Vol. XXXVIII, No. 29, August 3, 2009

This Week at Valencia

No meetings are scheduled on the collegewide calendar

District Board of Trustees Meeting Summary

Osceola Campus Report

Silvia Zapico, Osceola Campus provost, told trustees that the Osceola Campus is a wonderful place to teach and learn, with approximately 8,000 students during the spring. She said the campus grew about 20% in unduplicated head count as compared to the previous spring semester. This year she said the campus hosted the 42nd annual Osceola Arts Festival in conjunction with the Osceola Center for the Arts. The campus enjoys a strong relationship with the University of Central Florida. In fact, 325 students are pursuing a UCF baccalaureate degree on the Osceola Campus.

Dr. Zapico introduced the dean of math, science and psychology at the Osceola Campus, Melissa Pedone. Dr. Pedone discussed math initiatives, in particular the Math Depot, which opened in November 2008 and serves pre-, beginning and intermediate algebra students, and the Math Fair, sponsored by the Osceola Math Depot and Student Development.

The Math Fair began in fall 2008 and supports the learning assured strategic goal and the objectives of the Achieving the Dream initiative. The goals of the Math Fair have expanded from appropriate math placement to establishing connections between students in the two lowest level math courses to programs and services that can support their educational and personal goals. An additional goal of the Math Fair is to create a campus atmosphere that reduces anxiety and provides for a stimulating and exciting learning environment.

Osceola Student Government Association Report

Dr. Zapico introduced Franklin Velez, Jr., Osceola SGA president, noting his background that includes seven years in the military prior to attending Valencia. Mr. Velez described SGA as the voice of the students, pointing out that the SGA exists for three reasons: advocacy, representation and service. He noted that by working with other SGA leaders, they have been able to lower text books costs for students by 20 percent. He said that the Osceola SGA will be hosting a job fair on Sept. 10 in response to student demand, and that they anticipate representatives from Walt Disney World, Sea World and Bank of America will attend.

Construction Report

Keith Houck, vice president, Administrative Services, gave a brief construction report. He said the College was starting to move into the new UCF joint-use building on West Campus with classes beginning in the fall. Invitations will go out soon for a ribbon cutting ceremony on October 29.

Strategic Indicators Report

Kaye Walter, vice president, Academic Affairs, introduced Jeff Cornett, director, Institutional Research. Dr. Cornett presented the annual review of Valencia’s Strategic Indicators, providing information on trends and state comparisons in the College’s enrollment and student progress as reported in the May 2009 state accountability report (based on 2007 data).

Dr. Cornett said the total volume of students the College is serving as measured by FTE has skyrocketed (10.5% as compared to 6.4% for the Florida community college system), taxing our capacity to serve all the demand we have from students. Looking at growth in terms of applicants, he said that last fall we had a record 14,978 applicants with 54% (8,100) converted to new students. He said that state data show we capture 34.4% of the total number of recent district high school graduates, up slightly from the previous year.

Reflecting Valencia’s increasingly diverse population, he said that as of fall 2008, we no longer have a majority of any particular ethnic group, with 57.5% of students identifying themselves as Hispanic, African-American, Asian/Pacific Islander, or other ethnicity. One of more impressive trends, he said, is reflected in our retention rates. The data shows that fall to spring retention has increased steadily over the last 15 years with a big jump from 2008 to 2009 (81.5 to 85.1%). With regard to retention of A.A. degree seekers over four years, he said that in the last three years we’ve significantly exceeded the state average in retention (68.6% over the state’s 63%).

Our entering students are becoming increasingly college ready, with 28 percent of first-time-in-college students entering Valencia now who don’t require college prep. He saw this as evidence of our high schools having improved in terms of preparing students for college, and more students attending Valencia who in past years would have entered UCF, but haven’t been accepted due to enrollment caps at the university.

Valencia outperforms the state in success rates for reading although both Valencia and the state have experienced declines, with 76.4 percent completing their reading requirements in two years. Similarly, we do better than the rest of the state in writing, though there’s been a similar decline there as well. With math, he said we are level with state benchmarks.

Explaining the lack of differentiation in math success rates between the College and the state, Dr. Walter said that if data are broken down to view the math courses,student performance in MAT 0012 (Pre-Algebra) is revealed to pull our overall success down. Faculty are actively working to improve that number, using approaches such as Osceola’s Math Lab, reported earlier in the meeting.

Sanford Shugart, Valencia president, said we’re absolutely committed to moving the needle on college-prep completion rates, and in so doing, improving graduation rates. Among the cohort of all first-time-in-college students from fall 2004 to summer 2008, 21.6 percent completed an associate degree. Among college-ready students (those not requiring any college-prep courses), the 4-year graduation rate is 35.9%. He added that college-ready Hispanic success rates have skyrocketed, graduating at a higher rate (38.5%) than all other populations.

Regarding the success rates for the six “gateway” courses as tracked by ethnicity, Dr. Cornett reported that Hispanics are now succeeding at a higher rate than Caucasian students and African American students are also performing at higher level, though not as high as the Hispanic and Caucasian groups.

Data on Valencia transfer students to the state university system show that UCF is the destination of choice for Valencia A.A. grads, with 78% transferring there. Dr. Cornett added that Valencia makes up 32% of all UCF community college transfer students, with our graduates earning average GPA’s that show they do almost as well as native UCF students once they’ve matriculated.

The full Strategic Indicators report can be found at: http://www.valenciacc.edu/IR/documents/StrategicIndicatorsGraphs20090709.pdf

Faculty Association Report

Jean Marie Führman, president, Collegewide Faculty Association, reported that the summer term has been quiet for the Faculty Council. They are currently developing an internal resource sheet for faculty so that they can have information at their fingertips on collegewide resources to assist students when needed. She said that this fall, following the annual Academic Assembly, faculty on each campus will be focused on settings goals and developing a vision for future work.

Valencia Foundation Report

Jerry Buchanan, trustee, provided a written report to the board on the Foundation and touched on a few highlights: Valencia Foundation is now on Facebook and Twitter as another means of outreach; the Foundation has held several successful golf tournaments; and Taste for Learning, held in cooperation with UCF, will be held on October 17.

President’s Report

Sanford Shugart, reported on the national kick off meeting of the 15 colleges selected for the Developmental Education Initiative, funded by MDC, Inc. via a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, reminding trustees that $733,333 has been committed to Valencia for strategies to move developmental education students more quickly to success. Dr. Shugart noted that national attention has begun to shift toward community colleges, with President Barack Obama recently announcing a $12 billion initiative to fund community college grants.

Dr. Shugart noted that Florida Congressman Posey had visited Osceola Campus twice this year, once on April 15 with a panel of brokers, bankers and attorneys discussing the home mortgage crisis with 150-200 people in attendance, and again on July 2, to discuss problems with immigration and other challenges.

The president said that Valencia will host the Complete Count Commission with Mayor Rich Crotty and the Governor’s office. The purpose of the event is to provide planning and training to make sure the state gets an accurate census count.

Shifting to College matters, Dr. Shugart noted a pilot project at Valencia that will provide students a 20% discount on textbooks in an effort designed not only to give students a break on the cost, but to also encourage early buying so that students are better prepared for the first day of classes.

The president said that we have three or four candidate properties for a southeast campus and that the College would soon be making a formal recommendation to the board as to which property to purchase.

Dr. Shugart said that he had met yesterday with the UCF/community college consortium presidents, who discussed what the community might need with the phasing out of four UCF degrees over the next few years. He added that there’s at least the possibility that one of the consortium colleges will offer an applied bachelor’s degree based on community need and in partnership with UCF. He added that Central Florida Community College is interested in joining the consortium.

In closing, Dr. Shugart said that the College is fortunate to have exceptional leadership particularly in the Florida House for its issues. Serving on the House Higher Education Committee is a Valencia political science professor, Representative John Tobia. Rep. Tobia addressed the board, discussing his intention to start a community college caucus, and noting that 58 out of the 120 members of the House attended a community college. He added that he expects his committee will put more focus this year on the equitable funding of community colleges.

New Business

Consent Agenda

Approved under a consent agenda were: Employee Benefits Program Contracts; Capital Improvement Program FY 2010/11-2014/15; Construction Project Priority List; Budget Amendment: Additions, Deletions or Modifications of Courses and Programs; Valencia Enterprises Courses and Fees; Human Resources Agenda; Submission of Grant Proposals; and Property Deletion.

President’s Evaluation and Contract

Chairman Lew Oliver said that Dr. Shugart received a uniformly excellent review from all trustees. The board unanimously approved the president’s contract and evaluation as submitted. The president requested that he not receive a raise in compensation. Trustees approved an incentive that would reward the president upon his completion of three of the next four years of his contract.

Annual Prequalification of Contractors

Mr. Houck presented the board with a list of prospective firms for the annual prequalification of contractors, as has been done for the past six years. The criteria considered in the selection process included licenses, financial information, bonding capability, experience, claims history, insurance coverage, company information and references.

In order to promote opportunity do business with Valencia to minority and women-owned businesses, the College hosts seminars to invite prospective companies to participate in the process, including one in conjunction with the African American Chamber of Commerce on how to do business with the College, and another with the Florida Minority Suppliers Development Council.

The board voted in favor of adopting this list and the meeting adjourned for the special organizational meeting.

District Board of Trustees Organizational Meeting Summary

Election of Chairman and Vice Chairman

Dr. Bill Mullowney, college counsel, called the meeting to order and presided. Nominations were heard for Lew Oliver to continue to serve as chairman and Raymer Maguire, Jr. to serve as vice chairman. These nominations were confirmed in a vote.

Schedule of Regular Meetings

The board accepted the following schedule of regular meetings for the 2008/2009 academic year: September 15, October 27, December 15, February 16, April 20, May 18, June 15 and July 20.

Election of Representative to the Foundation Board of Directors

For the second year, the board nominated and unanimously approved Jerry Buchanan as the board’s representative to the Valencia Foundation Board of Directors.

Having no other business, the organizational meeting was adjourned.

News from Human Resources

The August issue of HR notes, issue #96, is now posted on the HR web site. The title of this issue is “Advanced College Credit or Advanced Degree”. Please contact Human Resources at ext. 8033 if you have any questions.

News from Procurement

All Purchase Orders created by Procurement are faxed to the vendor. The fax number that was given on the Supplier Business Profile is the default fax number and the one where the PO will be sent. If you wish to have the PO faxed to another number or you do not want the PO faxed at all, please type in your line description or comment field your request.  Otherwise, all PO’s will be faxed.

Promotional & Marketing Suppliers

Valencia has a current contract for promotional and marketing items with American Ads Specialties, Carpe Diem Sales & Marketing, Mad Max Promotions, Metropolis Graphics, and Promotional Products Solutions. In order for the college to honor our contractual obligations to these suppliers, we need to give them first right on any promotional and marketing items that the college requires. The contract requires that departments get written quotes for all purchases greater than $3,500 from each of the five suppliers; this is how we ensure that all of the suppliers receive an equal opportunity to participate, and the college will receive the most competitive pricing available at any given point in time. Other advantages include the ability to make awards based on delivery requirements, quality and creativity as well as pricing. The following is complete contact information:

American Ads Specialties
Contact: Tammy Lamm
Phone: 407-649-7784
Fax: 407-649-4772
Email: tammy@americanadspec.com

Carpe Diem Sales & Marketing
Contact: Ben Johnson
Phone: 407-682-1400
Fax: 407-682-4707
Email: bjohnson@carpedieminc.com

Mad Max Promotions
Contact: Sam Gotlib
Phone: 407-359-1333
Fax: 407-386-3223
Email: sam@madmaxpromo.com

Metropolis Graphics
Phone: 407-740-5455
Fax: 407-740-5537
Email: info@metrogreek.com

Promotional Products Solutions
Contact: Jocelyn Azada
Phone: 800-218-4350
Fax: 414-258-4617
Email: jazada@ppsolutionsllc.com

Please feel free to contact Procurement if you have any questions on how to utilize the new promotional items contract.

Outlook Tip of the Week from OIT - Sharing Distribution Email Lists

There are Global Distribution Lists that are fairly inclusive for large groups but may not always serve the departmental level needs. You can create a shared contact folder and a distribution list within that folder:

• Create a custom contact folder (rather than share your main contact book)
• Click on Contacts
• From the top menu select the down arrow and then select Folder (or CTRL+SHIFT+E)
• Give a name to the folder and save it
• Create a custom distribution list (make sure you have selected the new folder)
• From the top menu select the down arrow and then Distribution List (or CTRL+SHIFT+L)
• Give a name to the DL
• Click on Select Members from top icons – this will open up the Global Address Book
• To select people from your own lists click the down arrow under Address Book
• When done adding members select Save and Close on the upper left.
• Sharing the Contact Folder
• Click File > Folder > Change Sharing Permissions
• Click Add and select those who need access to the list
• Click Apply
• Define the Access Levels
• Highlight the person(s) you have added
• Using Permissions Level select the down arrow and choose the level of access.
• E-mail the people you have shared this with to let them know you have shared it with them.

Accessing a shared DL

• Under Contacts Current View select Open Shared Contacts
• Type in the user name of the person who has shared it – or select the Open button and choose the person from the Global Address List
• The Contact Folder will now appear in People’s Contacts

E-mailing a shared DL

• Open the Contact Folder and double click the shared DL listed
• At the top of the group find the icons grouped above Communicate and select E-mail, which will open a new e-mail window with the Dl in the To field

For more tips and FAQ click on 'Ask a Question' in the OIT Tools on your desktop.

Check it Out

There is a great resource on Valencia's website - The Administrative Assistant Toolbox. Check it out!  http://www.valenciacc.edu/admin/

If you know of interesting and informative websites that you think others would benefit from, submit the information for upcoming issues of The Bulletin.

Submissions to the Bulletin are encouraged, so please e-mail your achievements, awards, recognitions and relevant information for the college community to Mary Jane Jones in the Marketing and Media Relations office. Deadline for submission is 5 p.m. on Tuesday to be included in the following Monday’s publication. Mary Jane can be reached at ext.1017, mc 4-34 or mjones2@valenciacc.edu