2013 Fall Plugged In

FA C U LT Y & S TA F F N E W S L E T T E R

College Trains TxDOT Personnel Statewide Patrons of Cook-off Get Chili Reception Awards Recognize Faculty Excellence Money Management Center Up & Running

FA L L 2013 VOLUME VI

A Message from the dean

AC’s Core-Curriculum Teamwork Outstanding

By Jerry Moller Dean of Arts and Sciences

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have been fortunate to work in education for more than 40 years, over 30 years at community colleges. I have served on and chaired numerous committees in that time, some of which impacted my institution, admittedly, only marginally.

I am convinced that is not the case this time around; I am convinced that the Core Curriculum Redesign Task Force Committee put forth a superior effort that will have a profound impact on the future of education at AC. As chair of this committee, I am extremely grateful to everyone who served on it and all those who aided its efforts.

It was in January of 2009 that the Undergraduate Education Advisory Committee (UEAC) submitted its report, “Designing Texas Undergraduate Education in the 21st Century,” to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB). The report suggested that the statewide general education core curriculum be reconsidered. Based on a comprehensive, nationwide review of trends and promising practices in undergraduate core curriculum initiatives, the UEAC developed recommendations for a revised Texas Core Curriculum centered on increasing student learning and improving student success. The new core curriculum, it said, must ensure that students will develop the essential knowledge and skills they need to be successful in college, in a career, in their communities, and in life. The THECB agreed, approving a 42-semester-credit-hour core curriculum for all undergraduate students in Texas to be implemented in fall of 2014.

In January 2012, Dr. Russell Lowery-Hart, vice president of academic affairs, appointed our Core Curriculum Redesign Task Force Committee. The Committee was charged with forming a course-selection and assessment process and providing AC department heads and faculty with training and support in order to meet THECB core curriculum requirements. The Committee met through the spring and summer semesters, implementing submission processes and training department heads and faculty. Sub-committees were appointed to evaluate each course submission and to ensure the course met required THECB mandates. After all necessary revisions were made and the content/assessment plan was completed, the Dean’s Council and Curriculum Committee

approved the core curriculum proposal. AC submitted its proposal to the THECB in October. We believe our proposal is outstanding and will receive favorable reviews by the THECB. We anticipate the THECB granting approval by this January.

Not only was the Committee’s work superior, but the work of the sub-committees, department heads, and faculty was exceptional as well.

When the initial faculty training session was conducted, I was fearful that our Committee might be tarred and feathered; however, our faculty accepted the task in a collegial and professional manner. The course submission process was tedious, requiring a great deal of time and deliberation. The faculty’s “can do” attitude was paramount for the success of the project. Dr. Dan Ferguson, Committee member and English chair, stated “this process was a pure process.” It was not politicized or compromised. Courses were submitted and selected based entirely upon meeting THECB required criteria and guidelines.

The contributions made by Information Technology Services during this project also proved invaluable. They created the “CALL FOR COURSE PROPOSALS FOR INCLUSION” data base, a very user-friendly document that allowed faculty to make on-line course submissions with relative ease.

The outstanding, diligent and dedicated work of the Committee, sub-committees, department heads, faculty and staff will have a significant effect upon this institution for a long time to come. I would like to sincerely thank and congratulate the numerous individuals who contributed to making this monumental undertaking such an outstanding endeavor and a very worthwhile product. This was AC teamwork at its finest.

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Faculty Excellence Awards The awards and winners are listed in the order they were presented:

Excellence in Instructional Strategies — Stephanie Jung, instructor of art

For her intense commitment to experiential learning and service learning through Fuse Arts’ Workshops with San Jacinto Elementary School.

Excellence in Curricular Innovation — Penelope Davies, instructor of mathematics

For her focus, commitment, support and innovative contributions to the intermediate algebra redesign team.

Excellence in Professional Development — Debby Hall, assistant professor of ADN, and Khristi McElvy, instructor of ADN For their project creating an electronic health record for nursing students.

Penelope Davies, instructor of mathematics, works with a student at the Math Outreach Center.

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he President’s Office and the Dean’s Council rolled out a new tradition in August when they co-sponsored AC’s inaugural Faculty Excellence Awards. In all, seven members of the AC faculty were singled out to receive six awards presented at the Faculty Meeting on Aug. 21. Each award was accompanied by a $500 stipend.

“These awards are designed to promote and reward faculty innovation and commitment to student success,” Dr. Russell Lowery-Hart, vice president of academic affairs, said. “We were overwhelmed by the number and quality of applications for each award category.”

Excellence in Student Completion — Dalila Paredes, instructor of biology

For her foundational work to integrate the Science Enrichment Center with science courses and faculty.

Excellence in Community and Workforce Innovation — René West, assistant professor of photography For her community outreach projects with the Worldwide Pinhole Day, Meyerowitz Exhibition, and Photo Club work with San Jacinto Elementary School.

Excellence in Part-Time Instruction — Rhonda Brashears, instructor of paralegal studies For her exceptional instruction with the Paralegal Program and her development of the Mock Trial as a central element of student learning.

College Establishes Student Money Management Center We know that students who leave college lacking basic financial literacy sometimes find themselves on a precarious tightrope of solvency. Student loans put many at risk, either when they naively overborrow, or simply when they fail to develop viable repayment plans for even modest loans.

But failure to grasp the benefits of banking and budgeting, or

misunderstanding the ramifications of compound interest or credit scores, can lead to bad financial decisions that might very well hamper a student’s college career from the outset.

“Students have a much better chance for success when all the pieces of their lives are working in unison,” said Bentley, who most recently was employed by the Texas Tech School of Pharmacy.

That’s why AC’s newest studentsuccess initiative is the Student Money Management Center, established in October on the strength of a $154,000 grant from TG.

Housed on the first floor of Lynn Library, the new Money Management Center is positioned to augment AC’s Career and Employment Center. Among its primary goals is to increase students’ understanding of key personal financial concepts, awareness leading to increased retention, degree attainment and, ultimately, career readiness.

Lisa Bentley, who previously served as assistant director of AC’s Tech Prep grant, returns to coordinate the effort.

AC Trains Multitude of TxDOT Employees — Statewide

AC truck-driving instructor Bryan Perryman, left, conducts a TxDOT training session.

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marillo College has several employees who work a great distance from the Panhandle, so don’t be surprised if you’re tooling down the interstate over San Antonio way—or Tyler, El Paso, or Galveston way—and you spot a pickup truck incongruously sporting the AC logo.

equipment operators and virtually all of its truck drivers.

those roads, we’ve actually worked on a lot of them.”

AC’s combined gross revenues from its truck driving and heavy equipment contracts with TxDOT, just since 2011, have eclipsed $2 million.

They no doubt live near some of them, too. Plaag lives in College Station and oversees not just the Bryan District but the entire heavy-equipment operation for AC. He is one of seven full-time AC trainers who combine to teach up to 400 heavy-equipment classes a year to TxDOT employees on TxDOT equipment at TxDOT locations.

It’s merely validation that AC has unsurpassed reach, certainly among Texas community colleges, and plays a substantial role in maintaining and safeguarding the Lone Star State’s highways, all of them, wherever rubber meets road.

Anytime, anyplace you see TxDOT crews in action, chances are extremely good that the machine operators will have obtained their training from highly mobile AC instructors, who, by the way, authored the state-approved curricula that anyone vying for these contracts would be expected to utilize.

Through a pair of oft-renewed contracts with the Texas Department of Transportation, AC is responsible for training the majority of TxDOT’s heavy-

“If there’s a paved road in Texas, we’ve probably been there,” Randy Plaag, AC’s heavy equipment TxDOT training supervisor, said. “We’ve not only been on

They primarily teach the safe and optimal operation of dozers, maintainers, loaders, backhoes, asphalt distributors, and the like. Also on the team (and residing throughout Texas) are Lonnie Jordan, Abilene District; James Lynham, San Antonio; David Marshall, Galveston; Pat O’Donnell, Tyler; Tim Wilson, Amarillo and

Lubbock; and Gary Womack, El Paso.

None have been with AC fewer than five years. Plaag says they all rely heavily on the outstanding organizational skills of staff assistant Chelsea Amaya.

to TxDOT training. All four live in Amarillo so that when they are between flights to TxDOT training sites they can lend their expertise to AC’s Truck Driving Academy here.

“We have the very best trainers, guys who our competitors try to lure away from us all the time,” Ed Nolte, heavy-equipment program coordinator for AC, said. “But we’ve only lost two guys since 2005.

Bob Mathews, director of both the Academy and the TxDOT contract, knows plenty about the latter; he spent his first seven years with AC as a traveling trainer.

“That continuity is key. Coupled with our ability to keep expenses down by locating our workforce throughout the state, and our expertise that’s evidenced by having written the state-approved curriculum, we’ve been able to keep renewing the contract all these years.”

AC began truck-driver training for TxDOT back in 1996, an opportunity inherited when Texas State Technical Institute was transferred to AC. The contract is renewable about every three years, and while the bidding is competitive, AC has repeatedly won the job of training dumptruck operators and CDL candidates statewide.

AC’s Harvey Caughey and Robert Kennedy are fully dedicated to the contract, while Bryan Perryman and Troy Thompson are full-time AC driving instructors who dedicate half their time

“It’s a great job, particularly for those who enjoy traveling,” Mathews said. “Having our instructors based in Amarillo works particularly well for us because we can use them here at the Academy, too, and believe me we do.”

Naturally there are expenses for both contracts: airfare and accommodations for truck driving, while the heavy equipment trainers drive hundreds of miles each week as they cover vast regions in a huge state.

When expense is factored into the bidding process, net profits often are modest.

However, the equation is more complex than debit/credit. The College benefits greatly from the continuing-education contact hours the classes generate. More than 25,000 such hours were generated through TxDOT in the last year alone, hours for which AC receives remuneration from the state.

“Every TxDOT employee who completes

one of our courses is eligible for an AC transcript, and the contact hours really add up,” Nolte said. “What we have, in essence, is people living pretty much in every corner of the state who’ve earned credentials from AC. “On top of that, our trainers are constantly handing out AC recruiting materials. They drive College pickups, wear AC shirts. Our people are constantly seen representing the College. We’re virtually marketing throughout the state and it’s helping grow our reputation just about everywhere we go, which is everywhere in Texas.”

The spread of AC’s reputation is evidenced by the fact that both its TxDOT programs increasingly field outside training requests—from cities and counties, Texas Parks & Wildlife, even Pantex and private industry.

Occasional lulls between TxDOT commitments allow AC to deliver on these additional contracts, padding the coffers and the contact-hour tally.

Considering how far-removed most of the heavy equipment trainers are from Amarillo, it would be easy to understand if, on occasion, their allegiance to the institution got lost in the daily grind of their jobs. But Plaag, insists that his team is united and steadfast in its loyalty to AC, where they normally converge for General Assembly.

“We couldn’t make it to the Assembly this year, and that was both rare and disappointing,” Plaag said. “But I guarantee we all have a lot of pride in AC. We may work in remote places, our jobs may be sort of unique, but we ride for the brand.

AC’s Randy Plaag instructs a TxDOT Maintainer Class on Galveston Island.

“I remember visiting a class that David Marshall was teaching south of Houston, in Freeport,” Plaag said. “I went down there to present David with his five-year AC service pin. All the students applauded and it brought a tear to my eye, which spurred one from David. That right there tells you how we feel about AC.”

The Buddy System

MCC Dedicates Training Center

Jason Norman, director of advising, chats it up with Buddy the Dinosaur back on Aug. 26th at the Washington Street Campus. Costumed characters like Buddy, courtesy of Panhandle PBS, turned out for a back-to-school type meetand-greet on the first day of the fall semester, apparently countering tall tales with tall tails.

AC’s Moore County Campus marked the launch of its $4.6 million Career and Technical Training Center Aug. 23 with a ceremonial ribbon-tying.

Lending a hand in tying the knot (above) are, from left, Danielle Arias, assistant director for continuing education; Don Nicholson, chairman of the AC Board of Regents; Renee Vincent, MCC executive director; and Moore County Judge Rowdy Rhoades.

The highly anticipated event was symbolic of the joining of MCC with Dumas-area industry and Dumas and Sunray schools in a concerted effort to both expand educational opportunities and address the community’s burgeoning workforce needs.

MCC is now equipped to offer program certificates in renewable energy, electronics, industrial maintenance, HVAC, instrumentation and more—all high-demand fields for local industry.

Dual-credit programs for Dumas and Sunray high school students also will reside at the new center that’s located in the Dumas Business Park.

Hall Pass Dr. Russell Lowery-Hart (at right), vice president of academic affairs, was among the inaugural foursome inducted into the WT Communication Hall of Fame on Sept. 20th at West Texas A&M University. Lowery-Hart joined the AC administration in 2010. Previously he served as associate provost for academic affairs at WTAMU and, prior to that, as director of forensics, guiding his team to a pair of individual national titles and a third-place national ranking.

F acult y & Staff

Accolades Rossnagel Accepts Gubernatorial Award Brenda Rossnagel, director of disAbility Services, accepted the Martha Arbuckle Award on behalf of the annual LITE (Living Independently Through Brenda Rossnagel Education) Luncheon and its support group, the Panhandle Coalition for Transition Services. The Arbuckle Award was presented Oct. 18 in Waco. It is presented to an Outstanding Community Project by the Governor’s Committee on People with Disabilities. Rossnagel spearheads the luncheon, which has provided more than $225,000 in scholarship awards to AC students with disabilities since 2002.

Linda Pitner, general manager of Panhandle PBS, was reelected to a second, one-year term as chair of the Texas Public Broadcasting Association, which oversees collaboration of the 12 independent public television stations across Texas. She was re-elected to the post at the association’s annual meeting this September in San Antonio.

The Amarillo Chamber of Commerce Annual Banquet on Oct. 24th featured a presentation of the annual Top 20 Under 40 Awards, and three AC employees were included among the group of “young professionals that are developing their leadership skills and showing growth and promise in their business roles in the community.” Cara Crowley, HSI Stem Grants coordinator, Megan Eikner, director of continuing education, and John Salazar, director of customer service, were the AC honorees.

Three members of the nursing faculty—Debby, Hall, assistant professor, Khristi McKelvy, instructor, and Angie Ross, instructor—presented their project “Tele-Health and VideoConferencing” at the National League for Nursing Technology Conference in October in Philadelphia. Additionally, Hall achieved certification in medical surgical nursing by examination through the Medical Surgical Nursing Certification Board, which is accredited by the Accreditation Board for Specialties in Nursing Certification. The title “Certified Medical Surgical Registered Nurse” (CMSRN) is a mark of distinction in nursing practice, education and management.

Kerrie Young, instructor of nursing, achieved certification in critical care nursing by examination through the American Association of Critical Care Nurses. The title “Critical Care Registered Nurse” (CCRN) is a mark of distinction of caring for acutely ill adult and pediatric patients.

Dr. Richard Pullen, professor of nursing and Dr. Jeanette Embrey, assistant professor of nursing, had a manuscript accepted for publication that will be a continuing education unit (CEU) cover feature titled “The facts about autoimmune hepatitis.” It will appear as an article in the November 2013 issue of the journal Nursing Made Incredibly Easy. Also, Pullen and Lyndi Shadbolt, associate professor of nursing, had a book chapter titled “Mentoring Faculty to Write for Publication” in the National League for Nursing’s September 2013 publication Innovation in Nursing Education: Building the Future of Nursing.

AC Superhero Awards presented at General Assembly went to, from left, Trina Rider, Bob Gustin and Karen Logan.

Three Superhero Awards were presented at General Assembly to members of the AC workforce “who have gone above and beyond” to ensure student success. They each received a caricature depicting their superhero status. Recipients were Bob Gustin, instructor of machining technology, who was dubbed Captain Ratchet; Karen Logan, administrative clerk and Food Pantry coordinator, who was dubbed Duchess of Distribution; and Trena Rider, coordinator of the Mentoring Program, whose superhero title is The Masked Rider.

AC Celebrates Exceptional Employees

Betty Ray: Classified Employee of the Year

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etty Ray delivers—in many more ways than one.

The mail and supply distribution clerk for the AC Mailroom, she indeed delivers on all that her job implies, masterfully and throughout all our Amarillo campuses. But Betty was named Classified Employee of the Year at General Assembly largely for the peripheral deliveries she makes, those that emanate from her happy heart.

To paraphrase letters nominating Betty for the award: She delivers her own brand of courtesy wherever she goes. No matter her destination, she delivers kindness, a friendly smile and a positive attitude.

She reliably delivers an affable greeting to everyone she meets.

She delivers by going out of her way to assist anyone who appears lost or confused on any of our campuses—and she personally delivers them to the place they’re looking to find.

Betty has been delivering service with a smile, along with mail and supplies, since joining the AC workforce in 1999.

Others nominations of Betty for Employee of the Year pretty much follow these recurring themes: “Anyone who talks to you about Betty always has a big smile on their face” or “There are truly no excuses with Betty, she does the best she can every day in the best-natured way possible” or “She always represents AC in a good and positive light and is very courteous and professional.”

What Betty says is this: “I’ve met so many wonderful people working here. I love the outdoors and I love helping people, so I really do have the perfect job.”

Fact: She grew up in Canyon and her maiden name is Fischbacher.

Heather Atchley: 2013’s Foremost Administrator

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search party was dispatched when Heather Atchley failed to appear at her first few meetings of the Student Government Association. Turned out the freshman’s absences were due not to a lack of zeal, but to an innocent miscommunication: she was unaware of having been elected.

There was no such confusion at General Assembly when Heather was named AC’s 2013 Administrator of the Year.

She and hundreds more heard that announcement loud and clear.

“I was in shock,” she said, “just about speechless. It’s such an honor to even be considered for something like this. I loved AC as a student and I love it as an employee. I can’t think of anyplace I’d rather be.”

As an AC freshman, once her election confusion was resolved, Heather’s enthusiasm for the College reigned supreme. Still does. Armed with a bachelor’s degree, Heather jumped in 2002 at the chance to join the AC workforce. By 2006 she had closed in on her master’s degree and moved from the Registrar’s Office to her old stomping grounds in the Student Life Department, first as an activities specialist, and since 2009 as director.

She has served as state advisor for the Texas Junior College SGA and president of the AC Administrators Association. She was named to the Top 20 under 40 list in 2011 by the Amarillo Chamber of Commerce.

One nomination supporting Heather for this award stated: “(Heather is) someone whose passion and excitement for the College is contagious.”

Fact: Heather is the daughter of missionaries and lived two years in Australia as a child.

A Chili

Receptio n The food vanished in a hurry, but the ghosts and their ilk endured at the Chili Cook-Off Oct. 29th at the East Campus.

The event, held along with a blood drive, was a fundraiser for AC’s State Employee Charitable Campaign and the United Way. It raised $764 for charity.

Best Chili and Best Theme honors went to the East Campus Custodial Staff for their zesty recipe and ghoulish ambience. That earned them the right to choose how the money is designated: they deemed it shall be divided between the AC Food Pantry and AC’s Unrestricted Fund.

Another SECC fundraiser in October was the Pumpkin Decoration Contest. That brought in $337. The winning entry was submitted by the Criminal Justice Programs, which designated the sum for The Bridge Children’s Advocacy Center.

Director of Financial Aid on Familiar Turf K

elly Prater, who this fall became director of financial aid, has a familiarity with AC that dates back to her own college days. Prater, a native of Dalhart, was not herself an AC student, but her mom was.

While Kelly, a first-generation college student, was working her way through the University of Texas at Arlington, her mother, Jan Prater, decided to jump on the collegiate bandwagon and enrolled at AC’s Moore County Campus, where she ultimately was named Student of the Year.

“I have two younger sisters and we all attended Mom’s commencement ceremony,” Kelly said. “She likes to rub it in that she graduated with a 4.0 gpa.”

Kelly’s own academic record may have been slightly less impressive than her mom’s, but coupled with the work experience she obtained while attending UTA, it paved her way to a successful career.

While working on her bachelor’s degree at UTA, Kelly obtained entrylevel employment in the financial aid department with High Tech Institute. By the time she graduated, Kelly already was serving as an assistant director of financial aid with Lincoln Technical Institute.

She came to AC in September after spending the past eight years as a Metroplex-based corporate director of financial aid with ATI Enterprises.

“Kelly comes to us with a great deal of experience and expertise that will be supremely beneficial to the students we have right now, and to the students we will have in the future,” Bob Austin, vice president of student affairs, said.

Kelly says she is delighted to be back in the Panhandle, where she is closer to family and to another love: snow skiing. An incessant reader who gets excited about high school football, Kelly is mother to 3-year-old Zoey.

“Family is really important to me, and so is the Panhandle of Texas,” she said. “It’s really great to be back here and to be working at AC. I have a passion for first-time students. I want them to know all things are possible.”

Even if they fall short of a 4.0 gpa.

What Inspires You? David Lovejoy is a new student at AC this semester. He recently returned to Amarillo after serving in the military. David credits AC’s television commercials touting inspirational quotes for his renewed interest in obtaining a college education.

David can be seen in one of AC’s latest 30-second television spots. Here is the quote he submitted:

Be not discouraged. There is a future for you.

— Fredrick Douglass

We want to know what inspires you!

Submit your quote at actx.edu/inspire

The Doc is in April Sessler, associate vice president of student affairs, and an inquisitive student stand by as Doc Hendley, author of the Common Reader, explains a concept in the Panhandle PBS television studio at AC. Hendley was in the studio on Nov. 5th to tape an hour-long program prior to his lecture at the Globe-News Center for the Preforming Arts.