Annual Report to the Community

Johnson County Community College 2011-2012

JCCC board of trustees Jerry Cook Bob Drummond David Lindstrom Greg Musil Melody Rayl Stephanie Sharp Jon Stewart

A message from the president In this look back at 2011-2012, you’ll see why JCCC received a 93 percent approval rating in a study conducted by the Overland Park Chamber of Commerce Foundation. It’s because of our honors and accomplishments, ranging from the completion of a new health care education facility in Olathe to the groundbreaking for a new culinary academy on campus. You’ll see the awards won by our gifted faculty and outstanding students and the new programs we implemented to meet community needs. And you’ll also see why JCCC is a first-choice school in this community. We are the largest institution of undergraduate higher education in the state. For those students who complete our career programs, 92 percent find a job within six months, while those who transfer to a four-year university have higher GPAs than do students from other Kansas community colleges. JCCC is a first-choice destination for students and the community. We’re proud to share our story with you. Sincerely,

Terry A. Calaway President 3

A message from the chair, board of trustees These are unprecedented times for community colleges in America. They are being asked to do more to educate people and prepare them for jobs. Enrollments are up, yet state and tax support is down. For many students, community colleges are the gateway to higher education. Public community colleges serve 44 percent of all U.S. undergraduates. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, at least 57 percent of job openings in this country between 2006 and 2016 will require some form of postsecondary education, whether it be a certiﬁcate or a degree. Educating the population is fundamental to both a functioning democracy and the country’s economic growth. That’s the mission of Johnson County Community College, one that we take very seriously. The trustees are proud of this college and its contributions to the community it serves. On behalf of the board of trustees of Johnson County Community College, I want to thank you for your continued support of JCCC. Sincerely,

Melody Rayl Chair, JCCC board of trustees

The Vision, Mission and Values of Johnson County Community College Vision Serving our community Changing lives through learning Mission Learning comes ﬁrst at JCCC. • Centered on student success • Dedicated to exploring initiatives that support the college’s innovative spirit • Focused on community leadership • Committed to continuous improvement Values JCCC is committed to, demonstrates and is accountable for: • Innovation • Integrity • Excellence • Leadership • Collaboration • Lifelong learning • Sustainability • Dignity and Self-Worth • Diversity • Stewardship

JCCC’s strategic goals I. We will inspire successful learning! • We will engage learners at the personal level. • We will prepare our learners to apply what is learned. • We will support our learners ardently and intentionally. • We will deliver learning programs and services at the highest level of quality. • We will constantly assess learning to meet our student learning outcome expectations.

IV. We will engage in quality operations! • We will be model planners. • We will be intentional in moving from idea to action. • We will require that data and evidence be an essential part of our decision-making. • We will continually strive to improve the caliber of what we do.

II. We will innovate! • We will question the status quo. • We will practice strategic risk-taking. • We will focus resources to reward those who ﬁnd creative ways to address learning needs. • We will capitalize on diversity in building partnerships. III. We will lead! • We will reward our faculty for their teaching and impact on student success. • We will recognize our staﬀ for their dedication to learner support and customer relations. • We will champion policies and initiatives that are recognized locally, regionally and nationally. • We will educate and inspire future leaders.

Serving the community In July 2011, JCCC was recognized as one of the best colleges in the nation to work for, according to a survey conducted by The Chronicle of Higher Education. JCCC was recognized as such in three categories: professional/career development programs; facilities, workspaces and security; and job satisfaction. The college was also recognized as a great college to work for in 2009 and 2010. The results are based on a survey of nearly 44,000 employees at 310 colleges and universities. In all, only 111 of the 310 institutions received “Great College to Work For” recognition for specific best practices and policies. Results are reported for small, medium and large institutions; JCCC is included among the large institutions with 10,000 or more students. In August 2011, JCCC became a tobacco-free campus. Smoking is permitted only in an individual’s car in the parking lot and in two smoking huts behind the Industrial Training Center. For the third year in a row, G.I. Jobs included JCCC in its 2012 list of Military Friendly Schools. The list honors the top 20 percent of colleges, universities and trade schools that are doing the most to embrace America’s military service members and veterans as students. JCCC, for example, offers scholarships as well as a veterans services office that works with former military personnel. 6

JCCC president Terry Calaway delivered his annual State of the College presentation in September. His presentation, “Innovation Johnson County,” looked at the college’s aspirations and inspirations. JCCC dedicated its new Olathe Health Education Center (OHEC) in October 2011 with an open house and a ceremony. In December 2008, JCCC and the Olathe Medical Center signed a letter of intent for the development of a health education center on the OMC campus. The medical center donated to JCCC almost six acres of land on which to build such a facility. Construction began in spring 2010. The building opened in August 2011, offering classes in practical nursing, certified nurse assistant, certified medication aide, rehabilitation aide, home health aide, IV therapy for LPNs, medical office and coding, phlebotomy, dietary manager and ECG technician. First responder, anatomy, physiology and general education courses are also offered at OHEC. Medical transcription and radiography technician programs may be developed later. OHEC is JCCC’s first official green building, earning LEED gold status, thanks to, among other things, the use of a geothermal heat pump, low-fume paints and sealants, and recycled building materials. The LEED program (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a nationally recognized green building certification system supervised by the U.S. Green Building Council.

IdaBeth Slavin, alumna JCCC received the 2011 Spring Hill Chamber of Commerce Business of the Year award in the service area. The nomination recognized the college’s assistance with chamber-sponsored “Lunch and Learn” programs on customer service, marketing and staﬀ development for small business owners in Spring Hill. It also praised the Center for Business and Technology’s range of services to businesses and programs that stay abreast of technology training needs. JCCC received high marks from Johnson County residents surveyed through a “community scan” sponsored by the Overland Park Chamber of Commerce Foundation. Asked if they had a favorable or unfavorable impression of JCCC, 93 percent of both voters and businesses said “favorable,“ and 68 percent of voters said strongly favorable. The voters and businesses said JCCC plays a key role in economic development in Johnson County, with 83 percent of voters calling higher education at JCCC critical for economic development, and 84 percent of businesses agreeing. Both groups believed JCCC is preparing a workforce that is ready for the jobs and careers of today and of the future; 85 percent of voters agreed with the statement and 76 percent of businesses agreed. The survey was conducted in January 2012 by Neil Newhouse, Public Opinion Strategies, and used a double sample of registered voters through phone interviews, followed by an online survey of business representatives of the Overland Park, Shawnee, Leawood, Northeast Johnson County, De Soto and Spring Hill chambers of commerce.

In May 2012, JCCC broke ground for its new Hospitality and Culinary Academy. The new academy is located on the eastern side of the college campus, just south of the Regnier Center. In February 2010, the JCCC board of trustees challenged the JCCC Foundation to raise $3 million over 18 months to support the construction of a new hospitality/culinary center on campus. If the Foundation was able to raise $3 million in that time, the trustees pledged to give favorable consideration toward the construction of a new center on campus. The incentive for this action came through the Wysong Challenge, a set of initiatives intended to distinguish JCCC’s hospitality program at national and global levels. Former Kansas Senator David Wysong and his wife, Kathy, announced in May 2008 a $750,000 challenge gift to help raise funds in support of JCCC’s hospitality program, which eventually included the construction of a new facility. In July 2011, the Foundation met the Wysong Challenge by announcing to the JCCC trustees that $3,291,032 had been raised in support of the college’s hospitality and culinary program. Other funding for the project comes from the college’s capital outlay fund and capital reserves, which are restricted to capital projects. The $13 million, freestanding facility will accommodate the 700 students enrolled in the college’s nationally recognized hospitality management program, and provide space for noncredit classes and community activities, including new opportunities for workforce development and partnerships.

IdaBeth Slavin received a double bonus when she decided to attend JCCC. She received the nursing degree she always dreamed of, and her JCCC education prepared her for the work environment. “I initially started nursing school when I was 19, but I soon got married and didn’t finish,” Slavin said. “I eventually had children, so I stayed home to raise my three daughters.” Slavin said she started school again in 2005 at JCCC to “finish the degree I always wanted.” She didn’t look at too many other schools before choosing JCCC because she heard the nursing program was fantastic. She graduated and became a registered nurse in 2009. When Slavin began her first job as a nurse, she realized how well JCCC prepared her with the skills necessary to meet the demands of taking care of people. “I feel I had as many clinical hours in the JCCC program as any four-year university offers,” Slavin said. “Being able to work in the college’s state-ofthe-art simulation lab prepared me to be competent when I went out into the work environment.” Currently, Slavin is a registered nurse at Truman Medical Center, working primarily in the motherbaby unit. She’s also trained as a nursery nurse and helps out in the neonatal intensive care unit.

The 36,000-square-foot building will house seven kitchens – five culinary labs, an innovation kitchen and a demonstration kitchen in a culinary theater – as well as three classrooms. The five culinary labs include two for professional cooking classes, one for pastry classes, a garde manger or cold foods kitchen, and a restaurant kitchen. The restaurant kitchen will adjoin a dining room on the east end of the building that can be converted to two classrooms as needed. Hospitality management faculty and staff will be housed in the building within an office suite that accommodates 15 or more people, as well as work space for adjunct instructors, a conference room and a library. JCCC’s hospitality management program encompasses these different areas: chef apprenticeship, food and beverage management, hotel and lodging management, pastry/baking and dietary management. It is one of only 28 programs recognized by the American Culinary Federation Education Foundation Accrediting Commission (ACFEF) as an “exemplary program,” meaning that it meets the highest educational standards recognized by ACFEF by maintaining consistent compliance with all ACFEF requirements, coupled with excellence in management. The American Culinary Foundation recognized JCCC in June 2012 as being one of three programs in the country to have been continuously accredited for 25 years. The academy will open for classes in fall 2013. DLR Group in Overland Park designed the building; J.E. Dunn is the general contractor. 8

In 2012, JCCC completed its first rebranding effort, a purposeful look at the college’s current perceptions and attributes and its aspirations for the future. Through Bernstein-Rein, the well-regarded Kansas City agency, the college talked to current students, alumni, future students, faculty, staff and community members in a series of world cafés and focus groups. From participants’ responses, the agency crafted a new college logo and helped set JCCC on its way with a new message. JCCC’s old brand identity included its sunflower logo, which dated from 1969. The college’s new logo retains not only the sunflower’s petals, but its single open petal, which represents the college’s openness to new ideas as it strives to serve the community. Overall, in the focus groups the petal logo was the most well-liked design among those shown; it was the overwhelming favorite among both current students and alumni segments. Its new colors reflect the attributes and perceptions uncovered in the world cafés. According to current color theory, greens express the idea of self-investigation and intellectual experience; blues communicate creative viewpoints and future-based planning; and yellows and gold convey comfort and warmth. However, a college’s “brand” is more than just its logo; it reflects its institutional identity and its institutional values, and describes a stakeholder’s experience or impression of the institution. If the branding is no longer an accurate representation of what JCCC means to and does for its stakeholders, then it’s time it was updated and refined.

Fred Krebs, professor The goal was to understand what stakeholders thought about JCCC and to see the gaps between where it was and where it wanted to be. From that, the college could work to better meet its goal of becoming a first-choice college focused on student success, with branding that reflects where JCCC is headed in a new century. Dr. Terry Calaway, JCCC president, and Dr. Marilyn Rhinehart, executive vice president, Academic Affairs, worked with the Kansas Board of Regents to improve the process for community college transfer students. The difficulty students had experienced in transferring credit hours from Kansas community colleges to four-year Regents institutions in the state was often a barrier to achieving their higher education goals. In June 2012, KBOR approved 17 general education college courses, ranging from American government to world geography, that would automatically transfer among 32 public higher education institutions in the state. Depending on the credit hours taken and awarded, students are now able to seamlessly transfer 55 to 59 credit hours from community colleges to four-year institutions in Kansas. More courses are expected to be approved for automatic transfer in 2012-2013.

Fred Krebs was reminiscing about his living history portrayal of Benjamin Franklin when the phone rang. Could the professor attend a community event in Great Bend, Kan., and talk about the major role that town team baseball has played in building small communities, the woman on the other end of the line wanted to know. “Oh, it just sounds like a ball,” Krebs said, accepting the invitation. “But it’s only fair to tell you I’m a big lover of hot dogs.” Community events and hot dogs have been a big part of the last 25 years for Krebs, a long-time history professor at JCCC. His costumed portrayals of Benjamin Franklin, Kansas newspaper editor William Allen White and a dozen or so other historical ﬁgures have taken him to 23 states and earned him notoriety in Chautauqua circles across the country. The town team gig just happened to slide into the lineup along the way. “I kind of thought people were losing their interest, but I keep getting phone calls,” he said. Recently, Krebs performed at the opening of an American Library Association traveling exhibit on Benjamin Franklin at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston. He’s donned the Franklin wig and attire for U.S. Constitution Day at JCCC. And he portrayed Huey Long, Louisiana’s populist governor, at Chautauqua events sponsored by the Kansas Humanities Council in Colby and Belleville. He still enjoys bringing history alive for audiences, he said, and so as long as people ask for him, he plans to keep at it. He also expects to continue teaching at the college, which he has been doing for 42 years.

The Center for Sustainability In December 2011, JCCC was awarded an EnergyWorks KC Green Jobs Workforce Development grant from the Mid-America Regional Council. The $49,950 grant helped the center develop a sustainability hospitality internship option for students in the college’s hospitality management program. Students in the program are required to complete a 360-hour internship in the hospitality industry. The grant will develop additional options for students to consider. The sustainability-focused internships began with a single pilot in the spring 2012 semester at EBT Restaurant, Kansas City, Mo. Internships will continue for three more students in the fall 2012 and spring 2013 semesters. Students are trained in best practices for saving energy and water, reducing waste through recycling and composting programs, using environmentally friendly cleaners and chemicals, and reducing supply chain waste and pollution through the use of local product purchases. They use that knowledge to work with restaurant and hotel managers to identify how the facility could implement the practices. Students also help institute mechanisms to track the eﬀects of what they implement to identify how much money has been saved; the goal is to demonstrate to other area restaurants and hotels that sustainable practices are worthy investments. Funds from the grant are used to pay the student interns and provide participating restaurants and hotels with up to $2,600 to implement the practices. Funding is also provided to restaurants if they 10

choose to participate in the Green Restaurant Association’s certification program. The program has been in place since 1990 and provides a comprehensive list of standards that restaurants must meet in order to achieve certification. EBT Restaurant is expected to become the area’s first non-franchise, full-service restaurant to achieve certification. The internship program is designed to meet the EnergyWorks KC Green Jobs Workforce goals of establishing a green jobs pipeline for the Kansas City metropolitan area, in this case in the hospitality management field, and of increasing building energy efficiency and water conservation practices in the metropolitan area. Ten area restaurants have also expressed interest in the green internship program, and it has won the support of the Greater Kansas City Restaurant Association. During the spring 2012 semester, JCCC partnered with Studio 804, a design/build program at the University of Kansas School of Architecture and Urban Planning, to construct a classroom building on the JCCC campus. The 3,000-square-foot Galileo’s Pavilion was built on existing green space between the Science building and the multilevel Galileo’s Garden parking garage on campus. The building was designed to achieve LEED platinum certification and houses two classrooms and a student lounge. Construction began in December 2011; the building opened for classes in fall 2012.

Peter Gaskamp, graduate Each year, architecture students in the KU program design and construct a building over the course of an academic year, gaining practical experience in bringing a design to fruition. The KU students were able to construct the building for about half of its projected $1.45 million estimated cost by donating their labor and by creative use of building materials. The building houses two classrooms and a lounge. Clad in reclaimed gray slate chalkboards, the building incorporates such energy-saving features as photovoltaic solar panels on the roof, a small 2-kilowatt wind turbine, LED lighting, sedum rooftop plants, and a rain-collecting cistern that will be used to water living walls of plants on the north sides of both classrooms as well as the lounge. The two classrooms ﬂank a courtyard and are connected by the wing housing the lounge. The courtyard is home to the college’s Galileo’s Garden sculpture by Dale Eldred. Studio 804 students designed and constructed the building, which cost an estimated $700,000, a portion of which was paid for by JCCC students through a $1-per-credit-hour green fee. The remainder of the funds for the building came from the college’s campus development and capital outlay funds. In 2011-2012, the college’s new composting program led to 33 tons of organic waste being diverted from the landﬁll. The compost, derived from waste from JCCC’s kitchens, is used as soil amendment for the campus farm and landscaping. The 2.5-acre JCCC farm is entering its second year of production, with sales to the college’s dining

services, its culinary program and local communitysupported agriculture cooperatives. The farm supports the college’s sustainable agriculture program. In 2011-2012, the college switched to a single-stream recycling system and launched the E3 Office Program, which stresses efficiency in resources used in college offices. Compared to 2010, the college reduced its overall landfill tonnage by 13 percent over the course of the year. Savings from reduced landfill costs combined with recycling revenue brought more than $22,000 to the college. In October 2011, JCCC held the Kansas City area’s first student-centered sustainability conference, Epicenter, attended by nearly 150 students from 17 area high schools and regional higher education institutions. Epicenter 2011 was envisioned as a platform for students to learn about sustainability, share resources and initiatives from their own schools, and generate and inspire student sustainability leadership. Keynote speaker Alex Steffen, co-founder of Worldchanging, was followed by peer presenters who shared their experiences with making their campuses more efficient, climate change solutions, pursuit of green jobs, and establishing and operating a student green fee. Federal earmark funding and a contribution from the JCCC sustainability initiatives fund made it possible for students to attend free of charge. The event was such a success that Epicenter 2012 was held at JCCC in October.

Peter Gaskamp’s college path initially took many turns. Now, this JCCC graduate is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Kansas. After high school graduation in 2001, Gaskamp enrolled at a four-year university. That lasted one year because, he said, he lacked interest in studying. “I did ok as a student, but I didn’t have any direction,” Gaskamp recalled. “I lacked an interest in anything in particular. So, I quit college and did other things for a while.” Gaskamp said he finally realized where his life was heading if he didn’t further his education. “I knew I needed to get back into the classroom,”he said. “Once I did, something clicked this time. I was motivated.” When Gaskamp first started at JCCC, he focused on studying and making good grades. He initially overlooked opportunities for involvement. “I dragged my feet because I was mainly here to study hard and get good grades,”Gaskamp said. “But [a professor] finally convinced me that it would be good for me to get involved. He encouraged me to join the Student Environmental Alliance. Opportunities started to open up, and I got involved in other groups and committees on campus.” It was that involvement in JCCC sustainability efforts that led to Gaskamp’s interest in transferring to a four-year university to pursue a degree in civil engineering with an emphasis in environmental studies. “Connecting with others in my extracurricular roles helped me communicate better with people,” he said. “I think being involved and being successful in the classroom plays into the whole college experience.”

Faculty and staff awards and honors Darcy McGrath, director, Grants Leadership and Development, served as the 2011-2012 president of the National Council for Continuing Education and Training. Anita Tebbe, professor and chair, Legal Studies, received a Kansas Council for Workforce Education Leadership Award. The award recognizes any KCWE member who has developed model programs, provided leadership, conducted research or been involved in any other activity that advances the status and visibility of career and technical education within Kansas or beyond. Elisa Waldman, consultant for the JCCC Kansas Small Business Development Center, was selected as the 2011 State Star of the KSBDC Network and as the Star Performer by the Association of Small Business Development Centers. The State Star award recognizes individuals who demonstrate excellence in work performance, initiative and creativity that results in improved operating efficiency, exceptional assistance to clients, and an effort to enhance the image of the KSBDC Network. JCCC’s College Scholars program presents members of the college’s own faculty, showcasing their research and scholarly contributions to knowledge within their academic discipline. In November 2011, Kiran Jayarm, adjunct assistant 12

professor, anthropology, presented Capital Changes: Seeing the Similarities and Diﬀerences Among Haitian Migrants in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. In April 2012, Dr. James Leiker, professor, history, and director, Kansas Studies Institute, talked about the exodus of the Northern Cheyenne Indians from Indian Territory in 1878, as well as the cultural memories of the remaining Cheyenne community. The Northern Cheyenne Exodus in History and Memory is the title of Leiker’s book, co-authored with Ramon Powers, which was published in fall 2011 by Oklahoma University Press. The book was selected as a 2012 Kansas Notable Book and won the Great Plains Distinguished Book Prize, administered by the Center for Great Plains Studies, which emphasizes the interdisciplinary importance of the Great Plains in today’s publishing and educational market. LeAnn Cunningham, employment relations and internship coordinator, received the Kansas Association of Colleges and Employers Career Services Member of the Year Award; she is also the group’s president-elect. Ten JCCC faculty received Distinguished Service Awards, bestowed in recognition and reward of teaching excellence: Diane Davis, associate professor, English; Dr. Nancy Holcroft, associate professor, science; Tom Hughes, professor/chair,

Brien Moylan, College Now student computer-aided drafting and design; Dr. Toby Klinger, professor, psychology and gender and women’s studies; Mark Raduziner, professor, journalism; Charis Sawyer, professor/chair, reading; Dr. David Seibel, professor, science; Dr. Lekha Sreedhar, associate professor, science; Dr. Deb Williams, associate professor, biology and environmental science; and Dr. Brian Wright, associate professor, political science. Two JCCC faculty members were spotlighted in the January 2012 issue of Ingram’s magazine. Fred Krebs, professor, history, was one of nine educators named “2012 Icons of Education” by the magazine. The designation recognizes the best of what education in the region has to offer. The article noted Krebs’ use of period costumes and character portrayals to encourage his audience to read more books, think about the significance of the characters he portrays and consider history within the humanities context. It also praised his efforts to teach students to think, write and discuss history. Lafayette Norwood, head men’s golf coach, was named one of the magazine’s “50 Kansans You Should Know.” Norwood was recognized for his career before coming to JCCC – he’s one of only two Kansans to have both played on and coached a high school championship basketball team. Norwood played for Wichita East High School and coached the 1976-1977 Wichita Heights High School team to an undefeated season and state title. Norwood came to JCCC as head men’s basketball coach in 1982. He shifted to golf and has coached the JCCC golf team for 19 years.

Three JCCC faculty members won the National Institute for Staﬀ and Organizational Development Excellence Award: Daniel Hoerz, associate professor, hospitality management; Susan Pettyjohn, professor, mathematics; and Irene Schmidt, adjunct professor, foreign language. Felix Sturmer, associate professor, hospitality management, received the Greater Kansas City Chefs Association President’s Award. The President’s Award is given at the discretion of the organization’s president to an individual associated with the group in recognition of that person’s outstanding contributions and/or performance for the betterment of the association. Six adjunct faculty members won the Lieberman Adjunct Faculty Award, which recognizes outstanding performance by an adjunct faculty member. They are Judy Follo, adjunct associate professor, science; Eugenio Gonzalez, adjunct professor, foreign language; Hugh King, adjunct associate professor, railroad operations; Dr. John Mack, adjunct associate professor, history; Kazuyo Rambach, adjunct professor, foreign language; and Glenna Stites, adjunct professor, information systems. Through a gift from BNSF Railway, ﬁve faculty members were recognized for outstanding performance. Recipients were Terri Easley, associate professor, speech; Rochelle Quinn, associate professor, nursing;

Brien Moylan said he’s glad he took automotive classes at JCCC while he was still in high school. His friends are pretty happy about it, too. “I guess I am now like the technician of my friend group, because they don’t know anything. ‘Hey, my car exploded. What do I do?’…They’ll call me,” Moylan said. Moylan’s skills under the hood came from enrolling in the introductory class in automotive technology at JCCC. He liked the class so much that he enrolled in more classes. He graduated from Blue Valley Northwest High School with credits not only in auto tech but also American history and advanced placement statistics, made possible through two JCCC programs. College Now allows students to take classes at their high school for college credit, as Moylan did with his history and statistics classes. Quick Step allows students to take classes on the JCCC campus, which Moylan did for his auto tech classes. In some cases, students receive both high school credit and college credit for the same class. His automotive technology professors were quite helpful, he said. “I came in knowing nothing, so to me they were very knowledgeable and way helpful,” Moylan said. They taught him the basics of car maintenance and repair, the way a vehicle works and the importance of precision. After college, Moylan said he hopes he’s working in vehicle repair as a shop foreman or in some other supervisory position. Wherever he lands, he’ll be near a vehicle.

Dr. Lori Slavin, associate professor, science; Dr. Allison Smith, associate professor, art history; and Dr. Lekha Sreedhar, associate professor, horticulture. Three JCCC professors participated in National Endowment for the Humanities-sponsored programs last summer. Dr. Andrea Broomﬁeld, professor, English, was selected to participate in the NEH Landmarks of American History and Culture workshop for community college teachers titled “Along the Shore: Landmarks of Brooklyn's Industrial Waterfront.” Broomﬁeld used the seminar to help with some of the key archival research for her current book about dining on trans-Atlantic ships around the time of the Titanic. Dr. Carmaletta Williams, professor, English, participated in a Landmarks of American History and Culture workshop for community college teachers titled “African American History and Culture in the Georgia Lowcountry: Savannah and the Coastal Islands, 1750-1950.”This workshop deepened Williams’ knowledge of the African American presence in this area and allowed her an opportunity for archival research for her next book about enslaved black women who were mothers.

Dr. Michael Hembree, professor, history, participated in the NEH Summer Institute titled “The Legacy of Ancient Italy: The Etruscan and Early Roman City.”This institute enabled Hembree, whose specialty is modern Italian history, to deepen his understanding of ancient Italy, which will be useful in teaching Western Civilization I, which requires a number of readings from ancient Rome. Edward Adel, assistant professor, hospitality management, won the Galbani Mozzarella Caprese Challenge, a recipe and cooking competition held during the American Culinary Federation Central Region Conference. He placed ﬁrst in the national competition during the summer. In April 2012, JCCC’s Dining Services won a silver sustainability award from the National Association of College and University Food Services in the waste management category. The award recognizes and honors member institutions that have demonstrated outstanding leadership in the promotion and implementation of environmental sustainability, speciﬁcally as it relates to campus dining operations.

Sharon Smith, alumna Sharon Smith decided to attend college for the same reason she received her GED. She wanted to prove a point to her three young children.

Student awards and honors The JCCC culinary team earned two gold and two silver medals, including Best of Category and Best of Show awards, in the Robert Bland Culinary Salon in October 2011. The event is an American Culinary Federation-sanctioned competition. Student Ian Denney received an individual gold award for his hot food. Mayla Kritski, chef apprentice in JCCC’s Dining Services, was named the Greater Kansas City Chef’s Association Apprentice of the Year in January 2012. She was one of seven nominees for the award; JCCC graduate Lynn Herrick was the runner-up. Apprentices were judged on their grade point average, evaluation from their supervising chef, Junior Chef Club points, an interview and the log book the apprentices keep each semester. Also in January, the culinary team won a silver award in the hot foods category at a culinary competition held at Madison Area Technical College in Madison, Wisc. Students Delci Reimer, Jordan Rainbolt and Ian Denny earned bronze medals in the professional category for the individual hot foods competition. At the American Culinary Federation Central Region Conference in April 2012, the culinary team won a gold medal in competition against eight other state teams, and the Knowledge Bowl team won a silver medal in a tough competition against nine other teams. Culinary team members also included Thuan Bui, captain, Mayla Kritski, Sophie Buell,

Sophia Elmer, Adam Glass and Sally Wilson. Faculty advisers and coaches are Edward Adel and Felix Sturmer. The Knowledge Bowl team members were Steve Copeland, Blaise Truesdale, Jeff Ward, Tim Hu and James Rundle. Student journalists from The Campus Ledger, JCCC’s student newspaper, brought home three awards from the National College Media Convention in October 2011. The awards honored work by the 2010-2011 staff. A few days later, The Campus Ledger earned 17 individual Gold Circle Awards from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association. CSPA recognizes college media outlets for work produced and published between June 2010 and June 2011. The Campus Ledger also earned three Associated College Press awards from the National College Media Convention and a sixth-place ranking in the Best of Show category for two-year college newspapers at the Associated Press’s National College Journalism Convention. Student journalists representing all three of the college’s Student News Center’s media outlets brought home 10 awards from the Society of Professional Journalists’ Region 7 spring conference in March 2012. Winning first-place awards were Telene Jordaan, radio feature; Joshua Browning, television feature photography; Mackenzie Clark, feature writing; Hannah Hunsinger, photo illustration; Michael House, feature photography;

“If I was going to teach my children and expect them to get their high school diplomas, I needed to have my own,” Smith said. “And, if I wanted them to go to college, I needed to go to college, too.” Smith explained her family traveled a lot when she was young. Her mother was married to a member of the military, and the family traveled with him. “I don’t think I stayed in a school more than six months to a year,” Smith said. “My family has always been my focus,” she said. “Then school became my focus when education became more important to my children. With my husband’s support, I worked to get my GED and then decided to attend college. Johnson County Community College allowed me to schedule classes while still having time to home-school my kids and work on weekends.” Wasting little time, Smith focused on her education at JCCC. While here, she fulﬁlled all prerequisites needed to transfer to the University of MissouriKansas City to pursue a bachelor’s degree in teaching. With her high grade point average, Smith was a member of Phi Theta Kappa. She was also a tutor in the JCCC Writing Center. So, what do Smith’s children think of their collegebound mother? “They think I am the smartest person in the world,” she said, beaming with pride.

Hannah Hunsinger and Aaron Wagner, general news photography; and The Campus Ledger staff, editorial writing. Second-place awards went to Tasha Cook, sports writing, and The Campus Ledger staff, best all-around nondaily student newspaper. Cook also received a third-place award for general news reporting. In 2011-2012, students Rachel Kimbrough and Mackenzie Clark served as editors-in-chief of The Campus Ledger, Joshua Browning as the ECAV Radio station manager and Amy Follmer as the JCAV Video Productions executive producer. Corbin Crable was adviser to The Campus Ledger, Molly Baumgardner to ECAV Radio, and Baumgardner and Joe Petrie to JCAV Video Production. In January 2012, JCCC student Tony Cintrony won the Stage Directors and Choreographers directing event at the Region 5 Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. Student Erik Meixelsperger was chosen as the first alternate behind the two winners in the Irene Ryan acting auditions at the festival. The acting competition drew 298 nominees from across the region for the first round, including five JCCC students and their acting partners. Three advanced to the round of 64 semifinalists: Meixelsperger, Teddy Trice and Amanda Beeler. Meixelsperger’s scene partner was Kendra Verhage. In all, 21 JCCC theatre students and four faculty members from the department of music and theatre attended the festival. The department was invited to stage its production of Anatomy of Gray there, marking the second year in a row that JCCC 16

was invited to bring a show. Anatomy of Gray received tremendous feedback from festival participants. JCCC’s Academic Excellence Challenge Team won the community college sectional championship tournament in January 2012. Team captain Neeraj Bang was named the outstanding player; other team members were Hoi Chun, Allison Cooper, Gina Galanou, Bruna Iacuzzi, Silvana Palau Valiente and Narinder Singh. The team is coached by Mindy Kinnaman, manager, student life and leadership development. Students Silvana Palau Valiente and Narinder Singh represented JCCC on the All-Kansas Academic Team, sponsored by the Phi Theta Kappa international honor society, the Kansas Association of Community College Trustees and the Kansas Council of Community College Presidents. Gina Galanou was one of 162 students from 32 states honored by Campus Compact as 2012 Newman Civic Fellows. The Fellows Awards recognize inspiring college student leaders who have worked to ﬁnd solutions for challenges facing their communities through service, communitybased research and advocacy. At JCCC, Galanou was president of the Student Senate and a Student Engagement Ambassador. She was also a member of JCCC’s International Club, the Academic Excellence Challenge team and Phi Theta Kappa, the honor society for students attending two-year

Andrea Broomﬁeld, professor colleges. In the community, she worked with Harvesters, the Don Bosco Center, Heart to Heart, the Lose the Training Wheels Bike Camp and the Ethnic Enrichment Festival.

McKendree University and JCCC. In February 2012, at the Midwest Model United Nations Conference, the team won three awards for its portrayal of Canada: the Outstanding Delegate Choice Award, the Outstanding Position Paper Award, both of which went to student Ben Brown, and an honorable Students in JCCC’s graphic design program won mention, which went to Aaron Haffey for his American Advertising Federation District 9 ADDY® portrayal of Canada’s position on the Commission on awards in March 2012. Winning gold awards were Science and Technology Committee regarding the students in the Advanced Typography class for issues of intellectual property rights and the role of editorial design series, JoAnn Arello for a poster science and technology in development. and a mixed media campaign, and Ariel Kramer Then in March 2012, the team received a for a mixed media campaign. Distinguished Delegation Award for its portrayal of Kenya at the National Model United Nations Interior design students were featured in the 43rd Conference. The award is based upon team members’ Symphony Designers’ Showhouse in April 2012. ability to stay in character (such as advocating for the Constance Smithwick, Deb King and Molly assigned country’s position), to participate in Bowen worked with Jan Cummings, professor, committee in both formal and informal caucusing interior design, to create a design studio and sessions, and to follow proper NMUN procedures. JCCC creative refuge on the third floor of the showhouse. also received an Outstanding Position Paper award, Student Jenna Hays created CAD drawings of the which recognizes pre-conference preparation, for the showhouse that appear in a book that showcases General Assembly Third Committee on the topics of each room and its designers. Combating Human Trafficking, Development and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and Transnational Organized Crime. JCCC’s Model United Nations Team received two JCCC’s Model UN hosted students from the college’s Outstanding Delegation awards at the American Model United Nations Conference in November 2011. partner school, Northwestern Polytechnic University in X’ian, China, in March 2012, as well as the Metro The first accolade was the Policy Overall Best Kansas City Model United Nations conference in April Delegation award, given for best representation of policies for JCCC’s assigned country, Cuba. The second 2012 for more than 250 area high school students. was an Outstanding Delegation award for representing Model United Nations allows students to understand Cuba’s economic and financial policies. Only five the international issues at the United Nations and at schools received this top award: University of the same time build skills in public speaking and Wisconsin, University of Chicago, Austin College, diplomacy. In the last seven years the JCCC Model

For 21st-century Americans beckoned by fast-food joints and cafés on every corner, it can be difficult to imagine a world where restaurants were intimidating. But Dr. Andrea Broomfield, professor, English, explains why – and how that intimidation was conquered – in a recent article in Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture. Broomfield combined her studies of Victorian journalism, food and history to write about the life of Nathaniel Newnham-Davis. Newnham-Davis was an obscure restaurant reviewer who wrote about dining for a new type of customer – the middle class. In early 20th-century London, Broomfield explained, restaurants were complicated affairs where customers needed to show off their sophistication – or be shown the door. The middle class wasn’t versed in restaurant etiquette. The taverns and chophouses they frequented plopped the food in front of them without much fanfare. A menu was a foreign object. Few dared venture into the London restaurants that catered to the wealthy and powerful, Broomfield said. “Dining for the middle class was a means of closing deals or fueling your body, but it was not done just for fun.” Newnham-Davis wrote reviews that aimed to demystify the restaurant, offering readers advice on how to select from the intricate menus, even providing the names of maître d’s and waiters so patrons could enlist their help in the dining experience. His reviews of restaurants first appeared in the newspaper and then were reprinted in book form. Those books became instructional guides for the middle class to follow, leading to a restaurant revolution where families began to dine outside the home. “It took away all the mystery, so people could go into restaurants and not be embarrassed. Suddenly it became more popular to dine out, and he instigated that popularity,”Broomfield said. 17

United Nations has received awards at all 23 consecutive conferences they have attended. Dr. Brian Wright, associate professor, political science, is the team’s adviser. In September 2011, JCCC’s debate team advanced to the elimination round tournaments at the University of Northern Iowa, the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and the University of Central Oklahoma, and won several individual awards at each tournament. At the Missouri State University debate tournament, the team won the championship in the novice division, advanced to the quarterfinals in the junior varsity division and garnered more individual speaker awards. Two teams advanced to the elimination rounds at a tournament in October 2011 at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, while four individuals received speaker awards, and two teams advanced to elimination rounds at the University of Central Oklahoma tournament in November. In January 2012, the team competed in two backto-back tournaments in Texas, placing twice in the final rounds and winning multiple speaker awards, and advanced to the semifinals and winning three speaker awards at the University of Missouri-Kansas City tournament. The team had its best tournament of the season in February 2012 at Kansas State University. Four teams went to the elimination rounds, finishing in second place in the novice division and winning the junior varsity division. In addition, seven debaters earned individual speaking awards. In March, the team was named the third-place 18

recipient in the Cross-Examination Debate Association Public Sphere Award, and two JCCC debaters, Candace Villanueva and Patrick Solecki, were selected to the 2011-2012 All American Debate Team. JCCC was one of only two community colleges in the country that had two students selected. The team gave showcase public debates in the fall and spring, debating whether the United States should support democratic movements in the Middle East and North Africa, which decade in the 20th century was the best, and whether the current generation of children and adolescents are too coddled. The team is coached by Justin Stanley, assistant professor, speech and debate, and Daniel Stout, assistant debate coach. Student Stella Sudekum was awarded a Gilman Scholarship for a four-week summer program in Italy. She took an art restoration workshop in Florence and spent a week in Rocca Imperiala, Calabria, for hands-on experience with art in a church undergoing restoration. Student Joanna Swieton was selected as one of 75 participants in a year-long, federally funded fellowship for study and work in Germany. The fashion design major attended a two-month intensive German language course, studied at a German university or professional school for four months, and then completed a ﬁve-month internship with a German company.

Emily Menez, graduate

Athletics In 2011-2012, the entire JCCC athletics department compiled a cumulative grade point average of 2.94; ﬁve teams compiled a team grade point average of 3.0 or better. The baseball team had the highest team GPA at 3.26, followed by women’s soccer (3.16), men’s tennis (3.13), women’s basketball (3.08) and softball (3.01). In fall 2011, 54 percent of JCCC’s student-athletes (120 of 222) maintained a grade point average of 3.0 or better, and 20 recorded a perfect 4.0. The women’s soccer team had the most 4.0 students with four, followed by the women’s basketball and men’s tennis teams with three. Some of the top teams last fall were women’s basketball with 79 percent of its roster at 3.0 or better. Baseball was at 73 percent, women’s tennis 63 percent, athletic training 60 percent, dance 58 percent, softball 56 percent, volleyball 55 percent, and men’s tennis and women’s cross country 50 percent. Fifteen student-athletes were honored by the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) for academic excellence. One student, Mary Pat Specht of the women’s basketball team, received the NJCAA Pinnacle Award for Academic Excellence with a 4.0 grade point average. Seven students earned a superior award, compiling a grade point average of 3.80 to 3.99. Those seven are Jessica Andersen (volleyball), Elisabeth Barnes (women’s soccer), Evan Brummett (baseball), Jessica Jacob (women’s soccer), Maisha Mitchell (women’s track), Javier Segura

(men’s cross country and track) and Haley Wagner (women’s soccer). Seven students earned an exemplary award for compiling a grade point average between 3.60 and 3.79. Those seven are Luke Arnold (men’s track), Kylie Cooper (women’s basketball), Chad Shannon (baseball), Katherine Sharp (women’s soccer), Crystal Simon (volleyball), Jordan Slater (men’s soccer) and Elizabeth Walters (women’s tennis). The National Alliance of Two Year College Athletic Administrators sponsors the NATYCAA Cup, which is awarded each year in recognition of overall athletic performance at two-year institutions. The final standings for the 2011-2012 cup were announced at the NATYCAA annual convention in June, and JCCC finished third overall out of 192 colleges. The NATYCAA Cup program began in 2003-2004 to highlight excellence in two-year athletics based on success in championship competition. Points are accumulated throughout the year based on performance at national championship events. A first-place finish warrants 20 points, second-place 19 points, etc. JCCC finished with 117 points. The Lady Cavaliers compiled 60.5 points last year in championship events, and the men tallied 56.5. The JCCC women’s outdoor track and field team and the men’s cross country team each scored 16 points by finishing fifth in their respective national championships. Other top 10 national finishers turned in by JCCC teams were the women’s indoor track team, women’s and men’s basketball teams, men’s tennis team and the volleyball team.

Life can be funny sometimes, so JCCC graduate Emily Menez took her comedic humor to New York City as an intern for the long-running NBC comedy, Saturday Night Live. Menez has always had a knack for comedy and knew that she wanted to be a writer. That dream brought her ﬁrst to JCCC and then to Ithaca College, where she is currently pursuing her bachelor of science degree in television and radio broadcasting. “I began writing plays when I was about 12 years old,” Menez said. “From there I moved into screen plays and an interest in television writing and comedy.” At Ithaca, she began looking for internship opportunities. A professor, knowing that she was interested in comedy, suggested she apply at Saturday Night Live. Menez went through the application process and was one of three interns selected. Her experiences and duties at Saturday Night Live varied. Mostly she assisted writers in the script department with copies to be sure all of the performers had up-to-date scripts. “The most exciting thing for me is the opportunity to work alongside the writers to see ﬁrsthand how the script-writing process works,”she said. If everything goes her way, Menez will travel across the country, this time to the West Coast. She is investigating other internship opportunities for the spring 2013 semester, once again in the writing department of a television comedy. “I would like to do another internship in comedy,”she said, “this time maybe with the Conan (O’Brien) show in Los Angeles.” Menez plans on graduating from Ithaca College in May 2013. After that, she says that she would like to pursue a career in television comedy writing.

Baseball

was the NJCAA District 2 Coach of the Year.

The JCCC baseball team reached 40 wins for the fourth time in ﬁve years in 2012 and won its second East Jayhawk Conference championship in three years. However, the Cavaliers’ bid to return to the World Series fell short with a 16-14 loss to Pratt in the Super Regional championship game. Down 11-0 early and trailing by seven runs in the ninth inning, JCCC stayed alive by plating seven runs to send the game into extra innings. Unfortunately, Pratt scored twice in the 10th to take the game and move on. Individually, eight players were selected as all-conference performers, and three were named as All-Region VI selections, the most in one year under head coach Kent Shelley.

Women’s basketball

Men’s basketball The Cavaliers were truly a Cinderella story in 2011-2012. Standing with a 12-18 record as the postseason began, the JCCC men’s basketball team caught fire, winning three straight road games to capture the Region VI and District 2 titles, earning a berth in the NJCAA D-II national tournament. At nationals, JCCC won its first game and was just one possession away from reaching the final four before settling for ninth place overall. The player who led the Cavaliers on their magical postseason run was Justin Leathers, this year’s JCCC Male Athlete of the Year. Leathers was named to the all-tournament team and earned all-conference and all-region honors. He finished his career with 1,121 points, third all-time, and had 541 career rebounds, making him just the fourth player at JCCC to score more than 1,000 points and collect more than 500 rebounds in a career. Head coach Mike Jeffers 20

It was another record-breaking season for the JCCC women’s basketball team. The Lady Cavaliers topped 30 wins, reached the Elite Eight at the NJCAA D-II tournament for a third straight year, and led the nation in team defense for a second consecutive season. The team also posted a perfect 18-0 record on its way to capturing an East Jayhawk Conference title, the ﬁrst for JCCC since 1989-1990. The team also won a record 25 straight games and was ranked the No. 1 team in the country 13 consecutive weeks. Individually, ﬁve players were recognized for their outstanding play in 2011-2012. Mary Pat Specht earned NJCAA and WBCA AllAmerican, all-region and all-conference honors. Amy Briggs was selected WBCA All-American and all-conference, while Brianna Kulas earned NJCAA All-American, all-region and all-conference. Polly Harrington was an all-region and all-conference pick, and Ameshia Kearney was selected allregion. Head coach Ben Conrad was the East Jayhawk Conference Coach of the Year for the second time in four years and the NJCAA District B Coach of the Year.

Cross country and track The 2011-2012 campaign was memorable for the JCCC cross country and track programs. The women became just the third program in the state to complete a Region VI triple crown by winning all three titles in cross country, indoor and outdoor track. They also won a conference triple crown. The men came close in their bid to win a region triple

James Leiker, professor crown, but did capture all conference titles. In national competitions, the Lady Cavaliers placed 12th at cross country nationals, fifth at the halfmarathon, seventh at indoor nationals and fifth at outdoor nationals. Their finish outdoors ties the best in the program’s history. The men placed fifth at cross country nationals, were runner-up at the halfmarathon and placed 12th at both the indoor and outdoor championships. Individually, the star of the season was sophomore Ashley Reid. She was named the Region VI Athlete of the Meet at both the indoor and outdoor championships and was selected the JCCC Female Athlete of the Year. She finished the track season as a six-time All-American, four-time region, and six-time conference champion. She also broke a 25-year school record in the high jump and set a new conference meet record in the triple jump. Mike Bloemker, the head coach, was the Region VI Indoor Coach of the Meet (men and women) and Region VI Outdoor Coach of the Meet (women), and was named the NJCAA Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Coach of the Year by the NJCAA Track and Field Coaches Association.

Golden Girls dance team In August 2011, the Golden Girls were awarded ﬁrst place in team dance, a silver plaque in game day routine, a blue ribbon superior rating, most improved team award, and a collegiate image award at a National Dance Alliance camp; two dancers were All-American winners and one was named best hip-hop dancer of the camp. In April 2012, the team attended the NDA Collegiate

Nationals and placed ﬁfth in ﬁnals, a new school record. The team also held two high school workshops and a junior dance day event for dancers ages 3 through 18; more than 30 dancers attended each event. Amy Sellers is the coach.

Golf Five and half points were all that separated the JCCC golf team from its fourth conference championship. The Cavaliers accumulated 56.5 points over six tournaments to finish in third place behind Dodge City (61) and Hutchinson (58). JCCC had one team victory, placed runner-up twice and had three third-place finishes for the season. The team also returned to the national tournament by placing fifth at district after failing to qualify the past two seasons. JCCC capped the year with a 17th place national finish. Individually, freshman Mario Funcic led the squad, finishing in a tie for 11th at nationals, making him the second JCCC player to earn NJCAA All-America honors. He also finished third in the conference point standings to earn firstteam honors. He was joined on the all-conference team by teammates Joey Morrisey, Devin Montague and Rick Hairgrove. Lafayette Norwood is the head coach.

The Northern Cheyenne Exodus in History and Memory, co-written by Dr. James Leiker, professor, history, and director, Kansas Studies Institute, has been named winner of two book prizes. The Center for Great Plains Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has bestowed the book with the Great Plains Distinguished Book Prize, and the Kansas Center for the Book at the State Library of Kansas selected the work as a 2012 Kansas Notable Book. Leiker co-wrote the book with Ramon Powers, emeritus director of the Kansas State Historical Society. The book is published by the University of Oklahoma Press and is available through it. The Northern Cheyenne Exodus in History and Memory tells the story of the forced exodus of the Northern Cheyennes from Indian Territory in 1878. The ﬁrst two chapters of the book are a retelling of the historic event, Leiker said, but the last three chapters examine the incident from the point of view of memory, of how the story is retold today, not only by the Cheyenne descendants but by the descendants of the white settlers – some of whom are still living in northwestern Kansas. “The real story here is the memory. Historians can go through the records – the newspaper accounts, the military documents – and we can pretty much piece together what happened. But the way people were remembering the story was vastly diﬀerent,” he said.

Men’s soccer For just the fourth time in 21 years, the JCCC men’s soccer team did not register double digits in victories. The Cavaliers experienced an up-anddown year, finishing 8-8-0 and in fifth place in the conference in 2011. Through the first 10 games, JCCC stood 4-6, but caught fire in October with four straight wins before dropping their final two 21

games, including a loss in the ﬁrst round of the playoﬀs. Three players earned postseason honors: Daniel Kessler was an all-conference and allregion performer, Devin Zvosec earned all-region, and Sercan Gunbatar was selected all-conference. The head coach is Fatai Ayoade.

Women’s soccer The women’s soccer team reached double digits in victories for a 13th straight season in 2011. The Lady Cavaliers ﬁnished 14-5-2, placed second in the conference and reached the semiﬁnals of the Region VI tournament. The season also saw head coach Jim Schwab win his 200th game with the program; his assistant coach, Wendy Louque, was selected the National Assistant Coach of the Year by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. The team also was given a NSCAA Ethics Award, which recognizes teams that exhibit fair play, sporting behavior and adherence to the laws of the game. Individually, six players received postseason honors. Three times during the season, JCCC athletes were recognized as National Players of the Week, the most by any team in the country.

Softball The softball program ushered in a new era in 20112012, as interim coach and former JCCC AllAmerican catcher Aubree Brattin took over the reins. In her rookie campaign, Brattin guided her team to a 43-10 record and a runner-up ﬁnish in the District E tournament. Her .811 winning percentage is the second-best recorded by a JCCC coach in his or her ﬁrst season. Individually, seven players were selected as All-District performers, and four earned all-conference honors. 22

Tennis The JCCC men’s and women’s tennis teams each qualified for their respective national tournaments with outstanding efforts at the Region VI championships. The men reached the championship in eight of the nine brackets. The women reached the championship match in five of the nine flights and came away with two titles. At nationals, the men finished eighth overall, giving the program its 22nd top-10 finish in team history, while the women finished 15th in the country. The head coach is Glen Moser.

Volleyball The JCCC volleyball team qualified for its sixth straight NJCAA Tournament (12th overall) in 2011. The Lady Cavaliers finished 2-2 in the tournament, placed 10th nationally and finished the season 26-13. They also were district champions and finished runner-up in the East Jayhawk Conference. Individually, four athletes earned postseason recognition. Emily Hester and Jessica Andersen garnered all-conference, all-region/district and All-American honors. Sara Slater was an all-region/district pick, and Emily Bragraw was named all-conference. Jennifer Ei is the head coach.

Luis Aparicio, student

Meeting community needs In August 2011, JCCC’s interpreter training program was one of nine in the United States to receive accreditation from the Commission on Collegiate Interpreter Education. JCCC is one of only two community colleges to be accredited at this time. Accreditation represents a distinguished accomplishment for the JCCC program and for Kansas. The college has the only interpreter training program in the state. JCCC’s program was one of the ﬁrst in the country when it was established in 1980 with funding from a federal grant. JCCC’s American Sign Language/English program is known for its high caliber of training, including a practicum of 270 ﬁeld hours. In October 2011, the U.S. Department of Labor awarded almost $2.9 million to JCCC to create and expand education programs in health information technology systems. The grant was given as part of the H-1B Technical Skills Training Grant Competition, which awarded more than $159 million in funds to 20 states and the District of Columbia. The grants are funded through fees paid by employers to bring foreign workers into the United States under the H-1B program, and are intended to raise the technical skill levels of American workers and, over time, help businesses reduce their need to use the H-1B program. The $2.9 million will develop and sustain a statewide training network (Kansas Health

Information Systems Training Network), train underemployed workers with updated job skills, and train unemployed workers with new skills to enter careers in health care information technology systems. The funds also provide job placement assistance in the health care information technology systems occupations in partnership with Hutchinson Community College and Kansas Workforce Investment Boards. Also in October 2011, the Kansas board of regents approved a new dietary manager certificate program at JCCC. The program prepares students to take the nationally recognized credentialing exam offered by the Certifying Board for Dietary Managers. A certified dietary manager (CDM) is a nationally recognized expert at managing dietary operations. Most CDMs work in health care – nursing homes, rehabilitation facilities, senior living communities or hospitals. Some work in correctional facilities, schools and the military. In health care settings, dietary managers often run food and nutrition departments, typically working in tandem with registered dietitians and other members of the healthcare team. They may provide supportive nutrition screening, documentation and care planning. CDMs are trained and qualified to manage menus, food purchasing and food preparation; apply nutrition principles; document nutrition information; ensure food safety and manage work teams. The new certificate program grew out of the

Luis Aparicio understands the importance of education. His schooling taught him a new language, and one day it may help him cure cancer. “Or something like that,” he said. “I want to do something to help all people.” Aparicio is studying molecular bioscience at JCCC. It’s a dream some might have considered impossible for an immigrant unable to speak English five years ago. But even then, Aparicio realized the road to a better life was through education. He enrolled in Wyandotte High School in Kansas City, Kan.; it was there he learned English. After high school, he had no idea what to do. Yet as his friends prepared to attend college, he started asking questions. He did some research and found out JCCC offers a molecular bioscience program. His friends confirmed that JCCC was a very good school, he said. “So I was like, ‘That’s my college.’” Aparicio said he chose molecular bioscience for two reasons: first, he has always loved science, even as a young boy in Mexico, and second, he always wanted a career where he could help people. He can also do that, he said, by acting as a role model in the Latino community. “Latinos have problems going to school and graduating,” Aparicio said. “I want to be a role model to them, so they can see me [in school] and say, ‘If he can do it, I can do it.’”

partnership between JCCC and the Olathe Medical Center. Dietary manager classes are held at the new Olathe Health Education Center on the OMC campus. In March 2012, the program received accreditation from the Association of Nutrition and Foodservice Professionals. Stan Herd, a Lawrence, Kan., artist known internationally for using the earth as his canvas, was commissioned to create one of his famous “earthworks” on the southwestern side of campus near the Horticultural Science Center. Its title is Kansa Man. The design began with a 90-foot circle on a quarter-acre of land between the outdoor horticulture garden and the road leading to the sports parking lots. Inside that circle is a petroglyph – a drawing or carving on rock in prehistoric times. Herd said the petroglyph was inspired in part by author William Least Heat Moon’s PrairyErth drawing of an ancient petroglyph in a book of the same name. Herd laid initial stonework in the fall, followed by plantings in the spring. The work was completed in fall 2012. Bill Kurtis, nationally known journalist and a native of southeast Kansas, gave a presentation sponsored by the Kansas Studies Institute (KSI) in October 2011. Kurtis discussed his eﬀorts to return the prairie lands near Sedan, Kan., to their native state, revive Sedan’s economy, and establish a company that revises the agribusiness model of feedlot cattle 24

to create healthier beef that is better for the environment, animals and consumers. KSI promotes research and teaching on the culture, history, economics and natural environment of Kansas. Dr. James Leiker, professor, history, is the director. The Kansas City chapter of the American Society for Training and Development (KC-ASTD) awarded JCCC its 2011 Best Practice Award in the design and development of a training program. The award recognizes the summer 2011 workforce development program, sponsored by Workforce Partnership, that taught computer and business skills to 48 young adults with a goal of placing them in employment within 60 days. The 21-day camp was held at JCCC and at Kansas City Kansas Community College locations in Wyandotte and Leavenworth counties. JCCC staﬀ who worked on the project were Tony Lacy, Jennifer Winchester, Melissa Reiss and Cheryl Schmitz. JCCC students who transfer to Kansas State University or Pittsburg State University while still shy of an associate’s degree now will be able to get that degree through new agreements between each school and JCCC. The agreement with K-State was signed in March 2012, the one with Pittsburg in May. Under the agreement, students who transfer to the university with at least 45 credit hours will be eligible to complete their remaining 19 credit hours for an associate’s degree while taking classes at the four-year school. In essence,

Jim Lane, dean the 19 credit hours will count toward their bachelor’s degree at the university and their associate’s degree at JCCC. The arrangement helps JCCC by improving the college’s completer rate. Many students take two years of classes at JCCC and are just one or two courses away from the degree when they transfer to a four-year school. Community colleges are under more pressure nationally to become accountable, and Kansas legislators and college leaders want to increase the number of students who earn degrees. University officials will notify all students who are eligible for the JCCC degree during their first semester at the four-year school. JCCC staff will then review the student’s transcript to determine if the university classes will count toward a JCCC degree. JCCC, as well as two other Kansas schools, is among 15 community colleges in six states participating in a collaborative project on developing Asian studies curricula. JCCC will serve as the project’s Kansas coordinator, with Dodge City Community College and Butler Community College, Eldorado, also participating. The three-year project, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities as part of its “Bridging Cultures” initiative for community colleges, is being coordinated by the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. A core group of 45 faculty members and administrators from the 15 schools will work with the East-West Center’s Asian Studies Development

Program to create new course syllabi, Web resources and public outreach activities exploring how different Asian societies approach issues of cultural difference. The project, which will focus on China and Southeast Asia, will explore how the arts, literature, knowledge systems, religious traditions and trade serve as cultural bridges; how different conceptions of personhood and community affect issues of cultural plurality; and how Asian perspectives on cultural difference might complement those that are prevalent in American undergraduate classrooms. The program is for community colleges, highlighting the fact that such institutions serve the broadest spectrum of Americans, including both college-age students and those returning to school later in life, often with an interest in developing new employment skills and knowledge. JCCC’s Continuing Education branch has developed a new pharmacy technician program in an effort to fill the growing need for trained help in area pharmacies. The program is the first of its kind at a community college in this area. The certificate takes approximately three semesters to complete and includes 600 contact hours. Nearly half of those hours are served as an extern, with more than 100 hours in a retail or community pharmacy, and more than 100 additional hours in an institutional pharmacy, such as in a hospital. Certificate holders will be ready to take the national certification examination offered by the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board.

During the last 20 years, a backstage office in the Carlsen Center was a second home for Jim Lane. From that hideaway, Lane prepared for the theatre classes he taught, designed sets as the designer/technical director for theatre productions, and helped run the music and theatre departments at JCCC. When you add in the evenings and weekends that he stayed late for rehearsals, you might understand why he considers his faculty and staff as his “brothers and sisters.” “We’re all just a big family,” Lane said. This year, Lane’s “family” grew significantly. As the new dean of arts, humanities and social sciences, the biggest division at the college, he is in charge not only of his replacement as chair of the music/theatre department but also of the heads of 12 other departments. Lane says he’s going to miss the theatre but anticipates the new challenges. Obviously, he said, one of them will be operating in a rocky economy with fewer dollars available to serve an increasing number of students. He also expects to be learning how to resolve conflicts, which could involve anything from a student’s grade to a disagreement among faculty. His goal, he said, will be to take care of the administrative chores so the faculty “can be the best teachers they can be.”

Classes are team-taught by pharmacists, current pharmacy technicians and other health care professionals. Students are taught to work under the direct supervision of a pharmacist to input prescription, physician and patient information into the pharmacy’s computer system; fill and compound prescriptions; prepare sterile solutions and intravenous solutions; obtain patient insurance and payment information; fill medication carts in hospitals and other health care institutions; take and order inventory; and process third-party payments. The certificate also includes classes in medical terminology, pharmacy calculations, anatomy and physiology, pharmacology and an introduction to pharmacy law. JCCC is collaborating with Serials Solutions®, a ProQuest® business unit, to develop Intota™, a software-as-a-service solution that supports the entire resource life cycle for libraries, including selection, acquisition, cataloging, discovery and fulfillment, regardless of resource type. The other development partners are Ball State University, Marist College, Oklahoma State University, the State University of New York at Geneseo, and the University at Buffalo, the State University of New York. JCCC students who want to earn a bachelor’s degree in avionics now have a clearer path to get there because of an agreement signed between JCCC and Kansas State University at Salina. The 26

agreement spells out which JCCC courses will transfer to the avionics program at Salina. The K-State program prepares students for electronic technology jobs in the aircraft industry. The signing took place in May 2012 at the Blue Valley School District’s Center for Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS) in Overland Park. JCCC officials hope to work out a plan that would allow Blue Valley students participating in CAPS programs to begin earning JCCC credits that eventually would count toward the bachelor's degree in avionics at K-State. In January 2012, Dr. Sheri Barrett became the director of the Office of Outcomes Assessment at JCCC. The major goal of outcomes assessment is to document and improve student learning with respect to JCCC’s student learning outcomes. Eight campus-wide outcomes are related not to specific class content, but to broader goals of higher education. Activities this year included the continued expansion of an institutional repository to document student learning and archive assessment reports generated by faculty; creation of websites to provide resources for faculty; and, since its inception in 2010, the awarding of 42 $500 outcomes assessment mini-grants, which gave faculty funds to support evidence-based initiatives to assess student learning outcomes in credit courses. In addition, workshops, brown bag “brownie” breaks and coffee breaks gave faculty forums in which to brainstorm, plan, develop, share and analyze data

Marcos Betancourt, student and discuss outcomes assessment. Assessment activities also brought about important curriculum changes, including on-site math tutors working with students in the practical nursing program, and the incorporation of photography and video technology into all journalism courses. Goals for 2012-2013 include, among others, the expansion of the role of outcomes assessment in the program evaluation process. With a focus on the future, JCCC created a Center for Innovation in 2011-2012. The center is tasked with thinking futuristically and challenging standard practices to develop new learning and leadership environments. The center’s long-term objectives focus on improving student experiences on campus and engaging student involvement as essential elements of success. The center doesn’t have a static staff; instead, it relies on a flexible arrangement of different groups so it can capitalize on the creativity of the college’s diverse experts. Three approaches are employed: strategic, synchronous and asynchronous. The strategic approach consists of four phases of development: input, creative practice, think tank and reflection. Twelve to 15 times a year, groups of six to eight participants from the faculty, staff and student populations and community groups convene to focus on a particular strategic topic – ranging from faculty development to the future of paper textbooks – with the intention of developing workable, fundable action plans. Topics are selected for relevance to the college’s strategic plan,

environmental scan and other key indicators. The synchronous approach provides opportunities for faculty, staﬀ, students and community members to engage in creative online discussions and share ideas about the future of the college. Groups are convened periodically and are challenged to think about what the community college of the 21st century should look like, as they juxtapose disparate concepts, problems and goals, and see what creative solutions they can come up with. Still to come is an asynchronous approach – a website modeled after Reddit.com. The JCCC site will allow contributors to post ideas that potentially beneﬁt the college. The site will be enabled with a public voting function, allowing visitors to be able to read what others have posted and vote on those ideas. The suggestions that rise to the top will be shared with college leaders for review and consideration. Dr. Jason Kovac serves as the innovation center’s executive director in addition to his duties as executive director of academic initiatives.

Marcos Betancourt grew up in South America, where his father supported a large family by owning and operating a shop where he repaired and painted cars. He moved to the Kansas City area in 2009. The business acumen Betancourt picked up from his father is helping him in the United States. Today he works with his brother in a family-owned flooring and installation company in northern Johnson County. Betancourt takes JCCC classes in the evening. His brother is taking JCCC classes in the morning. Betancourt started by taking art classes at JCCC. At the same time, his brother was starting his own company, and Betancourt began coming up with ideas to solve some of the issues he was facing. That’s when he visited with Donna Duffey, professor/chair, entrepreneurship, to identify some entrepreneurial classes to help him continue with business ideas to help his brother. Betancourt is nearing completion of an associate’s degree and two entrepreneurship certificates. “All the JCCC classes I’ve taken – from learning about franchising to improving my public speaking – helped me a lot,” he said. “Anyone starting a company or who has a company but needs a little boost should take some of the JCCC entrepreneurship classes. JCCC helped me in ways I never imagined.”

Career Pathways provides a framework for career development, giving students the opportunity to take academic and technical classes relevant to their career goals. Within each of the 16 career clusters, there are pathways that further deﬁne speciﬁc types of career opportunities students can pursue. In turn, within each pathway there are sets of specialized knowledge and skills that students must master in order to be competent in the career they are studying. Career Pathways provides a 27

seamless course of study between secondary and postsecondary education, which is nonrepetitive, sequential and developed jointly between educators at each level, and which eases student transition from one educational institution to the next. Increased attention is placed on the articulation from high school into community colleges and, through agreements, from community colleges into universities. Career Pathways encourages strong, comprehensive links between secondary and postsecondary institutions in Johnson, Douglas and Miami counties. A total of 1,165 students enrolled in the 13 high schools in those counties fit the definition of a Career Pathways student; 229 Career Pathways graduates attended JCCC in fall 2011. Students may enroll in college general education classes at off-campus College Close to Home sites throughout the county, including Gardner-Edgerton High School, De Soto High School, Eudora High School, Olathe Health Education Center, the college’s site at King’s Cove, KU Edwards Campus and the Lawrence Centennial School in Douglas County. More than 3,800 students took classes at these locations in 2011-2012. JCCC’s College Now is a credit program for county high school sophomores, juniors and seniors, or ninth-grade students identified as gifted with a current Individual Education Plan. College Now students enroll in selected college classes, such as composition or U.S. history, offered at and in 28

cooperation with the high school. The courses reflect the college’s content, objectives and assignments, and are taught on the high school campus by qualified high school teachers. During fall 2011, College Now enrollment totaled more than 2,500 students in 26 different locations. In spring 2012, more than 1,500 high school students were enrolled in College Now classes. Ninety-eight percent of College Now students continue their education at colleges and universities, and 97 percent of College Now students said their courses transferred for credit to colleges other than JCCC. Nearly 98 percent of students would recommend the program to a friend. Through the Quick Step program, high school students can be enrolled in more than 150 college courses. Instruction is provided by JCCC faculty and is usually held on the college campus. For fall 2011, more than 800 Quick Step students from area high schools were enrolled in JCCC courses. In spring 2012, more than 600 students were enrolled in Quick Step courses. JCCC also offers a unique program in the high schools called Quick Step Plus, or QS+. Students can earn credit in high school math and college algebra simultaneously through JCCC’s self-paced math offerings. A high school instructor teaches the course and gives the high school grade, while a JCCC professor oversees the self-paced aspect of study, administers all assessments for college credit and gives the JCCC grade. In 2011-2012, more than 1,100 students were enrolled in 90 sections of the course in 24 area high schools. Ninety-two percent

Kim Grubbs, professor of enrolled students earn transferable credit for college algebra with a grade of C or higher. JCCC and the Metropolitan Community College district in Kansas City, Mo., have developed cooperative agreements that allow Johnson County residents to enroll in selected career programs at MCC while paying the same cost per credit hour rates that Johnson County residents pay to attend JCCC. Conversely, Missouri residents may enroll in selected career programs offered at JCCC at resident Missouri tuition rates. Between JCCC and MCC, there are 34 cooperative programs offered to more than 350 students from both Johnson County and Missouri. Students in nontraditional careers are studying in a field in which more than 75 percent of the workforce is of the opposite gender. Examples are men in nursing and women in information technology. JCCC systematically works to inform students, parents, counselors, teachers, the community and businesses of the options, advantages and availability of nontraditional careers for male and female students. Each year more than 200 students participate in activities focusing on nontraditional careers. Through its On Your Site program, JCCC offers credit classes onsite at local businesses. The courses can be used to train or retrain employees in specific skills, or a company can offer employees general

education courses that count toward a college degree. During the 2011-2012 academic year, a technical writing class was oﬀered at the Lawrence Energy Center.

Preventative health is a relatively dull topic compared to the drama of a medical emergency. But for Kim Grubbs, it’s not all about the drama, it’s about saving lives. In the last few years, Grubbs, professor, emergency medical science, has cultivated a professional and personal interest in how to get people healthier. Grubbs, a paramedic and registered nurse, said he spent “the better part of a career in the back of an ambulance and in the emergency department” and realized that many of those life-or-death calls didn’t have to become emergencies if only the patients had taken better care of themselves. “I realized I was seeing these catastrophic illnesses that had disastrous consequences. So much of it was preventable, but the patients didn’t realize that,” he said. He set out to be a resource for education, and he’s given lectures at JCCC as part of College Now classes, staﬀ development days and the Nell Mitchell wellness series. He tweaks his delivery to ﬁt his audience. But the message remains the same: we can improve our health. “Prevention is so challenging, in part because as long as our bodies seem to be working OK, it’s tough to think something could be wrong,” he said. Grubbs’ advice for preventative health is four-fold. First is identifying your health risks. Second is a diet of foods low on the glycemic index (whole-grain, protein-rich foods that do not easily spike blood sugars). Third, of course, is exercise. He also advises people to stop smoking. “To become successful, you have to ask yourself, ‘Who is responsible for my health?’” Grubbs said. “Only when you take responsibility and say ‘I am responsible for my health’ will you see any true change.”

Events and speakers Gaylord Torrence, Fred and Virginia Merrill Senior Curator with the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, spoke in July 2011 about American Indian art. Danica McKellar, actress, best-selling author and advocate for math education, spoke at the conclusion of the Eastern Kansas Math Education Summit held July 2011 at JCCC, sponsored by the college, Kansas City Kansas Community College, Kansas State University and the University of Kansas. The presentation was underwritten by the Norman and Elaine Polsky Family Supporting Foundation within the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation in partnership with JCCC. In addition to appearing on television, McKellar has been honored in Britain’s esteemed Journal of Physics and the New York Times for her work in mathematics; her books encourage middle-school girls and their parents to master math concepts. In July 2011 nearly 400 runners participated in the fourth Start2Finish 5-K Run-Walk, co-sponsored by JCCC and the University of Kansas Edwards Campus. Race proceeds support scholarships for JCCC students who continue their education at KU Edwards Campus through Start2Finish, an educational partnership between the two institutions. Runners start at JCCC, run south on Quivira Road and ﬁnish the race at the KU Edwards Campus. The run has raised more than $50,000 for scholarships. 30

The annual Sustainability Expo and Dinner in September featured locally grown food paired with Kansas wines. Dinner guests had the opportunity to meet with local farmers to discuss the field-to-plate process and efforts toward sustainability. Four faculty members from the Center for Medical Simulation at Harvard University were the featured presenters at the fourth annual Healthcare Simulation Conference hosted by JCCC. The conference, Playing Seriously: Simulation in Healthcare, was intended for health care educators, practitioners and staff who are interested in using simulation for learning and evaluation. A new lecture series focused on the many meanings of sustainability. Fall speakers were Chris Keuhl, co-founder and managing director of Armada Corporate Intelligence, on economic sustainability; Mike Ryan, JCCC campus farm and community outreach manager, on the college’s 2.5-acre vegetable farm on the northwest corner of campus and its role in the college’s sustainable agriculture program; Bill Helming, Bill Helming Consulting Services, on agricultural economic sustainability in the Heartland; and Kristin Riott, executive director of Bridging the Gap, on environmental sustainability. Spring speakers were Meg Mullett, Johnson County K-State Research and Extension Master Gardener, on organic gardening; Chris Veach, Heartland Tree Alliance, on tree care; Michael Rea, JCCC recycling coordinator, on recycling at JCCC; and Rob Mortko, Johnson County K-State Research and Extension master gardener, on drip irrigation.

Tyler Kowalewski, alumnus Japanese culture came alive in September 2011 at the Greater Kansas City Japan Festival, presented on the college campus by the Heart of America Japan-America Society and the Japan Festival Committee. Events included sumo wrestling, a project to help victims of the March 2011 tsunami in Japan, Japanese musical performances, and traditional Japanese food. Criminal Justice Day in September 2011 gave students and the public a close-up look at careers in criminal justice as well as the equipment that’s used in the field, including SWAT vehicles from the Kansas City, Mo., and Olathe police departments and the mobile command post from the Shawnee Police Department, as well as K-9 units, crime analysts, bomb disposal and fingerprinting. Also in September 2011, Preston Washington spoke about the research he conducted to discover his roots as a descendant of Africans who once were held as slaves by the Cherokee and Muscogee Creek nations. Joe Seabrooks, president of Penn Valley Community College, spoke on “It’s All About the Benjamins: Five Things Students Get Twisted,” focusing on five symptoms that indicate students may not reach their goal. Most relate to failing to have a clear purpose for education beyond training for an occupation and thinking that education ends when a degree is earned.

In October 2011, JCCC and the Kansas Center for Autism Research and Training at the University of Kansas hosted a regional autism conference, Beyond the Diagnosis: Autism Across the Lifespan. The key conference speaker was Eustacia Cutler, whose daughter was the subject of the HBO movie Temple Grandin. The words of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass came to life in a production at JCCC in October 2011. The performance drew upon the words of both Lincoln and Douglass as they wrestled with how best to abolish slavery and reunite the nation. A workshop on Chinese art, culture and history took place at JCCC in October 2011. The workshop supported JCCC’s participation in the Title VI Chinese Language and Culture grant program sponsored by the Asian Studies Development Program. The project was designed to promote undergraduate study of Chinese language and culture. Speakers were Peter Hershock, director of ASDP, who talked about how the globalization of higher education has shaped the American philosophy of educating for greater equity; Richard Smith, professor, Rice University, on how the changing conception of the world changed Chinese cartography; and Stanley Murashige, associate professor, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, on how the painters and painting of China responded to the drama of Chinese history, from the occupation of the Mongols onward.

Tyler Kowalewski took a roundabout path to the 2012 national debate championship. That path started at JCCC with an “accident” in enrollment and ended at Emory University amongst some of the best debaters in the country. Kowalewski enrolled at JCCC in fall 2008 after a false start at the University of Kansas two years before. He found a 100-level communications class, Elementary Debate. It would transfer back to KU, so he signed up. “You can imagine my surprise when I learned I had accidentally joined the JCCC debate team,” he said. Yet as he sat in class, he changed his mind as he listened to then-debate coach Terri Easley, associate professor, speech. “Professor Easley’s passion and dedication she had for debate were so apparent, I couldn’t help wondering what debate was and why she was so passionate about it,” Kowalewski said. “So I stayed in the class and debated at three tournaments that semester.” Kowalewski transferred to Kansas State University in fall 2011. He said the work ethic, organization and perseverance he developed while on the JCCC debate team helped him at K-State as well. After a successful season at K-State, he qualified for the National Debate Tournament at Emory University – an honor extended to only 156 debaters in the country. “It was especially exciting for me because only six novice debaters like me made it to the NDT this year,” Kowalewski said. He and his partner finished in 35th place, the highest finish for any novice debater.

Jean-Paul Reti, a sculptor from Paris, France, was a scholar-in-residence at JCCC during the fall 2011 semester. In addition to working with sculpture and French students, Reti gave a public presentation about his own life in art, the pieces he has created, and the struggle he undertook to save Les Frigos, which holds his Paris studio and the workspaces of other artists, writers, designers and entrepreneurs. JCCC’s fashion merchandising and design program hosted an open house in November 2011 to show off a closetful of clothes. The college’s fashion collection, originally established by Fashion Group International of Kansas City, moved back to campus from an off-campus location in fall 2011. The 3,000 pieces of apparel and accessories date back as far as the 1860s and now occupy an 875-square-foot closet on the second floor of the Carlsen Center on campus. The collection is a teaching tool for fashion instructors. Tar Creek, a film by Matt Myers documenting the Tar Creek Superfund site in northeast Oklahoma, southeast Kansas and southwest Missouri, was shown in November 2011. Once one of the largest lead and zinc mines on Earth, Tar Creek is now home to more than 40 square miles of environmental devastation. A panel discussion following the film focused on the site’s impact on local Native Americans.

JCCC took a week in November to honor veterans, including a solemn reading of the names of those who died in service to the nation over the past decade. Charles Ellington, a Tuskegee Airman from Olathe, and George J. Dunmore, vice president and public relations officer of the Heart of America chapter of Tuskegee Airmen of America, Inc., spoke about the challenges the African American fighter pilots faced during World War II. The famed Tuskegee Airmen fought in the aerial war over North Africa and Europe. In December 2011, Anthony Funari, adjunct assistant professor of English, shared information from his new book, Francis Bacon and 17th-Century Intellectual Discourse, drawing together 17th-century English literature, the history of science and the study of the environment to explore the historical roots of current environmental conversations. JCCC held the second annual Competitive Technology Event for 9th- to 12th-grade students in January 2012. More than 360 students from 19 high schools in Johnson, Douglas and Miami counties attended. The students competed independently or with classmates in 32 events in areas such as architecture, engineering, information technology, dragster design, fashion, film, robotics and video production, just to name a few. JCCC’s horticultural sciences program, in partnership with Hermes Nursery and Landscaping,

Anthony Funari, adjunct professor hosted the second Horticultural Science Field Day in February 2012. The event aimed at recruiting students to the ﬁeld of horticulture and providing information about job opportunities and careers in horticulture. The Science Olympiad was held on the college campus in February. The Science Olympiad competitions are like academic track meets for students in grades 6-12. During the day, 22 middle schools and 24 high schools competed in two divisions – junior high/middle school and high school – in meteorology, chemistry, biology and more. In February 2012, author Jacqueline Woodson presented Locomotion, A Teen’s Journey and the Power of Poetry, about characters in her awardwinning children’s books. In March 2012, JCCC’s fashion merchandising and design students presented their spring fashion show, Modern Vision, featuring clothes designed by JCCC students. Author Sherman Alexie spoke at JCCC in March as part of the Scholar-in-Residence program. His presentation, The Partially True Story of the True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, reﬂected the semi-autobiographical nature of his recent young adult novel.

The fifth Lose the Training Wheels camp, a program that teaches children and adults with disabilities how to ride a conventional bike, was conducted at JCCC in March. The camp offers specially adapted bikes that help special-needs children and adults learn to ride a bike without training wheels in five days. Author Thomas Fox Averill read from his latest novel, rode, and shared his writing influences in April 2012. He was the capstone speaker at the 2012 Kansas Writers Symposium, sponsored by the Kansas Studies Institute at JCCC. In April, the Student Environmental Alliance again celebrated Earth Day. The students promoted awareness of environmental issues, ideas and actions by working on the campus farm; offering sustainability tours to the solar power training facility, the in-vessel composter and the stormwater project; conducting a recycling and waste audit; enjoying a meal prepared with products from the campus farm; and supporting a sustainable transportation expo on campus. Jeff Hoffman, a member of the founding team of Priceline.com, presented Growing Your Business in Today’s Changing World, at a luncheon sponsored by JCCC’s Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization and Thinking Bigger Media. Dave Helling, a multimedia reporter with the

Are humans the masters of the natural world? Or does nature defy control? Those questions may seem topical today, but they also were relevant in the 17th century when Francis Bacon examined humanity’s relationship to nature. That tenuous relationship, explored in Bacon’s narratives, is the topic of a book by Anthony J. Funari, an adjunct professor of English at JCCC. Funari’s book is titled Francis Bacon and the 17thCentury Intellectual Discourse and is published by Palgrave Macmillan. Funari draws together 17th-century English literature, the history of science and the study of the environment to explore the historical roots of our current environmental conversations. “Particularly in light of the 2010 Gulf oil spill, this debate over our environmental future took on even more urgency,” Funari said. “This ‘salvation through technology’ that we saw in the Gulf spill was a belief that can be traced back to Bacon.” Funari started studying Bacon as an undergraduate, comparing the themes of Bacon’s narratives to nearly everything else he was reading. The idea for making his dissertation into a book came with the help of one of his advisers, who put him in contact with a book publisher. Funari said he doesn’t necessarily admire Bacon as a person – he was a consummate politician who lost his post as lord chancellor because of taking bribes – but he does admire the grandeur of his writing. Bacon set about to change how everyone thinks, Funari explained, so much so that he is considered the founder of modern scientiﬁc thought. “The scope of what he set out to do is amazing,” he said. “We see science always progressing,” Funari said. “For Bacon, it wasn’t about discovery; it was about recovery – of that knowledge and power of Eden.”

Kansas City Star, received the Headline Award from JCCC’s journalism and media communications department. The Headline Award recognizes persons who have made significant contributions to journalism in the area. Norma Fordham, professor, legal studies, presented an overview of forensic nursing called It’s Not ‘Dexter’: Issues in Forensic Nursing, in April. JCCC, Midwest Transplant Network and the University of Kansas Medical Center co-sponsored an organ and tissue transplant seminar, Share Life, Share Love, in April. JCCC also hosted the Kansas Court of Appeals in April. The public was invited to observe three judges who heard arguments from appellants’ and appellees’ attorneys. Thomas Armstrong, principal scientist at Fundamental Technologies LLC and a retired professor from the University of Kansas, was the guest speaker for JCCC’s Evening With the Stars in April. He shared a history of space exploration from the very first artificial satellite to the current situation within the space program. In June, science faculty also offered the public the chance to view the planet Venus crossing the face of the sun. In May, the Cohen Community Series raised more than $20,000 for scholarships through a 34

performance by country music band Diamond Rio. This performance was the fifth in the series, inaugurated in 2008 in honor of the late Barton P. Cohen, president of Metcalf Bancshares, vice chairman and general counsel of Metcalf Bank, an attorney with Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin LLP, and a longtime supporter of the college. Previous presenters for the Cohen series have been Vince Gill, George Will, Phil Vassar and Marcus Buckingham. The Nell Mitchell Wellness Fair featured activities, information booths and screenings, and promoted health and wellness activities for the community. The sixth annual American Indian Health Research and Educational Alliance Pow Wow was held at JCCC, focusing on improving the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health of American Indians. Again over the summer, JCCC offered sports camps and learning, arts and career options classes for youth on campus; four “Light Up the Lawn” concerts on the lawn in front of the Nerman Museum, sponsored by the museum, the Performing Arts Series and Student Activities; and free vintage movie musicals in Yardley Hall. Throughout the year, JCCC hosted campus visit events for high school juniors and seniors and home school students, as well as presentations for prospective adult students and home-schooled students and their parents. In addition, the college also offered college planning events for parents.

Kurt Niemackl, graduate

Accountable to the community For fiscal year 2011-2012, the college’s management budget, representing the actual amount available to spend in a year, was $246,570,124. It was composed of the operating budget, totaling $138,741,762, and the budgets for all other funds such as capital outlay, auxiliary and restricted funds, totaling $107,828,362. The college’s operating budget was built on the assumption the college would see an increase of 0.21 percent in assessed valuation from the county and no increase in funding from the state. The mill levy assessed for the college for 20112012 remained nearly the same, at 8.776 mills. The average homeowner paid about $236 in annual assessment for the college. The cost per credit-hour for students increased by $6 for Kansas residents and $16 for students from outside the state in 2011-2012. Johnson County residents paid $81 a credit hour, Kansas residents $96 a credit hour and nonresidents $189 a credit hour for classes. One dollar from the amount spent for each credit hour provided a specific funding source for classroom support. There were no increases in operating expenses in 2011-2012 except in areas where increases could not be controlled, such as utilities and insurance. Capital expenses were based on need, and there was no increase in staffing. About 49 percent of JCCC’s operating funding came from county taxes; the rest came from student tuition, motor vehicle taxes and state aid.

Beginning in November 2011, budget administrators participated in a new process called “Prioritizing the Budget Strategically” (PBS) to prepare the budget for 2011-2012. The PBS process called for them to prioritize their programs so that resources would be allocated to areas that serve the college’s strategic priorities. The college’s strategic plan spells out what is important in terms of goals and initiatives – student success, culture and environment, community leadership and continuous quality improvement. “JCCC has the resources to do what we feel is most important. But we no longer have the resources to support every single endeavor that we have in the past,” said Terry Calaway, JCCC president. “Fiscal year 2011-2012 was the third year in a row that we’ve faced reduced revenues from the state and the county. We’ve not raised the mill levy in several years, in respect to the financial challenges our taxpayers are facing. We have to make some hard decisions now to help us get through the next few fiscal years. Those decisions will affect not only programming but – for the first time – people. For the first time, the college needed to reduce its workforce by laying off some employees.” College leadership developed a plan that would allow them to be good fiscal stewards while still achieving the college’s strategic priorities. For 20112012, the college cut $6.2 million from the budget. Of that, $1.2 million was reallocated to its strategic priorities. The cuts were accomplished in this way:

For years, Kurt Niemackl worked as a finish carpenter, but the slow economy forced him to consider a career change. He turned to JCCC because he had taken classes here in the past and knew it was a good school. “I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, so I came to JCCC and started with the Career Development Center,” Niemackl said. “Results from initial tests showed I favored creative interests, and it pointed me toward a career in graphic design. That made sense because of my experience as a finish carpenter.” Niemackl said he then researched the JCCC graphic design program and found it to be one of the best in the country. He decided to pursue that interest because he was married with children and knew he needed to find other work. Niemackl also appreciated the financial assistance he received as recipient of the Mainstreet Credit Union scholarship through the JCCC Foundation. He said it helped relieve the stress of financial pressure. Niemackl will join the thousands of other JCCC graduates in May 2013 who walk across the stage to receive their college diploma and move on to careers with promising futures. “I would like to start my own design firm,” Niemackl said. “That may take a little time to do, so I should get experience first with another design firm. However, I’ve been self-employed my whole life so I know how to run a successful business, and it will give me the flexibility I like to have.”

• The college froze hiring for vacant positions paid through the general fund. Teaching faculty positions that came open could be filled, but other positions may not. The college’s executive leadership discussed each opening, and those that were to be filled were posted internally and filled from within. • Several vacant administrative, executive and staff positions were eliminated from the staffing table and no longer exist at the college.

• There was a reduction in force of 11 positions, and the college investigated outsourcing some services. • The college covered some of its debt repayment through a surplus in the campus development fund instead of the general fund. • The college cut $1.1 million in operational expenses from the general fund.

JOHNSON COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE FY 2011-2012 Budget General /PTE Funds Revenues Other 3% Tuition 26% State Grant 17%

Ad Valorem Taxes 49%

Local Motor Taxes 5%

JOHNSON COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE FY 2011-2012 Budget General /PTE Funds Expenses Capital 4% Current Operating 18%

Salaries and Benefits 78%

Erick Mbembati, student Technology at JCCC JCCC was recognized as one of the top-rated community colleges in the country for digital technology for the fifth straight year. This recognition was based on advances made in the use of information technology and the high level of service provided to students, faculty, staff and the community. Major strides were made in 2011-2012 to strengthen JCCC’s network and data center infrastructure, thanks to a $3-per-credit-hour technology fee paid by students. The tech fee was established to meet growing demands for faster and greater bandwidth, wireless, video, voice, storage and virtualization technologies. Investments this past year included strengthening the campus network core and remote campus locations, expanding network storage, and implementing redundant security firewalls between the internal campus and external Internet, as well as upgrading data center and wiring closets energy efficiency. High-speed secure wireless coverage was extended across all campus locations to improve mobile services and strengthen data security to students and faculty. The results can be measured by the 30 percent increase in wireless network usage. Phases I and II of the voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) implementation was completed in 20112012. This included the core, OHEC, fax capability, call centers, switchboard and rollout to the Regnier Center and Student Centers. Phase III was also initiated, which will complete the rollout to the

remainder of campus. VoIP technology provides the ability to transmit voice (telephone) over the college’s existing data network and broadband connection, enabling easier access to information, greater ﬂexibility and more advanced functionality on a streamlined infrastructure that is easier and less costly to maintain.

A long way from home but surrounded by family. That is how Erick Mbembati describes his JCCC experience. After graduating from high school in Tanzania, Mbembati accepted his uncle’s invitation to live with him and continue his education in the United States. Mbembati arrived at JCCC in August 2009, one week before the fall semester began.

The new Olathe Health and Education Center, which opened this year, is a model for classroom and lab technology. OHEC was outﬁtted with14 state-ofthe-art multimedia classrooms, 58 oﬃces, six labs and a conference center/four-plex classroom space. In addition, the college’s second learning studio was equipped with state-of-the-art technologies, such as wireless controllers, ceiling-mounted document camera, SMART boards and a virtual mobile netbook computer lab.

“I didn’t know anything about JCCC other than from the packet I received from my uncle,” Mbembati said. “I had no idea what JCCC looked like or how I would feel.”

A desktop virtualization pilot project was also completed in 2011-2012, and its success demonstrated many benefits to students and college operations, given the emergence of more student-owned computers on campus, as well as a general shortage of available classroom and office space. The new, more flexible platform, which decouples applications and data from hardware, can be managed centrally and securely, providing specific academic program software to individual students based on their programs of study at almost any lab computer on campus, and to faculty and staff on any device, from any location, at any time.

Being involved in clubs and organizations is something Mbembati used to overcome the culture shock.

It was a strange new world for Mbembati. Not only in getting familiar to American customs and lifestyles, but also learning about college life at JCCC. “This was my first time being outside my country,” Mbembati said. “It was a little bit overwhelming because I was in a totally different environment. It was very different from my country.”

“I ﬁrst was introduced to the International Club,” he said. “It made a diﬀerence in my life. I met new people and made new friends. Without the clubs, I don’t think I would be where I am today. That opened up doors for me. After joining the International Club, I learned about Student Senate and JCCC’s Student Engagement Ambassadors. These are all groups I’m involved with today. It started as a seed and just grew from there.” Mbembati has not been back home since he left in 2009, but JCCC provides the family feeling he needs to be successful.

Many technology improvements were made to academic systems and programs in 2011-2012, including industry-standard dental practice 37

management software for the dental hygiene program; computational-model standard software for math, science and other programs; specialized editing software for journalism; a virtualized teaching environment for information technology enterprise infrastructure courses; and improved computing capabilities to better accommodate new and existing technical course offerings for the Center for Business and Technology. Enhanced administrative desktop improvements included the adoption of Windows 7 as the college’s desktop operating system, allowing users to take advantage of hardware advances and increased security capabilities. Modernizing the desktop environment also readies the college for new and updated software releases with additional features and functionality, increasing workplace effectiveness. Various areas on campus began to implement constituent relationship management tools to help unify and manage relationships with a variety of customers. The system is designed to help communicate with student prospects, share information, and improve recruitment, enrollment and retention processes. In addition, JCCC’s Schools App on Facebook facilitates student communities with an eye toward increasing retention and completion. In 2011-2012, JCCC responded to the tremendous expansion of mobile technology in today’s world by offering a mobile version of the college website. Development of a mobile-friendly application that lets campus constituents securely shop or make a 38

payment from their mobile device, as well as an application platform and integration of new VoIP functionality for mobility, are also in progress. A senior-level technical team of specialists responsible for different aspects of IT security was established in 2011-2012 to expand and grow internal technical security capabilities and awareness. The team, led by the IT security officer, has proactively focused on technical security practices such as operations monitoring, securing the network perimeter, protecting access rights and identifying potential security breaches. The team will continually identify risks, implement necessary mitigating safeguards and controls, and implement ongoing monitoring activities and countermeasures. Enterprise-class server virtualization at JCCC continues to offer opportunities to reduce the college’s energy consumption and carbon footprint. As of 2011-2012, server and desktop virtualization for academic, administrative and instruction has several thousand virtual machines running on 46 physical blade servers. Storage virtualization reduces the number of physical hard drives required to provide storage capacity an average of 50 percent when compared to traditional network storage.

Yearly statistics JCCC is the largest institution of higher education in the state. A total of 9,586 students were enrolled in summer 2011 classes at JCCC. For fall 2011, 21,916 students were enrolled, while 19,186 students were enrolled in spring 2012. Unduplicated headcount for the 2011-2012 academic year was 31,628.

In 2011-2012, 18.5 percent of local high school graduates attended JCCC. One-third of Johnson County first-time freshmen who choose to attend college in Kansas attend JCCC. The average GPA of first-time JCCC students at KU is 2.65. For other community colleges, it’s 2.51. The average GPA of continuing JCCC students at KU is 2.91; for other community colleges, it’s 2.83. Ninety-two percent of JCCC’s career program completers find a job within six months. Ninetyfour percent of their employers say they are satisfied with the preparation of the JCCC students they hire. In 2011-2012, JCCC awarded almost 2,300 associate’s degrees or vocational certificates. Kansas Sen. Julia Lynn (R-Olathe) was the commencement speaker in May 2012; Student Senate President Gina Galanou was the student speaker. Two hundred and ninety students passed the General Educational Development exam to obtain their Kansas high school diploma. More than $52 million in federal, state and institutional student aid was distributed to students for college and living expenses in 2011-2012. This was a 5 percent increase in demand for aid to attend JCCC over the previous year.

is an organization that serves the county’s senior citizens. Members pay annual dues. More than 3,000 members enjoyed the club’s many educational and cultural opportunities during 2011-2012. The club sponsored concerts and numerous other programs for the community at large, as well as private events and trips for the membership. In fall 2011, 53.5 percent of all JCCC students were female, 53.2 percent were full-time students, and 73.7 percent lived in Johnson County. The average age of JCCC students was 26. JCCC’s mill levy is the lowest in the state for a community college. JCCC returns about $2.70 to the community for every tax dollar it collects, a return on investment of nearly 3 to 1, and has a total annual tangible economic impact on the county of about $182 million. In addition to the business volume it generates, JCCC also contributes a signiﬁcant number of full-time jobs to the Johnson County economy. An estimated 6,734 full-time jobs may be attributed to the college through its direct and indirect economic activity. It’s estimated that JCCC’s partnership with BNSF Railway and the city of Overland Park adds $60 million to the county’s economic base.

In 2011-2012, 975 groups (53,058 people) used the event spaces in the Regnier Center and the Nerman Museum. The Brown & Gold Club, sponsored by JCCC’s Student Life and Leadership Development division, 39

The Center for Business and Technology A part of JCCC’s continuing education program for close to 30 years, JCCC’s Center for Business and Technology continues to be a leading provider of professional education, licensures, certiﬁcations and skill development courses, meeting the needs of individuals and organizations throughout the Kansas City metropolitan area. In 2011-2012, the center had more than 11,130 enrollments in its computer/information technology, professional education, health care, small business, public safety and health information systems programs. In addition, 2,589 enrollments came through the center’s customized contract training programs with 193 area businesses. The center’s lifelong learning programs included: • Licensing and CEUs for professionals in health care, mediation, early childhood education, banking, payroll, human resources, and Lean and Six Sigma continuous process improvement tools • Customized projects that included competency development models, designing curriculum, instructional guides and assessment • Customized training and development for organizations, including solutions for leadership, management, ﬁnance, project management, and coaching at various levels • Public classes and contract training in computer applications and information technology • Assistance to local companies applying for Kansas Department of Commerce grants that will pay for workforce training for newly created jobs or jobs requiring new skills 40

Health Information Systems (HITECH) JCCC’s HITECH (health information technology) program offers two intensive training programs that can be completed within six months. Students are trained for workforce roles that support the adoption of electronic health records. The program coursework is a hybrid of classroom and online delivery. Since its inception in 2010, the grantfunded HITECH program has trained and graduated 115 students. The collaborative effort of credit and noncredit programs at JCCC and partnership with Hutchinson Community College allowed JCCC to meet and surpass its grant goal of training 110 students. Approximately 25 percent of the students received workforce investment funding to retrain and specialize in the new health information technology industry. The first cohort of HITECH students supported by the H-1B Department of Labor grant began May 2012. To reach the goal of training 400 students in the next three years, strategies include adding a videoconferencing room for distance learning to remote Kansas areas, providing internship coordination through the Kansas Workforce Partnership, integrating the certificate program into the college’s credit computer science and information technology division to align with current degree programs, creating an articulation agreement with a four-year college for a career pathway in health information technology, and developing a statewide workforce network with leaders in the health information technology industry.

Health and Human Services

Community Services

The Health and Human Services continuing education division offered symposiums targeting health care providers, patients and caregivers with Alzheimer’s, cancer, stroke, grief and loss, and addiction issues. Keynote speakers at each event were nationally and locally recognized experts in research and clinical treatment of these illnesses, including traditional and alternative medicine. The division introduced the Kansas assisted living operator’s course in summer 2011. In fall 2012, the pharmacy technician course began. This course requires 600 hours divided between 300 hours of didactic and simulation experience and 300 hours of clinical time at Olathe Medical Center, Shawnee Mission Medical Center and several retail pharmacies in the area. The adult care home administrator course and the social service designee course are also offered with approval from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Phlebotomy technician, ECG technician and medical coding certificate courses continue to reach maximum enrollment with each offering, earning a high degree of satisfaction from students.

In 2011-2012, the Community Services division served more than 11,300 community members through various programs, including personal enrichment classes; the career services program, offering workshops, individual career counseling and weekly job clubs; the Sustainability Speaker Series; summer youth programs; Friday Discoveries, a one-day class for youth in math, science, and arts and crafts; contract language services for area businesses needing translation services; and adult basic education. Motorcycle training sessions as well as drivers education are also offered. More than 3,000 adults prepared for the GED exam, learned English or improved their academic skills through the five Johnson County Adult Education Program centers. JCAE is sponsored jointly by the college and the Johnson County Library. A Kan-Go grant helped more than 200 students prepare for and enter into postsecondary education or obtain their work skills credentials. In addition, the Migrant Family Literacy Program provided preschool and literacy services for 90 families in the Olathe school district. The program provides basic life skills, employment counseling, parenting and after-school tutoring to children and adults in Olathe.

Kansas Small Business Development Center

The Performing Arts Series

Small business owners received management consulting, technical assistance and training from the Kansas Small Business Development Center (KSBDC). The U.S. Small Business Administration, the Kansas Department of Commerce and JCCC fund the KSBDC. The Kansas Small Business Development Center consulted with 563 existing or aspiring small business clients in 2011. These clients created 207 new jobs, obtained $8.5 million in ﬁnancing and increased sales by $6 million. JCCC KSBDC clients, hr-haven, inc. and Emily Hart Bridal, were selected as Emerging and Existing Businesses of the Year, respectively. Each was recognized at the annual ceremony at the state capitol in Topeka. The JCCC KSBDC also trained 1,154 individuals on small-business-related topics. In March 2012, the KSBDC partnered with the Heartland Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) at Missouri Southern State University to open a PTAC subcenter at JCCC. PTACs assist small businesses with potential market expansion through procurement opportunities with the government. The JCCC PTAC covers 29 counties in northeast Kansas.

For more than 20 years, Johnson County Community College has oﬀered one of the largest multidiscipline performing arts series in midAmerica. In 2010, the Performing Arts Series broadened its programming strategy to attract a wider demographic. This change in artist selection led to increases of 20 percent in season ticket sales and 46 percent in ticket sales to individual performances. Today, the Performing Arts Series maintains its diverse selection of shows, programming classical, country, bluegrass, Broadway and rock ‘n’ roll music; dance performances of varied genres; comedy; and theater. Celebrities like Peter Frampton, Natalie Cole, Poncho Sanchez and Martin Short have been series favorites. More than 21,000 tickets were sold to the 25 performances in the 2011-2012 Performing Arts Series; another 40,000 people attended events presented by various college departments and community organizations. Local presenters and community groups represent nearly 45 percent of the events in the college’s performing spaces.

Performing Arts Education An important part of the Performing Arts Series program is arts education. The program provides area students and teachers with low-cost or free services designed to help them explore their own creativity, glimpse the world of professional artists, and develop talents and critical-thinking skills. The arts education program includes master classes,

teacher workshops, residencies, curriculum development, lecture/demonstrations and performances. In 2011-2012, PAS arts education served nearly 13,000 children and community members with 37 public performances, including six school shows. On the JCCC campus, visiting artists connected with numerous campus organizations and departments, including student leadership, the Kansas Studies Institute, Community Services, the Center for Sustainability, the Hiersteiner Child Development Center and the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art. Partnerships continued with educational and community organizations, such as the Heartland Music Academy, the Kansas Department of Education and the Kennedy Center. Two music festivals were scheduled in 2011-2012. In summer 2011, the nine-day Heartland Chamber Music Festival and six-day Junior Music Festival with community partner Heartland Chamber Music Academy became one of the premier chamber music festivals in the region. In January 2012, as part of Jazz Winterlude, the college hosted 14 schools and more than 100 local and international jazz musicians.

Academic performances JCCC’s music department oﬀers students the opportunity to compose, study and perform music as part of a choral group or concert or jazz band. JCCC’s student musical ensembles – Chamber Choir, MadRegalia, Concert Band, the Midnight Express Jazz Ensemble and the JCCC Jazz Nights

– perform concerts throughout the year. JCCC’s academic theatre department offered these productions in 2011-2012: Equus, a psychological puzzle involving a violent boy and his psychiatrist; The Anatomy of Gray, a poignant story set in Indiana in the 1800s that deals with death, loss, love and healing; a festival of one-act plays; La Culebra, an ancient story from Aztec culture that examines the importance of doing good deeds without expecting anything in return; and The Spitfire Grill, wherein a feisty young parolee follows her dreams, based on a page from an old travel book, to a small town in Wisconsin. Each semester the college presents the Ruel Joyce Recital Series (named for the longtime jazz bassist who headed the local musicians federation from 1977 until his death in 1989) and a Jazz Series. The concerts, featuring local classical and jazz artists, are co-sponsored by the JCCC humanities and music departments, Community Services and the Richard J. Stern Foundation for the Arts. In January 2012, JCCC offered Jazz Winterlude, three days of jazz in January. Two of the nation’s top jazz bands, the Brubeck Brothers Quartet and Poncho Sanchez and his Latin Jazz Band, plus 10 of Kansas City’s best jazz groups, performed, with styles ranging from contemporary to Kansas City swing. The festival also offered daylong master classes and clinics that connected area students with members of the Brubeck Brothers Quartet and local jazz professionals.

The Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art In 2011-2012, 76,937 individuals visited the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art. The museum at JCCC is the largest contemporary art museum in the four-state region and the only contemporary art museum in Kansas. Since 1980, JCCC has been collecting contemporary art from around the world, each year adding new pieces to the collection. Today, the works of more than 1,000 regional, national and international artists are represented in JCCC’s renowned collection, which features a diverse range of painting, photography, clay, sculpture and works on paper. Some of the college’s collection is installed in “collection focus” areas in the corridors, dining halls and other highly visible and accessible locations around campus, sparking a spontaneous engagement with art for students, faculty, staﬀ and visitors.

Exhibitions Exhibitions at the museum in 2011-2012 focused on a variety of content and media. • The Leo Villareal exhibition, organized by the San Jose Museum of Art and sponsored by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Walter and Karla Goldschmidt Foundation, and Bank of America, opened in June 2011. The exhibition traced the artist’s work during the past decade, from his earliest experimental sequencing of strobe lights to his hypnotic patterning of thousands of pinpoint LEDs. 44

• The Charlotte Street Foundation Fellows exhibition opened September 2011, featuring the works of Kansas City-based artists Ricky Allman, Andy Brayman and Peggy Noland. Allman’s paintings reflect the geographical environment, mountainous landscapes and Mormon architecture of his upbringing in Utah. Brayman’s work merges conceptual art and functional ceramics, with projects ranging from sculptural slipcast plates, cups and vases to a project using glazes created with dust from brick and cinder block fragments from the town of Greensburg, Kan., which was devastated by a tornado in 2007. Noland, an artist and fashion designer, is known for her use of bright colors and patterns; her designs have appeared in fashion and music magazines including Elle, Vogue, Spin and Rolling Stone. • Abstract — Kansas City opened at the museum in January 2012. Spanning 50 years of abstraction in Kansas City, the exhibition celebrated the 30th anniversary of JCCC’s art collection, reflecting the college’s and the museum’s depth of commitment to artists who have a biographical or geographical connection to the Kansas City area. Approximately 30 percent of the permanent collection now showcases the achievements of artists associated with metropolitan Kansas City. Although the exhibit focused on the rich history of abstract painting in Kansas City, it also included works on paper, photography and clay. It served as an opportunity to glimpse varying approaches to abstraction, as well as the sensibilities and affinities of the 32 artists whose works were included.

• Also opening in January 2012 were an exhibit of works by artist Rashawn Griffin, titled a hole-inthe-wall country, and a film, Mound, by artist Allison Schulnik. Griffin employs everyday materials such as fabric, decorative tassels and other ephemera to create social landscapes and personal narratives. Drawing from his training in sculpture and painting, Griffin’s site-specific installations and assemblages investigate the capacity of materials with embedded histories to elicit new narratives. Schulnik’s short film features a ghoulish cast of more than 100 figures – mostly made of clay – that sway, melt and reappear. Schulnik spent nearly eight months creating the hand-sculpted and sewn puppets that wander on the screen and emit emotion. • Opening in April 2102 were exhibits of work by artists Zack Balber, Miami; Chris Biddy, New York; and Lauren Mabry, Lincoln, Neb. In Tamim, Balber uses portrait photography to uncover the camouflaged identity of some of Judaism’s most unconventional Jews. Balber, Jewish himself, connected with the men he photographed while rediscovering his own lineage. In Kids, Biddy turns Facebook photos of adolescent girls into meticulously rendered paintings. His subjects are self-represented, captured via their smart phones or digital cameras within the context of their respective lives. In Cylinders, Mabry applies layers of glazes to her ceramic pieces, giving them the flavor of an abstract expressionist painting. In a statement about her work, she says that she hopes it allows viewers to experience color, form and matter as a synergistic whole in a new, unexpected way.

• The exhibition .SUM opened at the museum in May 2012. For .SUM, the museum invited artists Matthias Merkel Hess, William J. O’Brien and Arlene Shechet to each create an installation in clay for one of the museum’s first-floor galleries. Merkel Hess’ work, Bucketry II, was composed of hand-built sculptures that faithfully mimic massproduced objects, ranging from trash cans to beverage coolers. The accumulation of objects in O’Brien’s work, Untitled (X), was an immersive installation – a complex arrangement in which sources such as African masks, funerary monuments, modernist sculpture and the more contemporary embrace of textiles and ceramics coalesce. Shechet’s works on view precariously defied their own weight while reaching in multiple directions at once. In addition, artist Brad Kahlhamer was the speaker for the fourth annual Jerome Nerman Lecture Series in November 2011 at the museum. Kahlhamer is known for mixing representations of the real world and the symbolic world into a visionary “third place.”

Beyond Bounds * BRILLIANT! In October 2011, Beyond Bounds * Brilliant oﬀered a unique opportunity for artists and one-of-a-kind purchases for art patrons. International, national and regional artists were invited to create a work of art using select mediums (oil paint, pastels, watercolor, liquid acrylic, colored pencil, ceramic underglaze, enamel paint and textile dye) provided by the museum. The 154 works, including paintings, works on paper, photographs, ceramics, 45

jewelry and sculpture, were oﬀered at live and silent auction. This year’s Beyond Bounds recorded net proceeds of nearly $150,000. To date, the biennial fundraiser has garnered nearly $900,000 to support exhibitions, educational programming and art acquisitions on the JCCC campus. Co-chairs for the event were Dr. Mary Davidson Cohen and Dr. J. David and Dana Kriet.

Oppenheimer Sculpture Park The sculpture park in front of the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art will be named for Marti and Hamilton G. (Tony) Oppenheimer, in recognition of a pledge of $100,000 to JCCC. The Oppenheimers, major patrons of art on the campus, began donating sculptures to JCCC in the early 1990s. Over almost 20 years, they have acquired numerous important works for the college including sculpture by Magadalena Abakanowicz, Stephen Balkenhol, Jonathan Borofsky, Louise Bourgeois, Barry Flanagan, Do Ho Suh, Judith Shea and Huma Bhabha. The museum’s lawn serves as an ideal site for future sculpture acquisitions.

The collection Since July 2011, the Nerman Museum has added 65 works of contemporary art to the permanent collection. Recent acquisitions include ceramics, paintings, works on paper, new media, textiles, sculpture and photography. During the year, seven donors gifted 23 works to the museum/college, with a combined value of more than $330,000. 46

The donors were the Rita Blitt Foundation, Byron and Eileen Cohen and Family, Craig Jacobson, Marti and Tony Oppenheimer, George and Patricia Semb, Conni Tobin and Dean E. Thompson. Marti and Tony Oppenheimer helped acquire 11 new pieces for the museum’s permanent collection. The remaining 54 works were acquired through the JCCC Foundation and college auxiliary funds. In addition, several works from the permanent collection were loaned to major museums and institutions in the United States. • Dana Schutz’s painting Swimming, Smoking, Crying, 2009, was loaned to be in a traveling solo exhibition titled Dana Schutz: If the Face Had Wheels, September-December 2011. It also traveled to the Miami Art Museum, JanuaryMarch 2012. After the painting was shown in the Nerman Museum’s own Oppenheimer Collection show this fall, the painting then traveled to the Denver Museum of Art to be on view Nov. 11, 2012 to Jan. 13, 2013. The painting also appeared in the magazine Art in America, as well as on the cover of the artist’s solo show exhibition catalog. • Roger Shimomura’s painting American Infamy, 2006, was on view at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisc., for a group exhibition titled Hiding Places: Memory in Art, May 8, 2011-March 31, 2012. • Ian Davis’s painting Reﬂecting Pool, 2011, was loaned to be in a solo exhibition at Leslie Tonkonow Artworks+Projects, New York, titled Ian Davis: Jewel Sermons, March 10-April 21, 2012.

Art education In 2011-2012, the museum offered educational programs for students, children, educators and visitors of all ages. • Museum public programs (lectures, presentations, workshops, films, etc.) reached more than 3,890 individuals in the community. • The museum’s group tour program served more than 1,390 schoolchildren and 950 adults from the community in guided and self-guided visits in 2011-2012. Docents and staff led 134 free art appreciation tours for these groups. • In 2011-2012, 80 individuals from the community volunteered more than 1,840 hours, assisting with visitor services, events and educational programs. Most of the guided tours were led by dedicated volunteer docents. • The museum offers a popular series of studio classes for children in the summer and on Saturdays throughout the academic year. The Early Explorations program welcomes children ages 5 to 7, while Contemporary Creations classes provide more advanced lessons for children ages 8 to 11. Each day, students explore and discuss selected works of art, developing their critical-thinking skills and expanding their cultural awareness; they then create original works of art in the museum’s studio classroom. More than 740 students participated in 83 class sessions through both programs in 2011-2012. • A series of Friday gallery talks called Noon at the Nerman provided students, faculty and staff an open opportunity to examine works of art on

view in the museum and the college campus. Each week a member of JCCC’s faculty or staff spoke briefly about a different work of art. With 23 presentations for a total of 454 individuals, the series was a popular addition to the museum’s regular programming. Dr. Allison Smith, associate professor/chair, art history, coordinated the speakers.

Third Thursday Visiting Artists’ Presentation In collaboration with the JCCC academic fine art and art history departments, the museum again offered a series of Third Thursday Visiting Artists presentations in 2011-2012; more than 600 people attended the events. Each of the free programs featured Kansas City-based artists paired with JCCC faculty moderators. The programs were made possible in part by an Ovation Grant from the Arts Council of Metropolitan Kansas City. • The presentation in September 2011 featured PLUG Projects artists Cory Imig, Amy Kligman, Misha Kligman, Nicole Mauser and Caleb Taylor. Larry Thomas, professor, fine arts, was the faculty moderator. • In October, guests were Red Star Studios gallery manager Michael Baxley and studio manager Tommy Frank. Laura-Harris Gascogne, associate professor, fine arts, was the moderator. • Bowie Croisant, a clay artist, and Mary Anne Jordan, a contemporary studio quilter, were the guest artists in November. Moderators were Nick Haney, adjunct professor, fine arts, and 47

Dr. Allison Smith, professor/chair, art history. • Artists Linda Lighton, a clay artist, and Ah-ram Park, a photographer, presented in February 2012. Moderators were Gascogne and Ted Meadows, assistant professor of architecture. • In March, painter Lisa Grossman and installation artist James Woodfill were the guest artists. Moderators were John Davis Carroll, adjunct professor, fine arts, and Mark Cowardin, associate professor, fine art. • In April, guest artists were Norman Akers, a Lawrence-based painter and printmaker, and Paul Anthony Smith, a painter and clay artist. Moderators were Thomas and Kent Michael Smith, museum coordinator.

The Johnson County Community College Foundation Through its fundraising eﬀorts, the JCCC Foundation supports student scholarships, academic programs, and the visual and performing arts at the college. As of June 30, 2012, the Foundation’s endowment was $16,751,059, and its total assets were $26,666,971. Steve Wilkinson, president and CEO, Menorah Medical Center, served as the 2011-2012 Foundation president. In addition to other Foundation activities noted throughout this report, these were signiﬁcant milestones for 2011-2012.

Scholarships More than $786,310 in Foundation scholarships helped 800 students with tuition, books and program needs in 2011-2012.

Program support Major gifts to enhance JCCC programs in 2011-2012 included $27,000 for the JCCC ﬁre science program from the J.B. and Anne Hodgdon Family Foundation; $40,000 in private support for the international service learning projects in Las Pintas, Mexico, and Uganda; $27,500 for adult and family literacy programs through Johnson County Adult Education; and $150,000 in funding for JCCC library initiatives.

Some Enchanted Evening In 2011, Some Enchanted Evening, the Foundation’s black-tie gala, generated more than $600,00 for its scholarship program, more than in any previous year. This year marked the 25th anniversary of the event, which over the years has raised more than $5 million for scholarships. At each gala in the past, a prominent Johnson County resident was honored as Johnson Countian of the Year. However, this anniversary celebration recognized all of the 24 previous honorees and once again thanked them for their leadership and philanthropic support. JCCC President Terry Calaway and his wife, Marlene, were the co-chairs for the event.

Nerman Museum In 2011-2012, members of the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art contributed more than $27,000 in support of the museum exhibitions and educational oﬀerings. Additional private grant funding resulted in a total of more than $35,000 in private support for the museum.

The Performing Arts Series The Friends of the Performing Arts Series at JCCC, business partnerships, and grants and gifts from corporations and foundations contributed nearly $115,000 to support performing arts programming and operations in 2011-2012.

including students, friends, alumni, faculty and staﬀ, helped raise funds to support scholarships and programs.

Employee giving More than 300 faculty and staﬀ members contributed $44,000 to support a wide variety of programs and scholarships every month as part of the Foundation’s employee giving program. Employees contribute monthly through payroll deduction or by annual gifts in support of various initiatives.

President’s Scholarship The President’s Scholarship is awarded annually to one senior from each of the public and private schools in Johnson County. The scholarship covers tuition, books and some program fees for both the student’s ﬁrst and second years. In 2011-2012, 39 students received $106,217.

Memorial tribute scholarship A family gift of more than $110,000 was made in honor of Judge William and Maxine Allen to establish a scholarship in their name. Maxine Allen was a founding member of the JCCC board of trustees and had served as a member of the JCCC Foundation board since its inception. Both of the Allens passed away in 2011; their family hopes their lifelong commitment to JCCC and its students will be carried on through this scholarship.

Auction In April 2012, the annual auction earned more than $32,590 in net proﬁts. More than 200 volunteers, 49

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