Inside SFCC Fall 2013

INSIDE SFCC S A N T A F E C O M M U N I T Y C O L L E G E | fall 2 0 1 3

‘That One Safe Place’ SFCC Opens Veterans Resource Center to help student vets succeed

from the president Dear Friends, I am delighted to report on the development of Santa Fe Community College’s strategic plan, which has evolved over the past nine months with committed involvement from the campus community, partners and stakeholders. Together, we collaborated and shared ideas to form a renewed vision and road map for the college’s future.

Considerable care has gone into the development of our statements of mission and values. Our goals, strategies and key performance indicators will guide decisions and priorities over the next months and years. Special areas of focus we have designated as “rays of light” will command attention as trends emerge and we act quickly to respond to student, community and workforce demands.

The college remains dedicated to a continuous improvement cycle, pledging to review progress and evaluate outcomes against changing market dynamics. High performance standards, degree completion, excellence and innovation in classroom learning are the cornerstones on which we will build our future.

As we created this plan throughout the spring and summer, we heard countless stories about how this exceptional college has transformed lives and built a stronger community over its 30-year history. It has been an inspiring and thoughtful journey that will continue to encourage us to put students first in all that we do.

I hope you will enjoy reading through the plan, which is online at www.sfcc.edu. If you would like a printed copy of the plan, please call or e-mail our Marketing and Public Relations Office at 505-428-1217 or info@sfcc.edu. Our success depends on your continued participation as we embark on our work to make Santa Fe Community College one of the very best in the nation. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Dr. Ana M. “Cha” Guzmán President

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‘That One Safe Place’ SFCC Opens Veterans Resource Center Danny Suazo remembers going back to college in 1989 after serving in the Army.

“My classmates were younger and immature,” Suazo said. “There’s a lot of difference between 18 and 22, especially if the 22-yearold was in the Army.”

Suazo is now part of a team offering academic support, financial aid and scholarship information, counseling and — perhaps most importantly — empathy in SFCC’s new Veterans Resource Center.

The center is a result of serendipity, Vice President for Student Success Carmen Gonzales said. SFCC President Ana “Cha” Guzmán has wanted a vet center at SFCC since she joined the college last year, Gonzales said. An anticipated surge of students who have recently completed tours of duty for the military makes the creation of the center more urgent.

Pablo Ortega, a Vietnam vet and SFCC student, said for many vets, the new center “will be like a home.”

“We feel a responsibility to these students,” Gonzales said. “When they come back, young vets have experienced some heavy-duty trauma and they don’t Pablo Ortega, a Vietnam vet who enrolled at SFCC last year after necessarily go to the Santa Fe Vet Center,” operated by the 27 years as a special education teacher, said for many vets, the Veterans Administration. SFCC can provide the support that new center “will be like a home.” will help them succeed.

“We have a tendency to congregate,” Ortega said of veterans.

The desire to meet this responsibility became reality when, this “We have our own language and we feel comfortable with past spring, UNM-Taos was each other.” granted federal funding for vet Student veterans participated services and contacted SFCC “ W e f e e l a r e spo n s i b i l i t y to t h e s e in selecting services and about participating in its work. designing the layout of st u d e n ts . W h e n t h e y c o m e b a c k , At about the same time, staff the center. In particular, yo u n g v e ts h av e e x p e r i e n c e d was re-evaluating how to Gonzales said, they wanted a so m e h e av y - d u t y t r au m a a n d t h e y use the area across from the quiet place to go to when the d o n ’ t n e c e ss a r i ly g o to t h e S a n ta Student Development Center, clamor of campus life gets to located on the lower level of be too much.

Fe Vet Center” the West Wing, which was Ortega thinks the new center ~ Dr. Carmen Gonzales recently vacated by the Small will be especially helpful to Vice President for Student Success Business Development Center. younger vets just returning A desire, a space and funding home from the Middle East. all fell into place. “We’re doing “New vets are reluctant to be identified,” he said. “There’s a it without any additional cost to the campus,” Gonzales said. reluctance to share or talk. I’m not sure if it’s not having that one “They come with unique needs,” she added. “We want to put this safe place. With the center there, that reluctance might just slip place together for them.” away and they’ll feel more comfortable.” continues on next page

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Ortega remembered returning home from Vietnam in November and starting at Highlands University the following January. “There was no such thing as a veterans’ resource center,” he said. To get help with the complex application process to receive tuition benefits, Ortega had to travel to Santa Fe. A key to any veteran’s success is assuring they have applied for all of the benefits available to them through federal and state governments. The School Certifying Officer at SFCC, Susan Salgado, helps students through the complexities of what they qualify for, how to get the benefits and how to assure they keep getting them.

Danny Suazo offers academic advising and teaches a First Year Experience Student Success Course specifically for veterans. The class helps them get up to speed on reading, math and English skills they’ll need to succeed. Counselors Janelle Johnson and Kate Latimer are available for personal counseling.

Faculty have been brought into the support system. Latimer, who worked several years with the NM Army National Guard offering workshops and retreats designed for families facing separation during deployment, recently led a workshop on best practices for faculty who might be the first people returning vets engage with at SFCC. “Attending school is one of the best ways for veterans to reintegrate into their communities, as it can provide a similar

“Att e n d i n g s c h oo l i s o n e o f t h e b e st way s f o r v e t e r a n s to r e i n t e g r at e i n to t h e i r communities, as it c an prov i d e a s i m i l a r s e n s e o f st r u c t u r e a n d p u r pos e t h at i s f e lt i n t h e m i l i ta r y,” ~ Kate Latimer, SFCC Counselor sense of structure and purpose that is felt in the military,” Latimer said. “However, many veterans struggle with invisible disabilities like post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury that can impact concentration and attention needed for studying. I hope we can ensure that any and all vets attending SFCC receive the academic and personal support they need to succeed through the services provided through the Veterans Resource Center.”

Ortega felt sure that vets using the resource center will get the support they need, especially from other vets.

“We know who we are and we have a sense of duty to make sure our own kind is taken care of,” he said.

Danny Suazo discusses careers and gender roles with students in his First Year Experience Student Success Course specifically for veterans.

Suazo recalls going back to college in 1989 after serving in the Army. Today, he is part of a team offering academic support, financial aid and scholarship information, counseling and—perhaps most importantly—empathy in SFCC’s new Veterans Resource Center.

VETERANS RESOURCE CENTER grand opening Monday, November 4, 2013 • 9:00 A.M. West Wing, Lower Level Atrium

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giving

Enduring Gifts Make Memories The passing of a loved one is one of the most difficult chapters in our lives. As survivors we wonder how we will cope with the loss, and how we might continue to honor the life of someone who meant so much to us.

One way to celebrate the life of our loved ones is by memorializing them through an endowed scholarship, which can be established and maintained through the SFCC Foundation. Families of students, faculty and staff have often been surprised and gratified to learn that an endowment to support a named scholarship can be set up for as little as $8,000.

Endowed scholarships can be grown over time, so family members, friends and others can contribute as funds are available. Many donors find that holidays or birthdays are a good time for friends to remember the deceased with a contribution toward the fund.

Giving to SFCC Foundation

In some cases, an endowed scholarship is established through a planned estate gift. These are examples of planned gifts:

For details on these and other ways planned gifts make a difference for SFCC students contact

• Appreciated stocks, bonds or mutual fund shares owned for more than a year.

Deborah Boldt, executive director: 505-428-1704 or deborah.boldt@sfcc.edu Steve I. Schneider, Esq., planned giving adviser: 505-428-1838 or steve.schneider@sfcc.edu.

• A charitable gift annuity, including cash or securities.

These gifts to the Foundation generate a guaranteed income for life for the donor, as well as an immediate charitable tax deduction. The minimum gift to establish an annuity is $10,000 and the minimum age is 65.

All gifts to the SFCC Foundation are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

• Funds from an IRA, either traditional or Roth, to SFCC Foundation.

SFCC and Mexican Consulate Announce New Scholarship The Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the Mexican Consulate in Albuquerque has awarded Santa Fe Community College the Institute for Mexicans Abroad (IME) Becas scholarship to benefit MexicanAmerican and Mexican students with financial need.

The IME-Becas Scholarship is designed to raise the educational level of Mexican-American and Mexican students to advance the culture and economy of Mexico. The Mexican Consulate in Albuquerque administers the IME-Becas program jointly with SFCC, which has demonstrated a strong commitment to organize and monitor the project. Awards will be made to lowincome Mexican or Mexican-American students who require financial aid to begin, continue or complete their studies, from

basic education to the professional level or for undergraduate or graduate programs. The scholarship requires that students identify, design and implement a community service project while also completing their educational studies.

SFCC was awarded $10,000 and has matched funding for a total of $20,000 in scholarship monies. Funds will support SFCC students in the Student Ambassadors Program, the Adult Education Program and the Integrated Basic Education Skills Training (I-Best) Program, which prepares students for careers by teaching job skills while strengthening reading, writing, math and English. All of these programs have contributed to increased success among SFCC’s Mexican or Mexican origin students.

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noteworthy SFCC officially launched 30th Anniversary celebrations at Convocation in August. To kick off the festivities, community members Jim Miller, Nancy Witter, whose late husband William C. Witter was the college’s first president, and Dr. John Pacheco, past President, were recognized. SFCC Governing Board Chair Chris Abeyta wrote a song for the occasion.

Student Ambassadors and volunteers celebrated the college’s 30th Anniversary on this year’s Fiesta Parade Float.

The SFCC Governing Board approved the updated Strategic Plan 2013-2018. SFCC thanks the many participants from our campus and our local community who helped bring the vision for our future to life in this updated plan.

Read the plan online at sfcc.edu.

The 2013 Edition of the Santa Fe Literary Review is now available. SFCC students and local, regional, national and international writers contributed fiction, non-fiction, poetry and art. Pick up a free copy at SFCC’s Liberal Arts Program Office, West Wing, Room 222, at other locations on campus or read it online at www.sfcc.edu.

SFCC hosted Technology Transfer: Key to New Mexico’s Future, a conference on people, innovation and finance sponsored by Senator Tom Udall and the New Mexico Regional Development Corporation.

SFCC is proud to announce its membership with the NM Recycling Coalition. SFCC Warehouse employee, Scott George, has earned certification as a Compost and Recycling Facility Operator.

The New Mexico Environment Department’s Solid Waste Bureau awarded Scott’s certification and his training was provided in collaboration with the New Mexico Recycling Coalition. Certification allows SFCC to legally operate a Compost and Recycling Facility, a move that will help reduce college costs. SFCC uses vermiculture (composting with worms) on pre-consumer kitchen waste that provides soil amendment for the Culinary Arts Garden. Also as part of the college’s sustainability initiative, SFCC recently purchased a bailer to compact cardboard, paper, plastic bottles and aluminum cans.

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The college’s academic schools have been reorganized to better serve our students.

Margaret Peters is the Dean of the School of Liberal Arts and the School of Arts, Design, and Media Arts. The chairs of Arts and Design are Diane Tintor and Laura Rosenfeld. The chair of English, Reading, Speech and World Languages is Julia Deisler. The chair of Media Arts is Marcia Reifman and the chair of Social and Behavioral Sciences and Humanities is Bernadette Jacobs.

Patricia Finn, J.D., is the Dean of the School of Fitness Education, the School of Trades, Technology, Sustainability and Professional Studies and the School of Business and Education. Kathleen Finn Brown is the chair of Business; Monique Anair is the chair of Film, Computer Science and Engineering; Ute Jannsen-Kerr is the chair of Fitness Education and Jerry Trujillo is the chair of Trades, Sustainability and Professional Studies.

Jenny Landen, RN, MSN, is the Dean of the School of Health, Mathematics and Sciences.

Robert Shankin is the chair of Mathematics; Heidi Weingart is the Director of EMSI, Healthcare, Medical Assisting and Phlebotomy, Rebecca Jeffs is the Director of Respiratory Therapy and Janie Milner is the Director of Sciences.

Renewable Innovation earns SFCC top honors The New Mexico Association of Energy Engineers (NMAEE) has awarded SFCC the 2013 NMAEE Renewable Innovator of the Year.

The award recognizes the college’s commitment to energy efficiency and renewable energy in the state of New Mexico.

kudos

SFCC won the top award in the category of Sustainable Workplaces in Albuquerque Business First’s Sustainable Business Awards. Vice President for Academic Affairs Randy Grissom accepted two awards on behalf of the college, both of which were presented by Albuquerque Business First and the New Mexico Green Chamber of Commerce.

Culinary students win at Hungry Mouth SFCC Culinary Arts Lead Instructor Michelle Roetzer, Instructor Leslie Chavez and Culinary Arts Students won “Best Non-Vegetarian Entrée” at the St. Elizabeth Shelter’s Hungry Mouth Festival.

Culinary students Martin Blanco (left) and Austin Anderson (right) at the St. Elizabeth Shelter’s Hungry Mouth Festival.

The New Mexico Energy$mart Academy at SFCC has earned national accreditation from the Interstate Renewable Energy Council for all of its weatherization training programs: Retrofit Installer Technician, Crew Leader, Energy Auditor and Quality Control Inspector.

SFCC is one of only nine training centers nationwide accredited for energy

efficiency programs and one of only two accredited in all job task analyses.

The prestigious IREC credential is an internationally recognized mark of quality for education and training in renewable energy and energy efficiency and assures students and employers that an industryvalidated standard for quality training has been met.

Building Science for the next generation Students will soon have a new toy thanks to the National Science Foundation. SFCC and the Concord Consortium have received a $1 million National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education grant to teach building science using simulation games.

Students who have grown up with video games will be able to translate their video skills into green building construction expertise.

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Published by Santa Fe Community College President and Governing Board Dr. Ana M. “Cha” Guzmán

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Calendar November 4: Veterans Resource Center Grand Opening November 4: Veterans Resource Day November 6: Fall Film “In the Footsteps of Marco Polo” November 16: Fire Preparedness in Northern New Mexico, Free Workshop December 7: Holiday Arts and Crafts Fair December 21–January 6: Winter Break

President

J. Chris Abeyta Chair Linda Siegle Vice Chair Dr. Andrea B. Bermúdez Secretary Dr. Martha Gandert Romero Member Kathy Keith Member Sean Mickey Ex-officio Student Member Produced by SFCC’s Marketing and Public Relations Department. Janet Wise, Executive Director Writing and editing: Janet Wise, Kay Bird, Jennifer Bleyle, Laura J. Mulry Photos: Jeff Atwell, Melyssa Holik, Colette Lee, Laura J. Mulry, Fran Nawrocki Layout: Melyssa Holik

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