Foundation Supports New Non-Profit Business, BlueSun

by Dale Stowell, Executive Director, Institutional Advancement

Diana Howell, BlueSun COO, pays first installment to
Foundation Executive Director Dale Stowell.

BlueSun staff, Dale Stowell and Corvallis Chamber
members attend a ribbon cutting April 2.

With an eye on opening new streams of revenue, the LBCC Foundation provided a loan to help open a staffing agency that will help place disabled people in jobs throughout the region and potentially generate funds to help support the college.

BlueSun Inc. is a staffing agency led by Distinguished Alumna and former LBCC Foundation board member Diana Howell. It will open March 1 at 517 S.W. 2nd St. in Corvallis.

The nonprofit business will coordinate vocational resources, such as job training and special equipment, for people with disabilities to place them in jobs best suited for their skills.

BlueSun will serve all people with disabilities, said Howell, but the focus will be helping military veterans and people with autism.

Like any staffing agency, BlueSun will generate funds by receiving a percentage of the salary of each individual it places for work from employers. Oregon law requires all tax-supported bodies to give nonprofit staffing agencies serving the disabled the first chance to fill jobs before contracting with for-profit staffing agencies.

By maintaining a low overhead, BlueSun projects it will generate revenue in excess of expenditures in its first year.  Howell believes that BlueSun could generate enough revenue in the first year to pay back LBCC Foundation’s $100,000 loan and to begin sponsoring grants for clothes, transportation and other things that will help people with disabilities get to work.

The loan terms include interest and a 10 percent share of the net revenues of BlueSun for the next seven years. The businesses plan underwent an extensive review by LBCC’s Small Business Development Center and Foundation legal counsel. It required a revision of the Foundation’s investment policy to allow 5 percent of Foundation assets to be invested in alternative investments.

Three people from the LBCC Foundation – board members Dan Bedore and Doris Johnston, and Foundation Executive Director Dale Stowell – serve on BlueSun’s five-member board. Many foundations invest in – or own – other businesses. In fact, the LBCC Foundation already generates revenue from rental income from a duplex it owns in Corvallis.

The idea grew from discussions at the Foundation’s summer retreat, which focused on ways to begin building systems to eventually raise an amount equal to 10 percent of the college’s operating funding, or about $4 million a year.

Employees will be placed as temporary workers under BlueSun for a trial period. If it’s a good fit, employers can directly hire them.

Howell worked for DePaul Industries as area manager from 1996 to 2001, helping to establish a similar staffing service that still successfully serves the Portland area. She left DePaul in 2001 for Barrett Business Services Inc., where she worked until last month.

“We were, as a for-profit, filling quite a few of the jobs over the years that should have gone to the nonprofits,” Howell said in a recent Gazette Times interview. “That was a lot of opportunities for people who really needed those jobs. We have customers lined up, breathing down our necks saying, ‘When are you going to be open?’ and we have the people.”

Blue Sun has already placed two employees, and the contractor finishing the remodel of the new office already signed a contract with Blue Sun to hire disabled veterans to fill its temporary staffing needs.

The need is definitely there, said Howell.

Outstanding Part-Time Faculty Recognized

LBCC 2013 Outstanding Part-time Faculty

Outstanding part-time faculty were recognized at an award presentation held Wednesday, March 20.

Faculty were honored for their distinguished and exemplary instructional performance and contribution to excellence in education. Honorees received a letter signed by the college president, a certificate of recognition, a pay increase of one step, and they will be recognized again at Fall Inservice.

2013 honorees (pictured):

Jason Caffarella, Music
Libby Ten-Pas Hunter, Developmental Studies
Nancy Nichols, Speech Communications
Carol Raymundo, Computer Applications, Albany Community Ed
Barbara Marraccini, Foreign Language, Benton Center
Elisha Kaylene Sims, Physical Education, Lebanon Center
Dawn Prall, Nursing
Sheila Alfsen, Physical Sciences, Benton Center
Joy Keiser, Parenting Education

Not present:
Ron Backus, Chemistry
Kara Christensen, Polysomnographic Technology
Nicholas Fowler, Horticulture

Analee Fuentes Unity Awards Given at Unity Celebration

Analee Fuentes is honored at the Unity Celebration.
Photo by Jeanette Emerson.

The Diversity and Civic Engagement Committee at LBCC held the first Unity Celebration in the Diversity Achievement Center Feb. 27.

The celebration honored recipients of the Analee Fuentes Unity Awards for Diversity and Social Justice, given to students, faculty and staff members who have demonstrated a commitment to diversity and social justice at LBCC. 

The awards were named in honor of art faculty member Analee Fuentes, who dedicates much of her time to raising awareness of social issues and injustices.

Fuentes has served as advisor for the Latino Club, and she coordinates countless art exhibits that direct our attention toward opportunity and self-expression, such as the Diá del los Muertos (Day of the Dead) exhibit on campus.

Contribution certificates were given to students Frazier Thurman, Nora Palmtag and Cheryl Wolverton, and to staff member Jeanette Emerson and faculty member Chareane Wimbley-Gouveia.

Certificates for the Analee Fuentes Unity Award were given to students Eric Noll and Jorge Canales, and to staff member Valerie Six and faculty member Margarita Casas.

For more information, contact Javier Cervantes in the Diversity Achievement Center.


by Lori Fluge-Brunker, Communications Specialist, College Advancement

Transfer Solution Groups Work on Mechanics, Structure of Transfer Curriculum

By Katie Winder, Dean, Liberal Arts, Social Systems & Human Performance

Below is an update of the work being done by the Transfer Solutions groups.

Transfer Fluidity: Angie Klampe, chair
This group is working on ways to improve the mechanics of the transfer experience. They are working right now on designing a plan to track our articulations with our partner schools consistently, and to advocate for our classes and curricula at our partner schools.  They are also working on ways to improve how we market our Degree Partnership Program.

Curriculum: Alice Sperling, Dana Emerson, and Katie Winder, co-chairs
We are working on structuring program curricula so that students build the right skills at the right time (also called "scaffolding"). This is key to maintaining rigor while increasing completion. Right now the group is starting to work on identifying entry expectations in our current classes, as a way to begin thinking about how we either modify these expectations, arrange our curricula so that these expectations can be met within the program, or add resources so that students can meet these expectations on their own.

An example of this work would be this: when I teach an introductory economics course, I implicitly expect that students will be able to interpret a simple line graph. This expectation isn't in the course description or anywhere that students would be able to see it prior to entering the class on the first day. It's always just been something I expected a college-level student could do. So, once I've identified this as an entry expectation, which of the following makes the most sense to do:

• Somehow share this with students, either via the course description or somewhere else
• Add a pre-requisite of a 10-week course that includes interpreting graphs (even if the rest of the skills taught in the course aren't needed in my class)
• Provide students with a link to a Kahn Academy video explaining how to read a simple line graph.
• Add understanding graphs to my course curriculum

Next year, this group will be working on how to schedule classes strategically given our conclusions from this year's scaffolding work.

General Education: James Reddan, Dana Emerson, and Katie Winder, co-chairs
This group is re-thinking how the general education curriculum meets the needs of our transfer-bound students. We will work on scaffolding, on tying general education to the institutional mission, and on assessment. General education is our biggest program on campus.

English Faculty Member Publishes First Thriller

Karelia Stetz-Waters with her book Dysphoria.

English faculty member Karelia Stetz-Waters has published her first book, and it's a thriller! 

The book, titled Dysphoria and set in a small New England town, tells the story of Helen Ivers, a young woman who is running from a horrific, tragic past to what she hopes will be the safety of a small town. Soon after her arrival, yet another tragedy explodes into her life.

Besieged by memories of her mentally ill sister, which refuse to let her rest, Helen must face an abomination even as her mind begins to unravel. Murder, deception and intrigue play out as Helen must not only learn the truth but fight to stay alive.

The 300-page book, published by Artema Press, was a lifetime goal for Karelia.

“It took about two-and-a-half years to write, but one year was researching the genre,” said Karelia. “I never read thrillers until I decided to write this one, so I had a lot of catching up to do.”

A book signing and sale will be held Thursday, Feb. 28 from 1:30 to 3 p.m. in the North Santiam Hall atrium, second floor. Books are $12, cash or check. All proceeds benefit the English Endowment Fund.

Dysphoria is also available at Grassroots Books in Corvallis and online through Amazon. Read more at: 
http://kareliastetzwaters.weebly.com/

by Lori Fluge-Brunker, Communications Specialist, College Advancement

Mechatronics Program Gets New Training Equipment, Thanks to Private Donations and NSF Grant

New state-of-the-art manufacturing training stations
for the Mechatronics Program.

The Mechatronics Program purchased six state-of-the-art manufacturing training stations, thanks to a combination of generous private donations and grant money from the National Science Foundation totaling approximately $250,000.
The stations will be used to teach and test Mechatronics students on programming, troubleshooting and maintaining real-world, high-tech assembly line equipment that is used by industrial manufacturers today.

Each station is equipped with an on-board programmable controller that allows instructors Dave Mack and Denis Green to vary the function of each station as well as insert faults that will test the troubleshooting skill levels of students at each stage of their training.

This gives the instructors the ability to test each student’s ability equally using the same circumstances, said Dave Mack - something for which earlier equipment did not allow. The modular stations can be used individually, or linked together to form a complete manufacturing line.

On the technology side, the stations integrate sensors, servos, robotics, micro-inspection cameras and energy efficiency measuring tools such as leak detectors with basic assembly line components such as pneumatic and hydraulic actuators, conveyor belts, start/stop stations and alarms.

The program's goal is to add additional stations to the line in the future, as funding permits.

President Hamann Appointed to Quality Education Commission

Greg Hamann

President Greg Hamann has been appointed by Governor John Kitzhaber to serve a four-year term on the state Quality Education Commission.

Dr. Hamann’s appointment makes him the first person on the commission who works outside of the K-12 education system. He will begin to serve on the commission this month.

Created in 2001 with a primary focus on K-12, the non-partisan commission is expanding its work to include pre-kindergarten through public higher education.

“This appointment is a recognition not just of my efforts and contributions, but of those of the entire LBCC community,” said Dr. Hamann.

The commission’s task is to refine and validate the state’s Quality Education Model (QEM), which was developed in 1999 to establish research-based connections between resources devoted to schools and levels of student achievement, and to guide efforts to adequately fund Oregon schools. 

The work of the commission, which meets once a month, includes evaluating educational best practices and determining the level of funding needed for Oregon students to reach education standards set by the state.

Dr. Hamann has been a statewide advocate for innovation-based reforms to increase college completion rates while reducing cost per completion. The goal is to create more opportunity for Oregonians to gain skills to contribute to and benefit from the state’s economic vitality.

Based on the QEM, the commission has determined that Oregon needs state funding of approximately $8.76 billion to fully fund the state’s schools for 2013-15. This is an increase of more than $2.4 billion over current funding levels.

The commission’s findings are presented in a biennial report to the state legislature for update and improvement to the Quality Education Model.