Four members of ACC’s Board of Trustees traveled to San Francisco in October to attend the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) 40th Annual College Leadership Congress. ACC Board Chairperson Nan McRaven, Vice Chair Allen Kaplan, and Trustees Tim Mahoney and John-Michael Cortez were among more than 1,500 community college leaders who gathered for the conference. Read more here.
We had a great Data Retreat on October 30th, with our external facilitators of the Achieving the Dream component of our Student Success Initiative. Over 100 faculty and staff participated, including 45 full-time faculty (including the faculty-elected coaches). As I have noted before, Student Success Initiative is the coordination of the many success initiatives the College has in place, with the goal of increasing our use of data to drive program and service improvements. The data used at the Retreat is now posted on the Student Success Initiative web site at: http://www.austincc.edu/oiepub/pubs/data_retreat.html
Don’t forget to buy your tickets before they sell out. Tickets are now available for the Friday, December 4th ACC Faculty and Staff Holiday Party. Tickets are $10 and are being sold at all campus cashier’s offices. The party will take place at the Doubletree Hotel, 6505 North IH 35 (near Pappasitos), at 6:30 p.m. – midnight.
Contact Dahlia Anzaldua at 223-7595 or anzaldua@austincc.edu for more event information.
An easy way to give to the ACC Foundation and shop for those holiday presents is by going through www.GoodSearch.com. As one of its designated charities, this Yahoo powered search engine will donate half of its advertising revenue to the charity designated by the user. Use it as you would any search engine and help raise funds for the ACC Foundation General Scholarship Fund. Every search raises more money!
If you do your holiday shopping online, go to www.GoodShop.com, the online shopping mall. This site also donates a percentage of each purchase to the designated charity. Hundreds of stores including Amazon, Banana Republic, Dell, Best Buy, HSN, eBay, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Kodak, and many more have teamed up with GoodShop.
To fund GoodSearch, go to the ACC Foundation website – www.austincc.edu/foundation. Scroll down the menu on the left and click on Ways to Give. There you will find the link to GoodSearch. It is a great way to help our students.
The second Fall Yak ‘n Sack Meeting with the President is scheduled for Thursday, November 12th at 2:30 p.m. at the Northridge Campus, Room 3140.
Additional information can be found on the Yak ‘n Sack website: http://www.austincc.edu/pres/yak.php.
Hope to see you there!
Employment
We are delighted to welcome these New ACC Employees
who started November 2nd!
Name Position Campus
Jeffrey DeLeon Technician, Computer Support PIN
Margaret Hernandez Assistant, Student Services NRG
Stephanie Howley AVP Student Success HBC
Sylvia Matthes Cashier SVC
Patricia McCreary IA (II) – Child Development EVC
Teresa Pedrosa Assistant III, Administrative SVC
Claudia Rodriguez Assistant, Child Care EVC
David Simmons Assistant, Lab RGC
Donald Wright Technician, Computer Support HBC
Vice President’s Office
AR#6.08.005 Resolution of an Employee Complaint or Grievance
The Administrative Services Council approved and the President signed on May 26, 2009, a new policy on AR #6.08.005, Resolution of an Employee Complaint or Grievance. This policy represents significant changes to the practice of resolving complaints and grievances.
For more information on the Complaint and Grievance process please visit the Human Resources department website at http://www.austincc.edu/hr/vp/grievance.php.
Professional Development training will soon be offered for all employees.
State Employee Charitable Campaign
Human Resources would liek to sincerly thank each and every one of you for your particiapation in tis year’s SECC. Your involevemt in the campaign is critical to the mssion and success of the charities invloved in the campaign, many of whim depend primarily on the generosity of state emlyees for support. During these challenging ecoomic times, it is ever more critical that wwe assist those in need in our community. A grand total of the donations will be annouced in next week’s Connection. Thank you for your consideration of this program.
Professional Development
ACC Leadership Awards Program Nominations—Deadline Extended!
It is time to nominate one or more of your colleagues for an ACC Leadership Award. This is a perfect opportunity to let your colleagues know that their leadership and dedication to ACC and its students has not gone unnoticed.
The ACC Leadership Award program is intended to recognize individual employees who have demonstrated excellence in the performance of their College duties and responsibilities. Individuals to be nominated should have played a leadership role in efforts that delivered substantial benefits to ACC as a whole, to a community served by ACC or to another external population. The following awards will be given to a deserving nominee this year:
Classified Employee of the Year
Professional Technical Employee of the Year
Administrator of the Year
In addition, special President’s “Above and Beyond” Leadership Awards may be given each year:
The nomination deadline has been extended to November 10th.
To learn more about this awards program, the nomination process, or to submit a nomination, please go to http://www.austincc.edu/hr/profdev/awards/.
InfoStream
What’s New with Spring Development Day?
Holiday Spending – Simplified Acoustic Alchemy: Enhancing Instruction through Music
Free Streaming Videos
All this and more in the latest
InfoStream http://www.austincc.edu/hr/profdev/infostream
Vice President’s Office
Hurry! The last day to donate to the State Employee Charitable Campaign is this Saturday, October 31st!
As ACC enhances College Connection programs, your contribution to the ACC Foundation (#228065) will ensure that ACC students receive worthy scholarships to support their education at ACC. In addition, through SECC, you may contribute to a variety of relief organizations such as the American Red Cross of Texas, the Austin Area Salvation Army, the Arc of the Capital Area, American Cancer Society and the Capital Area Food Bank and other worthwhile organizations.
Visit the campaign website here.
Employment
Hiring Deadlines -2009-2010
Hiring committees who wish to hire Staff employees prior to the New Year must submit their online employment recommendations in e-Hire by Friday, November 13, 2009. This will allow candidates a sufficient amount of time to give two week notices to their employers when accepting positions with ACC. Faculty hiring committees who are hiring for the spring semester must submit their employment recommendations to the Dean by Friday, December 4, 2009.
HR Employment will continue to accept employment recommendations submitted after the previously stated deadlines. Candidates who are unable to begin their employment on the remaining orientation dates of this year will be scheduled for the next available orientation date in 2010.
All employees who are in a paid status by December 7, 2009 will be paid for the Winter Break. Please contact Erica Breedlove at ebreedlo@austincc.edu for more information.
Remaining New Employee Orientation Dates for 2009:
January 2009 New Employee Orientation Dates:
Benefits
TexFlex deadline approaching
Don’t forget: Spend your Plan Year ‘09 TexFlex money by November 15!
If you are a TexFlex participant, you have until November 15, 2009 to spend any remaining dollars in your Plan Year 2009 TexFlex accounts. This grace period gives you an additional 2 ½ months beyond the end of the plan year to have eligible expenses.
What does this mean to you? All grace period expenses (with a date of service between September 1, 2009 and November 15, 2009) will be paid out of your “prior” plan year balance, helping you to “use up” the prior plan year balance first. In other words, member claims with a date of service between September 1, 2009 and November 15, 2009 will be applied to your 2009 balance. Once the Plan Year 2009 balance is exhausted, the remaining claims will be applied toward your 2010 election amount.
Remember, TexFlex also features a 120 day run-out period, which allows you to file claims up until December 31. As always, any balance remaining in a 2009 account after December 31 will be forfeited. It is not recommended that you wait until December 31 to file Plan Year 2009 claims, in case corrections need to be made.
If you have any questions regarding this process, contact PayFlex at (866) FlexTex or (866) 353-9839.
Diabetes Support Group for ACC Staff and Faculty Diabetes: Take Action!
This is a group for anyone who has diabetes or is interested in learning more about diabetes. Group Leader is Sandra Gaskin (Sandy) RN, MSN. Sandy has spent most of her nursing career teaching about diabetes and helping others manage their diabetes.
The group will meet the 4th Friday of the month except for November and December, when we will meet the third Friday. Sessions will include “What is Diabetes”, “What is all the fuss about food and diabetes”, “I have to get up and get moving?!”, “What does my medication really do?”
First support group meeting will be held on October 30, 2009 at HBC from 12:30-1:30 pm, room 301.2.
Sign up, come and have fun and learn a lot! To register, please email avaldez1@austincc.edu . For questions, call Alisol V. Martinez, HR Specialist II at 512.223.7800.
A message from Dr. Steve Kinslow:
My thanks, again, to the faculty and staff who served on the Interview Committee for the new position of Associate Vice President, College Access Programs. I have completed reference checks and am pleased to share that Dr. Stephanie Hawley has accepted the offer of employment. She will be present for the October 30 Data Retreat that is such an important part of our Student Success Initiative.
Dr. Hawley will office at the Highland Business Center. We will share her office number and email after she gets on board.
I think we had an outstanding committee, and a quality process for considering candidates. I also was pleased with the quality of the interview pool, and believe we have selected an outstanding person for this critical position.
Again, thank you each for your involvement with and commitment to this process.
Invitation to all Faculty, Staff and Students
You are cordially invited to attend a meeting with ACC’s external facilitators for the Achieving the Dream component of ACC’s Student Success Initiative, Kay McClenney (Director of SENSE and CCSSE) and Brad Phillips (Executive Director of Cal-PASS) at the following times and locations:
As part of the Student Success Initiative Data Retreat on October 30, 2009, Drs. McClenney and Phillips will be in Austin to provide their support and expertise to assist faculty and staff in understanding ACC’s diverse students and in using data to guide improvements to programs and support services.
This is a good opportunity to learn more about our Student Success Initiative. I encourage you to make time to visit with Drs. McClenney and Phillips at either of the times listed above.
The Austin Community College District is committed to becoming a leader in sustainability. As part of ACC’s Green Initiative, ACC is starting two new programs: “Green Car Parking” and “Green Pass.”
Green Car Parking
Beginning November 1st, individuals who drive a fuel-efficient, low-emission vehicle may be eligible to park in a limited number of new preferred parking spaces at each ACC campus. To receive a Green Car sticker, follow the simple steps at: http://www.austincc.edu/sustainability/greencar.php. A Green Car sticker does not guarantee preferred parking, as spaces are limited.
Green Pass
The ACC Board of Trustees approved a pilot program to provide free Capital Metro passes to ACC students, faculty, and staff. If approved by the Capital Metro Board of Directors, Green Pass will go into effect in January, 2010. The initial cost of the program will be covered by increases in the parking fees which went into effect in Fall, 2009.
For more information, please visit www.austincc.edu/sustainability
ACC is part of the regional health and emergency management team that closely is monitoring seasonal flu and H1N1 flu activity. ACC has a link on its home web page for flu-related information and updates. The website is: http://www.austincc.edu/emergency/flu.php.
For additional questions, please contact Becky Cole, Executive Director of Environmental Health and Safety, at rcole@austincc.edu or 223-1015; or Dr. Mary Hensley, Executive Vice President of College Operations, at 223-7618 or mhensley@austincc.edu.
Employment
We are delighted to welcome these New ACC Employees that started October 19th!
Name Position Campus
Suzette M Clement Cashier SVC
Marti Cox College, Police Dispatcher SVC
Peggy Edelen Administrative Assistant III HBC
Cory L Lovell Fire Alarm Technician SVC
Hiring Deadlines -2009-2010
Hiring committees who wish to hire Staff employees prior to the New Year must submit their online employment recommendations in e-Hire by Friday, November 13, 2009. This will allow candidates a sufficient amount of time to give two week notices to their employers when accepting positions with ACC. Faculty hiring committees who are hiring for the spring semester must submit their employment recommendations to the Dean by Friday, December 4, 2009.
HR Employment will continue to accept employment recommendations submitted after the previously stated deadlines. Candidates who are unable to begin their employment on the remaining orientation dates of this year will be scheduled for the next available orientation date in 2010.
All employees who are in a paid status by December 7, 2009 will be paid for the Winter Break. Please contact Erica Breedlove at ebreedlo@austincc.edu for more information.
Remaining New Employee Orientation Dates for 2009:
January 2009 New Employee Orientation Dates:
Vice President’s Office
State Employee Charitable Campaign October 1st through October 31st
As ACC enhances College Connection programs, your contribution to the ACC Foundation (#228065) will ensure that ACC students receive worthy scholarships to support their education at ACC. In addition, through SECC, you may contribute to a variety of relief organizations such as the American Red Cross of Texas, the Austin Area Salvation Army, the Arc of the Capital Area, American Cancer Society and the Capital Area Food Bank and other worthwhile organizations.
More information on the campaign
Benefits
Gold’s Gym Enrollment Special: $29 through October 31. (Usually $69).
$29.00 Enrollment and $22.99 Per Month
For Enrollment Form or questions contact your Gold’s Gym representative Dell Lawhead 512-419-7356 or dlawhead@goldsgym.
This corporate rate is not available at gym locations.
*No adjustments on earlier enrollments
Diabetes Support Group for ACC Staff and Faculty
First support group meeting will be held on October 30, 2009 at HBC from 12:30-1:30 pm, room TBD.
Sign up, come and have fun and learn a lot! To register, please email avaldez1@austincc.edu . For questions, call Alisol V. Martinez, HR Specialist II at 512.223.7800.
Create a Personal Financial Plan
This seminar discusses goal setting and provides a framework for working through the 5-step financial planning process.
October 29, 2009 12pm – 1pm, HBC, Room 221
Presenter: Dawn M. Ambuehl-Sadek, M.Ed. Community Education Director, A+ Federal Credit Union.
To register for this, employees must register online.
The Austin Community College District is committed to becoming a leader in sustainability. As part of ACC’s Green Initiative, ACC is starting two new programs: “Green Car Parking” and “Green Pass.”
Green Car Parking
Beginning November 1st, individuals who drive a fuel-efficient, low-emission vehicle may be eligible to park in a limited number of new preferred parking spaces at each ACC campus. To receive a Green Car sticker, follow the simple steps at: http://www.austincc.edu/sustainability/greencar.php. A Green Car sticker does not guarantee preferred parking, as spaces are limited.
Green Pass
The ACC Board of Trustees approved a pilot program to provide free Capital Metro passes to ACC students, faculty, and staff. If approved by the Capital Metro Board of Directors, Green Pass will go into effect in January, 2010. The initial cost of the program will be covered by increases in the parking fees which went into effect in Fall, 2009.
For more information, please visit www.austincc.edu/sustainability
All Faculty and Staff:
Please take a moment to review your online directory listing at: http://www3.austincc.edu/phones/.
Phone Directory Changes
Most updates to the phone directory are handled by your department’s Administrative Assistant (or designee). Your department may update only the following information via the Datatel “XOFF” screen:
The Datatel XOFF screen is accessible only to users who have received training. Departments may register for online Datatel XOFF training at: https://www3.austincc.edu/it/workshops/www/login.php.
Title or Department ChangesDepartment and/or Title changes can be made only by Human Resources. Corrections may be submitted by the employee’s immediate supervisor via email to Bobetta Burns, bburns@austincc.edu.
Name ChangesName changes require a form. The form is available on the intranet from within ACC at: http://www.austincc.edu/hr/records/documents/HURE007namechange.pdf
For questions, please contact Stan Gunn, AVP of Instructional Technology at sgunn@austincc.edu.
ACC is part of the regional health and emergency management team that closely is monitoring seasonal flu and H1N1 flu activity. ACC has a link on its home web page for flu-related information and updates. The website is: http://www.austincc.edu/emergency/flu.php.
For additional questions, please contact Becky Cole, Executive Director of Environmental Health and Safety, at rcole@austincc.edu or 223-1015; or Dr. Mary Hensley, Executive Vice President of College Operations, at 223-7618 or mhensley@austincc.edu.
OIEA Office News
David Block joined the Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Accountability on October 5, 2009, as the Coordinator, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. David holds a Master of Science in Information Resource Management from the Air Force Institute of Technology, a Master of Liberal Arts from Texas Christian University, and a Bachelor of Science in Speech from Lamar University. David has experience in strategic planning, information architecture design and quality management systems from Air Force Space Command headquarters; as well as enterprise engineering, management information systems and execution excellence initiatives with Hewlett-Packard, Agilent Technologies and Verigy USA. David has taught at Manhattan College and the New York Institute of Technology.
Student Success Initiative Data Retreat
As part of the Achieving the Dream component of ACC’s Student Success Initiative, a Data Retreat will be held on October 30, 2009 at the Radisson Hotel across from HBC. Participants in the Student Success Data Retreat will be the gateway department faculty coaches and department chairs, all academic and student services deans, members of the Student Success Initiative Steering Committee, the Institutional Planning Council, the Achieving Excellence Committee, and invited guests. The retreat will be facilitated by the Achieving the Dream facilitators, Kay McClenney, Director of SENSE and CCSSE, and Brad Phillips, Executive Director of Cal-PASS.
Information recently added to OIEA’s web site
Preliminary Enrollment Reports, High Demand Reports, and Headcount Attrition Summary for Fall 2009 (Posted 10-07-2009; PDF 139KB)
Published each semester following the close of registration, these reports provide information on student headcount, sections, enrollments, contact hours, and the number of students who could not enroll in full sections (high demand courses) by discipline.
Past Preliminary Enrollment Reports, High Demand Reports, and Headcount Attrition Summary reports can be found here.
Employment
We are delighted to welcome these New ACC Employees
that started October 5th!
Name Position Campus
Anthony Garza Testing Assistant EVC
Benefits
Diabetes Support Group for ACC Staff and Faculty
Diabetes: Take Action!
This is a group for anyone who has diabetes or is interested in learning more about diabetes. Group Leader is Sandra Gaskin (Sandy) RN, MSN. Sandy has spent most of her nursing career teaching about diabetes and helping others manage their diabetes.
The group will meet the 4th Friday of the month except for November and December, when we will meet the third Friday. Sessions will include “What is Diabetes”, “What is all the fuss about food and diabetes”, “I have to get up and get moving?!” , “What does my medication really do?” First support group meeting will be held on October 30, 2009 at HBC from 12:30-1:30 pm, room TBD.
Sign up, come and have fun and learn a lot! To register, please email avaldez1@austincc.edu . For questions, call Alisol V. Martinez, HR Specialist II at 512.223.7800. Please register by October 16th.
Create a Personal Financial Plan
People who “have it all” didn’t get there by accident. Financial planning is a thought process based on your values, which incorporates spending, saving, using credit, and investing. Creating a financial plan can help you identify the end result you want, figure out how to get there, and stay on track to achieve it. Psychologically, it can help reduce stress. This seminar discusses goal setting and provides a framework for working through the 5-step financial planning process.
October 29, 2009 12pm – 1pm, HBC, Room 221
Presenter: Dawn M. Ambuehl-Sadek, M.Ed. Community Education Director, A+ Federal Credit Union.
To register for this, employees must register online.
Employment
We are delighted to welcome these New ACC Employees that started October 5th!
Name Position Campus
David Block SACS Coordinator HBC
Yolanda Holland Workforce Tutoring Specialist EVC
Caleb McFadden College Police Patrol Officer SVC
William Schiesler Mathematics Tutoring Spec. HBC
Shun-Heng (Henry) Tsai Counselor CYP
Vice President’s Office
State Employee Charitable Campaign
During the 2008 SECC, Austin Community College employees generously contributed to
local and statewide charitable organizations through SECC. We are proud of ACC’s
commitment and concern for those in our community who need an extra helping hand to
face financial, personal, and physical challenges.
As ACC enhances College Connection programs, your contribution to the ACC
Foundation (#228065) will ensure that ACC students receive worthy scholarships to
support their education at ACC. In addition, through SECC, you may contribute to a
variety of relief organizations such as the American Red Cross of Texas, the Austin Area
Salvation Army, the Arc of the Capital Area, American Cancer Society and the Capital
Area Food Bank and other worthwhile organizations.
For more information on the Campaign visit the website at
http://www.austincc.edu/hr/secc/index.php.
Benefits
Walk Texas
A new 10-week session of Walk Texas starts Monday, October 12 and runs through
Sunday, December 20. The Walk Texas program encourages people to become more
physically active. Set goals for yourself, track your physical activity using a point
system and join your campus team or start a team of your own. Compete for prizes
and bragging rights.
A list of team leaders can be found here. Contact your team leader to sign up. We are currently looking for volunteers to serve as team leaders at Eastview, Cypress Creek, and Riverside campuses. Please contact Kelly Grant at 223-7230 or kgrant@austincc.edu to become a campus team leader for more information.