Dear Faculty and Staff:

We had planned on holding All College Day this Friday, March 11. However, the most recent weather projections for that day call for more than a 50% chance of snow. Recognizing that if the event is held on Friday, food must be ordered today, we believe it is prudent to postpone All College Day for a later date in the semester. We will keep you updated once our new plans for this event have been finalized.

Higher Learning Commission

I am pleased to share some good news. At a recent meeting, the Higher Learning Commission’s (HLC) Institutional Actions Council reviewed the report submitted by the site visit team that evaluated our college back in November 2021. According to the Commission:

Action. IAC concurred with the evaluation findings and voted to affirm the institution’s eligibility to select the Standard or Open Pathway for reaffirmation of accreditation.

This means that we did not receive any findings or recommendations. In my experience, it is rare that this happens.

As stated in an earlier Touch Base Tuesday, the site team report indicated the following:

“We have “a great institution” filled with passionate and engaged employees and that we have “great students.” The team was very impressed by our ability to see where we are and where we want to be and recognized that we have many exciting opportunities for growth. They appreciated our efforts in meeting the workforce needs of our community and said that we “were progressive,” and that we “clearly demonstrate an entrepreneurial spirit.”

I wish to take the opportunity to say “thank you” to Dr. Holly Martin for her leadership over the reaffirmation process. My appreciation is also extended to all the faculty and staff who served as chairs and committee members for each Standard. We could not have achieved such incredible success without the dedication and support of everyone at SCC. I will be planning a special celebration event for the entire college within the next few weeks.

President’s Council

At our last President’s Council, the Student Engagement Committee proposed that the college support the creation of Student Engagement Ambassadors. The purpose of these ambassadors would to be raise the awareness of and create excitement for SCC events and initiatives. This would help formalize information sharing across our campuses. The committee recommended a pilot phase that utilizes the Stu-dent Engagement Committee members with the future goal of opening the role to faculty and staff, and in addition, they proposed another future role for students as “Campus Activities Crew.” The president’s council unanimously approved the committee to move forward with their initiative. Look for more in-formation to be shared soon from the committee.

Last Thursday I had the opportunity to speak to the Mayors in St. Charles County at the Field to Table: Culinary and Agricultural Center. This was a wonderful opportunity to share the innovative projects that we are currently working on at SCC, all while enjoying a wonderful meal from Chef Brian. The Mayors are very excited about working with the college to further our growth, support our students and serve the community.

On Friday, SCC held the 2022 Men of Color Student Success Summit with more than 50 students from area high schools participating. Students had the opportunity to hear from keynote speaker, Mr. Stan Pearson, who gave a dynamic presentation on power planning, connection, and personal achievement. The Men of Color Student Success Program promotes student success by providing ongoing support for students who identify as males of color as they transition from high school to college. Students who par-ticipate in the program receive a scholarship, personal coaching, and join a cohort of students navi-gating college life together.

Did you know that you can support the Foundation when you shop on Amazon? The Amazon Smile pro-gram donates .5% of eligible purchases back to qualifying non-profit organizations. All you have to do is go to smile.amazon.com and search for St. Charles Community College to choose the Foundation as your designated non-profit. You can support our students while you’re shopping!

Have a wonderful week!

Barbara