Classes Link to Success Improving the “First-Year Experience” ... (Page 2)

In This IssueTake the fast track to “Accelerate” your career; Calling recent graduates; Presidential search ... (Page 3)

Faculty Profile: Margaret Peters (Page 4)

Kudos/Noteworthy (Pages 4-5)

InsIde sFCCS A N T A F E C O M M U N I T Y C O L L E G E | W I N T E r 2 0 1 2

Linked classes, which combine developmental and degree-required courses, are one piece of the First-Year Experience (FYE) Program at SFCC. Funded by a five-year, $3.2 million Title V grant from the U.S. Department of Education, FYE concentrates on improving the success of first-year students.

SFCC enrolls more academically underprepared students than the national average for two-year public colleges (64% vs. 39%), according to SFCC’s Title V FYE Director Karla Hackman. FYE’s goal is to help students reach appropriate academic levels before they experience costly and frustrating delays that may cause them to drop out.

“We’re always looking at our curricula to see what’s going to be best for students on different tracks,” said Interim Dean of Liberal Arts and Core Studies Margaret Peters.

The linked classes follow two formats. Accelerated classes allow students to move through two semesters of coursework in one semester. For example, a Math 100X course combines Math 100 and pre-algebra. The second format, called a learning community, combines a developmental course and a credit course, such as Critical Reading with Psychology or Basic Reading and Writing with College Success, which focuses on goal setting, time management, study skills and career planning.

Assistant Professor of Developmental Mathematics Daniel Kilpatric teaches Math 100X. Specific types of students attend linked classes, he says. Some are just out of high school and didn’t get a good education. “One of the guys said he didn’t have a math teacher for the last two years of high school,” Kilpatric said. “He worked on a computer program in a room with an English teacher who was monitoring, but who couldn’t answer any of his questions.”

Or they’re like Cindy Castro, 23, who admits she “had too much fun in high school.” Castro returned to school last summer after losing her job. “I took it as an opportunity,” she said.

With a six-year-old and one-year-old twins, and needing 96 hours from SFCC before moving on to UNM to earn a pharmacy degree, Castro understands that time is of the essence. She took Kilpatric’s class to cover six hours in one semester and would welcome more opportunities to double up on credit hours. “I’m on a mission,” she said, smiling.

Kilpatric is prepared to help students move ahead. “You see students who come in who aren’t very prepared to go through college,” Mr. Kilpatric said. “You want to be sure they’re ready for the next class.” In Castro’s case, he allowed her to miss classes if she gave him advance warning and kept up with homework, she said.

Kristie Jones, who is earning a medical assistant certificate, can attest to Kilpatric’s work to assure students were ready to move on. She took Math 100X last semester.

“He may have been the first teacher who asked, ‘Do you have any questions?’ and meant it,” she said. “He really wanted every member of the flock to be with him all the way, to make sure no one was lost.”

Kilpatric is fully aware of his responsibility. “A semester is a long time and a lot happens,” he said. “For them to persist and stick it out really says something about them as people.”

The other group attracted to the accelerated class format is older students who need to refresh their math skills. “(Older students) are intelligent and hardworking, but it’s been a long time since they’ve worked with the concepts,” Kilpatric said.

Jones came to SFCC after she lost her job as part of an economy-induced layoff by a local paper. As a copy editor, she joked, her experience with math was to “run in the other direction to a dictionary.” She was not bothered when SFCC suggested she needed help with math.

“I thought maybe if I started at the beginning and worked my way up, it would make sense.” The continual flow of information through the week also made it easier to retain, she said.

Jones is confident that she’ll succeed in her next math class, algebra. And medical terminology shouldn’t be a problem. “It’s words,” she said. “I know words.”

Classes Link to SuccessLinked Class Instructor Daniel Kilpatric (c) with students Micah Aragon, Austin Zimmerman, Teodoro Noedel (l) and Jennifer Smith and Steve Prince (r)

Sometimes it seems we live in a “one size fits all” society. At SFCC, a new approach to classroom learning soundly rejects this. “Linked courses” are helping learners progress faster through the curriculum while providing faculty a way to meet a student’s individual needs.

S F CC P r e S I d e n T I a l S e a r C h U P d aT eSFCC Presidential Search Committee Co-Chairs Carole Brito and Linda Siegle, member and chair, respectively, of the SFCC Governing Board, are meeting with faculty, staff, students, foundation members and business, education and community representatives to begin the process of replacing Dr. Sheila Ortego, who retires Aug. 31. The first step is to form a search committee, and the meetings with various stakeholders will help inform the make-up of that group.

Once a search committee is named, a presidential profile will be developed. National search firm Gold Hill Associates will assist in the process. The firm works exclusively on community college presidential searches.

Keep informed on the presidential search at www.sfcc.edu.

Students who want the fast track to a certificate or degree have a new option. A partnership among New Mexico colleges and universities, including SFCC, is working to speed up the delivery of education and coaching focused on careers in growing industries.

Dubbed “Accelerate,” the program supports non-traditional learners, such as single parents or working students, and those who want to retrain. Funded by the U.S. Dept. of Energy, Accelerate is managed by the New Mexico Regional Development Corporation.

Roadblocks that discourage students – such as requirements to take theoretical math courses with no practical use – have been eliminated. Instead, math instruction uses real-world applications to increase math skills. Accelerate

students also receive tuition assistance, on-the-job training, one-on-one coaching and more.

The coaches – called Career Technical Advisers – help students stay on track with coursework; find solutions to everyday challenges; balance jobs, family, school; write resumes; and meet with employers. Accelerate students can be ready for hire in two semesters.

SFCC’s Career Technical Adviser Kim MiLee works with students on everything from test-taking skills to proper attire for a job interview. “We’re trying to get folks retrained and ready as soon as possible,” she said.

Contact MiLee at (505) 428-1877 or kim.milee@sfcc.edu or visit www.acceleratenm.org.

Call 4 AlumniSFCC wants your stories! Graduates from the 2010-2011 school year are invited to tell the college how it did through an online survey measuring the value students have found in their SFCC experience. The survey will help to improve program offerings and to test the waters for the creation of an alumni association.

“Our faculty members want to know if their program offerings are doing the job,” said Dr. Jacqueline Virgint, Vice President for Planning and Institutional Effectiveness.

In addition, federal funding for certain certificates is tied to submitting reports on whether or not students are employed in their fields of study. “We’re trying to get more information about where our students are working,” said Virgint. “Accrediting organizations are interested in colleges’ success in adequately preparing students for the real world of work.”

The survey invites graduates to stay informed about SFCC. It is the college’s first foray into developing alumni information.

Virgint hopes more graduates will remember where they got started on their road to success, and those graduates might want to build an alliance for SFCC in the future. She also hopes students will let SFCC know how their education has met their goals and served them in life.

2010-2011 graduates can respond to the survey through Feb. 29 at www.sfcc.edu.

SFCC Accelerate student Richard Masterson earned a silver-level certificate on three tests measuring his abilities: applied mathematics, locating information and reading for information.

Accelerate adviser Kim MiLee advised “to just take our time and do our best, and that is what I did,” he said.

After serving in the Navy, Masterson moved to New Mexico. He owned a construction company that built many of the early homes in Eldorado. After the construction market crashed, however, he began looking for other work. His wife, an artist who frequently takes classes at SFCC, pointed him to the college’s HVAC program. Other students told him about Accelerate.

Masterson is optimistic. “I remember my eighth-grade teacher telling the class a bit of wisdom which has helped me through many a tough time: ‘There’s no such thing as a problem, just one more challenge for your intelligence.’”

Now Masterson has the silver certificate to remind him of his intelligence.

Accelerate: Fast-Track to Jobs

Margaret PetersInterim dean of liberal arts and Core Studies

The credenza in Margaret Peters’ office is covered with apples: sequined, wooden, large, small. Most of them gifts. She’s a teacher, after all. And a few days into her new position as Interim Dean of the School of Liberal Arts and Core Studies, she was more comfortable discussing her role as teacher than as administrator. In fact, at her first meeting with her department’s faculty and staff, she told them, “If folks feel heard and fairly represented, and if I can represent the school well, I’ll be satisfied.”

“It’s not about me,” she explained. “It’s about all of us.”

Peters understands well the meaning of “us” as it relates to the School of Liberal Arts and Core Studies. “We’re part of every degree,” she said. Besides required courses, “general education may be the only opportunity for a student to take literature, history or psychology … It’s what makes us richer, more rounded people. That’s important for all of us. It’s essential.”

Peters has the humanities in her veins. Growing up in Bryan, Texas, she loved Library Day at school, trundling home with a stack of books, ready to devour each one. When it came time for college, she majored in English. She first thought she’d teach children; as her education progressed, she learned that she loved working with older students. “I really like the idea of teaching people who take a class because they selected it,” she said.

After receiving a master’s degree, she taught in California. While there, her family had often met her in Santa Fe; she loved it and decided to relocate. Like many, she came without a job.

In 1997, she was hired to teach one class at SFCC. That year, then-Gov. Gary Johnson noticed that the writing of a

young man on his staff had improved – significantly. The man credited Peters. Impressed, Johnson introduced a memorial designating Dec. 12, 2001 “Margaret A. Peters Day.”

More recently, Peters was noted for her work with a student who won writing awards. She first met Rita Feinstein in 2008, when Feinstein was 16 and taking English. With Peters’ encouragement, Feinstein submitted poetry, essays and short fiction to the National Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. Other teen award winners include Truman Capote, Richard Avedon and Joyce Carol Oates. That list now contains the name Rita Feinstein, who won regional awards and a gold medal and silver medal in the national competition.

Feinstein received her awards on stage at Carnegie Hall. As her teacher, Peters got to join her. Feinstein for a second time entered the competition and won a $10,000 scholarship. Again, Peters stood next to her on stage at Carnegie Hall.

When asked about how she felt about her role in this young writer’s accomplishments, Peters was “very proud.”

Because, as she said, it’s not about her; it’s about all of us.

Profile notewoIt’s a Family affair

Family members often share characteristics, like their father’s nose or their mother’s manner of speaking. Patricia Boyle’s family shares a love of algae. Boyle and her husband Gerard are students in SFCC’s Biofuels Program. They have recruited sons Nicholas and Kyle into the program. Brother-in-law Ashley Higgins is also enrolled.

Boyle’s brother, Luke Spangenberg, is their instructor. Spangenberg became a biofuels teacher in 2010, after completing the SFCC program and starting New Solutions Energy, which designs and builds algae growing systems for biofuels and feedstocks. Their sister Nikki Spangenberg fueled their interest. She works with Dreaming New Mexico, a Bioneers project that strives to address environmental and health concerns with sustainable approaches.

Thanks to family influence, and after a career in the restaurant business, Gerard and Patricia moved their lives toward sustainable living. “We wanted to do something to make a difference,” Boyle said. So last January, the couple jumped into the program “with enthusiasm.”

All in the Family: Patricia Boyle (c) and her brother, brother-in-law, husband and sons represent multiple generations in the Biofuels Program.

continues

Kyle and Nick followed suit the next fall. The family studies together occasionally, and talks about the classes a lot. “Kyle and Nick have their own opinions, being in their 20s, and their perspective is an inspiration to Gerard and me,” Boyle said.

The family now is planning a business. “We are working on some interesting algae food applications, but I won’t say what just yet.”

More immediately, they started Biofuels 2 this semester, with Luke as one of the teachers. “It promises to be exciting,” Boyle said. “He told me to prepare to be challenged.”

red dot Gallery is Benefactor’s Vision

SFCC’s Red Dot Gallery is achieving the vision of its benefactor, Sandy Zane, in exciting ways, providing a venue for SFCC student, faculty and alumni work in an historic adobe on Canyon Rd. Now, Red Dot is expanding on another of Zane’s dreams to spotlight the work being produced in art schools. The gallery is hosting a juried exhibit of art by Institute of American Indian Arts students and alumni through Feb. 20, featuring two-dimensional works, jewelry and sculpture, some by world-renowned Native artists. Red Dot coordinator Kathy Eagan hopes the show will become an annual event.

Following the IAIA show, Red Dot will host an exhibit of art created by high school students under consideration for the ArtSmart college scholarship. Student artwork will be on exhibit and for sale Feb. 23-Mar. 20. Red Dot will donate proceeds to the ArtSmart scholarship fund. The opening is Feb. 23 at 4:30 p.m.

The exhibit is part of the Edible Art Tour and kicks off ArtFeast, a weekend of events to raise money for art programs and supplies in Santa Fe public schools. From 5 to 8 p.m. on Feb. 24, Red Dot will be among more than 30 galleries on Canyon Road and downtown that pair with restaurants to participate. SFCC’s Culinary Arts students will prepare food for the occasion.

“It’s a way for the public to see the talents of these high school students and to sample the wonderful expertise of our culinary arts students,” Eagan said. “To give high school students the ability to show and sell their work on Canyon Road – that’s very exciting.”

Tickets for ARTfeast are at www.artfeast.com, participating galleries or at Red Dot. Red Dot is a nonprofit gallery at 826 Canyon Road operated by SFCC students. Visit http://red-dot-gallery.com/ and www.sfcc.edu/programs/culinary_arts.

dixon’s apple Orchard Pine Trees reborn in Campus Center

The new floor in the Campus Center proves that when life hands you lemons, you can make lemonade. The 31,600 blocks of hand-sanded pine were cut from trees harvested from Dixon’s Apples orchard in Cochiti Canyon after the Las Conchas fire swept through it this past summer.

David Olds, the owner of Old Wood, which crafted the blocks, got into the reclaimed wood business when a fire destroyed timber on his family’s Viveash ranch.

Olds has since built a niche market creating specialty floors with reclaimed wood. An economic development grant helped to develop his business in Las Vegas, NM, which he intends to “be a benefit to the forest environment and the community around us,” he said.

The curing and transverse cut, which shows the tree rings, makes the blocks tough, said Olds. Similar flooring is used to cover the factory floor of Caterpillar Tractor. “It’s not a sissy commercial floor,” he said. “It’s an industrial floor.”

Industrial, yes. But also gorgeous.

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Reclaimed wood from the fire-ravaged Dixon’s Apple Orchard is spectacular as the new floor in the Campus Center.

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S a n T a F e C O m m U n I T y C O l l e G e InsideSFCCHelping Students Succeed. Serving Our Community.

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Inside SFCCPublished by Santa Fe Community College President and Governing Board

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SFCC leadS STaTewIde CenTerS OF exCellenCeSFCC has been named the statewide lead for the Biofuels and Green Building/energy efficiency Centers of excellence. The goal is to increase educational opportunities in green jobs training to meet workforce demand for the green economy. Funding will be used to enhance training programs, develop programs in emerging green industries, purchase equipment, expand curricula and provide Spanish translations. SFCC will provide students with the next generation of biofuels production and algae cultivation technology as well as state-of-the-art green building expertise.

SFCC and its partners are offering subsidized or free classes to those who qualify. Learn more: Biofuels Center of Excellence (505) 428-1332, Green Building/Energy Efficiency Center of Excellence (505) 428-1805, greentraining@sfcc.edu or http://greentraining.sfcc.edu.

Funded by the U.S. Department of Labor through the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions.

Centers of exCellenCe

Green BuildinG/enerGy efficiencya n d B i o f u e l s