Vol. XXXVIII, No. 38, October 5, 2009

This Week at Valencia

Tuesday, October 6

DOT Deans mtg., 9 a.m., East Campus, 4-113A

New Student Experience Committee mtg., 2:30 p.m., East Campus, 3-113

College Night, 6 p.m., Osceola Campus

Thursday, October 8

Learning Assessment Committee mtg., 2:30 p.m., West Campus, HSB-106

College Night, 6 p.m., East Campus

Don’t Miss Out On Your Opportunity to Participate In Valencia’s Focus On The Workplace Program

Take advantage of this great opportunity! Applications are currently being accepted to participate in Valencia’s “Focus on the Workplace” program for Spring Term and Summer Term A. This exciting program enables you to spend time out in business and industry so you can gain information about today’s job market; learn “first hand” what employers expect from Valencia’s graduates; validate what you teach and do in the classroom; and gain “real world” applications that improves teaching and learning.

All full-time, tenure or tenure-track faculty are eligible to apply with your Dean’s approval. Eligible faculty are released from two 3-credit hour classes to participate. In the Spring Term, it will be two days a week over the course of the Term or during Summer Term A, it will be for a 6-week period. The deadline to apply is Friday, October 30th. For more information and to get an application, go to: valenciacc.edu/focus/ or call LeSena Jones at ext. 3344.

News from Procurement

Procurement Card FAQ - Question: How long do I have to keep my PCard receipts on file?  Answer: Valencia Community College is required to retain documentation of all Procurement Card transactions. Departments should keep all Procurement Card documentation for Post-Audit review for three (3) years from the end of the fiscal year in which the transaction was completed. If using Fund 2, the retention period is for five (5) years.

Purchase Order Change Orders - Certain changes and additions can be made to existing purchase orders. In Banner, the form name is FPACHAR. Only the two purchasing agents, Annmarie Wise & Janet Vivian, can perform this task. Should you need a Change Order to an existing purchase order, send an e-mail to Valenciaprocurement@valenciacc.edu with the following information: Purchase order number; reason why change order is needed; and index/account numbers.

Vendor or Document Level accounting indicators cannot be modified on a completed/approved purchase order. Additional monies can be added to an existing purchase order.

Weekly P-Card Reconciliation - To be in audit compliance, PaymentNet transaction reconciliation duties must be performed on a weekly basis prior to the Wednesday download. Please make provisions in advance to have an alternate reviewer/approver in place to cover for illnesses and vacations. Once you have identified your alternate reviewer/approver, please notify Kacy, the P-Card Administrator of your selections. Discuss with your alternates the process whereby they can get the required receipts and charge slips to the appropriate person to complete the weekly process. Absenteeism is not an excuse for un-reviewed/un-approved transactions. Since PaymentNet is an Internet web-based program, it can be accessed from any remote location.

Cleaning Supplies and Custodial Service - Cleaning supplies should not generally be ordered for your office as office materials and supplies. The college has a custodial department who is responsible for many cleaning tasks. According to Plant Operations “Dusting around items on a desktop is the norm. We do not remove anything from a desk due to the possibility of damage. Desks are cleaned and polished per the occupants request only after the removal of personal items prior to the cleaning.” Phones are sanitized each evening. Chalk/white boards are cleaned nightly. Faculty/Staff should notify custodial supervisors of any cleaning issues they may have. 

Leadership Valencia

How to Run Reports in the Data Warehouse – (Presenter: Jim Ferrari) Visit Leadership Valencia online for the complete workshop description. October 8, 1-2:30 p.m., West Campus, Room 6-326B. Registration Code: LRRDW-3 OR October 14, 1-2:30 p.m., Criminal Justice Institute, Room 228. Registration Code: LRRDW-4

Building Communities of Convergence: Exploring Peace and Justice at Valencia (World Cafe Dialogue) – (Presenters: Jim Belcher and Rachel Waite) Visit Leadership Valencia online for the complete workshop description. October 16, 2-4 p.m., West Campus, Room HSB-211. Registration Code: GEPJ-1

Fall Budget Forum – (Presenters: Sherri Dixon, Keith Houck, Pedro Rivera). Visit Leadership Valencia online for the complete workshop description. Choose from one of the following:

• October 20, 2:15-3:45 p.m., West Campus, Room 6-202. Registration Code: LFBF-1
• October 22, 1-2:30 p.m., East Campus, Room 5-112. Registration Code: LFBF-2
• October 23, 10-11:30 a.m., Winter Park Campus, Room 226. Registration Code: LFBF-3
• October 29, 1:30-3 p.m., Osceola Campus, Room 3-239. Registration Code: LFBF-4

Collaboration at the Learning College – (Presenters: Dr. Shugart and Michael Shugg) - Visit Leadership Valencia online for the complete workshop description. October 28, 2-4:30 p.m., East Campus, Room 5-112. Registration Code: PCALC-3

Outlook Q & A Webinar: Managing Your Mailbox - (Presenters: Gordon Cain, Jenny Nevarez) Learn best practices for archiving, retrieving, and overall Outlook account management. 5-10 minutes will be allocated for questions and follow-up training documentation will be discussed. Choose from one of the following:

• November 6, 11-11:30 a.m., Online. Registration Code: TMYM-3 OR 1:30-2 p.m., Online. Registration Code: TMYM-4
• December 11, 11-11:30 a.m., Online. Registration Code: TMYM-5 OR 1:30-2:00 p.m., Online. Registration Code: TMYM-6

Outlook Q & A Webinar: Distribution Lists – (Presenters: Gordon Cain, Jenny Nevarez) Learn best practices for creating, sharing, and maximizing use of your distribution lists. 5-10 minutes will be allocated for questions and follow-up training documentation will be discussed. Choose from the one of the following:

• October 9, 11-11:30 a.m., Online. Registration Code: TDL-1 OR 1:30-2 p.m., Online. Registration Code: TDL-2
• November 13, 11-11:30 a.m., Online, Registration Code: TDL-3 OR 1:30-2 p.m., Online. Registration Code: TDL-4

Outlook Q & A Webinar: Resource Accounts – (Presenters: Gordon Cain, Jenny Nevarez) Learn best practices for using your Outlook shared accounts. If your department shares an email/outlook account (e.g. studentserv@valenciacc.edu) then this webinar is for you! 5-10 minutes will be allocated for questions and follow-up training documentation will be discussed. October 16, 11-11:30 a.m., Online. Registration Code: TRA-1 OR October 16, 1:30-2 p.m., Online. Registration Code: TRA-2

Outlook Q & A Webinar - Outlook Calendar – (Presenters: Gordon Cain, Jenny Nevarez) Learn best practices for managing, organizing, and working with shared calendars. 5-10 minutes will be allocated for questions and follow-up training documentation will be discussed

• October 23, 11-11:30 a.m., Online, Registration Code: TOC-1 OR 1:30-2 p.m., Online. Registration Code: TOC-2
• December 4, 11-11:30 a.m., Online. Registration Code: TOC-3 OR 1:30-2 p.m., Online, Registration Code: TOC-4

Outlook Q & A Webinar - Out of Office Assistant – (Presenters: Gordon Cain, Jenny Nevarez) Learn best practices for setting vacation and out of office settings in your Outlook account. 5-10 minutes will be allocated for questions and follow-up training documentation will be discussed.

• October 30, 11-11:30 a.m., Online, Registration Code: TOOF-1 OR 1:30-2 p.m., Online. Registration Code: TOOF-2
• November 20, 11-11:30 a.m., Online, Registration Code: TOOF-3 OR 1:30-2 p.m., Online. Registration Code: TOOF-4
• December 18, 11-11:30 a.m., Online. Registration Code: TOOF-5 OR 1:30-2 p.m., Online, Registration Code: TOOF-6

Polling Your Audience With CPS – (Presenters: Gary Kokaisel, Jenny Nevarez) Learn a great tool for gathering data by polling your audience WHILE you present! This is a hands-on session where participants will (1) participate in a session and (2) present a session using Classroom Performance Systems. October 27, 1-4 p.m., Osceola Campus, Room 2-115. Registration Code: TPYA-1

Using GoToMeeting for Virtual Meetings – (Presenter: Jenny Nevarez) Learn about participating in a GoToMeeting session, organizing your own session, best practices, tips and resources to keep in mind when preparing, running, recording, or reporting on a GoToMeeting Session. During the session, participants will be expected to (1) participate and (2) present virtually using the system. 5-10 minutes will be allocated for questions and follow-up training documentation will be discussed.

• November 6, 3-4:30 p.m., Online. Registration Code: TGTM-1
• November 13, 3-4:30 p.m., Online. Registration Code: TGTM-2
• November 20, 3-4:30 p.m., Online. Registration Code: TGTM-3

Using GoToWebinar for Engaging Virtual Sessions – (Presenter: Jenny Nevarez) Take advantage of this quick online session, where you will learn about participating in a GoToMeeting session, organizing your own session, best practices, tips and resources to keep in mind when preparing, running, recording, or reporting on a GoToMeeting Session. During the session, participants will be expected to (1) participate and (2) present virtually using the system. 5-10 minutes will be allocated for questions and follow-up training documentation will be discussed.

• December 4, 3-4:30 p.m., Online. Registration Code: TEV-1
• December 11, 3-4:30 p.m., Online. Registration Code: TEV-2
• December 18, 3-4:30 p.m., Online. Registration Code: TEV-3

Making Sense of Your Data with Excel – (Presenters: Migdalia Otero Olan, Daniel Charriez) Learn how to make sense of your spreadsheets with Excel tools. This hands-on workshop will cover Excel topics including filtering, sorting, conditional formatting, and pivot tables. November 19, 1:30-3:30 p.m., East Campus, Room 4-133. Registration Code: TXCEL-1 OR April 9, 1:30-3:30 p.m., West Campus, Room 6-326A. Registration Code: TXCEL-2

Dynamic PowerPoint – (Presenter: Daniel Charriez) Make a flash slideshow in PowerPoint the easy way. In this hands-on workshop, participants will learn to make a photo slideshow in PowerPoint using the Photo Album tool. March 5, 1:30-3:30 p.m., West Campus, Room 6-326A. Registration Code: TDPP-1

To register for all classes go to http://www.valenciacc.edu/leadership/. Please be sure you have the approval of your direct supervisor prior to registering for a workshop. If a workshop is canceled, only those registered can be sent a cancellation e-mail. To view the status of a particular workshop and to see a full listing of workshops check the Leadership Valencia calendar located online.

Fruits and vegetables are more than colorful; they also supply our bodies with many important nutrients that reduce our risk of certain diseases. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends eating more fruits and vegetables (five a day) than any other food group. There are many nutrients found in fruits and vegetables as well as the following benefits:

• Calcium - Essential for strong bones and teeth as well as healthy for the muscles and nerves. Fortified juice, collard or turnip greens, spinach, edamame (soy beans), and chickpeas are good sources of calcium.
• Fiber - Diets rich in fiber have been shown to decrease the risk of coronary heart disease. Fiber-rich foods include apples, lentils, lima beans, pinto beans, pears and strawberries.
• Folate - Diets rich in folate may reduce a woman’s risk of having a child with a brain or spinal cord defect. Fruits and veggies rich in folate include asparagus, broccoli, chickpeas, spinach and strawberries.
• Iron - Needed for normal functioning of all cells and healthy blood. Good sources of iron include spinach, lentils, beans and dried apricots.
• Magnesium - Necessary for healthy bones. A lack of magnesium may result in muscle cramps and high blood pressure. Aim to get a few servings of nuts, beans, cooked spinach, okra, and butternut squash each day to get your magnesium.
• Potassium - Diets rich in potassium may help to maintain healthy blood pressure. Pink beans, lima beans and small white beans are rich in potassium.
• Sodium - Needed for normal cell functioning; but too much sodium is associated with high blood pressure. Fruits and vegetables are naturally low in sodium but some of the lowest sodium fruits and veggies are artichokes, bell peppers, broccoli, carrots, radishes and sweet potatoes.
• Vitamin A - Known to keep eyes and skin healthy and protects against infection. Cantaloupe, carrots, grapefruit, romaine, lettuce, mangos, sweet potatoes, tomatoes and watermelon are all good sources of Vitamin A.
• Vitamin C - Can help to heal cuts and wounds and contributes to healthier teeth and gums. Fruits and vegetables that are high in Vitamin C include bell peppers, cabbage, cantaloupe, lemons, limes, oranges, pineapple and summer squash.

References: http://www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org and http://www.mypyramid.gov

Outlook Tip-of-the-Week:  Customization of Stationary and Fonts

“You Only Get One Chance to Make a Great First Impression.”  This is something you have probably heard time and again. In email, as in life, you only get one chance to make a first impression.

Consider your audience when you send an e-mail.  A previous Outlook Tip-of-the-Week mentioned the use of a subject line – never send e-mail without a subject. Subjects help everyone categorize and prioritize their e-mails. Also, consider the stationary and font you want to use; ask yourself “What impression am I trying to make?” and change your stationary and/or fonts to suit that purpose. Customizing your stationary:

• In Outlook click on Tools > Options
• Select the Mail Format tab
• Select Stationary and Fonts
• From this point just click and choose.

Remember - what you choose needs to be easy to read by the recipient. For example, when choosing font color, choose a color that has good contrast to the background color. Bright blue fonts on a blue background can be very hard to read but so is a bright red font on a dark blue background.

Here are some tips on how not to make a good first impression.

• Getting a person’s attention: BOLD! RED! CREATIVE?   (NOTE: The word CREATIVE is typed in 8 colors and the word RED! is typed in red.) Please see it online at answers.valenciacc.edu or at valenciacc.edu/bulletin for the color version. Attention getters? Yes, but it can be difficult to read and annoying to the person reading the e-mail. Use those features sparingly-just enough for emphasis. In this example a person with color blindness might have a problem with the word “creative” as typed in color. Also be mindful of using colored backgrounds in e-mail.
• USING ALL CAPS IS SHOUTING. No one likes being shouted at – not even you.
• Watermarks:  Use of water marks (pictures, logos, images and such) competes with the message and breaks up the ease of readability. Use them sparingly, if at all.
• Ease of reading: Fonts are easy to change. What may look good to you may be very difficult for another to read. In this example it was necessary to make some of the fonts 16 pt-enlarging them so they would be legible. Look closely at the spacing, too. For those of us with less than perfect vision, it can be hard discerning the words because the letters have run together.

One final tip: If you get an e-mail that is very hard to read, just click on Reply, go to the Options tab and choose plain text.

For more tips and FAQs click on 'Ask a Question' in the OIT Tools on your desktop; this is article #5533-1324.

Valencia’s Center for Human Resources and Organizational Development Presents Money Basics Workshop

The onslaught of aggressive marketing to consumers, the increasing complexity and cost of the “average American lifestyle” and unprecedented variety of consumer financing offers have left too many Americans deep in debt, with little or no savings. Financial education can help you take control of your money and achieve your financial goals. The EDSA Group’s T.E.A.M. Series™ “Teaching Employees About Money” is a series of comprehensive and interactive sessions designed to meet the educational needs of a diverse population. Topics covered will include: setting financial goals; organizing your finances; taking control of your spending; tax and retirement planning; education planning; estate planning; investments; determining insurance needs; and all aspects of personal money management. Upon completion, participants will have the tools and knowledge to develop their own financial plan.

All courses will be held at Valencia Enterprises, 2411 Sand Lake Road. Bring a spouse or friend for just $59 more per class. For information or to register, call 407-582-6688 or visit valenciaenterprises.org.

News from East Campus Career Staff Association

The East Campus Career Staff Association held an Ice Cream Social in appreciation for all East Campus career staff on September 25.

Please join

Valencia Community College and the University of Central Florida

 in a dedication ceremony for

The University Center

Thursday, October 29, 2009

8:30 a.m.  Continental Breakfast

9:00 a.m. Ceremony

9:30 a.m. Building Tours

Valencia Community College

West Campus - University Center, Building 11 Atrium

1800 South Kirkman Road

Orlando, FL 32811

Parking available in Lots F and G

Business Attire

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 Tuesdays at 5 p.m.to be included in the following Monday’s publication.