Inside SFCC Summer 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 | summe r 2 0 1 3

Financial Aid Keeps Focus on Graduation Help comes in many forms. Scholarships, grants, financial aid — and the college’s first gift of an annuity — keep SFCC students focused on completing their degrees.

from the president I am pleased that this issue of Inside SFCC has focused on the role of financial aid in student success. As you know, community college students do not fit a single description. Our students might be right out of high school or still attending their secondary school classes. They might come to us to finish a degree they started long ago, or earn a new certification. They could be 16 or 26 or 60 years old (the average age is 34). Many come to us uncertain of their next step, but interested in creating new options for their future.

Once they walk in the door, all students need to know SFCC will help them to be successful. We are here to help them achieve an associate degree, certificate or admission to a four-year institution. We are here to support their journey to success.

As our cover story explains, a key way we support students is through financial aid, which is a critical link for most of the learners on campus. Many students are exposed to financial aid options like the Legislative Lottery Scholarship, even before they leave high school.

Financial aid is not limited to traditional students. Scholarships are available to international and undocumented students and to those who are entering college too late to qualify for the lottery scholarship.

We take many different approaches to serve our community, and we remain flexible to meet changing needs. We couldn’t be effective otherwise. We hope you will continue to support SFCC just as we support our students, and take pride in their accomplishments today and into the future.

Thank You, Dr. Ana M. “Cha” Guzmán President

Cover: SFCC’s newly renovated Welcoming and Advising Center. Below: Main Entrance

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Financial Aid Keeps Focus on Graduation On tours of the SFCC campus, the Financial Aid Office is always the place that garners the most attention from prospective students.

Its mysteries and monetary potential are fascinating for an obvious reason: It’s needed. Approximately 50 percent of degreeseeking students at SFCC receive some form of financial aid. Of those, approximately 78 percent qualify for a Pell grant. In the 2011-2012 school year, 2,833 financial aid recipients at SFCC received an average of $6,387 in support, totaling more than $18 million, including scholarships, grants, loans and workstudy, funded by federal, state, private or institutional sources.

In other words, a high percentage of SFCC students could not attend college without financial support.

“Funding is critical when a single but insurmountable hurdle like a $200 textbook can cause students to drop out,” Vice President for Student Success Carmen Gonzales, Ph.D., said.

“One of the top reasons students drop out of college is financial hardship.”

Assistant Director of Financial Aid, Kelly Baca, assists student Samantha Maestas.

“Students are informed about financial aid options regularly in high school by counselors, recruiters and private lenders,” SFCC’s Financial Aid Assistant Director Kelly Baca said.

“The average award amount Besides campus tours and high is more than the $1,062 in school events, students also tuition and fees for 12 hours hear about the possibilities of classes for two semesters,” “O n e o f t h e t o p r e a s o n s s t u d e n t s of college funding first thing noted SFCC Financial Aid drop out o f college is financi al upon arrival at SFCC, during Director Scott Whitaker. The new student orientation. h a r d s h i p.” award amount also pays for such necessities as food, rent, “By then, they’re listening,” ~ Dr. Carmen Gonzales transportation, etc. Along with Baca said. “They’ll flood from Vice President for Student Success tuition, these expenses are orientation to our office.” usually estimated to be around “There’s a concerted effort to $10,000 for a student living at let students know about all of home with family, and closer to $20,000 for those who are not. the funding assistance available to them,” SFCC offers scholarships and student employment and provides Gonzales said. assistance in locating other financial aid to new and returning The average amount students receive has gone up over the students based on economic need, academic standing and other past few years, Whitaker said. The increase is due to new conditions. SFCC also offers scholarships for non-traditional grants for students in a particular major as well as increased students who may not qualify for the state’s Legislative Lottery funding from state and federal governments based on SFCC’s Scholarship, which covers tuition for eligible students. Only increasing enrollment. a very small percentage of SFCC students receive the lottery scholarship because they do not usually come to SFCC directly “Mainly, the increase is due to students borrowing higher loan upon graduation from high school or they are not able to take a amounts, which is not necessarily a good thing,” Whitaker said. full load of courses (12 hours) each semester.

The average earnings per job in Santa Fe County is 23 percent below the national average whereas the cost of living is The GROW SFCC Foundation raises money for scholarships 18 percent higher than the national average. and work-study. In a recent academic year, GROW awarded continues on next page 281 students more than $179,000.

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Financial Aid

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Of the more than $18 million in financial aid, $8.3 million is in loans. That’s why SFCC recruiters and financial aid staff are beginning to address financial literacy as part of the presentations they make.

by serving as an outreach ambassador for the Office of Recruitment and Dual Credit Programs.

Financial Aid staff members meet with students in their fourth semester at SFCC to make sure they are on track to graduate and are not taking extra courses that will waste their time and limited financial aid. Financial aid is capped by federal law at $23,000 for subsidized loans (for which the federal government subsidizes interest payments) and $34,500 for unsubsidized.

“It was my goal to pay for my education,” Raul said.

“It was a personal goal I had in life.”

Raul Serrano, 21, is a 2013 nursing program graduate from SFCC. He has managed to remain debt free by taking advantage of all grant, scholarship and work-study opportunities.

Financial aid is not limited to recent high school graduates. Student Raul Serrano Admissions Counselor Marcos Maez and Whitaker recently met with retirees to discuss educational and financial aid opportunities at SFCC.

Serrano earned a scholarship upon graduation from Capital High School. After his first semester, he began receiving New Mexico’s Legislative “ I lo v e g r a d uat i o n d ay. S t u d e n t s Lottery Scholarship. He co m e u p t o m e a n d s ay, ‘ I c o u l d n ’ t applied for student loans, “but my parents’ income was h av e d o n e i t w i t h o u t yo u. T h a n k too high.” yo u s o m u c h .’”

“The elders said ‘tuition is $39.50 an hour; I don’t have $40 for food. How can I pay for tuition?’ ” Maez said.

When he and Whitaker explained the possibilities of grants and loans, “they were very hopeful,” Maez said.

“They seemed optimistic.”

The lottery scholarship ended ~ Kelly Baca after Serrano’s first two years Assistant Director, Financial Aid at SFCC. More financial aid That promise of financial aid became available to him, is realized at the end of the however, when his father semester each year. started his own business and the family income dropped.

“I love graduation day,” Baca said. “Students come up to me and His lower family income qualified Raul to become a student say, ‘I couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you so much.’” employee. He also earned a Pell grant and received a scholarship

Contract for a Better Tomorrow The Contract for a Better Tomorrow financial assistance program supports working SFCC students who are the first in their families to attend college. Established by the Domanica Foundation, every dollar raised is matched to provide scholarships and aid to financially vulnerable, first-generation college students. This innovative program is often a lifesaver for the full-time student who also functions as the main breadwinner and caregiver at home.

Students who may quit school because of the competing demands of work, family and study find the cash incentives offered through this program will make the difference, allowing the recipient to cut back on work hours in order to focus on finishing the degree or certificate that will then lift the family out of poverty. The program boasts a nearly 100 percent graduation rate.

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Left: Pema Tamang speaks at a luncheon in honor of Contract for a Better Tomorrow scholarship recipients. Dr. Cheryl Fields, associate vice president for Enrollment Management and Student Success listens in the background. Right: President Ana M. “Cha” Guzmán, left, Linda Anderson of the Domanica Foundation, and Rick Abeles, president of the GROW Santa Fe Community College Foundation, celebrate at the Contract for a Better Tomorrow scholarship luncheon on April 4. The scholarship is awarded to about 45 students a year and is funded by a $50,000 grant from the Domanica Foundation. The grant is matched by the GROW SFCC Foundation.

giving

A Profile in Giving From time to time, Inside SFCC will focus a story on everyday philanthropists – those among us who choose to support the college and its students through monetary gifts of all types and sizes. These “angels” invest in the success of students through funding student scholarships, curriculum and program development, events and countless other acts.

Norman and Gilda Greenberg are donors who, through their generosity, help SFCC grow and change to help students succeed. Here is their story. in the 1960s and 1970s. They capped their careers at Western Michigan University, where Norman was Professor of Anthropology for 20 years and also served the institution with appointments as Dean of the College of General Studies and Senior Adviser to the President for International Affairs. During this time, Gilda had the rare distinction of being Professor of Humanities and Social Science.

Drs. Norman and Gilda Greenberg have been partners in almost every aspect of their lives. Now anticipating their 66th wedding anniversary, they have shared remarkable careers of caring and giving. Whether through their professional dedication to education or their personal commitment to social activism, they have together enriched countless lives – including those of students at SFCC. From the start, the Greenbergs’ interests were wide-ranging.

Norman graduated from The Julliard School in New York after service with the Marine Corps during World War II. He performed as first horn with the Radio City Orchestra and for seven years as an original member of the New York Brass Ensemble, meanwhile earning a master’s degree in sociology and anthropology. Gilda graduated from New York University and pursued her interest in personnel management, earning a master’s of her own.

In 1953, imbued with the ideal of public service, the Greenbergs accepted positions with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and came west to New Mexico. In a remote corner of the state, they established a government school for non-English-speaking Navajo children. They learned, in turn, about Native American art and crafts and began collecting textiles, carvings, pottery and baskets. Gilda remembers the experience of living in isolation with the Navajo as one of the most profound in their lives.

Following their time on the reservation, both Greenbergs earned doctoral degrees from the University of Colorado – Gilda’s in counseling and psychology, Norman’s in anthropology and education. They subsequently devoted themselves to higher education. They both worked at universities in Nashville, Tennessee, where they became advocates for desegregation

Upon retirement from academia, the Greenbergs returned to the Southwest and lived in Santa Fe for 13 years. They quickly came to know the facilities, programs and personnel of SFCC. Impressed by what they saw the college doing, they began to make donations – at first collections of professional journals, but then significant planned gifts. To open a gateway for Native Americans, they set up a trust to support scholarships and later established a charitable gift annuity to augment it. “Our gifts are really a win-win situation,” says Norman. “They provide reliable annual payments for us during our lifetimes and future funding for the college to benefit Native American students.”

For the Greenbergs, the search for new experiences has never ended. Not wanting to be confined by conventional boundaries, they have been lecturers, consultants and intercultural adventurers in almost 80 different countries and continue to challenge themselves.

SFCC thanks Drs. Norman and Gilda Greenberg – remarkable partners in the college’s success.

Giving to GROW Santa Fe Community College Foundation How do donors like the Greenbergs contribute to the success of the college? They chose a method called a Charitable Gift Annuity, which is a transfer of funds or property from a donor which results in a partial tax deduction and income for the donor and a gift of those funds or property to the foundation upon the passing of the donor. Planned giving is a term foundations use when describing a donor’s decision to enter into a contract to make a future gift.

For more information about these and other ways to give, contact Deborah Boldt, executive director of the GROW SFCC Foundation, at 505-428-1704 or deborah.boldt@sfcc.edu 5

profile Charles Bensinger Just like the algae it focuses on, SFCC’s Biofuels Program started with the most basic of materials and grew into something beneficial, long lasting and full of promise.

The cultivator of the successful program is Charles Bensinger, who after establishing the curriculum recently left SFCC to consult in sustainable technologies.

Starting the Biofuels Program fit in with Bensinger’s personal philosophy. “My political conscience and interest in renewable energy have driven my career choices,” he said. “I consider it my life’s mission to help reduce and eventually eliminate the use of fossil fuels.”

In 1981, Bensinger moved from the West Coast to Mora County to co-found an eco-community and retreat center. He bought a computer, some solar panels to power it and a yurt. He moved to Santa Fe, where over the years he opened a video studio, coordinated the Harmonic Convergence celebration at Chaco Canyon and created the environmentally focused Ecoversity.

He hadn’t forgotten his mission. He advocated for solar and wind power support in the state Legislature, and was instrumental in promoting the requirement that PNM use 10 percent renewable energy in its electricity portfolio. He realized that “no one’s paying attention to biofuel.” He shifted his focus to the third dimension of alternative energy. He began to study algae, working to answer the question, ‘How do we change consciousness and lessen our reliance on fossil fuels?’ “We couldn’t run cars on solar energy,” he said. “Biofuels were considered a good alternative to fuel.”

He opened two biofuel stations in Santa Fe that pumped from 2005 to 2012. But transporting biofuels from the Midwest contradicted Bensinger’s low-impact philosophy. Searching for alternatives to corn and soybeans, used in the Midwest to create biofuel but not easily grown in New Mexico, he landed on algae. “All you need is sunlight and cheap land.”

In 2009, the environmentalist and innovator worked with SFCC’s Vice President for Academic Affairs Randy Grissom and others to gain a state grant to create a biofuels program. Naturally, it was Bensinger who was selected to run the fledgling program.

Today, the curriculum mixes science, history and consciousness-raising. Over the past four years, some 140 students have passed through the program. Alumnus David Schwartz went on to create algaeindustrymagazine.com, the Washington Post of the algae industry. Luke Spangenburg founded the algae and equipment consulting company New Solutions Energy and teaches at SFCC. Students now are developing fertilizer, nutritional supplements and food bars.

In 2011, the program that was originally a one-man operation earned a $521,000 Center of Excellence Grant from the State. Just as algae only needs sunlight and cheap land to thrive, Bensinger needed very little to see his vision grow.

His legacy remains in the glass tubes of shining green algae in the Biofuels Lab at the Trades and Advanced Technology Center, waiting for future students to discover its – and their – full potential.

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Dr. Carmen Gonzales has been selected as the Vice President for Student Success, a position she has held on an interim basis since October.

Dr. Gonzales served as Vice President for Student Success at New Mexico State University from 2006 until her retirement from that university in 2011. She is a native of Santa Fe and a graduate of the University of New Mexico, where she earned a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction in Multicultural Teacher Education.

Dean of Economic and Workforce Development and Director of the Sustainable Technologies Center Randy Grissom will move into a new role at the college on July 1. He will serve a one-year appointment as Vice President for Academic Affairs, following the departure of Dr. Ron Liss. Grissom has had a long and distinguished career with SFCC, first joining the campus in 1983 as a faculty member. From 1989-1994 he was State Director of the Small Business Development Center. He also previously served SFCC as Vice President for Administrative Services/ Chief Financial Officer.

Congratulations go to Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Ron Liss on his appointment as President of Cuyahoga Community College Western Campus in Ohio.

Dr. Liss has served SFCC since 2007.

kudos

(L-R) San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro; a sea of graduates prepare to receive their diplomas; President Ana M. “Cha” Guzmán celebrates with two of the grads after the ceremony.

Graduation on May 22 was one for the record books. There were 778 graduates this year, representing 838 degrees and certificates. In 2012, 476 students received 525 degrees and certificates. Julián Castro, Mayor of San Antonio and a rapidly rising Hispanic leader and education reformer, delivered the

commencement address. A graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Law School, the Mayor told graduates “You will power the success of this community and the nation in the years to come.” See more commencement photos and watch the ceremony at www.sfcc.edu.

Two new Governing Board members were sworn in on April 24 by Judge David Segura. Dr. Martha G. Romero, (left), the founding director of the Community College Leadership Development Initiatives at Claremont Graduate University, and Ms. Kathy Keith, the Executive Director of the Regional Development Corporation, took their seats for six-year terms on the Board. The new members are shown with President Guzmán, Board Secretary Andrea Bermúdez and Vice-Chair Linda Siegle.

L-R: City Councilor Rebecca Wurzburger, State Sen. Peter Wirth, State Rep. Jim Trujillo, Creative Santa Fe Chairman William A. Miller, State Sen. Nancy Rodriguez and State Rep. Brian Egolf pose at the groundbreaking ceremony for SFCC’s Higher Education Center on April 23. When complete, the 31,000 square-foot, $9.8 million center at the northeast corner of Siringo Road and Yucca will serve students earning degrees offered by partner institutions Highlands University, the University of New Mexico, New Mexico State University and the Institute of American Indian Arts.

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