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 

College News - Week of Oct. 17

The LBCC Board of Education conferred an honorary degree to former OSU administrator Bob Bontrager, Ph.D., to recognize his leadership in developing the LBCC and OSU degree partnership program, which was established in 1998.  Recently retired from AACRAO, where he served as senior director of Consulting and SEM Initiatives, Dr. Bontrager served as OSU’s director of Admission and Orientation, and as assistant provost for Enrollment Management from 1996 to 2005. He went on to develop partnership programs between OSU and all of Oregon’s community colleges. LBCC has issued just four honorary degrees in the past 10 years. The honor is given to people who have made a contribution to the college, community, nation and/or education over a period of time.

LB iLearn Campus online programs will see its first students taking courses starting January 14. To start, iLearn programs will include a two-year degree in Business Administration, a one-year certificate in Coding and Reimbursement Specialist, and a short-term certificate in Social Media. The LB iLearn team (Ann Buchele, Linda Carroll, Stacy Mallory and Steve Smith) is working on a comprehensive website which will include information on the degrees and certificates offered, as well as the structure and design of iLearn. The target audience for iLearn is past students who have some college credit but have not taken classes at LBCC for at least two terms.

Congratulations to Business faculty member Nancy Noe on being selected as the Post-secondary Teacher of the Year by the Oregon Business Education Association at its fall conference.

LBCC received a grant for $56,000 from Community College Workforce Development for student assistance and success, through June 2015. Lynne Cox will oversee the grant, along with Carol Raymundo and Carol McKiel. The grant allowed Student Affairs to hire three part-time employees: Kate Griensewic (also working with Student Assessment and Student Life); Kim Horn (also working with Student Assessment and Center For Accessibility Services/CFAR); and Emily Dray (also working with the Career Center). This team will use their knowledge of LBCC processes and their experience as prior students to support LBCC's outreach to grades 7-12, helping students develop a vision for "going to college" and "college-going behaviors." Staff will work with underserved and/or recent high school students who need help entering college and developing the skills/tools for a positive first year at LBCC. Any LBCC employee may refer eligible students to the outreach staff for assistance with navigating college processes or having positive conversations with instructors. "Eligible students" must either be currently in high school, just arriving at LBCC from high school, or from an under-served population (minorities, persons with disabilities, veterans, persons with a modified diploma, etc.). The grant allows a small amount of funds to be awarded to help students with unexpected academic financial needs. Future plans by the team include outreach to schools, parents and future students, as well as hosting Saturday conference sessions about planning and preparing for college. For more information, or if you would like to help, contact Lynne Cox in Student Affairs. Staff will be located in Takena Hall-112 (across from the Registration Counter) and Red Cedar Hall-105. You can also contact staff via their LBCC email.

There’s a new sidewalk through the landscape in front of Madrone Hall, part of a geologic timeline in progress, which begins in front of the Activities Center building and ends with the walkway in front of Madrone Hall as the more "recent" end of the timeline. The timeline project was requested by a donor to the Science and Health Building Fund, and will be used as an educational tool. Signage will be added to mark the different geologic time periods and to explain significant occurrences during the Earth’s 4.6 billion year history. The Earth's age will be scaled out to cover the 230 meters (754 feet), giving perspective to the enormity of geologic time, with rocks and replica fossils placed at their correct age along the timeline. A dedication ceremony and ribbon cutting will be held in January.

Geologic Timeline walkway in front of Madrone Hall.

Human Resources board report, Oct. 6 - New Hires, Promotions, Separations






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