Imprint - Fall 2011 by Chris Gray

Imprint Johnson County Community College

Fall

2011

JCCC students start fall semester in new Olathe health center

Contents

Imprint Imprint at JCCC is published five times a year by Johnson County Community College, 12345 College Blvd., Overland Park, KS 66210-1299; 913-469-8500, fax 913-469-2559. Imprint at JCCC is produced by College Information and Publications and the Office of Document Services. Imprint is located online at http://www.jccc.edu/Imprint.

Editor: Diane Carroll • Photographer: Bret Gustafson • Designer: Randy Breeden When planning your estate, remember Johnson County Community College. For more information, call the JCCC Foundation at 913-469-3835.

Cover

When the Olathe Health Education Center opened in August, these key personnel were in place. They are, from left, Jane Zaccardi, director of practical nursing; Mary Hedberg, professor of business office technology; Loralee Stevens, assistant dean of Community Outreach Credit Instruction and Mike Stithem, OHEC building manager.

Author brings ‘Part-Time Indian’ to JCCC Sherman Alexie to speak about his semi-autobiographical book for young people on growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation.

5 Journalist wants to change ‘business of what we eat’ Bill Kurtis will talk about his efforts to restore the prairie and raise healthier cattle in Sedan, Kan.

Building

LEED

Recycling

For the sake of health

Taking the ‘LEED’ seriously

College boosts recycling efforts

The new Olathe health center is the first building at JCCC to be constructed under the promise of sustainability and the green dictates of the LEED certification system.

You don’t have to look very far to find a recycling container at Johnson County Community College. And once you find it, you don’t have to think very hard about what can go in it.

The Olathe Health Education Center opens to meet the increasing demand for trained health care workers. The building will be dedicated on Oct. 6.

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Notice of Nondiscrimination – Johnson County Community College does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin, disability, age, religion, marital status, veteran’s status, sexual orientation or other factors that cannot be lawfully considered in its programs and activities as required by all applicable laws and regulations. Inquiries concerning the college’s compliance with its nondiscrimination policies may be referred to the Dean of Student Services or Director of Human Resources, Johnson County Community College, 12345 College Blvd., Overland Park, KS 66210, 913-469-8500; or to Office for Civil Rights, 8930 Ward Parkway, Suite 2037, Kansas City, MO 64114, 816-268-0550.

Fulbright Scholar

14 On a mission to Russia Executive vice president Joe Sopcich details trip to Russia as Fulbright scholar

Energy

11 Charging stations set the scene for advent of electric vehicles The college helps lead the way toward electric vehicles with the installation of charging stations in an underground garage.

Math

12 Will math go the way of Latin? Participants in the Eastern Kansas Math Summit examine the future of math education from middle school to the post-graduate level.

Building

Back Cover

College scholar Library updates space, examines the effects of Haitian migration and rethinks ways Anthropology instructor Kiran Jayaram it provides service will speak about his research on Some of the changes to Billington Library are obvious, such as the new circulation desk. Others might be harder to spot .

migrants who have moved to the Dominican Republic in search of a better life.

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Author to link personal story to Part-Time Indian book

an award-winning author, poet and screenwriter, will discuss his life and work – and the connections between the two – at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 19, in Yardley Hall at JCCC.

Sherman Alexie,

Alexie appears at JCCC as part of its scholar-in-residence program, and the public is invited to attend. Admission is free. His presentation is titled The Partially True Story of the True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. It reflects the semi-autobiographical nature of his recent young adult novel. That book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, won the 2007 National Book Award in Young People’s Literature and has spent more than 100 weeks on The New York Times’ bestseller list for children’s literature. It tells the story of Arnold Spirit, a 14-year-old Native American who decides to leave the reservation school in favor of a high school 20 miles away. Arnold and the school mascot are the only Indians in the rich, white school and Arnold struggles with issues of identity and community. Monica Hogan, an English professor at JCCC, was part of the selection committee that chose Alexie as its fall scholar and The Absolutely True Diary of the Part-Time Indian as its Common Read selection for fall 2011.

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“When I nominated Alexie’s book, I was looking for a good read – something that if I could get my students to start reading that they would finish,” she said. “More importantly, students at community colleges often share similar experiences to those of the main character in Alexie’s novel, but this novel gives readers an opportunity to reinterpret individual self-worth and community.” In addition to The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Alexie has written numerous volumes of poems and short stories as well as novels and a screenplay for Smoke Signals, a movie based on one of his short stories. The film received the Sundance Film Festival Audience Award, and Alexie received a best first screenplay award from Independent Feature Project/West. The New Yorker recently named Alexie as one of the top 20 writers for the 21st century, and The New York Times Book Review described him as “one of the major lyric voices of our time.” The event is sponsored by JCCC’s English department; Center for American Indian Studies; Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; Scholars in Residence; and Performing Arts Series Arts Education.

Journalist pushes for big changes in the ‘business of what we eat’ nationally known journalist and a native of southeast Kansas, presents Bill Kurtis: Back Home on the Range at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 21, in Yardley Hall of the Carlsen Center, Johnson County Community College.

Bill Kurtis,

A reception will follow in the Carlsen Center lobby. The talk and reception are free and open to the public. The event is co-sponsored by JCCC’s Kansas Studies Institute and Performing Arts Series. Kurtis will discuss 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 to create healthier beef that is better for the environment, animals and consumers. He will share his personal experiences in attempting to reverse agribusiness norms and be on the forefront of grass-fed cattle ranching. He will also highlight the important lessons he has learned about the business of what we eat. A journalist, producer and author, Kurtis is celebrating 40 years as an award-winning broadcaster. Born in Florida and raised in Independence, Kan., Kurtis graduated from the University of Kansas with a bachelor of science degree in journalism. He attended Washburn University School of Law, where he was awarded a juris doctor degree.

He began his television career at WIBW-TV (CBS) in Topeka. In 1966, after being recognized for his 24-hour coverage of a devastating tornado, Kurtis was hired by WBBM-TV in Chicago where he was a field reporter and later anchor of The Channel Two News. Kurtis moved on to the network level at CBS where he anchored the CBS Morning News and contributed to CBS Reports. He is also credited with breaking the Agent Orange story and the story of Amerasian children in Vietnam. He returned to Chicago and WBBM-TV as news anchor from 19851997. In 1990, he founded Kurtis Productions and began producing programs for the A&E Network, including the longrunning, Emmy award-winning Investigative Reports and Cold Case Files as well as Investigating History for the History Channel. Kurtis served as the host of A&E’s American Justice – the longest running nonfiction justice series on cable. Cold Case Files was nominated for 2004 and 2005 Primetime Emmys for Outstanding Nonfiction Series. Kurtis is also an author. The Death Penalty on Trial: Crisis in American Justice, which is his most recent book, explores issues surrounding capital punishment in America. By profiling two murder cases, Kurtis reveals his change of mind regarding capital punishment.

Bill Kurtis

In his home state of Kansas, Kurtis is an active conservationist. His 10,000acre Red Buffalo Ranch is located in the last section of America to enjoy untouched tallgrass prairie. In 2005, Kurtis founded Tallgrass Beef Company to champion the environmental and health benefits of grass-fed cattle ranching. The Red Buffalo Ranch borders the small town of Sedan, which is southeast of Wichita, near the Oklahoma border. Kurtis has worked closely with residents to renovate and restore the historic Main Street. Kurtis is the third speaker in the Kansas Lecture Series. The Kansas Studies Institute initiated the Kansas Lecture Series with Wes Jackson, president, The Land Institute in 2009, followed by Stan Herd, preeminent representational earthwork artist, in 2010. For more information about Kurtis’s presentation, contact Dr. James Leiker, director, Kansas Studies Institute at JCCC, 913-469-8500, ext. 3673, or jleiker1@jccc.edu. Fall 2011 | Imprint

Practical nursing moves to Olathe health center

The new JCCC health center is close to the Olathe Medical Center, where students will get some of their training.

health care workers is forecast to grow, and JCCC has now grown, too, to anticipate that need.

The demand for

Dedication for the new Olathe Health Education Center (OHEC) will be at 3 p.m. Oct. 6 at the building site, 21201 W. 152nd St., Olathe. Only a large cornfield separates OHEC from the Olathe Medical Center (OMC), and nearby are a world-class imaging center, doctor’s offices and a long-term care facility – Olathe Good Samaritan Center – that offer students studying health care some hands-on opportunities for learning. The process of creating an allied health education center began when the medical center donated 5.8 acres of land to JCCC. Groundbreaking was December 2009, and the 50,000square-foot center was open for the first day of credit classes in August. In addition to the OMC partnership, future partnerships with MidAmerica Nazarene University and the Olathe School District are in the works in hopes the community will benefit from OHEC. Terry Calaway, president, JCCC, said, “We are delighted to have the opportunity to educate health professionals in this state-of-the-art facility. The building will have a dramatic impact on learning, and that learning will have a dramatic impact on the health care in this community.”

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About the building The building’s features include: • The same red brick and white cast-stone that highlights structures on JCCC’s main campus. • Furnishings and architectural features – such as the glasssided main staircase and cherry wood panels – that echo the Regnier Center’s interior. • A two-story windowed atrium that serves as a student study area. • A hospital “feel” from the open lobby and a second floor equipped with the very same state-of-the-art equipment – beds, privacy curtains, nurse call buttons and medical headwalls – that furnish hospital rooms. • Four simulation bays with one-way glass, allowing instructors to watch students perform procedures. • A flexible-use space on the first floor. By using dividers, the area can become four classrooms, two double-sized classrooms, one large meeting space or a combination of classroom and meeting space.

Classroom

Meeting Area Student Lounge/ Study Space Faculty/Staff Space Use-Specific Labs

New opportunities The second floor will be the home for the practical nursing program and other health-occupation programs. Jane Zaccardi, director of the practical nursing and health occupations programs, said she was looking forward to teaching there. Previously, the LPN and health occupation programs held class in King’s Cove Office Park, just west of Interstate 35 at 75th Street. That facility, retrofitted for teaching purposes, contained only 11 beds with mannequins. “Now we’re moving from 11 beds to 29 beds,” Zaccardi said. “We’ll have more chances to do patient simulation, and we don’t have to leave our building.” Construction costs of the OHEC were around $13.4 million and included many energy-saving measures. (See sidebar.) After including furniture and medical equipment, the center cost approximately $15 million.

“It’s a total upgrade,” said Zaccardi. “We now will have more current equipment for the CNAs (certified nurse assistants) to practice with.”

Five to seven of the building’s 21 classrooms will be used for general education classes, with the rest reserved for health-related instruction.

Bill Osborn, associate vice president, instruction, said he hopes the up-todate equipment and extra space help the college to expand the medical billing and coding program as well as the medical transcription program. A space designed to resemble a doctor’s records office is located between two classrooms on the first floor.

For the future OHEC may not be dedicated yet, but college officials are already contemplating its future. With the number of health-related occupations projected to grow at a higher than average rate, the architects left room for an addition of 20,000 to 30,000 square feet on the same building footprint.

More than medicine In addition to health-related classes, OHEC will be home to select general education classes. Loralee Stevens, assistant dean of community outreach for credit instruction, said OHEC would give the college an additional presence in south-central Johnson County. She said general education offerings at OHEC reflect a “variety of classes to fulfill an associate’s degree, as well as classes of personal interest.” Fall 2011 | Imprint

OHEC is JCCC’s first ‘official’ green building

LEED

An air-handler room uses OHEC’s geothermal system for heating and cooling the building.

Energy efficiency. Low-fume paints and sealants. Recycled building materials.

Daylight. All of these forward-thinking building practices were used in the construction of the Olathe Health Education Center (OHEC), the new home for practical nursing, health occupation programs and general education courses. OHEC is the first building to be constructed under the promise of sustainability after President Terry Calaway signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment in March 2008. In it, he pledged to make all new construction follow the dictates of the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) designation of a LEED silver building or higher. “It’s college policy now,” said Jay Antle, executive director of the Center for Sustainability at JCCC. The USGBC developed LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, which is an internationally recognized green building certification system. Points are earned in distinct categories such as water and energy usage, materials used in construction and environmental quality inside the building. On a 100-point scale, OHEC must achieve 50 to 59 points in order to be certified silver. A gold certification requires 60 to 79 points and a platinum is 80 points and above.

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How did the designers and builders attempt to attain those points? The flagship of all OHEC’s sustainability practices is the ground-source heat pump. Also called a geothermal system, the pump uses 48 wells dug underneath the OHEC parking lot. These wells are 350 feet deep and use the temperature of the earth to heat the building in the winter and cool it in the summer. Because the water is stored so far underground, it maintains a relatively consistent temperature of about 65 degrees Fahrenheit. In addition to providing heating and cooling for the building, a geothermal system is also supposed to cost less to maintain than traditional sources of heating, ventilation and air conditioning. Antle said the thermal pump also would result in significantly lower utility bills than a typical heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system. The upfront costs – digging the wells, lining them with concrete, filling them with glycol and setting up the handling systems on either side of the building – will be recaptured, he said. How long it will take depends on the costs of traditional heating and cooling materials (such as the cost of natural gas) and the efficiency of the new system.

Other LEED points will come from these features: n Daylight. The building was oriented on the site to capture as much daylight as possible. The lobby features a twostory windowed atrium, and the windows facing the north are large, with six of them on the east side and eight on the west. n Motion sensors and light detectors. When daylight is no longer strong enough (on rainy days) or gone altogether (at night), a device attached to the light fixtures relays the message to turn on the lights or increase their power, and the light responds automatically. Additional sensors monitor motion in a set area, such as a classroom or hallway. When no motion is detected, the lights automatically turn off. Motion sensors are even at work in the elevator, so lights don’t come on until someone steps over the elevator threshold. n Native plants and local materials. Outside the building, plants indigenous to Kansas will demand less water. Inside the building, construction materials from Midwestern suppliers meant less energy used in transport. n Low-fume paints and sealants. “In buildings where these materials are used, fewer people called in sick. So we’re not only creating a greener building, we’re creating a healthier building for workers and for students,” Antle said. n Recycled building materials and recycling during building. In addition to using materials with post-consumer content, builders also maintained that recycling stream by separating waste during construction. Steve Calfas, site superintendent, said workers from JE Dunn, the builder for OHEC, separated cardboard, wood, steel, concrete and masonry so it could be diverted from the landfill and recycled. n Low-flow fixtures, two hydration stations and even a shower. You’d expect water-saving toilets and a place to fill your water bottle, but the shower might be a surprise. For bicycle commuters who want to park their rides on the bike racks outside, a quick shower before class or work may be a necessity. It’s in the first-floor unisex bathroom.

Additional green aspects include bicycle racks and reserved parking for alternative fuel and and car-pool vehicles. Variable frequency drives control electric motor speeds used in the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system.

n “People now have an obligation to create beautiful buildings that are environmentally responsible,” Antle said. “At the end of the day, we need a building that not only works, but that works well.”

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Recycling

College boosts recycling efforts Michael Rea, recycling coordinator, takes delivery of a glass recycling container located on the west side of the campus.

You don’t have to look very far to find a

recycling container at Johnson County Community College. And once you find it, you don’t have to think very hard about what can go in it. This summer, JCCC expanded its recycling programs, adding more recycling containers around campus, shifting to “single stream” recycling for most indoor containers and expanding the types of plastic that can be recycled. The college also became home to one of the big purple Ripple Glass recycling containers, making glass recycling more convenient for JCCC students and employees as well as for neighbors. It’s proven that more people will recycle if it’s easy for them, said Michael Rea, JCCC’s recycling coordinator. For example, the new Ripple Glass collection bin makes glass recycling easy for the thousands of people who drive to campus every day as well as the college’s neighbors. Located in the warehouse parking lot on the west side of campus, and easily visible from College Boulevard, the container is accessible 24 hours a day. Similarly, shifting to single stream recycling – meaning that plastic, paper and cans can go into the same container without sorting – should increase the volume of material

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that’s recycled rather than sent to the landfill, Rea said. Students, employees and visitors no longer need to look for the numbers 1 or 2 on their recyclable plastic to see if it’s acceptable. The college now recycles all plastics imprinted with the circular arrow-recycling symbol, numbers 1 through 7. The convenience factor also applies to boosting the number of outdoor recycling containers. Previously, the college had 110 outdoor trashcans and six outdoor recycling containers for bottles and cans, Rea said, as well as three recycling containers attached to solar-powered trash compactors installed in March. Now, the domed containers for cans and bottles that once dotted indoor hallways have moved outside next to trashcans. “Just putting them next to each other should increase recycling by 30 percent,” Rea said. In addition to reducing the waste the college sends to landfills, boosting recycling also has a financial benefit for JCCC. The funds generated through recycling benefit student scholarships.

Energy

Electric cars have a spot of their own on campus Tim Gelvin, executive director of corporate outreach, shows off one of two charging stations near the Carlsen Center.

and neighbors who own electric cars will get a real charge out of four parking spaces in the Carlsen Center west underground parking garage.

JCCC students, employees

The slots, located on the east wall of the garage near the entrance to the Carlsen Center, are reserved for electric vehicles. They’re adjacent to two electric vehicle-charging stations that were installed in the garage this summer. JCCC is one of eight sites around the Kansas City metropolitan area selected to host the charging stations, which are funded through a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. The Kansas City Regional Clean Cities Coalition is working with KCP&L to administer the grant, which is funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. In addition to JCCC, charging stations are located at Black and Veatch, Overland Park; the City of Lee’s Summit; Commerce Bank, Harley Davidson and Union Station, all in Kansas City; Heartland Hospital, St. Joseph, Mo.; and Park Place Village, Leawood. While drivers can charge electric cars like the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf at home, there’s a need for a charging infrastructure that can be used while the vehicles are away from home but not in use. This is particularly effective when the owner of an electric vehicle can replenish the battery’s charge while the car is not in use for a period of time.

Workplace parking lots, colleges and universities and even movie theatres provide that opportunity. Knowing that public charging stations are available and where they are located will help increase driver confidence and encourage the purchase of more electric cars. That, in turn, will reduce dependence on gasoline and imported oil, enhance efficiency and improve the region’s air quality, said Tim Gelvin, JCCC’s executive director for corporate outreach and a member of the Great Kansas City Plug-in Readiness Initiative steering committee. At a June press conference announcing the locations of the charging stations, KCP&L’s Roland Maliwat said all of the sites allow day and night access to the stations. Hosting organizations are strong supporters of electric vehicles and represent a cross section of businesses: a hospital, retail, education, manufacturing and offices, he said. Gelvin said the grant covered the cost of the charging stations and installation. The college will absorb the cost of the electricity used to fuel the vehicles for three years. Providing the four parking spaces and electricity reflects the college’s commitment to sustainability, Gelvin said. In addition, the JCCC Student Sustainability Committee has allocated funds to purchase an electric vehicle which will be used in part for driver’s education classes. “This is a great opportunity to offer new technology for our students’ use and learning,” he said. Fall 2011 | Imprint

Math

Math: Meeting to find a better way College hosts summit for teachers JoAnn Hiatt, an instructor at Olathe East High School, helps math summit participants calculate the rise of the steps in the Regnier Center in a workshop about extrapolating data.

Think back to your last math class – whether it was yesterday or 40 years ago. Was the teacher at the front of the room, explaining an equation? Were you sitting in a row of desks trying desperately to decipher the teacher’s handwriting and way of thinking? Perhaps the day ended in success. Perhaps the day just ended, and you said to yourself, “I can’t do math.” Maybe the problem wasn’t with the math. Maybe the problem was with the way the math was taught. Maybe there’s a better way. Finding that better way was the focus of the Eastern Kansas Math Summit. Nearly 100 high school and college math teachers, as well as business professionals, met at JCCC recently to discuss the future of teaching math and how students can learn more effectively. It was the first such summit for teachers in the area, organized by Jeff Frost, professor and dean of mathematics at JCCC. The keynote speaker, Maria Andersen, titled her speech, Will Math Go the Way of Latin? Andersen is a professor of mathematics at Muskegon (Mich.) Community College and a “learning futurist” at the school’s LIFT Institute (named for Learning, Innovation, Futuring and Technology.) She seriously posed to a room full of math teachers, “Why do we need to teach algebra?” “I see some very strong parallels to the kinds of arguments that were made to kill Latin off – in the media, in adults, and in adults’ frustration in their kids’ inability to do math and their lack of understanding about why they do math,” Andersen said. She showed attendees slides detailing interactions between people in a math classroom. The result was a few students in the front row engaged in answering the teacher’s questions. The rest sat quietly. One slide even showed the majority of the back row had fallen asleep before the class was over.

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Andersen said change needs to come from something as fundamental as the layout of the room. The rows of desks need to disappear, she said, in favor of tables where students can sit together and work on problems as a group. The teacher needs to leave the lecture spot at the front of the room and act as a coach for the math teams that need help. Technology also has changed the way math teachers need to teach, she said. Instead of lecturing about the concept and sending students home to do the homework, she suggested teachers reverse the process. After all, many of the lectures can be recorded, posted on the Internet and watched outside of class. Andersen also questioned the wisdom of teaching something a computer software program can do in a matter of seconds. If it still needs to be taught to understand the key components used later in other math applications, then tell the students that, she said, but stop offering “ridiculous examples” of real-life scenarios no one would ever do. Anderson’s keynote opened the summit, and closing it was a presentation by actress Danica McKellar, author of Math Doesn’t Suck and two other math-related books for young people. McKellar is best known for her role as Winnie on the television series The Wonder Years. Frost said he organized the summit because “there are not enough opportunities for teachers of different levels – middle school, high school, college – to talk. We wanted to begin the conversation.” Teachers from Shawnee Mission, Blue Valley and Olathe school districts attended, as did instructors from area community colleges (such as Kansas City, Kan., and Butler community colleges) and universities (such as the University of Kansas, Kansas State University and Fort Hays State University). Frost said he’s unaware of another summit like this ever held in eastern Kansas, and he’d like to continue the conversation with a second summit in 2013.

Chris Imm, a math professor at JCCC, focused on discovery-based learning.

Pam Snow, a manager with Pearson Publishing, keyed in on technology.

Professor Maria Andersen of Muskegon Community College gave the key address.

Instructors share ways to make math interesting

based learning (also called inquiry-based learning or IBL) into his classes.

The Eastern Kansas Math Summit not only allowed JCCC instructors to meet with other teachers in the area, but it also allowed them an opportunity to present.

In addition to having the students teach a lesson themselves, Imm provides hands-on “experiments” that prove a math point.

In breakout sessions over two days, their offerings included: • Don’t Worry, Be Happy: Learning Strategies for Math, Marla Byrne and Lisa Cudd. Did you know that the first key to succeeding in math lies in your attitude? “You have to change your attitude toward math before you can change the outcome,” explained Cudd, who teams with Byrne to teach a three-credit business math class with a onecredit learning strategies component. “You can choose your attitude,” Cudd said. One solution? On a craft stick (one of those big ol’ Popsicle sticks), write “Stick to it” or “I can learn” or any other motivational phrase and use it as a bookmark. Sometimes little things can mean a lot. Next, learn how to use the textbook as a study aid. Byrne said, “Some students don’t even open the textbook except to do the homework problems.” One example? If the textbook offers objectives at the beginning of every chapter, use them. “That’s your to-do list,” Byrne said. And as with any to-do list, check off items once they’ve been accomplished. Another strategy includes that artifact from a bygone age – the index card. Cudd and Byrne suggest making an index card for each unit that highlights key points and includes important formulas. Instead of rereading a chapter, take the cards with you to study from. “My goal is that one person who’s the conversion, who says, ‘I really like math,’” Byrne said. • Discovery-Based Learning in the Classroom, Chris Imm. Some students need to see math in action before it makes sense to them, and that’s why Imm has integrated discovery-

Surprisingly, the students who respond best to IBL are in developmental math classes. Students in higher-level classes are startled by the lack of lectures and oftentimes they don’t like it. “Anticipate difficulties,” Imm said. Some of his experiments include poking a hole in the bottom of a liter-sized soda bottle to measure the volume flow. The size of the hole will obviously determine how fast the water drains out, but what if you wanted only a certain amount of water over a certain time, like an irrigation system in a farm field? How could you figure that out? Trial and error, yes, Imm explained, but also with math. • Revisiting the Community Conversation, Jeff Frost and Margie Hill. Organizer Frost teamed with University of Kansas math coordinator Margie Hill to lead a discussion on issues addressed during plenary sessions on both days of the summit. Still in contention was the use of calculators in the classroom. The talk then switched to technology use in general. “It levels the playing field to raise those who come in at a disadvantage,” said Mike Koehler, presenter at the summit, who is an instructor at Blue Valley North High School. Student attitude became the next topic. Amy Lemer, an adjunct math instructor at JCCC, shared a story about her son. Only in first grade, he came home to tell his mother, “I hate math – but not your math, Mommy.” She said she was worried. If she couldn’t get her own son to enjoy math, what hope did the children of non-math-instructing parents have in embracing math? Some group members agreed that teachers need to guide students into a “success loop” where they achieve success, and that success makes them want to do the task again.

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Fulbright Scholar

Exchanging ideas in Russia Executive vice president Joe Sopcich visits colleges as Fulbright scholar Joe Sopcich learned something very quickly

on his recent trip to Russia, funded by a Fulbright grant.

Sopcich decided to apply to the program after Marilyn Gaar, professor of political science at JCCC, urged him to do so. She knew he had always been interested in Russia.

They may have ice in Russia, but they don’t have icebreakers.

As Sopcich visited schools in Russia, the similarities with schools in America became apparent.

“They just don’t have them,” Sopcich explained. “It’s formal and all. They didn’t laugh.”

“Walking down the hall, it felt the same. Students, digital signage, all the same. The only thing different was the language,” he said.

Sopcich, the executive vice president of administrative services, tried his best to ease the tension of the highly structured traditions of education in Russia. As part of his presentation, funded by the Fulbright Program, Sopcich included a Powerpoint slide of JCCC president Terry Calaway supposedly saying, “Don’t listen to this guy,” written in the Russian language. But students there didn’t understand his tongue-in-cheek self-effacement. They stared at Sopcich until he soldiered on. “I learned that’s not what you do there,” he said. Those cultural differences were the whole point of Sopcich’s visit to the cities of Moscow, Yekaterinburg and Tyumen in the Russian Federation. Selected by the Fulbright Program to explain the concept of community colleges to a Russian society without them, Sopcich found as many similarities as differences, especially in the students. Sopcich was one of five community college administrators who visited the three Russian cities from April 5 to 20. The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government. It is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

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The parallels were great at the Moscow Technology College No. 14. The school began as a vocational training site for garment workers, but it expanded to include fashion design, advertising, culinary arts and economics, some of the very same programs JCCC offers. One difference is the length of time students take to complete these programs. While many of these programs at JCCC can be completed in two years, a degree in fashion design at the Moscow college can take almost five years, and a hotel management degree can take nearly three years. “That’s one reason to study the community college model,” Sopcich explained. “Perhaps our model may be more efficient.” At a medical school in Tyumen, educators were very interested in learning about JCCC’s Healthcare Simulation Center. And since Sopcich has been back, he has been exchanging emails with the Russians he met. An administrator from the Moscow college wants more information on some of JCCC’s home nursing care programs. Sopcich is happy to oblige.

Library updates and rethinks space and service Librarians Jessica Tipton and Mark Swails are new to JCCC, as is the library lobby.

Enter Billington Library,

and you can’t help but notice: things

have changed. Some of the changes are obvious, such as the remodeled entrance space that was once a lobby. Other alterations, such as staff restructuring, are less apparent but far-reaching as well.

The building When the main campus opened in 1972, the library was one of the original six buildings. It was named after one of the college’s founders, Dr. Wilbur Billington, in 2001, and up until June of 2011, a large lobby separated the front doors from books and computers on the first floor. Mark Daganaar, director of library services, Billington Library, said students would often meet in the lobby to form study groups, but it wasn’t designed for that purpose. Students would move big armchairs into a circle, their voices echoing off the three stories of concrete. “We thought, ‘Hey, why don’t we move that activity inside the library and think about using this space differently?’” he said. Nine rooms on the library’s second floor were constructed, eight for student study spaces and one as a workspace for librarians. Four rooms hold four people each. Two hold six people, and two more can accommodate eight individuals. The library’s former lobby was remade to hold an attractively designed circulation/reserve desk that forms a “U” around the monolithic concrete staircase. Indirect lighting, multiple wood-veneer surfaces and carpeting soften the space. The desk will centralize services like checking out books, picking up items on reserve or obtaining a laptop for shortterm use. Many of these tasks were performed on the

second floor, and Daganaar said he thinks the new location will be more accessible. Periodicals will now be more accessible as well. Past issues will be stored next to the magazine’s current issue, and patrons can simply find what they want themselves instead of depending on a librarian to retrieve it. On the second floor, a half-wall (approximately 4 feet high) offers outlets for users of laptops, iPads and other electronic devices. “Since the building was built in the ’70s, we had very limited power access,” Daganaar said.

The people Other changes come in the form of people, not power outlets. Two new librarians, Mark Swails and Jessica Tipton, were hired as replacements for retiring librarians, and Daganaar saw the opportunity to restructure the staff. Swails is the reference/copyright librarian, a new position for the college. “Most college libraries have a copyright specialist,” Daganaar said. Swails is head of the copyright committee on campus. He also works with publishers to gain permission from copyright holders and advises faculty on what can be used under the doctrine of fair use. Tipton is the evening/weekend librarian. Instead of having librarians rotate working evenings and Saturdays, Tipton works consistently until the library closes. “We get a lot more nontraditional students and community users during the evening and on weekends,” Tipton said. “For many of these people, nights and weekends are the only time they can make it to the library.” Tipton said she’s looking forward to serving that population as well as the traditional students at JCCC.

Fall 2011 | Imprint

JOHNSON COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE

NONPROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE

12345 COLLEGE BLVD

PAID

OVERLAND PARK KS 66210-1299

Johnson County Community College

College scholar delves into plight of migrants from Haiti Kiran Jayaram, an adjunct assistant professor of anthropology at JCCC, will be the first College Scholar for the 20112012 academic year. Jayaram will speak on the experiences of Haitian migrants in the Dominican Republic. Jayaram will present Capital Changes: Seeing the Similarities and Differences Among Haitian Migrants in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic from 7 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 2, in the Hudson Auditorium of the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art. This presentation will deal with new trends in Haitian migration to the Dominican Republic, particularly in the urban area of the country’s capital, Santo Domingo. A 6:30 p.m. reception in the Shull Atrium of the Regnier Center will precede the event. Jayaram will speak again from 11 a.m. to noon Friday, Nov. 4, in Hudson Auditorium. Both presentations are free, and the public is encouraged to attend. A presentation for students, faculty and staff will be from 11 a.m. to noon Monday, Nov. 28, in the Craig

Community Auditorium (GEB 233). The topic for this talk will be Political Economic Pluralities of Livelihood Strategies and Structural Violence: the Case of the Haitian Migrants in the Dominican Republic. This presentation will go into more detail regarding dynamics of daily life for the Haitian urban migrants to Santo Domingo. It will discuss specific livelihood strategies within a contemporary setting. “While several reports by organizations like Amnesty International drew popular audiences’ attention to the issues of Haitian migrants in the Dominican Republic, the 2010 earthquake in Haiti piqued the world’s interest in the island,” Jayaram wrote. Jayaram received his master’s degree in Latin American Studies from the University of Kansas and is a doctoral candidate at Columbia University Teachers College. His own research has dealt with identity politics in a Haitian social movement and the impact of capitalism in rural Haiti. Most recently, he has studied the migrants who left Haiti for a perceived better life in the Dominican Republic, Haiti’s eastern neighbor on the island of Hispaniola. The College Scholars program showcases faculty excellence in research fields that go beyond the classroom to make scholarly contributions within the instructor’s academic discipline. A College Scholars committee chooses applicants based on the topic’s general interest, timeliness and relevance, among other qualifications.