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October 2009

This monthly communication piece, which began in August 2008, is one way to enhance my communication with you. I hope you find Ski Gram beneficial and informative. If you think there are other ways to enhance my communication with you and our College community, please let me know.

INDEX

1. Presidents Comment
2. Meetings During the Past Two Month
3. College News Items
4. September Mt. Hood Community College District (MHCCD) Board of Education Meetings
5. Questions for the President
6. KUDOS to Employees
7. Closing Comments

Presidents Comment

On Sept. 14, the gym was full of employees for our Welcome Back event. Representative Greg Matthews, Commissioner Diane McKeel, Mayor Jim Kight and our own Board Chair Beverly Russell brought greetings and appreciation for the work each of you is doing to help students move mountains and be successful.

Awards were presented to Pam Shields and Jean Wagner for 30 years of service and to Paul Karczag for 25 years of service. Congratulations!

The next day, approximately 700 students and parents were present for orientation. Special thanks to Bradley Best and Robert Cox and all those who worked tirelessly to ensure student orientation was a huge success. This year, combining spring, summer and fall orientation, we served nearly 1,000 new students and their friends and family members!

In-service continued all week with workshops targeting the Colleges strategic plan and following three goals: teaching and learning, community engagement and resource development. Special thanks to Deb France, Oh planning+design, Larkin Franks, Cassie McVeety, Nancy Szofran and everyone who helped make in-service a success.

Fall term began Monday, Sept. 21 with headcount up 14 percent and FTEs up 16 percent compared to the first day of the fall term 2008. Many thanks to the deans, associate deans and department chairs who, along with Larkin Franks and Wendy Schissel, worked around the clock opening new sections and finding teachers to ensure students on waiting lists were able to take classes.

Not only were numerous employees working to ensure a successful start to the new school year, Associated Student Government (ASG) leaders, led by Bradley Best, ASG president, were instrumental in the success of new student orientation and the first week of school activities. It has been an auspicious beginning.

Select Meetings During the Past Two Month:

In addition to the Colleges fall term activities, the president greeted attendees of the Reaching Empowering All People (REAP) conference at the Gresham Campus and attended the summer Transitions graduation; American Association of Women in Community Colleges (AAWCC) breakfast; Soroptimist Teddy Bear Parade; ASG Retreat; Courtyard Fountains Celebration; and summer Youth Corps reception. I also spoke at an American Association of University Women (AAUW) event and met with Tobias Anderson; representatives of NOLA, Inc.; Tom Russell, Portland Adventist Hospital; Dave Eatwell, director of W. Columbia Gorge Economic Development; Alice Rouyer, City of Gresham; Kurt Haapala; Michael Martyn; Don DeVore; Theresa Rockove; Jeff Jones, auditor; Judith Olsen, Wells Fargo; J. Gerdendo and L. Sampson, FedEx; Craig Kolins and Christine Chairsell; Tony Palermini; Alison Butler; Kent Abelton; Terry Kneisler; Jim Aynes; and Michael Patrick.

Government Officials:
I attended town hall meetings sponsored by Representatives Nick Kahl and Dave Hunt in Troutdale and Representative Suzanne VanOrman and State Treasurer Ben Westlund in Sandy; the re-dedication of Fairview City Hall; and the Metro Transportation Summit held at MHCC. I participated in a conference call with U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan and a conference call with Dr. Linda Byrd-Johnson, director of U.S. Federal TRIO program. I also met with David Bragdon, Metro; former Governor Kitzhaber; Fairview Mayor Mike Weatherby; Paul Warr-King; Gresham Mayor Shane Bemis; Rep. Mitch Greenlick; Fairview City Manager Joe Gall; Commissioner Diane McKeel and the Gang Task Force; the Rockwood mayor and city manager; and Mayor Sam Adams.

School Superintendents and Presidents:
I hosted the monthly superintendents meeting in the Town & Gown Room at MHCC, met with Robin Baker, president of George Fox University; Bob Davies, president of Eastern Oregon University (EOU); Judy Irwin, American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) International Education Board; Donn Maier, Portland Lutheran Schools; Dan Ryan, Portland School District Foundation; John Miner, superintendent of the Gresham Barlow School District; Jim Francesconi and Liz Kaufman, Oregon Higher Education Alliance; and Annette Mattson, David Douglas School Board. I spoke at the Springdale Job Corps graduation; participated in a conference call with George Boggs regarding the American Graduation Initiative (AGI); and attended Dr. Andrea Cooks Inaugural Celebration, Warner Pacific College; the State of the State of Education at Portland State University (PSU); and the Oregon School Board Association Fall Regional Dinner.

Business Representatives:
I attended meetings and/or met with members of the following organizations: Gresham Rotary; the Gresham Chamber AM Networking in MHCCs Town & Gown Room; the Gresham Area Chamber of Commerce Board; Mt. Hood Jazz Festival Opening Night Reception; Mt. Hood Jazz Run; East Metro Economic Association (EMEA); City of Gresham Town Hall at MHCC; the Gresham Arts Center ribbon-cutting event; Rock Around the Block Bed Races; Leaders Roundtable; Oregonian; Oregon Community College Association (OCCA) Board of Directors; Rockwood Redevelopment; Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB); Hispanic Heritage dinner auction; Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) Board Retreat; and the Oregon Presidents Council. I also participated in a number of conference calls with the following individuals: Rene Leger, E3 Employers for Education; Kathy Yeager, Contract Training Edge; the Oregon Presidents Council.

College News Items

Where in the World is MHCC?
Did you go on vacation during the summer? We'd love to see all the places MHCC and you visited around town or around the world! Send us a photo from your summer adventures! We will be featuring the photos in the next Ski Gram and on the College Web site. E-mail your picture to pictures@mhcc.edu. We've heard there were lots of visitors to the San Juan Islands. Where else did you go?

Student Success and Enrollment Management

Did You Know?

• In 2007-08, the advising center served a total of 142,722 people (i.e., phone calls, adviser calls, advising intake, advising e-mails and appointments).
• In 2008-09, the advising center served 140,832 people (same categories as above).
• As of Sept. 18, 2008, 8,660 students were enrolled in the fall quarter.
• As of Sept. 18, 2009, 9,970 students were enrolled in the fall quarter. This is an increase of 15.1 percent compared to last year.

Fun facts regarding financial aid:

• Approximately $3 million is expected to be disbursed back to students after tuition has been paid for fall 2009!
• Compared to this time last year, 23 percent more students have been awarded financial aid this year.
• This year, financial aid applications have increased by 33 percent.

27th Annual Teddy Bear Parade

Kim Applin & family

Jim Arnold & family

one sleepy baby (Gracie Shepard)

MHCC Graduate Alexander Spycher

Some of you may have known Alexander when he was a student at MHCC. An excellent musician, Alexander transferred to George Fox University. Unfortunately, he became ill and passed away several weeks ago. Contributions may be made to the Alexander David Francois Spycher Music Scholarship at Bank of America. Cards may be sent to Alexander's family in care of Pierre and Karen Spycher, Pleasant Valley Church, 11125 SE 172 Ave., Happy Valley, OR 97086.

Part-time Faculty Office

The Office of Instruction will begin providing staffing for the part-time faculty office on Monday, Sept. 28. The hours will be from noon to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. Thanks to Elizabeth Gomez who will be coordinating the staffing and also the ordering of supplies.

Part-time Faculty Excellence in Teaching Awards

Congratulations to Jean Aguilar, computer information systems instructor, and Andy Gurevich, philosophy and religion instructor.
Jean and Andy are the 2009 recipients of the Part-time Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award. In addition to being recognized during the in-service Welcome Back event and at a MHCC District Board of Education meeting, they will each receive $250 from the MHCC Foundation.

Rock Around the Block Olympic Bed Races

MHCC was represented by two great teams in the Olympic Bed Races one made up of Ford ASSET program students (Wyatt Shult, Lance Erickson, Jerem y Patterson and Keegan Johnston) and another of ASG President Bradley Best, Daryle Broadsword, Matt Hart, Steve Michener and Dr. Ski. The employee team received atrophy for "Best Costumes" and came in third place in the race. Thanks to those who raced and to Jerry Lyons for his work "behind the scenes" to assure this event was a success.

Check out the MHCC Presidents Web Site for a Few New Additions

• Facilities Master Plan Draft - Dream with us as we plan for the future
• Welcome Back PowerPoint Presentation
• If I Ran the College! Have you ever thought of something you would do if you ran the College? Here's your chance!
• Mt. Hood Community College Fun Facts to Know and Tell
• Oregon State Legislative Information
• Cost Savings Plan of Action

September Board of Education Meetings

• The Board met Sept. 9, 2009, and began with a tour of the former MCTV area and a preliminary discussion on the possible relocation of Information Technology to this area.
• Jennie Burlingame, president of the classified association, and Bradley Best, ASG president, gave the first of what will become regular presentations (on a rotating basis) by association representatives at Board meetings.
• The Board reviewed tuition waivers for the Oregon Leadership Institute (OLI) and the Automotive program.
• A new Audit Committee Board policy was presented for a first reading by the Board
• The Board approved the president's goals for 2009-10
• The Board also approved changes regarding health contributions for College administrators, managers, confidential and child development and family services for fiscal year 2009-10.

Questions/Comments for the President and Answers

How will the Community of Learners Enterprise and the programs developed under it benefit all employees?

• Wendy Schissel reports that the redecorating in Room 2340 (the former TLC space) is almost complete.
• Plans are to use this professional development center immediately upon completion of the installation. It will serve first and foremost as a training space and not as a general work area, but late in the day and after daytime work hours, it may also serve as a meeting space.
• The center will offer much enhanced opportunities, both aesthetic and technological, for professional development for all members of the MHCC family and for our community partners. It replaces, with far higher expectations about its use, the former Teaching and Learning Technology Lab (TLTL, formerly Room 1365), which is now part of the teaching space of Studio B for Integrated Media.
• The Enterprise is under the auspices of the Office of Instruction as a way of recognizing that all professional development is a learning activity and that we have many members of MHCC and the larger community who are able to teach us in many areas.
• In effect, the Community of Learners Enterprise will act as a clearing house for professional development already happening and a stimulus for additional professional development throughout the College, particularly any kind of training that will garner us FTE.

Why did the Board move so quickly with the implementation of a tobacco-free policy?

• The MHCC District Board of Education has actually been discussing this issue off and on for more than 10 years with the policy evolving over the years to the current policy designating smoking in restricted areas.
• The policy has become more and more restrictive at the urging of many employees and students.
• A number of years ago, more than 2,000 students and employees signed a petition and submitted it to the Board encouraging the administration to make MHCCD a Smoke-Free Campus. At that time, the Board decided not to become completely tobacco free, but the time has now arrived. This decision was not made quickly or lightly; it was made based on years of discussion.
• More and more businesses and educational institutions are becoming tobacco free. Portland Community College became tobacco free on Sept. 9, 2009, and Clark College in Vancouver has been tobacco free for several years. Pacific University and OHSU are tobacco free, as well as The Boeing Company. Clackamas Community College is also considering a proposal to become tobacco free.

Let's all work TOGETHER to ensure a healthy educational environment for all students, employees and visitors beginning on Jan. 2, 2010 when MHCC goes tobacco free.

KUDOS to Employees

The following kudos, some of which were submitted to me by peers and supervisors, are arranged under our College values (Strategic, Unparalleled, Mindful, Multicultural, Imaginative and Trustworthy). Since I am interested in celebrating success and acts of high performance, please send me information about your peers when they do something phenomenal. That way, I can include them in future KUDOS reports! (I reserve the right to edit your comments for brevity.)

Strategic

KUDOS and thanks to Daryle Broadsword, Becky Gish, Strategic Planning and Go Oregon dollars. The "Health and Physical Education (HPE) has a new computer lab scheduled to open in early October. The lab will be used for classroom teaching and, when not housing classes, will be staffed as much as possible for open lab use. This is a first for our athletes and others on the south side of the pond."

Unparalleled

KUDOS to an outstanding custodial staff of 15 who are cleaning at a level that you would expect to see being done by a staff of 30 custodians!

• Current staffing level = 15 full-time employees
• Total cleaning area for three campuses = 850,000 square feet
• Total cleaning area per custodian per eight-hour shift = 56,667 square feet (If someone is absent, their square footage has to be shared with the remaining staff.)
• Industry standard for this level of staffing with this much square footage is between a level 4 (moderate dinginess) and level 5 (unkempt neglect) cleanliness standard.
• Industry standard suggests that a level 3 (casual inattention) is the norm for most school facilities and is acceptable to most stakeholders and does not pose any health issues. Staffing at this level of cleanliness is 28,000 to 31,000 square feet per custodian per eight-hour shift.
• The level of cleanliness being maintained by our staffing level is between a level 3 and level 4.

To MHCCs registered nurse (RN) spring students who took the National Council Licensure Exam in July and August. All 38 students passed, giving spring graduates a 100-percent pass rate!

Mindful

KUDOS to Becky Weisen"she is in charge of a HUGE amount, yet she is the first human resources (HR) person I turn to when I have questions. She responds immediately (and politely) even if most of the time my questions need to go to someone else."

KUDOS and praise to the following members of Computer Services, Facilities and Public Safety for their role in keeping the College open and running during the "Summer of 2009 heat wave."

Many of these people worked through the night to fix and keep things running.

Multicultural

KUDOS to Wayne Machuca and Cece Sattergren for their willingness to be profiled in the Gresham Outlook. Their presence and profiles were well done and, hopefully, will let many within our Latino/Latina community know that we celebrate diversity. Thank you, Naomi Abrahams and Shannon Valdivia, for your quotes, as well. Your message added a tone of acceptance and inclusion that will continue to lay the groundwork for us to become known as an accepting, affirming and inclusive community.
BreakingStereotypes

To ALL the Student Service staff, including Admissions, Advising, Disability Services, Financial Aid, Registration and any other staff members who went out of their way to make new students feel welcome.

To Judy Pomeroy who has "always been wonderful with students who come to the office. She always goes above and beyond in helping them and listening when they need someone to talk to. Friday, a young man from Turkey who, while speaking English well, has difficulty with reading and writing came into the office and asked Judy for assistance with a writing assignment. She verified that he had tried to find a tutor on campus, but none were available. So she helped him; she explained what was required and helped him figure out how to get the answers. She also did this on her own time, taking no morning break, and only about a 15-minute lunch. Judy has always made herself available to students who have difficulty navigating college; for some, this place and especially this office (Student Services), can be overwhelming. She works at breaking things down for them into manageable steps so they can succeed on their own and have more time to focus on their classes. She has even given students some of her lunch or money when they have no money to eat."

To Kim Freeman for her article in the Chronicle of Higher Education. The article provides "wonderful exposure for Mt. Hood Community College! The article shines light on our program being a national model of how things can work well in partnership!"
Chronicle of Higher Education

To Sarah Waters for the "quality service she provides to our Saturday community. When services are scarce on campus, Sarah goes the extra mile to make students and visitors feel welcome, appreciated and informed about MHCC. Sarah directs patrons, provides campus information and answers library questions all with a smile."

Imaginative

KUDOS to Jim Bowness, "your quick action and willingness to address issues during this busy time is uber-commendable, especially at the tail end of a busy day for you. Thank you for your attention to all facility matters in science." Thank you, Jim, for all you did to ensure new lights were erected on our Maywood Park campus and for all you did in the dental hygiene labs, too!

To Sharon Sassone, ESL instructor, who will be performing in "Bingo" at the Broadway Rose Theater from Sept. 24 through Oct. 25.

To Nina Fox for "helping to introduce Accutrack, a tool to track student attendance, usage of services and loaned out media. Initial deployments have focused on three areas: the Learning Success Center to track and report information on service usage and classes served, the Adult Basic Skills Center to track class participation and center usage, and the Computer Lab to track lab usage and media checkout."

To Mary Ennis for "upgrading two of the older ‗black box multimedia rooms (AC 2605 and AC 2732) for fall term."

To Marvin Peters, Bruce Sehorn and Chris Smith from Information Technology "who worked with the Small Business Development Office to install a Virtual Private Network to allow off site locations to connect to e-mail directly instead of going through the Internet Web client. This same technology will be installed at all Head Start locations between now and December."

Trustworthy

KUDOS to Graphic Services, Mailroom and Warehouse employees for "their hard work keeping up with requests for service: Theresa Snyder wrote up 160 job tickets one day, and Sarah Hyndshaw, a Reynolds High graduate working part-time, set a new record for shrink-wrapping more than 800 bookstore packets in one day. Iain Graalum, Ivan Linares, Michael Sanders and John Schakols cheerfully helped deliver rush jobs and track down loose ends, and the student employees in the mailroom are picking up extra duties for the copy center. Karl Reiniger and the crew of hard-working part-timers are keeping up with the work in the copy center and the offset press and are to be commended."

To Bradley Best and all the students who helped with student orientation and the first week of fall term activities.

Kudos to Julie Godat and her great Head Start team for "gathering evaluations and handing out gift bags and T-shirts. They also helped individual new students with knowledge of Head Start registrations."

To Janet Kehn at the bookstore for "giving one free tuition waiver for 12 units plus ten $34 gift cards for new student orientation, and Juanita Loveland, Cosmetology, for donating two manicures and haircuts."

KUDOS and "thanks to everyone who helped in any way with orientation, especially Chartwells, facilities staff and the amazing student leaders! Special thanks to the Orientation Committee, all of whom had specific and essential duties that led to the success of the event." The Orientation Committee members are: Bradley Best (ASG president), Mary Burlingame, Sydney Eustrom, Dawn Forrester, Carolyn Ganus, Pam Kuretich, Meadow McWhorter, Bethany Peterman (ASG vice president) and Shelly Samson.

To Cathy Nichols who has "always been available to answer questions and provide support for our program. I sincerely appreciate her dedication, knowledge, skills and abilities; she ALWAYS has a smile, and when she doesn't know the answer, she finds it and follows up! She is a definite SUMMIT role model!"

KUDOS and thanks to Julie Bockelman, Shannon Marmolejo, Dena Nadjek, Karen Read and Cat Vogt for "their dedicated help and work in the Testing Center on behalf of our students. Excellent client service under pressure!!"

To Nicki Belnap for her "understanding of document development and ability to take a concept and create an effective product that allows for clear communication. The important work being done for the Identity Theft Prevention and Response Program will help the institution comply with state and federal laws and serve our students and staff in preventing identity theft. Due to the security nature of this program, Public Safety volunteered one of their resources to help. It is another example of a dedicated and talented MHCC staff."

To Diana Rosvall who "helped me book rooms for more than 100 activities over the past years. It is SO nice to get an immediate response so that my planning runs super smoothly. Last weekend she was in on Saturday to allegedly catch up but spent time meeting my needs despite the fact that she wasn't even supposed to be here!"

Closing Quotes

As we continue to engage in organizational change to better serve each other, our students and communities, I wanted to share some of the following quotes I received from College employees excited about enhancing our College operations and systems:

• Change is the law of life, and those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future. - John F. Kennedy
• Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing him/[herself]. - Leo Tolstoi
• If you want to make enemies, try to change something. - Woodrow Wilson
• Innovation is resisted by individuals who are unwilling to risk the status they have achieved and jealously guard their own job against any change. - William T. Brady
• The only time a woman really succeeds in changing a man is when he's a baby. - Natalie Wood
• The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress. - Charles F. Kettering
• When we do the best we can we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or in the life of another. - Helen Keller