SEP maps goals
AMPAGE Volume CXXVI Issue 1
FREE
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February 5, 2014
The Student-Run Newspaper of Fresno City College
WORK IN PROGRESS
Administration looks to improve emergency information systems
BY CRESENCIO RODRIGUEZ
Reporter crodriguez@therampageonline.com
SCCCD Communications Dispatcher Christopher Hornsby monitors campus activity at the District Police Office on Monday, Feb. 3, 2014. Photo/Darlene Wendels BY JARRETT RAMONES
Reporter jramones@therampageonline.com
In campus parking lot E a shooting took place on Oct. 14, 2013. Students and staff were left scrambling for answers, but due to a lack of communication, found none. Administration stated that action would be taken against this major gap of communication, promising that the system which students rely on for safety would improve. On the morning of Jan. 22, 2014, the Math and Science Building became the target of a bomb threat. This threat raised the question: how has Fresno City College’s emergency procedures improved since October? “...the communication that went out to all the classrooms worked a lot better than it did initially in October,” said FCC President Tony Cantu. “Initially the information only went out to the math, science, and engineering faculty because they were the ones most affected by this, but as we
Sergio Romo at OAB
learned more the message went out campus-wide.” Students and staff were informed of the threat in a much timelier manner than they were of last October’s shooting. This is not to say that the updates to the system are without its faults. There is still some confusion on how to access the 1st2Know system. “Where you state the wireless carrier, people were putting their phone numbers so then it makes it completely invalid because when you’re sending an email to a cellphone it is not as simple as sending a text message, it has to have an address attached to it,” said Associated Student Government President Edward James. “So that’s where a lot of the errors were coming from in the 1st2Know system.” Administration, while aware of the system’s faults, is apparently hopeful in the improvements within the system. “We are still having some issues
Inside
What’s
New guidelines in educational planning will affect when Fresno City College students are able to register for classes. Effective summer and fall of 2014, FCC students without a student education plan will receive later registration dates than those students with SEP’s. According to FCC Matriculation Coordinator and Counselor Renee Craig-Marius, an SEP assists the student in clarifying and understanding what it takes to reach their educational goal, as well as the course of study for their major. The SEP outlines and maps out all the courses they need in order to complete their educational goals whether it is for transfer, a certificate, an associate’s degree or if they just need to update their skills. “It is a roadmap,” said CraigMarius. “Students must know where they want to go and know how they want to achieve their goals.” To be eligible for an SEP, students must have completed less than 30 units and not have any registration holds for probation, disqualification, or continuing probation per board policy. Students must also have not attended any other colleges in order to be eligible for a student education plan. The Student Success Act of 2012, or Senate Bill 1456, is the reason many counselors have pushed to get students to complete an SEP. The guiding principle of SB 1456 is that student success is the responsibility of the institution and the student, supported by well-coordinated, evidence-based student and instructional services to foster academic success. FCC counselors have held twohour workshops that are designed to assist new students to learn about college procedures and resources, as well as the important nature of dates and deadlines. l SEE PLAN ON PAGE 2
with the 1st2Know,” Cantu said. “Some people got them at different times, some people didn’t get them at all, some the next day. Campus police is working on trying to resolve that.” In consideration of the existing gaps in the 1st2Know system, the administration took certain measures. “We did wind up sending an email, not the 1st2Know, but the [student] email to all students because our student trustee came by. The public information [office], had indicated that there were individuals who did not receive the text message and had signed up for it,” said Cantu. Concerns regarding the students who are not receiving the alerts are being further addressed. “The police department gets a list everyday of actively-enrolled students and they populate that list into the system, and it goes through and determines who is getting a text and who is not getting a text,” said FCC Vice President of Administration l SEE SAFETY ON PAGE 4
Sarah Chang returns
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