April 2008, Volume 2, Number 6

| Greeting | Conference Corner | Membership Corner | NISODcast |
Publications Corner | CCLP Corner | Spotlight |
Friends of NISOD | Partnership Corner | The Learning Edge

GREETING

April brings many wonderful things back to our campuses—students enjoying outdoor spaces, color returning to the views from classroom windows, and the promise of a reinvigorating summer around the corner. We hope that you’ll make the 2008 NISOD Conference on Teaching and Leadership Excellence part of your early-summer ritual and capitalize on the many opportunities to discover promising practices, meet kindred scholars, and draw energy from the colleagues and conversations that will meet in Austin, TX, this May 25-28th. 

This issue of Hook’Em Up offers a sneak peek into the 2008 NISOD conference, highlights opportunities with NISOD Learning Scenarios and NISOD Community Press, and describes innovative practices at Coastline Community College and the Council for Resource Development. This month’s NISODcast captures the expertise of Dr. Jim Black, CEO of SEM WORKS, regarding market responsiveness in education. As always, featured partners bring exciting offers for NISOD-member colleges—look for opportunities with EMSI, ETS, and Adobe in this issue.

Best,

CONFERENCE CORNER

Getting Oriented: The 2008 NISOD Conference on Teaching and Leadership Excellence

NISOD staff members are looking forward to an invigorating conference experience! New and returning conference attendees alike are sure to marvel at the many opportunities to connect with 2,300 participants from around the world, 250+ breakout sessions and roundtables, and 100+ partners in our exhibit hall, many with special offers for NISOD-member colleges.

Are you looking for an orientation to the NISOD Conference experience? Be sure to attend the NISOD Orientation session, and if you are a presenter at the conference, you will not want to miss the NISOD Presenter Orientation session, both to be held Sunday, May 25, from 11:45 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 12:30-1:00 p.m., respectively, at the Austin Convention Center. Before traveling to Austin, attendees may want to explore the resources below and include information about the several special conference events on their conference calendars—don’t miss the Community College Week–NISOD Anniversary Celebration Reception in the Exhibit Hall on Sunday evening, the Southwestern-Style Buffet and Dance on Monday evening, and the 2008 NISOD Excellence Awards Celebration on Wednesday morning!

Conference Registration
Preliminary Conference Schedule
Austin Convention Center
Conference Hotels
Austin Convention & Visitors Bureau

A Preview of Keynote Speakers for the 2008 NISOD International Conference on Teaching and Leadership Excellence

NISOD is proud to bring you an unparalleled schedule of keynote speakers at the conference’s general sessions. Look for Ron Williams, Vice President with The College Board, during the opening session on Sunday, May 25, 2008. He served as president of Prince George’s Community College in Largo, Maryland from 1999 until 2007, previously serving as acting president of the Community College of Philadelphia. He continues to serve on numerous national boards and organizations. 

Vincent Tinto, Distinguished University Professor, Syracuse University (NY) and 2008 Suanne Davis Roueche Distinguished Lecturer, joins conference participants for a general session on Monday, May 26. A nationally recognized expert in innovative pedagogy and assessment, he continues to publish and present on topics including retention, persistence, and student attainment.

The keynote address on Tuesday, May 27, will feature Larry Gatlin, singer, songwriter, and actor, and recipient of the 2008 Amado M. Peña, Jr. Journey of Excellence Award. Gatlin is a great advocate for innovation in higher education and the proud namesake of the Larry Gatlin School of Entertainment Technology at Guilford Technical Community College (NC).

On Wednesday, May 28, the conference will conclude with the 2008 NISOD Excellence Awards Celebration. For more information about keynote presenters and other conference information, visit the NISOD website.

A Special Invitation from the Survey of Entering Student Engagement

MEMBERSHIP CORNER

Have You Discovered NISOD Learning Scenarios?

Getting faculty and staff together for professional development can be challenging. Valencia Enterprises and NISOD have partnered to offer NISOD Learning Scenarios, a convenient, asynchronous online series of courses, that new adjunct, full-time faculty, and educational staff will find stimulating and engaging.

Learning Scenarios is produced by Valencia Enterprises at Valencia Community College (FL). This initiative provides professional development for faculty through case studies designed in a web-based, asynchronous format to maximize the learning experience.

To date, more than 75 campuses in the U.S. and Canada are utilizing Learning Scenarios to train their faculty. Trained staff members provide the tools, resources, and expert guidance to assist new faculty in improving the quality of their teaching through the creation of a learning-centered classroom environment. For testimonials and more information, visit http://www.learningscenariosonline.com.

Introducing the NISOD Community Press, a Partnership with Lulu

For more information about NISOD Community Press, visit http://www.lulu.com/partners/NISOD.

NISODcast

This month, Dr. Jim Black, president and CEO of SEM WORKS, speaks with NISOD partnership coordinator, Phil Neal, about ways community college leaders might create, implement, and maintain responsive programs.

Listen to the podcast.

NISODcast is password-protected for NISOD members only. For access, email Leigh Anne Fagin.

PUBLICATIONS CORNER

Innovation Abstracts, Vol. XXX, No. 9—First published in Celebrations, “NISOD’s Middle Name—Staff!” described one college’s initiative to include staff personnel in its more traditional faculty and administrator conference participants. Mary Retterer, then President of Pima Community College (AZ), encouraged other colleges to include staff members among their NISOD attendees, educate them about the culture of community colleges and their service to their communities, and further recognize the tremendous contributions they make as a strong support base to the college.

Innovation Abstracts, Vol. XXX, No. 10—In “Teaching Excellence Program,” Deborah Dunbar, Faculty Development Advisor, at Humber College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning (Ontario, Canada), describes a new-faculty training program designed to bring new hires up to speed and make them more familiar with student populations, institutional expectations, and instructional initiatives, beginning before their first semester teaching in the college classroom and continuing through their first teaching year.

Innovation Abstracts, Vol. XXX, No. 11—In “Essay Sniglets: Improving Essays Through Word Manipulation,“ Maria Christian, English instructor at Oklahoma State University—Okmulgee, describes an intriguing, innovative strategy for engaging students in improving their compositions, as they create humorous, new words using personal experiences and imagination!

Innovation Abstracts, Vol. XXX, No. 12—In “Weapons of Mass Education,” Ed Penz, Director, Long Term Care Administration, at Midland College (TX), describes valuable strategies for breaking away from the doldrums of content and stimulating student attention. He helps students have fun with learning; they never know what he will do next.

Innovation Abstracts is password-protected for NISOD members only. For access, email Leigh Anne Fagin.

Publish Your Good Ideas in Innovation Abstracts
Are you a NISOD Excellence Award recipient or instructor who has successful practices, innovations, programs, or initiatives that work for you, your college, your students? Consider sharing them with NISOD readers in the 2008 series of Innovation Abstracts. Find out how!

CCLP CORNER

A Report from the 2008 AACC Conference: NISOD Presidents Breakfast

Students from Block 63 of The Community College Leadership Program were on hand to participate and help facilitate discussion. Conversations with diverse college leadership yielded valuable discoveries and fostered what looked to be many lasting connections. NISOD continues to be proud to work with AACC to build positive experiences for leaders in higher education.

SPOTLIGHT

A Message from Dr. Ding-Jo H. Currie, President of Coastline Community College (CA)

We should all take this proverb—“Even though the old man is strong and hearty, he will not live forever” to heart as we consider who will be leading our colleges into the next few phases of existence.

Those individuals who currently hold leadership roles in community college administration should already know the importance of leadership development. Training, staff development, leadership coaching, and other sources of staff growth and learning are crucial in order to ensure a continuum of quality educational programs and services for our students long after our time with the college. These programs add strength and stability to the foundation of the institution. They are central to the long-term success of a college.

However, it is just as crucial that these programs be offered at all levels within the institution and in a variety of ways. By varying the types of opportunities available to staff, faculty, and management, the whole college becomes engaged and motivated to strive for personal and professional growth. For example, Coastline Community College is proud to offer an annual “Leadership Academy” which is open to Coastliners of all levels and backgrounds. The week-long leadership institute incorporates career exploration, goal setting (both long and short-term), personal inventory exercises, and more, and culminates with a celebratory luncheon attended by the both the Leadership Academy graduates and their peers from the college who joyfully cheer them on as they accept their certificates.

Besides the annual Leadership Academy, additional elements of Coastline’s Leadership Institute include a resource center stocked with books, journals, and articles on leadership topics, as well as a series of workshops held throughout the year.

On another level, I am mindful that every activity, every event, and every meeting at Coastline contains opportunities for leadership development. We encourage faculty towards teaching excellence, continual learning, and professional development. We encourage staff to submit ideas for enhancing Coastline’s programs and services and fund those ideas through Master Plan Implementation (MPI) money, which is dedicated to efforts that support the college’s overall mission. MPI projects are led by classified staff members and faculty, as well as middle and upper management, allowing everyone the opportunity to serve as a leader and contribute to the success and growth of our institution directly.

Coastline is also supportive of a variety of leadership events that are targeted to minority groups. For example, the Kaleidoscope Leadership Institute, held each year in late November, is a special workshop for women of color in higher education. Not only have many Coastliners taken advantage of this unique experience, but the workshop is attended regularly by leaders and future-leaders from across the country! Coastline is also host to the African-American Male Summit, which seeks to identify and remedy the boundaries African-American males face as students, staff, faculty, and leaders in higher education.

These are just a few ways Coastline has sought to weave leadership training and education into the fabric of the institution. I encourage all of you to think of ways to incorporate similar opportunities at your own campuses. Leadership Development is about our vision, hope, and responsibility to the future—the future of our institution, our community, and our students. After all, we won’t be around forever.

* Pictured above: Dr. Ding-Jo Currie, President, Coastline Community College.

FRIENDS OF NISOD

A Letter from Polly Binns, Executive Director of The Council for Resource Development

Greetings, NISOD!

The Council for Resource Development (CRD) is thrilled to partner with NISOD in what we fully expect to be a fruitful and lengthy collaboration. CRD is the essential education and networking choice for all community college development professionals, including presidents. CRD connects, educates, supports, strengthens, and celebrates community college development professionals. An affiliate of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), CRD serves over 1600 members at more than 700 institutions.
Membership is open to anyone interested in the welfare of community colleges, and includes development officers, grant writers, foundation directors, college presidents, administrators, faculty, and staff.

More and more, community college leaders are augmenting traditional funding streams with alternative resources. Faculty write grants, form internal fundraising committees, or develop external partnerships for program support. Deans and vice presidents collaborate with philanthropic foundations on new college initiatives, provide grant development/management support, or develop external and internal partnerships. Student service staff work hand-in-hand with alumni programs or help administer college foundation scholarships. Presidents call on donors or convene task forces of local CEOs to initiate collaborative grant projects. Resource Development is not just the purview of the foundation or grants offices anymore.

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. CRD can help you add to your leadership skills toolkit. Membership in CRD gives you access to myriad resources on the CRD members-only web pages that contain sample documents, policies, job descriptions, and grants. CRD workshops span programming for everyone from the newcomer to the advanced administrator. Live webinars allow you to access training from your office; our archived webinars allow you to access training from your office or home, at your convenience.

For our part, we will look to NISOD to close certain knowledge and skill gaps that our members may have in areas outside resource development as they ascend their career ladder. We look forward to nurturing this friendship. Check us out at www.crdnet.org.

Best,
Polly Binns, CFRE
Executive Director         

PARTNERSHIP CORNER

Economic Modeling Specialists, Inc.—Communicate Your College’s Positive Impact!

What do nearly 800 colleges in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. have in common? They have all quantified the impact they make on their service districts with a Socioeconomic Impact study (SEIM) from Economic Modeling Specialists Inc. (EMSI). If you have ever wondered how your college can engage stakeholders, market itself to students, and garner public support, then you are ready to look more closely at what the SEIM can accomplish for your college.

Even in very positive scenarios, many community colleges have trouble effectively selling themselves to their service regions. Taxpayers and government officials want to know what their return on investment is, and colleges need to learn to speak their language with hard numbers and effective campaigning. With the SEIM in hand, colleges have the ammunition to do so. Cindy Hough, the Legislative Liaison for the Washington State Board for Community & Technical Colleges, agrees: “I think that the information contained in the [SEIM] reports gives real, hard factual data to back up what we intuitively knew, and it will help sell our story to all our funding sources.”

Economic Modeling Specialists Inc. is a professional services firm that offers integrated regional data, web-based analysis tools, data-driven reports, and custom consulting services. EMSI has served thousands of workforce, education, economic development, and other policy professionals in the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom, and the company’s web-based Strategic Advantage research and analysis suite is used by more than 2500 professionals across the U.S.

The Chabot and Las Positas Community Colleges (CA) have firsthand experience in using the SEIM to sell their story to regional stakeholders. When these two California community colleges needed to pass a $498 million bond to repair, upgrade, and expand their aging facilities, they used the SEIM to help inform local voters that it was worth the investment. Once taxpayers understood that the colleges could be credited with $513 million more in local business sales, $246 million more in labor income in the local economy, and an $8 million savings in government spending, they could see its value in real numbers. Subsequently, the half-billion dollar bond was passed to fund construction and renovation projects through 2014. This is just one short example of how an effective SEIM campaign can take place; each college can target the information to suit its own situation, whether it is for educating the public, presenting hard data, garnering public support, or marketing itself to students.

Don’t miss Dr. Steve VanAusdle’s presentation with EMSI at NISOD’s International Conference on Teaching and Leadership Excellence next month. Dr. VanAusdle is the president of Walla Walla Community College (WA), and he will be sharing his own experience using the SEIM to advance WWCC’s influence within southeastern Washington.

For more information about EMSI, call (866) 999-3674 or visit www.economicmodeling.com . Last year, EMSI officially became one company with CCbenefits Inc.

Criterion Online Writing Evaluation Service from ETS—Developing students’ writing skills, one essay at a time

Lawson State Community College (AL) provides educational opportunities to a diverse student body of nearly 3400 undergraduates. Many students enter the college with a need to develop more fully the writing skills necessary for success in school and the workplace. While trying to help their students improve their writing, faculty struggled with the heavy administrative efforts involved in helping students edit and revise their work, while keeping records documenting their students’ progress.

Lawson State decided to use ETS’s Criterion Online Writing Evaluation Service to help them address both of these challenges. The Criterion service is a web-based application that provides faculty with reliable evaluations of their students’ writing abilities. Students draft and submit essays and receive immediate feedback in the form of a holistic score and annotated feedback in five categories: grammar, usage, mechanics, style, and organization and development.

“I hadn’t seen anything like the Criterion service,” said Dr. Sherri Davis, Dean of Liberal Arts and Science, at Lawson State. “Other products had grammar checks, but Criterion goes beyond that. It provides immediate feedback to students, helps identify potential problems in their writing, and suggests methods for improvement.”

At least 500 students per semester are now using the Criterion service. “My students loved it,” said Davis. “I didn’t realize at first how much it would benefit them. It created more self-confidence in students. They felt like they were in control of their writing. It also really helped the instructors. Before the college started using the Criterion service, they had to perform huge amounts of administrative work to track student progress. Now, faculty can use a student’s electronic portfolio to track student data and progress.”

To learn more about the Criterion service, call 1-800-745-0269, e-mail highered@ets.org, or visit www.ets.org/criterion.

Adobe Helps Make Creative Solutions Affordable for 2.5 Million Students

As the largest system of higher education institutions in the world, the California Community College System (CCC) plays an indispensable role in the lives of 2.5 million students. The Foundation for California Community Colleges (FCCC), a non-profit corporation based in Sacramento, supports 109 campuses set up in 72 districts that educate students and provide them with in-demand skills to enter the workforce. To help streamline operations, the Foundation designs and implements programs and services to maximize resources and the overall effectiveness of the CCC system.

The Foundation always is exploring new ways to increase educational opportunities for students and to improve efficiency, campuswide. “We pull the community colleges together and encourage them to make purchasing decisions as one unit instead of as 72 individual districts,” says Joseph Quintana, director, purchasing programs for the Foundation.

The Foundation had an agreement through the Adobe Contractual License Program (CLP) for several years, but recently, with Adobe, started to look at the agreement in more detail. The Foundation’s goal in reviewing the agreement was to take better advantage of the program, to market the opportunity to students more effectively, and to examine student purchasing trends more closely. The Adobe CLP is a volume-licensing solution that allows organizations to simplify software license administration by forecasting their two-year requirements for Adobe software and then licensing software as needed during the term of the membership agreement.

Adobe tools are used extensively in art, design, illustration, and photography classes. Now, through the Student Licensing Option available through the CLP program with Adobe, California community college students can continue to master their favorite programs at home with discounts on Adobe Creative Suite® 3 Master Collection, Creative Suite 3 Web Standard, Creative Suite 3 Design Standard, Creative Suite 3 Design Premium, Photoshop® CS3 Extended, and Acrobat® 8 Professional software. Students simply go to www.collegesoftware.org, click the Adobe student software link, and land on ComputerLand’s storefront.

Based on reports from ComputerLand, students clearly are engaged with their homework. In the nine months since the program became available, pupils have snapped up 2600 units of Adobe software online. “The Adobe CLP is a tremendous benefit to the entire educational community,” says Steve Rodriguez, assistant director of purchasing programs for the Foundation.

The Foundation’s partnership with Adobe began several years ago with the CLP agreement that allowed California’s community colleges to purchase Adobe software, based on volume. “In the past, our smaller schools wouldn’t have been able to obtain the best pricing because of their lower sales volume,” says Quintana.

For more information about the Adobe Contractual License Program, visit http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/openoptions/clp.html.

Adobe Announces Additional Webinar Opportunity for NISOD Members!

As a member of NISOD, you and your colleagues are invited to attend this one-of-a-kind opportunity and learn about opportunities with Adobe. The webinar is free to NISOD members and is one hour in length.

Session Title: Adobe Software Buying Strategies

Learn how can make the most of your software budgets while providing students and faculty with access to Adobe's industry-standard software. This session will describe the Adobe® Open Options 4.5 volume software licensing with key features that will benefit your campus including point values that reflect the value of the software licenses you order, High-Volume Discount opportunities, and Student Licensing Option for your student, faculty, and staff.

Date and Time: Tuesday, May 13, at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Standard Time, 12:00 p.m. Central Standard Time, and 1:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time

This opportunity is only open to NISOD members. If you are a NISOD member and do not know your password, please complete the password request form.

The Learning Edge

The NISOD team returned from this year’s AACC Conference with energy, enthusiasm, and new ideas. This month, our bloggers reflect on new learning and what these innovations may mean for educators across the globe. Read more!

Jason Kovac, Hook’Em Up Editor & Community College Leadership Program Doctoral Student
Hook’Em Up is published monthly by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD), Department of Educational Administration, College of Education, 1 University Station, D5600, Austin, Texas 78712-0378, (512) 471-7545. To subscribe or unsubscribe to Hook’Em Up, please email us.
© The University of Texas at Austin, 2008, All rights reserved.