Projects  |  Campus News  |  Faculty & Staff News  |  Student News   In This Issue … January 11, 2008 Life Sciences Building … Q Building … Baseball Field … PVCC Wireless Network Expands … SIS Implementation … A New Year at PVCC … Campus Safety Measures Implemented District-wide … PVCC Joins Arizona Town Hall … College Leadership Council, CLC … CPA Update … A Tribute to John Coltrane … Help the Homeless … PVCC Learning Week … Vice President of Administrative Services Search … Search for Vice President of Learning Has Begun … PVCC Names Two New Faculty Members … Congratulations to Dr. Shouan Pan … Welcome Week            Projects Update   Life Sciences Building We made major progress finalizing the architectural design of the New Life Sciences Building, and are on schedule with the project for an anticipated groundbreaking in late spring.   Q Building    I am pleased to announce that the Math Division will be a major focus for teaching and learning studios in the Q Building. We appreciate the work of the Q Building Planning Committee as well as the faculty and staff who will continue to develop new learning opportunities in this exciting new learning space.        Baseball Field     Construction drawings for the new baseball field are nearly complete with bid openings due January 10, 2008.      PVCC Wireless Network Expands   The campus wireless network has expanded to include all of PVCC’s campus. TCT funded the proposal for 2007-08 with IRTS funding the installations of 16 new ceiling jacks. All buildings and the grounds around the buildings now have wireless network access. A special thanks is extended to Corey Weidner for completing this yearlong project. More information is available at www.pvc.maricopa.edu/wifi SIS Implementation   The following are training sessions for the launch of the new SIS system starting February 19, 2008. With the new SIS system, faculty will be able to view their class schedules and rosters online and final grades will be entered and submitted online. January 7-25, 2008 will be devoted to Integration Testing. Please have patience with the areas that will be focused on as we approach the February 19 launch date.      Overview of Completed Tasks           Planning and preparing for installation of student computing kiosks           Division chair/secretary training           SIS overview/demonstrations           Admissions to graduation demonstrations        Tasks in Progress            Business Process revisions            Functional training            Testing of financial aid reports            Finalizing account access for active staff            FERPA tutorial completion (if you completed the online training prior to            September, it may be a good idea to do it again as a refresher and to ensure that            your account is activated.) Campus News   A New Year at PVCC We begin a New Year at PVCC! Welcome back to campus and best wishes to all our faculty, staff and students for a challenging, rewarding and productive Spring 2008 semester. We join Chancellor Glasper in his wishes for a great year of teaching and learning, and especially to find ways in this year 2008 of working together as One Maricopa. The Chancellors video conversation can be viewed at: www.maricopa.edu/chancellor/vid.php I am gratified to see a steady increase in the number of student enrollments. I wish to thank all of you who have facilitated each student’s registration and enrollment experience. I am also very proud of our college’s outstanding iStart Smart program, which provides a sound foundation for new full-time students, and is a model for the district. Campus Safety Measures Implemented District-wide As required by the Arizona legislature, certified campus safety officers and directors will now wear firearms on campus. This change is designed to help provide a safer campus environment for us all. All armed campus officers are certified police officers. Each officer carrying a firearm has been recently trained and qualified through the Arizona Peace Officers Standard Training Board, or AZPOST, the same organization that trains and certifies all law enforcement in the state. Our two certified officers are now better equipped to deal with campus emergencies of all kinds. PVCC Joins Arizona Town Hall I am pleased to announce that our college has joined the prestigious think tank, Arizona Town Hall as a Collaborator. The Town Hall plays a critical role generating informed discussion about important issues facing the state. This is a unique organization of the state’s business, professional and community leaders. Two of our students attended the last Arizona Town Hall session. The 2008 topics will be Education in the spring session and Affordable/workforce Housing in the fall. College Leadership Council, CLC PVCC’s College Leadership Council now has a new format. In the Fall 2007 semester, we introduced a new meeting design that focused on a topic of importance to the college community and refined the meeting reports so that they would be shared more directly and immediately with the college community. Each meeting of the CLC now features one principal topic for the college. For example, the January 18 meeting’s theme is PVCC North/YMCA Partnership while the February 15 topic will be Academic Programming. The purpose of the CLC is to:    1. Serve as a primary communication channel to and from the college's internal stakeholders with respect to college-wide initiatives, issues and opportunities within the context of PVCC's Strategic Plan and Strategic Issues.    2. Advise the President with respect to the improvement of college policies, procedures, programs/services and practices.    3. Contribute to the development of the internal college community consistent with the college's values.                                                                                                                                      Here is the web site where you can find the minutes of past meetings: www.pvc.maricopa.edu/clc.  Guests are welcome to sit in.  A list of future dates is included at the site. CPA Update Our resident professional theatre company, Arizona Jewish Theatre, is currently performing the comedy Halpern & Johnson in our lovely Center for the Performing Arts Mainstage Theater. The show, which runs from January 5-20, has already received critical acclaim from the Arizona Republic reviewer. A special reduced ticket price of $15 is being offered to MCCCD faculty and staff (regular tickets are $30-$40). For more information please call 602-264-0402. top of page A Tribute to John Coltrane A Tribute To John Coltrane, jazz saxophone legend, will be held at the Center for the Performing Arts Mainstage Theatre on Friday, January 25 at 7:30pm. The PVCC Jazz Quintet: Scott Zimmer, Brett Reed, Dan Delaney, Ted Sistruck and John Lewis will be featured in this night of jazz, sponsored by the PVCC Fine and Performing Arts Division. Tickets are available through the CPA box office. Box Office/Information: (602) 787-7738 top of page>Help the Homeless Thanks to Zosia Pijanowski, PVCC is joining the City of Phoenix in collecting items of clothing, blankets and other necessities for the homeless during this cold winter season. If you have anything you would like to donate (blankets are especially needed), please bring them to Zosia in the IRTS office, ext 77782. Deliveries will be made every two weeks to the Sunnyslope Family Services Center until March 19. Only certain items will be accepted by the city, so if you have any questions contact Zosia. Receipts for tax purposes are available. Faculty & Staff News   PVCC Learning Week   Special thanks to Michaelle Shadburne, PVCC Manager of Organizational Development, for coordinating the sixteen learning activities and to all the learning Congratulations to all faculty members who participated in the Spring 2008 Learning leaders who provided new information on important topics. Vice President of Administrative Services Search     Our search for the Vice President of Administrative Services will continue in January 2008. Please contact Laurel Smith in Human Resources for further information. Search for Vice President of Learning Has Begun In anticipation of the retirement of Vice President of Learning, Bob Bendotti, the search process for the Vice President of Learning has begun. Invitations have been extended to faculty and staff to serve on the search committee. A national search will be initiated on January 14 and will close on February 29, 2008. The search will take place during the early spring semester of 2008, with a planned start date for the successful candidate in July 2008. For more information, please contact Jeff Lace or Paul Dale, co-chairs of the search committee.   PVCC Names Two New Faculty Members   Two new full-time PVCC faculty members have been named to teach psychology courses this spring semester. We welcome Catherin Snyder and Kathleen O'Boyle Walker to our campus and encourage all of you to visit them in their offices in M Building, and personally welcome them to PVCC.   Congratulations to Dr. Shouan Pan Chancellor Rufus Glasper formally recommended Dr. Shouan Pan for President of Mesa Community College and the MCCCD Governing Board approved the Chancellor’s recommendation at the Board meeting on January 8. Dr. Pan will join the District in February. Congratulations to Dr. Pan, and we look forward in the near future to welcoming all our new Maricopa presidents at a reception on our PVCC campus.    Student News   Welcome Week Thank you to all of the student volunteers, student leadership personnel and everyone involved in preparing for Welcome Week. Remember that Welcome Week doesn’t just take place in the Welcome Week tent. It takes place all across campus, in every office, classroom and building. Please take a moment to personally greet our new students, introduce yourself, and to provide them with any needed help. Remember, their success is our success.   Cordially, Mary Kay Kickels President Do you have an interesting program, or outstanding accomplishment or student to highlight? If so, e-mail the News Desk at pvcc.news@pvmail.maricopa.edu A publication of the Paradise Valley Community College Office of the President 2007 © Maricopa County Community College District