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Presidential Report March 20, 2007Thank You'sAs you heard in the preliminaries, Virgil Hayes, Jr., represented SCC and himself well at the State Speech Tournament bringing back 5 State Titles! Many congratulations to both Virgil and his professor, Laura Dickinson, for their dedication. Now, it is on to the National Phi Rho Pi Tournament in Houston and a tournament in New Mexico where he will be representing the entire State of Florida. Many thanks to the SCC Foundation for their financial support for these endeavors. Many thanks also to our trustees who journeyed to Tallahassee to attend the FACC Trustee Workshop and lobby on our behalf - Mr. Chris Dorworth, Dr. Charles English, Mr. Rick Lee, and Ms. Dede Schaffner. Somehow it is going to be hard to top this "road trip." And many thanks to Chris for helping us to "crash" Senator Ken Pruitt's private reception at the FSU Stadium. State FundingAs the Trustees heard when they were in Tallahassee, 2007-2008 is shaping up to be a year of challenge in terms of the state budget. Florida's surging revenue growth of the last few years hasn't been sustained, and we are beginning to come back to earth. Last week's Revenue Estimating Conference revealed that state revenues are expected to fall nearly $1 billion below earlier estimates, primarily due to a shortfall in sales tax revenues. Rep. Joe Pickens' House Schools and Learning Council announced its budget proposal today. Chairman Pickens has done an excellent job with the allocation he was given, and his budget serves as a good starting point for the Legislature's deliberations. We are hopeful that the numbers for community colleges will increase as the process moves along. Two points are worth noting:
We expect to see Senate budget numbers on Thursday. The goal from here forward is to increase the appropriation for operating funds and to fully fund the matching grants. Even as the operating budget picture is not the best, PECO revenues are up and about $60 million in additional funding has been made available for community college projects. The State Board of Education today approved a revised PECO budget request that includes more than $14 million for SCC, including $4,109,897 for the remodeling of our Buildings F and L in 2007-2008!!! Our hard work lobbying the Department of Education to prioritize the renovation of these buildings appears to have paid off. Many thanks go to Adie Price and Joe Sarnovsky! The goal now is to ensure that the Legislature uses this new, revised request in developing its PECO budget. Don Payton continues to represent us well in Tallahassee keeping us connected to what is happening. We will continue to rely on the Trustees for their help in all our lobbying efforts! SACS ApprovalGreat news! We just received full approval from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to open the Center for Economic Development at Heathrow. Since Suzanne Tesinsky chaired this project, I would like to ask her to comment. Many thanks to Suzanne Tesinsky, Jan Gerrity, Dean Mike Staley and the rest of the team who helped with this important milestone! Student SuccessProfessor Lenny Portelli's Layout and Design class competed in the National Logo Contest for Building Future Builders. Three of the students made it to the finals with one student, Karen Troendle, placing third in the nation among community colleges and universities. Congratulations to the students and to Professor Portelli for this accomplishment! SCC's Phi Beta Lambda Students Win AwardsNine SCC Phi Beta Lambda students competed at February's District III Conference and won 11 awards in preparation for the State Leadership Conference. Professor Laurel Stevenson assisted at the Conference, as well as, Professor Tom Walker who served as a judge and mentored the emerging business issues and business decision-making teams. Both teams won first place. Forty-four students will represent SCC at the 57th Annual Phi Beta Lambda State Leadership Conference on March 22-24 in Orlando. Congratulations to the students and to their advisors and mentors Sherry Jenkins, Laurel Stevenson and Tom Walker! Faculty AccomplishmentsTwo faculty members, Sandy Keeter and Ellen Orr, were presenters at the 2007 Course Technology Conference. Their presentation was on "How to Engage Students in Active Learning Using TurningPoint." Congratulations to both Sandy Keeter and Ellen Orr! SCC's Innovative English for Speakers of Other Languages ProgramThe Council for Advancement of Adult Literacy (CAAL) has chosen five Exemplary ESL Programs in the United States. Our own ESL Program has been recognized as one of the BEST in the nation! Congratulations to Beth Larson and the ESL Team for their efforts! Marketing Design AwardCongratulations to Ruth Del Manzano for designing SCC's Theatre Booklet which took a Merit Award in the 22nd Annual Admissions Advertising Awards Competition. Congratulations, Ruth! SCC Foundation Dream AuctionThe SCC Foundation Dream Auction will be held on Saturday, March 24, at the Lake Mary Marriott. The reception will begin at 5:30 p.m. with dinner and live auction at 7:00 p.m. The Ireland trip, always a highlight, is sponsored by the Irish Delegation. They are led by Mr. Tony O'Neill and will arrive from County Wicklow this Friday. Please thank our Irish friends when you see them on Saturday night! SCC Leadership AcademyThe Leadership Academy members will travel to Tallahassee on March 27 - 28. We have some exciting events lined up beginning with a session from Chancellor David Armstrong during dinner on the 27th. On Wednesday, they will meet with individual members of the SCC Delegation, tour the State Capitol and have lunch at the University Club followed by a session with Florida State University's President T.K. Wetherell. Many thanks to Rick Lee and Citizens Bank of Florida for their generous sponsorship of this event! 2007 All-Florida Academic Team Awards CeremonyIt is my great honor to serve as the Presidential Phi Theta Kappa Ambassador and emcee the 2007 USA Today All-Florida Academic Team Awards Ceremony on March 22 in Tallahassee. Congratulations to Isa Rosado and Vianka Santana, our students who will be recognized at the event for their academic achievement, leadership and service to the community. You will be seeing these students at the April Board meeting. Visits to Seminole County High SchoolsIn return for the High School principals visiting with us during our Annual Counselor Workshop in December, I promised that I would visit them on their home turf. Thus far, I've visited Lake Mary, Winter Springs, Lyman, Oviedo, Lake Howell and the Quest Academy. I'm pleased to report that the principals are very pleased with SCC's efforts and just want us to do even more! Graduations
New Board MemberCongratulations to Mrs. Lisa Greer who was recently appointed by Governor Charlie Crist to serve on SCC's District Board of Trustees. Mrs. Greer will be visiting the campus on Friday, April 6, to begin her orientation. Once we have all of the new Board members in place - most likely this summer - we will schedule formal workshops for all of the Board members. We are most grateful to Dr. Charles English for his dedication to Seminole Scommunity College and to the District Board of Trustees. Charles has contributed so much to this institution, beginning as a Counselor in Student Services and ending with being a member of our governing Board. Thank you, Dr. English! |
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