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Volume 87 Issue 16 • April 1, 2013
210-486-1773 • Single copies free
Transfer Fair Tuesday in Fiesta Room
Heads up CIP retreat today Capital improvement projects are the topic of a retreat for the Alamo Colleges board of trustees at 5:30 p.m. today in Room 101 of Killen Center, 201 W. Sheridan. This comes after the board authorized Chancellor Bruce Leslie or his designee during its regular board meeting Tuesday to execute, deliver and close a real estate purchase of $600,000. John Strybos, associate vice chancellor for facilities, declined to comment on the proposed purchase along with two trustees. District 6 trustee Gene Sprague said the district is always looking for good deals on land, and District 9 trustee Jim Rindfuss said a new acquisition could be used for anything. The district is using the Playland property on NorthAlamo Street for parking for this college during construction of Tobin Lofts, but Chancellor Bruce Leslie intended that land for construction of a district headquarters. The district also owns land for a proposed sixth college west of Interstate 10 near the Bexar-Kendall county line. The agenda for the retreat is available at alamo.edu/district/ board/agenda. For more information, call board liason Sandra Mora at 210-485-0030.
By Emily Rodriguez sac-ranger@alamo.edu
Northeast Lakeview College is closer to achieving accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, which oversees the processes of higher education institutions in 11 states. According to a March 12 presentation to the board of trustees’ Academic Accountability and Student Success Committee, the college, which began the process in 2008, estimates achieving candidacy from SACS in June 2014. Since Northeast Lakeview’s opening in fall 2007, the college has offered financial aid through this college. A majority of its students were registered as students here. In other news, this college has successfully completed its 5-year accreditation review from SACS, which serves as a “midterm exam” for the college, Dr. Johnnie Rosenauer, director of the Murguia Learning Institute and this college’s liaison to the agency, said Tuesday. The review focuses on finance, student learning outcomes, faculty evaluations, library services and faculty-adjunct ratios among other items. Institutions are required to seek reaffirmation every 10 years. This college’s cycle is 2006-2016. Read more at theranger.org.
Faith Duarte
Students considering options for four-year universities can load up on information at the spring Transfer Fair 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday in the Fiesta Room of Loftin Student Center. Every semester, the transfer center hosts a Transfer Fair to bring together students and representatives from local, regional and out-ofstate universities. University “There are representatives a couple of difon hand 9 am.-1 ferent types of p.m. Call 210students who might come,” 486-0125. transfer center Coordinator Rosa Maria Gonzalez said. “One might be the student who is just browsing around and seeing what colleges offer their majors. The other types of students are the ones who have a decided on a major and are trying to figure out if they want to stay locally or if they can afford to go out of the city.” Gonzalez advises students to ask questions, discuss campus life, degree plans, financial aid, scholarship opportunities and important deadlines. “(Students) should be trying to find out from the reps about deadlines, different criteria for their major, the overall GPA needed for the specific major and how it’s calculated. They are not always the same,” she said. Gonzalez said students can bring a copy of their transcript to the event, but university representatives might not have the time to look at them. Representatives from AVANCE, AmeriCorps and San Anto Cultural Arts will attend the fair to
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Rebecca Salinas
Colleges receive accreditation news
/readtheranger
Volunteer Stephanie Hernandez assists her son Emmanuel Castro-Hernandez, 3, in filling his cascarones with confetti Wednesday in his pre-school class in Room 116 of the early childhood development center at this college. Karla Juarez, child development specialist, assists Kenneth Bottomley, 3, in putting stickers on his cascarones. Stephanie’s brother Nick, 6, also volunteered to help the class. Stephanie Dix
See TRANSFER, Page 5
Fall burglaries in VAC continue this semester
Committee to recommend for new dean position
Cash, credit cards and personal items were stolen from faculty offices.
Interviews were Wednesday and Thursday.
By Jennifer Luna
jluna217@student.alamo.edu
There have been four reports of burglaries and one report of theft in the visual arts center since September. On Jan. 25, between 7 a.m. and 11 a.m., two silver, flat-screen Apple iMacs computers, keyboards and mice were stolen from the adjunct workstation in the offices of visual arts. There was $2,250 in damage and property loss. The door handle to the adjunct office was broken, but fingerprints could not be identified. The computers stolen were worth $1,100 each. Chief Don Adams said the burglary is a state jail felony. According to the police report, officers have no suspects and no witnesses. A silver necklace found at the
scene is being kept as evidence, the police report stated. Adams said officers could not distinguish whether the necklace belonged to a man or a woman. The report said there was a similar burglary in the fall semester. Susan Witta–Kemph, visual arts program coordinator, said personal credit cards, cash and other personal belongings had been stolen from faculty offices in the fall. Police reports from the burglaries in the fall could not be obtained by press time. Witta-Kemph said the computers were used by adjuncts who teach online classes. Only adjunct faculty had access to the computers. Since the burglary, the computers have been replaced with the same model and are tied down with cables.
See BURGLARY, Page 5
By Faith Duarte
fduarte3@student.alamo.edu
A screening committee for a new position, dean of performance excellence, plans to make a recommendation to President Robert Zeigler “before we leave Thursday afternoon,” Dr. Johnnie Rosenauer, director of the Murguia Learning Institute and screening committee chair, said Tuesday. The position is posted at a salary of $64,811-$103,748. The position was advertised internally through PeopleLink on the Alamo Colleges website. The position closed March 1. Although Rosenauer declined to specify how many individuals applied for the position, he said interviews were Wednesday and Thursday. “We want to be prompt in our work,” he said. The screening committee
includes Rosenauer; Francisco Solis, mortuary science professor; Dr. Paul Wilson, social sciences and humanities chair; Susan Espinoza, director of college and grant developments; and Dr. Alice Johnson, dean of learning resources. The screening committee is responsible for reviewing applications against the job description and other requirements. “It’s a great screening committee who’s full of veteran individuals, that are recognizing this really important job, and we’re trying to take our job very seriously,” Rosenauer said. Duties of the dean position include developing student learning outcomes, overseeing the reaccreditation process with the Southern Association of Colleges
See DEAN, Page 5