Desire2Excel Award for Innovation

I am happy to announce that Laura Sturgis, Associate Dean for College Transfer, Articulation, and Special Projects, has co-won the Desire2Excel Award for Innovation. This international award is given each year at the Desire2Learn annual users’ conference, FUSION.

Laura was nominated for her work on the "Advising Course" used in Desire2Learn. In our ever-changing world it is imperative that we seek out the most effective ways to help our students succeed. Many of our students hold very busy and full lives. It is not always easy for them to sit down for a face-to-face with their advisor. This course allows our students to review academic progress, plan for future semesters, and research options when it is most convenient for them. As Laura states, “This advising course empowers students to become active and collaborative participants in their own educational journey.”

Laura’s innovative use of D2L has helped college transfer advisors more effectively use their time with advisees, thus furthering our goal to maximize student success. This course is being used as a model for advisors in the other divisions, as well. We are very proud of Laura for receiving this high honor and representing the College in such a positive, global way.

Please visit the link to view a video of the announcement: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Fxog0j2BXM.

Congratulations, Laura, on a job well done!

Find Us On Facebook

If you’re not already active on Facebook, let me give you a good reason to sign up. York Technical College’s Facebook page is really taking off, with nearly 350 fans—100 in the last month alone—most of them students. The page, which is hosted by Kimberly Starnes from our Marketing department, provides a great opportunity for students as well as the rest of the college community to interact with the college and each other in fun, not-so-formal ways and pick up some valuable information along the way. It’s all about staying connected and finding ways to build school spirit, which we’ve discussed many times as being an extremely important factor in student retention and student success.

A growing number of students—and I hope you will join them—are participating in Facebook fun like “Snag Some Swag” (solving puzzles or discovering secret passwords for some nice York Tech gear), searching the campus for hidden pink flamingoes, or hula hooping for fun and prizes. (At least one staff member participated in a recent “Random Hula” event, and we have witnesses to prove it!) So please encourage students to become fans of the college, then begin commenting on our posts and pictures, or swing by a Facebook event to see what it’s all about, and I invite you to do the same.

While we’re on the subject of social media, I would also like to encourage everyone to follow York Tech on Twitter to be the first to hear about college news and events. And anyone into “geocaching” will be interested in knowing that we now have our own geocache here on campus. For those of you not familiar with geocaching, let’s just say it’s a kind of treasure hunting using a GPS or smart phone application. Yes, we know, our inner nerd is showing.

What we value, we measure

If you believe the maxim ‘what we value, we measure’, then you can believe that York Technical College values the principles and behaviors that constitute engaged learning in a supportive academic environment. For every year since 2004, the College has participated in the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE), and this fall will be the second year the College has participated in the Survey of Entering Student Engagement (SENSE). Both of these surveys are designed to measure key areas of student engagement which research has identified as directly related to student retention and other success outcomes. The surveys ask students about their college experiences – how they spend their time, what they have gained from their classes, how they feel about their relationships with faculty, counselors, and peers, and how the college supports their learning, etc.

Although the surveys measure similar areas, the SENSE items focus on entering students’ experiences during the first three weeks of their first semster, whereas the CCSSE items measure all students’ experiences during their time at the College. The SENSE focuses only on the early experiences of new students because research suggests that helping students succeed through their first semester can dramatically improve subsequent success.

The CCSSE data are reported through five benchmarks: Active and Collaborative Learning, Student Effort, Academic Challenge, Student-Faculty Interaction, and Support for Learners. The SENSE data are organized around six benchmarks: Early Connections, High Expectations/Aspirations, Clear Academic Plan, Effective Track to Readiness, Engaged Learning, and Academic/Student Support. You can learn more about both the CCSSE and the SENSE by visiting their websites: http://www.ccsse.org/ and www.ccsse.org/sense.

The key findings of the 2010 CCSSE report for York Tech summarizes the College’s benchmark scores and discusses some survey items where our results are significantly different than the average results for other participating colleges. You may also want to look at the College’s trend data of the survey items comprising the benchmarks for the seven years that we participated in the CCSSE.

As noted in the Beginning-of-the-Year Meeting, you will hear more about the SENSE and our first year of results through Benchmark Fridays during the academic year. These will be similar to the CCSSE Benchmark Fridays the College conducted last year. I hope you will take the time to review this information and participate in the professional development opportunities to further explore these ideas.

New Commission Member

I am pleased to announce that Mr. Harry M. Miller, Jr. has joined the York Technical College Commission. Since 2000, Mr. Miller has served as the Executive Vice President for Planning and Development for The Comporium Group. He began working with the telephone company after graduating from Clemson University as an Assistant Outside Plant Engineer, working on design and supervision of cable projects. With over thirty-seven years of experience at Comporium, Mr. Miller currently provides oversight to the following areas: Engineering and Planning, Information Technology, Internet Planning and Development, Network Services, New Venture Startup, Purchasing, and Wireless Planning and Development.

Mr. Miller has served eight years as a board member of the United States Telecom Association (USTelecom), the industry’s national trade association. He also serves as a member of Clemson University’s Electrical and Computer Engineering External Advisory Board.

Mr. Miller replaces Mr. Ed Barnes, who retired after 24 years of service to the College.

The other nine governing board seats are held by:

Mr. Bruce “Tony” A. Vaughan (Chair), Retiree
Mr. E. Paul Basha, President & CEO, York Electric Cooperative, Inc.
Mr. James “Jim” C. Hardin, III, Attorney at Law, James C. Hardin III, PLLC
Dr. A. Douglas “Doug” Marion, Ophthalmologist, Eye Associates of Chester, PA
Mr. Robert “Bobby” B. Meek, Owner, Century 21 Palmetto Homes Realty
Mr. G. Thompson “Tommy” Myers, Jr., Retiree
Mr. Charles Z. Robinson (Vice-Chair), Human Resources Consultant, Prosperity Resources, LLC
Ms. Geri H. Rucker, Regional Vice President, Founders Federal Credit Union
Mr. Jeffrey C. Sigmon, President, JEFCO Communications

We currently have one open seat on the Board. Ms. Carolyn Carpenter retired after 20 years of service to the College. We hope to fill that seat by the end of the year.

Kimbrell Memorial Golf Tournament

On May 10, 2010, the York Technical College Foundation hosted the much anticipated William C. “Bill” Kimbrell Memorial Golf Tournament. Mr. Kimbrell was an outstanding Foundation board member, serving continuously for over 17 years. He shared a passion for student success and was an enthusiastic advocate of numerous fundraising projects, helping the community and the college.
(Pictured left with me is Mr. Kimbrell's daughter, Willann, his wife Joanne, and Dr. Ed Duffy.)

The day started with lunch, followed by the tournament, and concluded with a reception and awards. One hundred and twenty-five golfers turned out to play. Alongside the seasoned golfers were Robin Breedon and Jacqueline Drakeford, both students who have received assistance from the Foundation. They each spoke about their return to college, educational goals, and appreciation for the work of the Foundation with regard to scholarship funding. YTC Student Jacquie Wells was also recognized for her work in designing the tournament program.

The event was quite a success raising $110,000 to date for student scholarships. We are very appreciative of all of our generous sponsors, volunteers, board members, faculty and staff that made it happen. Congratulations on a job well done!

CPT Alumni Reunion

The first York Technical College Computer Technology Alumni Reunion was held on Saturday, April 17, 2010, at the Baxter M. Hood Continuing Education Center. Six hundred graduates of the associate degree and certificate programs were invited. Attendees included seventy graduates from the years of 1977 through 2010. Activities for the evening included informal networking and "speed networking" where each graduate introduced himself to someone in the room whom he did not already know.

Former York Technical College president and Computer Technology Department Manager, Dennis Merrell, reminded the alumni of how far computer programming has come since the early days. He engaged the audience by quizzing them to identify relic programming paraphernalia that he had brought with him.

Yung Chou, a Microsoft Information Technology evangelist, conducted a presentation on the Future of Cloud Computing. To encourage the audience to answer questions throughout his talk, Mr. Chou tossed out Microsoft software and other prizes to respondents.

Guests enjoyed an Asian buffet provided by CPT alumnus Thi Le of Thi’s Catering and a cake (left) designed by Department Manager Jyron Baxter’s wife, Aramis. Each alumnus was given a custom t-shirt displaying the College’s new logo.

I greatly appreciate all the work by the faculty, staff, and alumni that planned the event.

YTC Foundation Newsletter

The York Technical College Foundation has developed a newsletter, Overview, that highlights the many initiatives the Foundation is working on for the College. The April 2010 newsletter includes information about the William C. Kimbrell Memorial Golf Tournament that will be held on Monday, May 10. I greatly appreciate all the work that the Foundation and the Development Office does to help support the College's goal to Maximize Student Success.