College Update 01/09/05

From: Sanford Shugart
To: All Faculty and Staff
Date: 01/09/05
Subject: College Update 

Yesterday, after speaking to a group in Kissimmee, a gentleman approached me to tell me a "Valencia story." It seems a young lady who regularly served him at a local waffle house seemed distraught one morning. He asked her what was wrong and she shared her fondest hope - that she would find a way to afford to attend Valencia and get and education. It was able to direct her to a very helpful young lady in Financial Aid and together they worked out a plan for her to attend Fall semester, in spite of serious damage to her home from the storms of the summer. He saw her agin in November and asked how things had worked out. She beamed and told him her story of the remarkably helpful staff at the college, the wonderful professors she has in her first semester of college, and her discovery that she was a much better student than she had feared.

This is a story, in one form or another, that you have witnessed many times. When Jefferson first made his argument for a system of public education in Virginia, in a letter to his law tutor, he said, "Geniuses will be raked form the coals." Every day of every semester, this promise is fulfilled for students in our classrooms and corridors. But the promise would still be out of reach for most if not for the deep sense of service the staff and faculty share at Valencia. For all the dreams you deliver in the course of the ordinary acts of service and kindness in your professional life, on behalf of the thousands of students whose experience may well change the very destiny of their families, thank you.

Spring Semester Update

While we have all welcomed the end of the crazy fall semester and the beginning of a new academic term, I know you are mindful that many students continue to suffer from the effects of Charlie, Frances and Jeanne. Early indications suggest that our enrollment reflects the large numbers who are still struggling with home repairs, financial setbacks, and loss of jobs. Still, many of you have been exceptionally flexible in our attempts to manage these issues and render the best service to our students. We will conduct a thorough review of our enrollment and the impact on finances over the next few weeks and share the picture that emerges with all of you. I don't think we are facing a major crisis, but it is likely that we will need to hold down expenses the remainder of this year in order to meet priorities for this and next fiscal year.

Achieving the Dream

Discussions involving many of you are progressing toward identifying the major initiatives we will bring to scale to improve our students' learning outcomes and close the gap in achievement among different student groups - those from different neighborhoods, those whose first language isn't English, those who come less prepared for college level studies. The next major step will be "big meeting" during the spring semester to collaborate on the big decisions regarding implementation of just a couple of important efforts that will touch many of our students. Watch for the announcements very soon and bring your best thinking to the discussion.

Politics

The legislature is already beginning to prepare for the spring session. We've been working with the Governor for months to prepare another aggressive budget for community colleges. He will release his proposal in the next couple of weeks and the next stage of the work will begin - lobbying for all we're worth. I will try to keep you informed as the process unfolds. Unfortunately, this and my role as Chairman of the Council of Presidents will require much of my attention and time in Tallahassee in the coming weeks. Thank you for your forbearance with my schedule as I try to be in three places at once...

Other Details

Watch for email from others in the college to catch you up on many other details - the status of personnel searches, grants, various projects, our new contract with Collegis, etc.

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