UCC Board of Trustees Meeting - October 2008

President’s Report

With Fall quarter in full swing, the campus is alive with students eager to learn and progress towards their educational goals. This is always a great time of year: a new beginning. The atmosphere on campus is very positive and faculty and staff seem to be very engage, so I anticipate that this year will be an exceptional year. The following highlights several issues, events and activities from this past month:

1. The start up of fall quarter has been smooth and positive. Faculty seemed to be very engaged in their inservice/retreat presenter, Doug Robertson, a professor from Kentucky. Several administrators and I attended the faculty retreat at the Big K Ranch and the time there was well spent. Our annual inservice week was well received and as part of my welcoming address, I did an overview of the many, many accomplishments of the past 4 years and how so many hard working faculty and staff made such a difference. Lots of thanks goes to many. We also had Karen Smith, OCCA, provide a session for everyone on the new state Ethics Law and the implications for all employees. Our all-breakfast that day was also a big hit. Additionally, I heard many positive comments about the Board’s Barbeque. Thanks. We also had an orientation program for all new full-time and adjunct faculty members, which was well attended. This orientation program is different this year in that Ross will conduct several sessions throughout the quarter as well as having each new full-time instructor mentored by another faculty member. Our enrollment looks very good and I will have a second week report for you at the Board meeting. As you will see later in this report, many areas of the campus had their own inservice activities and programs to welcome new students, staff, faculty.

2. The college sponsored a team in the United Way Tournament and those of us who participated, had a great afternoon of connecting with other community members.

3. The Southern Oregon Wine Institute continues to make progress. Demand was so strong for the program that admission was expanded to 32 students. We originally built our financial plan on 20 students, so we are in great shape. We had to hire two teaching assistants to help Chris Lake with the labs. Chris has done a great job in developing the curriculum into a hybrid format with online lectures and all day Saturday labs. The program has also received a great deal of positive media coverage. Recently we were notified that SOWI was one of 20 colleges selected nationally for a $100,000 economic development grant (the official announcement is to be made soon). That brings our total raised resources to nearly $500,000. We will soon begin to make more serious plans for the teaching winery, with a Request for Quotes which will help to get the architectural drawings rendered. As I have mentioned before the funding for this project will be raised from the community, industry and other sources. We our secure program funding and strong enrollment, we anticipate hiring our enology instructor in early spring, so that person has sufficient time to develop the curriculum and arrange the teaching sites prior to fall classes. Although the attendance at the Blackhawk concert was lighter that we had hoped, the event couldn’t have been better. The music was great and the weather couldn’t have been better; all who attended enjoyed a first-rate concert in a first-rate venue. Thanks to all of the UCC staff who worked and volunteered to make this event such a success and to showcase our beautiful Swanson Amphitheatre.

4. Several of us attended the Chambers’ Monthly Forum, which showcased the candidates for Mayor and City Council.

5. This year we anticipate have monthly Administrative Meetings. Part of our desire is to provide our administrators with valuable training so that they will be able to better perform their duties. Topics such as employee evaluations, affirmative action/hiring process, supervision, budgeting and all topics that may be covered. Our first well-attended meeting was held on September 17.

6. The week of September 21-26, our campus and the City of Roseburg played host to 7 Ukrainian educators through Zonta’s Open World Delegation Program. I welcomed the delegates at an opening reception on the 21, provide an overview of the development of community colleges in the United States, Oregon and at UCC, and provided some closing comments on the 26th. Particpant feedback was very positive and we made some great friends who share our passion for transforming lives thorough education.

7. On September 24th I gave a “State of the College” presentation at the Roseburg Morning Rotary Club. I shared with their members the progress that we have made in new programs and services, partnerships, enrollment gains, articulation agreements and our Master Plan. People seemed to be very pleased with the direction of the college and the progress that has been made.

8. Our focused-accreditation visit was held on October 2. I want to thank Javier Ayalla, Ross Tomlin, Bev Brandt and others who were involved in helping to put our written report together and everyone who participated in the accreditator’s visit. During the exit interview, I learned that she was pleased with our institution’s efforts to address student learning outcomes and assessment and was impressed with many of our planning activities. A formal written report will be sent to the campus in the next few weeks which I will share with the Board. Next year the college will write a new self-study report followed by a full-scale visit in the fall 2010.

The Foundation’s Annual Donor/Student Reception will be held at the Roseburg Country Club on Wednesday, November 5, 2008 at 5:30 p.m. This is a time when our Board of Trustees and Foundation Board comes together to thank our donors and congratulate our scholarship recipients. The “Friends of UCC” awards will be presented and the staff of the Financial Aid Department will be honored for their contributions to our college and students. Please plan on attending!

The Foundation Board will be having a single-agenda meeting in the lobby of Jacoby Auditorium on Thursday, October 16, 2008 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The topic will be the Master Plan. This will be the first time the Foundation Board has engaged in a major fundraising campaign. They will be playing a critical role in the capital campaign that will span several years. If you can join us for lunch and offer your words of support and gratitude I know they would appreciate it.

My very capable assistant Debra George has left for greener pastures across campus. She will be joining Dr. Lynn Moore in Student Development effective October 13, 2008. We are moving quickly to fill the position.

We have completed an end-of-life agreement with a wonderful couple locally that would generate approximately $50,000 in annual income today. This gift will someday be enormously beneficial to the students of UCC and rank among the largest endowments we have ever received.

Dr. Nisson and I have been attending Board of Commissioners’ meetings with a local attorney on his proposal for a 33-acre “EnviroMall” at Exit 135 in Sutherlin. He has advised the Commissioners and us that he intends to make a gift of the property and complex to the College in his will.

We have encountered a problem with students not being able to afford the new $45 fee for bus passes per term prompting a campus campaign to raise funds to help these students. In the first week we raised $780 in staff giving to purchase “free” passes for the most needy students. Dr. Greg Fishwick offered a challenge grant the following week in the amount of $750. He would donate $15 for each $15 donated by staff leaving a balance of $15 to be paid by the student. At this writing we have raised $600 toward this challenge grant. It is noteworthy that eight of the gifts were given through the Foundation’s new online PayPal system. An appeal for support for this project has gone out to the Foundation Board. If you would like to help our students with bus passes you can do this online or send in your gift to our office.

Maintenance and Operations:
The crew has been very busy making sure everything was ready for the start of the quarter. It was a lot of work but they did a great job. They were also great support for Blackhawk. The campus looks amazing.

Safety, Security and Custodial Services:
This group has been busy getting the campus ready for classes too. Now that we aren’t having the custodians do security work, we are hiring a couple more part time security officers. This allows us to have trained staff that can be used in highly flexible situations.

Bookstore:
September was extremely busy. The Point of Sale went live September 12th and books sales started September 15th. We had 21 on-line orders to fill that first week and expect this service to be utilized more as students learn it is available. The Bookstore got a fresh coat of paint and some new carpet this summer. It looks so much cleaner and accents our retail space. The shelves are full but by the time you receive this, the students will have purchased much of our inventory and it will be time to order for Winter Quarter. Please stop by and enjoy our new look.

Information Technology: After two full years, we feel our computer system is working much better. We still find things we have to adapt to our business practices but it is better and moving us to paperless. We should have off site registration fully implemented before Winter Quarter registration and Web Entry Payroll begins with the pilot in November and should be fully functional by July 1. That is why we invest in these systems. They make our work more accurate and provide the college with more timely and relevant information that can be used in decision making.

The student system, UCC Life has been tweaked too, so it is easier to use and instructions are clearer. Technology changes so rapidly that we need to be able to keep up with those we serve. We also need to provide students with more technology support. To that end, the Help Desk model has been reworked and we now have an employee fully dedicated to student support. John Sharpe joined our team September 23rd and is housed in the library where our students most use computers.

In November Jared will share information on our new Microsoft license with the Board.

Finance Office:
Tom has left his staff in capable hands while he is in London for three weeks. Before he left, he sent all the preliminary financial reports to the auditor. They will be doing our audit for two weeks beginning November 3rd.

Budget Office:
Natalya and Donna Goebel are taking an extensive accounting course from WACUBO which will make them better support for Tom and the audit.

Research and Planning:
Dan is with us tonight to give you the results of the CCSSE survey. He is also working on the finishing touches of the Annual Enrollment Report, the report on the Strategic Plan, and the FTE OCCURS audit. It is nice to have summer quarter behind him. There are so many requests for data. How did we ever get by before Dan took that position? We actually have to prioritize his work as he has a hard time saying “no”. Since I hate that word, I like his customer service, but want to make sure he does not stress himself.

Vice President:
This is a favorite time of year for me. I love the campus when it comes to life with students. Community colleges make such a difference in the lives of so many. Not only do our students benefit but staff, faculty and administration do too. As life long learners no day goes by without the opportunity to share and learn.

We are thankful the Master Plan is ready for adoption, that the Strategic Plan is being utilized to make decisions and that we have really engaged the planning philosophy. Soon we will have a new Technology Plan too. Every house starts with a blueprint and that is what these plans are for us. No plans, equals, no product, but worse no dreams.

“Without goals, and plans to reach them, you are like a ship that has set sail with no destination.” Fitzhugh Dodson

The post script here is, as co-chair on Blackhawk with Syndi Beavers, we want to thank everyone who supported the event. It was great and those who weren’t here missed a really great time in a great venue.

Recruitment began or continues for the following positions:

• Community Relations Assistant – New posting.
• Recruitment Officer – New posting
• Foundation Specialist – New posting
• Program Coordinator, Academic Development – New Posting
• Director of Student Support Services
• Simulation Technician
• Simulation/Lab Coordinator
• Limited Maintenance Electrician
• Practical Nursing Instructor/Coordinator (subject to available funding)
• Part-time: Nursing Assistant Instructor Commercial Truck Driving Instructor Teachers Assistant (Ford Family Center) ABSD Outreach Instructor (3)/ ESL Instructor/GED Instructor

Full-time Positions filled:

• ETS/UB Program Assistant
• Help Desk Support Specialist
• Instructional Support Specialist
• Nursing Instructors (2)
• Head Start Lead Teacher FFC (2)
• Confidential Assistant – Student Development
• ABSD Coordinator

Personnel: Open enrollment for OEBB ODS ended on September 15, 2008, with 100% completion due to the hard work of Ashley Anderson, HR Assistant. With approximately 250 active employees and retirees, this was quite a task, especially since faculty did not return to campus until the following day. OEBB ODS identification cards arrived at employee’s home the week before the October 1 effective date. The entire HR department put in a lot of time and effort in the communication piece, and received positive feedback from many employees. Ashley will input data on new employees as they are hired, and will assist them with their online enrollment.

Negotiations with both UCCFA and ACEUCC have slowed down due, in part, to the strike against OEA by the Oregon Professional Staff Organization (OPSO). We are awaiting a response from ACEUCC to our counter. We are preparing a counter to give to UCCFA prior to the scheduled October 22nd session.

HR has started a new project which is Web Time Entry in Banner. Employees will record their time on the web which will eliminate the need for paper time sheets as well as paper absence reports. Testing with several departments will begin November 1st. A phase in is planned from January 1 to June 30, 2009.

The fall term is under way. The fall in-service was packed with meetings and workshops, welcoming the new faculty, saying hello to all returning faculty, and preparing for a very busy and productive fall term. The highlights from the VPI office over the past month include:

• Highlights of the fall in-service schedule of events include:
  • We had over 70 faculty and administrators attend the faculty retreat at the Big K ranch. This was the highest attendance on record for a faculty retreat. The retreat committee co-chaired by Eileen Parrack of Chemistry and Greg Kuk of Accounting did an outstanding job scheduling a wide variety of sessions that included topics like retention, intercultural awareness, best learning styles, using rubrics for assessment, online portfolios, and ins and outs of grading.
  • The faculty retreat committee brought a speaker, Doug Robertson, to campus to talk about chronic overload and overcoming learner resistance. Doug is from Kentucky but grew up in Eugene, and he did an excellent job covering information relevant to our faculty.
  • We had an all day appreciative inquiry session with all of the instructional faculty and staff to develop a shared vision of the future for instruction at UCC. We came up with some amazing visions and “to dos” to work on this year. We will get all of the data put together and share with the faculty later in the fall as we continue conversations on where we want to take instruction in the future.
  • Held a new faculty orientation. We have nine new full-time faculty this year. We will be holding monthly sessions with the new faculty to provide mentoring and continued orientation on important topics.
• The first statewide meeting for community colleges on assessment was held at UCC on September 11, facilitated by our Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Javier Ayala. We had 11 of the 17 colleges represented and we discussed some best practices at each college. The state CIA group will have assessment as their number one goal this year and UCC is taking the lead to organize and facilitate those discussions.
• The new Leadership UCC program will be unveiled on October 16. A grant was submitted to Ford Family Foundation to obtain funding for the first year of the program. We will have a cohort of approximately 12 UCC faculty and staff in the first year of the program.
• Attended an EC retreat.
• Met with the group from the Ukraine to discuss instruction at UCC.
• The NWCCU visitor came to UCC on October 2 for our focused interim visit and she talked to faculty and staff regarding our progress with assessment. We should receive a final report on the results soon.
• The fall term has begun with a bang. Over 400 classes are full and FTE is up. The faculty did a great job trying to accommodate student demand for specific classes and programs.
• Attended a South County Task Force meeting that was coordinated by Brian and Pete to pull together a group of people from South County that want to work with the college to obtain community feedback on education and training needs in the south county area.
• Made a presentation on community college partnerships with industry at the Oregon Economic Development Association Conference in Silverton on October 7. The talk focused on the very positive process of developing our new Viticulture and Enology program with the local winegrowers associations.
• Continuing my practice of visiting classes of faculty across the divisions.
• We are very proud of Javier Ayala, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, for successfully completing his Ph.D. through OSU. Congratulations, Javier!

• Bettie Wright in the Business Department has done a great job getting the medical office assisting programs approved by the NCCT for nationally recognized certification exams: National Certified Medical Assistant, National Certified Medical Office Assistant, and National Certified Insurance Coding Specialist for our Clinical Medical Assistant (CMA) certificate, Administrative Medical Assistant (AMA) degree, and Medical Coding and Billing (MC&B) certificate programs, respectively. This was accomplished by sending NCCT the curriculum for each of the programs and much communication back and forth.
• John Blackwood, CIS faculty, is participating as one of the lead faculty in the development of a statewide Health Informatics degree program.
• Two new full-time and four new part-time nursing instructors have been hired for fall term. There was a departmental new faculty orientation on Sept. 3 and an Oregon Consortium of Nursing Educators (OCNE) orientation on Sept. 17. There are 63 students enrolled in both the 1st and 2nd year of the program. This is the maximum for the class.
• An application packet to restart a Practical Nursing program at UCC is being submitted to the next Oregon State Nursing Board meeting for their approval.
• The construction program house is finished. It is being prepared to host an open house in the near future.
• CTE Division faculty and staff participated in a wide range of in-service activities the weeks of September 15 and 22.

Academic Development – Brian Turner

• Learning Skills, like the rest of the college, saw a swelling of summer students and then booming enrollment for the fall term. Three additional part-time instructors have been added to the instructional staff in the areas of reading, writing, and math. As new sections have been added, they have filled with students. As other campus programs have experienced, a shortage of classroom space at traditional times has created challenges in adding sections. Learning Skills is researching other Oregon developmental education programs and evaluating the advantages of adding a complete slate of evening classes for winter term.
• In Adult Basic Skills we noticed a sharp decrease in summer enrollment. This decrease is consistent with the same economic trends that usually cause an increase in credit based enrollment. ABSD students are typically the most sensitive to downturns in employment and increases in cost of living. Some students told teachers that they have lost their jobs or cannot afford to keep coming to class. As the year continues, ABSD will step up recruitment and retention efforts to counter the downward enrollment.
• UCC's ABSD program was selected to be a pilot site for the Oregon Pathways for Adult Basic Skills (OPABS) initiative. UCC is one of nine colleges testing GED and pre-GED curriculum that is infused with transition oriented materials and more rigorous material. Two instructors and the Dean attended a training session in Salem in preparation of implementing the grant.
• As of this report, ABSD is in the process of filling several critical vacancies. Two coordinators have accepted other administrative or faculty positions, and our office staff has done an outstanding job handling the temporary deluge of additional responsibilities. New coordinators will hopefully be in place by the end of October.
• The Dean hosted the Ukrainian delegation as part of the day looking at adult and alternative education. The visitors were amazed that only 70% of Oregon ninth graders will obtain a high school diploma, and that half of those that do will not be ready for college or skilled work, leaving a skills gap for 65% of Oregon students. Yet they were also impressed with the wide range of programs UCC provides to meet the need of these students.

Curriculum and Instructional Support - Javier Ayala

• Director Ayala has successfully defended his dissertation and now has a Ph.D.
• Pathways received a successful visit from the State, and CCWD is satisfied with efforts to institutionalize short-term certificate pathways.
• College Now is seamlessly transitioning toward more offerings that enhance opportunities for high school students through the leadership of a full-time coordinator.
• Perkins management has officially transferred to the College. With this new role, high schools and the College are working more closely together at serving students with programs of study that cut across secondary and post-secondary offerings.
• Angel online is moving toward an enhanced ePortfolio option. This addition is courtesy of a grant from CCWD.
• The Library has a closer partnership with Information Technology through a shared student helpdesk support person. This will provide better service to students.
• UCC’s accreditation focused interim visit is planned and ready for the accrediting body’s visitor. We are prepared to meet the recommendations.
• Distance learning training options and orientations for students and faculty have kicked off successfully, with multiple sessions being offered.
• Our new support staff for online education, Julia Mendiguren, begins October 1 and will promote the development of video streaming and faculty technical sessions.

Arts & Sciences Division - Greg Fishwick

• Under the direction of Dean Remick and Jason Heald--and employing the new Swanson Amphiteatre, Jacoby Auditorium, and Centerstage Theatre--the inaugural Oregon Musical Theatre Festival produced 23 performances of three different musicals in 11 days. Community Relations developed a "Stay two days. See three plays!" campaign in conjunction with the event, and attendance totaled 3,413--including 631 tickets purchased over the new online ticketing option.
• The dean participated in the promotional tour of regional wineries by helping to visit those in south Lane County with materials created by Community Relations and funded by a state economic development grant. A major event funded by the same grant to bring together wine cluster industry stakeholders is in the planning stages. Program enrollment reached its original limit of 25 and expanded capacity by partnering with the Science department to accommodate 32. The campus vineyard was cleared, prepared, and planted with rye grass to avoid winter erosion in anticipation of planting our first vines this coming spring. The dean made an initial contact with OSU dual credit partners for possible future articulation of the Viticulture and Enology program.
• Susan Fischer was hired as the new (part-time) faculty program coordinator for Early Childhood Education and already has built a strong partnership with the Ford Family Center as a teaching laboratory.
• Math department chair Mariah Beck and the dean participated in a "Math Summit" to explore establishing statewide math requirements in certificates and AAS degrees. The chair will serve on a statewide task force to make recommendations.
• Administrative Assistant Victoria Sawyer, Director of the Southern Oregon WIne Institute and Viticulture and Enology instructor Chris Lake, and the dean are moving into Snyder 17.
• (Part-time) faculty program coordinator Gwen Soderberg-Chase is revising the Instructional Assistant program to align with the statewide Paraeducator certificate program.
• The dean attended the Summer Start program commencement ceremony, the faculty retreat, and department meetings; and led a "Welcome Back" division meeting.
• The dean facilitated panel sessions for faculty inservice on diversity, student behavior, catalog changes, Honors College, and service learning.
• Work continues on implementation and analysis of the new audit grade policy, incorporating service learning into a new Honors College program, and meeting the diversity requirement for the AAOT and the "Anytime, Anywhere" AAOT.
• Arts and Sciences faculty and staff all contributed to significant enrollment increases by changing classrooms and adding sections to increase access to our many high-demand offerings.

Workforce and Community Education Department - Director, Pete Bober

• The Workforce and Community Education Department continues to work on aligning its departments and look for opportunities to collaborate in the delivery of a variety of programming. WCED staff attended a half-day retreat on September 10th to prepare for the coming year and actively participated in College-Wide In-service activities.

• Community Education had a successful summer term with higher enrollments in Driver Education and classes overall. This fall, staff, have noticed more last minute registrations at class sites, a trend we expect to continue given the economic situation. In addition to fall class offerings, CE is coordinating continuing training for electricians, a nonprofit board member conference and assisting with the Oregon Diversity Conference. The department is planning a S.A.T. preparatory class to be held at Roseburg High School later this fall.
• In September, the department held in-service training for Community Education Instructors and 61 non-credit faculty attended.

JOBS – Carla Bee, Director:

The JOBS Program is very busy as students and staff prepare for the new school year. Enrollments are up and capacity is close to full. A snapshot of JOBS current enrollments includes the following:

• 50 FTE/JOBS students started UCC Fall Term
• Simulate Work Site on Diamond Lake Blvd is at full capacity: 20
• Clients active in Volunteer Work Experience; 63
• JOB+ active enrolled 17

Small Business Development Center – Terry Swagerty, Director:

• The SBDC is off and running with a new slate of clients and a new calendar of program offerings. Staff are excited about the new year and their on-going efforts to serve the small businesses of Douglas County.
• Marketing efforts by the SBDC this year include: direct mail, paid advertisements in the newspaper and on radio, press releases, speaking to groups and the occasional human interest story.
• Terry Swagerty was able to attend a fantastic national conference, the Association of Small Business Development Center’s annual conference in Chicago early this month, paid in grant funds.
• SBDC staff participated, as part of the Workforce Development and Community Education department, in a half day retreat on the 10th of September.
• Terry presented a history of “Project Leadership” to the new Project Leadership class early this month. This class is an annual project sponsored by the Roseburg Area Chamber of Commerce and has been going since 1989, when Terry was the Chamber President.

Truck Driver Training Program – Sandra Utley, Coordinator:

• The program coordinator and the Director of Workforce and Community Education staff met with local workforce staff to examine ways to increase referrals to the community. The program has also had its new graphics installed on two of the program’s trailers. UCC has been invited to convene a meeting of other community college trucking programs in the area to discuss creation of a “Southwestern Oregon Trucking Driving Training Consortium”, which will occur in the coming months.

Workforce Development – Pete Bober, Director:

• The department coordinated a community visit of an Open World delegation consisting of five Ukrainian educators, a facilitator and an interpreter to learn about the U.S. education systems. The campus and the community were very involved in the planning and delivery of the program.
• The department completed its work with Roseburg Forest Products regarding the implementation of a new training system within their Equipment Maintenance Division. The department utilized Toni Clough, a member of the Business department faculty.
• The director is working with a team of other UCC staff and faculty to implement the Leadership UCC Program.
• The director is also working with a company to submit a grant for a substantial training package; assisting in the development and facilitation of the South County Workforce and Education Task Force; and has been an active collaborator with Community Education Department staff in the co-production of the Non-Profit Management Conference to be held at UCC October 11th.
• UCC is co-sponsoring Project Leadership with the Roseburg Chamber and the Office of Workforce Development is coordinating those efforts. The office also worked with a local company on an economic development project that could potentially result in a substantial expansion.

October 2008 UCCFA Report to the Board by Nancy Nowak

• For the 2008-2009 academic year, Ken Carloni will continue to serve as Vice President and Barb Stoner as Secretary. Bettie Wright is our new Treasurer.
• Joining the UCCFA Executive Committee as Committee Chairs are Sue Windsor and Paula Usrey. Mike Matteo was recently elected as faculty representative to the College Council, joining Dee Winn.
• The Fall Faculty Retreat, held at the Big K Ranch September 18 and 19, was an enriching experience for those who attended, thanks to the efforts of the Retreat Planning Committee: Jason Aase, Ian Fisher, Andrea Bean, Joanne Richards, Dorie White, Kevin Mathweg, and co-chairs Greg Kuk and Eileen Parrack.
• Response has been positive to the UCCFA Executive Committee’s News-Review guest editorial encouraging students to enroll in UCC’s courses and programs. I appreciated this opportunity to collaborate with other Executive Committee members. I also thank Bentley Gilbert and Vicki Menard for their feedback.
• UCCFA is pleased that a process for 360-degree evaluation of most administrators has been developed and will soon be implemented.

Student Development Board Report by Lynn Moore

General:
We are pleased to announce that Debra George has been hired to serve as the Confidential Assistant to the Vice President of Student Development. Her prior service to the college and passion for assisting students will be a natural fit in the support and coordination of our department. We look forward to Debra’s assistance in helping our department better serve our students, faculty, staff and the community.

Counseling/Advising:
Our Counseling and Advising Department has been very busy this month servicing 1745 new and returning students. In addition to these activities, the Director of Counseling led workshops at the New Student Orientation and the New Faculty Orientation, participated in the panel discussion for In-Service on The Museum of Tolerance and the panel for Student Behavior Issues and presented on Student Retention at the Faculty Retreat during In-Service

Financial Aid:
Financial Aid Applications:

10/02/2008 2838 29% more than last year at this time; 54% more than two years ago
08/28/2007 2204
08/28/2006 1859

Total applications for 2006-2007 were 2296. We have already surpassed that number by 542 applications.

Total applications for 2007-2008 were 2747. We have already surpassed that number by 91 applications.

Financial Aid Awards

10/02/2008 1554 42% more than last year at this time; 81% more than 2 years ago
08/28/2007 1096
08/28/2006 851

UCC Financial Aid Office is hosting a College Night Oregon on November 24, 2008. We will be offering free pizza and beverages. We will hold a drawing for four $500 scholarships to the college of the student’s choice (pizza and scholarships donated by ECMC). The event will include a general information session and then 3-4 breakout sessions with topics to include “Choosing the Right College for You,” The College Application Process,” and “The Financial Aid Process.”

UCC will be participating in the statewide College Goal Oregon event that will be held January 24, 2009. At that time our financial aid and other college professionals will be assisting students, parents, and prospective students file their FAFSA online in the UCC library.

TOP/ETS/UB Grants:
Our SSS/TOP team is continuing work on the new grant proposal originally scheduled for October 2008 competition; now waiting for the Department of Education to post the Request for Proposals on the website. The entire UCC Trio Department hosted the Oregon State Trio Association Meeting on September 8, 2008. SSS/TOP processed more than 30 new applications in the past two weeks with most of these originating from the New Student Orientation.

Ford Family Center:
With the addition of the children from the Head Start Program, our center is very busy this term. Currently we have enrolled 67 children in the 3-4 year old age group, 16 children in the 2 year old age group, and 25 babies in the 6 week to 24 month age group. Of these children, 63 are children of UCC Students, 5 are children of UCC Staff and 2 are children from the community. Our Head Start Program has 19 children in the morning class and 19 in the afternoon class. A total of 103 children are excited to call Ford Family Center their school. Finally, the wait list for space is growing daily and 21 children of varying ages are on the wait list as of 10-03-08.

Student Life:
New Student Orientation was held on Friday, September 26 and 288 students participated this year. We continue to look at different methods of introducing new students to UCC and the college experience. This year, we featured a program called the Ultimate Road Trip; we divided up the group and conducted campus tours with half and engaged the other in a faculty expectations presentation (then flipped it around); we provided breakout sessions in the afternoon on UCC Life, an introduction/orientation to the college catalogue, specialty focus groups for high school graduates, non-traditional students and students who are veterans. We also introduced a parent track

ASUCC officers and a large contingent of student volunteers are actively engaged in registering students to vote. Representatives from the Oregon Student Vote Coalition and Oregon Student Association, as well as Douglas County Clerk Barbara Nielsen have supported their efforts by providing voter registration training and education. Cory Maloy, VP of ASUCC reports that more than 200 voter registration cards have been completed, collected, and submitted. Voter registration efforts will continue in the Campus Center into November.

ASUCC Student Council held its first meeting of the year on Monday, September 29; an informal meeting, the students discussed upcoming activities and recruitment of senators. Applications for senators were made available during New Student Orientation and a number of students have already submitted a completed application.

Activities planned for October included a display on Breast Cancer Awareness, a Job & Services Fair, Club Fair, a Pumpkin Patch for the Ford Family Center, a Halloween costume and games contest and a reprise of the Rocky Horror Picture Show fundraiser. The State Board of the Oregon Diversity Institute met on campus September 30th via IPV. The UCC-ODI Planning Task Force continues to meet weekly as plans progress for the State-wide ODI Conference hosted by UCC here November 6, 7, and 8, 2008.

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