Year-End Meeting Follow-Up

At the conclusion of our end-of-the-year meeting, I played a series of videos that highlighted some of our programs. These videos are posted in the left sidebar under “WCNC Videos.” I want to thank Joe Polinski for partnering with WCNC to develop the Quick Job videos. They did an excellent job of presenting a variety of our programs that are designed to train and employ participants within a short timeframe.

I also shared with you a brief overview of our budget. If you wish to review our Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports to obtain a deeper understanding of our budget, please visit http://www.yorktech.com/businessoffice/default.asp.

I recently added a new section, Leadership Articles, to the left sidebar of the blog post and will periodically add new articles that relate to our discussions, meetings, etc. Please read at your convenience.

Citi Foundation Grant

In January, the College was awarded a $30,000 grant from Citi Foundation to help strengthen small business and entrepreneurial efforts in the community. The College will use a portion of this grant to host events aimed at providing mentoring opportunities for entrepreneurs. In addition, the grant will support Continuing Education programs and courses, such as Core Four Business Planning and Fast Trac Growth Venture, designed to help small business owners expand their businesses.

The Expo of Entrepreneurs, held last week, was also supported by this grant. Mr. Tony Berry of The Berry Company was the featured speaker and panelists included successful entrepreneurs such as Jill Watts of Mary Kay; Phillip Dibrell of Allstate Insurance; Eleanor Childers, former ownerof Eleanor’s Bridal Shoppe; Kirk Leslie of Kirk Leslie Painting, Inc.; and Stephen Cooley of Keller Williams Realty.

The Entrepreneur Network (EN) hosted an event February 17, with 20 year-old entrepreneur and writer, Ben Casnocha, who spoke on the topic of “Entrepreneurship as a Life Idea – Becoming CEO of Your Own Life.” In 2006, BusinessWeek named Casnocha one of America’s best young entrepreneurs.

In recognition of National Small Business Week, the Entrepreneur Network and York County Regional Chamber of Commerce's Small Business Council will co-sponsor a Small Business Expo on May 19 at the Baxter Hood Center.

I especially want to thank Edie Dille, Kimberly Herndon, and Susan Brackett for their hard work in making these events possible for aspiring entrepreneurs.

LTA Rally

Eighteen York Technical College students boarded a bus early on the cold morning of Tuesday, January 27 to attend an LTA (Lottery Tuition Assistance) rally at the State Capital in Columbia. These students were among 300 other technical college students who stood on the steps of the Capital to show their appreciation and support for the LTA program. The students wore t-shirts that stated “1 in 3 Technical College Students Receive Lottery Tuition Assistance,” to emphasize the fact that Lottery Tuition Assistance has become an increasingly important source of financial assistance for nearly 40,000 SC technical college students. Two York Tech students who participated in the LTA event are highlighted in the following news release: http://www.yorktech.com/collegenews/02032009.htm.

I appreciate Kelli Dawkins and her staff for all their hard work in making the day such a great success!

Student Success

Last week, I met with three divisions to discuss their student success initiatives that were included as part of their Institutional Effectiveness (IE) Plans. Afterwards I realized that I should share my own initiatives with you. My IE Plan documents part of what I hope to achieve by June 30. I will continue to meet with divisions over the next few weeks to learn about each department’s student success initiatives. The purpose of these meetings is to informally share the goals that have been set, to hear what you are discovering and to hear how you are overcoming obstacles to improve student success. There is great power in each of you and the impact you have. With all of us focused on one college goal of Maximizing Student Success we are bound to make a significant difference.

My Agency Head Evaluation, as required by the State, also outlines my objectives for the year. I am working with many others to achieve these objectives for the College. The results will be the basis for my performance evaluation by the York Technical College Commission.

Thank you for all your hard work and for your commitment to our mission!

Food Service

During our planning sessions, some of the 650 inputs related to providing food services to faculty, staff, and students. I included those under the theme of campus environment. As a result, I asked that a team of faculty and staff develop a survey and gather perspective to help determine what needs exist. The team has completed their work and provided me with suggestions.

All commuter colleges are challenged in providing food services, because we do not have the same level of “captive customers” as residential colleges. A decision about how we can best provide the type of service that campus stakeholders will support will be influenced by several factors including the campus master plan and a potential high school partnership with Rock Hill schools. I will have more information to share in the coming year about how we will proceed. I appreciate the work of the review team. If you have additional suggestions, please contact Velma Simmons.

The campus master plan, branding plan, and food services are a few of the “global” initiatives that impact us all. I appreciate you reading about them and, as always, welcome your input. As we proceed, I will continue to look for ways to involve faculty and staff in the process.

Campus Master Plan

Much of the feedback you provided during the planning process included buildings, landscaping, traffic, safety, etc. All of these categories fall under the theme of Campus Environment. Although the College last reviewed our campus needs in 2002, a comprehensive review and plan has never been completed. Despite the current economic conditions, our College continues to grow and when conditions improve there will be opportunities to fund needed additions and changes to our campus. We want to be as certain as we can that those decisions are part of a comprehensive strategy to best utilize our property and resources and that our Campus Environment, from parking and pedestrian flow, to signage and landscaping, supports an optimum campus work and learning experience.

With that in mind, a Campus Master Planning Team of faculty and staff came together to select a consultant to work with our college in developing that plan. Watson Tate Savory Architects, Inc. was selected and will begin engaging our campus in this process beginning this month. I appreciate the work of the planning team in getting us to this point. Whether or not you are personally involved in the related focus groups, feel free to contact Dr. Gribenas or Robby Brown with your suggestions for improvements to our campus.

Branding Initiative

In response to your inputs related to marketing, advertising and general communicating of who we are and what we offer to our target markets, we have launched a branding initiative. The process began by forming a Branding Team that worked with Joe Polinski on the design of two components: a perception study and a brand development plan. The purpose is to understand how our targets view us, compare that to how we would like for them to view us, and develop a strategy for better communicating that through strategic messages and mediums. The value is that we hope by improving this communication:

· we are more effective and efficient in the expenditure of marketing dollars,
· we will appeal to a deeper portion of each target,
· students who we enroll are more committed to their educational goals,
· and the general public understands and supports our mission.

We completed the perception study piece in July and the data was initially analyzed by the branding team. The data was broken down into five survey areas: high school students, parents of high school students, high school counselors, non-attending prospective students, and current York Tech students. We then asked five teams of faculty and staff to review each section and provide their collective thoughts as to what was most significant. The branding team selected Carolina PR to use this input to design a branding strategy for the College that would drive future marketing and advertising. Additional faculty, staff and students will be asked to provide input to this process in the coming months. I am grateful to the branding team for their commitment to this process. Whether or not you are part of a focus group, feel free to share your ideas with Joe Polinski.