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Seminole State College
100 Weldon Boulevard
Sanford, Florida 32773-6199
407.708.4722

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Presidential Report: Aug. 23, 2010

Law Enforcement Graduation

On Aug. 19, we graduated our largest law enforcement class — more than 120 students. In that class were a mother and daughter and two brothers. That may be a first for us. Many thanks to Cindy Drago for representing the Trustees at the event. Cindy Drago was asked to comment on the evening.

SACS Success

Following two days of intensive review, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) Team completed their Level II review on July 15. I am pleased to report that the outcome of the visit was what we had hoped for and expected. Many thanks to each of our Board members for making the time to meet with the Chair of the Team and the SACS representative on July 14. They were definitely impressed with the exceptional support that we enjoy from our Board!

While there are items that we will need to address, it was certainly good to hear the head of the Interior Design program at Louisiana State University say that she had no recommendations for our Interior Design curriculum. The Visiting Team was very complimentary of both the quality of our new bachelor's degree and of the institution as a whole.

I did want to share the four SACS recommendations with the Board. These are on everyone's radar screen at the College and we are working toward fulfilling them. The recommendations were:

• 3.3.1.2. The institution should identify expected outcomes, the extent to which departments have achieved these outcomes, and present evidence of improvements made based on the analysis of these results in each administrative support service unit.
• 3.3.1.3. The institution should identify expected outcomes, the extent to which departments have achieved theses outcomes, and present evidence of improvements made based on the analysis of these results in each educational support service unit.
• 3.5.1. The institution should identify the extent to which their graduates have attained college-level general education competencies.
• 3.7.1. For faculty credentialing, Seminole State College should justify and document exceptions to assure appropriate faculty qualifications for those not having the normally accepted degree qualifications in the discipline.

I want to again thank the many, many College employees who have been preparing for the past three years for this very important visit. A special thanks to Dr. Mark Morgan and all the SACS Core Team members; to Dr. Christine Robinson, our SACS liaison; to Lynn Colon, who chaired the site visit committee, and to all the faculty and staff who dedicated countless hours to getting us prepared — particularly Tony Ruggerio, Mike Staley, Cheryl Knodel, Nancy McLaughlin, Keemah Platt, Sharla Rabin, Erika Wagner and Edwin Wehmeyer. Our next milestone will be the Reaffirmation Visit in 2013. As we all know, there is still lots of work to do between now and then!

Retiree Breakfast

The Foundation for Seminole State hosted our first Retiree Breakfast on Aug. 13. Many thanks to Sarah Johnson and the Foundation staff for coordinating an excellent event. A special thank you goes to Ann Barkley, our former Director of Financial Aid, for her help in contacting the retirees. We had nearly 45 who attended and we plan to make this an annual event.

Faculty/Staff Successes

Congratulations to Yolanda Williams, who is now Dr. Williams, having successfully completed Nova Southeastern University's program in Conflict Analysis and Resolution. Congratulations, Dr. Williams!

To Joe Sarnovsky who is now ABD: All But Dissertation.

Scott Roche, Director of Purchasing, is retiring on Aug. 31. Scott has done an amazing job for us for over 35 years! Congratulations, Scott, and we can only hope that you will miss us!

Dick Hamann has been appointed to the state Task Force on the Future of Academic Libraries in Florida. He will be working with representatives of the State University System to present a series of recommendations to the Legislature.

The Nursing Department hosted a national seminar, "Advancing Care Excellence for Seniors," sponsored by the National League for Nursing on Friday, June 25, at the Altamonte Springs Campus. Over 100 nursing educators from around the country attended the day-long event. Congratulations to Cheryl Cicotti and the Nursing Department for hosting a successful conference and enhancing our reputation nationally! Plus, many congratulations to them for a perfect Department of Labor audit of our $2 million nursing grant!

Many thanks to our Automotive faculty and staff for hosting the international meeting of the North American Council of Automotive Teachers (NACAT) during the summer. We hosted over 300 automotive teachers from the U.S. and Canada. An interesting side note is that the Westin in Lake Mary has only been running a 25 percent occupancy rate. But, during July, when they were handling the overflow from our conference, we gave them their best month at 40 percent. Yes, we have a huge impact on our community! Many thanks to our Automotive team: Jim Cox, Mark Davis, Rhonda Thacker, Cherril McMillian and other members of the staff!

The Central Florida Auto Dealer's Association (CFADA) is donating a new 2011 hybrid vehicle for the "reverse raffle" at the 2011 Foundation Dream Gala. 100 percent of the ticket sales will be income for the Gala. Many, many thanks to Barbara Miller and CFADA members for this impressive donation!

Seminole State, in collaboration with the Seminole County Public Schools System (SCPS), hosted a three-day conference (July 20-22) for nearly 300 SCPS teachers. Many thanks to Dr. Gina Fontana and the staff who coordinated this event!

As you can see, today is the first day of classes and we are jammed! Last Wednesday was the official "Faculty Welcome Back," and we had a great morning event hosted by our own Jim Henningsen. Great job, Jim!

Trustee Meetings

FACC will host the 61st Annual Convention and Trustee Workshop Nov. 17-19. The Trustee Workshop will be held on Thursday, Nov. 18. The time is usually from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. We will provide an agenda of the event when it becomes available.

The Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) will hold their annual meeting in Toronto Oct. 20-23. Please let me know if you are interested in attending.

Public Employees Relations Commission (PERC) Hearing Order

Last Thursday, Aug. 19, the PERC Hearing Officer entered her Recommended Order which recommends the following bargaining unit, should the faculty elect to form a union at Seminole State College.

• Included: All full-time teaching faculty, librarians, counselors, professors/directors and professors/program managers.
• Excluded: President of the College; all administrative, professional and career service positions; all department chairs; all temporary full-time faculty; and all part-time and adjunct faculty.

This morning, our attorney contacted UFF-Seminole's attorney and made the following proposal: that both parties accept the Hearing Officer's Recommended Order, waive the filing of any objections to the Order, and jointly request an expedited Election Order. We also proposed the date of Sept. 28 for an on-site election. The date is subject to PERC's availability. We thought this date would be appropriate since it is our Collegewide Convocation Day, when classes are not in session and all faculty will be on the Sanford/Lake Mary Campus for meetings.

The next step in the process will be the response from UFF-Seminole related to our proposal. If UFF-Seminole decides to appeal the Hearing Order, then that will delay the election.

Future Board Meetings

On Sept. 21, the State Board of Education will hear our request to expand our bachelor's degree offerings. As you discuss meeting times for the 2010-11 meetings, you may want to consider moving the meetings to earlier in the day. If that isn't possible, then the request would be to move the September meeting to earlier in the day for those of us who will be driving to Tallahassee that afternoon. Also, approval is requested to change the Oct. 18 meeting to Oct. 11.