College News Week of May 22

Bond building project updates: The college has completed the programmatic design phase for the Health Occupations Center building project, and almost through the schematic design phase. As reference, the four phases of design include programmatic, schematic, design development, and construction drawing. The Benton Center and the Albany Campus projects will start the programmatic design phase at the end of May. Also for the Benton Center, the college is still in negotiations with Good Samaritan Hospital to purchase a portion of the hospital’s parking garage that they are planning to build. For the Advanced Transportation Technology Center project, the invitation to bid for the new Innovation Center has been canceled in response to the most recent independent estimate, which showed some redesign is required to bring the project back into budget. The college plans to restart the bidding in June. Keep on top of the latest building project updates at: www.linnbenton.edu/faculty-and-staff/administrative-information/building-projects

Achieving the Dream coaches visited the college in April, and showed strong support for LBCC’s application to become a Leader College. The coaches noted that the college has significantly shortened the time it takes students to complete developmental writing classes and complete WR121, the gatekeeper college-level writing class, but noted frustration in our ability to show we are “moving the needle” on measures of student progression through their programs to earning degrees. While we have made significant progress in writing, we are not seeing significant changes in developmental math and education completion, gateway math completion, term-to-term retention and fall-to-fall retention. The goal is to become more focused on these indicators to help move our students forward. In addition, project/initiative evaluation continues to be an issue, with project teams so focused on implementing activities that they lose sight of the college-wide metric the activities are designed to change. The college is considering dedicating a position to project/initiative evaluation, to help steer project teams to be immersed in a continuous improvement cycle. Compiled from Academic Affairs and Workforce Development board report, May 20. http://po.linnbenton.edu/boardmeeting/5_20_15BoardPacket/ 

Kudos to Brian Trice and the Advanced Transportation Technology Center team for bringing together more than 400 transportation industry representatives to attend the first LBCC Green Transportation Summit and Expo, held April 20-22 in Portland. Organized by Brian, manager of Alternative Fuels Transportation at the ATTC in Lebanon, the summit focused on local and regional issues and trends in alternative fuels, including education tracks presented by industry experts on bio-fuels, compressed natural gas, liquid natural gas, renewable natural gas, and electric vehicles. The summit also included a one-of-a-kind “Performance Ride and Drive” at the Portland International Raceway. In addition to making valuable industry connections for the college, the summit provided automotive students who attended a chance to connect with industry representatives in their field of study. Brian is in the process of organizing the next Green Transportation Summit and Expo, to be held in Denver, Colorado in August.
http://www.katu.com/news/local/Transportation-summit-spotlights-alternative-fuels-300856391.html

Dana Emerson, right, and Analee Fuentes.

Living Our Values: Dana Emerson & Analee Fuentes Combine Forces for the Greater Good
Opportunity, Excellence, and Inclusion
What happens when two people have two separate but good intentions of helping students, and find their good intentions have stalled for lack of money? When art faculty member Analee Fuentes and communications faculty member Dana Emerson found themselves in this very dilemma, they knew exactly what they needed to do, and a win-win solution was born. After establishing separate scholarship funds a few years back, with the goal of raising the $15,000 each that was needed to fully endow the funds, each found their accounts seemed to languish at around $6,000 and not really benefiting students. Combining resources made perfect sense, and the fully-endowed “Emerson/Fuentes Scholarship for Oregon Latinos” fund was born - the first of its kind at LBCC that specifically helps Latino students. Both Analee and Dana are dedicated to advancing the education of people of color, and hope the establishment of the endowment will benefit students for years to come. “Education is power,” said Analee. “That is what this scholarship hopes to promote.” The fund has a deeper meaning for both Analee and Dana, who view it as a way to pay it forward: “I was a single mother taking care of an aging parent and could not have worked enough to take care of my family and attend college,” said Analee. “I received the Underrepresented Minority Achievement Award scholarship, which allowed me to continue my education and attend the University of Oregon. Without this assistance, I could not have gone on to receive my master’s in art from the University of Arizona.” Analee and Dana are are continuing their efforts to build up the fund, with the goal to provide as many scholarships to Latino students as possible and help make our college a “Latino College of Choice.” The first applications for this new scholarship will be accepted starting fall term through the Financial Aid scholarship process, with funds to be awarded for winter term 2016. If you would like to help Aanlee and Dana build their fund for Latino students, you can make a contribution to the Emerson/Fuentes scholarship fund through the college Foundation office, ext. 4209.

New hires, separations, promotions/transfers, leaves of absence, and retirements from human resources: http://po.linnbenton.edu/boardmeeting/5_20_15BoardPacket/HR%20Board%20Memo%205-14-15.pdf


College Values
Opportunity
Excellence
Inclusiveness
Learning
Engagement

Core Themes
Economic Vitality
Cultural Richness
Educational Attainment




Insider published by: LBCC College Advancement Marketing Office
Writer/Editor: Lori Fluge-Brunker, Communications Specialist, College Advancement 

College News - Week of May 15

James Reddan, center left, and the college a cappella groups.

James Reddan, music faculty member and director of choral activities, will be leaving the college at the end of the school year for a position as assistant professor and director of Choral Activities and Choral Music Education at Frostburg State University in Maryland. James is well known not only on campus but in our local communities through his work with high school and community music programs. Since starting in the fall of 2008, James has taken LBCC's music program from six declared music majors and two choirs with 38 students, to 40 students pursuing music degrees, four choirs with about 140 students participating each term, and approximately 300 students total participating in the music program in some form (classes, ensembles, or lessons) each term. In addition, the choirs, under James’ direction, have earned numerous awards and have traveled all over the world for competitions and performances including Seattle, New York City, San Diego, London and Latvia - where the students performed with some of the world's great choral directors and music performers. James will direct his final "farewell" concert, “Singing From the Heart,” on Thursday, June 4, at 7:30 p.m. in the Russell Tripp Performance Center, a show that's sure to be standing-room-only. Thank you, Dr. Reddan, and best of luck to you!

Javier Cervantes, director of the Department of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, was selected to participate in the National Community College Hispanic Council Leadership Fellows Program. Established more than 20 years ago through the University of San Diego, the 10-day NCCHC Fellows Program provides training, preparation and support of Hispanic leaders in America's community colleges, providing an opportunity to continue in their professional growth. Javier works to prepare students, staff, faculty and local communities to live in an increasingly diverse society and workforce, including working on issues of equity, cultural fluency, capacity and competency, as well as increasing access and retention of underrepresented and diverse populations at the college level. He currently serves as the co-chair of the Inclusion and Diversity Consortium of Oregon Community Colleges, and was recently appointed chair of the Albany Human Relations Commission. 


First came the clucking of chickens and now, the buzzing of bees, all of which are part of the Horticulture Program’s Profitable Small Farms course on campus. Students in the program, along with horticulture faculty member Stefan Seiter, moved the swarming bees last week from their starter hives, known as nucleus hives, to permanent beehive homes inside the fence by the facilities barn, not far from the egg-laying chickens. The four hives, complete with a queen bee and the hardware, were donated to the program by Queen Bee Honey Company of Corvallis. During winter term, students learned about bee biology and how to care for the bees. In addition to being used for education, the bees will provide pollination to the organic garden and fruit trees around the college farm. And don’t forget the bonus bees provide – honey!

 

Living Our Values: LBCC Nursing has largest team, raises most funds for CARDV

Opportunity, Excellence & Engagement

Nursing faculty member Sherrilyn Systma & 
LBCC nursing student.

For the second year in a row, LBCC nursing students, along team coordinator and nursing faculty member Sherrilyn Systma, had the largest team and raised the most funds for the Center Against Rape and Domestic Violence at the CARDV Mother’s Day Walk/Run held Saturday, May 9, in Corvallis. The 48-member team, consisting of students, faculty, staff and friends, raised $1,126 for the center, with several students registering their whole family. Besides benefiting CARDV, the event connects our students with a local organization that provides support for community members who have been affected by sexual abuse and domestic violence – something that the students will most likely encounter in their nursing work. Over the years, the CARDV program has directly helped many of our own students and staff, said Sherrilyn, and she hopes to have more students from other disciplines join their team next year. As a side note: Seven LBCC nursing students, along with Sherrilyn, are heading to Camp Billings in Lake Fairlee, Vermont this summer to help with first aid for camp attendees, who range in age from 6 to 16. Besides having fun at camp, the students will learn about medications, first aid, assessment and pediatrics.

College Values
Opportunity
Excellence
Inclusiveness
Learning
Engagement

Core Themes
Economic Vitality
Cultural Richness
Educational Attainment





Insider published by: LBCC College Advancement Marketing Office
Writer/Editor: Lori Fluge-Brunker, Communications Specialist, College Advancement 

College News - Week of May 8

Ann Buchele

Dr. Ann Buchele has been named as the next vice president of Academic Affairs and Workforce Development, replacing Beth Hogeland, who is retiring June 30. Ann has been employed full-time at the college since 1991, and served 12 years as a faculty member before moving into various administration roles. Her most recent position is as dean of Workforce Development and Program Effectiveness. In addition, Ann has served as dean of Healthcare, E-Learning and Media from 2013-2014, and as dean of Business, Healthcare, and Workforce from 2008 to 2013. Ann’s education includes post-doctorate work through Breakthrough Model Academy in Massachusetts, a PhD in Community College Leadership from Oregon State University, and a master's degree and bachelor’s degree, both in Education, from the University of Toledo. She starts in her new position July 1.

LBCC library staff wrote, and were awarded, a $67,558 grant from the Oregon State Library agency to help expand the Linn Libraries Consortium, which included the LBCC Library, Albany Public Library, and Lebanon Public Library, with the goal of using technology to increase capacity and provide better access to Linn County residents, particularly to our rural residents. This grant allowed the consortium to add Sweet Home, Scio, and Harrisburg Public Libraries. The libraries migrated their holdings and patron databases to an open source, shared Integrated Library System (ILS).  The benefits of this migration include lowering maintenance costs, sharing technical assistance, and providing assistance for the smaller libraries to establish a new or improved web presence, including a union catalog. The second installment of the grant is $47,676 and is being administered by LBCC library staff. This portion of the grant will be used configure the ILS software to allow for resource sharing between Linn County libraries, and to pilot a courier service between the libraries.  This will allow our library users to place holds on materials at any participating library and the materials will arrive within a few days on the courier. Jane Sandberg, LBCC's new faculty Librarian, has been integral in working with the participating libraries to implement the new software and services, and in creating a website for all Linn County residents to access subscription database resources: linnlibraries.org.

Living Our Values: Academic Foundations version of "Ted Talks" embodies Inclusiveness, Learning & Engagement
An idea that sprang up from Academic Foundations, while brainstorming communication strategies, was to start a Ted-talk like movement, called “I Am LBCC,” with the purpose of creating opportunities for the LBCC community to get to know each other on a different level. According to Jason Kovac, dean of Academic Foundations, the idea is to give people an informal venue to talk about what they know, or what they are passionate about, which often covers ground outside of their jobs, course loads, or otherwise typical LBCC experience. The first “I Am LBCC” talk took place in the fall of 2014, and the second was held in the DAC April 24. The April 24 talk featured developmental studies instructor Bond Martin, who shared her experience teaching in Pakistan over the course of five years, and student Joey Fishback, who shared his recent experience of becoming a viral video star. Both presentations were interesting, informative and inspiring. Jason hopes to offer another talk in the fall, and possibly more if there is enough interest and speakers. For more information on this project, contact Jason Kovak.

The Linn Benton Chapter of Medical Assistants, along with LBCC's Medical Assistant program faculty members Kathy Durling, Rick Durling and Jerry Coe, hosted the Oregon Society of Medical Assistants annual conference May 7, 8 and 9 at the new Samaritan Conference Center in Lebanon. OSMA conference goers were the first to use the center new and hotel, which are located across the street from Lebanon’s hospital and the Lebanon Center. The Oregon Society of Medical Assistants is a professional support entity for medical office and ancillary healthcare personnel, and is an affiliate of the American Association of Medical Assistants.

A Geologic Timeline is in the last stages of being installed on the south side of Madrone Hall and the Activities Center building. The 230-meter timeline represents 4.6 billion years of earth history, as we know it. The timeline will serve as an outdoor lab for science classes, as well as an educational display for students and the public. Signs have been installed along the path, noting the various geologic periods and their ages. The scale of the timeline is designed to give some perspective about the enormity of geologic time, the age of the Earth and significant events in Earth history. Present day is represented on the east end of the timeline, with the earth's history going back in time toward the west. Future plans include installing boulders from around Oregon and the Western US along the path at their appropriate ages, along with fossil specimens, both real and replicas, to note the evolution of life on earth. The project was made possible by a generous donation of former Albany Senator Frank Morse, the Science, Engineering and Math division, and Andrew Feldman, division dean.

College Values
Opportunity
Excellence
Inclusiveness
Learning
Engagement

Core Themes
Economic Vitality
Cultural Richness
Educational Attainment





Insider published by: LBCC College Advancement Marketing Office
Writer/Editor: Lori Fluge-Brunker, Communications Specialist, College Advancement