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Presidential Report September 15, 2008

Website Award

The University and College Designers Association has chosen our website video, "The Future Student Video-Fun," to receive an Award of Excellence. You may remember that this was part of the enhancements that were mentioned when you saw the new SCC website. The judges evaluated over 100 electronic media entries, and SCC is the only community college in the nation to win an award. We join the prestigious ranks of Auburn University, Bennington, Smith, Penn State and the College of William and Mary. Congratulations to Jose Badillo, Susanne Huber, Les Lusk, Elisabeth Myrick, Thao Ngo, Ramiro Martinez, Pamela Mennechey, Michael Garlich, Dick Hamann and Michael Weber!

SCC's Annual Convocation

Our Annual Convocation will be held on Tuesday, October 7, from 9 a.m.-noon, in the gymnasium. The guest speaker will be Dr. Kay McClenney, director of the community college survey of student engagement, based at the University of Texas in Austin. I would like to invite all of the trustees to attend, as this will be a collegewide meeting that will celebrate successes, such as the Pathfinder winners, and will be filled with good information on student success. It will begin with a continental breakfast and end with lunch.

FACC Trustee Meeting

The FACC Trustees Commission will hold its annual meeting on Thursday, November 20, in conjunction with the 2008 FACC Convention, at the International Plaza Hotel in Orlando. While an agenda is not yet available, this is usually a day-long program that focuses on the most current topics in higher education. A luncheon will be held with the community college presidents and will feature a guest speaker. Please let Linda know if you can attend. In addition, Chris Dorworth will be representing you on October 1 in Tampa at the Legislative Strategy Session, held for the community college presidents and board chairs.

ACCT Survey

The Association of Community College Trustees has sent us a survey that it hopes each trustee will complete and return to in the envelope provided. Please do this as soon after the meeting as is convenient.

Florida Community College System Task Force

As you know, I serve on the System Task Force that is being chaired by the Commissioner of Education, Dr. Eric Smith. This group is working in conjunction with the Pilot College Group to prepare a report for the Legislature on the future organizational structure for Florida's community colleges. The Task Force held its first meeting on September 4 in Tampa following the Pilot College meeting. The speakers who presented to our group were primarily business leaders who drove home the point that whatever recommendations we came up with should enhance the issues related to the work force, as well as attracting and retaining businesses in Florida.

The Pilot Colleges, chaired by Chancellor Will Holcombe, have already held several meetings and distributed their vision and guiding principles for Florida's state colleges. The hope is that both groups will craft a similar report for the Legislature that allows all 28 community colleges to offer baccalaureate degrees and that a third tier of community colleges does not become a reality. Don, would you like to comment on this?

Amendment 8

As you know, it looks like Amendment 8 will be on the ballot this fall and will allow local tax support for community colleges. The vote this fall will only provide the possibility for this type of support, since each community college would still have to win a subsequent local election in the counties that they serve. I would like to ask Don Payton to explain Amendment 8 further, as we would like to have a resolution from the Board in support.

Phillip Benjamin Match Program

As you know, given Florida's financial condition, no matching funds were made available to community colleges during this past session. I would like to ask Matt Hodge to update the Board on the impact the loss of these funds has had at SCC. We also would like the Board to support a resolution asking the State to reinstate the matching funds when feasible. We are afraid that if we aren't vocal in indicating the loss in services that this has created that we won't be first in line, or in line at all, at a future date.

Presidents' Club Dinner

The Presidents' Club Dinner is Thursday, September 25, at 6 p.m., at the Lake Mary Events Center.

Future Board Meetings

I would like the Board to consider a change in date for the December, January and March Board meetings. The January and March meetings are scheduled for days when the College is closed and the December meeting was scheduled after I agreed to keynote a conference in Chicago.

Our next Board meeting is on Monday, October 20, at 3:30 p.m., on the Sanford/Lake Mary Campus, and will be followed by a dinner with the Lake Mary City Commissioners.