Campus News   |  Faculty& Staff News  |  Student News  |  Projects Update   In This Issue … February 15, 2008 SIS System Goes Live Next Week ... PVCC's iStart Smart Program ... Student Discussion Panel: Rights, Privileges & Responsibilities ... Puma Jazz Ensemble ... The Vagina Monologues ... MCTV Features PVCC Jazz Faculty ... Seize The Time: The Story of the Black Panther Party ... PVCC Soccer Players to Represent College at All-Star Exhibition ... PVCC Women's Tennis, Two Generations of Players ... What Is Hip Hop? Part Two Rescheduled ... Dr. Lois Roma-Deeley a Ragdale Fellow ... Vice-President of Learning Bob Bendotti Appointed to Governor's P-20 Commission ... Strategies for  PVCC Instructors ... Arizona-Asia Educational Partnership Summit ...  2008 Women of Distinction Nominations ... Learning Support Center(LSC) ... Comparing Tuition Costs ... PVCC North Update ... Construction Begins on Q Building Pathway and Baseball Field Project ... Rod Fensom Reassigned to Assist Glendale Community College ...Reminder- Campus Closed for President's Day   Campus News   SIS System Goes Live Next Week After years of planning, testing and training, the legacy student information system will be brought down and final conversion to the new SIS system will take place. Darrel Huish, Chief Information Officer for MCCCD, has advised us that the conversion will take several days, from February 12 at 5pm to February 19 at 8am. During this conversion time PVCC will have limited access to student records. A new 24-hour help line (1-888-994-4433) will be available for students to call for immediate support. Carol Myers, our Director of College Technology, reminds us that there will be two additional ways to receive help with the new SIS System when we ‘go live’ on Tuesday, February 19. You may call the SIS Helpdesk, located in the Computer Commons, at 7-6767 or fill out a Helpdesk request. My personal thank you to the many individuals at PVCC who have brought us to this major milestone. PVCC's iStart Smart Program We have great news about our pilot program, iStart Smart. The program has been adopted (name and all!) by Chandler-Gilbert Community College. CGCC will launch their iStart Smart Program in Fall 2008. South Mountain Community College is also in the process of adopting iStart Smart and other MCCCD colleges have either initiated elements of the program or are in the development stage. At PVCC, all elements of iStart Smart – placement testing, orientation, advising, registration and the Creating College Success course – are being extensively assessed and evaluated. We recently learned that over 98% of the students enrolled in the Creating College Success course continued their enrollment in PVCC courses beyond the forty-fifth day. More assessment and evaluation data related to iStart Smart will be provided soon. All the good data related to this new program is providing us with valuable information about iStart Smart and its impact on student persistence. Thank you to all of our faculty, staff and administrators who are contributing to this program's components.   Student Discussion Panel: Rights, Privileges & Responsibilities We continue our February celebration of Black History Month with a student discussion panel addressing the topic of Rights, Privileges & Responsibilities. Please join what should prove to be an interesting debate on Wednesday, February 20 from noon – 1pm at the Student Union. Puma Jazz Ensemble The Puma Jazz Ensemble will perform as part of the 46th annual Northern Arizona University Jazz Festival on Friday, February 22, at the Ardrey Auditorium in Flagstaff. The NAU Jazz Festival promotes education rather than competition, and following the performances, most groups participate in feedback clinics. The entire festival will run from February 21 thru February 23, featuring guest artist flugelhorn and trumpet great Randy Brecker. This festival is free to the public. The Vagina Monologues The Obie Award-winning play, The Vagina Monologues, directed by adjunct theater faculty member Anne Dean Schindler, will be presented by the PVCC Theater Department on February 20 as part of International V-Day, which raises funds for local group shelters and crisis centers working to end violence against women and girls. A new monologue, that addresses a current issue facing women throughout the world, is added every year.  There will be two performances at the CPA, one at 2pm and the final performance at 7:30pm. The Vagina Monologues contains adult language, situation and themes, and is recommended for mature audiences. Admission is $8. MCTV Features PVCC Jazz Faculty MCTV will air A Tribute to Latin Jazz performed by the PVCC jazz faculty on Saturday, February 16 and Sunday, February 17.  Featured musicians are: Dan Delaney on piano; Bret Reed on vibraphone; Bill Sallak on percussion; and Scott Zimmer on saxaphone; with Special Guests John Lewis on drums and Harold Weinkum on bass. MCTV can be viewed on COX Digital Cable - Channel 115. Enjoy the performances by our talented PVCC jazz faculty members. Seize The Time: The Story of the Black Panther Party As part of the month-long Black History Month, Maricopa Center for Learning & Instruction presents Seize The Time: The Story of the Black Panther Party with Bobby Seale at the Bulpitt Auditorium, Phoenix College, on February 20 at 7pm. I encourage you to invite your students to attend this living history event. PVCC Soccer Players to Represent College at All-Star Exhibition For the second year, the ACCAC All-Star Soccer exhibition match will be held at the City of Phoenix Reach 11 Sports Complex ( 2425 E. Deer Valley Road ) to showcase the talents of conference soccer players. Both a men’s and women’s match will be played with several four-year university and college coaches on hand to watch and meet the players. The woman’s exhibition game begins at 6pm followed by the men’s exhibition match at 7:45pm. For Reach 11 directions or information call Alicia 602-534-6267. PVCC Women's Tennis, Two Generations of Players Playing for the Pumas this spring, under the guidance of Head Coach Kristin Buchanan, are two mother/daughter pairs, Barbara Easterly and her daughter Kara White; and Mary Jo McArthur and her daughter, second year player Allison McArthur. In the last match against Eastern Arizona College the doubles team of Easterly and White played a tough game that ended after 16 match points. We applaud these two generations of tennis players and encourage our PVCC family to support all our athletes. What Is Hip Hop? Part Two Rescheduled What is Hip Hop? Part Two has been rescheduled to Tuesday, February 19 from 10:30am – 11:45am at the Student Union. Learn where Hip Hop began and where it is today. This program is part of Black History Month at PVCC. Faculty & Staff News   Dr. Lois Roma-Deeley a Ragdale Fellow Please join me in congratulating PVCC English Faculty member Dr. Lois Roma-Deeley who has been selected as a Ragdale Fellow. Ragdale is an artists’ retreat situated on the grounds of Arts and Crafts architect Howard Van Doren Shaw’s 1897 summer home in Lake Forest, Illinois. These residency fellowships are offered to select individuals after a thorough competitive application process. The fellowship provides time and space to recipients to create new work. Each session facilitates eight writers, three visual artists and one composer at any given time. Ragdale Fellows come from around the country and the world to work and experience the Ragdale Foundation's creative community. Dr. Roma-Deeley will begin her fellowship in mid-May 2008. Vice-President of Learning Bob Bendotti Appointed to Governor's P-20 Commission I am pleased to announce that Vice President of Learning Bob Bendotti has been appointed to the Governor’s P-20 Commission. The primary goal of the P-20 Commission is to improve education in Arizona, as well as to ensure that more students graduate from high school, succeed in college and are ready for the modern workforce. The P-20 Commission will work to systemically address educational alignment in programs and policies from pre-school, K-12, and post-secondary education into lifelong learning opportunities. Recently, the Commission advocated for and endorsed an increase in graduation requirements for Arizona’s high school students. Beginning with the high school graduating class of 2012 (those students entering high school in 2008 ), students will be required to successfully complete four years of mathematics and three years of science in order to graduate from high school. The Commission is also working closely with Arizona’s three state universities, Arizona community colleges, and the governor’s office to address transfer and articulation issues. MCCCD Chancellor Rufus Glasper was appointed by Governor Janet Napolitano to chair the P-20 Commission. We are very proud of the work that Vice President Bendotti has accomplished through our Learning Connections Consortium. This appointment to the state’s P-20 Commission will provide an excellent opportunity for him to share ideas (such as Learning Connections) with the Commission members. Strategies for PVCC Instructors The PVCC Counseling Division is offering two 2-hour sessions, from 1pm -3pm, in KSC 185 for all instructors on strategies that can be used in any course to help their students.  On Friday, February 15, the topic will be Master Self Management, and on Friday, February 29, the emphasis will be on How to Develop Interdependence. For more information contact Marianne Auten 7-6551. Arizona-Asia Educational Partnership Summit Registration has now begun for the AZ-Asia Educational Partnership Summit which will be held at the Black Canyon Conference Center on April 14-16. The keynote speakers will be: Dr. Peter Senge, Ken Kay, J.D., Dr. Cindy Elliot, Dr. Shawn Chen, and Chairman Song Jun. Please contact Michele Marion, Director of the Center for International Studies for further information at: michele.marion@pvmail.maricopa.edu. 2008 Women of Distinction Nominations Just a reminder that nominations for the 2008 Women of Distinction are being accepted through Wednesday, February 20. Only completed applications will be forwarded to the judging panel for consideration. PVCC/WLG College Representatives are Terry Adriance, Sheri Bakunowski, and Michaelle Shadburne. Student News   Learning Support Center (LSC) The LSC has provided a tutor training program since the fall of 1987, and provides free tutoring for many PVCC academic classes. Please remind any students who might be struggling this semester of the many free resources available to them (like the Study Tip of the Week). The LSC hours are M,T,W,R from 8am – 7pm, Friday from 8am-5pm, and Saturday from 9am -1pm. Comparing Tuition Costs As you are aware that the current tuition for a three-credit course at PVCC is $195? The tuition for the same course at ASU is $756. Students may not realize that the tuition to complete the 35-credit Arizona General Education Curriculum (AGEC) here at PVCC is $2,275, while the tuition to complete the same 35-credit AGEC program at ASU is $8,820, a $6,545 difference. This is just one example of the outstanding value our community college offers to students. (These are tuition only calculations, and do not include admission fees, course fees, parking fees, etc.) Tuition is one of many reasons why PVCC is a very accessible, economical and special place for higher-education opportunities. Projects Update   PVCC North Update Steady progress is being made on the planning of our PVCC North site. Signage has been designed and is in the final approval stage. Young Electric Sign Company (YESCO), famous for designing and building the Las Vegas Hard Rock Café Guitar sign, has been awarded the contract to produce and install the signage for PVCC North. Construction Begins on Q Building Pathway and Baseball Field Project The Q Building Pathway and the Baseball Field Project are scheduled to begin February 18. A temporary pathway for pedestrians to use between the main campus and Q Building has been identified. The estimated time to complete these projects is between three and four months. Rod Fensom Reassigned to Assist Glendale Community College Rod Fensom, our Director of Marketing and Public Relations has been temporarily reassigned to Glendale Community College. Rod will serve as GCC's Director of Marketing and Public Relations. His reassignment begins on Tuesday, February 19, and is scheduled to last approximately four to seven months, depending on the status of GCC's search for a permanent Director. Rod brings both valuable skills and expertise with him to assist their Advancement unit. Dr. Julia Devous, Director of PVCC's Office of Institutional Advancement, will begin the process to obtain backfill personnel for Rod's vacated position and responsibilities. We send our best wishes to Rod on his reassignment to Glendale Community College. Reminder- Campus Closed for President's Day I want to remind you that our campus will be closed on Monday, February 18, in observance of the President's Day holiday. In 1971 this new holiday was created, combining the two previous federal holidays - Lincoln's birthday and Washington's birthday. Please enjoy your long weekend. 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