Dear Faculty and Staff:

 

Last week I had the opportunity to attend the MCCA Presidents/Chancellors meeting. One agenda item included an update related to SB 892.  MCCA is focused on securing changes to this new legislation that restricts the number of hours retired faculty can teach and implements a new financial assessment for colleges.  We also received the following legislative update:

 

• The November election will introduce a signification number of new members in the House. All 163 seats of the House of Representatives are up for election.
• Missouri experienced a 6% decline in revenue for August as compared to last year.  Information is being collected to determine the cause of this decrease.  As you may be aware, if the state does not meet a certain revenue amount, there is always the possibility of a withhold.
• One of the Governor’s top priorities includes funding infrastructure. The legislature placed a small increase in the fuel tax on the ballot for November. It was shared during our meeting that if this tax does not pass, infrastructure needs might be funded out of general revenue, leading to budget reductions, possibly including higher education.

 

I am pleased to announce that Vice President Heather McDorman has been selected by the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations (NCMPR) as the 2018 Communicator of the Year for District 5. Congratulations Heather!

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Please mark your calendar for a celebration of our recent HLC report successes. The event will be held in the College Center rotunda from 2:30-4 p.m. this Friday, Sept. 21. I am so proud of the work our college has done thus far regarding HLC reporting, and it is a privilege to recognize the contributions of everyone involved in the process.

Last week, it was a pleasure to meet the newest members of our college community at our first new employee meet and greet. It was a delight getting to know these talented new faces of SCC.

Food Truck Frolic and Family Movie Night will be held at 5 p.m. this Friday, Sept. 21. Come out and enjoy some great good and, hopefully, lovely weather.

Have a wonderful week.
Barbara