The Falcon Report Building College and Community One Semester at a Time
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S P R I N G 2 015
President’s Message Spectacular progress unfolds across three campuses Colleagues,
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ach new semester brings change, and the spring 2015 semester exemplifies just that. The college will welcome new students, open new facilities at both the main campus and EDC, cheer on the college’s inaugural baseball team, prepare for the accreditation team visit next fall, plan for summer implementation of a whole host of new student-focused initiatives, and delight in the evolution of the new Rancho Cordova Center. The college will officially welcome new faculty and staff members at convocation, but I encourage you to personally introduce yourself to these new colleagues and give them a warm welcome to the FLC “family.” When you walk across the east side of the Folsom campus, you’ll no doubt note the eye-catching design of the new Falcons gymnasium. This facility is beautifully situated between the Physical Education building and the Athletics Complex. As I toured this stunning new addition to the college, I could almost hear the squeak of sneakers on wood and the shouts and whoops of competition, and envision the halls filled with energetic students. Come summer, that will be the reality! The dedication of this long-awaited building is scheduled for February 26, so mark your calendars.
“When the winds of change rage, some build shelters and others windmills.”
transfer, workforce training, and basic skills. But in what feels like a perfect storm, two statemandated initiatives [the Student Success and Support Program (SSSP) and Student Equity Plan (SEP)] have provided the college with the rare opportunity to scale existing programs, pilot new and innovative strategies, and enhance collaboration across the college. These efforts have the potential to support not only our most vulnerable students, but all Folsom Lake College students. This spring, a new year unfolds and the college enters into its second decade. FLC made spectacular progress in its first ten years in building programs and services, not to mention facilities. The college survived budget cuts and forced reductions in enrollment during periods of what would have been high growth. And yet, the number of students obtaining a certificate, degree or transfer status increased. FLC is indeed a striking and remarkable institution. One can only guess what the next ten years will bring, but of one thing I am certain, Folsom Lake College will be recognized as setting the standard for empowering students and championing their educational goals.
Chinese proverb
With appreciation for your continued commitment to students, The spring semester also brings an incredible period of focus on student success. As an outstanding educational institution, FLC has always been committed to providing rigorous programs for
Rachel Rosenthal Folsom Lake College President
CLASSIFIED SENATE Perhaps the best example of our collective efforts is the highlight of the spring semester – graduation. It takes all of our efforts to help our students reach their goal of obtaining their degree and it takes an amazing group from the college and Harris Center to put together a beautiful ceremony for our students and their friends and family.
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elcome to the Spring 2015 semester!
I hope that among all that is going on this semester, you will take an opportunity to see what your colleagues and our students are doing. There will be great things happening all over campus and at the Harris Center, and I know your colleagues and our students appreciate your support.
I hope you’re all rested after the winter break and ready to begin another semester. Spring will be a busy semester for all of us, but I have no doubt everyone will pitch in and we’ll complete the tasks at hand.
I would challenge you to take a break from your work and get out to meet at least one new person on campus or the Harris Center. This is something I strive to do every semester and I do not regret making those connections…you won’t either.
A good friend, Tom Caramagno, told me in an email two years ago, “We are a great group of interesting people doing an important job.” Tom was right. We are making a difference in the lives of our students and the community. Whether we’re directly working with students and the community or working “behind the scenes,” Folsom Lake College and the Harris Center could not function without all of us.
On behalf of the Classified Senate, I wish you a wonderful spring semester. Sincerely, Rochelle Franco Classified Senate President
ACADEMIC SENATE Dear Colleagues,
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n behalf of the Academic Senate, I welcome you to spring 2015 at Folsom Lake College. I hope that the winter break provided you all with enough opportunities to rest and prepare for a hectic semester. As you may already know, Brian Robinson, the president of your Academic Senate for the past three and a half years, accepted an interim dean position. As a personal friend, I wish him well. Brian provided essential leadership for faculty, in particular, and for the college as a whole. His move, however, leaves a void among faculty ranks. Many faculty members will have to contribute to resume the multiple responsibilities that Robinson assumed. As Academic Senate Vice President, I will succeed to the office of Academic Senate President for the spring semester to perform some of Robinson’s previous duties. However, much more needs to be done. Indeed, this semester will be busy for FLC (as has often been the case over these last ten years). FLC has been allotted eleven new full-time faculty positions through the normal hiring process and has been granted an emergency request to fill an Administration of Justice position. So the college will be especially occupied in working to hire twelve full-time tenure track professors.
Faculty members from all disciplines will be asked to serve in this critical process. Moreover, FLC will review the self-study for accreditation. Accordingly, faculty members, through participatory governance committees, will be asked to provide feedback early in the semester. The Academic Senate will review and approve the document in April. Additionally, the Academic Senate will hold elections for senators and executive officers. Nomination forms will be made available during the fourth week of the semester. The Folsom Lake College Academic Senate serves as the representative voice of the faculty with regard to academic and professional matters. All FLC faculty members have the right to attend AS meetings. Faculty members can also contact senate representatives to bring academic and professional matters to the Academic Senate. While we will all be busy, I hope that the semester will still be gratifying for you. Respectfully, Carlos Lopez Academic Senate President
CONSTRUCTION PROGRESS
Exterior of the gymnasium at the main Folsom campus
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ue to tremendous growth of the region over the last decade, the facilities at all three sites have quickly expanded to keep up with the demand for quality education. Construction of the new gymnasium at the main Folsom campus is wrapping up. Although the college now has formal possession of the building, there is still a lot of work to do. The move-in phase is expected to continue through the spring as equipment and office furniture are delivered. Instructional offerings will begin during the summer session. Please join us on Thursday, February 26 at 3pm for the formal dedication of the building. Take a tour of the facility and envision the future Falcons that will take flight in these ultramodern amenities!
Student Services expansion at EDC
At the El Dorado Center, the expansion and remodel of the student services area is in the final phase. 2,700 square feet of increased student space, including a student lounge, club room, and multi-use room, will allow students to gather and connect. Existing office space for Financial Aid and DSPS was remodeled to better accommodate the needs of students. Structural steel is shining gloriously at the corner of Folsom Boulevard and Paseo Drive, the future home to the Rancho Cordova Center. The second floor deck is being readied for concrete placement. The college’s current plan is for a limited number of 2nd 8-week classes to be offered at the new site this fall, barring any delays in construction. All instructional offerings and student services will transition to the new location in January 2016.
Framework of the new building at RCC
With the support of the taxpayers through the passage of bond measures, Folsom Lake College continues to fulfill the educational needs of our communities.
STUDENT PROFILE : Moyo Gbadamosi
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started taking classes at Folsom Lake College in the fall of 2013. I chose FLC because it is close to where I live, it is in the city that I grew up in, and it is a safe environment that I can trust. I was able to build great connections with my professors and meet many new friends. One of the best experiences that I had was being a part of the inaugural tennis team. My coach, Ashlee Ashba, was an inspirational mentor; she always focused on the positive and encouraged team members to do their very best! If students want to get the most out of their education, they need to go beyond the classroom and look for opportunities that will help build a strong resume. Through FLC, I landed an internship at the Sacramento Center for International Trade and Development. I am also an employee at the college in the Office of Outreach and Recruitment. I work with new students to help them reach their educational goals. I am proud of the fact that I am preparing for transfer to a fouryear university and I am nearly halfway there! I have completed almost all of the lower division requirements in order to attend St. Mary’s College. FLC provided the building blocks that helped me become a mature student, who has developed a plan, and is following through with it.
A WORD FROM OUR ASSOCIATED STUDENTS
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appy spring semester, Folsom Lake! Welcome back to the start of a new year, a new semester, and hopefully a renewed you! We at the Associated Students, the student representative board, are hoping you all will enjoy the opportunities that this semester will bring. Our biggest goal, as the Associated Students, is to help start out everyone who comes to our college with a vision and create the ripples that will transcend individuality and add to the fostering of community and communication. Student success is the success of us all, so keeping that in mind, this organization is working hard to help all our students with the hurdles attending college can bring, so in the Spring semester we will: • Lobby and advocate to state representatives and to the governor for a $26 decrease in the price per unit cost of attendance, to the pre-recession cost of $20/per unit. • Lobby and advocate at the national level to bring about student loan reform to bring down interest rates for our students. • And, continue to foster student success and involvement through club and event board-sponsored activities.
I hope you support the direction we are headed, as we always keep our students in mind. If you feel the need to discuss ideas or to voice an opinion about one, or more, of these directions feel free to contact me or any Associated Student member: Office: Folsom campus, Falcon’s Roost, FR-106 Telephone: (916) 608-6591 Email: flc-asoss@flc.losrios.edu
“Student success is the SUCCESS OF US ALL” Thank you and remember students are our measure of success, that an open door, an extra minute, or the occasional supportive word will mean the world and change our foundation from an institution to a community. To a healthy and happy semester, Jonathan Rogers Student Senate President
WELCOME
to Our Newest Faculty, Classified Staff & Managers
JILL BRADSHAW Research Analyst
APS/Athletic Counselor
PASS/Early Alert Counselor
JILL MORRISON
MONICA PACTOL
KAREN PALOMARES
CAROLYN REISNER
TRACI SCOTT
LEVI THIESSEN
EOP&S Student Personnel Assistant
MIRIAM JAVIER
Articulation Officer/ General Counselor
Assessment Student Personnel Assistant
THANK YOU
Vice President, Instruction
Receiving Clerk/ Storekeeper
to Our Recently Retired Classified Staff
DON JACKSON Receiving Clerk 19 Years of Service
DEBORAH WHITNEY Counseling Clerk II 13 Years of Service
The HARRIS CENTER In addition to the usual array of popular offerings that range from the tour of Broadway’s MAMMA MIA! to country music star Travis Tritt, this semester the Harris Center also has a number of presentations of special interest to the campus community – all of which have student discount tickets available and can be tied directly to the educational offerings and experiences for FLC students.
Peter Coyote , the acclaimed actor,
narrator, author, and activist, will be on campus (January 29) to shares his reflections on a life that includes “doing the Sixties” in San Francisco and chairing the California Arts Council in the ‘70s. If you watched any of Ken Burns’ recent documentaries for PBS, it was Peter Coyote’s voice you heard conveying the story.
The Nile Project (February
12) is an unprecedented crosscultural musical collaboration featuring musicians from countries along the Nile – all of whom rely on the common shared resource of the river and its water, but who have historically developed independently from one another. Together, they have created a new sound and pan-Nile way of working together, providing lessons that may be helpful in solving issues around California’s complicated system of water rights.
Einstein – The Practical Bohemian (March 6) brings to
life the unbridled curiosity of the world’s most beloved physicist. In his one-man show, actor Ed Metzger provides a stirring portrayal of one of the greatest men of the 20th Century, who harbored dreams of being a solo violinist, and had to ask for directions to his own home.
For FLC’s Women’s History Celebration, the Harris Center has four shows highlighting the contributions of women vocalists to the world of jazz music: Chart-topping jazz vocalist Kathy Kosins visits with Ladies of Cool, her multimedia concert exploration of the west coast school of cool celebrating the artistry of jazz vocalists Anita O’Day, June Christy, Julie London and Chris Connor (February 26-28); Grammy Award winning vocalist Cassandra Wilson performs Coming Forth By Day: A Celebration of Billie Holiday (March 2); Carmen Bradford will appear with the world famous Count Basie Orchestra with whom she made two Grammy Award winning albums (March 18-19); René Marie performs I Wanna Be Evil (With Love to Eartha Kitt) – a live concert presentation of her recording currently up for a “Best Jazz Vocal Album” Grammy. This is just a sampling of the rich variety of shows coming to the Harris Center this spring that can enrich students’ classroom experiences. For more info, visit: www.harriscenter.net.
When you GIVE, We give BACK. The Folsom Lake College Faculty and Staff Campaign (formerly known as the Annual Fund) is an unrestricted educational fund that helps to further the excellence of the College and meet the needs for classroom equipment, program support and resources for students that the state budget is not able to provide. Your gift to the FLC Faculty and Staff Campaign makes a difference. These funds go directly to high-priority campus needs such as: Student Scholarships - It is often financial reasons that stand between a student and their education. The FLC Foundation Scholarship Program, including textbook scholarships, helps students clear financial hurdles to fulfill their educational goals. The Student Emergency Fund - For many students, cash is already tight so when an emergency arises these students are faced with financial difficulties that can take a toll on their personal and academic lives. The Student Emergency Fund provides immediate financial assistance to FLC students involved in a catastrophic or emergency situation where circumstances are sudden, unexpected, and/or affect a student’s ability to stay in school. Faculty and Staff Mini-Grants - The FLC Foundation provides grants of up to $1,000 to innovative programs created by students, faculty and staff. Awards may support additional classroom resources, technology refreshment, program development, technical equipment, conferences, workshops and a myriad of other opportunities. We depend on our donors – alumni, parents, faculty, staff, and friends – to help meet the needs of the college. Please consider giving today. The smallest gift from you (as little as $5 a month) may make a huge difference in a student’s life. “The scholarships help me out a lot…there’s a lot of bills, it all adds up. I work 50 hours a week, and go to school full time. But with the help of these scholarships, I don’t have to do that this semester. It is a great thing!” - Joseph Beckett, Chemistry major at FLC, now studying at UC Davis “Thanks to the mini-grant received from the FLC Foundation and to generous donations provided and collected by FLC students, faculty and staff, we now have well-stocked Student Food Cabinets.” - Mary Hansen, FLC College Nurse
For more information, please contact Sally Howard, Director of College Advancement, at 916-608-6643 or howards@flc.losrios.edu
ACCREDITATION : THE LATEST NEWS
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his is it. This is the year. Every six years, the college undergoes a comprehensive accreditation process by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). 2015 is the year when Folsom Lake College will submit their internal evaluation, the “Self Evaluation Report of Educational Quality and Institutional Effectiveness,” and undergo an external evaluation and site visit by professional peers. What do you need to do? Please review the chapter drafts on the “Self Evaluation 2015” page on the Insider. Please direct feedback to the co-chair of each draft as noted on each document. A full report draft will be sent to the District in February. The Participatory Governance committees will review the draft in
March/April. The final college approval process by the constituent groups and by the college president will culminate in April/May. At the May 13, 2015 Board of Trustees meeting, FLC’s Self Evaluation Report will be presented to the Board. The next step will be to send the final report to the commission in the summer for distribution to the visiting team. In October, the team will perform a site visit to verify and confirm the accuracy of the report. We will know of WASC’s action following their January 2016 meeting.
FOLSOM L A K E COLLEGE
FOLSOM L A K E COLLEGE
Where
Falcons Soar...
Join us for the dedication of
the Folsom Lake College Gymnasium February 26, 2015 3:00pm