Dear Faculty and Staff:

If asked, most of us could reflect on our favorite teacher, that special someone who provided unwavering support and encouragement, who recognized our potential. In 1994, October 5 was established by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization as the time to celebrate World Teachers’ Day. On behalf of Cabinet and the Board of Trustees, it is my honor to recognize the extraordinary efforts of the faculty at SCC. I appreciate your dedication to our students and our college. Thank you!

Last Monday, September 27, the Foundation hosted the 25th Annual Presidents Classic Golf Scramble at Old Hickory. The event raised more than $44,000 to support scholarships for students and academic enhancements on our campus.

More than 130 golfers participated in the event. Students, employees, and board members volunteered to make sure the event ran smoothly. During the closing happy hour, golfers heard from one of our scholarship students on his journey through SCC and how the scholarship is helping him achieve his goals.

Events like the golf scramble ensure that funds are available to support students and departments. Two funding opportunities are available for projects in your area. Mini Grant and Campus Enhancement proposal forms are now available on the mySCC portal. Applications are due to the Foundation office by October 29.

You can also sign up to participate in #GivingTuesday. The Foundation Board has made $10,000 available in matching funds for departments who wish to fundraise during November. For more information or questions, please reach out to Peggy or Betsy.

Finally, the Employee Sponsored Program (ESP) campaign is soon coming to an end. More than 140 employees joined ESP last year and raised more than $30,000 to support students, campus enhancements, and the Celebration of Life and New Life program. If you sign up by October 15, you will be entered into a drawing for some great prizes including reserved parking and some SCC swag. Find out more on the ESP page of the MySCC portal.

SCC is currently in the process of evaluating multiple vendors for a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution. This process follows a recent external assessment of how well our current ERP system, Ellucian Colleague is serving SCC. In additional to many concerns related to our current operating system, some major challenges include:

• Colleague is highly customized, and many manual processes occur outside of Colleague
• Recruitment and Admissions are inhibited by the lack of seamless flow of data
• Access to data and reporting tools are inconsistent and difficult
• SCC business processes are not aligned with how Colleague functions and vice versa

Many of our administrators and staff will be participating in extensive vendor demonstrations beginning this week. I appreciate your patience as some standing meetings may need to be rescheduled. This is a wonderful opportunity for SCC to identify a new partner that will better meet our technology needs. Please reach out to Don Popham or Dave Leenhouts if you have any questions.

Best wishes for a wonderful week,

Barbara