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MCC Daily Tribune Archive

Wednesday Message


Don’t let the 90 degree temperatures fool you . . . fall is just around the corner!  In fact, it kicks off this week with a whole new approach to All College Day.  I don’t want to spoil anything for you (and even I don’t know all the details, which is a bit frightening), so let me just say that our goal with ACD beginning with this year’s event is to make it a true, celebratory start to the new academic year—and you should wear your black and gold.  Still, before summer fades away, I wanted to do a quick round-up of where we are with several initiatives and what you can look forward to this fall.

REPORTS:  I am now in possession of three comprehensive reports from three hardworking committees:  Serving Students Best, Honors College, and Global Education.  I’ve met with the last two already to discuss their work and how it will feed into our future planning and budgeting.  Because those involved in the Serving Students Best work include the very people who are incredibly busy right now making sure that our students are served, I will convene that group after the first couple weeks of classes to discuss the report and next steps.  Please know that these binders—heavy as they are—will *not* become “shelfware.”  The findings of these groups represent the very best of MCC’s innovative spirit and commitment to quality—and they will play a major role in how we move ahead.  I will share a summary of these reports during the fall Message to the College Community (more on this below).

DOWNTOWN CAMPUS:  We continue to work closely with the County and the City to narrow down our list of possible sites and are still on track to name a site by the year’s end.  As you well know by now, seemingly every other week a story or rumor surfaces purporting to name our site, which is always intriguing to me as one would think I would be among the first to know.  Please know that *you* will also be among the first to know.  Also, just a reminder that the new Brighton-Damon shuttle begins its route the first day of fall, with a celebration run on All College Day.  We are asking that faculty and staff give first preference during the beginning of the term to our students.

SEARCHES:  The searches for the Vice President for Economic Development and Innovative Workforce Services and the Provost and Vice President for Academic Services are underway.  The VP-EDIWS search committee and the corresponding SCAA committee have been meeting this summer with an anticipation of closing the process this fall.  The Provost-VP search committee and its corresponding SCAA committee are getting started this week.  Both searches are being overseen by RPA, Inc.  There will be opportunities for direct reports and the college community at large to interact with and provide feedback on the finalists in each search.  Please keep an eye out for announcements on these forums as fall term progresses.

ACADEMIC SERVICES:  As noted last spring, Kimberley Collins is serving as interim Vice President for Academic Services during the Provost-VP search. She has spent part of this summer building a leadership team for this transition year.  Char Downing will serve as interim Dean for Curriculum, and Clayton Jones is taking a one year temporary assignment as Special Assistant for Educational Outreach (helping to coordinate our growing partnerships with Hillside, East HS, and others).  Kimberley is meeting this week with the Academic Services Leadership Council and the Chairs Network to provide more information about office operations, so I encourage you to contact your dean or chair (or Kimberley, herself) should you have any questions.

LEAGUE FOR INNOVATION IN THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE:  This summer, with a site visit from the League, we completed the two stage process for our reaffirmation.  The visiting team’s exit report was very, very favorable, and they had high praise for all of MCC.  Many thanks go to all of you to contributed your time, energy, and brain power to the League reaffirmation report, the presentations, and the site visit preparations.  The League will conduct an official vote on MCC’s membership at the September Board meeting at Central Piedmont CC in Charlotte, NC, and we have every reason to be thinking very good thoughts about the outcome.  I’ll send a text from the meeting as soon as this vote is taken.

COMMUNICATIONS:  This fall, we’ll continue the Message to the College Community, an opportunity for my office to offer a twice yearly “state of the college” address.  It will occur mid-fall, so look for announcements to start popping up soon.  And, because the state budget came so late this year and has become an ever larger concern in NY, we are scheduled a special budget forum to address the impact of the 2010-2011 budget on MCC, our expectations regarding the budget moving forward, and how the college can begin to plan for this future.  This forum is tentatively scheduled for September 15 at DCC and September 16 at Brighton; specific times will be announced in the Trib.  And, as usual, I’ll continue the Wednesday Messages and the Twitter feed, and always welcome the opportunity to meet with departments or offices for an informal chat.  Along those lines, the Monthly Celebrations and Conversations that we began this summer have been remarkably successful in bringing together the college community both to celebrate birthdays and to talk about MCC.  I hope to see you when your birthday rolls around.  (PS—If your birthday happened this summer when you were away, you don’t have to miss out, just call my office to let us know you’d like to come to one of the fall gatherings.)

MAKING COURTESY COMMON:  Thanks to the combined efforts of Public Safety and Student Life and Leadership Development, MCC is bringing P. M. Forni, a Professor at Johns Hopkins U and author of Choosing Civility and the Civility Solution, to town October 19 and 20.  He will be conducting workshops for our faculty and staff at both Brighton and Damon, visiting classes, and holding an evening presentation for the community.  Forni’s work is seen as kick-starting the renewed national discussion on civility.  We would like to encourage all members of the MCC community to read Forni’s Choosing Civility to further our college discussion on creating a culture of courtesy and civility in support of learning, so Student Life and Leadership Development and my office have teamed up to make 700 copies of the book available free of charge to faculty and staff on a first come/first serve basis.  The free books will be available in the Office of Student Life and Leadership Development (3-126) and the Damon Campus Center (5251) beginning Monday, September 13.  If you do not get a complimentary copy, it will also be available for sale at a discount in the MCC Bookstore.

Whew!  There is, of course, always more to share, but this seems like more than enough out of the gate.  So, ready, set, go:  Thursday morning, kick off your flip-flops, grab your college colors, and head for the Theatre to begin the new year in style! 
I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas on any of the initiatives I've outlined. You can be part of the conversation at my President's Blog at President’s Wednesday Message.

Anne Kress
President's Office
09/01/2010