Touch Base Tuesday 1-22-19

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All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.     -   Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dear Faculty and Staff:

Happy New Year!  Welcome to the spring semester and the first Touch Base Tuesday of 2019.  Much has transpired since my last update in December. 

Please allow me to share the following:

Personnel

Last Thursday we held our annual Service Recognition Program to celebrate employees who have worked at SCC from five to 30 years. Thanks to all the individuals in Human Resources, Facilities, and Food Service who worked together to ensure a successful program and congratulations to all the honorees.

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We are happy to announce that Martha Garcia Kampen has officially become our full-time Chief Diversity & Compliance Officer, after serving in this position on an interim basis for several months.  Martha was one of several candidates interviewed and vetted by the campus search committee for this important position. 

Martha brings a wealth of experience and knowledge in the areas of cultural communications, diversity and inclusion initiatives, strategic plan development and  execution, professional leadership training and development, marketing communications and business partner development.  She will be an asset to our community in progressing our initiatives in the areas of diversity, equity, inclusion.  Please join me in welcoming Martha.

Last week we posted the position announcement for the new Vice President for Student Services.  When you get a chance, please check out the wonderful information page designed by Marketing:

Legislative Update

On January 16, Governor Parson delivered the State of the State address.  Here are some of the highlights:

  • Community colleges will maintain $143,570,515 in core funding after a core reduction of $2 million in one-time funding was eliminated. 
  • $16,335,975 was allocated for MoExcels (workforce development).  The Governor only funded 18 of the 26 proposals from colleges and universities.
  • The A+ Scholarship Program received an increase in funding ($1,500,000).
  • Public universities will receive $2 million each for deferred maintenance programs.  We are in the process of confirming whether community colleges will receive M&R funds.
  • Executive Order 19-03 was signed which moves the Division of Workforce Development and the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center from the Dept. of Economic Development to the Department of Higher Education.

Facilities

This winter we have experienced record setting snowfall, with the anticipation of possibly more snow before the end of the season. I wanted to take this opportunity to send a thank you to the staff in Facilities for the amazing job they have done keeping the streets and sidewalks cleared. My understanding is that some of these employees have worked late at night and on weekends. Please join me in expressing appreciation for an extraordinary (and difficult) job!

At the end of this month, the contractors will break ground on the site for the new student housing building. A red star has been placed on the following map to denote the location of this project. As is customary when construction begins, a groundbreaking ceremony has been scheduled at 4:00 p.m. on Monday, January 28.

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Enrollment

This morning I received the enrollment report for the first day of the semester. We are currently down by 2.2% in credit hour and FTE. As a reminder, our budget goal was -1%. Although we did not meet our goal, this shortfall will not have a significant impact on the budget at this time.

I am excited about our plans for the spring semester and for the rest of the year. We have many talented and dedicated professionals working on key initiatives that will better serve our students and ultimately, help advance our mission. I agree with the MLK quote. Our work uplifts humanity and has dignity and importance. As such, all of our efforts should focused on excellence. Thank you for the excellent service you bring to SCC. Your good work is appreciated.

Have a great spring semester!

Barbara

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4601 Mid Rivers Mall Drive
Cofttleville, MO 63376

info_desk@stchas.edu
636-922-8000

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