PRESIDENT’S REPORT | April 2014
Cilek elected, Lohmar re-elected to SCC Board of Trustees Pamela Cilek of Weldon Lindenwood University and the Spring was elected to a six-year former St. Mary’s College in term and Judge William T. O’Fallon. He was appointed to the Lohmar, Jr. of St. Charles was SCC Board of Trustees in January re-elected to a six-year term 2011 after his son Timothy was to the St. Charles Community elected as a judge in Missouri’s College Board of Trustees in the 11th Judicial Circuit. William April county election. Lohmar was elected in 2012 to Cilek, a 34-year educator, complete the final two years of has been associated with the that six-year term. college since its earliest days. Rounding out the sixOriginally from Macomb, Ill., member SCC Board of Trustees she taught in the theater and are Ryan Robertson of Weldon communications department Spring, regional director at SCC for 26 years and of Goldman Sachs Asset coordinated the college’s Management; Rose Mack of Center Stage Theatre. She O’Fallon, Ward 2 councilwoman retired from the college in for the city of O’Fallon; Jean 2012. She previously taught at Ehlmann of St. Charles, a history Top: Pamela Cilek the University of Missouri-St. and government teacher at Bottom: Judge William Lohmar, Jr. Louis, St. Louis Community St. Charles High School; and College-Florissant Valley and William R. Pundmann of St. Lindenwood University. Her late husband, Charles, president and CEO of Pundmann Clark Cilek, Ph.D., was principal of St. and Co. Charles West High School for 26 years. This The SCC Board of Trustees is charged is her first six-year term on the college’s with the duty of fostering and maintaining Board. the overall welfare of the college as well Lohmar is a senior judge for the state as approving the annual budget and of Missouri, the St. Charles City Municipal expenditures of funds. Judge and the senior partner with Lohmar, The six members of the St. Charles Staebell and Burleson LLC. As an advocate Community College Board of Trustees are of education and professional development, elected citizens who serve six-year terms Lohmar has served as an instructor at without pay.
Graham R. Fisher, Ph.D.
SunEdison Chief Scientist to speak at SCC commencement Graham R. Fisher, Ph.D., chief scientist at SunEdison Inc. in St. Peters, Mo., will be the keynote speaker at the 26th annual St. Charles Community College commencement exercises on Saturday, May 17. The ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. in the gymnasium of the College Center on the SCC campus. “Dr. Fisher is an exceedingly accomplished leader in high-technology science and engineering,” said David Niermann, SCC associate professor and pre-engineering program coordinator. “We have been very fortunate to have him on campus a number of times to share perspectives and experiences with our preengineering students. He is a passionate advocate of the value of education.” Fisher leads the Emerging Technologies Research Group for SunEdison developing new platform products with a 3-5 year horizon.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR: ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT AND EDUCATIONAL EVENTS AT SCC April 23 – Spring Fling/RegFest stchas.edu/calendar
April 23 – That ‘80s Run stchas.edu/run
May 2 – Job Fair 2014 stchas.edu/jobfair
April 23-27 – “Next Year’s Man of Steel” stchas.edu/centerstage
April 29 – One Day Without Shoes stchas.edu/calendar
May 5 – Outdoor Movie Night stchas.edu/calendar
Academic Updates SCC, MSSU sign agreement for environmental health & safety program Officials from Missouri Southern State University and St. Charles Community College signed an articulation agreement on Wednesday, April 9, designed to promote the Environmental Health and Safety program. The degree program requires 45 core hours of courses. The general education and science classes will be completed at St. Charles Community College (SCC), with the environmental health courses from Missouri Southern offered online. Exams from those courses will be proctored by faculty at SCC. Students who complete the program and pass their senior assessment exam obtain their Certified Environmental Health Specialist credentials with the state of Missouri. “The agreement demonstrates the importance of bringing faculty members from each campus together and allows them to create educational pathways that will lead to productive careers,” said Chris Breitmeyer, vice president for academic and student affairs.
SCC announces revamped Business Technology program St. Charles Community College is now offering a Business Technology program. Classes will begin in the fall 2014 semester and students may choose from an Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S.) degree, a Certificate of Achievement (C.A.) in Computer Applications, a Certificate of Achievement (C.A.) in Customer Service and a Certificate of Achievement (C.A.) in Desktop Publishing. “It’s important for students to learn current technology in the workplace so when they graduate they will be ready for a career or to transfer to a four-year institution,” said Nancy Graviett, SCC Business Technology Program coordinator. “We have added a new course and have updated many of the existing courses.” The new Business Technology program replaces SCC’s Business Administrative Systems program and will prepare students for a broad range of careers in companies of all sizes and types.
Two SCC Students Receive MCCA Academic Honors Two SCC students have been named to the Missouri Community College Association (MCCA) All-Missouri Academic Team, an honor bestowed upon the state’s top community college students. Nursing student Amanda Shipley plans to transfer to the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL) to obtain her BSN. Shipley currently works as an admitting representative for Mercy and is the vice president of service for SCC’s Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) chapter. She is also a Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation Gold Scholar Award recipient, one of only 150 gold, silver and bronze winners nationwide. Max Leible is attending SCC on the A+ Schools Program. He plans to attend UMSL in the fall as a junior finance major. Leible has started three small businesses and served as an economics tutor at SCC. He is the vice president
Ron Chesbrough, SCC president; Zora Mulligan, MCCA executive director; Amanda Shipley, SCC student; Christy Gant, PTK faculty advisory.
of fellowship and fundraising for SCC’s PTK chapter. Both Shipley and Leible are on the college’s Dean’s List. They were honored by the MCCA during ceremonies March 5 in Jefferson City.
PTK member Ashley Whitehead to receive international honor; SCC’s Alpha Xi Chi chapter recognized Ashley Whitehead, a member of the Alpha Xi Chi Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) at St. Charles Community College, will be among 30 PTK members internationally who will be honored with the 2014 Distinguished Chapter Member Award. Whitehead received the Distinguished Chapter Member Award for the Missouri Region during the recent PTK Missouri Regional Convention. Distinguished Chapter Members were nominated by their chapters and chosen based on embodiment of the Society’s Hallmarks (Scholarship, Leadership,
Service and Fellowship). The 30 honorees were selected by a panel of judges from more than 150 nominees worldwide. Recipients will receive commemorative medallions during the Hallmark Awards Gala held during NerdNation 2014, Phi Theta Kappa’s annual convention in Orlando April 24-26. The Alpha Xi Chi Chapter also received the Phoenix Award (a Missouri Region award) for chapters who have overcome challenges of the previous year and demonstrated significant improvement, and Five Star Chapter status from national PTK headquarters.
College Takes Home National Bronze Award for Video Short St. Charles Community College received a national-level Paragon award from the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations (NCMPR), an affiliate council of the American Association of Community Colleges. The SCC Office of Marketing and Communications took home a Bronze Paragon in the Video Shorts category for the SCC’s Inside Look video viewbook. “This is a prestigious award for community college marketing and public relations professionals,” said Heather McDorman, vice president for marketing
and communications. “We’re fortunate to have such top-level talent here at SCC.” The award was announced at the annual NCMPR national conference in New Orleans this March. More than 165 colleges participated and nearly 1,800 entries were submitted into this national competition. The National Council for Marketing and Public Relations represents marketing and PR professionals at community and technical colleges. NCMPR’s primary focus is supporting its member’s professional growth. All of them are community college marketing professionals.