Goal I. Access to Higher Education
Congratulations! The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board selected the LULAC Parent/Child Scholarship Program to receive the Star Award (one of four in the state), which recognizes innovative and effective programs that help achieve the goals of the Texas Closing the Gaps Initiative. The program offers a scholarship to a parent and a future scholarship to the child (age 6 or younger) if the parent successfully completes a program of study. Funded through the ACCD Foundation by LULAC Council #2, the program is administered by the SAC Department of Services for Women and Non-Traditional Students.

The SAC Early Childhood Studies Department was awarded, for the second time, an $80,000 Early Childhood Quality Investment Grant by the Department of Community Initiatives of the City of San Antonio. The grant will fund scholarships for 50 SAC students interested in pursuing their Child Development Associate (CDA) certificate.

On October 26th,Gerardo Interiano, San Antonio district director for Congressman Lamar Smith, toured the Pat Booker campus. Interiano also met with Dr. Reno and the college director of Community & Public Relations to discuss higher education issues and review the new campus renderings. Interiano welcomes the opportunity to support the college with its federal grant applications and announcement of federal grant awards.

Dr. Bruce Leslie, Dr. Adena Williams Loston and Dr. Eduardo Conrado hosted a meeting of Foreign Service Nationals (FSNs) at St. Philip’s College. The purpose of the visit was to gain a greater understanding of the community college system in the U.S.

On Friday, November 2nd, NVC’s Career and Transfer Services (CaTS) Center and Dual Credit staff hosted the 2nd Counselor Showcase, Essential Pieces2. Counselors from high schools throughout San Antonio met with NVC’s Student Success professionals to identify ways to create opportunities for success.

Goal II. Student Support
Karen Marcotte, Professor of Humanities and History at PAC, spent a week in Orvieto, Italy, as a visiting lecturer to the Dallas County Community College District’s Study Abroad in Rome Program.  In addition to providing lectures and working with 33 students, Marcotte evaluated the program to see if the Alamo Community Colleges would like to partner with DCCCD and offer this semester-long opportunity to ACCD students. 

On 10/28 and 29, twelve SPC students and three faculty members attended the “2007 Day of Science” Conference in Knoxville, Tennessee, sponsored by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Oak Ridge is interested in recruiting minority science researchers and paid expenses for participants. Students explored various fellowships, research internships and scholarships as well as job opportunities available at Oak Ridge. SPC students were motivated to continue their studies, and many plan to apply for fellowships at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the summer of 2008.

The Student Leadership Institute (SLI) held its Service and Ethical Leadership Summit on Saturday, October 27, at the San Antonio City Council Chambers. Panelists, Mary Alice Cisneros, City Councilwoman, Sylvia Romo, County Tax Assessor/Collector, Jennifer Ramos, ACCD Board Member, and Roberto Zarate, ACCD Board Chairman, participated and presented their perspective regarding the role of public servants and their personal decisions and values.

PAC students Courtney Bauer and Laura Kaspar, agriculture majors, attended the 80th annual National Future Farmers of America’s Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana, to receive their National FFA Degree. This is the final step in the FFA Degree system, which encourages students to grow and achieve personally toward establishing themselves in an agricultural career.

Dr. Archie Wortham, Assistant Professor of Speech, coordinated “Investing Now in Young Men for the Future -High School & Beyond” held on the NLC campus on October 20th. Linked to the Achieving the Dream initiative for African-American males, the program discussed investing for the future with a focus on money management and preparing for college. Co-sponsored by NLC, Judson ISD, ‘Austin Aristocrats’, and the Cherice Cochrane Foundation, the event drew students from NLC and Judson, Steele, and Central Catholic High Schools.

Goal III. Workforce Development
Dr. Tim Dodd, Associate Dean of Operations for Texas Tech University’s College of Human Sciences, visited NLC last week and met with Dr. Cindy Griffith, Dean of Workforce & Community Education to continue discussions about future NLC programs and courses. These visits provide NLC administrators with opportunities to discuss articulation and partnership ideas that will benefit current and future students.  

Dr. Federico Zaragoza was elected to the San Antonio Manufacturing Association Board of Directors at their November board meeting.

Dr. Zaragoza convened the first meeting of the Alamo Community Colleges - Rackspace Response Team composed of college representatives from each of the colleges. The first step for the team will be to work with Rackspace and the Texas Workforce Commission to develop a $4 million training application. The response team is modeled after the ACCD-Toyota Team that successfully developed training programs for Toyota.

The St. Philip’s College Professional Truck Driver Training program was approved by the Texas Workforce Commission State Board as a training provider for this high demand occupation. Qualified individuals will receive the four-week training with all tuition and administrative costs covered under Workforce Investment Act (WIA) funding.

Goal IV. Capacity To Serve
On October 23rd, NVC received two Gold Medallion Awards from the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations (NCMPR). The awards were given for the 2006 Annual Report and for the 2007-08 Catalog on a CD-ROM. The award-winning entries were a collaboration of Public Relations and many faculty, staff and students from across the college.

The Strategic Leadership Team at NVC, led by President Jacqueline Claunch, recently went on retreat to consider and align the direction related to the NVC Strategic Plan 2006-2010. Team members met at the John Jay High School Living Room and were greeted by our partner, John Jay Principal Gerardo Marquez.

Dr. Thomas Clarkin, history professor at SAC, has written a review of the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum, one of several reviews of presidential libraries that has been published in The Public Historian, a journal published by the National Council on Public History and the University of California Press.

Martha McCabe and the Office of Legal Affairs conducted due process training for approximately 100 supervisors throughout ACCD.

Goal V. Organizational Communication
PAC President Dr. Ana M. “Cha” Guzmán was featured on the front page of the Oct. 26 issue of the San Antonio Business Journal. The article focused on Dr. Guzmán’s efforts in making the college an integral part of the community, and on expanding the occupational and technical programs at PAC. The article also highlighted the expansion of the college's parking lots, classroom renovations and construction of three new buildings.

The ACCD Department of Communications met with a federal legislative consultant to begin developing coordinated efforts regarding federal legislative initiatives and federal grant requests.

The first lecture in the President’s Lecture Series for 2007-2008 was held at the Southwest Campus of SPC on November 8. Speaking before 250 students, faculty, and staff, Fernando C. Reyes, a native San Antonian and president of Reyes Industries, Inc., described his path to success as an entrepreneur, leading his company to become a Tier I supplier for Toyota in San Antonio.

Dr. Leslie had an opportunity to visit with Lionel Sosa (business innovator/artist), who served as keynote at a recent conference. The two plan to meet in the near future to discuss marketing strategies.

Dr. Leslie presented to Comal County Judge Danny Scheel and the Commissioner’s Court in New Braunfels. Our CTTC facility was highlighted, along with the projected population growth in the surrounding counties and the economic impact of the ACCD on the community.

Dr. Reno presented to the Schertz Chamber of Commerce and discussed the progress of the new campus. He also highlighted its unique features, including the partnership with Judson ISD to construct an Early College High School on the campus as well as the renovation and relocation of the Lower Valley School District #33 historic schoolhouse.

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 21. 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, 11/17, 12:00 – 2:00 p.m.
Citizens' Bond Oversight Committee Meeting

Sunday, 11/18, 9:00 – 11:00 a.m.
ACCD Board of Trustees Legal Affairs Committee Meeting