Goal IV. Capacity To Serve
Northeast Lakeview College held its first Safety Plan Committee Meeting on September 24th. The purpose of the committee is to develop a safety plan and procedures for the college in the event of an emergency. Facilitated by Stacie Williams, NLC counselor, a draft safety plan is in place. In-house training on first aid and personal safety are planned along with scheduled evacuation drills.

Goal V. Organizational Communication
Dr. Eric Reno, Northeast Lakeview College president, attended the first working group meeting on September 27th. As a member of this working group, Reno and others will support the newly formed San Antonio Military-Community Council on September 27th. To maximize the Council’s efforts, the working group will meet prior to each Military –Community Council meeting to set the council’s agenda and bring forward ideas, concerns, and issues. The Military – Community Council is comprised of top civic, industry, and military leaders with a focus to address issues that jointly affect the civilian and military communities in the greater San Antonio area. The forum’s first council meeting is scheduled for October 23rd.

Dr. Reno also attended the US Army All American Bowl Kick-Off Luncheon on September 26th at the Marriott Rivercenter. This year’s keynote speaker featured Marcus Spears from the Dallas Cowboys. The U.S. Army All-American Bowl is the premier high school football game in the nation, featuring the nation's top 80 high school seniors in a classic East vs. West battle. The annual event takes place in the Alamodome.

In addition, Dr. Reno attended the Baptist University (BUA) of the Americas Inauguration Ceremony for René Maciel on September 28th. Maciel was inaugurated as the seventh president of the institution. BUA is a unique theological university that is internationally recognized for training emerging cross-cultural ministers.

Goal II. Student Support
On Friday, September 21, Northwest Vista College hosted a discussion with community leaders about peace studies and conflict resolution as it relates to college curriculum. Leading the dialogue was a nationally renowned peace education expert David J. Smith. As the senior program officer for the United States Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C., Smith is part of an independent, nonpartisan program that teaches about complexities of international conflicts and how to resolve them. The program provides seminars, scholarships, grants, fellowships, research, and curriculum assistance to scholars, educators, and students in secondary, college and university settings.
Nearly 30 faculty, staff and community leaders participated in the first of several needs assessments to evaluate a potential program at Northwest Vista College. NVC will explore over the next year how a program might address gaps in the San Antonio community in the area of peace education and conflict resolution.

“We are very excited about offering our students the opportunity to learn the skills of peace making and conflict resolution. Peace studies is a vital program, and highly necessary in a world of increasing conflict and misunderstanding,” says Kara Paige, assistant professor of sociology and coordinator for the new peace initiative.
Instructor of Humanities Craig Coroneos was impressed with David Smith’s background when he met him at the Community Colleges for International Development Conference in San Antonio last year. “I saw his presentation on peace studies curriculum and the programs he helped to create at various colleges,” reflected Coroneos. “David Smith is an expert in the field and has twenty years of teaching experience, most of it at the community college level. We want to take what he has learned at other colleges and adapt that to the San Antonio community in a way that reflects the Northwest Vista culture.”

Other community leaders attending Friday’s gathering were Ann Helmke and Susan Ives of San Antonio Peace Center; Charles L. Cotrell, President of St. Mary’s University; Naomi Nye, noted author; Oscar Sabedra of Edgewood Independent School District, and Patti Radle of the Fellowship of Reconciliation.

Goal IV. Capacity To Serve
Christine Godin, director of Learning Resources, attended the Texas Council of Academic Libraries in Austin on Sept. 24 and 25th, where she facilitated the community college library section’s meeting and discussion of topics of mutual concern.

Goal I. Access To Higher Education
The Information Technology Program at Palo Alto College received a $5,000 one-time grant from the ACCD Foundation to train technicians in providing computer hardware and software support in office settings. Funds will be used to purchase all variable cost materials required to deliver established IT Program curriculum, including equipment, toolkits, textbooks and printing.

Goal II. Student Support
Dr. Rose Zambrano, PAC counselor, coordinated recruitment efforts in identifying students who attended the Alamo Regional Academy of Science and Engineering’s (ARASE) Engineering Science Fair Seminar held at the UT Health Science Center, Sept. 29. The seminar provided teachers and students with science resources and demonstrated how to successfully conduct a science fair project.

Goal III. Workforce Development
As a result of a radio ad campaign co-sponsored by PAC’s Corporate and Community Education (CCE) Division and the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, CCE received an order for $48,000 of training in advanced Microsoft Office productivity suite applications (versions 2003 and 2007) from the Air Force’s Air Education and Training Command at Randolph AFB. This training will be conducted over the next 4 to 6 months on site at Randolph AFB using the CCE’s laptop computers.

Goal IV. Capacity To Serve
PAC Economics Instructor Jonathan Fink was a presenter at the 6th Annual Asian Pacific Cities Summit held in Australia, August 28 - September 4. Fink’s presentation was entitled “Evaluating Sustainable Global Supply Chains for Economic Planning: Towards a Value Added Approach—A General Overview of Theory and Early Findings from the Emerging Value Chain Discourse.” The summit was hosted by the Brisbane City Council and drew more than 105 cities from 28 countries to the event, including 41 mayors from across the Asia Pacific region.

Goal I. Access To Higher Education
On September 25th, the Tourism, Hospitality and Culinary Arts (THCA) Department of St. Philip’s College received a $12,000 scholarship and emergency fund donation from the San Antonio Hotel Lodging Association (SAHLA). The SAHLA has awarded scholarships to THCA students each year since 1992. Total donations from the SAHLA exceed $66,000. Scholarship recipients will be recognized at the February 2008 SAHLA meeting which will be hosted by the Tourism, Hospitality and Culinary Arts Department of St. Philip's College.

The San Antonio Builder’s Association donated three booths to Allied Construction Trades for the Homebuilder’s Showcase Industry Trade Show held on September 28 – 30. This opportunity allowed the Department to showcase their programs and was an excellent recruitment tool.

Goal II. Student Support
The Alamo Theatre Arts Council presented the 17th Annual Globe Awards, recognizing excellence and achievement in San Antonio Theatre, for the 2006 – 2007 Season. St. Philip’s College student Paul Trujillo was honored with an award for outstanding choreography in the November 2006 SPC Theatre production of “Romeo and Juliet.” The play was set in Brazil where a popular form of martial arts known as Capoiera is practiced. Paul, a student of this athletic martial art form, choreographed the fight scenes in “Romeo and Juliet.” Paul was also seen performing in the lead role of Romeo. Paul can be seen this semester portraying the part of George in the upcoming SPC Theatre Production of Edward Albee’s, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”

The Student Life Department hosted the Hispanic Heritage Month Kickoff Celebration with approximately 200 students in attendance. The program included an historical presentation, food and live entertainment.

Goal III. Workforce Development
College representatives met with federal government contract staff to finalize contract details on the development of on-line training modules for the Defense Contract Management Agency. As a result of this contract, it is anticipated that over 1200 aerospace quality inspectors will be trained nationwide.

Under an agreement with Raytheon Professional Services, 13 auto technicians from the southwest region of the United States completed a two-day training program in body control systems utilized in General Motors automobiles. Coordination of instruction was provided by the SPC Automotive Technology Department and the Continuing Education Department and is expected to continue through March 2008.

Goal IV. Capacity To Serve
A demonstration of the Library’s new web page was held and Library staff were given an opportunity to provide feedback, comments and suggestions. The web page has been redesigned to conform to current federal standards and College web templates.

Instructional Technologies staff members have been working to complete the fall consolidated purchase of Dell computers. Final details for the purchase are close to completion and all sectors of the College have been included.

Goal V. Organizational Communication
The president of the college hosted a half-day retreat for the Good to Great Leadership Team on October 2. Following an overview of “the next step” by Dr. Adena Williams Loston and a presentation on facilities master planning, group discussions were held. Focus was placed on resource allocation procedures and the College’s strategic directions in relationship to achieving the District’s goals by fine tuning clear and measurable action items to address Key Performance Indicators.

The SPC Web Site Committee is developing a review process to assess departmental compliance with the SPC Web Standards Manual. This document governs the SPC web presence. Departmental sites that meet the highest standards will receive special recognition.

Goal II. Student Support
San Antonio College Theatre and Speech Communication faculty and students recently received eight Alamo Theatre Arts Council Globe Awards for their work in San Antonio College productions last season. The Globe Awards recognize outstanding community and educational theatre productions in acting, direction, set design, and costuming. According the Jeff Hunt, Department Chair, this is a new record for the college, as well as more awards than other educational institutions (Trinity University and University of the Incarnate Word received one award apiece).

Student Allison Vasquez won Best Actress in a Drama and Best Actress in a Comedy; student Loretta Dela Torre won Best Actress in a Comedy; student Joshua Saucedo won Best Actor in a Comedy; student Laura Garza won Best Actress in a Comedy; Instructor Ronald Watson won Best Set Design and Best Actor in a Comedy; and Professor Jim Mammarella won Best Director of a Comedy. In addition to awards for San Antonio College productions, the following faculty and students also won awards for productions at other venues: Professor Jim Mammarella won Best Director of a Comedy and Best Lead Actor in a Comedy; Professor Emeritus Allan S. Ross won Best Scene Design for three productions and Best Lead Actor in a Comedy; and student Brant Sankey won Best Musical Direction.

Alejandro Gonzalez, a student in Brook Rosser’s Art Direction class, was honored to have his poster unveiled at Capitol One Bank as part of the commemoration of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Rosser’s class worked with the Task Force Against Domestic Violence as a service-learning project. The poster highlights awareness of violence against seniors who are at risk of being abused. Yvonne M. Lozano, Coordinator of the Gerontology Program and Chairperson of the Not Forgotten Coalition, helped organize the event. Also participating at the event were President Robert Zeigler and Audrey Grams, Coordinator of Service-Learning.

The SAC Speech Team did well in the two-part Forum in the Forest tournament. At Rice University, Justin Blacklock won one Third Place award in Poetry Interpretation and one Fourth Place Award for Dramatic Interpretation; and Blacklock and Ojiyoma Pinnock won Fourth Place in Dramatic Duo Interpretation. At Kingwood College, Blacklock won Third Place in Poetry Interpretation and Fourth Place in Dramatic Interpretation, and Pinnock won Fifth Place in Poetry Interpretation.

San Antonio College held the third week of its Hispanic Heritage Celebration with the following events for the college and the community: UT Arlington Political Science Professor Dr. Jose Angel Gutierrez spoke on “Chicanas in Charge,” salsa dance lessons from Rueben Arce of Let’s Dance studio, and a talk by Dr. Manuel Medrano, UT Brownsville History Professor, on Americo Paredes.

San Antonio College’s Department of Visual Arts & Technology presented the San Antonio debut of the documentary film “Helvetica” at McAllister Auditorium. Director Gary Hustwit introduced the film and responded to questions from the audience. The feature-length film concerns the font type Helvetica developed in Switzerland 50 years ago and includes interviews with illustrious and innovative designers. The Office of Student Life and the Student Activities Fees Committee co-sponsored the event.

San Antonio College hosted a meeting of four MacArthur Fellows, who discussed San Antonio’s environmental future in a conversation titled “Honoring La Madre Tierra.” The intent was to give students and the community an opportunity to meet and dialogue with this outstanding group of individuals on a relevant topic. The Family Learning Academy, the Public Administration Club, and the Office of Student Life co-sponsored this event.

Goal IV. Capacity To Serve
The San Antonio College Early Childhood Center is one of the first early childhood programs to earn accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the nation’s leading organization of early childhood professionals. “NAEYC accreditation lets families in our community know that children in our program are getting the best care and early learning experiences possible,” said Earlene Gonzales, Director of the SAC Early Childhood Center. According to Dr. Mark Ginsberg, Executive Director of NAEYC, “The San Antonio College Early Childhood Center’s NAEYC accreditation is a sign that they are a leader in a national effort to invest in high-quality early childhood education, and to help give all children a better start.” The Center has been accredited by NAEYC since 1986 and is the first early childhood program in San Antonio to be accredited under NAEYC’s new more stringent accreditation for high quality programs, based on new research on brain development in the first three years of life.