Community Connection Vol. 13 - Sept. 2015

Maricopa Community Colleges • Office of the Chancellor • Community Advisory Committees • Vol. 13 • Sept. 2015

Chancellor’s Update Dear CAC members, I hope all of you have enjoyed these summer months, and have found opportunities for reflection and reconnection, as you prepare for the upcoming academic year. Across Maricopa, the summer has been a time of activity and progress, as we continue to seek ways to maximize resources and respond to the growing needs of our students and our community.

As you may know, the Maricopa Community Colleges lost all State funding for the 2015–16 academic year. There are no signs that this funding will return any time soon. As such, we need to be creative in how we think about our future.

The Phoenix Business Journal did a cover story on us, and our plans to do just that. You can read the article here. Thank you for your continued dedication to our students and community.

Chandler-Gilbert Community College Awarded National Latino Grant

Maricopa Joins National Jobs Training Initiative

Chandler-Gilbert Community College (CGCC) has been awarded a Latino Americans: 500 Years of History grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the American Library Association (ALA). As one of the grant recipients selected from across the country, CGCC will receive an award of $10,000 to produce public programming about Latino history and culture.

Read more.

Markle Foundation CEO and President Zoë Baird joined with Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, LinkedIn Co-Founder Allen Blue, Arizona State University President Michael M. Crow, Dr. Ernest Lara - President of Estrella Mountain Community College, edX, and From left: Markle CEO Zoe Baird, Dr. Ernie Lara, and Julie Gehrki, Senior Director of the Walmart Phoenix employers to announce Foundation Rework America Connected, a partnership that will use online technology to improve the way jobseekers find jobs and learn new skills, and improve the way employers find workers. Phoenix is the pilot city for this initiative, and Estrella Mountain’s Cybersecurity program will be one of the featured training programs.

Read the news release.

Community Connection provides news and information about the Maricopa Community Colleges and the Chancellor’s Community Advisory Committees to the community.

To read it online, visit https://chancellor.maricopa.edu/advisory-committees

Maricopa Student Athletes, Teams Earn National Academic Honors Sixty-eight student athletes and 37 teams from the Maricopa Community Colleges earned academic recognition today from the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) for the justcompleted 2014–15 year. To qualify for the award, student athletes must have a minimum 3.60 GPA while earning at least 12 credit hours.

Seven of the student athletes received NJCAA’s Pinnacle Award for posting perfect 4.0 GPAs. They are Evan Fresquez (Mesa baseball), Kevin McMahon (Mesa tennis), Alexis Flores (Phoenix soccer), Aly Kennedy (Phoenix basketball), Katerina Diaz (South Mountain volleyball), Delaney Scanlan (South Mountain volleyball), and Brianna Schrimpf (South Mountain softball).

In addition to the individual awards, 37 Maricopa Community Colleges teams received academic honors for having an average team GPA of 3.00. The teams with the top GPA in each sport are the 2014-2015 NJCAA Academic Teams of the Year; South Mountain CC’s Women’s Volleyball team took home that honor.

In other athletic news, football season is almost here. Check out the Maricopa Community Colleges’ 2015 Football Schedules and join us for a game! Tickets are available for purchase at the stadium on game day, and generally cost no more than $5.00. Admission is free for Maricopa Community Colleges students, faculty, and staff.

Professor Invents Hybrid Instrument Museum-worthy “Lutar” on Permanent Display The sinuous curves of polished wood that make up the back of an instrument called the “lutar” beguiles visitors from all over the world as they enter the United States section of the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) in Phoenix. The MIM is a collection of musical instruments from around the world.

The lutar is the creation of Dr. Carl Samuels, one of the founding faculty members of the GCC Psychology Department.

Photo courtesy of Joel Pearson.

Now on permanent display at the MIM, Samuels’ lutar is on the second floor, prominently displayed in the string section. A video of the instruments on display runs continuously, showing how the instruments are played. A headset and audio device is activated as you approach each exhibit. Samuels started teaching at GCC in 1966 and retired from GCC in 2005.

Outstanding Adjunct Faculty Awards Each year, the Maricopa Community Colleges Adjunct Faculty Association (AFA) celebrates the hard work and dedication of its members to student success.

Click here to meet the 2015 winners. Read Janice “Cat” McDonald’s story.

President of the Adjunct Faculty Association (AFA) Leo Valverde, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost of MCCCD Dr. Maria Harper-Marinick, Adjunct Faculty of Incarcerated Reentry Janice “Cat” McDonald, and Chancellor of MCCCD, Dr. Rufus Glasper.

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At an event on July 23, the Maricopa Community Colleges today announced a new program that will help children who are aging out of the foster care system to get into and complete college. The “Bridging Success Initiative,” funded by the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust, was introduced at an event with partners from across the valley.

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Maricopa Community Colleges Launch Program to Help Youth in Foster Care Finish College

Click here to learn more.

The initiative advisory board has representatives from Arizona State University (ASU), Children’s Action Alliance, Arizona’s Children Association, Arizona Friends of Foster Care, College Success Arizona, College Depot, Florence Crittendon, and the Arizona Department of Child Safety.

Kathleen Perales (MCC), Maddy Day (Keynote Speaker), Ray Ostos (District Dean of Students), and Stephanie Garman (Program Director).

The program focuses on three key areas: retention, degree completion, and transfer. The Maricopa Community Colleges are creating supportive environments at all of their main campuses where students can get tutoring, academic counseling, career planning, skill development, and other support services. Finishing a program usually leads to greater overall earning potential for youth in foster care. And through ASU’s similar “Bridging Success Program,” counselors who work with these youth will make the transfer go smoothly.

“Supporting youth who are aging out of foster care is core to our mission of access and student success,” said Dr. Felicia L. Ganther, Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs. “We are extremely committed to this work and are thankful to our community partners for helping us to create a web of support for these students. Like other young people, youth in foster care have dreams. Yet we know that there are big challenges and obstacles in the way of these dreams. Our goal is to turn these dreams deferred, into dreams realized.”

Mesa Community College Hosts 9/11 Commemoration Day Mesa Community College (MCC) and the US Department of Veteran’s Affairs/Phoenix Health Care System hosted a 9/11 Commemoration Day at MCC’s Southern and Dobson Campus on Saturday, Sept. 12. The public was invited to join students, faculty and staff in a series of events as we remembered those who were lost and celebrate with live musical entertainment, food, children’s activities and Veteran resources.

Advanced cyclists can participated in a 32-mile round-trip bike ride from MCC’s Southern and Dobson Campus to the Red Mountain Campus. A 5 K Fun Run/Walk/Ride was planned for people of all ages and fitness levels.

See photos of the event here.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS, REGISTER NOW!

2015 Sustainability Symposium Friday, September 25, 2015 9:00 a.m. to 2:15 p.m.

South Mountain Community College - Student Union 7050 S. 24th St., Phoenix, AZ 85040

The 2015 Sustainability Symposium intends to provide attendees with information that will help broaden their understanding of sustainability. Maricopa Community Colleges has adopted the Triple Bottom Line model to integrate sustainability into its operation - Planet, Profit, People. This symposium will focus on the “people” aspect of sustainability. This year’s symposium will inform about best practices on how to integrate sustainability into the curriculum and the operations of a college. ​ he keynote speaker is Pandora Thomas, Co-Founder T of Earthseed Consortium LLC, a holistic consulting firm whose work deepens the impacts of environmental advocacy in the lives of diverse communities.

For questions, contact Lori Thorpe at 480.731.8701, lori.thorpe@domail.maricopa.edu

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In the News Ceramics Faculty on Display Read the Arizona Republic article, and see details below.

When: Through Sunday, Aug. 30.

10 a.m.–5 p.m. Mondays–Fridays; 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Saturdays. Call ahead for weekends and holidays.

Where: Vision Gallery, 10 E. Chicago St., Chandler.

Admission: Free.

Details: 480-782-2695, visiongallery.org.

Maricopa Alum Featured in Business Journal The Phoenix Business Journal recently featured Gonzalo de la Melena - President and CEO of the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and a Maricopa graduate. Read the Business Journal’s article and his 2014 interview for Maricopa Community College’s student success advertising campaign.

Arizona Republic covers new SCC Institute for Native American study Scottsdale Community College, the only public two-year college that’s on an Indian reservation, will build a center devoted to Native American culture. Read the Arizona Republic article.

The Chancellor’s Community Advisory Committee’s Purpose: • Provide community-inspired counsel and advice to the Chancellor

Maricopa students graduate from Helios/TGEN Biomedical Research summer scholars Forty-five students, representing Arizona’s next generation of Photo: David Kadlubowski/The Republic biomedical research scientists, graduated from the Helios Foundation-supported eightweek biomedical training program at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen). The group included students from Maricopa Community Colleges. Read the news release. Read the Arizona Republic coverage of the news here and here.

New Advisory Committe Member Rev. Nancy Nelson Elsenheimer has been a Pastor in the United Church of Christ for 32 years. Upon her arrival, she immediately got involved in issues relating to LGBTQ justice, Equality Arizona, Pride, Gay Chamber of Commerce, etc. In 2012, she helped create we began a new UCC congregation, Ktizo UCC in the West Valley. “I am seeing that the west side of Phoenix is without many services that one would find in central Phoenix, from urban gardens, to Farmer’s Markets, to support groups, to LGBTQ resources,” said Rev. Elsenheimer.

Governing Board Highlights Click here for a summary of the Governing Board’s May 26 meeting.

For past issues of this newsletter, click here.

• Work with the Colleges to strengthen their relationships with the community

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• Serve as a conduit of information between the Colleges and the community

Did you know that more than 50,000 people are following the Maricopa Community Colleges across our five major social media platforms? Followers include students, alumni, employees, faculty, governing board members, city mayors, state legislators, and more.

• Help the Colleges identify community issues and proactively address concerns, and • Work on projects that advance the Chancellor’s objectives.

Populations represented by the CACs: African-American, Asian Pacific Islander, GLBT, Latino, Native-American, and people with disabilities.

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