COMMISSIONS

ADMINISTRATION COMMISSION

2020 Leadership Excellence Award

On behalf of the Administration Commission Board, it is my pleasure to announce the 2020 Leadership Excellence Award winner, Mrs. Evelyn Ward.

Mrs. Ward was presented with the annual Leadership Excellence Award during the AFC 71st Annual Conference held November 18 -20, 2020. Mrs.Ward was nominated by several of her co-workers for her outstanding leadership, dedication, and her tireless efforts for Chipola college and the students they serve.

We would also like to acknowledge the following nominees who also exemplify Evelyn Ward outstanding leadership: Director of Fine and Performing Arts ,

Carla Rossiter Smith- Pasco-Hernando Chipola College

State College,

Erick Dominicis- Miami-Dade

Kelly Warren- Florida College System Activities Association

Manuel Perez- Miami Dade Mark Johnson- Miami Dade

Mercedes Clement-Daytona State

Ramona Edwards- Miami Dade

Sonia Thorn – Pasco-Hernando State College

Kevin O’Farrell-Pasco-Hernando State College

Dan Rodkin – Santa Fe College

CAREER AND PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYEES COMMISSION

The Career and Professional Employees Commission (CPEC) has been diligently working to keep our Commission active and engaged. The Executive Board has been meeting and coming up with activities for the Commission. CPEC members have been participating in the 2020 Webinar series and CPEC has hosted several webinars through the AFC webinar series.

The Career and Professional Employees Commission hosted a webinar, on October 22, 2020, titled, “Classified Staff Council and the Administration: Are We Connected?”

CPEC hosted an Executive Board & Commission Business Meeting on November 12, 2020. The CPEC Exemplary Practice was presented at the Commission Business Meeting by Dr. Raphel Robinson, Marissa Brown & Katelyn James, College of Central Florida. Titled: “College of Central Florida Ambassador Program for High School Seniors.” Other awards presented were: • Educational Scholarship Award: Kate Adornetto, St. Johns River State College • Unsung Hero Award: The CPEC Executive Board: Primrose Humphries, Broward College, Secretary/Historian Cara Bennett, College of Central Florida, Treasurer Trevor Harvey, State College of Florida, Legislative Liaison Obi Kalu, Pensacola State College, Webmaster Tonya Hardaway, Tallahassee Community College, Region 1 Representative Andrea Gabriel, Florida Gateway College, Region 2 Rep Tracey Glidden, Eastern Florida State College, Region 3 Rep Mildred Diaz Santiago, Pasco-Hernando State College, Region 4 Rep Wanda Curtiss, Miami Dade College, Region 5 Rep & Dr. Schemmeka Mears, Broward College, Region 5 Rep • LifeSaver Awards: Gregory Williams, Tallahassee Community College Melonie Miner, Pensacola State College

Congratulations to all the award winners and thank you for all your help and support this year.

CPEC hosted two Professional Development sessions at the Annual conference. The first, “Get in The Game by Coach Q,” was presented by Coach Franqua “Coach Q” Bedell, Head Women’s Basketball Coach, Odessa College & former Championship Head Women’s Basketball Coach, Tallahassee Community College. The session was moderated by Gregory Williams, Tallahassee Community College. The second, Coach Q Dr. Angela Long “Risk-Taking and Leadership: How One Small Step Can Lead You into The Path of Your Dreams and Finding Greater Purpose” presented by Dr. Angela Long, director of Strategic Engagement, Tallahassee Community College. Moderated by Sharon Walker, Tallahassee Community College.

Primrose Humphries, Broward College, CPEC Secretary/ Historian presented during the session titled, “Broward College: Expanding Teaching and Learning Excellence at Ground Zero: An Array of Best Practices in Remote Times.”

At the AFC Awards Ceremony, CPEC Chair Sharon Walker Primrose Humphries presented the CPEC Employee of the Year Award to Lana Gaspari from College of the Florida Keys. CPEC Executive Board members, Tracy Glidden, Eastern Florida State College, Region 3 Representative; Primrose Humphries, Broward College, Secretary/Historian; and Mildred Diaz Santiago, PascoHernando State College, Region 4 Representative, graduated Lana Gaspari from the Certified College Professional Program.

CPEC also congratulates Gregory Williams, Tallahassee Community College, 2021 Vice President of Commissions; Melonie Minor, Pensacola State College, 2021 VP-Elect, Regions & Chapters; Tonya Hardaway, Tallahassee Community College, 2021 Chair, Career & Professional Employees Commission; and Sharon Walker, Tallahassee Community College, 2021 Region 1 Director, on their newly elected roles for the upcoming year.

This years’ Service Project: "Statewide College Food Pantry Challenge”. This project was co-sponsored by the Career & Professional Employees Commission and the AFC State Office. The CPEC Executive Board wanted to do something to service the whole state and not just one area. We felt with all the stress that our students are going through – this is one stressor we would try to relieve. A video was created showcasing a few of the College Pantries and asking for non-perishable food items, household items, and gift cards. Thank you to all the Pantry directors, the AFC State office, Sandi Barrett, Palm Beach State, the CPEC Executive Board, and all of you for your help and support of this project. CPEC was honored to receive the 2020 Commission of the Year Award during the Closing Ceremonies at the Annual Conference.

CPEC would like to thank everyone who participated in the Conferences, Webinars, and Service Project. We greatly appreciate your support. Congratulations to our new 2021 State Officers. Thank you to AFC President, Matt White for the great job you did during the Pandemic. Our Association is still in a better place because of your leadership. Our Commission appreciates you for all your support and that “2020 Vision!”

To the incoming AFC President, Ray Coulter, thank you for all your encouragement and support. Our Commission looks forward to working with you and we will “BE THE CHANGE.”

COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING COMMISSION

The Communications and Marketing Commission wrapped up a great year with the annual Awards of Excellence during the Annual Conference. This year the commission went to an online platform making the submission process an easy way for colleges to submit their work. Twenty-four judges from around the state volunteered their time to review and score each entry. There were 165 winners including 75 Gold, 47 Silver and 40 Bronze winners in the categories of print, digital, miscellaneous and exemplary practice. The commission awarded one exemplary practice winner and two best of show winners. Across the state, 21 out of 28 colleges participated.

CLICK HERE to see the list of winners.

In addition to the i2020 virtual seminar this summer, the commission also hosted four virtual roundtable events on topics such as digital marketing

LEARNING RESOURCES COMMISSION

As I reminisce about my year as the Chair of Learning Resources Commission, I can say that it was a lot of work but satisfying. The year was also successful because of the hard work and support of every member of the board. Everyone on the board had a plate full of responsibilities at work but because we are committed to the mission of the LRC Commission, we found time to do our very best. Here is how I remembered it:

We started with several phone and/or virtual meetings in preparation for the Exemplary Practice Virtual Conference. The 5th Annual Virtual Conference on February 21, 2020, from 9:00 AM to 3:30 PM. 100 LRC members participated in the informative and learning virtual conference.

The following titles of the Learning Resources Commission Exemplary Practice Awards are below:

• Speed Dating with Databases (SDWD) • Online and Ready to Help: Synchronous Chatting for Academic Support • Learning Support Services: Tutoring @ Medical Campus and enrollment, public relations and communications, workforce education and social media accessibility. The commission also created six professional development scholarships valued at $150 each that were awarded to commission members to use for the annual conference.

The commission is looking forward to 2021 under the leadership of the following AFC members:

Chair: Tina Banner, College of Central Florida

Chair-Elect: Greg Turchetta, Florida SouthWestern State College

Vice Chair: Zack Blessing, Pensacola State College

Communications Chair: Alexa Heinrich, St. Pete State College

Immediate Past Chair: Travis Jordan, Florida Department of Education/TCC

• Support for Career & Technical Education • Academic Success Center Outreach • Titan Up! Improving the Academic Success Center to Generate High Levels of

Student Success and Satisfaction • Academic Center for Excellence • One Button Studio • Accessibility and Copyright Primer • The Learning Spot/Reading & Writing Center • Title III Grant Math Success: Math Resource Center

The LRC Virtual Conference Service Project was to collect nonperishable items for homeless students at their campuses.

Region III/LRC Joint Conference

On April 10, 2020, LRC joined Region III for a face to face Conference, but in light of the COVID-19 crisis, we decided to conduct a virtual conference since LRC just had one.

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The first joint virtual conference was a success. Kudos to Mr. Matthew White, 2020 AFC President, for facilitating and hosting it via WebEx. There were over 200 who registered for the conference.

This year’s conference theme was “Envision Your Career Through AFC Lens”. It was based on the current AFC president’s theme, “Looking for Dedicated People with 2020 Vision”.

The Joint Service Project encouraged members to donate to the charity of their choice that were dealing with those who were affected by COVID-19. Claire Miller donated masks she sewed herself.

FIRST AFC VIRTUAL ANNUAL CONFERENCE

The Exemplary Practice Award presentations were great. The judges selected two winners: Dr. Daphene Watson and Giselda Aguiar for the Learning Support Award. Matthew Bodie, Heather Meyer, Kassandra Sherman, Paula Knipp and Kaitlin Crockett for the Library Service Award. They made their award presentations at AFC Virtual Annual Conference. Both sessions were well attended.

Finally, my year as Commission Chair for LRC concluded with my final AFC Board Report, “Save The Date” flyer for next year (2/19/21) Exemplary Practice Conference. I hope to still get involved as Past Chair.

It was my pleasure to serve as 2020 LRC Chair. Mercedes Clement

TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION

The Association of Florida Colleges Technology Commission awarded TCC Learning Commons (LC) employees Dr. Nicholas Vick and Dani Hawke with the first place 2020 Technology Commission Exemplary Practice Award. Dr. Nicholas Vick and Dani Hawke were presenters at the 2020 71st Annual Meeting and Conference. Their exemplary practice emerged from a time of remote learning and remote working during the early days of the pandemic. They knew that communicating with students was essential, and the staff decided the best approach was to create short videos. The video project included an informational video in terms of how students can access academic support services and equally important, motivational messages to encourage students to continue to excel. The documentation detailed how the different videos were very well received by faculty, staff, and students. The videos sent to students include Closed Captioning, and we made audio-only versions that can be listened to as short podcasts. The video project itself was a testament to the amazing collaboration that our staff believes is critical to the success of the Learning Commons.

AFC BOOK CLUB

Join the hosts of the AFC Book Club every third Thursday and connect with book lovers who love to read, engage in lively discussions, and learn about interesting topics related to current events, history, biographies, and good fiction.

UPCOMING TITLE:

January 21: “The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters” by Priya Parker

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER