“iWrite: The Pen and the PC", will feature Lev Grossman, lead technology writer for Time Magazine. 
You may have heard the term “Foundations of Excellence” mentioned around campus. And we hope you took part in the surveys that were distributed to faculty, staff and students last fall
May 2, 2011
Special event parking to use Lot 2-E on May 3
A section of the employee parking lot 2-E will be used for the Regional Summit on College Access and Student Attainment, Tuesday, May 3, from 8 a.m. to noon. All other campus parking lots will be available for use, including the Ft. Hayes overflow lot. Employees with handicap placards will not be restricted from parking in 2-E. The event ends at noon.
The college thanks employees for bearing this inconvenience so that our guests from throughout the region have an easy and enjoyable experience at Columbus State.
Language Institute guides Basic English students into credit courses
In the spring of 2000, the newly created Columbus State Language Institute offered its first noncredit Basic English (Basic ESL) class to 12 students, all of whom were from Somalia. Some of the students had never held a pencil. One woman cried when she wrote her name for the first time.
Fast forward to 2011. The classrooms in the Center for Workforce Development are busy with morning, evening and weekend Basic English classes for the 413 Spring Quarter enrollees, who hail from 58 countries. Throughout the past 11 years, there have been over 12,000 enrollments of students from 123 countries.
The program has seven levels of noncredit classes, ranging from basic literacy up through readiness for credit English as a Second Language (ESL) and further college coursework. Many students come with the goal of attending a degree program at Columbus State. Others may want only to improve their English for their jobs and daily lives, and then realize that the dream of a college education is something within their reach.
Over the past five years, an average of 18.5 percent of the noncredit Basic English students have moved into credit ESL coursework:
2007 |
12.3% Basic English students enrolled in credit courses |
These numbers are in sharp contrast to results from a recent national study by the Council for Advancement of Adult Literacy (CAAL), which found that only 8 percent of noncredit ESL students move on to credit coursework, including credit ESL.
Quality Team Award application process extended to May 11
Nominations for the Team awards discussed at the Spring In-Service Day will be extended to Wednesday, May 11, in order to allow more teams to apply for the awards. The application is online here.
The purpose of the team awards is to recognize groups that have had the most continuous improvement impact on the college. Teams are encouraged to think outside the box and showcase the best that Columbus State has to offer.
Projects will be reviewed with the following rating criteria:
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The team’s contribution of time, energy and talent in supporting cooperation between divisions that resulted in an outcome enhancing or improving process improvement or one of the college values.
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The team’s development and implementation of a college initiative activity, program or service resulting in a cost benefit or cost savings for the college.
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The team’s development and implementation of an innovative teaching and learning activity, program or service which resulted in an increase in student retention.
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The team has significantly fostered the college vision of working collaboratively to improve services resulting in improved access to student learning.
An award of $4,000 will be given to the team that exhibits the criteria listed above.
An Honorable Mention award may be given for up to two additional teams in the amount of $2,000. The monetary award will be shared by the team members.
Adjunct faculty member named Real Estate Instructor of the Year
Dennis Swartz
The Joseph L. MacKinnon Instructor of the Year award is presented each year by the Columbus Board of Realtors in recognition of excellence in education and service to the real estate industry. The award for service to the Columbus Board of Realtors in 2010 was recently awarded to Dennis Swartz, an adjunct faculty member in the Real Estate program.
Swartz has an associate in Business Management from Columbus State, a B.S. in Management from Franklin University (where he was awarded the Leadership Scholarship, graduating with a 4.0 GPA) and an MBA in Marketing from the University of North Alabama.
Swartz also teaches the Fair Housing/Civil Rights required classes for the Columbus Board of Realtors called “Fair Housing for the Information Age.” He recently debuted his new civil rights class “Fair Housing for Today’s Real Estate.”
At Columbus State, Swartz developed, implemented and taught the Real Estate Department’s first online class in real estate investing. He also assisted the department chair with textbook evaluation, course development, and various special projects to promote real estate classes on campus.
DiPietro and students to perform May 6
Rocco DiPietro, adjunct instructor in Humanities and music will perform a concert with his students Friday, May 6, at 8 p.m. at the Wild Goose Collective on Summit St.
DiPietro will open with Cornelius Cardews’ "The Great Learning Paragraph 6" performed by his ensemble of Larry Marotta, Anthony Vine, Ryan Jewell and Matt Ogborn, and students from his Electronic Music class. He will also perform "The Prison Dirges" (Chamber Model Version) from his days as a prison educator. The concert is free and open to the public, but a donation is requested.
Thanks for being neat!
Michael Ryan, supervisor in Buildings and Grounds, reports that his staff has noticed that the campus is much cleaner than usual! After a very long winter quarter with snow and ice on the ground for months, Ryan says the campus grounds are usually in need of a major pick-up. Not this spring! Many thanks from the grounds crew to the employees and students of Columbus State for keeping our campus clean!
Tell us your thoughts on the Wellness Fair!
Please take a moment to answer a quick survey about the recent Wellness Fair held at In-Service Day. The Wellness Committee appreciates your feedback.
http://web.cscc.edu/snapwebhost/surveylogin.asp?k=130166266472
IT Support Center now in new digs
The IT Support Center (formally known as the Help Desk) recently moved to its new location on the first floor of Columbus Hall, the ERC.
The new Support Center is equipped with state-of-the-art technology, as well as new student and faculty assistance areas.
The IT Support Center is open seven days a week, and is available for assistance by phone, email, or walk-in. Phone ext. 5050 or email at helpdesk@cscc.edu.
Phones support hours are 7 a.m. to 12 midnight
Walk-in Hours:
Sunday: |
1-5 p.m. |
Visit our website: http://www2.cscc.edu/services/itsc/
Testing Center collaborates with Document Management System
The Testing Center reports that its collaboration with the college’s Document Management System (DMS) is proceeding very successfully. The DMS, a board-approved college initiative, has been working with a number of departments in order to transition paper to an electronic environment. Departments such as Student Accounting, Financial Aid, Records and Registration, and Admissions continue to work with DMS staff to ensure a smooth transition.
The Testing Center’s Jessica Tomasek, COMPASS/ESL coordinator, reports, “I was looking for a misplaced test, went into the scanned docs and found the pickup slip and bam—there it is. I didn't have to search in 026, and look through papers galore. It was very easy and took very little time compared to our old way of looking through documents in a drawer. Thank you very much and thanks to Steve Fox, DMS systems analyst, and Krystal Geyer, coordinator in the Testing Center, who worked very closely with Steve to make this happen. I’m now a believer.”
For further information on the DMS, contact Bruce Massis at ext. 5484.
PERFORMs Annual Reviews to be initiated May 2
PERFORMs Annual Reviews will be initiated by the COOL system and submitted to employees to complete the Self-Review today, Monday, May 2. These will only be initiated for full-time, non-bargaining unit employees who are part of the PERFORMs Initiative. These should be completed and submitted to Reviewing Supervisors by May 13.
Reviewing Supervisors will complete Annual Reviews and meet in-person with employees to go over the results no later than June 17. All Annual Reviews are due to be marked complete in COOL by Administrative Reviewers by June 30.
Directions and videos on how to complete a Self-Review or Annual Review, and mark them complete, will be available on the PERFORMs Webpage at this link: http://www.cscc.edu/HR/hcd/Cool.shtml
Webex and classroom training sessions on the process will also be available. For additional information, or to register, go to this link: http://web.cscc.edu/is/employeetraining/OfferingsByCategory.asp?CID=352#42011
For assistance or if you have questions please contact your Human Resources Employment Services Representative at ext. 2408.