About Seminole State: President's Office: President's Reports: 2011 Archive: Presidential Report: April 18, 2011

Want more info?

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

Did you know...

Seminole State A.A. grads are guaranteed admission to one of Florida's public universities.

Presidential Report: April 18, 2011

Events and Kudos

We are extremely proud of two of our students, Daniel Leon and Juan Robayo, who have both been selected as 2011 Coca-Cola Community College Academic Team Scholars. Daniel was named a Gold Scholar ($1,500 scholarship) and Juan was named a Silver Scholar ($1,000 scholarship). Selection was based on scores earned in the All-USA Community College Academic Team competition in a field of 1,600 applicants nationwide. This program is sponsored by the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation and is administered by the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. Daniel, Juan and Seminole State College were mentioned in the April 11 edition of USA Today. Congratulations, Daniel and Juan!

Daniel has also received other honors. He and Professor Susan Bell recently attended the PTK International Convention in Seattle where Daniel was named an International Distinguished Officer and a Guistwhite Scholar ($5,000 scholarship) from among 1,300 applicants. Daniel plans to attend American University in Washington, D.C., and pursue a career in international affairs. Congratulations, Daniel!

Our Brain Bowl team recently competed in Chicago and placed 29th in the nation, beating every two-year college we played, including our nemesis, Valencia. Our team held up well given the stiff competition from four-year schools. Yale placed first; University of Chicago was second; and MIT was third. It was an honor for a two-year school to be invited to the tournament, and we are very proud of our team and Coach Jeri Rogers. They have had an amazing year!

Raider Softball Coach Courtney Miller recently celebrated her 700th career victory with a 3-1 win over conference foe Florida State College at Jacksonville. Courtney is in her 17th season with the Raiders. Since establishing the College's fastpitch softball team in 1995, Courtney has built a nationally recognized program that has produced 123 All-Conference, 29 All-State and 15 All-American athletes. Courtney's teams also excel in the classroom, with 126 players earning Academic All-Conference honors, 71 earning Academic All-State honors and 53 earning Academic All-American honors. In 2010, the Raiders were 13th in the nation academically. Congratulations, Courtney!

And the Lady Raider golfers, who will be part of this afternoon's Foundation Dream Cup Challenge Golf Tournament, finished in third place at the Embry-Riddle Bash at the Beach. For the third year in a row, the team has qualified — as of this past weekend — for nationals! Congratulations to the team and to Coach Christa Teno!

Brandy Bartol, Seminole State's grant project director, was recently one of 27 panelists asked to serve as a Peer Reviewer for Civic Justice Corps Grants serving juvenile offenders. In this role, Brandy will help determine the recipients of $20 million in federal funding. Congratulations, Brandy!

Randy Miller, nursing professor, and Maureen Tremel, professor and director of nursing curriculum and technology, have both received credentialing as Certified Nurse Educators. CNE is a nationally recognized credential for expert nursing faculty members. Congratulations, Randy and Maureen!

Four of our professors have been invited to attend National Endowment for the Humanities Workshops this summer. This is a national competition and involves $1,200 stipend awards. Rachel Braaten and Debbie Socci were selected for "Concord, Massachusetts: Transcendentalism and Social Reform in Antebellum America." Bobbie Bell and John Sunvold were selected to attend "The American Lyceum and Public Culture: The Oratory of Idealism, Opportunity, and Abolition." Both workshops will be held in Boston. Congratulations Bobbie, Rachel, Debbie and John!

The National Council for Marketing and Public Relations (NCMPR) has awarded a national Paragon Award silver medal to Seminole State for an interactive recruitment video used to recruit Seminole County high school seniors via a mailed invitation and personal Web address. Staff from our College Relations and Marketing (CRM), Computing and Telecommunications Services (CTS) and Admissions departments all collaborated on this award-winning project. Congratulations to all who worked on this outstanding and creative project!

Seminole State College has been designated as an Eligible Institution for Title III and Title V Programs under the Higher Education Act of 1965. This designation provides us with regulatory relief from a required match on federal financial aid programs. Without this designation, we were required to provide a matching dollar amount for work study and Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant (SEOG) recipients. It will help free up staff time for financial aid and business office representatives, who have spent many hours making sure we are meeting the federal requirements. This designation is good for the next five years and translates into a minimum relief of $1,049,770. Congratulations to Dr. Angela Albert, Concetta Duren, Tamika Bivens, Bob Lynn and others who worked so hard to attain this designation!

Seminole State is showcasing the talents of our art students during the 42nd annual Juried Student Art Exhibit in the Fine Arts Gallery on the Sanford/Lake Mary Campus. The show runs through May 19 and is excellent! Our English Department recently recognized student writers for their talents in various literary categories. And our Music Department has been showcasing the incredible talent of our students with a variety of musical performances. So, yes, it is the end of the academic year, and I would remind you that we have two nights of graduation on April 28 and 29.

Our Diversity and Inclusion had a busy month with a "Kaleidoscope" of events for employees and students, ranging from comedy shows to sporting events and culminating in last Friday's inaugural Diversity Breakfast, which hosted more than 200 community and College representatives. We had a college talent show that was marvelous! And Saturday was the student Diversity Workshop. Many thanks to Yolanda Williams, Christopher Butts and our Diversity Initiatives Committee for their leadership in conducting such great events over the course of the last month!

On March 25, we held our annual Service Recognition and Retiree Luncheon. This year's 15 retirees' collective length of service totals more than 194 years! Pretty amazing! We also honored employees with 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 35 years of service. Sherry Jenkins and Christy King were the two 35-year honorees. Many thanks to Dr. Claudia Salvano and her staff for coordinating this event.

Legislative Update

As you know, things continue to be "interesting" in Tallahassee. I've tried to provide everyone at the College with the most recent update on the budget and bills being considered by the legislature in the weekly Wednesday Updates. I really don't have anything to add that is new, but recent news reports would indicate that the session may not end on time. Scott, since you spend nearly every week in Tallahassee, would you like to comment?

Meeting Request

Next month, it will be time for the annual Budget Workshop. As I mentioned to you, we think that this will take about two hours and will include our Advance 2016 initiative that is being chaired by Dr. Mark Morgan. The May 16 board meeting is at our Altamonte Springs Campus, and I am seeking your input as to the timing of the workshop and board meeting.

Also, I would like to mention that we will begin our four-day work week schedule on May 13. We will return to a regular five-day work week on Aug. 1.