59 Years, Two People, One College

Chef Scott Anselm

Retirees Scott Anslem and Cindy Hogan will leave the college this month with a combined total of 59 years of service.

Scott has spent the past 27 years as the college's head chef and culinary arts instructor. He is retiring to the wilds of Alaska, where he will join his wife who is already there working for the state.

Scott's only plans so far are to really retire, something that seems a bit unusual here. He is looking forward to fishing, flying his plane, and cooking for his wife, which should be easy enough (wonder if he'll have portion control issues).

College Foundation friends Wayne and Joann Chambers recently established the Scott Anselm Culinary Arts Scholarship Endowment Fund to honor Scott for his years of dedication to students and the Culinary Arts Program. 

Cindy Hogan

With 32 years at the college, Cindy Hogan has been the fix-it queen for so many years in Media Services, it’s going to be hard to think of "who we gonna' call?"

Cindy has spent most of those years in Media Services troubleshooting classroom media equipment issues, bringing in new technologies, and videographing lectures, classes, and events.

Cindy also has earned two associate degrees and several certificates from LBCC, with more than 300 credits under her belt. She started taking classes at the college when she was 18.

Looking to retirement, Cindy hopes to take a trip to Germany in a few years, one of the “to do” things on her bucket list. Also on her list is riding in a hot air balloon. In the meantime, she plans to continue her and her husband’s hobby of restoring old cars, of which she has several in various stages of completion. She also looks forward to spending more time with her grandchildren and family.

Good luck to Scott and Cindy in their retirement. The college culinary world and college media users will miss you!

Interact Communications: What is Interact and How Will it Help the College Web Redesign and Rebranding Initiative?

Mark Mastej from Interact leads a focus group with, left to right,
Jeff Davis, Mary Browning, Joel White, Cyrel Gable, & Lin Olson.

Interact Communications provides communication services that are specifically designed with two-year colleges in mind.

LBCC hired Interact to help redesign the college website and college brand around our audience needs, including unique navigation, graphics and content. The goal is to help the college to get our message out to the community, and shape our overall image. (read more about Interact: www.interactcom.com/)

This week, Interact Communications is conducting the last round of focus groups to help with the work of rebranding, including college messaging, taglines, slogans and generally how we communicate with our students and community members.

The four groups include: local high school students; current students; a combined group of faculty, staff and management; and a combined group of business leaders, community members, foundation friends and college alumni.

Interact first visited LBCC in August to conduct focus groups involving more than 120 individuals including recent high school graduates, current LBCC students, college employees, LBCC alumni, and local businesses.

A second phone and online survey was conducted in September to measure public awareness and opinion of the college, including our current image. This data will be used to help the college select messaging that leads to greater understanding of the college.

Feedback from the focus groups will be used by Interact to set recommendations for a navigational structure for the new college home page, as well as a general list of college descriptors, taglines, slogans and general web communications.

The new website is scheduled to be launched after the end of the 2012-2013 school year. As the project develops, it will be shared with the college community for further feedback prior to launch.

If you would like to learn more about Interact and the college web and branding redesign project, contact Dale Stowell in College Advancement, 541-917-4

Ag Instructor Rick Klampe and Daughter Take Firsts in National Show

Ashley Klampe, left, and dad Rick Klampe with their
Reserve Champion Ram at the Expo in Kentucky.

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Animal science instructor Rick Klampe and his 13-year-old daughter Ashley recently participated in the North American International Livestock Exposition in Louisville, Kentucky, the largest and most prestigious livestock show in the United States.

The pair exhibited three head of Registered Polled Dorset sheep, one ram (male) and two ewe’s (female), as part of the National Dorset Show.

Their ram took first class in Winter Ram, and Jr. Champion Ram (age division), and Reserve Grand Champion of the Show. This same ram also took Supreme Champion at the Oregon State Fair.

The two ewe’s placed high as well, with one placing first in class for Early Fall Ewe Lamb, and a second placing first in class for Winter Ewe Lamb (she is twin to the ram), Jr. Champion ewe and Reserve Grand Champion ewe of the Show. The Early Fall ewe was also Champion ewe at the Oregon and California State Fairs.

The sire of these three sheep was chosen as National Sire of the year, the first time a sire to only three heads of sheep had ever won that status. Nice Job, Rick and Ashley!

Art Gallery Coordinator Rich Bergeman Lands Art Residency

Contributed story
Edited by Lori Fluge-Brunker

Sink Site by Rich Bergeman.

LBCC Art Gallery coordinator Rich Bergeman was chosen to participate in a four-week art residency at Playa in Eastern Oregon, a nonprofit organization supporting creative work in the arts, literature, natural sciences and other fields.

Stratton Root Cellar by Rich Bergeman.

Rich has spent the past several weeks working on a photo project in nearby Fort Rock Valley, where he is looking for homestead sites and early towns that sprang up in the early 1900s, only to disappear within 10-15 years when the realities of farming in the desert finally sank in for those early settlers.

"An area that now looks like a sparsely populated sage-brush covered desert for a brief time sported a dozen small towns and a couple thousand homesteaders," wrote Rich in a recent email. "Today it's hard to find a trace of any of that, so my project is to find what traces there are and make some pictures."

Rich actually began work at the college in 1976 as a media writer (writing press releases for the college) in what is now College Advancement, then moving to the position of public information coordinator in 1979.  He quit to, as he puts it, "regain my sanity" and get a master's degree at OSU, after which he promptly returned in 1981 to teach journalism -a job he held until his retirement in 2007.

"I was lured back to run the galleries part-time in 2009 with a package of incentives that included my own office (aka storage closet) and wastebasket," wrote Rich. "Overall, I guess that's something like 33 years. It's kind of depressing when you add it all up - I need to get a life!"

Located in Summer Lake in Lake County, Playa manages a two residency programs, and supports those who are committed and passionate about their work and who will benefit from time spent in Playa’s remote location. Fellowship Residencies are Playa’s primary program, which span two multi-month sessions each year.

For more information on Playa, visit: http://www.playasummerlake.org/

(Lori Fluge-Brunker is a communications specialist in the College Advancement Marketing office.)

Destination Graduation Update

By Susan McNaught

The first round of the new Destination Graduation, a one-credit mandatory class, got off to a great start this fall. We had 73 sections and about 1,220 students!

For most sections, the first day of class was on Welcome Day, planned that way to give students a chance to get acquainted and feel more confident maneuvering the system and the campus. Winter term, all classes will start the first week of regular class—nobody really wants to come back during Christmas Break!

The class met two hours a week for five weeks—the idea was to provide some transition and support early in the term so that students got off to a solid start. This structure will continue.  A few sections met for an hour a week for eight weeks because their program had some other scheduling. 

Students were provided course-books at no cost. While the class was only one credit hour, we packed as much as we could into the curriculum. The focus was on helping students get familiar with available resources on campus, establishing a relationship with an advisor, and developing an educational plan—a guide for the time students are here at LBCC, not just a schedule for next term. The idea is that long-term planning will help students be more successful - which is what DG is all about.

Faculty who taught DG in the fall will have the chance to come together to talk about what worked, what did not, and what changes they would like to see for next time. We will revise accordingly.

Most of the plans went well. There were some bumps. A major component of DG is the advising piece. All students were supposed to be assigned to an advisor and the original intent was that each DG instructor would have only his or her advisees in his or her class. That did not work; too many students needed different times because of work or class schedule conflicts. So DG sections turned out to be more diverse that we had expected.

The college purchased AdvisorTrac to help with assigning advisors, scheduling, & tracking visits to advisors. AdvisorTrac took more time to get set up than we had anticipated. Between these two bumps, advising did not go as smoothly as we had hoped. Next term will be better. AdvisorTrac will be in place, we have figured out how to make sure all students have advisors assigned, and we know now that students will not automatically have their advisor as their DG instructor. This may turn out for the better—they will have both their advisor and DG instructor going to bat for them!

All in all, this was a good start. The faculty members who taught DG this term deserve a special thanks for being willing to invest their time and effort into our first venture. They are the ones who made it fly.

For more information on Destination Graduation: www.linnbenton.edu/admissions/destination-graduation

(Susan McNaught is the associate dean of Academic Development, Communication Arts and Mathematics, and lead team member of Destination Graduation.)

Helping Students Achieve Their Dreams

By Dale Stowell

Linn-Benton Community College was a major step in achieving my dream. Now LBCC is part of a program that can measure if the things that contributed to my success can also help others through a national initiative called Achieving the Dream.

Achieving the Dream isn’t another project to add to our workloads. It’s a method that lets us measure whether ideas to increase student success or completion work here – and if they do work, who they work for. It also enables us to adjust to increase that success and broaden its reach for all kinds of people with all kinds of backgrounds.

The ability to do that is meaningful to me for many reasons. My own experience is one of them.

My success as a college student was far from assured. I didn’t even make the internal commitment to be a college student until two months after my high school graduation, and during my senior year, because of a lack of sophistication and knowledge, I hadn’t done even something as basic as taking the SAT to prepare for college entry. It’s fair to say that I wasn’t focused.

But that didn’t matter to the people at LBCC. I remembered that the journalism advisor at the time, Jenny Spiker, had visited my high school newspaper class in Philomath, and for that reason more than any other, I became a journalism major here.

I had a connection, and that connection deepened because I saw Jenny either in class or at the Commuter office every day. I developed a relationship with her and my teammates on the newspaper staff. Some terms I was a great student, and during terms when my life got in the way, I was a not-so-great student, but I was never anonymous or alone at LBCC.

Even when I didn’t believe in myself, people believed in me. The responsibility and accountability I felt in relationship to others kept me coming back every day whether I was tired or rested, struggling or excelling, or cheerful or depressed.

There’s research that suggests that this is a kind of experience that supports student success. When I look at Destination Graduation (DG), I can see LBCC actively trying to ensure this experience happens to more students, regardless of who they are or what program they choose.

In fact, DG looks similar to a program initiated and measured at the Achieving the Dream college I worked at before coming to LBCC. That initiative helped increase fall-to-fall retention by 10 percent.

Achieving the Dream will give us the tools to figure out if things like DG are working, and in what ways we can make them better. It can help validate – or help to refine – work that’s already been done through Foundations of Excellence, outcomes, the completion agenda, and others. We not only have two coaches from Achieving the Dream helping us, we have the experience of 160 Achieving the Dream schools from which to draw ideas and experience for what has and hasn’t worked.

Achieving the Dream is just getting started here. A data team is collecting three years of data so we can better understand the places we lose students. We are putting the pieces in place so we can begin to measure things, and pick out the key initiatives we want to measure in the next year.

If you want more information about Achieving the Dream, check out the New Directions page at http://www.linnbenton.edu/about-lbcc/new-directions. You’ll find an Achieving the Dream link and other information about the ongoing efforts to increase student success at LBCC.

You can find a list membership in the Core Team and the Data Team. Chances are you know someone, so feel free to ask them questions and learn more about this new support for student success at LBCC.

(Dale Stowell is executive director of Institutional Advancement, a member of LBCC ATD Core Team, and LBCC Alum.)

Halloween News: Hamann Turns Into Reaper for Good Cause

Greg Hamann as the Grim Reaper.

Ah, the lengths some people go to get attention – a-hum, I mean, to help our local communities!

President Greg Hamann, made up as the Grim Reaper, hit the streets in Lebanon on Saturday to participate in the Runaway Pumpkin Half Marathon, a fundraiser benefiting ABC House, a center serving abused children in Linn and Benton counties.

LBCC's Theater Director Dan Stone did Greg's makeup and costume, taking about one hour to transform him into the reaper.

Dan and his theater students also partnered with Albany Parks and Recreation to turn approximately 100 people into zombies for the 5K Zombie Chase held Oct. 20, also a fundraiser that benefited Maple Lawn Preschool in Albany.


Check out the related videos and news articles, including Greg's blog of the event:
http://linnbentonpresidentsblog.blogspot.com/2012/10/other-duties-as-assigned.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJt-73nKLxc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdktJ0oVWm4
http://democratherald.com/news/local/dodging-the-undead/article_376be24a-1b31-11e2-92d8-0019bb2963f4.html

Dan Stone applies makeup to Greg's face, turning him into the Grim Reaper
for the Runaway Pumpkin Half Marathon.

Website Messaging Research Enters Second Round

A second round of public opinion research begins this week with a phone and on-line survey conducted by Interact Communications to help determine what messages to convey on the soon-to-be redesigned LBCC website and other college communication tools from print through social media.

A link to the online version of the survey will be posted on the college’s web site this week.

Interact visited LBCC in August to conduct focus groups involving more than 120 individuals including recent high school graduates, current LBCC students, college employees, LBCC alumni, and local businesses.

Feedback from those groups resulted in a preliminary set of recommendations for a navigational structure for the new college home page, as well as a general list of college descriptors that will be further refined during the second survey.

The second survey also will be used to measure levels of community awareness of LBCC, which will help determine our current public image and indicate how important the public currently considers LBCC to be to the community.

“The results from the first round are fascinating,” said Dale Stowell, executive director of Institutional Advancement. “For example, there is an extensive list of current links that each audience identified as being irrelevant to them. They said they would never look at them. Yet we currently bombard everyone with everything we’ve got. We cover our bases, but we make it hard for people to find what’s most important to them.”

The second survey will further clarify the findings of the first, and help the college select messaging that leads to greater understanding of the college. It also will help LBCC organize and label items on the web site so audiences have an easier time finding information relevant to them.

Researchers were surprised during the first round at the difficulty that all audiences had in identifying specific things that they liked about LBCC, even though they generally had good feelings about the college, Dale said.

“Everybody likes LBCC, but no one can say why,” he added. “It’s not a bad position to be in, but we need to address that if we’re going to move ahead where we can gain the community support we need to better serve our communities.”

The new website is schedule to be launched after the end of the school year. As the project develops, it will be shared broadly for further feedback prior to launch.

LBCC Receives $20k grant for Reverse Transfer Program with OSU

LBCC will receive $20,000 as part of a $450,000 two-year grant program awarded to the state of Oregon.

The “Credit When It’s Due: Recognizing the Value of Quality Associate Degrees” grant is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Helios Education Foundation, Kresge Foundation, Lumina Foundation and USA Funds.

LBCC’s portion of the grant will be used to help build its Reverse Transfer Program with Oregon Statue University, part of a new pilot program between Oregon’s public community colleges and universities offering students the option to obtain an associate’s degree after transferring to university.

This past summer, LBCC and OSU took the first steps to implement the program, allowing students who are enrolled in the college’s degree partnership program to be awarded an associate’s degree from LBCC upon completion of equivalent courses at OSU.

LBCC and OSU will track the student’s progress after they transfer, and once the student has met requirements for the LBCC associate degree, they will be awarded the degree by combining their OSU and LBCC class credits.

LBCC President Greg Hamann said the agreement will help students achieve their graduation goals, and enhances the strong ties already in place between the two schools.

“By working together, OSU and LBCC create an opportunity neither of us alone could do,” Hamann said. “So much of our future depends on us working together for the good of our students.”

There are several advantages to receiving your associate degree, said OSU President Ed Ray. “For students who are struggling to afford and/or complete the four-year degree, unexpectedly receiving their associates degree has been shown to be an enormously effective inducement to continue,” said Ray. “In fact, it appears to be the most effective inducement. It also reinforces for all potential transfer students the value, and the possibility, of pursuing and achieving the four-year degree.”

The reverse agreement also benefits LBCC by the college receiving credit for the degree completion, reflecting the investment of time, resources and support the college has provided.

New Foundation Board of Trustee Member Announced

Liz Carle

Corvallis attorney Liz Carle is the newest member of the Linn-Benton Community College Foundation Board of Trustees, the college announced today.

Carle, an associate attorney at The Reynolds Law Firm, joined the board in September. She is a past board and executive committee member of the Benton County Family Violence Council and Oregon Student Safety on the Move.

Carle previously worked as a Benton County deputy district attorney and a prosecuting attorney for the city of Eugene. She earned her bachelor’s degree at the University of California San Diego and her law degree from the University of Oregon School of Law.

“I am excited to be a part of an organization dedicated to making our communities better places to live and work,” Carle said. “As I looked for ways to be more involved, I could see that my work with and support of the Foundation will make a difference in people’s lives.”

Formed in 1972, the LBCC Foundation raises money to fund major new campus facilities, replace instructional equipment, expand technology, bring visiting scholars and cultural/educational programs to the college, and providing student scholarships, grants and loans.  The Foundation has net assets of $6.4 million and raised $1.7 million in 2011.

The Foundation Board of Trustees helps support fundraising efforts, provides oversight of Foundation policy and budget, and provides guidance on areas within the college to receive Foundation funding.

Linn-Benton Community College serves more than 20,000 people each year, providing workforce training, the first two years of a bachelor’s degree, and community and continuing education at sites in Albany, Corvallis, Lebanon and Sweet Home.

LBCC Celebrates Pink Day

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, an annual campaign to increase awareness of the disease. In recognition of the month, and those who have been touched by cancer, Patti Ball, Russell Tripp Performance Center theater coordinator, has organized an annual LBCC Pink Day, encouraging faculty, staff and students to dress in pink and come out to the courtyard for a photo. She also gets the centers to participate, and share their photos as well.

LBCC Pink Day, Albany campus

LBCC Pink Day, Benton Center

LBCC Pink Day, Lebanon Center

New Rules, New Look for Campus Grounds

Grounds manager George Van Keulen talks about the new
wood chips that were spread on the beds over the summer.

LBCC student and part-time grounds crew Andrew Larson
lays wood chips in the beds by Calapooia Center.

LBCC grounds maintenance is in transition - to become as organic as possible.

This past summer, grounds manager George Van Keulen has been busy figuring out how to take care of the 104-acre Albany campus, the Benton Center campus and the horse center grounds with a staff of two full-time people, himself and fellow grounds employee Mick Clark.

And he has to do it all while keeping in mind the new legislative policy, Senate Bill 637, which took affect July 1 and applies both indoors and outdoors on public campuses.

The new Integrated Pest Management legislation, or IPM, requires the following: excludes the application of pesticides on a routine schedule for purely preventive purposes, other than applications of pesticides designed to attract or be consumed by pests; excludes the application of pesticides for purely aesthetic purposes; provides for a proactive strategy that focuses on the long-term prevention or suppression of pest problems through economically sound measures.

The bill also states that all Oregon public schools have an IPM in place that includes ways to reduce pesticide use and considers human health and ecological impact along with feasibility and cost effectiveness.

LBCC has always had an IPM in place, says George, but the new rules have required the plan to be much more specific.

“LBCC is in transition to becoming organic in its methods for controlling weeds, fungus and insects,” said George. “My philosophy has always been not to spray for insects unless absolutely necessary, because you kill the good insects along with the bad.”

Conventional methods include applying fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides to keep lawns green and kill the weeds and bugs, says George.

With LBCC's new IPM, grounds staff will be checking the health of the soils regularly, then will apply organic fertilizers, lime or sulfur as needed, and only spray for insects in certain high-traffic areas.

“In areas where we find clover that is in places that people use, such as the sports fields, and where there’s the potential that someone might get a bee sting, we will continue to spray,” said George.

The difference with the new IPM, says George, is grounds staff are required to notify campus 24-hours in advance of spraying, and set up notification signs in the area being sprayed. Records must be kept of what was used, when and how much.

To help mitigate the need to spray for weeds, over the summer George had 400 yards of wood chips delivered to campus, which were then spread on the bed areas in front of the buildings and on the parking lot berms. The blonde-colored chips were applied in thick layers to help keep weed seeds from germinating.

Another change to note is the areas around the lampposts, the corners around parking lot entrances, and walkway areas in the parking lots. These areas are being covered with paver stones, which will help keep weeds down and make mowing around posts easier.

In some places, like parking lot berms, grounds will spray weeds when needed to mitigate fire danger.

“It’s an investment of time and money now, but it will pay off later in time spent maintaining these areas,” said George.

How can you help? Don’t allow food in the classrooms. Food left behind, even crumbs, attracts critters, ants and pests which often requires pesticide use. Pick up litter when you see it. Oh, and don't walk by that weed, reach down and pull it.

LBCC receives $2 million, the largest private gift in its history

Future site of the Advanced Transportation
Technology Center in Lebanon.

The LBCC Foundation has received the largest single private gift in the 45-year history of the college from an anonymous donor.

The $2 million dollar donation is to be used as a matching gift to support the construction and development of LBCC’s new Advanced Transportation Technology Center.
This is a major achievement for the college, and another important step in the college's fundraising efforts.

While many people were involved over a long period of time, Foundation Development Director John McArdle and President Greg Hamann played key roles in making the donation happen.

LBCC finalized the purchase of an 11-acre site in Lebanon last week that will become home to its auto and diesel programs, and allow space to add hands-on training on alternative fuel technologies. The Lebanon site is the former home of PACE Manufacturing, and includes a 35,000-square-foot industrial building.

“We are humbled and very grateful for this historic contribution,” said Hamann. “Our donor was clear that this gift serves as an inspiration for others to support the college, and this contribution will help stimulate the support of others.”

The gift, in addition to support from the Lebanon Urban Renewal District, the Lebanon Industrial Development Council, and state lottery funds, brings money raised for the project to $4.3 million. The total cost of opening the center is estimated at $6.85 million.

While the anonymous contribution is designated to support the development of the ATTC, it coincides with planning efforts to significantly increase private fundraising in the LBCC Foundation, according to Foundation Executive Director Dale Stowell. Money would support initiatives at LBCC to help greater numbers of its students complete degree and certificate programs that lead directly to jobs and the ability to participate in and contribute to the community.

“This gift is a perfect example of what we need to do as a community,” Stowell said. “Because of it, we’ll be able to expand programs where we have students on waiting lists on one side and jobs waiting to be filled on the other. The students in this program will have clear goals, and that is a key to making sure they finish what they start. It supports both students and our communities."

The center will also mean this region will be able to build the infrastructure to support alternative fuel technology, which could significantly reduce costs for businesses that provide on or rely on transportation, Hamann added.

Plans call for the ATTC to provide training that involves applications, development and adoption of alternative energy in biofuels, electric vehicles, compressed national gas (CNG), propane, hydrogen, hybrid, and new technologies in addition to industry-specific and contracted training for people already in the auto and diesel mechanics field, and first -responder training to enable them to respond safely to incidents involving alternative fuel vehicles.

When the auto and diesel programs move from their current homes on the Albany campus, the project will also create room to expand programs in welding, machine tool technology and mechatronics.

Distinguished Staff Award Announced

Carol Schaafsma

Carol Schaafsma, former executive vice president at Linn-Benton Community College, received the 2012 LBCC Distinguished Staff award at the college’s fall in-service held Sept. 11.

The award was established in 1980 to recognize employees for their contribution of both time and energy to the college. Nominees must have completed 10 years of continuous employment with LBCC.

Schaafsma began work at the college in 1994 as a faculty member in Contracted Training and Business Development. She was promoted in 1997 to director of Workforce Training and Business Development; in 2001, to director of Curriculum and Instructional Programs; in 2006 to vice president of Academic Affairs; and in 2008 to executive vice president of Academic Affairs and Workforce Development. She retired from the college in June.

A Eugene resident, Schaafsma was nominated by her peers for her dedication and commitment to LBCC, to students and to the community. She is lauded for her inclusive leadership style and with her contributions to keep LBCC on the cutting edge of instructional innovation.

Pastega Award Winners Announced

 

 

Jayme Frazier

Carol Mahr

Linn-Benton Community College announced the winners of the annual Pastega Awards at its fall in-service held Sept. 11.

The awards, established in 2000, honor one faculty member and one classified staff for their outstanding contributions to the LBCC community.

Jayme Frazier received the Pastega Faculty Excellence Award. Frazier, a resident of Lebanon, has served as a faculty member in health and human performance since 1993. She also serves as head coach of LBCC’s Women’s Volleyball.

Carol Mahr, an Albany resident, received the Pastega Classified Excellence Award. A program assistant in the Adult Basic Education/General Education department, Mahr has been employed at the college since 1997. 

Each winner received a $1,000 honorarium, and their names will be engraved on the Mario and Alma Pastega Faculty and Staff Excellence plaques that hang in the LBCC Calapooia Center Distinguished Staff Gallery