Goal II. Student Support
Cuihua Zhang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor at Northeast Lakeview College, left for a three-week familiarization visit to China sponsored by the College of Staten Island/The City University of New York and College Consortium for International Studies (CCIS). The visit will introduce Dr. Zhang and her travel companions to international exchange opportunities and study abroad programs in China; and will introduce US educators to Chinese educators at some of China’s most prestigious institutions. Dr. Zhang’s travel was funded through the ACCD International Programs office and through a travel grant awarded by the College Consortium for International Studies. Dr. Zhang will be teaching a course in Chinese in the fall at Northeast Lakeview College, with the intention of one day developing a Chinese Studies program.

Goal IV. Capacity To Serve
Northeast Lakeview College hosted a webinar titled A Framework for Student Mental Health & Violence Prevention at the ATC on July 10th. Coordinated by Debbie Hamilton, NLC Vice President of Student & Administrative Services and facilitated by Stacie Williams, NLC Staff Counselor, the online seminar focused on coordinating campus resources to support student mental health. Over 40 people, including faculty and staff from the five colleges and community education centers, attended the webinar. Participants had an opportunity to engage in the real time Q & A sessions and have made a commitment to start cross-college dialogue and to begin work on a crisis response plan.

Goal I. Access To Higher Education
Northwest Vista College’s Kids Jamboree Summer Camps started on June 4 and will continue through August 7. This year’s camps include the Walk on the Wild Side Dinosaur Camp; the Sea Adventures Camp; the Acting Up! Theater Camp; the Mad Science Camp; the Under the Sea Camp; the Zoology Camp; and the Academic Camp. NVC also has Saturday Children’s Enrichment classes that will continue through July 14. These enrichment classes include art, chess, dancing, drama, guitar, math, science, piano, reading, Spanish, and writing. Both programs have attracted a total of 280 students. NVC has also initiated its first Kids Camps at the Westside Education and Training Center.

Goal III. Workforce Development
In August 2006, Northwest vista College’s Workforce Solutions Group established a partnership with the Air Intelligence Agency (AIA). The partnership came as a result of a meeting between Colin Nichols, the college’s Workforce Solutions consultant, and Walt Gibson, the Chief of Military and Civilian Education for the AIA. Following this meeting, it was agreed that NVC would provide customized training to the agency’s civilian and active military workforce. Since last year, NVC’s Workforce Solutions Group has provided training in the areas of business writing and presentation skills. The team is scheduled to provide “Focus” Franklin Covey training in August 2007 and is in the early stages of building a leadership certificate program to be offered in the fall. Both NVC and the AIA hope to expand the partnership offerings to include team-building as well as coaching and mentoring certifications.

Goal IV. Capacity To Serve
Northwest Vista College will offer its first 9-month Leadership Lab this fall. The NVC Leadership Lab has chosen to use the Franklin Covey leadership curriculum entitled “Leadership: Great Leaders, Great Teams, Great Results.” This curriculum will allow participants to learn

• Skills for building trust and influence with others
• The most effective way to define a team’s purpose and the “job to be done.”
• How to align the four essential systems that drive success
• The proven process for creating a strategic link between the work of the team and the goals of college.
• How to connect the work of the team to the organization’s economic model
• Skills to master the three key conversations that will help you break through to greatness

Participants will meet as a group once a month for a full day. Half of each day will be focused on content driven exercises while the other half-day will allow participants to apply their knowledge to NVC-related topics. They will also have access to online materials developed by the Franklin Covey Leadership Program.

Goal V. Organizational Communication
Northwest Vista College’s Tai Chi instructor, Sal De La Rosa is receiving one of the highest achievement awards in the martial art of Taijiquan. He will be inducted into the great family lineage of Master Chen Zhenglei of Chen Village (China), the birthplace of Chen style Taijiquan. This summer Sal will attend a ceremony in Eugene, Oregon, which will bestow the title of “Master” on him. Northwest Vista College will be proud to welcome back Master De La Rosa as he continues to share his talents with our students. Next summer, Master De La Rosa will travel to Chen Family Village, China, where he will be inducted into Master Zhenglei’s lineage and become a 12th generation inheritor of Chen style Taijiquan.

Goal I. Access To Higher Education
PAC’s Upward Bound Program recently completed its 14th annual Summer Youth Education Academy with approximately 60 high school students and recent graduates enrolled in high school academics and college courses. Thirty-four students from Poteet, Lytle, Pleasanton and Jourdanton High School were also recognized for their participation in the program and their community service achievements in a Summer Banquet held in the Student Center, July 6.

Goal II. Student Support
PAC counselors gave a presentation to 85 middle and high school engineering PREP students on campus, July 2. The presentation focused on academic and career education that would enable the students to prepare for postsecondary training in a technical or career field.

Goal III. Workforce Development
Dr. Ana M. Guzman, PAC President, and A. J. Rodriguez, President and CEO of the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish the “Enterprise Technology Passport Program.” The program is designed to give Hispanic Chamber members a better understanding of the latest information technology and strategies available on today’s market through 15 specialty courses.

Goal IV. Capacity To Serve
Tina Mesa, PAC’s Dean of Learning Resources, attended the American Library Association’s 128th Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. Mesa, accepted a four year appointment on the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL—a division of the American Library Association) Budget & Finance Committee. The committee’s charge is to annually submit a budget to the ACRL division’s Board of Directors for action, and to assist the Board in aligning the budget with the strategic plan.

Goal V. Organizational Communication
PAC’s Assistant Professor of Communications, Dr. Denise Barkis Richter, and 13 students representing three Alamo Community Colleges on a three-week study abroad program in Spain returned to campus July 2. The students were enrolled in COMM 2311: News Reporting and Writing, and HUMA 2323: World Cultures and Global Issues. Students “blogged” their daily experiences on the web which was featured on the PAC website, MySA.com and in a Civic and Citizen Journalism newsletter.

Goal I. Access To Higher Education
St. Philip's College is hosting its first Summer Math and Science Academy for middle school students in 6th through 8th grades. The four-week program offers a new and exciting way to engage middle school students in a variety of activities and projects designed to dispel the many misconceptions about math and science. The academy, funded by a summer bridge program grant from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, will provide seminars, tours, experiments, and live demonstrations to participants.

The College received official notification from the U.S. Department of Education of the Title III award in the amount of $6,068,481. Title III funds for fiscal years 2007-2012 will be used either directly or indirectly on programs that are designed to improve the retention, persistence, course completion, graduation, and transfer rates of our students. Funds will also be used to increase access to higher education for individuals with disabilities.

Goal II. Student Support
St. Philip’s College Southwest Campus funded the travel to Kansas City of two Multi-Modal Transportation students to participate in the National Skills USA competition. One of the students, Zachary Trede, placed second in the competition and received a silver medal in Aviation Maintenance Technology.

Students from Tourism, Hospitality and Culinary Arts conducted a food drive to benefit the SPC Food Pantry. One hundred sixty-five pounds of food was gathered.

The Kinesiology Department has developed a plan to improve retention. A team consisting of a faculty advisor, an advisor in residence, a counselor, and a department tutor will meet with students with less than a 2.0 GPA and provide specific support based on students’ specific needs.

The Welcome Week Planning Committee continues to meet in preparation for the fall 2007 semester. Events between August 24 and September 7 are being planned. Special attention will be given to orienting the family and friends of students as they begin their academic semester.

Goal III. Workforce Development
Four students from the Automotive Technology Department were selected for a summer internship at the American Honda Motor Company’s corporate headquarters in Los Angeles, California. The students are working with a team of Honda’s professional staff in the parts and service division. The all-expense paid internship ends in early August. Typically, Honda selects two students from each campus, but was so impressed with the automotive students from St. Philip’s, that they selected four.

For the fourth year in a row, homebuilder KB Home San Antonio plans to recruit and hire students from the St. Philip’s College’s Homebuilding Technology program. Students will receive real world experience and will study the various stages of construction of a new housing development.

The McKenna Hospital Foundation has awarded $5000 in funding for a nursing lab to be housed at the Central Texas Technology Center (CTTC) and will be used for medical program training.

SPC has negotiated and finalized an educational service agreement to provide culinary training at the Bexar County Detention Center. This 125-hour training will begin July 23, 2007.

Goal IV. Capacity To Serve
Work has begun on the new Student Tutoring and Technology Center, which replaces the former tutoring center and computer lab in the Norris Technical Building. It will feature state-of-the-art technology in an environment designed to be accessible by all students and is scheduled to open in September.

Goal V. Organizational Communication
The Staff in Service Learning facilitated a Good to Great Dialogue on Friday, July 6, with 19 SPC faculty and staff members in attendance. Several of the main topics from Jim Collins’ book were discussed. Two other dialogues are planned prior to the beginning of the fall semester. Planning is underway to expand the Good to Great material to the broader SPC community.

Goal I. Access to Higher Education
Sixteen aspiring journalists from area high schools completed an intense two weeks of training in the 23rd Annual Urban Journalism Workshop at San Antonio College, directed by Instructor Irene Abrego. “The workshop is truly a community endeavor for our department and the college,” said Marianne Odom, Chair of Journalism-Photography. “It connects us with high school students and teachers, local chapters of professional organizations, journalism faculty at senior institutions and media professionals from the San Antonio Express-News and other major Texas newspapers . . . to give students an inside look at a career in journalism and an experience they will never forget.”

Melissa Macaya (Clark senior) received the first Regina Montague Memorial Scholarship, valued at $2,000, established by family members and the Express-News to honor a former workshopper who died in an auto accident in 2004. Hillary Castañon (Warren) and Stephanie Rendon (McCollum) received $1,000 renewable scholarships and were nominated for the Newspaper Fund competition for scholarships; ACCD scholarships of $1,500 went to Laura Barrera (Taft), Melody Mendoza (East Central), and Rendon; and the Dub Daugherty $1,500 scholarship went to Michael Vásquez (Taft), Castañon, and Sarah Miles (Jefferson).

The workshop included networking with local media professionals and a phone interview with Naka Nathaniel, a 1990 workshop participant who works at the New York Times with Nicholas Kristof, producing online op-ed pieces on Darfur and other stories. Students researched, wrote and photographed stories for a tabloid publication You S.A. (at http://www.theranger.org ), several of which were published by the Express-News. Articles covered such topics as a Colombian teen whose family had to flee terrorist attacks, the TAKS test, high school students who live alone and support themselves, and the impact on teenagers of the increased minimum wage.

The 5 1/2 week Summer Bridges Program is in session this summer and was featured in the June 21 issue of Conexíon. The program, overseen by Dean Ruben Flores, is a part of the college’s Institute for Community Initiatives, targets students with average grades from Fox Tech, Edison, Lanier and Jefferson high schools. The program gives students a taste of college life and encourages them to apply after graduating from high school. There are 55 students in the program this year. The Conexíon article featured Lorena Chavarria and Brenda Guzman, both seniors at Jefferson High School in the fall. “We want to show them that college is a reachable goal, that college is for everybody, but they have to want it,” said Dean Flores.

Goal II. Student Support
Dental Assisting student Tricia Chapa won the Gold Medal at the Skills USA
College/Postsecondary Division National Leadership and Skills Conference held June 29 in Kansas City, Mo. Ms. Chapa had previously won two Gold Medals in the Skills USA state competition. Last year, Dental Assisting student Cari Jones also won the Gold Medal in the Skills USA national competition. Stella Lovato is Allied Health Chair and Karen Gonzales is Dental Assisting Lab Technician and advisor.

Music Business students organized and promoted Squeekfest!! 2007, which was held at the Limelight nightclub on N. St. Mary’s. The musical program was a fundraiser to benefit the Music Business program and Courtland Records, created by the students with assistance from Fred Weiss, Program Coordinator and Radio-TV–Film Professor.

Goal V. Organizational Communication
Several media covered the recent robotics competition in the summer EDGE (Early Development of General Engineering) program. KABB-TV, KSAT-TV, KTSA radio, La Prensa and North San Antonio Times newspapers were there to watch 10th-12th grade high school students participate in the first SAC Grand Prix race (programming their robots to follow an “S” curve track) and Automated Parking Competition (programming robots to park in the new “SAC Parking Garage”). The students assembled and programmed Lego Mindstorms® robots. Lucas Treviño, from Rainbow Hills Baptist High School, said the EDGE Program and robotics competition “really opened my eyes to the engineering field. It helped me see what I really want to do in the future.” Dr. Dan Dimitriu, Engineering Coordinator and Director of the EDGE Program, said the competition was part of an eight-week program. Engineering Instructor Klaus Bartels served as judge and coach for the robotics competition.