Goal I. Access to Higher Education
Plans are underway for the upcoming National Coalition for Advanced Technology Center Conference (NCATC) to be held at the Sheraton Gunter Hotel from October 3-6, hosted by the ACCD Economic & Workforce Development (EWD) division. The conference theme will be “Securing Global Economic Competitiveness” with a focus on technologies and workforce training in driver industries such as Aerospace, Homeland Security, Biomedicine, and Manufacturing.

PAC is recruiting students for the “Palo Alto Weekend College Program” which begins Sept. 8. The program allows for the completion of an Associates of Arts or Science degree in three years completely on weekends and via the Internet, and has been specifically designed for working adults juggling the demands of career and family.

On 8/10, Northeast Lakeview College hosted a meeting to generate support for the Watts Lower Valley School Restoration Project, the 1877 rural schoolhouse discussed at our last Board meeting. Over 50 Lower Valley School alumni, NLC Citizens’ Advisory Committees members, members of area historical organizations, Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD personnel, financial and construction industry representatives, and others attended the meeting. Attendees expressed interest in the restoration of the rural schoolhouse and generated ideas for building support to fund the project.

Goal II. Student Support
NLC, as a part of the Achieving the Dream FTIC Initiative, hosted a training seminar for Student Development Faculty with author Amy Baldwin on Friday, August 10, 2007. Ms. Baldwin’s textbook, The Community College Experience, has been adopted by NLC, SAC, and SPC for SDEV 0370, a course designed for students requiring developmental classes in two or more of the core areas. Instructors from NVC, SPC and NLC attended the half-day training where Ms. Baldwin focused on techniques and strategies to best utilize the text. Ms. Baldwin is employed with Pulaski Technical College in Little Rock, AR. Pulaski Technical College is an Achieving the Dream College.

Goal III. Workforce Development
A draft on a “Nursing Shortage Study – Final Report” was completed by Business Outreach staff. Also, the development of a brochure to recruit nursing faculty was completed and will be distributed throughout the ACCD service region.

San Antonio Express-News business reporter Adolfo Pesquera and a photographer visited the PAC campus to interview Larry Jackson, Director of Corporate and Community Education, and Tod Bruning, Information Technology Program Manager, for a story on the “Access to Technology” partnership with the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Aug. 15.

The SPC Career Services Coordinator met with the Education Coordinator of the Association of Builders and Contractors to discuss short term training for their new employees as well as academic opportunities for their journeymen.

Goal IV. Capacity To Serve
PAC’s cafeteria, managed by Sue Valle of Custom Foods, received a “Perfect” score during its recent inspection by the San Antonio Metro Health District. During the summer sessions, PAC’s cafeteria served thousands of meals to students, faculty, and staff, and to children attending various summer programs throughout the campus.

Facilities Operations and Construction Management reports the following:
• Renovation of the second floor of the Westside Education Service Center is complete and ready for classes on August 27;
• An assessment of the proposed Kerrville facility has been completed and will be discussed at the August 21 Board Meeting.

On Wednesday, August 8th, Dr. Eric Reno, presented the latest NLC new construction architectural renderings to the Universal City Council. Dr. Reno outlined the entire construction project, focusing on buildings scheduled to open Fall 2008 and opportunities for community partnerships.

One of the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) parking lots at Northwest Vista College (NVC) is complete and ready for students to use when classes start on August 27. Approximately 250 additional parking spots are available. Students, faculty, staff and visitors will benefit from 200 additional parking spaces that were recently completed on the northern side of the current modular buildings. This is the first bond-funded project to be completed and will eventually serve both Juniper Hall and Redbud Learning Center which are scheduled for completion by August of 2008.

Goal V. Organizational Communication
The District Convocation will be Monday, August 20 at 8:30 a.m. in McAllister Auditorium, San Antonio College. The theme for this year’s event is “Heritage of Excellence” and will feature Dr. Henry Cisneros as keynote speaker, as well as the usual recognitions and honors. Please join us as we kickoff the new academic year (classes begin Monday, August 27th)!

Dr. Leslie, Mr. Zárate, and Leo Zuniga attended the Senate Higher Education Subcommittee meeting in Austin on Monday and Tuesday, August 13-14. Dr. Leslie and Mr. Zárate provided testimony regarding the implications of Governor Perry’s veto of community colleges’ health insurance funding. Mr. Steve Harper, Assistant Manager, Human Resources, Toyota Manufacturing, Texas, Inc., provided testimony on how ACCD has been instrumental in Toyota’s success. The legislative hearing and testimony was covered in a story in the Express-News on 8/15.

San Antonio College hosted a “CIP Expo” for the community at the Visual Arts & Technology Center on August 15th. President Zeigler made a presentation on the progress on the three major CIP projects at the college. These include the Parking Garage (due for completion in January), the Nursing/Allied Health Complex and the Academic Building (both scheduled for completion by the fall 2008). Guests included members of the ACCD Board of Trustees, ACCD CIP Advisory Committee, members of the medical community, neighborhood organizations, SAC faculty, staff and administrators, and the general public. KABB-TV, North San Antonio Times, and La Prensa reporters also attended.

On August 17th, NVC’s Academy for Lifelong Learning hosted an open house which highlighted the program’s services to seniors. The purpose of the open house was to create community awareness, establish new membership, and expand partnerships with community and business organizations. The purpose of the Academy of Lifelong Learning is to offer learning opportunities for individuals seeking intellectual development, cultural stimulation, personal growth, and social interaction.

The SPC Information Technology Department hosted a meeting of the technology leaders from the ACC colleges and the District. The purpose of the meeting was to inform technology leaders about the numerous on-going projects throughout the Alamo Community Colleges. Each representative shared current and planned project information and opportunities. The technology leaders will continue to meet monthly.

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, 8/25, 12:00 – 2:00 p.m.
The Academic Accountability and Student Success committee meeting from August 21 and the first half of the August 21 regular Board meeting.

Sunday, 8/26, 9:00 – 11:00 a.m.
The last half of the August 21 regular Board meeting and the District Convocation from August 20.