Goal I. Access to Higher Education
NLC held its Design Expo on July 14th which showcased the new Northeast Lakeview College campus currently under construction. The public was invited to preview the new facility renderings and building floor plans and meet the architects, contractors, and construction programmers. Architects and facilities representatives from the Judson ISD Early College Partnership High School also featured a display at the event.

Beginning in the Fall 2007, students from the 16-member states of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) can enroll and access Palo Alto College’s Internet courses and seven degree programs offered completely online through the SREB’s Electronic Campus. The Electronic Campus allows prospective students to search for a particular college or course, and to register for any course of interest. For more information, visit the website at http://www.electroniccampus.org/

Jesse and Sue Oppenheimer gave the ACCD Foundation a new $15,000 gift for Oppenheimer Scholarships. ACCD also received $100,000 from the Lumina Foundation for the third year of the four-year grant for the Achieving the Dream Initiative.

Dr. Roberto Gonzales, NVC faculty member in biological sciences, is currently recruiting the first cohort of students for the Sustaining Talent in Education to Launch Learning and Research (STELLAR) in Science and Engineering Project. This project, funded by a $522,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education, is designed to increase the number of under-represented and economically needy students majoring in the science and engineering disciplines as well support the persistence, retention, success and graduation of participating students. The students will participate in academic seminars, faculty mentoring and advising, and a lap top lending program. Students who are chosen will be designated Millennium Scholars and will receive a $1,000 stipend per year for two years. Ultimately, graduates of this program will be prepared for the university level research environment.

Goal II. Student Support
Palo Alto College and Texas A&M University—Kingsville System Center—San Antonio are making preparations for a “Registration Bash” to be held in the Student Center, July 25. Advisors, counselors, financial aid representatives and testing services will be available in one location to answer questions one-on-one with prospective students and parents.

Since the baseball season started, several SAC Radio, Television and Film students have been hired as San Antonio Missions interns. Students are gaining valuable experience as camera operators, and in the press booth they are operating the scoreboard graphics and instant replays.

Goal III. Workforce Development
SPC Business Information Solutions awarded 163 Microsoft Certifications cumulatively this summer. The free training, offered to area high school business teachers, has been underwritten by the Alamo Tech Prep Consortium.

The Department of Economic and Workforce Development was awarded $474,000 for the Texas Workforce Commission’s TIER Robotics project.

Goal IV. Capacity To Serve
Dr. Dollie Hudspeth, Communications Department Chair at NLC, was inducted into the “Counting My Blessings Hall of Fame.” This is an annual recognition sponsored by the local SNAP newspaper owned by local entrepreneur, Mr. Eugene Coleman; the award honors individuals who make outstanding contributions to their community.

A Palo Alto College Facilities Department awards recognition ceremony honored 19 employees with a combined 261 years of service to the Alamo Community Colleges.

SAC Librarian John Deosdade has created a helpful resource page which can be downloaded from the college website titled Baldrige/Teamwork/Total Quality Management Resources. The page includes links to relevant books, articles, and websites.

Earlier this month, Mrs. Linda "Lin" Freeman from our Office of Legal Affairs/Risk Management became one of the first educational risk managers in Texas designated by the National Alliance for Insurance Education & Research as a Certified School Risk Manager(CSRM). A new professional designation, the CSRM is awarded after completion of a five-part designation program for risk management education specialists. By successfully completing the entire CSRM course of study within a three-year period, individuals earn the prestigious title of "Certified School Risk Manager." Congratulations are extended to Mrs. Freeman on her notable accomplishment.

The Department of Institutional Advancement will visit with Kathleen Guy, VP of Institutional Advancement at Northwestern Michigan College, in August to review model approaches to engaging and supporting the chancellor and presidents in fundraising. This came about as a result of Dr. Leslie’s participation, along with Drs. Claunch, Guzman, and Loston’s participation, in the recent presidential fundraising workshop.

Goal V. Organizational Communication
San Antonio College sponsored its annual SAC Night at the Missions on July 19. The event brought together the college community and their families for a night of fun and also communicated to a larger audience the college’s opportunities and achievements. The college promoted itself through an information table, announcements throughout the game to a crowd of 6,000, an interview with President Zeigler heard by the radio audience, a T-shirt give-away with the college logo, and college banners throughout the ballpark.

Mr. Denny Ryther, District Athletic Director/Natatorium Manager, was a guest of Brazil for the Pan American Games representing USA Swimming. He was a referee for the Marathon Swimming (10K) events. The USA won the gold medal in the women’s event and a gold and silver medal in the men’s event.

The Department of Governmental and Public Relations assisted in the coordination of the 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. WOAI-TV newscasts broadcast entirely from NVC on Friday, July 13. The 5 p.m. newscast was seen in 30,000 households by 43,000 people and the 6 p.m. newscast was seen in 32,000 households by 49,000 people; the Fall advertising campaign is underway with 984 television spots running in ten television stations and 1,673 radio spots running in ten radio stations.

We have an increasing number of events and activities district-wide and are taking the opportunity to showcase such events on Time Warner Cable channel 98 and Grande cable channel 23. This section of the Chancellor’s Weekly Report provides a schedule of the programming for our regularly scheduled times of 12 – 2 pm on Saturday and 9 – 11 am on Sunday. Programming varies due to the timing of Board and committee meetings, groundbreaking ceremonies, etc. The programming for the coming weekend is as follows:

Saturday, 7/28, 12:00 – 2:00 p.m.
First half of Special Board Meeting from July 17, 2007

Sunday, 7/29, 9:00 – 11:00 a.m.
Second half of Special Board Meeting from July 17, 2007 and Building, Grounds and Site Selection Committee Meeting from July 17, 2007