progression points in students' academic progress that occur after completion of prep courses and prior to graduation.

Student Involvement: Student involvement is being sought in two principal ways, under the leadership of Joyce Romano and Joan Andrek. First, a professional consulting firm is assisting in holding focus groups with students who left the College before graduating so that we can learn more from them about the problems they encountered and what might be done to assist them in making a successful re-entry into the College. Second, faculty and staff will be invited to conduct interviews with groups of students collegewide. Student views and experiences will be built into the meeting on March 11, at which time collegewide consensus will be sought on how best to structure our Lumina-supported work.

Community Consultation: Additionally, a team with leadership from Fiona Baxter and Martha Williams is facilitating interviews with community members, with an emphasis on minority and low income communities, to learn more from them about their perceptions of college, their perceptions of Valencia in particular, obstacles that prevent or make difficult community members' entry into and completion of college, and practices and strategies that they would recommend to assist members of their communities in being successful in college. The Office of College and Community Relations is providing logistical support in scheduling and holding the forums, and the Alumni Association and the Black Advisory Committee have volunteered to participate and assist. Feedback from these community forums will also be shared in the March 11 meeting, and it will provide another perspective from which to view performance gaps among students.

If you have any questions about this report or any of the upcoming activities, please feel free to speak with any member of the Core Team, or contact the Core Team facilitator, Susan Kelley, at skelley@valenciacc.edu or extension 3410. We thank you for your interest and for your support.

Hello and Goodbye.

A warm Valencia welcome is extended to James "Chris" Beck, Graphic Designer, mc 4-19, ext. 1328; Danielle Danforth, Assessment Specialist, mc 4-29, ext. 1149; Rebecca Gallup, Manager, Projects and Services, College and Community Relations, mc DTC-2, ext. 3218; Kathryn Tagye-Shephard, Coordinator, Student Development-Osceola, mc 6-1, ext. 4159

A Taste for Learning

Please join us for a spectacular evening of wine and epicurean delights at the beautiful Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center. Dozens of vintners from around the world will serve their finest creations, complementing a variety of gourmet food samplings.

Scout for unique auction items, and be ready when the bidding starts - It's all to benefit scholarships for Valencia Community College students! The event is slated for April 30, 2005, from 7 - 10 p.m., and tickets will go fast! Just $75 per person, or $125 per couple, and tickets can be purchased from the Foundation office at the DTC, ext. 3150. The Silent Auction will run from 7:00 - 9:15 p.m. and is loaded with exciting items for you to bid on. Don't miss this exceptional event, and benefit Valencia student scholarships at the same time. Call the Foundation or e-mail akerlin@valenciacc.edu for more information.

VALENCIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE
DISTRICT BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Orlando, Florida

Regular Meeting Room 225-226, Winter Park Campus
February 15, 2005 - 8:30 a.m. AGENDA 850 West Morse Boulevard
THIS MEETING IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Call to Order -- Board Chairman

Invocation - Dr. Stanley H. Stone, Vice President of Human Resources and Diversity

Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag

Recognition: Ruth Prather
Michele McArdle
Thomas Greene

I. Approval of Minutes - December 21, 2004, Regular Meeting

II. Reports
A. Winter Park Campus (Dr. Ruth Prather, Provost)
B. Winter Park Student Government Association Report (Janeen Garcia, WP SGA President)
C. Alternative Delivery Report (Dr. Tracy Edwards, Vice President for Academic Affairs & Chief Learning Officer and Bill White, Chief Information Officer, Information Technology)
D. Strategic Learning Plan Refresh Report (Dr. Louise N. Pitts, Special Assistant for the Learning-Centered Initiative)
E Spring Term Enrollment (Dr. Edwards and Dr. Joyce Romano, Vice President, Student Affairs)
F. Second Quarter Financial Report (Keith Houck, Vice President Administrative Services)
G. Property/Inventory Control (Mr. Houck and Undria Stalling, Board Internal Auditor)
H. Construction (Helene Jaeger, Assistant Vice President, Facilities)
I. Faculty Association Report (Chris Borglum, President, Collegewide Faculty Association)
J Valencia Foundation Report (Larry Slocum, Vice Chairman, DBOT)
K. President's Report (Dr. Sanford Shugart)

III. New Business
A. Change Order No. 1, Spalling Concrete, West Campus
B. Change Order No. 1, Criminal Justice Institute
C. Final Certification of the Dr. Philip Benjamin Matching Grant Program for Community Colleges for the 2005-2006 Budget Request
D. Expenditure of SPD Funds for Out-of-the-Contiguous-U.S. Travel
E. Valencia Institute Courses and Fees
F. Human Resources Agenda
G. Submission of Grant Proposals
H. Property Deletion

IV. Other Business

Submissions to the Bulletin are encouraged, so please e-mail your achievements, awards, recognitions, and relevant information for the college community to Mary Jane Jones, Staff Assistant in Marketing and Media Relations. Deadline for submission is 5 p.m. on the Tuesday preceding each Friday's distribution. Mary Jane can be reached at ext.1017, or mjjones@valenciacc.edu.