Dear Faculty and Staff:

I want to thank everyone who attended our All College Day and Longevity Awards Celebration last Friday. Even though it was a rainy day, we were able to shift all events to the gym. I shared college updates for each of our strategic goals, followed by an update on budget, facilities, and IT by Vice President Galbierz. Participants also received an update from Vice President Martin and an overview of our progress in building pathways from non-credit to credit from Provost Koehler. It was a great opportunity to combine college updates with food, fun, and a celebration of our employees’ years of service.

Following the college updates, Todd facilitated the longevity awards. He was assisted by Trustees Cilek, Lohmar, and Stodden. This year we launched a new reward for faculty and staff who have served 25 or 30 years.

The following 25-year employees will get to select a tree on campus which will have a plaque recognizing their services: Deborah Phillips, Liz Quiggins, Stacey Thater, Mark Williams, Beth Finders, Theresa Flett, Daniel Lindsay, Lina Takacs, Rich Christianson, and Nancy Graviett.

Employees with 30 years of service will have a bench on campus with a special plaque denoting their service: Joan Koechig, Lee Ann Nelson, Yvonne Koch, Wally Obremski, Brian Smith, and Knut Tarnowski.

My appreciation is extended to the Human Resources/Professional Development staff for their coordination of this successful event.

At our last President’s Council, VP Galbierz presented an overview of the two top vendors being considered for our new ERP system. The Council approved sending Anthology forward as our new ERP to the Board of Trustees for a vote in May. Recognized for their innovation, Anthology has defined a new landscape for educational technology by introducing integrated, user-friendly solutions to help faculty and staff build better strategies for meeting the needs of the students and the institution. If the Board approves this recommendation, there is still a long road ahead, including the details of the contract, integration, testing, implementation, and eventually setting a “go-live” date. I know that this will bring many changes. Still, like pivoting to remote learning and other changes COVID has brought to our lives and work, we will rise to the occasion and bring about a new chapter in how SCC manages student and work data.

President’s Council also voted to approve a new summer work hours schedule. Adopting the proposed schedule for remote Fridays will help SCC realize utility savings by strategically closing off certain areas of campus. Not unlike our remote plan during COVID, employees who can perform their work from home will be allowed to work remotely on Fridays. It will be up to managers and supervisors to determine if a schedule of four 10-hour days is more appropriate for the situation, but the preference will be for a remote Friday.

Please speak with your supervisor/managers about what this will look like for you. This schedule will start the week of 5/30/22 and ends Friday 7/29/22.

Last Tuesday we held the annual Student Awards Banquet. It was a wonderful celebration of the accomplishments of our students. I was so pleased to recognize Max Greenwood with the President’s Rising Star Award. Max is a student in our Agriculture program. He is graduating and will be transferring to Southeast Missouri State after completing an internship with Bayer this summer.

May 2-6 represents Faculty Appreciation Week. I know that a commitment to student learning and a dedication to student success is carried in the minds and hearts of every faculty member at St. Charles Community College. You have an enduring impact on the lives of students and on the success of the college. You are simply the best. To celebrate our wonderful faculty, Cabinet members will be distributing appreciation baskets to each department this week. I hope you will take some time to offer appreciation to our outstanding faculty.