Welcome Back Fall 2005

"State of the College"

• It's hard to believe Seminole Community College is 40 years old! Actually, we're 40 years YOUNG, with an outstanding future ahead of us ... as a leading force for positive change - in our community, in our region, and in countless students' lives!
• This is a BIG year for us, with lots of BIG things happening, so we wanted to have a BIG event this morning to kick off this 40th Anniversary Academic Year.
  
  • This is a change from recent years ... instead of a ceremony in the Concert Hall followed by a college-wide luncheon later in the week, we decided to combine everything into one big party this morning. 
  • 40th Anniversary pin at every plate ... please wear it with pride, in honor of all those SCC faculty and staff who have come before us ... and in honor of your efforts
  • Also, enjoy 40th Anniversary fan - a low-tech version of last year's popular battery-powered SCC fan - guaranteed not to run out of power
  • And reflecting our technology-driven 21st century ... 40th Anniversary mouse pad ... with personalized photo capability

In a little while, we're going to recognize our 30 Year service award recipients / Pathfinder award winners ... but first, I think it's important that we take "A Look Back ... and A Look Ahead"

To start our "Look Back," we must go to the very beginning ... and it's important for everyone to know that the beginning of Seminole JUNIOR College - as we were first known - actually started with the Seminole County School Board ... known then as the Board of Public Instruction of Seminole County

• This group of dedicated citizens - led by Superintendent R.T. Milwee - made the case for, and led the charge for, creation of a junior college in Seminole County.
• Many, many other Seminole County leaders - that we don't even have records of today - also surely worked very hard back in 1963, 64, and 65 to lobby for the creation of a junior college in Seminole County
  
  • For instance, digging through the archives, we've learned that the city of Casselberry made a really hard push to have SCC located in Casselberry! Just think ... we all could have been stuck on 436 at Red Bug Road this morning trying to get to our College!
• But the records we do have show that in December 1964, R. T. Milwee and the Seminole Board of Public Instruction officially adopted a thick brief that proposed the creation of a public junior college in Seminole County
• They then worked with the state legislature during the 1965 session, and out of that session came the authorization "to establish a junior college in Seminole County" ... with the whopping sum of $30,000 "to be expended for expenses incurred in organizing the junior college."
• So, on July 1, 1965 we were born! Then that fall the School Board conducted a search for the new junior college's president, and in October 1965 Dr. Earl Weldon - who was Dean of Instruction at St. Johns River Junior College - was hired.
• Dr. Weldon was actually 1 of 6 candidates interviewed for the job ... and those of you who have served on any SCC search committee will really appreciate this!
• Here are 3 of the actual 7 questions asked of each candidate for president:
  
  • "What does the term 'Community Junior College' mean to you?"
  • "As president, what role would you expect to play as an educational leader in the community?"
  • And my favorite - "What would you do in your first week as president?"

The rest, as you know, is history. Dr. Weldon worked with R.T. Milwee and the School Board to locate us on these 200+ acres, to hire faculty and staff, and to start our first classes in August, 1966. Seminole Junior College actually remained under the purview of the School Board for 2 more years, until July 1, 1968 when Seminole Junior College officially cut its ties with the Seminole School Board and became a part of Florida's community college system.

Now flash forward through the 70's, 80's, and 90's to today, and we can all take pride -- in ourselves and our predecessors -- as we look back fondly at 40 years of student success ... 40 years of "empowering generations" ... and 40 years of making a difference in Seminole County.

• Yes, a lot has happened at SCC over the past 40 years - but a lot has also happened at SCC over the past 12 months...
• In fact, how many of you have joined our SCC family since last year's Welcome Back celebration? Please stand...

This time last year we had just come through our first hurricane and would face 2 more ... everyone pulling together is what got us through

• B Building repairs / shuffling classes... 4000 students / 60 employees
• Grounds / maintenance / custodial ...
• And it was really special to see so many faculty / staff looking out for each other and for our students
• The good news is, no hurricanes so far this year!
• The not-so-good news is, ever since the hurricanes, our enrollment has softened. We were down in enrollment this Spring and Summer, and we're anxious to see how our enrollment turns out this fall when classes start next week. Our peer institutions report they are down so far this fall, so we will see.

Over the past 12 months - we really have made great progress with our technology and our processes ...

• It's been two years now since PeopleSoft "go-live" ... hats off to everyone who's worked on this project in any way! 
• We continue to make major progress in financial area ... fiscal year closed successfully for second year in a row
• Major progress continues in student services ...
  
  • Smooth fall registration underway - last Thursday 3200 people on system at one time!
  • unofficial transcripts now online!

And over the past year, SCC became the 24th largest produce of AA degrees in the nation and #57 producer of all degrees

• Our increased enrollment is leading to increased retention / student success rates

Another important development of the past 12 months is our association with the Strategic Horizon network ...

• We are with 14 other community colleges in this consortium, out of the Univ. of Mich.

Their philosophy is one that we've truly taken to heart "Lead from where you are"

That's why last year we began a journey to develop a new Strategic Plan Framework

• 41 Focus groups of internal and external SCC constituents last fall with around 500 participants ... how many of you participated??
• College-wide retreat in January 
• Strategic Plan Framework task force in Feb-Mar ... comprised of 29 faculty / staff who did an outstanding job in developing:

Nine New Priorities for SCC ...

• We're not going to go through all nine priorities this morning - your eyes would glaze over if we did - but you can find all nine new priorities listed on page nine of your Welcome Back program. 
• We reviewed them together at a series of collegewide forums in March here at S/LM, at Oviedo, and Hunt Club
• And they were approved by our Board in April
• Now, these priorities will become the foundation as we continue to develop a long-term Strategic Plan for SCC for 2005-2010 ... we'll have college committees working on them starting this Academic Year

Essentially, all nine priorities fall into three important areas ...centered around ... Capacity ... Quality ... and Community

"Capacity" really has become a buzz word for all of us at SCC

• We've been doing "more with less" nearly all of our 40 years

And we've been growing and growing for 40 years. Over the past 7-8 years, we've been the fastest-growing community college in Florida, and just a couple of years ago - before the hurricanes -- we were the 11th fastest-growing community college of our size in the U.S.!

And more growth is sure to come our way ... Seminole County's population will increase +40 percent over the next 15 years

And the largest population segment in our County today is students under 15, who will all be looking for higher education over the next 10 years

• We have no choice but to expand to provide greater access and opportunity to serve our community

That's why we're expanding ... and this expansion to four distinct sites is now just one Academic Year away!

First up -- Heathrow Center ... breaking ground this October - open maybe Fall 2006, more likely Spring 2007

Altamonte Campus ... breaking ground in January - Open summer or fall of 2007

Burn building / Drive Track ... breaking ground by end of this year

Automotive facility ... you should see it coming out of the ground later this year opening in 2006

Sanford / Lake Mary Master plan ... we expect some much-needed renovation and expansion will be coming our way

• Specific plans call for renovations and improvements to the following buildings here over the next 3-5 years...
• K Building

Also here at S/LM Campus ... UCF and SCC are both committed to increasing access to bachelor's degrees - and even Master's degrees - in Seminole County

• Joint Use Facility at S/LM
• Also UCF is looking at becoming one of our major resident partners at Heathrow Center

Oviedo ... Long range plan calls for Phase II the end of this decade

But despite all the growth - past, present, and future - we are still near the bottom of the barrel when it comes to state funding.

• This year alone, it would take an additional $4.8 million just to bring SCC up to the state average funding per FTE
• Community College funding formula was built when growth was not happening
• There are 13 other colleges in the boat with us
• Good news is, this issue has made it to COP -- $15 million BOG
• Hope to have a shot at making changes over the next three years

So here is our dilemma ... summed up by one of our new priorities ... How are we going to "Balance growth and quality"?

• First, we need to balance our growth and our available resources ... One way: Strengthen our resource base.
• Our SCC Foundation is doing a great job at this ... they are hard at work raising more and more $$ for our students and our institution
  
  • The strongest Foundation Board we've had in years!
  • Foundation is also seeking your support ... our annual 4-Runner campaign is about to get underway. We'd really like this year to be the year we get 100% participation - even if it's only a small amount. (Pick up your 4-Runner sign-up sheet in the lobby)
  • By the way, faculty will soon be able to apply for this year's Endowed Teaching Chairs
• We'll also continue to raise $ via grants - we've applied for nearly $5 million in grants this year!
• SCCorporate College also has ambitious goals to produce revenue
• And as I've said, more $$ for SCC is my top priority ... I'll be in Tallahassee a lot next spring, ably assisted by our Board and by Don Payton, our legislative liaison
• Our balancing act also needs to anticipate future growth and future resources ... so we're in the process of mapping out a 10 Year Financial Plan for SCC
  
  • Our Board has asked us to develop this plan ... to determine how we can continue to make progress in the face of continued funding constraints
  • Will serve as a "road map" to help us address challenging issues like:
    
    • Faculty compensation - to continue attracting top-quality faculty
    • And other issues, like ensuring Staff compensation remains competitive
  • We expect this 10 Year Financial Plan to be completed later this year, in time to share with you, with our community, and our legislators as we gear up for next Spring's legislative session in Tally

As a growing institution, we will need to continue adding more faculty and staff ... and more future leaders: That's why we intend to expand our personnel development program

• SCC is already the 3rd largest employer in Seminole County- with over 1,600 employees! - and we'll only get bigger
• That's why we must provide opportunities for progression and development
  
  • Leadership SCC ... working to develop this year
  • We also want to provide training and team-building opportunities for more and more College employees
  • And our participation in Strategic Horizon network of colleges will also provide many of you opportunities to interface with and learn from the 14 other community colleges from across our nation

If "capacity" is our buzz word, then our mantra has to be "quality." We must focus on retention and graduation rates at the same time we provide the top-quality instruction and learner support services our students need to learn and to succeed

• The reality is, today's students are very different than yesterday's students...
  
  • " We need to explore new ways to enhance the success of our students ... through Title III efforts ... with more Academic Success Centers ... Student Help Desks ... even a "First-Year Experience"
• We're developing an Assessment Model to define and assess those qualities that will enable every Planning Unit to define what quality means to them, and how they will enhance the quality of their area
  
  • " We'll use this new model for the first time this fall, as we assess our Athletics Program - a 3 month study will get underway shortly
• We are so committed to quality that we've even created a new area devoted just to Planning / Assessment / Quality Improvement ... headed by Dr. Christine Robinson

Our new priorities also center around "Community" ... both our internal College community and our external community

• Internally, we are a diverse institution ... mirroring our community

Increasing percentages of diversity

• Experiencing the same as SCPS

And as a diverse institution in a diverse community, "Diversity" must be one of our pillars this year - and every

• That's why we have a Diversity Council
  
  • Will soon be asking for your input in developing a tagline for our institution that reflects SCC's commitment to diversity
  • Concerned with "appreciation" / how we value and treat each other

This year we are also committed to engaging more SCC constituents in designing and supporting programs / services to meet our changing student and community needs.

• Part of this is to continue evolving our organizational structure to better position us to effectively operate 4 distinct sites...
  
  • The first step: our recent "Redesign" became effective July 1 ( and you'll find the new overarching organizational charts on pages 13 and 14 in your Welcome Back program)
  • Now, our 4 divisions, led by 4 VP's, will be analyzing their respective areas over the upcoming months and years to evaluate changes that best serve our institution / students
  • We've also expanded Executive Staff ... to add more perspectives on diversity, communication, and cross-College collaboration

We're also going to make better use of our President's Council, creating a greater forum for input, decision-making, and strategic planning

• We will expand the President's Council to add faculty department chairs, CPEC representatives, and other representatives of College constituencies
• Will meet 8 times this Academic Year, and will play a more prominent role in charting SCC's course
• We will first convene Sept. 14 and begin addressing collegewide endeavors that impact us all

As we end this "Look Back and Look Ahead," I want to leave you with the words of one of our 9 new priorities that boldly reflects the "Lead from where you are" philosophy ... This new Priority simply and powerfully states that SCC will "Lead our region"

• ... in higher education ...
• ... in community enhancement ...
• ... in economic development ...
• ... in diversity ...
• And in cultural enrichment.
• I'm sure when R.T. Milwee and the rest of our County leaders began the push to locate a college here that this is exactly the kind of institution they had in mind... one that enables each and every one of us to "lead from where we are" ... by continuing to fulfill Seminole Community College's mission and our vision of being student-centered, community-connected, and future-focused ... just as we have, every single day for 40 remarkable years!

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