Kansas Kollator

 

          Official Publication of the Association of Kansas Community College Office Professionals

Fall 2005

 
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Spring 2005

  

A Message From the President

What beautiful fall weather we have been having recently. The warm days and cool nights are such a nice change after our hot Kansas summer. As you can probably guess, fall is my favorite time of year.

The Fall Executive Board meeting was held on November 4th in Hutchinson. Our most pressing item of business includes an Executive Board resignation. Paula Burt has resigned and leaves the office of vice-president vacant. Pat Bryant has agreed to serve as interim vice-president until the Board can replace Paula.

The AKCCOP vice-president’s duties as identified in the AKCCOP By-Laws, Article II, Section 7, include:

The Vice-President shall assume the duties of the President in the event of the President’s absence. If a vacancy occurs in the office of the President, the Vice-President shall automatically become President. The Vice-President shall be responsible for the official Association newsletter (the Kansas Kollator), and serve as AKCCOP webmaster. And, will serve in any such duties as assigned by the President of the Association.

The vice-president is the one who keeps us all informed, so it is very important to fill this position as soon as possible. If you have an interest in serving on the Executive Board and can assume the duties of the vice-president please email me at ssmith@neosho.edu and let me know. An official election will be held at our annual meeting.

Other Executive Board agenda items will include awarding scholarships and a possible change in our AKCCOP polo shirt. Your input on these and other items is always welcome just contact me or one of the AKCCOP Executive Board members to let us know.

Pratt Community College will host the conference in 2007 and Labette Community College will host in 2008. Openings are available to host our annual conference beginning with 2009. Hosting is a wonderful way to showcase your college and your community as well as become closer as an office professionals group. Please consider hosting an AKCCOP Conference.

Happy Holidays to you. See you at Dodge in April.

Sarah Smith

ASSOCIATION OF KANSAS COMMUNITY COLLEGE

OFFICE PROFESSIONALS

BOARD 2005-2007

President – Sarah Smith                                                                                              Parliamentarian – Carol Hull

Neosho County Community College                                                                          Butler Community College

800 West 14th St                                                                                                          1810 Andover Rd.

Chanute, KS 66720                                                                                                      Andover, KS 67042

800-729-6222                                                                                                                316-218-6201

slsmith@neosho.edu                                                                                                    chull@butlercc.edu

Interim Vice President – Pat Bryant                                                                        Member-At-Large

Hutchinson Community College                                                                               Charlotte Eichhorm

1300 North Plum                                                                                                         Labette Community College

Hutchinson, KS 67501                                                                                               200 S. 14th

800-289-3501 ext 3434                                                                                             Parsons, KS 67357

bryantp@hutchcc.edu                                                                                                620-820-1263

                                                                                                                                      charlottet@labette.edu

Secretary – Terri Barnes

Seward County Community College                                                                         Member-At-Large

PO Box 1137                                                                                                                 Lora Lobmeyer

Liberal, KS 67905                                                                                                       Pratt Community College

800-373-9951 Ext. 680                                                                                               348 NE SR 61

tbarnes@sccc.edu                                                                                                       Pratt, KS 67123

                                                                                                                                        800-794-3091 ext. 212

Treasurer – Nancy Carroll                                                                                      loral@pratt.edu

Barton County Community College

245 NE 30 Road                                                                                                         Past President – Sally Gordon

Great Bend, KS 67530                                                                                            Johnson County Community College

620-792-9388                                                                                                            12345 College Blvd.

carrolln@bartonccc.edu                                                                                         Overland Park, KS 66210

                                                                                                                                     913-469-8500 ext. 3655

Historian – Terry Garcia sgordon@jccc.edu

Dodge City Community College

2501 North 14th Ave.

Dodge City, KS 67801

620-227-9262 or 800-367-3222 ext 262

tpgarcia@dc3.edu

We would like all colleges to submit their current local chapter President and Reporter's names to Sarah Smith .(see above) by December 1. We know that everyone elects new officers at a different time, so we would like to stay current. Thank you.

Be sure to check out the AKCCOP web site at: akccop.org

.BARTON COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Tia Owens, Reporter

Since last spring, Barton County Community College Office Professionals has seen many changes occur on campus and within our organization. Barton County Community College hired Dr. Steve Maier as interim President on August 8th. Dr. Maier has done a fine job maintaining a "business as usual" atmosphere. Barton continues, like many other institutions, to say good-bye to some old friends and welcome new faces in various departments throughout our campus. However, when hurricane Rita tore at the coast of both Louisiana and Mississippi in August, Barton employees met the call for help by first identifying the many students and their families affected by the disaster, then organizing drives for donations of money, clothing and supplies, and sending out many encouraging messages and prayers.

BCCCOP proved to be quite innovative when it came to finding new ways to enjoy each other’s company. For instance, last April our Social Committee put together a Texas Hold’em instructional class and game night for members. We invited BCCC EMS Coordinator, Chy Miller, to be our guest instructor. He did a fantastic job, patiently teaching several of us the game of poker. We enjoyed pizza, laughs and fun! We also kept to our traditional events, such as staffing the Honors Brunch and Graduation Reception. For the past few years, BCCCOP has volunteered to attend and serve cookies and punch to our invited honorees at the Honors Brunch and to the graduates and their families in our Student Union following our commencement ceremony.

By the end of the semester, the organization proceeded to elect and install new officers for the upcoming 2005-06 school term. As the new executive board members took their positions, we immediately began to brainstorm fund-raising ideas. Members attending the AKCCOP Conference, hosted by Cloud County last March, discovered different fund-raising possibilities while networking with other Office Professionals from various colleges and reported the ideas to our members to decide upon. We agreed to deliver cakes ordered for students and employees by their friends and/or family for their birthday or any other occasion which might call for celebration. We kicked off the project at the beginning of the school year and since then it has been extremely successful.

Over the summer, BCCCOP members took it rather easy with fewer students enrolled for summer classes. Many of us took the extra time to organize our departments and prepare for the upcoming fall enrollment, while others incorporated such tasks into their regular busy routines. We also took the opportunity to review and update our bylaws. However, we did find time to get together socially before the students returned with an "End of Summer Bash," hosted by the Executive Board.

Along with our cake fund-raiser, BCCCOP began our academic year with our membership drive. We have twenty members. We also hosted our annual Bosses’ Day Potluck Luncheon, which was well attended. An entertaining introduction skit of the bosses was presented by the BCCCOP members and later a variety of musical numbers were performed by Barton’s Hilltop Singers. Afterwards, there was a drawing held for two beautiful door prizes which were presented to the winning bosses picked. We are planning to end the 2005 fall semester with various student projects, a Halloween party and a Christmas gift exchange for the members. We hope to send BCCCOP members to represent Barton at the 2006 AKCCOP Conference hosted by Dodge City.

BUTLER COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Laura Albert, Reporter

Seems like the fall semester just started and Butler students are enrolling for Spring 06 already. "Time flies when you’re having fun."

Butler’s soccer team got an unplanned chance to help some of the Katrina evacuees when they went to Dallas over Labor Day weekend to play. When they arrived at the Residence Inn where they had reservations, they found their rooms had been given to families who had evacuated from New Orleans in the wake of the hurricane. The manager of the hotel made arrangements for the team to stay at another hotel but invited the team to eat breakfast the next morning at the Residence Inn.

The next morning when the girls arrived at the hotel, they found the dining room full of hurricane evacuees. They listened to stories from the displaced families. After breakfast, the team met and expressed to their coach, Amy Estes, the need to help in some way. They didn’t have to go far. As a designated drop-off point for food and clothing, the hotel soon found its parking lot, conference rooms and an entire floor in a neighboring office building full of donations and in need of volunteers to organize the donations and help evacuees find items they most needed.

Even though Butler and Richland (Texas) Community College were opposing teams earlier in the afternoon, they became teammates in helping with the organization and distribution of donations later on Saturday. Our girls were also given McDonald gift certificates to use during the trip, but each girl found families to give the gift cards to.

Our Butler girls came home with much more than two wins. "It was a pretty emotional trip," Coach Estes said. "The soccer was great; we played awesome. But more than that, it was a chance to help other people. Meeting those families and those people was huge for my kids. To see it first hand and be able to help was such a blessing."

The Butler family also donated enough items to fill 10 boxes to send to displaced hurricane victims.

Butler’s Marketing Communications Department and Web Services won eight awards from the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations during a district conference held in October in Wichita.

Four gold medallions, the highest honor available in each class, were awarded to Butler for

  • the college’s television ad series featuring pictures of high-profile Butler graduates with the tagline "It’s amazing how for so many, the journey begins at Butler."
  • Butler’s full-color print ad featuring graduate Mikayla, a morning radio show host in Wichita
  • A news story featuring Butler’s fire science department that appeared in Butler’s Career Focus magazine, the El Dorado Times and the Augusta Gazette newspapers
  • the fourth gold went to the Web Service Department for its instructional video for Butler students, "Power of the Portal" CD.

Two silver medallions were awarded for

  • a series of divisional brochures that highlight the different programs and areas of study at the college and
  • Butler’s overall web site. If you get a chance, visit www.butlercc.edu and see the changes.

Two bronze medallions were awarded for

  • Butler’s radio ad series featuring the same concepts of the television ad and
  • For the college’s annual report.

"Women’s Work: Revisited" exhibit at the E.B. White Gallery on the El Dorado campus opened October 28 with a public reception for the artists Maha Al-Eman, Beth Cauble, Violet Love Goode, Sarah Kephart, Kristi Rucker, Pam Terry, and Holly Tompkins and will run through November 22. Three Butler students are among the featured artists. These women were selected because they all either work with traditional feminine materials or feminine themes in a somewhat subversive way. Sculpture, assemblage, and fiber arts will be on display. Sarah Kephart is displaying an entire bedroom set made from wire hangers!

Op Staff held a Halloween fundraiser October 28 on the El Dorado campus. They sold cookies, muffins, caramel apples, and popcorn balls. Everything was priced $1.00 and under. The next fundraiser will be the annual Cubs Store. Crafts and baked goods will be part of the items for sale. The money raised by the Op Staff goes into the Op Staff Scholarship Book Fund.

We’re looking forward to the Annual AKCCOP conference in April in Dodge City. See "ya all" there.

COFFEYVILLE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Janice Lair, Reporter

Tonya Starnes auditioned for Branson’s newest and hottest show Branson Spotlight in Tulsa, Oklahoma in February. She competed against 20 other performers in a two day first round competition. She advanced to the second round and performed at the Jim Stafford Theatre in June. The grand prize winner will be notified in October with $5,000 and a two song recording demo and will be featured on the Doug Gabriel Show October 22, 2005. We are all wishing her the best.

The Raven Soundsations show choir performed at Branson Starlight Theatre in the spring semester. One of the selections was sung in Japanese.

Business Professionals of America students qualified for national competition after doing well at state competition in Wichita, Kansas. The three programs represented at the state competition were business and computer technology, computer networking technology and PC repair technology. Several students qualified for national competition in Anaheim, Ca. in April.

Coffeyville Community College received a recommendation for 10 years accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Ten years is the maximum accreditation recommendation a school can receive. CCC’s last accreditation visit was in 1994 in which we also received a 10 year recommendation.

Steven Hassenplug a member of Phi Theta Kappa was elected International Vice-President. This is the first time we have had an officer serve on the international level. This is an incredible accomplishment for Steven, our chapter and college, but for all chapters in the state of Kansas. Other chapter honors were International Fellowship Hallmark Award, Distinguished Chapter, Advisor Continued Excellence, and an Outstanding Chapter President engraved medallion.

The CCC Raven softball team placed second in Region VI tournament in May. It had been several years since our team has been competitive on the regional level.

Three theatre students were nominated for the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival Irene Ryan Awards for their performances. They are Nate Shaw, Jamie McCabe and Venessa Freeman. They are invited to the regional festival in Fargo, North Dakota in January 2006 to compete for scholarship money.

Former long-time Board of Trustees member Maurice Weinberg passed away in December 2004. Until he retired from the board of trustees in June 2003, Maurice had been a member for 36 years. He will be missed by his college family as well as in the community.

Two Phi Theta Kappa members attended the International Bioethics Forum in Madison, Wisconsin. World renowned researchers and leaders in the field of cloning, genetic engineering and the ethics of biogenetics engineering were among the presenters. This was the third year to send students and we were the only community college represented.

Kaci Adams-Mellen received a prestigious award from the Kansas emergency Medical Technicians Association in Great Bend, Kansas. The Eckhart Award is presented to the person who has made one of the highest and overall most substantial contributions to EMS during a person’s career. Kaci has taught EMT and paramedic courses at CCC for nearly 25 years.

Congratulations to Linda McFate 36 years, Buck Walton 38 years and John Kalert 28 years on their retirements.

The Coffeyville College Cheer Team won 3 first places and 2 third places at the UCA Collegiate Camp in August. They were introduced as one of the top Junior College cheerleading programs in the nation. Eight Ravens were nominated for collegiate All American. They competed against several four year schools.

Coca Cola Scholars Foundation awards CCC student Daniel Funk a $1,000 scholarship through the Coca Cola two-year college scholarship program. The awards are a total of 350 scholarships annually to students attending higher education institutions granting two year degrees. All recipients have demonstrated academic success and participated in community service within the past 12 months.

Mark Frank Theatre Director recently had his second volume of seven plays published. All the plays, except one have had premier productions at Coffeyville Community College and other theatres across the country. Mark is currently working on a third volume.

Richard Stephenson was hired as a performer by the Brownville Summer Repertory Company of Nebraska. Cindy Paasch received a full ride scholarship to Rockhurst University and will be starting her own improvisation comedy troupe in the fall. Both were former students.

This semester we welcomed ten new employees for teaching or coaching positions. Josh Gooch, Delice Downing, Ryan Hellenthal, Kevin Hunt, Chrystal Vega, Spencer Mack, Jeremiah Hoggatt, Tremon Kizer, Zach Binder and Salina Meek.

We now have a men’s and women’s soccer team, applied rodeo and several new online courses. The men’s soccer team got their fifth victory last week with a 5-10 overall. This is their first year and they will make the playoffs.

Three Ravens were selected to the KJCCC all Conference Team Byran Covington, Trent Lare on the second team and J. R. Reynolds was selected as honorable mention. The baseball team completed their first above .500 season in school history with a 28-25 record.

A new women’s residence hall will have space for 247 female students and is expected to be ready for occupancy by August 2006.

COLBY COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Bev Anderson, Reporter

Colby Community College is in the process of change. Since last spring we have had seven retirements. Losing long-time employees causes a large hiccup in operations and we have been readjusting and realigning ourselves. One of those retirements was Office Professional Doris Anderson who was our Kollator reporter. We have missed her, but know she earned her retirement years. Another retirement occurred in the President’s office. Dr. Mikel Ary stepped down after 17+ years as president of CCC on October 14. Our Dean of Instruction Glenn "Skip" Sharp assumed the position as interim president. The Board of Trustees is taking applications and hopes to find a new president by next spring.

The CCC sports teams have had good fall seasons. Basketball and wrestling have begun. The livestock judging and equestrian teams have been all over the country competing successfully. Baseball and softball coaches are wishing for spring already. The drama department presented a comedy this fall; the vocal and instrumental departments are getting ready for their holiday concerts. Sometimes you wonder when these kids go to school!

Our Office Professional group has some new members this fall. We learned about depression at our October meeting through a presentation from the local High Plains Mental Health agency. We sponsored a Halloween costume day. On October 31 our administrative office professionals played a trick on our OPO sponsor, Dan Erbert (Dean of Fiscal Affairs) by wearing masks of his face. There were a lot of Dan look-alikes in the office area! At our November meeting, our bookstore managers will demonstrate "Tension Taming" and help us as we wind down the second half of the semester. As an OPO project we will set up and decorate for the annual Thanksgiving faculty/staff meal. At our December meeting we always have a good time exchanging Christmas ornaments. This semester is rushing by.

We wish you all Happy Holidays--and a well-deserved break over Christmas!!

DODGE CITY COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Marge Blattner, Reporter 7

The Dodge City Community College Office Plant Professionals are busy making plans for the AKCCOP Conference April 5-7, 2006. I hope you are all making plans to attend . . . we plan to show you a real good time.

We are again sponsoring our Deserving Student this Thanksgiving, Christmas and next Easter. We traditionally give a gift card for Thanksgiving and Easter and gather all kinds of goodies for Christmas. We chose a single mom who is currently a student at DCCC.

Dodge City Community College recently celebrated their 70th anniversary. The college opened on September 10, 1935. We had a week long celebration hosting a variety of activities to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the college.

On Cyber Wednesday we hosted a number of activities for high school students in the business technology, graphic design, Cisco networking systems and computer information systems classes. DCCC students also voted for homecoming king and queen.

Former members of the college board of trustees were invited to attend a reception before the trustee meeting and were invited to stay through the meeting, which will begin at 6 p.m.

On Thursday, high school students learned about careers in mass communications, and there was karaoke in the Student Union Ballroom.

On Friday we hosted activities for the entire family. The list included opportunities to be a disc jockey at the college's radio station, KDCC; fitness evaluations in the Wellness Center; a business fair in the Student Union; a pep rally; travels with Becky Barnhardt and Julian Turner; 10-minute seated chair massages; a poetry reading; a free cookout; a bonfire; and cutting a birthday cake.

The New Manufacturing Technology Building on campus is nearing completion and should be ready for students in early November. The new science lab building project should be ready to go to bid in early November.

GARDEN CITY COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Pam Caldwell, Reporter

The 2005 fall semester at GCCC is bringing exciting changes and events!

The addition to the Administration Building, referred to as the "big dig", began during the summer months and is shaping up quickly. Big steel beams and concrete walls are stretching across the expansive opening in the earth just south of the current Administration Building, and construction workers are very busy making sure the project

stays on its timeline.

The GCCC Business and Industry Institute is expanding its services to accommodate local community businesses, organizations, and individuals with specialized training in areas that are not normally offered as a college course. Currently, a pair of short courses are scheduled, one called Spanish for Office Staff and the other entitled Spanish for Retail Sales. These courses should help Southwest Kansas businesses serve Spanish speaking customers and clients.

A new documentary film focusing on a key aspect of immigration issues across Southwest Kansas was recently shown in a statewide debut screening at GCCC. GCCC co-sponsored the event with the local chapters from the League of United Latin American Citizens, American GI Forum, and the GCCC Student Government Association. The film addressed issues that command extensive attention across SW Kansas where beef packing and its industries have drawn a large number of workers from Mexico and Central America, creating unexpected ethnic and cultural diversity over the past pair of decades. The 40-minute production was made by Lawrence film-maker Ranjit Arab.

Legendary Purdue University Coach Gene Keady spoke September 29 to kick off an extended weekend of Homecoming celebrations ranging from a bonfire, a tailgate party and a parade. Keady, a Larned native, attended GCCC in 1955-56 and became an all-American football player, as well as a stand-out performer in Broncbuster basketball and track.

The GCCC Science Division is holding a "Telescope Night" on October 27 from 9 p.m. to Midnight for individuals that would like to view Mars through one of the high powered telescopes.

The Garden City Area Chamber of Commerce and GCCC Small Business Development Center are teaming up to offer a series of free bilingual business classes, in Spanish and English, for the Spanish speaking business community. The series of evening classes began September 14 and will be completed November 9.

The GCCCESP group will continue raising funds for its annual academic scholarship fund as needed, working on civic projects, holding informational meetings and trainings, and is looking forward to the AKCCOP conference! Have a great Fall semester!!!!

HIGHLAND COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Deborah Gregory, Reporter

Highland Community College OPO has been active during the Fall 05 semester. Working in conjunction with the Foundation Office, members handed out bottles of water to students attending the Welcome Block Party the first week of school.

As a fund raiser they are selling blue or yellow silicone bands with "Highland Community College" imprinted on them.

On Saturday, September 24, members Irene Covert, Deborah Gregory, Melinda O’Bryan, Diane Stewart and Shirley Twombly spent a relaxing day in James Port, Missouri visiting lots of shops and country stores. All of them came home with bags of baked goods.

As part of our September meeting they visited Judi Krew’s exhibit "Women: Selections from the Series" in the HCC Yost Art Gallery. During the October meeting they toured HCC’s New Wellness Center. What a great addition that will be when it opens in December. No more excuses not to get in shape!!!!

For Bosses’ day, to show their bosses how much they appreciate them, they held a tea serving home made pie, coffee and tea.

The HCC Foundation Office and OPO treated the students on campus on Halloween day. All members dressed in holiday attire. The students really appreciated the attention and candy.

To help out the Gross’s, a couple who were serious injured in an automobile accident back in September and are returning to work after much rehabilitation, HCC OPO made and froze several of their favorite casseroles for them to use on nights when they were too tired to cook.

HUTCHINSON COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Tammy Neal, Reporter

Greetings from Hutchinson Community College!

Fall semester is half over, winter is on the way and I am sure no one is ready for any of these changes. We all have those reports, finals and let us not forget those holiday events that we will be attending. Is anyone ready for Christmas yet? It looks like our Office Professionals for Christmas will be meeting at a ew restaurant called Houlihans that has opened recently here in Hutchinson, Kansas.

Our Office Professionals group has a lot planned for this year. Our October meeting was a beading party. We met at Amelia Beadelia’s, a little store in our downtown area here in Hutchinson, and our members were able to make their own jewelry of choice. It was loads of fun! Our group is planning a couple of bake sales as fundraisers.

We are starting a project called "Gift in a Jar". We have six different jar recipes that we have chosen and have put on display for everyone around the college to buy. They make great Christmas or birthday gifts. We have just started this project, so we will keep you posted on how it is working out.

We have a couple of field trips planned to our off-campus sites. We see other off-campus personnel at meetings and talk to them over the phone, but it would be a nice opportunity to see where some of our other coworkers reside. The off-campus sites we will be visiting are Newton, McPherson and South Campus. Generally for our last meeting of the year we have a BUNCO party and bring a covered dish for supper.

We have had a lot of changes to our campus here at Hutchinson Community College. Construction on the Gowen’s Stadium project is going well and being worked around the football season, with a plan for completion next summer. Click on the following link for more info and to see pictures. http://www.hutchcc.edu/PhotoBank/GowansPhaseII/gowan2.htm We have also added a picnic area called the Crimson Court that is located near the pond. This area will make it nice for those students that want to study outside while eating their lunch. We have also completed our new dorm addition. It looks really nice and has been a great addition to our campus. You can click on the link below for more information and pictures. http://www.hutchcc.edu/PhotoBank/CampusRenovation/elland.htm

We have added women’s soccer to our sports department. For their first season they are not looking too bad (7-8). Our volleyball team is having another great season, we are ranked 4th in the NJCAA polls at this time. Our golf team took second place at the Kansas City, Kansas invitational and was tournament runner-ups for the third time this season. We are all anxiously awaiting for basketball season. Our men’s basketball team has been picked 3rd in the Jayhawk poll and our women’s basketball team has been picked 5th in league poll.

In September we said good bye to our Dean of Finance, Mr. Bill Warner who decided to retired after 11 years of service at HCC. On October 1, we welcomed Mr. Carter File, previously from Cloud Community College, and he seems to be fitting in quite well here with our HCC family.

JOHNSON COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Kathy LaBelle, Reporter

OPL 2006 Executive Board

A quote from Margaret Mead states: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world." Janie Thacker, President of JCCC OPL believes that this quote embodies the impact our OPL organization has on JCCC and our surrounding community with our involvement both on and off campus. Between our participation in community service projects, outstanding efforts to raise funds for student scholarships and our contributions to campus events and college committee work we are quite an influential and successful organization.

"So how do we improve on great?" Janie asks. "This is where ingenuity and teamwork, so frequently exhibited by our membership, come into play." Each member is encouraged to be open to new ideas, renew levels of enthusiasm and reach beyond one’s comfort zone. By doing so we stay fresh and new and continue to connect with fellow OPL members, working toward a common goal.

Talking about a common goal, what better place to start, than the annual OPL Silent Auction and Drawing, held this year on Thursday, November 17th? All proceeds from the Auction benefit the JCCC Scholarship Fund. Members of OPL are all encouraged to supply handcrafted items, baked goods, and contact business establishments for gift certificates or merchandise. Items donated or collected are gathered and members use their talents in assembling them within enticing baskets. You won’t believe how much some of these baskets go for in the bidding process! Last year we were able to raise over $5300 in scholarship money and an additional $1400 from the sale of chance tickets—monies that went toward professional development grant funding for OPL members.

To help fund the Silent Auction, an OPL Midweek Munchies Bake Sale was held on October 26th. Eager eaters purchased enough goodies to raise $348.76!

As current OPL President, Janie Thacker presides over the 2005/2006 OPL Executive Board with its officers: Betty Uko, Vice President; Shari Dowdall, Treasurer; Jackie Turner, Recording Secretary; Janele Sumner, Corresponding Secretary; Cindy Clark, Member-at-Large and Sherri Hanyz, Past-President. (Both Betty and Shari are returning officers serving a second term as Vice-President and Treasurer.)

We had a few bylaws changes this year. Committee members Mary Toepfer, Janie Thacker, Dara Ramaglia and Dee Staples proposed removing a bit of redundant wording and to redefine some of the executive officer positions to include additional duties.

Our General Meetings have been really interesting this year. Traditionally we have our business portion of the meeting first then the last half of the meeting is given over to a guest presenter. In May we had Alan Swarts, Director of Academic Computing Services talk to us about problems many encounter when using computers. One particularly good tip he gave was, "Never close a pop-up by clicking the X button in the upper right-hand corner of the screen or by answering either No or Yes to a question in the window. Select and hold the Alt key then press the F4 key. This will safely close the window without the sender knowing he/she has reached a live address.

At our Spring Luncheon this past June we had the unique pleasure of hosting a fashion show. OPL officers, our volunteer models, wowed the audience with the latest fashions from the local Talbots store’s spring and summer collection. Attendees enjoyed a wonderful lunch that had been prepared and uniquely packed in a Talbot’s bag.

In July, Rosanne Thiry, Coordinator of Day Services for Heartstrings Community Foundation talked to OPL members about the mission of their foundation. The Heartstrings Foundation assists adults with developmental disabilities to live meaningful, independent, productive lives through interactions within the community.

At our August General meeting our presenter was Terry Milford of Charlton Manley Insurance who discussed office ergonomics. Milford gave several tips on how to prevent injuries brought on by poor posture, the need for proper equipment and lack of simple exercises.

Then in September, Ginger Henderson, fellow OPL member showed us how to make personal homemade greeting cards using techniques of embossing, embellishing and a lot of cut, color and paste skills.

In October we held a baby shower for a coworker whose husband was killed while attempting to retrieve an elderly woman’s purse from the hands of a robber. Stephanie U was 8 months pregnant at the time of her husband’s death. OPL wanted to help in some way so we organized a shower. Several other fundraisers have been held on campus as well as in the community to help with the care of the Stephanie and her baby daughter.

We also celebrated our Bosses in October. On Thursday, October 13th the Bosses Day Committee hosted a dessert and coffee break. While the food and networking was great, perhaps the most outstanding part was that Ginger Henderson of OPL asked her son Devin to play the piano as background music. What a treat!

November we have reserved for helping the Ways and Means Committee put together the baskets that will be auctioned off at the Silent Auction on the 17th.

In December members will gather to celebrate the winter holidays at a winter luncheon put on by the Program Committee. This is a well attended celebration as even some of our retiree’s join in on the fun.

In addition to our monthly meetings, OPL members have been busy both on and off campus. In March, 15 of our members attended the Cloud County Community College AKCCOP Conference. Everyone came back reenergized and enthusiastic from this gathering and are already making plans to attend the next AKCCOP Conference hosted next by Dodge City Community College.

College-wide, OPL has assisted in two very large events this year. The first was the Dollars for Scholars event, held Friday, April 15—complete with a western flair. OPL rounded up $929.30 in profits from the sale of chances to win one of the many prizes we had put up for bounty. Bounty included items such as jewelry from Noble House Jewelry, a gift certificate from Oak Park Mall, and get-away stay at either the Holtze Executive Suite or the Radisson Hotel.

The second College-wide event OPL participated in was the JCCC Faculty and Staff picnic. This annual event takes place in early September and is a favorite with everyone. Starting at 5 p.m. a buffet supper was served, followed by games and activities for all ages. Then starting around 9, with the scent of popcorn in the air, people head for the "hill" with blankets in hand to find a restful place to sit and watch a G-rated movie. What fun!

Our Community Service Committee along with other members from OPL work with the Olathe Good Samaritan Center. Usually they help residents play Bingo on Bingo Night each month. On May 7th members volunteered with the Center’s "Remembering Weddings" ceremony in celebration of Mother’s Day. Wedding cake and punch were served after a slideshow of wedding photos of some of the center’s residents, and a fashion show put on by the nurses who modeled their wedding gowns.

"Getting to Know You" was the theme of the Lovely Luncheons this past spring, organized by the Social Committee. Approximately 45 members participated in this luncheon, grouped this year with "like interests." Participants were encouraged to share their interest/hobbies with each other by sharing their scrapbooks, photographs or ideas, promoting fellowship on a more personal level and meeting others with similar interests. This fall an event-a-month list was published in our OPL newsletter, The Grapevine, giving members an opportunity to sign up in advance.

This fall the Solutions Resolutions Committee, Betty DiCostanzo, Berni Freeman and Sally Gordon, hope to complete the Policy and Procedures manual. It has been a rather long and tedious job pulling together the necessary detailed information to complete this manual.

Janele Sumner, our newly appointed editor of the Grapevine, along with her staff writers Berni Freeman, Karen Mountain and Sharon Yohn and her layout editor Heidi Blake, are busy putting together the next Grapevine. These newsletters are posted on our Website for all to read. We hope you’ll take the time to check them out.

Each year members of our organization are asked to nominate up to 3 members whom they believe deserve to be voted in as Office Professional of the Year. The nominees will be announced in the next month or so, and hopefully will accept this nomination and in turn put together a professional portfolio complete with letters of recommendation which will be presented for review by an outside judge. This judge determines the person he/she deems as most qualified for this award and the winner is announced in March. With so many candidates to choose from—all of whom are deserving of recognition—you can imagine the task of paring it down to just one person!

As some of you know, our campus is expanding again. Under construction are two buildings, the Regnier Center of Technology and Business and the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, each with a forecast completion date of 2007. Along side the Regnier Center of Technology and Business building will be another parking structure similar to the covered parking next to the CLB. Needless to say this is an exciting place to be, as changes are constantly in the works.

That should fill you in on what is new here at JCCC this semester. Hope to see many of you in Dodge City this spring at the AKCCOP Conference!

LABETTE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Donna Garwood, Reporter

As the weather finally moves to fall, we want to tell you about the many changes we are experiencing at Labette Community College.

First of all, the LCC Classified Group would like to thank Fran Clay for serving as Kansas Kollator reporter for the past several years. She has done a great job and we appreciate her hard work.

In other classified news, we are excited about a new book scholarship program this fall. New procedures will allow us to build our library from donations and by reusing books from semester to semester. This will allow us to help more students each semester. From the resources of three LCC book scholarship funds, the college was able to loan 73 students textbooks totally approximately $4,700. We are also continuing an employee attendance night for each team sport that began last year. We hold a pep rally the day of the game and encourage attendance by staff and students. We are always looking at ways to support the students at LCC.

LCC has completed phase one of its four-phase curb appeal project. Phase One included some new sidewalks and curb enhancement by the Student Union, repaving and new light fixtures in two parking lots. Phase Two is scheduled to begin shortly, and it will include landscape work on the north and northwest side of the college’s Main Building and redesign of the elevator lobby of the annex entry on the northwest corner of the building. It will also include installation of new architectural light fixtures that match those installed during phase one.

Tammy Fuentez was awarded the Paragon Advisor Award at the Phi Theta Kappa International Convention in Dallas on April 15 & 16. The Tau Theta Chapter of PTK at LCC received a Top 100 Chapter International Recognition among 1,200 chapters. Six other Kansas advisors received the award as well as Tammy. The advisors had to have served for 2-4 years to be eligible for the award. President Ron Fundis received his Michael Bennett Lifetime Achievement Award at the Banquet.

Tammy is the Director of Operation Excel, a Student Support Services Title IV grant. She was successful in getting a four-year renewal of this grant this summer. Operation Excel has served over 2,500 students since 1990.

LCC welcomed their new president, Dr. George Knox, in July. His personal and professional experience is impressive. Dr. Knox is married with two grown children and has served in the United States Air Force Reserve and the Florida Army National Guard. His professional experience spans several community colleges, and he served as a sworn law enforcement officer for the City of Hollywood in Hollywood, Florida. Dr. Knox is also heavily involved with the communities in which he has lived.

Karena Curtis, math instructor, and Robert Walker, music instructor, shared the honor of Distinguished Faculty for 2005 and led the faculty processional at commencement in May. Also, Parsons native, Bill Guthridge, received the 2005 Cardinal Citation Distinguished Service Award from Labette Community College and the LCC Alumni Association at the same time. Cathy Kibler was chosen as the Adjunct Instructor for the year.

LCC faculty and staff have been busy getting healthier. We had six teams that participated in the Walk Kansas eight-week physical activity program. All the teams met their goal and made their way across Kansas. Some teams even made it across Kansas twice.

We seem to have some multi-talented staff members. Team Cardinals placed first in the Parsons Recreation Center Division II Company Olympics held this summer. Some of the events were: golf, bowling, 1.5 mile walk/run, pictionary, kickball, hotshot contest, 3 on 3 basketball, donut eating, egg toss, water balloon sling shot, pvc pipe race, 3 stage aqua challenge, round the mound, karaoke, tug of war, sand volleyball, dodge ball and the obstacle course.

Labette Community College also rallied to help Hurricane Katrina victims. Six campus groups challenged each other by contributing bottled water and it was a huge success! The Athletics Department won the challenge with Classified Staff a close second. LCC collected 3,086 bottles of water for the relief effort. With money donated by LCC employees, LCC also gave $1,500 to the American Red Cross for the hurricane victims.

The National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission, Inc., advised LCC in August that the associate degree nursing program was approved for continuing accreditation for eight more years. Two adjunct nursing instructors developed two new online nursing courses for fall semester. Under the guidance of the Student Nurse Organization sponsors, a new "Service Award" was developed for all nursing students who contribute ten or more hours of service to SGA or SNO.

Seven Lady Cardinals from the women’s basketball program signed full scholarships to play at the NCAA DI and DII level beginning this fall. Eight members of the LCC 2005 Wrestling National Championship team moved to the Division III and D-II level. The overall GPA for the total athletic department was 2.82 for 2004-05. The women’s basketball team led the way with an impressive 3.31, followed closely by Softball with 3.24. Volleyball just missed the 3.0 mark with 2.88. Thirty-three student-athletes had a GPA of 3.0 or higher, of which three had a GPA of 4.0.

Hopefully, I will have even more good news share next time. I hope everyone has a successful fall semester.

NEOSHO COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Terri Dale, Reporter

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and we have so much to be thankful for. The OP’s at Neosho County Community College hope that each one of you will take time to think about the blessing you have in your life!

OP News and Activities

Our office professional group held the year-end party at Jim’s Steak House in Pittsburg. Secret sisters were revealed and everyone enjoyed a delicious meal. We are continuing our monthly lunches in addition to our regular meetings. The lunch get-togethers are a time to catch up and we enjoy the fellowship.

This year the NCCCOP’s funded four scholarships for students at the College. Recipients were Amber Debler, Edie Godinez, Laurie Kerns and Dwight Smith. To fund the scholarships we are selling birthday packages to parents of students living in the dorm. We have had tremendous success with the project and this year we are extending the packages to include thinking of you packages.

To honor our bosses we held an appreciation lunch October 17th. OP’s served a variety of salads and desserts for about 30. The NCCC mixed ensemble, under the direction of David Smith, performed for the group. We have decided to make the appreciation luncheon an annual event.

Other Activities on Campus

FCIP Grant and Energy Performance Contracting Project. It was a busy summer for the employees at Neosho County Community College. As a result of a commitment to find ways to save energy, the College received a grant from the Kansas Corporation Commission in the amount of $7942. The grant pays for half of the cost of an energy audit conducted last February by Custom Energy Services, in which several opportunities to save energy at the College were identified. NCCC is the first to receive such a grant.

As a result of the energy audit, NCCC recently completed a $2.1 million project in energy-efficient facility improvements at the College. The resulting upgrades will help the College save energy while creating a more comfortable learning and working environment for students, faculty, and staff. NCCC is the first community college in Kansas to take advantage of the state’s Facility Conservation Improvement Program. The project included roof replacements for five buildings, lighting improvements campus-wide, fire and smoke detection, water conservation measures, a new chiller, cooling tower and pumps, air conditioning the gym, and complete remodeling of the Center for Vocational and Academic Excellence (CAVE).  

Nursing students, instructors head to Houston. Three instructors and 23 nursing students from both the Chanute and Ottawa campuses traveled to Houston, Texas, where they set up a home-base at Willow Meadows Baptist Church to assist with Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. From the home-base, they went wherever they were needed and helped evacuees with a variety of needs, including medical screenings and counseling. The group planned to stay ten days but their trip was shortened as Hurricane Rita approached the Texas coast. Our OP group voted to make a monetary donation for their trip.

Open World Russian leadership Program. NCCC hosted five young Eurasian elected officials, political candidates, and emerging political and civic leaders as part of the Open World Russian Leadership Program last April. The program brings participants accompanied by a facilitator for 10-day theme-based visits to the United States. The visits usually begin with an orientation in Washington DC, followed by eight days in a local community. Participants were placed in host families and attended professional appointments during the day. The group attended meetings of local governing bodies, toured local business and industry, and made a trip to Topeka to visit the Department of Commerce and Kansas, Inc. NCCC was the first community college to host the Open World Russian Leadership Program in 2002.

KanEd Grant. NCCC was the recipient of a KanEd Technology and Equipment grant for 2005. Of the 114 applications, 61 were approved for funding totaling $521,076. The grant will upgrade the Chanute infrastructure to gigabit Ethernet and provide connection to the Integrated Community Access Network (ICAN) which connects the City of Chanute, Chanute Public Schools and the College. The ICAN network will share resources, expand and enhance services and reduce future costs.

Student Support Services Grant. NCCC received notification from the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, DC, that the Student Support Services grant application was funded. The College will receive approximately $265,559 each year for the next four years. The College received SSS grants in 1997 for a four year cycle, and again in 2002 for an additional four years. Currently the STARS program provides tutoring, mentoring, and personal counseling to 160 students enrolled at the College.

Foundation "All In" Auction and Casino Night. The NCCC Foundation held their fourth auction to raise scholarship dollars for NCCC students. This year’s event had an entertaining and popular twist added by providing a casino theme. The "All In" Scholarship and Casino Night was held at the Chanute Country Club and received standing room only attendance to bid on donated merchandise totaling over $17,000 from area businesses and individuals. In addition to the 70 silent auction items and 30 live items offered to bidders, over 20 gaming tables and machines were available for everyone’s enjoyment.

President participates in Forum. President Vicky Smith was a speaker at the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) annual conference in Washington, DC. Smith was invited to participate in the President’s Forum representing Higher Education Institutions.

NCCC received full accreditation from ACBSP last November and was recognized at the accreditation ceremonies during the conference. Linda Jones, applied science division chair and accounting instructor, and David Fewins, Marketing coordinator/instructor also attend the conference.

The Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs is the only business accrediting organization for both two and four-year institutions. ACBSP’s mission is to establish, promote, and recognize educational practices that contribute to the continuous quality improvement of business education programs, teaching of business courses, and student learning outcomes in colleges and universities throughout the United States and abroad. ACBSP was established in 1998 and has 394 member institutions.

Remodeling Completed. The Center for Vocational and Academic Excellence (CAVE) has re-opened for students at NCCC. Last spring, the CAVE was closed for remodeling and services were temporarily relocated to other areas on campus. The $112,000 construction project funded by the college under the auspices of the Facilities Conservation Improvement Program (FCIP) of the Kansas Corporation Commission has been approved by the Kansas State Fire Marshall’s Office, Chanute Fire Department, and Chanute Building inspector.

The project included building an egress corridor between the front exit and new wider back exit and installing state-of-the-art safety measures which included sprinklers, smoke and fire detection, and emergency exit lights. The energy management portion of the remodeling will make the basement facility more comfortable in the summer and winter, and will also save energy. The CAVE remodeling includes the addition of a large classroom, new testing center, offices and more storage space.

The CAVE houses the STARS program, Adult Basic Education, Partner’s In Change and developmental classes for the college.

Chapman Library Renovation. The biggest event in a long time at NCCC’s Chapman Library has been the renovation which started this summer. The Library had not had any renovation to its main floor since the building was built in 1968.

The redesign project has reorganized and updated the library space to reflect modern library usage that emphasizes access to electronic information resources, provide comfortable seating and separated areas in which student can study and relax, and to incorporate space for an instructional classroom for instruction in accessing electronic information resources. The library staff moved 37,000 books at least once, and about half of them twice while new carpet and tile was installed and to complete the reorganization of the shelving. Over 6,000 books were removed from the library collection.

When the project is completed, the library will have new carpeting, tile, an entrance vestibule, computer stations, and circulation desk.

Student Michael Miller picks up his birthday package.

Bosses Appreciation Luncheon

PRATT COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Diane Thompson, Reporter

EDUCATION SUPPORT PROFESSIONALS (ESP)

Fundraising Projects

ESP traditionally sells Survival Bags for the students during finals week in both the fall and spring semesters. These goodie bags with a variety of snacks are purchased by parents and employees and compiled by ESP. During the 2004-2005 school year, approximately 200 bags were sold yielding a profit of $1150. ESP uses these funds for its service and donation projects throughout the year.

Service Projects

Throughout the year, ESP recognizes events in employees’ lives by sending birthday, anniversary, congratulations and sympathy cards.

Good-luck send offs. If departure time allows, ESP organizes an all-college send-off for athletic teams attending regional and national tournaments. Goody bags for the trip are also given to the student-athletes.

Spring 2005:

  1. • Organized and supervised the Region VI Softball Tournament Hospitality Room
  2. • Small gifts of appreciation were given to 40 campus office professionals during "Administrative Professionals’ Week"
  3. • Community College Month Luncheon – ESP helped to organize this all-college luncheon in April by providing menu planning, invitations, and room set-up.

Donations

Endowed-a-chair for the PCC Foundation sponsored renovation of Carpenter Auditorium.

Donated $500 needed to purchase one of the benches between the main building and Riney Student Conference Center.

Professional Development

Six members attended the Association of Kansas Community College Office Professionals (AKCCOP) annual conference hosted by Cloud County Community College in March.

Pratt Community College/ESP will be hosting the 2007 AKCCOP conference. Committees have been formed and planning has begun.

2005-2006

ESP held its first meeting of the school year in September. A successful "Open House" was held at the end of September to welcome all eligible employees to join our organization. Four new office professionals showed interest in joining. Officers will be elected at the October meeting.

SEWARD COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Terri Barnes, reporter

Greetings from the Seward County Community College Office Professionals. (SCCCOPs) Hopefully, everyone had a great start to the fall semester.

SCCC’s Dean of Student Services, Dr. Gerald Harris, moved to central Oklahoma last year. Dr. Randy Smith from Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva, Oklahoma filled the position July 1, 2005.

Rachel Thexton was a new Admissions Coordinator for the fall of 2004. She has already "changed hats." During the summer, she became the Director of Financial Aid effective August 1. The former Director of Financial Aid, Bea Rosales, moved to North Carolina.

John McKee was hired as Admissions Coordinator effective September 26.

Michelle Kovarik was hired as the new Financial Aid secretary effective September 26.

The 11th Annual SCCC Development Foundation Scholarship Auction was held Saturday, September 24. This year’s theme was "Sail Away with the Saints" with a cruise being given away during the auction.

SCCCOPs’ members donated kitchen items and copies of the SCCC cookbook to make three kitchen baskets for the auction. The baskets brought in $101 for the auction.

SCCC was awarded a TRIO (Student Support Services) grant last year. The grant provides opportunities for Academic development, assists students with basic college requirements, and serves to motivate students towards a successful completion of their post-secondary education. Patricia Beard was hired as Director of Student Support Services and Dinora Isidoro, a SCCC graduate, as Student Support Services Secretary. Her phone number is 620-629-2760.

One of the benefits of the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) accreditation for the business division of SCCC is the opportunity to form a chapter of the Kappa Beta Delta honor society. The purposes of the society are to encourage and recognize scholarship and accomplishment among students of business, management and administration pursuing associate degrees, and to encourage and promote personal and professional improvement and a life distinguished by honorable service to mankind. Candidates must have completed 15 semester hours of credit with a minimum of six credit hours completed in business courses. The academic ranking of those being considered must place them in the upper 20 percent of their class, with a minimum grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. This is an opportunity to become one of the select few who earn lifetime recognition within Kappa Beta Delta International Honor Society for Business. An induction ceremony is planned for early October.

The cosmetology school has experienced growth and needs more space. Part of the cosmetology building had been housing the Work Force of Liberal for the past four years. They have vacated that space and remodeling of the area began in September. By January the school will include more classroom and clinic floor space, new equipment, and will be able to expand services and hours to include Saturdays. The cosmetology school has added a new Cosmetology Instructor course. The course is a 450 clock hour course (13 college credit hours). If a student holds a cosmetology license and has practiced as a cosmetologist for one year, the course is 300 clock hours (9 college credit hours).

To celebrate Constitution Day, SCCC art students placed the words of the Constitution all around the walls of the Humanities building. Copies of the Constitution were passed out to students and the movies 1776 and The Patriot were shown in the Student Union.

Picture by Greg Scruggs

SCCC has the addition of a challenge course which was built this past summer. The challenge course is an educational opportunity intended to facilitate personal and group growth. It is a catalyst for challenging people to go beyond their perceived boundaries, to work with others to solve problems, and to experience success. Non-competitive games, group problem-solving initiatives, and low and high elements are the activities used to help individuals and groups achieve their goals. There are eleven low element and nine high element activities involved in the challenge course.

Pam Perkins, administrative assistant to the president, was elected secretary to the national Professional Board Staff Network (PBSN) at their annual meeting in Seattle, Washington, September 9. PBSN was established approximately ten years ago by those president/board staff people who regularly attend the annual Association of Community Colleges Trustees (ACCT) conferences with their presidents and trustees. This one-year position will connect her to the association for the next four years as she sits on the board first as secretary, then as vice president, president and past-president. Her responsibilities will include keeping notes from teleconference calls, taking minutes, facilitating communication between the executive board and other professional office staff, submitting information to the ACCT "Trustee Quarterly," and planning presentations for the next four ACCT national conferences. Pam highly encourages other president/board staff members to consider attending future conferences with their trustees and presidents, as the networking and knowledge gained from meeting with individuals is a professional development that matches none other. It is also a great way to get the names of the Kansas Community Colleges "up front" by the many contacts that are made. Should any of the administrative assistants and presidents of Kansas have ideas for or would like to make a proposal for a presentation at the next ACCT Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida October 2006 please contact Pam as soon as possible.

SCCC employees and students have participated in various fund raising efforts for the victims of Katrina. Our hearts go out to the people affected by Katrina and Rita.

The Singing Saints Concert Choir has been invited to sing at Carnegie Hall in New York City, April, 2006. The group is very busy raising money for the trip.

Officers for SCCCOPs for the 2005/2006 year are Diane Heiers, president; Terri Barnes, vice-president; Margaret Thompson, treasurer; Devin Rodriguez, secretary; and Pam Freeman, past-president.

An end of the year lunch was held at the home of Patsy Fischer, May, 2005. Patsy fixed lunch and everyone who attended enjoyed touring Patsy’s home, a great lunch, and fellowship.

SCCCOPs members are busy planning the annual Bosses Day Lunch. A pot luck meal is being planned with entertainment and a few select door prizes to be given away. The theme for the lunch is "Puzzle Pieces" which goes along with SCCCOPs’ theme this year, "Essential Pieces." The theme denotes that each individual is an essential puzzle piece of the organization.

Karen Duncan, former SCCC athletic secretary, was awarded an honorary lifetime membership in the SCCC Office Professionals organization. Karen and her husband WR moved to Dighton, Kansas.

The SCCCOPs’scholarship committee has been busy reviewing scholarship applications. SCCCOPs awards three $100 scholarships both in the fall and in the spring. Recipients for this semester are Ana M. Dominguez, Lori Borst, and Cristian Chavez .

Cookbook sales have amounted to over $1,200 for the SCCCOPs’ scholarship fund. The members would like to continue to raise money and endow the scholarship monies with the Development Foundation.

We are looking forward to a great AKCCOP conference at Dodge City. See you there! 22

LASSO YOUR CALENDAR AND SAVE APRIL 5-7, 2006 FOR THIS YEAR'S AKCCOP CONFERENCE AT DODGE CITY COMMUNITY COLLEGE.

AKCCOP POLO SHIRTS

We will offer a new AKCCOP Polo Shirt this year.

The shirts will be brown with our wheat logo.

Your Conference Registration Packets from Dodge will include information for ordering.

 
   

Kansas Kollator

 

          Official Publication of the Association of Kansas Community College Office Professionals

Spring 2005
   

From the President

 

It is with sadness that I write my last article as President of AKCCOP.  I have truly enjoyed this experience and appreciate your vote of confidence by allowing me the privilege of serving as President of AKCCOP for the past two years.  This organization has given me so much more than I could ever give back.  The leadership experience I have gained as president has been invaluable.  I have learned that the microphone is not my enemy. I have had the opportunity to see many of our members attain their educational goals because they had that extra little bit of money from an AKCCOP Grant. I have made many friends and acquaintances through attending AKCCOP conferences and serving on the board, and I have learned the value of every Office Professional involved in AKCCOP.

 

 In the past 16 years as a member of AKCCOP, my view of Kansas has widened.  I have learned one important thing after visiting most of the 19 Community Colleges. . . "big things come in small packages".  Every college that I have visited no matter how SMALL has its own special personality and area of expertise, but they all have one thing in common, everyone on the campus and in the community rally to make sure that when AKCCOP arrives on their campus and in their city we are welcomed in a BIG way. 

 

As winter delivers its final chilly blast (hopefully) across the state of Kansas, I try to THINK SPRING!!.  As we think of Spring, we naturally think of the AKCCOP Annual Conference.  What a segue. . . .. The 38th Annual AKCCOP Conference, Colorful Connections, will be held on Wednesday, March 30th, Thursday, March 31st and Friday, April Fools Day at Cloud County Community College in Concordia, Kansas.  I encourage all of you to attend the conference and bring a friend to share this experience.  Cloud has a wonderful schedule of events planned.  It's not too late, send your registration today.  If you have questions, please call Mary Gantz at Cloud, 785-243-1435, ext. 202 or email her at mgantz@cloud.edu.

 

We will present the 2005-2007 Slate of Officers to you during the conference.  You are the heart of AKCCOP, please give the new officers your support and most of all your ideas to better AKCCOP.  We are always looking for ways to grow!!  Remember, "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got."  Thank you for your support.

 

Sally Gordon, AKCCOP President

 

Barton County Community College

Linda Dueser, Reporter

 

Barton County Community College Office Professionals gained seven new members after a successful membership drive in September. BCCCOP now has a total of 24 members. We celebrated Bosses’ Day in October with a potluck luncheon honoring our bosses. Door prizes were given and Barton’s men’s ensemble, Da Capo, provided musical entertainment.

 

Starting in January, BCCCOP has been inviting people from various offices on campus to speak at our monthly meetings about programs or projects from their areas so that members can be more informed about campus activities. New marketing director Todd Moore, admissions representative Kala Steffen and Institutional Advancement executive director Darnell Holopirek have been guest speakers.

 

We awarded a $150 scholarship to an office technology student, Marne Bradford of Bushton. BCCCOP provided cookies for the students during fall semester finals week, placing large plates of them in areas frequented by the students in several buildings. Members also placed large bowls of candy for the students on Valentine’s Day.

 

In November, Barton’s Athletic Director Neil Elliott gave BCCCOP members a tour of the college’s new Thelma Faye Harms Wellness Center, which is available for use by students who are not athletes, as well as faculty and staff.

 

The center is equipped with 10 cardiovascular exercise pieces, including three treadmills, three elliptical cross trainers, two upright exercise bicycles and two recumbent exercise bicycles. For strength training, the wellness center has a dozen selectorized weight machines, which work every muscle group through circuit training and it has a Smith Machine for weight training. Additionally, the center has two sets of dumbbells, weighing between 5 and 75 pounds, and weight benches; a sit-up board, a back extension machine and one functional trainer. The space is enclosed in glass and the floor is covered with PaviGym Fitness Tile. The center also has mounted on the wall two 42-inch plasma televisions – one tuned to a sports channel, the other to news.

 

Funding for the center was provided through the Thelma Faye Harms Charitable Trust. The addition of the new Wellness Center makes it possible to help more individuals achieve their fitness goals. “Filling our students’ needs is the primary impetus behind building the wellness center,” said Barton Athletic Director Neil Elliott. “The college’s athletics fitness center wasn’t always available to non-athletes, or faculty and staff. Thanks to the Harms Trust Fund, the new wellness center is now a reality.”

 

In February, Barton’s Foundation opened Cougar Tales, a used bookstore in downtown Great Bend as a new fund-raising venture to help provide program enhancements for the college. Institutional Advancement Executive Director Darnell Holopirek got the idea for the bookstore after talking with her counterparts from other institutions around the country who had success with similar for-profit enterprises. Certain regulations must be maintained since the Foundation is a nonprofit entity. The bookstore counts on 30 volunteers to help inventory and sell more than 10,000 used books that individuals have donated. Many of the volunteers come from the college’s Silver Cougar Club for individuals 55 or older. Several college employees and community members have also volunteered their free time to help with the store. No tax dollars are spent to maintain the bookstore. Donations of used books are accepted at the store in Great Bend and at libraries and other locations in surrounding communities.

 

BCCCOP enjoyed a Christmas social in December, meeting for a chili dinner and gift exchange. An additional social this semester was held at a local restaurant on “Taco Tuesday.”

 

BCCCOP will be sending five members to the AKCCOP Conference at Cloud County.

 

Butler Community College

Laura Albert, Reporter

laura@butlercc.edu

 

Butler students and staff had an unexpected day off January 5 because of the ice storm that hit our part of the state.  Phone connections between Butler of Andover and Butler of El Dorado were affected for almost a week following the storm.  To help students with early enrollment, offices were open the following Saturday.

 

Butler’s Nixon Library has received a face-lift.  New carpet was installed, walls painted, shelves and equipment rearranged to better serve the students.  The work began after Fall finals and was mostly completed before Spring classes began.  Like with any move or remodel, it is taking time to get everything back in order and this has kept the library staff busy.  But the outcome is a nice place to study and relax to read.

 

Another change that has taken place in the college is the change in the Business & Industry Institute.  B&I had been located in Augusta for over 15 years, but is now located in the 5000 building in Andover.  The name has been changed to Business Performance Group (BPG).

 

A Tobacco Use Task Force has been reviewing the tobacco use policy of the college.  It has recommended that smoking and the use of smokeless tobacco be prohibited within 25 feet of all building entrances.  The ash receptacles were moved away from the doors and so far, this has helped keep smokers from surrounding the entries.

 

The Learning Calendar has been updated from the current academic year through 2006-2007 and is available on Butler’s Pipeline.  This will be the first semester that no hard copies are distributed. This is one more step toward a paperless Butler.

 

Thanks to a $12,102 SBC grant, Butler Community College will be able to run live television feeds from the gymnasium, the Kansas Room in the 1500 building, and the college theatre to and from BCTV (Butler’s television station).

 

Another grant was awarded to Butler from the Administration for Children and Families under the Early Learning Opportunities Act.  The grant was for over $285,000 and is for 17 months.  This grant will fund the Partners in Learning, Literacy and Readiness (PILLAR) initiative.  Julie Joy, director of Butler’s Early Childhood Association Apprenticeship Program, will be primary lead from the college. 

March 7 – 11, Butler and community will celebrate a week of events surrounding Harper Lee’s American classic, To Kill a Mockingbird.  On Monday, March 7, there will be a showing of the movie starring Gregory Peck at El Dorado’s local theater.  On March 8, a book discussion led by Sonja Milbourn will be held on the Butler of El Dorado campus. March 10th actors from the movie will be at the El Dorado High School to discuss the making of the movie and their feelings about the importance of the novel and movie.

Completing the week’s activities will be a Brown Bag Lunch Discussion of the novel held in the Nixon Library on BOE’s campus.

 

Butler’s Operation Staff is gearing up for the T.E.A.M. Recharge to be held on Friday, April 15.

 

Eleven of Butler’s staff plan to attend the AKCCOP seminar at Cloud County Community College.  Hope to see many of our state colleagues up there.

 

Coffeyville Community College

Janice Lair, Reporter

 

Jay Herkleman and Emily Washburn were named Coach of the Year for men's and women's basketball in the Jayhawk Eastern Conference.  Brad Weber was named the 2004 Indoor Men's Track Coach of the Year for the Eastern Conference.  The Red Raven's Men's Cross Country Team was awarded Academic Team of the Year holding a 3.54 cumulative GPA.  They ranked 10th in the nation and the volleyball team held a 3.46 cumulative GPA.

 

CCC former student Victor Romero was invited to join the 2004 summer season of Opera in the Ozarks in Eureka Springs, AR.  Opera in the Ozarks is focused on college-age students who are interested in opera

performance.  Its three main stage productions showcase professional

opera singers as principle roles in the operas.  The students study and perform four opera within a two month period.  He made the semi-final round in his age group for the National Art of Teaching Singing competition. Victor is attending the University of Nebraska.

 

Aggie Day is set for April 15th.  Aggie Days is a group of interscholastic contests for secondary students to prepare them for careers in many agricultural areas.  These areas include public speaking, livestock and land judging, economics, horticulture and entomology.  Students from Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Arkansas will attend and compete in these events.

 

International Week was November 15-19.  CCC has 24 international students enrolled from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Canada, Nicaragua, Lithuania, Germany, Gambia, Togo and the U.A.E.

 

The Coffeyville Red Ravens accepted an invitation to play in the Sun Bowl in Scottsdale, Arizona December 4, 2004. The Ravens were 9-2 overall and ranked 6th nationally by the National Junior College Athletic Association.  Scottsdale was 9-1 with a #5 nationally ranking.

 

Several Coffeyville Technical Campus students enrolled in Dick Robison's welding program have completed bend tests, advancing them to the next portion of their professional studies.

 

Coffeyville Community College was pleased to welcome five new employees to kick off the spring semester.  Courey Feerer, Head Soccer Coach/Student Advisor, Greta Rexwinkle, EMTP Program Instructor, Dickie Rolls, Executive Director of CCC Foundation, C.W. Tollefson, Head Rodeo Coach /Student Advisor and Kristin Whitehair, Graham Library Director.

 

Colby Community College

Doris Anderson, Reporter

 

For our fall campus project, we sponsored a Halloween costume contest. To enter the contest, faculty and staff were charged $5 and students $1. Part of the fee was used as prize money and the remainder for our spring scholarships. Pictures were taken of each contestant and we determined the two winners.

 

Our new O.P. advisor, Dan Erbert, new Dean of Fiscal Affairs, was officially welcomed to our group at our December 8 meeting. We exchanged Christmas ornament gifts at this meeting.

 

We assisted with the Thanksgiving dinner, sponsored annually by Faculty Alliance, by setting up the tables, which were very festive.

 

We will be taking applications for the Office Professionals scholarships awarded students each spring for the next school year. Last year scholarships were awarded to two students who met the established criteria. After scholarship applications are received, the scholarship committee reviews them and makes a recommendation to our group for selection of the winning recipients.

 

On March 17, 2005, Dr. Mark Hansen, one of the nation’s leading scholars on American politics, will be first speaker of the Dr. Max Pickerill Lecture Series at the CCC Cultural Arts Center.

 

Dr. Keith Coplin, CCC English instructor, has been nominated for another book award. His novel, Crofton’s Fire, received nominations for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, The William E. Colby Award, and the Pen/Faulkner Award during 2004. Now the book has been nominated for the W. Y. Boyd Literary Award for Excellence in Military Fiction. 

 

The annual Endowment Auction will take place April 2. The party auction annually raises $40,000-$50,000 for student scholarships. Since this year marks the 40th anniversary of Colby Community College, we are hoping for an especially successful event. 

 

A former CCC student will be recognized for cataract research by the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (AVRO). Jerry Robben, 2003 CCC graduate, is currently majoring in biochemistry at KSU. He recently completed a project which resulted in the prevention of hydrogen peroxide induced cataract formation; this project will provide the basis for further work on gene therapy on the eye lens. AVRO will give Jerry Robben national recognition at their annual meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in May.

 

The college has lost the services of a husband and wife team who have been at CCC since 1992. Mary Ann Wilson taught in the business department. Her husband Jon was the Financial Aid Director at CCC. Mary Ann and Jon have moved to Grand Junction, Colorado. 

 

CCC added men and women’s golf to their sports offerings at the January board meeting. Mr. Miles Ladenburger, CCC graduate and sportsman, will coach the teams.  He is currently recruiting high school seniors for competition next fall.

 

Chairman of the Board of Trustees at CCC, Curt Stephens, is expected to be back for the February 21 board meeting. Curt suffered severe injuries in a motorcycle accident on September 5. He has gone through extensive surgeries and rehabilitation since September. He is a strong leader on our board at CCC, and the community wishes him well as he assumes a normal lifestyle once again.

 

Don Kready was recently honored for his 26+ years of service to the CCC Board of Trustees. He is one of the longest-tenured trustees in the state of Kansas. He has been the school’s representative to the KACCT since it was formed in 1997. He seldom misses a KACCT meeting and was called the “dean of our statewide community college boards” by Sheila Frahm, the Executive Director of the KACCT.

 

We are looking forward to the AKCCOP Workshop hosted by Cloud Co. in March. Two of our members will be selected to represent us at that workshop. We know that it will be an interesting, entertaining time and a memorable experience for them.

 

Dodge City Community College

Marge Blattner, Reporter

 

New Campus Construction

Dodge City Community College’s Board of Trustees have given the go-ahead for two construction projects:

A building that will connect the Science/Math and Allied Health buildings and house new laboratories and office space

A new home for the college’s welding and manufacturing technology programs.

 

The new manufacturing technology building is expected to be ready for students to use at the start of the fall 2005 semester.  Construction of the Science/Math lab addition is anticipated to take around 15 months to complete.

 

DCCC Women’s Volleyball Team

The DCCC Conquistador Volleyball team brought home the runner-up trophy from the National Junior College Athletic Association volleyball tournament in Toledo, Ohio at their first time making it to Nationals!

 

DCCC OPP Christmas Party

Dodge City Community College Office Plant Professionals enjoyed an evening of fellowship, food and PRESENTS at our annual Christmas get-together at the Freighthouse Restaurant.  Secret Pals were revealed and a great time was had by all.  We all enjoyed seeing retirees Nedra Dasenbrock, Alice Latas, Donna Hermes and Jeannie Martin.  Jewell Perkins was out of the state enjoying a new great grandbaby. 

 

 

 

 

2005 OPP Officers

2005 OPP officers were installed at the January 2005 Board Meeting.  The officers are (from right to left) Terry Garcia, President; Fran Durant, Vice President; Linda Burke, Secretary; and Carla Patee, Treasurer

 

Personals

Linda Burke’s son, Justin, just accepted the position of head football coach at Dodge City High School.

 

Marge Blattner’s daughter, Anndea, gave birth to her first child, a boy – Samuel Vincent Jordan – on January 31.

 

Ramona Strawn’s daughter, Serena, is expecting her first child in September.

 

We were all excited to see Jewell Perkins back in the Copy Center/Mail Room for a week while Louise was enjoying a Caribbean Cruise.  Jewell was looking forward to the week being over…she says retirement is much better.

 

AKCCOP Conference

Nine members of DCCC OPP will be attending the annual conference at Cloud County Community College.  They have a great promo planned for our invitation to the 2006 AKCCOP Conference in Dodge City.  I’d like to tell you more about it, but they told me if I did, they’d shoot me and bury me at Boot Hill!!

 

(from left Charlotte Funkhouser, Deb Atkinson, Ramona Strawn, Ellen Powell, Melissa Barnett, Lelia Duncan and Velda Thomas)

 

 

Garden City Community College

Pam Caldwell, Reporter

pam.Caldwell@gcccks.edu

 

The 2005 Spring semester at GCCC is a busy one with lots of exciting events happening already!

 

GCCC surprised retiring athletic director Dennis Perryman with an announcement to name the GCCC PE Building in his honor during a recent retirement dinner.  GCCC Trustees officially took up the recommendation during their January 12 board meeting.  Kansas Jayhawk Conference Commissioner Bryce Roderick, a former GCCC trustee and assistant athletic director, called Perryman his mentor and best friend, as did a number of other officials, former players, and associates.  Perryman had been at GCCC for 19 years, taking charge of athletics and physical education in 1986.

 

The GCCC Auto Tech Program is proud to announce it has earned NATEF (National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation) certification for attaining excellence in automotive service.  The certification will remain in effect for five years with a chance for renewal after another review.   GCCC began working to meet the standards more than a year ago.  The two-year associate degree program is also affiliated with the Ford Motor Company’s Maintenance Program, and serves as an educational Center of Excellence in the Career Learning System of the Ford MLR Program launched in 1999.  The learning system provides a pathway for students seeking associate degrees and career skills in automotive service and a number of other fields.  There are approximately 2,000 training programs today in all 50 U.S. states, an important consideration for young men or women entering the automotive service career field.  A public ribbon cutting ceremony was recently held for the GCCC Automotive Technology Center of Excellence, which made GCCC join the “Ivy League” of automotive technology training.

 

There’s a new measure of opportunity in music at Garden City Community College.  GCCC is launching the Southwest Kansas Music Academy, which has begun offering music lessons for youth and adults.  The academy is also organizing a children’s choir.  Music lessons will be taught by GCCC music faculty, area public school instructors and selected musicians.    The new choir is open to girls and boys with unchanged voices, who are enrolled in any grade through eighth, and will be directed by a local music instructor based at one of the area elementary schools.

 

People age 50 or older who are interested in learning how to use computers may now enroll in the Senior Computer Lab, hosted by GCCC Outreach Programs in Scott City, Holcomb, Tribune and Syracuse.   Class is for beginners with little or no knowledge of computer use, and they learn at their own pace and on their own schedules.  Class members work with the help of competent and qualified instructors, just like the senior instruction classes already available on the GCCC campus in Garden City.  Now with the help of grant funds from the Finnup Foundation, the program will be expanding to other area counties.

 

The GCCC Meats Team started the 2005 judging season off to a good start by placing 3rd overall at the National Western Contest at Greeley, Colorado, January 16.  The three top teams at the contest ended up very close to each other, with only a 116 point difference between the first place team score and GCCC’s 3,569 points.  GCCC placed first in Pork Judging, third in Placings, fourth in Judging and Questions, and fifth in Lamb Judging and Total Beef.  The GCCC group surpassed last year’s team score by 168 points, earning high team status in Pork Judging and placing in the top five in every category.

 

Many GCCC Educational Support Professionals will be involved in the very successful, annual Endowment Association’s Spring Scholarship Auction scheduled April 1, 2005.    Approximately 100 volunteers will help throughout the night as over 1,000 community friends of GCCC place bids on over 300 live and silent auction items trying to reach a fund-raising goal for scholarships of close to $100,000.

 

The GCCCESP group will continue raising funds for its annual academic scholarship fund as needed, and is looking forward to the upcoming AKCCOP conference!  Have a great Spring semester!

 

Hutchinson Community College

Tammy Neal, Reporter

 

Hutchinson Community College Office Professional’s would like to welcome you to our lovely campus.  We have been pretty busy here this spring semester.  Kathy Larson was our guest speaker in January.  She spoke to us about stress management in our office.  She gave us some great ideas on how to deal with stress and some stress relievers we could do right at our desk.  In March, we will be selecting our new board and hope to have most of them present at the conference that Cloud County Community College will be hosting.  We are looking forward to the great activities that they have planned, and seeing all of you there.
 

 

 

 

Here at Hutchinson Community College we have been doing a lot of renovating as some of you know.  We have put in a pond to the north of our football field.  This is a very beautiful area for our students.  They could use this area for studying, lounging or would even be perfect for the art classes.  Also in this area, the Rotary Club of Hutchinson, Kansas has put up a really cool clock.  Later this spring when the chimes are attached, it has been said that you will be able to hear it chime all over campus.  You may check out our website for more information on this project and other points of interest at www.hutchcc.edu/PhotoBank/CampusRenovation/gowan.htm.

 

 PHOTO @ Hutchinson Community College

General Richard Meyers is just one of the Dillon Lecture speakers that we have had speak to us this year.  He was fantastic.  He spoke on the war in Iraq and how great it was to be back in Kansas.  He is a graduate of Kansas State University and now a four star general and Chairman of the Joints Chief of Staff.  He is shown here with Dr. Berger, President of Hutchinson Community College. 

Dr. Richard Carlson was our first Dillon Lecture speaker.  He is the author of “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff.”  He spoke about stress and how it affects the workplace.  It is amazing how much of the small stuff can cause stress in people and the workplace. 

Well that is all we have for now.  We are looking forward to the end of another semester and graduation and will be looking forward to hearing from you in the fall.  Until then, see you at Cloud County Community College!

Johnson County Community College

Kathy LaBelle, Reporter

 

Our general meetings, which take place at noon on the third Wednesday of the month, have been really educational this year.  In December OPL members gathered for a Whimsical Winter Luncheon for a delicious lunch and a lively gift exchange.  In January members listened to Dr. Ann Hess discuss Aging Myths/Alzheimer’s.  In February Preventive Safety was the topic of the program with Campus Safety and Security officer, Greg Smith.  March was our OPL general election, as well as a time set aside to honor our Office Professional of the Year.  At our April meeting, Jonathan Bacon, Education Director for Ed/Tech will speak to us about Family History and May is reserved for Alan Swarts, JCCC Academic Computing Services Director to enlighten us about spans, pop-ups, worms and browser high-jacking.  June is the month for members to bring their favorite salad and gather for our annual Spring Salad Luncheon.   

 

 

Our November annual OPL Silent Auction  brought in around $5300 in sales and Special Grants brought in another $1400 with their chance drawing, ensuring that our organization will once again be able to amply fund both Special Grants and Scholarships. 

 

 

 

Our Boss’s Day event in October was a huge success.  In keeping with an international theme this year, a delicious assortment of pastries (like German chocolate cake, Mexican wedding cookies, biscotti, crème puffs, Baklava, shamrock cookies, Pizelles and cheesecake) were served.  Windows hung free-style as part of the décor to signify the theme “Windows to the World.”  Each table had centerpieces on them of flags representing countries from around the world.  And, there were artifacts such as a table scarf from Saudi Arabia, a glass replica of the queen’s ship from Thailand, as well as a dress from Greece, placed around the room.  There was music as well and everyone had such a good time. 

 


Our Community Service Committee visits residents of the Olathe Good Samaritan Center on a regular basis.  Often they work on art projects with the residents, or help with Bingo.  Members who do not attend are encouraged to get involved by contributing costume jewelry or hand lotion, for example, which are used as Bingo prizes.  Others bake cookies for the residents to enjoy. 

 

In January our Membership Committee asked several of the OPL committee chairs to make a presentation to the participants of the spring 2005 Professional Development Days VOICE conference.  This was a great opportunity to make our presence known on campus.  This conference replaces the in-service format used in previous years, giving participants options as to what they would like to hear or attend.

 

Our OPL Annual Membership Party held on Thursday, March 3 from 5-7 p.m. in the JCCC Commons building was a way for prospective members to get to know us and decide whether or not they too would like to become actively involved.  

 

Nominees for the Office Professional of the Year award were announced at the October OPL general meeting.  This year’s nominees are:  Sherri Hanysz, Susan Rushing, Lori Vogelsberg and Mary Toepfer.    The Office Professional of the Year award recognizes and rewards outstanding office professionals who have contributed to OPL and the JCCC community, demonstrated excellence in job performance, and exhibited personal and professional growth through participation in college and community activities.  Each accepted their nomination and submitted a portfolio to the Award Committee.  An outside judge evaluated the portfolios and will select the award recipient.  At the time of this reporting, the name of the recipient had not been announced.

 

 

 

 

 

Each year JCCC’s Staff & Organizational Development Department invites our office professionals to participate in a Master Staff Workshop.  At this conference professionals gather for intensive learning, listening and reflection.  The goals for the workshop include sharing successes, working together to find solutions to challenges and making JCCC stronger with communication across campus.   This mini-retreat took place September 28 and 29 this year, and was a huge success.  Seventeen employees participated.

 

Campus-wide a new Technology building is underway, along with an art museum.   It is exciting to be on campus, watching these changes take place.   Since enrollment is up again this semester, we look forward to having the additional space.

 

JCCC received the Kansas Award for Excellence (KAE) in 2003/4, a source of great pride, setting the stage for the next level—the Malcom Baldrige Award    Administration, staff and faculty are working together trying to complete this application, hoping to qualify.

 

I think that pretty much brings us up to date on what is happening here at Johnson County Community.  We look forward to seeing you at Cloud County when they host the 38th Annual AKCCOP Conference.

 

Labette Community College

Fran Clay, Reporter

 

HELLOOOOOOO……… from Labette.  It seems like a very long time since I’ve written anything for the Kollator, as a matter of fact, it has been.  I’m very sorry that I missed getting an article in last Fall.

 

Well like everyone else, I’m anticipating Spring and the AKCCOP Conference.  The Robins arrived about two weeks ago and the daffies are up, and grass is greening but I’ve lived in Kansas now some 34 years (guess you could say I’m officially a transplanted Yankee) and I know that in Kansas, winter can raise its ugly head anytime before May.

 

So many things have happened here at Labette since I last wrote.  Two new Classified Staff members joined our crew in the Fall of 2004.  They are Meagan Fugate, Public Relations Secretary and Jennifer Harman, Physical Plant Secretary.

 

Labette hired it first ever Director of Financial Aid.  Chuck Kietzman came to Labette from Southern Nazarene University where he served as Director of Financial Assistance for the past two years.  Working at a private university has given Mr. Kietzman a good background in dealing with the issues he will encounter here at LCC as the Director of Financial Aid.

 

If I don’t mention this in the first part of this writing, I may be wrestled to the ground.  As most of you probably know, our LCC Wrestling Team took #1 in the NJCAA National competition in Rochester, MN.  I have to do a little bragging here.  Of our nine National Qualifiers, six members placed 7th or above.  Earl Jones with a 1st at 133; Cory Allison with a 5th at 141; Luke Elmore with a 4th at 149; Adam Ingram with a 2nd at 157; Alex Saunders with a 7th at 184 and Jared Shelton with a 2nd at 197.  Earl Jones (Labette’s first 2 x National Winner) was also voted Most Outstanding Wrestler and our coach Joe Renfro (in only his third year) was voted NJCAA Coach of the Year.

 

I can’t leave our women’s basketball team out.  The women’s team had its best start ever – 9-0, they had the most wins ever and the longest winning streak (8).  They topped the school record for wins (20) with a regular season finish of 24 wins. 

 

One more report from my area:  last fall we were busy acquiring lots of babies in our department.  (As you will notice-all were born before the season started-barely)  On October 12th Wrestling Coach, Joe Renfro and his wife Elizabeth became parents of Lincoln Meron Renfro weighing 7 lbs. 11 oz.; on October 26th, Head Baseball Coach Aaron Keal and his wife Schuyler became the parents of Henry (Hank) Aaron Keal weighing in at  7 lb.12 oz.; and on October 31st, Head Men’s Basketball Coach, Armando Johnson and his wife Angela became the parents of Karon Jamani Johnson weighing in at 7 lbs. 2 oz.   All babies are now 4 months old and as cute as can be.  It will be fun to see them all running around the gym at the same time.  Of course, Volleyball Coach, Leigh Phillips (and Ryan, our Softball Coach) have a two year old named Brady as does our Assistant Wrestling Coach, Joel Thompson and Abby a son named Miles.  We basically have our own pep group right here in the gym.

 

On the academic/club side of activities, Phi Beta Lambda had a very successful year at the stat conference.  They had 5 students participate in contests and the results are:

Isaac Jack – 1st place Business Law; Isaac Jack – 2nd Economics; Jefferson Rundell – 2nd Public Speaking; Corey Plotts – 2nd Sports Management & Marketing; Isaac Jack – 3rd Accounting Principles; Amanda Fitzwater – 4th Public Speaking and Corey Plotts – 5th Sales Presentation.  The chapter also placed 2nd in money raised for the March of Dimes.

 

 

 

 

Physically our campus has changed with the addition of a new student lounge attached to our previous student cafeteria area and additional administrative offices above on a second level.  This is the view of the college facing North, students are gathered around the new Student Government Office area.

 

New plantings along the East side and new brickwork located at the entrance between buildings creates a very pleasant view.  The new area houses a study area with top-of-the-line computers, an area for just lounging and a large flat screen area for some “chilling out” time.

 

Last summer the new flowerbeds and walkways, on the Southside of the Campus were a spot of beauty at LCC.

 

Not only were there a lot of changes on the exterior of LCC but inside also. 

  

President, Ronald Fundis received the Distinguished College President’s Award from Tau Theta Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa.  President Fundis; commitment to Phi Theta Kappa and LCC students has allowed Tau Theta to grow to a shining Five Star and Top 100 Chapter.  His dedication, financial assistance, presence, attitude, and direction are why he received this award.  This prestigious Michael Bennett Lifetime Achievement Award, is for retiring college presidents, campus chief executive officers and state community college directors is selected based on outstanding support provided Phi Theta Kappa over many years.  President Fundis will be recognized for this award at the 87th Annual International Convention in Dallas, Texas, April 14-16, 2005. 

 

President Fundis will be ending his seven years at Labette in the Fall of 2005 to enjoy his retirement.  He has been at LCC since 1998.  The Presidential Search is underway and the review of applications has started.  I, for one, will miss his smiling face and pleasant nature.

 

Talent Search – started its third year of a grant program last fall.  Talent Search helps 6th through 12th grade student prepare for college entrance.  Last year over 600 students participated in the program from Labette, Cherokee and Crawford counties.  Talent Search helps students succeed by offering ACT/SAT preparation, assistance in applying for scholarships, financial aid and college admission, tutoring, mentoring, career planning and workshops which enhance study skills and cultural enrichment.

 

June Downing, Director of Radiography reported that the program’s latest graduates have had another 100% pass rate on their national certification exams.  This is the 6th consecutive year of 100%.

 

A local bank close to the college has come up with the “Cardinal” checking account.  The Bank of Parsons has offered these “spirit” checks with the Cardinal symbol of the college up in the left corner.

 

Of course, Classified Staff created their cookbook again this year with a tasting party just before Thanksgiving.  As always a lot of new recipes made the book with an occasional old favorite.  Tasting day everything was delicious.  Some of the proceeds were donated to the Christmas Baskets Committee to help with the fresh food purchases for the baskets.  This year the Christmas Baskets Committee and all of the LCC family, helped a total of 8 families with 24 children.

 

Our Respiratory Care Department has purchased a new Pulmonary Function software that is loaded on a laptop, is portable and can print great graphs of lung function.  Also Via Christi in Wichita donated a PB7200 ventilator, this machine will allow students to practice with newer modes of ventilation.

 

In January Elizabeth Walker was hired to be the new Musical Director, Adjunct Instructor.  Elizabeth informed me that students and community members are working on the Spring production of “Big-The Musical”.  It is adapted from a screenplay of the movie with Tom Hanks.  The cast includes several children of faculty.  The story includes all of the famous elements from the movie including the “dancing keyboard”.

 

Also on a musical note, the LCC combined choirs will be touring to Canada May 26-30, 2005.  They will be doing numerous fundraising projects this year.

 

Operation Excel, a Student Support Services TRIO grant, has many activities planned for our students again this semester.  They are offering several different workshops-from math study sills to etiquette and health issues.  Also their cultural activities provide students activities they might not normally have available to them such as community concerts, spring break trip to San Antonio, Texas and campus visits to other four-year universities in preparation for transfer.  In addition they offer mid-term grade checks, academic counseling, and a peer tutoring and mentoring program.

 

Before we know it, the annual Auction for Scholarships will be upon us.  Last year the auction (held in April) amounted in a total proceeds of $20,066, for a net total for the last five years of $70,463.  This years’ auction will be held on April 30, 2005.

 

Spring Fire School is just around the corner, it will be held May 18,19,20 & 21.  The school draws firefighters from all over the stat of Kansas.  Last year saw 110 firefighters attend the workshops and the smoke trailer (which is interesting to watch).

 

In addition to raising money for scholarships, Classified Staff are trying to promote more attendance at LCC sporting events throughout the year.  In conjunction with the coaching staff and the Athletic Director, a home game for each sport is designated for this event.  We then schedule a pep rally and encourage students and members of our “spirit teams” to attend the rally and the designated game.  At half-time, we draw a name from those in attendance for a prize and also have a small prize for the team captain of the spirit team that has the most attendance at the event.  We started late this year but hope to include all of our athletic teams next year.  It’s all about having fun and supporting our teams!  Deans and several different organizations on campus have contributed a “punch a lunch” card to our cafeteria (worth $22) for our drawings.

 

There will be four of us traveling to Concordia and we are looking forward to the Conference.  I’m sure that there will lots of good information and networking.  See ya there.

 

Pratt Community College

Diane Thompson, Reporter

 

Special Recognition

The Nursing Division had its National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission visit October 4-6.  They received maximum re-accreditation.  This followed on the heels of another successful maximum re-affirmation of the Business and Accounting Department by the independent Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs in September.

 

The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association (HLC/NCA) made its re-accreditation visit November 14-16.  The results:  10 more years!   No follow-up visits required!  No follow-up reports required!  This college wide effort was celebrated with a brunch for all immediately following the team’s departure and bonuses for full and part-time employees.

 

Pratt Community College Education Support Professionals (ESP) Activities

 

Throughout the year, ESP recognizes events in employees’ lives by sending birthday, anniversary, congratulations and sympathy cards.  A special thanks goes out to Sharon Barrett for taking responsibility for this project.

 

October 2004 –

·    ESP Open House was hosted to give potential members a chance to see what our organization is all about.  New members of ESP are Austin Skelton, Tavy Dunn, Dana Yarborough, Michelle Davis, and Judy Trabert. 

·    Boss’ Day Social was hosted by ESP with the Friday before boss’ day.  In good humor, the bosses were awarded the next day (Saturday) off for all their hard work and dedication. 

 

November 2004 –

·    Continuing the ESP tradition of giving a victory send off and goodies to groups leaving for regional and national events, the Volleyball and Cross Country/Track teams were the grateful recipients of goodie bags and accolades as they left for their respective events.

·    Since the HLC/NCA team would be confined to work and may not have the opportunity to get out for something to eat, ESP made meat and cheese trays to place in their hotel refrigerators.  This was supplemented by a “Beaver Blue” basket of snack items and beverages provided by the college.  The team chair made a special mention to the president how much they appreciated the food baskets and trays.

·    Due to changes at the recycling center, the student-led (Phi Theta Kappa) recycling project will not be continuing.  They are hoping to restart recycling at a later date when conditions change. They recycled well over 6000 pounds of paper this school year at a savings to the school and the environment in waste disposal.

 

December 2004:

·    Once again ESP and the instructional Business Department shared hosting the December monthly celebration and the official “Festival of Trees” lighting in the commons area. Our Student Services department has been setting up over 100 themed Christmas trees in the upper and lower commons areas of Pratt Community College for several years now and it has become tradition for President Wojciechowski to light them at this event.  One of those trees is the PCC family tree, sponsored and set up by ESP and the instructional Business Department with ornaments from departments and offices campus-wide.

·    Another ESP tradition, Survival Bags for the students during finals week, was a successful fundraiser once again: 106 bags were sold with a profit of over $600. 

·    Rounding out our busy month of December, Goody Day was sponsored by ESP during finals week for students, faculty and staff.  All employees were invited to bring a snack to the Beaver Bytes Cyber Café and participation was wonderful.

 

Looking ahead –

·    Making Colorful Connections in Concordia:  Lora Lobmeyer, Cathy Blasi, Diane Thompson, Joyce Whitfield, Judy Trabert and Joyce Jones will be attending AKCCOP in March.

·    ESP is making plans to host the 2007 AKCCOP conference.

 

Other news

·    The ESP scholarship was endowed this fall and has a balance of over $7,000.  The group will now be deciding what criteria will apply in order to receive this scholarship.

·    Carpenter Auditorium renovations have been completed.  The grand re-opening was held in October.  The renovation was spearheaded by the PCC Foundation.  Its new project is the purchase of land south and east of the college.

·    PCC has recently completed renovations on our greenhouse which was seriously damaged last year in a storm.

·    Diane Thompson welcomed Grace Elizabeth Thompson to her family on October 15, 2004.  Baby is doing great and mom is back at work.

·    Best wishes to Michelle Davis as she leaves PCC for a job much closer to her home in Stafford.

·    Special thanks to Judy Trabert for volunteering to help out at the concession stand on behalf of ESP at one of the recent basketball games.  They were short staffed at times, and kept her busy.  ESP received $25 for her time.

·    Kudos to Austin Skelton for his frequent participation in school plays and musicals.  His recent contributions included Hamlet in The Abridged Works of William Shakespeare, and special entertainment for the student activity Cinderfella.

·    Lora Lobmeyer, Sharon Barrett’s husband Ed (former PCC board member), and Judy Trabert’s son Jerry (PCC’s Director of Information Technology and returned veteran from service in Bosnia and Germany) contributed letters of family members to "Letters from War," a reader’s theatre of letters which soldiers and their families have written over the last one hundred years.

·    Officer changes: Laura McGovern resigned as Secretary and Cathy Blasi volunteered to be acting Secretary until September elections.  Diane Thompson volunteered fill the Vice President vacancy left by Crystal Scherer until elections.

 

Seward County Community College

Terri Barnes, Reporter

tbarnes@sccc.edu

 

Greetings.  I woke up to a winter wonderland this morning.  Thankfully, the beauty did not hinder the drive to work.

 

The spring semester is well on its way.  Students are back, and classes are under way.

 

The college has nine teams of six members each participating in the “Community Meltdown” program in Liberal.  The program is sponsored by the Liberal Parks and Recreation and Seward County K-State Research and Extension.   Classes are offered on Monday nights for eight weeks.  The classes focus on implementing a healthier lifestyle.  There is a weigh-in and a weight-out, and at the conclusion there will be two winning teams.  One with the most pounds lost and one with the highest team percentage lost.  

 

The 2004 Telolith, a publication of student art and literary works, received the American Scholastic Press Association’s First Place with Special Merit award.  Christy VanZant’s short story, The Wildflowers received Outstanding Story recognition.  Congratulations to Susan Copas and Bill McGlothing.

 

The Crusader, SCCC’s college newspaper, received national recognition from the Associated Collegiate Press at the National Media Convention. CrusaderNews.com was recognized as an Online Pacesetter.  Congratulations to Anita Reed and her staff.

 The college began “hosting” area high school basketball games. SCCC logo items and a $100 scholarship drawing are given away at each game.  We also buy the popcorn for the night and provide SCCC popcorn bags with a discount coupon on the back of the bags that can be used at the Saints Bookstore. This is a great recruiting tool.

 

Steve Heckman, a former SCCC art instructor, passed away in December.  Steve was a fabulous artist, and he will be greatly missed. 

 

The SCCC men’s basketball team lost a player with the death of Robert Townsend.  Robert was killed in a tragic car accident over Thanksgiving break.  Robert was a sophomore who had transferred in from Coffeyville Community College.

 

The SCCC Development Foundation is giving away a red 2005 Mustang on April 23, as a fund raiser for the Foundation.   The car can be viewed on our website, www.sccc.edu.  Donation tickets are $35 or 3 for $100.

 

Dr. Gerald Harris, dean of student services, will be leaving the college at the end of February.  We wish him all the best in his new endeavors.

 

The SCCC Office Professionals (SCCCOPs) compiled, organized and printed a SCCC 35th Anniversary Cookbook featuring recipes from alumni, employees, students, and friends of SCCC.  The cookbook costs $10 and profits benefit the SCCCOPs’ scholarship fund.  It was a lot of hard work, and the finished cookbook is great.  SCCCOPs has already made a profit of approximately $880 and still has cookbooks to sell.  SCCCOPs received donations of time and supplies from several individuals on and off campus. If you are a cookbook aficionado and would like to buy one of ours, please contact Betty Glenn at bglenn@sccc.edu. A small shipping charge may be added to the $10. 

 

The SCCCOPs’ scholarship committee has met and awarded three $100 scholarships for spring 2005.  The decision was hard, as there were twelve deserving candidates.

 

 

 

 

 

Karen Duncan, who has been the SCCC athletic secretary for the past 15 years, is leaving at the end of this week to take the Deputy County Treasurer’s job in Dighton, Kansas.  Karen has been a great asset to the athletic department.

 

Karen’s husband WR Duncan, director of buildings and grounds, will be taking early retirement on June 30.   They will both be missed.   We wish them the best.

 

Several of us enjoyed a goodbye lunch for Karen on February 17, at the La Hacienda Restaurant. 

Karen was the secretary for SCCCOPs this year.  Bronwyn Smith will be replacing her as secretary.

 

Ashley Lacefield, wife of Scott Lacefield, SCCC Sports Information Specialist, will be the new athletic secretary. We welcome Ashley to SCCC. 

 

Five of us will travel to Cloud County Community College for AKCCOP.  We look forward to seeing many of you there.

 

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.”   Aesop

 

 

From the Vice President

 

Thank you for the opportunity to serve as your AKCCOP vice president.  The last two years have been wonderful.

 

It has been a great pleasure working with our chapter reporters and I appreciate all of your help and support in publishing the Kollator.  Many thanks.  I couldn’t have done it without you!

 

Happy Spring to all, I’ll see you in Concordia.

 

Sarah Smith

AKCCOP Vice President

 
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