L E TTE R FROM PRESIDENT GEH LER Welcome to fall semester, when the weather takes a turn for the better and our campus comes alive with activity, inside and outside our classroom walls. I hope you enjoy this latest edition of Momentum, which includes a variety of stories and photos highlighting SCC faculty, students, staff and alumni. The cover story highlights our new Health Sciences Building and provides a glimpse at how some great visionaries and leaders worked together to elevate nursing education at SCC and better prepare students for careers in the everevolving health care environment. The stateof-the-art medical simulation technology puts our nursing students in real life medical scenarios and enables them to learn through hands-on experience. The building opened with the start of the academic year and was officially dedicated during a ceremony on Oct. 29. Also inside this edition are stories of SCC alumni who have moved on, but continue to look back with great fondness on their community college experience and the foundation for success it provided as they pursue their career and educational dreams. In addition, one of our favorite faculty – and Arizona’s esteemed Historian – shares his love of teaching Arizona history through stories and song. Marshall Trimble is a fount of knowledge about all things Arizona, and is most comfortable in the classroom, whether it’s at SCC or at one of the many local elementary schools where he entertains fourth graders learning Arizona history. You’ll be delighted at the center spread pictorial of our 2013 graduation ceremonies, when students and families gathered to celebrate the achievement of attaining a degree and/or certificate. Commencement is always a moving event and this year we were happy to have Rufus Glasper, Chancellor of the Maricopa County Community College District, as our special guest speaker. I want to close with some very exciting news. Scottsdale Community College is a finalist in the Big Business category of the 28th Annual Sterling Awards presented by the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce. This is the first year SCC has applied for this prestigious award and we are honored to be selected as a finalist. The Sterling Award winners will be announced Nov. 14 at a celebration luncheon hosted by the Chamber. The spirit of the Artichoke is alive and well, and is ever present.
Jan L. Gehler
SCC President
1
Momentum is published by the Office of Institutional Advancement and Community Engagement at Scottsdale Community College.
_________________ E D I TO R / WR IT E R Nancy Neff C O N TR I BU T I N G W R IT E R S Kristine Burnett Jonathan Higuera GRAPHIC DESIGNER Magdalena Soto P H O TO G R A P H Y Provided in part by: Mark Skalny Jonathan Higuera Justin Johnson Nancy Neff O N T H E CO V E R Nellie Nelson, Nick DeFalco and Janine Hinton. Story on page 5. _________________
C O N TA C T Nancy Neff Nancy.Neff@scottsdalecc.edu 480.423.6567 _________________
STAY CONNECTED WITH SCC www.scottsdalecc.edu