Dear Faculty and Staff:

Last year the President’s Council approved a new employee recognition program.  This program includes two awards: The President’s Award and the SCC Pinnacle of Excellence Award. The purpose of this program is to encourage and recognize faculty, staff, and administrators who strive to achieve mission-based innovative advancements, significantly contribute to College priorities, and maintain student-centered excellence in all aspects of their responsibilities.

The President’s Council selects one faculty member and one staff member four times per Year for the President’s Award.  I select one or more individuals to be honored with the highest recognition, the SCC Pinnacle of Excellence Award, two times each year.

It is always an honor to recognize the success of our employees.  The recipients of the President’s Award for April were: Vicky Herbel, Professor of Sociology and Andrea Compton, Director of Online Learning. Please join me in congratulating Vicky and Andrea for their extraordinary service to SCC.

At the President’s Council meeting last week, I announced the recipient of the first SCC Pinnacle of Excellence Award - Assistant Vice President, Amanda Sizemore. Amanda has been instrumental in developing and expanding our Workforce and Corporate and Community Development division. Here are some of her most notable accomplishments:

• Expanded Welding to credit program
• Wrote MoExcel grant for $1.5 M which was placed on the House Budget bill
• Contributed to expanding SCC’s service area to include Warren County
• Conducted survey of business and industry and identified most needed technical programs
• Developed and implemented new technical programs
• In collaboration with Dean Koehler, contributed to the establishment of the new Dardenne Creek Campus

 

Please join me in congratulating Amanda on her SCC Pinnacle of Excellence Award.

I would also recognize two other individuals for their extraordinary accomplishments.  Joe Baumann was awarded the Rose Warner Prize for Prose by Freshwater Review.  Christina Gant was recognized for 15 years of service as a Phi Theta Kappa club advisor.  Congratulations Joe and Christina!

The leadership planning and budgeting retreat was held last Thursday and Friday. Faculty leaders and administrators joined me for two days of planning activities, including the identification of funding priorities for next year. I will share a summary of retreat activities at the next President’s Council meeting scheduled for May 9^th. 

We broke ground on our student housing facility yesterday. It was an honor to celebrate such a historic event here at SCC! I look forward to watching the progress as we get closer to having a residential campus.

Our first Academic Programs and Student Services Open House last week was a big success. This was a great way to showcase our offerings to prospective students.  More than 150 individuals attended the Open House.  Thank you to everyone who helped make this event happen.

 

Thank you to those who joined me for this month’s Tea with the President. It was a delight to speak with each of you!  

Finally, it is my honor to announce the individual selected as our new Vice President for Student Services. Based on multiple assessments, including my one-on-one interview, a meeting with Cabinet, the campus forum, a written essay, references, etc. the individual identified as the top candidate was Mr. David Leenhouts.  David brings more than seven years of experience as a Vice President of Student Services, with additional experience as the Director of Student Life, Director of Financial Aid, and Director of Special Services for Disadvantaged Students. He has worked at community colleges in Texas, Georgia, and Colorado. Most importantly, his skills and experiences aligned with many of the traits and areas of expertise identified by the employees in Enrollment Management.  David’s first day will be July 1, 2019.  We will plan a welcome reception for David once he arrives.  Thanks again to everyone who participated in this important search.

 

I hope you have a wonderful week.

 

Barbara