Welcome Back

We are off to another great start this semester with lots of activity, new and returning students and new faculty and staff. I hope you had a restful and enjoyable holiday break and that you are having a good beginning to this new year. We have much to be proud of as we look back on 2008. Great progress was achieved on many fronts including the following:

· Strengthened efforts to Maximize Student Success.
· Increased credit course enrollment 12 percent between fall 2007 and fall 2008.
· Expanded dual enrollment offerings.
· Developed a new partnership with Encompass Machines.
· Completed the Chester Center.
· Installed a new phone system.
· Expanded articulation efforts with Winthrop University and College of Charleston.
· Phi Theta Kappa received numerous awards for their community service.
· Celebrated the 25th Anniversary of the College Foundation.

Throughout 2009, our goal of Maximizing Student Success will continue to be at the forefront of all that we do. Our retention goals are provided in the left sidebar. Click on the picture to enlarge for better viewing. I have also provided links to student success related websites for your review. Over the next few months, I plan to meet with each division to discuss progress on Student Success initiatives and will specifically discuss the strategies and measures you have set to improve student engagement and/or persistence.

We will continue to make progress this year on the other five themes that support Student Success: Organizational Development, Partnerships, Branding, Campus Environment, and Programming. Improvement efforts in each of these areas are underway. Just as a reminder that these themes were developed to represent the 650 ideas that you shared with me along with input from our many other key stakeholders.

Stay tuned for details on three specific initiatives that came directly from those inputs.

New Facility for Heavy Equipment Program

In the Chester County Industrial Park, a 1,494 sq ft classroom building is nearing completion for the Heavy Equipment Operator Program. The building will consist of two classrooms, one office, a reception area, service area, locker room and restrooms. The land for the training site was donated by Chester County which consists of 11.7 acres. Funds for the building were provided by the College Foundation. The building is scheduled for completion in early March 2009. The site also includes a 30 x 60 foot shed to protect the program’s equipment. Information about the Heavy Equipment Operator program is available at: http://www.yorktech.com/constructiontrades/heavy_equipment.asp.

Chester Center

A Sneak Preview event was held Tuesday, December 2 for over 150 supporters and donors that played a key role in making the Chester Center a dream come true. The journey has been a long one, but we are very excited to finally bring a higher education facility to the Chester community. The building consists of two distance learning rooms, one computer lab, three general purpose classrooms, assessment center, library, Welding lab, Mechatronics lab, student commons area, and several faculty and staff offices. Chester Economic Development offices will be located upstairs. Local residents are thrilled to have this state-of-the-art facility in Chester, and we believe the Center will make a positive difference in the lives of students and in the community. A special thanks to Dave LeGrande and Dr. Ed Duffy for their hard work and dedication to this project. I am grateful to everyone involved in making this dream a reality in Chester County.

An open house for the community is scheduled for the spring. Information about the Chester Center is available at http://www.yorktech.com/chester/.

Joint Commission and Legislative Delegation Meeting

On Tuesday evening, the College’s Commission and Legislative Delegation met at the Baxter M. Hood Center. The meeting with our legislators is held annually where we share the highlights of the past year and plans for the future. I provided an overview of our current projects which included the new Chester Center, new Heavy Equipment Operator program facility in Chester, partnership with the City of Rock Hill and our Building and Construction Trades Program to build certified energy efficient homes on Flint St., articulation efforts with Winthrop University, and our current work with the Rock Hill Schools, just to name a few. I presented the College's current budget situation and what that means to the future of the institution.

Guest speakers included Charlie Miller, CEO of Piedmont Medical Center, and Jim Morris, Site Vice President for the Catawba Nuclear Station. They spoke about the importance of preparing their workforce and the needs that they will likely see in the future. Having these two significant companies share the importance of York Technical College's role in meeting their workforce needs made quite an impression.

We also had the pleasure of hearing Beth Morgan, a senior nursing student, speak about her experience at the College and the impact Lottery Tuition Assistance has had on her life.

In addition, an overview of the 2009-2010 SC Technical College System Legislative Priorities was provided which include:

• Lottery Tuition Assistance
• Allied Healthcare Initiative
• Enterprise Campus Legislation
• Accelerated Job Readiness
• readySC
• Lottery Technology Funding

On January 13, a joint meeting with the College Commission and Chester County Council will be held at the new Chester Center. In February, our Commission will meet with the York County Council.

Faculty Recognitions

Dr. Janie Sigmon, Biology Instructor, was recently accepted as a member of the second cohort of BEN (BiosciEdNet) Scholars. The process of becoming a BEN scholar is competitive and only twenty scholars are selected each year. The goal of the BEN Scholars Program is to promote the use of digital library resources and student-centered teaching and learning methods in higher education, specifically in biological sciences lecture and laboratory courses, and in research training programs. As a BEN scholar, Dr. Sigmon will participate in two years of professional development activities, including developing submissions for digital libraries and completing outreach activities. For more information about the BEN Scholars program, please see the story published on the AAAS website at: http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2008/0730ben.shtml

Dr. Cree Stout, Department Manager for ECT/EET, successfully completed ABET’s (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) Institute for the Development of Excellence in Assessment Leadership (IDEAL). During her time at the Institute, Dr. Stout developed skills in the principles of program assessment, change management, and facilitation. As an IDEAL Scholar, Dr. Stout will continue to interact this academic year with other scholars through sharing and discussing best practices via SharePoint portal software. More information about the ABET IDEAL program can be accessed at: http://www.abet.org/ideal.shtml

Congratulations, Dr. Sigmon and Dr. Stout!

If you are aware of other faculty and staff that have received similar achievements, please email jnesbitt@yorktech.com. I want to make sure others are recognized as well.

Recognition for Excellence in Teaching

Congratulations to Dr. Martha Macdonald, English Instructor, on being selected as one of four finalists for the South Carolina Governor’s Professor of the Year Award in the two-year college category. As the recipient of the York Technical College President’s Award for Instructional Excellence, Dr. Macdonald and thirty-five faculty from other SC institutions were nominated for the Governor’s Professor of the Year Award. Dr. Macdonald was recognized at a luncheon last week at the University of South Carolina in Columbia for her excellence in teaching. Congratulations, Martha!

Student Success Initiatives

Thanks to all who took time to participate in the Student Success/Institutional Effectiveness (IE) workshops. Over 150 college employees attended one of the workshops during the month of September. All sessions reflected a mix of faculty, student services, and administrative/support personnel. The purpose of the workshops was to discuss student engagement practices and ideas for setting goals to measure student success. Since the completion of those workshops, college departments have submitted IE plans that detail the strategies and measures they have set to improve student engagement and/or persistence. As we discussed at the workshops, the most obvious place to impact student success is through direct contact in the classrooms. As we also discussed, even those of us who are not in the classroom play a part in determining to what extent our students will be successful. The IE plans submitted so far reflect the varying roles that we all play. Some highlights include:

• The Business Administration Department plans to increase collaborative learning in the classroom through the implementation of in-class student group discussions and presentations.
• The Information Technology Department will offer faculty-led tutoring sessions every Friday during the semester to provide support for student learning.
• In the Criminal Justice Department, faculty will contact each student in their classes prior to midterm to assess the students’ academic progress and to offer assistance to help them be more successful.
• The Science Department will increase engagement with high-risk students by identifying those who scored a C or below on their exams and then scheduling conferences with them and assigning peer tutors.
• Staff at the Off Campus Centers will contact all students who are absent from a teleclass meeting in an effort to make those students feel more connected to the college.
• Staff in the Career Services Office will contact all students enrolled in the General Studies Program and provide them career guidance to increase the numbers who transition into a career-oriented program and remain at the college.
• The Custodial, Maintenance, and Public Safety Departments will all conduct customer surveys to determine areas where they can work to enhance their impact on the overall campus environment.

I’m excited about all of your Student Success initiatives and look forward to hearing about your progress. I will continue to provide leadership to assure progress on the five themes that we identified to support Student Success: Organizational Development, Partnerships, Branding, Campus Environment, and Programming. I will personally be involved through investing time with faculty, staff and students to improve communications and two-way understanding. I am also committed to ensuring that adequate resources are available to invest in those activities that have proven to show an impact on student success.

Vincent Tinto, Professor at Syracuse University, has researched and written extensively on higher education, particularly on student retention and the impact of learning communities on student growth and attainment. He comes from a four-year perspective but has worked very closely with technical and community colleges in recent years. His article “Taking Student Retention Seriously” outlines the conditions that support retention. Please take time to read this article and share your thoughts with me.