League Reaffirmation - Johnson County Community College
League Reaffirmation - Johnson County Community College
League Reaffirmation - Johnson County Community College
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<strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> <strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong><br />
Learning Comes First at JCCC<br />
Institutional SelfEvaluation<br />
Presented to the<br />
<strong>League</strong> for Innovation in the <strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong><br />
2008
Table of Contents<br />
Chapter 1 | Commitment to the <strong>League</strong> ......................................................................2<br />
Chapter 2 | Institutional Excellence and Effectiveness ..............................................8<br />
Chapter 3 | Leadership ..............................................................................................16<br />
Chapter 4 | Innovative and Experimental Programs ..............................................20<br />
Chapter 5 | Resources to Share with Member <strong>College</strong>s ..........................................40<br />
Chapter 6 | State and National Recognition ............................................................46<br />
Chapter 7 | Institutional Stability ..............................................................................60<br />
Chapter 8 | Looking to the Future..............................................................................66<br />
1
Chapter 1<br />
Commitment to the <strong>League</strong><br />
In 1978, <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> <strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong> joined the board of the <strong>League</strong> for Innovation<br />
in the <strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong>. Over the years, the college has benefited greatly from its participation in<br />
the <strong>League</strong>. We’ve hosted meetings; sent hundreds of faculty and staff to <strong>League</strong> conferences as<br />
presenters and attendees; written Innovation, Learning and Leadership Abstracts; welcomed <strong>League</strong><br />
visitors to campus; and shared ideas and innovations, to our benefit and the benefit of others.<br />
2
Dear <strong>League</strong> Board Members:<br />
I am proud to present this institutional selfevaluation of <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> <strong>Community</strong><br />
<strong>College</strong> to the board members of the <strong>League</strong> for Innovation in the <strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong>.<br />
Since becoming JCCC’s new president, I have found this institution to be dedicated to<br />
offering the highest quality education programs and opportunities to the students and<br />
residents of <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong>, Kansas. I have been impressed by the quality of the<br />
instruction offered by our professors, by their openness to new ideas, their focus on<br />
innovation, their enthusiasm for developing innovative methods and their willingness<br />
to share their ideas with others.<br />
JCCC has long been honored to serve as a <strong>League</strong> board member. Indeed, our board<br />
membership has drawn outstanding faculty and staff to our halls, eager to be affiliated<br />
with a <strong>League</strong> board school and live up to its expectations. You’ll find their ideas and<br />
statements in these pages, as well as thoughts of many of our community supporters,<br />
who attest to the college’s importance to the economic wellbeing of the community<br />
and its quality of life.<br />
Our hope, indeed, our goal, is to continue as a <strong>League</strong> board member so that, with<br />
renewed enthusiasm, we can continue to experiment, dream and develop new ideas<br />
for the classroom and the community. Thank you for your consideration of JCCC’s<br />
reaffirmation request. I look forward to your visit to campus, introducing you to our<br />
faculty and staff and showing you in person all the ideas we have to share.<br />
Sincerely,<br />
Terry A. Calaway<br />
President<br />
3
Dear <strong>League</strong> Board Members,<br />
I began life in the community college world<br />
as a faculty member at a small rural school in<br />
Iowa. My first contact with the <strong>League</strong><br />
for Innovation came in the form of <strong>League</strong><br />
publications, especially the Learning<br />
Abstracts, which I always eagerly read.<br />
The advice shared by other community<br />
college teachers contained in these<br />
Abstracts was dynamic and exciting,<br />
and I always tried to incorporate these<br />
teaching strategies in my classes whenever<br />
possible. Later when I became a dean at the<br />
college, I received the <strong>League</strong>’s Leadership Abstracts with just as much<br />
anticipation. One of my highlights as an administrator there occurred<br />
when the faculty member hired to replace me as an instructor (and he<br />
was also a former student) published a particularly effective classroom<br />
practice of his as a Learning Abstract. Needless to say, I proudly touted<br />
this accomplishment throughout the campus for quite some time.<br />
It was during these days in Iowa as a dean that I began to learn about<br />
<strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> <strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong>. Very soon in my research, I became<br />
so impressed with the school that I held it in my esteem as one of the best<br />
community colleges in the country, very possibly the best. A visit to the<br />
campus confirmed in my mind <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> <strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong>’s<br />
position as a board member for the prestigious <strong>League</strong> for Innovation.<br />
I was in my fifth year as academic vice president at a community<br />
college in Illinois when I learned that the executive vice president for<br />
academic affairs position at JCCC was being advertised. With great<br />
enthusiasm I applied for the post and thereafter was named to it.<br />
I was beyond elation to have attained such an exceptional job at<br />
such a remarkable institution. And when President Carlsen asked me<br />
to consider being JCCC’s representative to the <strong>League</strong> for Innovation<br />
board, I could not accept quickly enough. I had come far from<br />
reading those Learning Abstracts in the cornfields of Iowa.<br />
I think you will find documented in this report before you <strong>Johnson</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong> <strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong>’s full commitment to the <strong>League</strong> for<br />
Innovation. I, too, am dedicated to the <strong>League</strong> and its activities.<br />
When recently asked by <strong>League</strong> staff if I could engineer JCCC’s<br />
involvement in a <strong>League</strong> project, I responded, “I’d run through hell<br />
in a gasoline suit for the <strong>League</strong>!” An exaggeration? Well, maybe.<br />
The leadership that <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> <strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong> and the<br />
<strong>League</strong> for Innovation provide for twoyear schools on this continent<br />
and throughout the world is sterling. I thank both institutions for giving<br />
me the opportunity to participate in initiatives that in the future will<br />
improve the course of higher education.<br />
Sincerely,<br />
Dana Grove<br />
Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs<br />
4
Commitment from the JCCC board of trustees<br />
The board of trustees of <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> <strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong> enthusiastically supports<br />
the college’s continued participation in the <strong>League</strong> for Innovation in the <strong>Community</strong><br />
<strong>College</strong>. As a longtime board member, JCCC has worked long and hard with other<br />
<strong>League</strong> members to further community college education and support services.<br />
JCCC’s <strong>League</strong> membership is further evidence that, as a college, we are devoted<br />
to the ideal of learning through experimentation, discovery and innovation.<br />
We welcome the innovative ideas and practices that have been effective elsewhere,<br />
and we are happy to share our own programs and practices with others. The access<br />
and connections the <strong>League</strong> provides allow us to help others and improve both<br />
ourselves and the education we offer our students and the community.<br />
We are honored to be considered for continued <strong>League</strong> participation. On behalf of<br />
the JCCC board of trustees, I strongly encourage the relationship to continue. If you<br />
need further assistance during your discussions of this matter, please don’t hesitate to<br />
call on the JCCC trustees.<br />
Sincerely,<br />
Lynn Mitchelson<br />
Chairman, JCCC board of trustees<br />
5
<strong>League</strong> activities<br />
JCCC has participated in many <strong>League</strong> activities throughout the years, including the examples listed below:<br />
Innovation of the Year<br />
2000 – Carolyn Kadel, Intercultural Semester<br />
2001 – Dr. Jim McWard, British Writers Online<br />
2002 – Donnie Byers, Lynne Beatty, Kevin Cannell, Johanna Foster, John Hanson, Collaborative Science Initiative<br />
2003 – Dr. Luanne Wolfgram, Biotechnology Certificate and Associate Degree Programs<br />
2004 – Lois Hardenbrook and Tracy Newman, Orientation for Science Adjunct Faculty on a CD<br />
2005 – Mike Martin, Steve Wilson, Dynamic Web Tools for Computation and Visualization<br />
2006 – Mike Martin, Calculus Concept videos<br />
2007 – Birgit Love, Microsoft Access Database Containing Information on Fulltime and Adjunct Faculty<br />
<strong>League</strong> Publications: Leadership Abstract, Learning Abstract, Innovation Showcase<br />
2002 – Susan Lindahl, Learning Options and Readiness: High School Partnerships in the 21 st Century<br />
2006 – Dr. Wayne Brown, The TwoYear <strong>College</strong> Chief Information Officer Study<br />
2006 – Julie Haas, Art at the Heart of Overland Park<br />
2006 – Donna Duffy, Entrepreneurship Activity at <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> <strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong><br />
2007 – Kathy Yeager, Benchmarking Workforce Development: Setting the Standard<br />
2007 – Dr. Wayne Brown, Selecting Your Next Technology Leader<br />
<strong>League</strong> Conference on Information Technology<br />
2000 – Jonathan Bacon, Dirty Little Secrets of Online Instruction<br />
2000 – Educational Technology Center Staff, The Web Wizard Workshop: Web Authoring in a Day<br />
2000 – Dr. Dick Vallandingham, Student Services for the 21 st Century: Planning for the Future<br />
2000 – Julane Crabtree, Learning Styles and the Virtual Learner<br />
2002 – Donnie Byers, Collaborative Science<br />
2002 – Dr. Joseph Gadberry and Dr. Luanne Wolfgram, The Birth of a Biotechnology Program<br />
2002 – Susan Lindahl, Certification of Skills: CAP and <strong>Community</strong> Partnerships<br />
2002 – Mike Martin, Biomathematics: Curriculum, Models and Technology<br />
2004 – Donnie Byers and Dr. Marilyn Shopper,<br />
Integrating Webbased Information into Instruction with Microsoft Producer<br />
2005 – Donnie Byers, OWL (Online Web Learning) for Your Students in Chemistry<br />
2006 – Donnie Byers and Dr. Marilyn Shopper, Clickers in the Classroom<br />
6
<strong>League</strong> Innovations Conference<br />
1999 – Dr. Sally Winship, Mediation Programs and <strong>Community</strong> Partnerships<br />
2000 – Jonathan Bacon and Julane Crabtree, Learning Styles and Online Courses<br />
2000 – Dr. Sally Winship, Making Money in Contract Training . . . Running It Like a Business<br />
2001 – Dr. Joseph Gadberry, Adjunct Certification Training (ACT) in the Learning <strong>College</strong><br />
2001 – Dr. Steve Gerson, Building Virtual Learning Communities and<br />
Bringing Order Out of Chaos in Distance Learning<br />
2001 – Dr. Ed Lovitt, Building Virtual Learning Communities<br />
2002 – Dr. Ted White and Dr. Marilyn Rhinehart,<br />
Skills, Objectives, Outcomes and Competencies: Accountability in the 21 st Century<br />
2002 – Dr. Joseph Gadberry and Dr. Amy Pennington,<br />
Migrating JCCC’s Adjunct Certification Training (ACT) to WebCT<br />
2003 – Lynne Beatty, Kevin Cannell, Johanna Foster and John Hanson, Collaboration Between a <strong>Community</strong><br />
<strong>College</strong> and School District to Improve Science Education<br />
2004 – Dr. Joseph Gadberry and Lois Hardenbrook, Alternate Means to Faculty Orientation<br />
2004 – Donna Duffey and Cheri Streeter, Bridging the CreditNoncredit Gap for <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> Entrepreneurs<br />
2005 – Dr. Joseph Gadberry and Dr. Helen Burnstad,<br />
One Faculty: Strategies for Integrating Fulltime and Parttime Faculty<br />
2006 – Mike Martin, Mathematical Biology: Advancing Interdisciplinarity<br />
2007 – Donnie Byers, Active Learning: A Must for Today’s Students<br />
2007 – Dr. Marilyn Shopper, The Gray Side of the Brain: Using Brain Research in the <strong>College</strong> Classroom<br />
Executive Leadership Institute<br />
2000 – Dr. Marilyn Rhinehart<br />
2002 – Dr. Dana Grove<br />
2004 – Susan Lindahl<br />
2005 – Dr. Wayne Brown<br />
2007 – Dr. Joseph Sopcich<br />
Hosting<br />
1983 – JCCC hosted representatives from <strong>League</strong> board schools.<br />
1993 – JCCC hosted representatives from <strong>League</strong> board schools.<br />
2000 – JCCC Foundation hosted representatives from <strong>League</strong> school foundations.<br />
2003 – JCCC hosted representatives from <strong>League</strong> board schools.<br />
20032004 – JCCC hosted the <strong>League</strong> Student Art Contest.<br />
2008 – JCCC will host the <strong>League</strong> Learning Summit.<br />
7
Chapter 2<br />
Institutional<br />
Excellence and<br />
Effectiveness<br />
<strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> <strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong> has<br />
been described as the “crown jewel”<br />
of <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> for the quality of<br />
its educational programming, its<br />
responsiveness to the community<br />
and its impact on the entire<br />
metropolitan area.<br />
The Vision, Mission and<br />
Values of <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
<strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong><br />
Vision<br />
JCCC will enhance its leadership role among community<br />
colleges in the United States. The college will continue<br />
to enrich the quality of life for those it serves through<br />
creative solutions to educational, economic and<br />
community challenges.<br />
Mission<br />
Learning comes first at JCCC. The college<br />
• delivers lifelong educational programs and<br />
services that are convenient and accessible<br />
• provides professional training opportunities<br />
• provides opportunities for personal growth<br />
and cultural enrichment<br />
• maintains a caring, supportive environment<br />
• stimulates economic development<br />
• is accountable to its stakeholders<br />
8
Values<br />
As an institution of higher education, <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> <strong>Community</strong><br />
<strong>College</strong> supports a statement of values identified by the Carnegie<br />
Commission as applicable and enduring for all communities of<br />
learning. More specifically, we believe that <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
<strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong> should be:<br />
• a place where all faculty, students and staff share goals<br />
and work together to strengthen teaching and learning;<br />
• a place where freedom of expression and civility are practiced,<br />
encouraged and protected among all groups;<br />
• a place where every person is respected and where<br />
diversity is pursued;<br />
• a place where individuals accept their obligations to the<br />
group and where welldefined governance processes guide<br />
behavior for the good of the institution;<br />
• a place where the wellbeing of each member is supported and<br />
where service to others, internally and externally, is encouraged;<br />
• a place whose ideas and resources are shared with other<br />
members of the educational community — locally, regionally,<br />
nationally and internationally; and<br />
• a place in which the institution’s rituals affirming both<br />
tradition and change are shared and where the<br />
accomplishments of its staff and students are recognized.<br />
We believe in the dignity and worth of each individual and<br />
the fundamental right of each person to realize his or her<br />
fullest potential; therefore:<br />
• JCCC programs and services should be affordable and<br />
accessible to all who can benefit from them;<br />
• programs and services need to be comprehensive in<br />
order to meet the diverse lifelong educational needs<br />
of the community; and<br />
• high quality should be the hallmark of all programs and services<br />
and should not be compromised by growth or reduction.<br />
We believe that the college is held in trust for the people of<br />
<strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong>; therefore:<br />
• the college assets are a community investment and<br />
accountability and responsibility must be exercised in<br />
fiscal management and in maintaining those assets for<br />
future generations;<br />
• the college must exercise prudence in the management of the<br />
nonmonetary assets entrusted to it, seeking maximum return on<br />
the community’s investment of time, trust and intellectual capital;<br />
• the college should assure quality, continuous improvement,<br />
currency and the achievement of defined purposes and<br />
outcomes through continuous assessment of all programs<br />
and services;<br />
• the student learning goals established by the college<br />
instructional programs should be continuously refined<br />
and measured;<br />
• the college should assure that students achieve the learning<br />
outcomes established by its instructional programs; and<br />
• JCCC should provide leadership in making <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
a better place to live and work.<br />
“It is my firm belief that most<br />
citizens, business leaders and visitors<br />
consider <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> <strong>Community</strong><br />
<strong>College</strong> to be the jewel of Overland<br />
Park. Its commitment to educational<br />
excellence is well known in this<br />
community, and the ever increasing<br />
course offerings and enrollment<br />
have come to be greatly appreciated<br />
by residents. But more than that,<br />
from the Carlsen Center and<br />
Yardley Hall to its top notch music<br />
programs, permanent art collection<br />
and now the Nerman Museum of<br />
Contemporary Art, JCCC has<br />
become the hub of cultural activity,<br />
as well as education, in the county<br />
and beyond.”<br />
– Carl Gerlach,<br />
Mayor, City of Overland Park<br />
9
“<strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
is justifiably<br />
proud of its<br />
community college.<br />
Its excellent<br />
educational offerings, its faculty<br />
and staff, and its facilities have<br />
brought the college state and<br />
national recognition. The college<br />
is truly one of the driving forces<br />
behind the county’s economic<br />
growth, as it sets the pace in<br />
an ever changing economy with<br />
new ideas and responsive<br />
programs.”<br />
– Rep. Dennis Moore,<br />
D 3 rd District; former JCCC trustee<br />
Profile of <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong>, Kansas<br />
<strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong>, the Kansas City metropolitan area’s growth<br />
engine, lies at the heart of the nation and possesses all the<br />
ingredients necessary for economic growth and success.<br />
The county boasts nationally ranked schools, low crime rate,<br />
highquality neighborhoods, low cost of living and a variety<br />
of cultural and entertainment amenities. This high quality of life<br />
and unsurpassed business environment attracts nearly 10,000<br />
new residents and more than 11,000 new jobs each year.<br />
<strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> also accounts for more than six of 10 new<br />
businesses in the Kansas City Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA).<br />
<strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong>’s population and economic growth rank in the top<br />
onethird of Forbes’ rapidly growing premier counties and in the<br />
top two percent of all counties in the U.S. It is not surprising, then,<br />
that half of the Fortune 100 and onethird of the Fortune 500 firms<br />
have operations in <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong>.<br />
Kansas City Metro Area<br />
<strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> is one of several counties making up the Kansas<br />
City Metropolitan Area. Between 2000 and 2030, the population<br />
of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area will grow from 1,695,764<br />
to 2,248,933, or 32.6 percent. At the same time, the number of<br />
households will grow by 42.8 percent and the number of jobs<br />
will grow by 52 percent.<br />
Population<br />
<strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong>’s current population is estimated to be more than<br />
506,562 and is projected to reach 584,983 by 2015. Between<br />
1995 and 2005, <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> accounted for 49 percent of the<br />
increase in the 15county Kansas City MSA.<br />
10
Income<br />
Earnings of those working in <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> grew 113 percent between 1993 and 2003 and accounted<br />
for 39 percent of the total earnings of Kansas workers and 41 percent of earnings in the Kansas City MSA.<br />
<strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong>’s per capita personal income was $43,912 in 2003, the highest in the state. The median<br />
household income in <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> in 2005 was $68,400.<br />
Education<br />
In its annual “Education Quotient” ranking of the nation’s 2,800 school districts with enrollments of at least<br />
3,300 students, Expansion Management magazine ranked <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong>’s public school districts among the<br />
best. The educational attainment of <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong>’s population ranks among an elite few nationally, making<br />
the local labor pool one of the best in the United States. Of counties in the United States with populations<br />
above 250,000, <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> ranks first in percentage of adults with at least a high school education,<br />
sixth in percentage with at least a bachelor’s degree, and 16th in percentage with a graduate or professional<br />
degree. Nearly 95 percent of <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> residents age 25 years or older have earned at least a high school<br />
diploma, 48 percent have a bachelor’s degree and 16 percent have earned a graduate or professional degree.<br />
There are currently 29 fouryear colleges and universities and 11 twoyear colleges offering classes in the area.<br />
Employment<br />
Employment opportunities are unusually good in <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong>. The <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> economy has sustained an<br />
average annual job growth rate of 3.5 percent, compared to 1.4 percent in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area<br />
and 1.8 percent for the United States. This corresponds to an average net increase of 11,072 new jobs per year.<br />
Unemployment in <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> remains below the state and national average and stood at 4.5 percent at the<br />
end of 2005.<br />
<strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong>’s unsurpassed business environment and quality of life are the fuels that power one of the Midwest’s<br />
principal economic engines. <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong>’s sustained population and economic growth are testament to the<br />
fundamentally superior characteristics that make up the “<strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> Advantage,” and help explain why<br />
<strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong>’s population and economic growth rank the county in the top two percent of all counties nationally.<br />
11
History of JCCC<br />
In the 1960s, residents of <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> began to seriously consider the creation of a local college. The area<br />
had a rapidly growing population and a good school system from which a local college could draw students,<br />
and it was hard to ignore the community college movement emerging in California, Florida, Illinois and Texas.<br />
The idea was not unopposed, however; some residents felt the county didn’t need to assume the increased<br />
expenses of maintaining a college.<br />
Then, in June 1963, the nation’s leading experts in community college education gathered in Kansas City for<br />
the Midwest Junior <strong>College</strong> Conference to discuss the potential of community colleges in the U.S. Residents in<br />
Kansas City, Mo., were considering forming a large district that would probably include three community colleges.<br />
The movement was hard to resist.<br />
Across the state line, the <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> Board of <strong>County</strong> Commissioners formed a committee of 18 residents<br />
to study the feasibility of a community college for <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong>. The chairman of that committee was<br />
Dr. Wilbur T. Billington, a prominent banker with the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank and a member of the<br />
board of education of one of the local school districts. With the help of the <strong>League</strong> of Women Voters and the<br />
American Association of University Women, the feasibility committee conducted a countywide needs assessment<br />
that demonstrated a greater need for a local college than had been suspected. The committee began to build<br />
the case for a community college in <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong>.<br />
A citizens action committee was mobilized to implement the recommendation of the feasibility committee.<br />
A petition signed by all school boards in the county requested the formation of a community junior college<br />
district to be governed by six trustees elected at large. <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> <strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong> became the first<br />
new college recommended for creation under the Kansas <strong>Community</strong> Junior <strong>College</strong> Act of 1965. A special<br />
countywide election was held in March 1967, and the proposed community college was approved by a 31<br />
majority. The district was formally established in June 1967, and voters were asked to elect college trustees in<br />
September. Thirtysix people filed for the election. Among the six elected to the new board was Dr. Wilbur Billington.<br />
In 1968, the board obtained a “nofund warrant” to provide for interim financing until the first tax levy could be<br />
established. The board also selected the first president for the college, identified the site that would eventually<br />
become the permanent campus and developed the first mission statement for the college.<br />
In 1969, county residents voted approval of $12.9 million in general obligation bonds to purchase more than<br />
200 acres in Overland Park, which would turn the idea for a college campus into a reality. In the meantime,<br />
the first JCCC classes were conducted in leased facilities in Merriam that fall. Initial enrollment was 1,380 students.<br />
12<br />
History highlights<br />
1973 | The <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> <strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong> Foundation is formed.<br />
The college is fully accredited by the Kansas State Department of<br />
Education.<br />
1975 | JCCC is granted accreditation from the North Central Association of<br />
<strong>College</strong>s and Schools.<br />
1977 | The world’s only fouryear college for the deaf, Gallaudet <strong>College</strong>, education.<br />
establishes its first Regional Extension Center on campus to serve the<br />
hearing impaired in a fivestate region.<br />
1978 | JCCC becomes a member of the <strong>League</strong> for Innovation in the<br />
<strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong>.<br />
1984 | The board authorizes the college to join area school districts in<br />
applying for a cooperative <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> Area Vocational Technical<br />
School.<br />
1985 | The Small Business Administration funds JCCC’s Small Business<br />
Development Center to provide training and counseling services to<br />
area small businesses.<br />
JCCC sponsors Project Finish, which conducts literacy programs for<br />
adults living in <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> who have less than a high school<br />
1986 | JCCC receives the maximum 10year accreditation from the North<br />
Central Association of <strong>College</strong>s and Schools.<br />
1988 | JCCC enters into a unique agreement with Burlington Northern Santa<br />
Fe Railway and builds the Industrial Training Center on campus to<br />
1980 | The college’s accreditation is continued by the North Central house BNSF’s national training programs and provide significant<br />
Association of <strong>College</strong>s and Schools.<br />
additional office and classroom space for the college.<br />
1983 | JCCC creates the Business and Industry Institute to provide professional 1995 | JCCC agrees to assume responsibility for postsecondary vocational<br />
development and job training for area businesses. (The institute is<br />
education in <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong>. The local school districts enter into an<br />
renamed the Center for Business and Technology in 2000.)<br />
interlocal agreement to develop secondary programming as part of<br />
the newly created JCTEC.
“Nearly 40 years ago, a<br />
Three years later, in the fall of 1972, classes and all<br />
operations were moved to the permanent campus at<br />
<strong>College</strong> Boulevard and Quivira Road. Nearly 100<br />
fulltime faculty members were teaching more than<br />
3,600 students.<br />
Over the years, JCCC has continued to expand its<br />
student enrollment, instructional program, faculty and<br />
staff, and physical facilities to meet the needs of the<br />
community. Today, more than 19,000 credit students<br />
and about 15,000 continuing education students enroll<br />
at JCCC each semester, and more than 2,500 full and<br />
parttime staff are employed there. A full range of<br />
undergraduate credit courses is available, forming<br />
the first two years of most college curricula. In addition,<br />
more than 50 one and twoyear career and certificate<br />
programs are offered to prepare students to enter the<br />
job market in high employment fields.<br />
JCCC’s continuing education program is the largest,<br />
most comprehensive in the Kansas City area. Professional<br />
development opportunities are provided through courses,<br />
workshops and contract training for individuals seeking<br />
workforce training, skills enhancement and recertification.<br />
Personal enrichment opportunities are offered through<br />
educational courses, recreational programs and an<br />
extensive array of cultural events in the visual and<br />
performing arts.<br />
JCCC is now the state’s thirdlargest institution of higher<br />
education and the largest of its 19 community colleges.<br />
small group of <strong>Johnson</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong> citizens organized<br />
to seek creation of a<br />
contemporary community college. As one<br />
of several citizens promoting the proposal,<br />
I believed in the concept of a broad based<br />
community college offering a course catalog<br />
rivaling the best public higher education<br />
institutions in this region. Partnerships with<br />
various businesses and professions provide<br />
graduates with important skill sets. Arts and<br />
entertainment venues and events enrich the<br />
local quality of life. In my opinion, JCCC is<br />
the most dynamic common denominator,<br />
unifying entity in this county of over a<br />
1996 | JCCC again receives the maximum 10year accreditation from the North<br />
Central Association of <strong>College</strong>s and Schools.<br />
1998 | Rolling Stone magazine names JCCC as one of the “most respected”<br />
community colleges in the country.<br />
1999 | The Kansas Senate passes Senate Bill 345, placing all of the state’s<br />
community colleges under the coordination of the Kansas Board of<br />
Regents.<br />
2003 | JCCC wins the Kansas Excellence Award, the third and highest level of<br />
recognition for quality given by the Kansas Award for Excellence<br />
Foundation.<br />
2005 | JCCC qualifies for the Academic Quality Improvement Project (AQIP) for<br />
maintaining accreditation through the North Central Association of<br />
<strong>College</strong>s and Schools.<br />
2007 | JCCC opens the new Regnier Center, housing credit and noncredit classes<br />
in computer applications, information technology and biotechnology, and<br />
the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art.<br />
The college concludes its capital “Campaign for the <strong>Community</strong>” by<br />
raising $20.2 million, surpassing its $15 million goal.<br />
half million citizens. The generous public<br />
financial support validates the original<br />
vision and the reality existing today.<br />
There is no doubt in my mind that JCCC<br />
long ago surpassed the most optimistic<br />
expectations of its founders.”<br />
– Ben Craig,<br />
chairman, Metcalf Bank;<br />
one of the college founders<br />
13
“<strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> <strong>Community</strong><br />
<strong>College</strong> serves as a vital pillar in<br />
supporting the excellent quality<br />
of life in <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> by<br />
providing outstanding higher<br />
education, personal enrichment<br />
and career training opportunities<br />
for present and future<br />
generations. It is a regionally<br />
respected mecca for the fine<br />
arts through the Carlsen Center<br />
for the Performing Arts and<br />
the Nerman Museum of<br />
Contemporary Art. A strong,<br />
vibrant community college<br />
always plays an important role in<br />
a community. JCCC does that and<br />
more in making <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
a community of choice to live, to<br />
learn, and to appreciate and<br />
enjoy a legacy of the arts.”<br />
– Annabeth Surbaugh,<br />
chairman, <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
Board of <strong>County</strong><br />
Commissioners<br />
About students<br />
JCCC credit students include traditional undergraduate students<br />
who are recent high school graduates as well as nontraditional<br />
adult students. In fall 2006, 55 percent of all JCCC students were<br />
female, 67 percent were parttime students and 77 percent lived<br />
in <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong>. The average age of JCCC students was 25.6.<br />
Each year, about 22 percent of local high school graduates<br />
attend JCCC.<br />
Degrees and certificates<br />
JCCC offers four associate of arts, two associate of science and<br />
52 associate of applied science degrees, an associate of general<br />
studies degree and more than 100 career program certificates and<br />
transfer courses.<br />
Continuing education<br />
Continuing education students at JCCC include those seeking<br />
workforce training through public seminars or contract training,<br />
people seeking personal enrichment courses on topics from<br />
gardening to money management and audiences for performances<br />
at the Carlsen Center.<br />
Accreditation<br />
<strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> <strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong> is officially accredited by the<br />
Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of<br />
<strong>College</strong>s and Schools and is a participant in the Academic Quality<br />
Improvement Program. In addition, individual programs are<br />
accredited by associated professional organizations:<br />
• Accounting, Business Office Technology, Entrepreneurship,<br />
Business Administration and Marketing and Management,<br />
Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs<br />
• Dental Hygiene, American Dental Hygienists Association and<br />
American Dental Association<br />
• Fire Service Administration, International Fire Service<br />
Accreditation Congress<br />
• Hiersteiner Child Development Center, National Association<br />
for the Education of Young Children<br />
• Hospitality Food and Beverage and Chef Apprentice,<br />
American Culinary Federation<br />
• Mobile Intensive Care Technician, Joint Review Committee<br />
on Educational Programs for the EMTParamedic<br />
• Nursing, Kansas State Board of Nursing and National<br />
<strong>League</strong> for Nursing<br />
• Paralegal and Legal Nurse Consulting, American Bar Association<br />
• Basic Police Academy, University of Kansas<br />
• Respiratory Care, Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health<br />
Education Programs upon recommendation of the Committee on<br />
Accreditation for Respiratory Care<br />
14
Chapter 3<br />
Leadership<br />
<strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> <strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong> is proud<br />
of the accomplished individuals who provide<br />
leadership for faculty, staff and students.<br />
16
Board of trustees<br />
Although the Kansas Board of Regents is the coordinating board for community colleges in<br />
the state, a six-member board of trustees governs <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> <strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong> and<br />
sets the budget and the local tax levy. The trustees are elected at-large from the community<br />
to four-year terms; three trustees are elected every other year, in odd-numbered years.<br />
Shirley Brown-VanArsdale, vice chairman<br />
Chairman of Facilities Committee and the Audit Committee<br />
Shirley Brown-VanArsdale is the owner and president of Bruce Funeral Home Inc.,<br />
Gardner and Spring Hill. She has been president, legislative committee chair, and<br />
District 2 director of the Kansas Funeral Directors Association, a member of the National<br />
Funeral Directors Association and a member and chair of the national association’s<br />
Government Affairs/Political Action Committee. She was a member of the Gardner-<br />
Edgerton-Antioch USD 231 school board for 20 years and of the advisory committee for<br />
the <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> Vocational School for 16 years. A member of the Gardner Chamber<br />
of Commerce, she served as the president and as a board member for six years. She has<br />
been named the Citizen of the Year by the city of Gardner and has received the Kansas<br />
Department of Commerce Award of Merit, the Business of the Year Award, from the<br />
Gardner Chamber of Commerce (2002) and the Spring Hill Chamber of Commerce<br />
(2005), as well as the Rotary Centennial Service Award for Professional Excellence.<br />
She is on the board of the First Kansas Bank and Trust and president of the Gardner<br />
Cemetery Association and the Gardner Historical Museum and served as chair of the<br />
Gardner Historical Celebration. Mrs. Brown-VanArsdale has served on the JCCC board<br />
of trustees since 1997.<br />
Benjamin Hodge, trustee<br />
Member, Human Resources Committee<br />
A life-long Kansan, Ben Hodge grew up in northeast <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong>, where he attended<br />
the Shawnee Mission public schools. He graduated from Kansas State University in<br />
2003 with a degree in journalism. He will soon complete a master’s degree in business<br />
from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. In 2004, Mr. Hodge worked on the staff<br />
of the Republican U.S. Congressional nominee, Kris Kobach. He was elected to the<br />
JCCC board of trustees in April 2005. In early 2006, <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> Commissioner<br />
John Toplikar appointed him as chairman of a special committee on eminent domain.<br />
Mr. Hodge was elected to the Kansas House of Representatives in November 2006.<br />
His public policy record has been recognized by Americans for Prosperity, the Kansas<br />
Chamber of Commerce, the Kansas Taxpayers Network, Kansans for Life and the<br />
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE).<br />
17
Virginia Krebs, trustee<br />
Member of the Facilities Committee<br />
After serving as a member of the task force charged in 1963 with studying the feasibility<br />
of building a community college in <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong>, Virginia Krebs became JCCC’s first<br />
employee in 1967, serving as the assistant to the board. In 1969, she was the college’s<br />
first director of community services, creating a department recognized nationally for<br />
excellence. Retiring from the college in 1984, Mrs. Krebs was elected to the board of<br />
trustees in 1985 and has served as the board’s clerk, treasurer, vice chairman and<br />
chairman. She received the American Association of <strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong> Trustees<br />
Regional Trustee Leadership Award in 1993. She has also been a member of the Merriam<br />
<strong>Community</strong> Center Foundation, helped establish the first Shepherd’s Center in <strong>Johnson</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong>, served on the executive committee of the county’s Eldernet Coalition, and is<br />
active with the advisory committee for the <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> Foundation on Aging. She has<br />
received the Women’s Resource Network Award for Excellence in Leadership, a Paul Harris<br />
Award from the Shawnee Mission Rotary International Club and the Woman of the Year<br />
Award from the American Association of Women in <strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong>s. In 2001, the<br />
Visitors Center at JCCC was renamed the Virginia Krebs <strong>Community</strong> Room in her honor.<br />
Lynn Mitchelson, chairman<br />
Chairman of the Human Resources Committee<br />
Lynn Mitchelson was a commercial banking executive for 35 years in the Kansas City area,<br />
retiring as chairman and CEO of Western National Bank. He became a member of the<br />
JCCC board of trustees in 1996. He has been president of the JCCC Foundation, chairman<br />
of the <strong>Community</strong> Foundation of <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong>, chairman of The Learning Exchange,<br />
president of the K10 Association, chairman of the Overland Park Chamber of Commerce,<br />
president of the Overland Park Rotary Foundation, chairman of the Kansas State Affairs<br />
Committee of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, a member of the board<br />
of trustees and moderator of Humana Hospital, and a director of the Kansas City chapter<br />
of the American Red Cross, the Kansas City Philharmonic Orchestra and KCPT public<br />
television station. He has been honored as the Kansas Volunteer of the Year by the state<br />
of Kansas, is a Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow, and has received the Hugh Speer<br />
Award from the JCCC Foundation and the K10 Corridor Association Service Award.<br />
Jon Stewart, treasurer<br />
Chair of the Finance Committee, member of the Audit Committee<br />
An alumnus of JCCC, Jon Stewart is chairman, CEO and a member of the board of directors<br />
of Metcalf Bank, Overland Park. In addition to serving on the college’s board of trustees<br />
since 2004, he is a member of the Olathe Medical Center board of trustees, the board of<br />
directors of the JCCC Foundation, the Overland Park South Rotary Club, the Overland Park<br />
Heritage Foundation board of directors, the United <strong>Community</strong> Services board of directors<br />
and TLC Charities Foundation board of directors. He is a Rotary International Paul Harris<br />
Fellow and has received the <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> Housing Coalition Sunflower Award for<br />
<strong>Community</strong> Service and the Open Petal Award from the JCCC Foundation.<br />
Don Weiss, trustee<br />
Member of the Finance Committee<br />
Don Weiss is the dean of evening, weekend and graduate studies for Keller Graduate<br />
School of Management of DeVry University in Kansas City, Mo. He is also a senior<br />
adjunct faculty member at Keller Graduate School of Management, teaching both business<br />
plan writing and information technology courses. Previously, he was founder, CEO and<br />
president of a Kansas Citybased information technology training company that was listed<br />
at 172 on Inc. Magazine’s Inc. 500 fastestgrowing private companies, the information<br />
services manager for the city of Olathe, and the chief operations officer for two other<br />
companies in the area. He is a member of the Olathe Chamber of Commerce and the<br />
Kansas Cavalry, an organization dedicated to encouraging business relocation and<br />
expansion in the state. He was elected to the JCCC board of trustees in 2007.<br />
18
Administration<br />
Dr. Terry A. Calaway, president<br />
Dr. Terry A. Calaway became JCCC’s fifth president in June 2007. Dr. Calaway has more than 30 years of<br />
progressively responsible experience in community colleges and universities. Among his achievements are:<br />
• Recognition by faculty and staff for a collaborative and dynamic leadership style<br />
• Assessment and development of new degree programs<br />
• Revision and revitalization of curriculum<br />
• A focus on learner success resulting in increased enrollment and student completion/retention rates<br />
• Design of innovative marketing strategies<br />
• Creative fund raising<br />
• Fiscal responsibility<br />
• Dramatic improvements in organizational culture<br />
• Development of significant partnerships with local employers<br />
As president of Central Arizona <strong>College</strong>, Coolidge, Ariz., from January 2003 to June 2007, Dr. Calaway was<br />
responsible for three campuses and four educational centers serving 14,500 students, 350 fulltime employees and<br />
700 parttime employees. He also served as vice president, academic and student services, at Central Arizona from<br />
March 1999 to January 2003.<br />
Dr. Calaway also served as assistant vice president, workforce and economic development; dean/district director,<br />
division of continuing and professional education; academic division head, mathematics and technologies; assistant<br />
dean, division of continuing education; and campus director, credit and noncredit instruction, at Cuyahoga<br />
<strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong>, Cleveland, Ohio, from 1977 to 1989 and from 1993 to 1999. He was assistant dean,<br />
college of continuing studies, at Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, from 1993 to 1995.<br />
His honors include being named a finalist for CEO of the Year by the Association of <strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong> Trustees,<br />
2005; the Shirley B. Gordon Award of Distinction, Phi Theta Kappa, an international honor society for twoyear<br />
colleges, 2005; the Executive Leadership Award, United Way of Pinal <strong>County</strong>, 2004; and Distinguished Graduate,<br />
the University of Texas at Austin <strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong> Leadership Program and <strong>College</strong> of Education, 2004.<br />
Dr. Calaway holds an Ed.D. in education administration from the University of Texas at Austin.<br />
Members of the president’s Executive Council:<br />
Dr. Gerald W. Baird, executive vice president,<br />
Administrative Services<br />
Dr. Wayne Brown, executive vice president,<br />
Administration<br />
Dr. Dennis Day, vice president, Student Services<br />
Dorothy Friedrich, vice president,<br />
Policy and Strategic Initiatives<br />
Dr. Dana Grove, executive vice president,<br />
Academic Affairs<br />
Julie Haas, executive director,<br />
Marketing Communications<br />
Dr. Judy Korb, vice president, Human Resources<br />
and Organizational Development<br />
Sue Kuder, executive assistant to the President<br />
Dr. Marilyn Rhinehart, vice president, Instruction<br />
Dr. Joseph Sopcich, vice president,<br />
Institutional Advancement and Government Affairs<br />
Janelle Vogler, director, Auditing Services<br />
Dr. Sally Winship, vice president,<br />
Continuing Education and <strong>Community</strong> Services<br />
Awards and recognition received by JCCC faculty, staff and students, noting their leadership in their respective<br />
fields, are listed in Chapter 6.<br />
19
Chapter 4<br />
Innovative and<br />
Experimental<br />
Programs<br />
At <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> <strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong>,<br />
learning comes first. JCCC’s dedication<br />
to teaching and learning is demonstrated<br />
in its innovative programs, such as the<br />
ones shown here, that respond to the<br />
needs of the community, the region<br />
and – at times – the nation.<br />
Burlington Northern<br />
Santa Fe Railway and<br />
the National Academy<br />
of Railroad Sciences<br />
<strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> <strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong> first entered into<br />
partnership discussions with Burlington Northern<br />
Santa Fe Railway (BNSF) in 1986. The result was<br />
the largest railroad training facility in the country,<br />
founded on the college campus. Originally intended<br />
to train only BNSF employees, the training center<br />
over the years has come to serve other railroads<br />
as well. As many as 14,000 railroad employees<br />
come to JCCC each year for training from the<br />
United States and Mexico.<br />
As part of its agreement with BNSF and the city of<br />
Overland Park, JCCC built the Industrial Training<br />
Center on campus (the ITC, dedicated in 1988) to<br />
house the railroad’s national training programs and<br />
provide additional office and classroom space for<br />
the college. The $2.9 million building was financed<br />
through city revenue bonds, with the college<br />
assuming onethird of the cost of construction and<br />
receiving ownership of the building after 10 years.<br />
BNSF exercises its option to lease the facilities on<br />
a fiveyear basis. The college initially received<br />
nine classrooms, warehouse space and laboratory<br />
access in addition to the responsibility for building<br />
maintenance. An expansion to the ITC that opened<br />
in 1993 expanded space for both BNSF and JCCC.<br />
20
“<strong>Johnson</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong><br />
<strong>Community</strong><br />
<strong>College</strong>’s<br />
record<br />
of innovation with BNSF<br />
Railway Company and<br />
its predecessors goes back<br />
more than 20 years to the<br />
establishment of the rail<br />
industry’s first ever training<br />
The college was awarded a presidential citation by Vice President<br />
George Bush in 1987, recognizing the partnership as a successful<br />
model of cooperation between education and industry.<br />
In 199394, the college and BNSF established the National Academy of<br />
Railroad Sciences (NARS) at JCCC, leading to the first associatedegree<br />
programs in railroad operations in the nation. More than 140 students<br />
are enrolled each year in credit programs leading to associate of applied<br />
science degrees and vocational certificates in railroad electronics, railroad<br />
industrial technology and railroad operations. NARS and JCCC also offer<br />
a welder training program to supply railroads with highly qualified and<br />
technically trained welders. Individuals who successfully complete the<br />
program receive 15 semester hours of college credit and a vocational<br />
certificate in maintenanceofway welding and are top candidates for<br />
employment in the railroad industry.<br />
JCCC’s railroad technology program was named “program of the year”<br />
by the Kansas Association for Career and Technical Education in August<br />
2002.<br />
The economic impact on the community and the city of Overland Park as<br />
a result of the partnership created between JCCC and Burlington Northern<br />
Santa Fe is about $70 million, created by the thousands of students who<br />
come to campus for training and who need to book hotel rooms, take<br />
their meals in restaurants and shop at local stores.<br />
BNSF has supported the college in other ways as well. In 1986, the<br />
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Foundation instituted a grant to support<br />
faculty awards for research and teaching excellence; five professors are<br />
honored each year. In 2004, JCCC received a gift of $750,000 from<br />
the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Foundation. The gift, one of the largest<br />
ever given by the BNSF Foundation, was used to help construct the new<br />
Regnier Center on the JCCC campus.<br />
center on a college campus<br />
in 1986. The innovative<br />
training programs developed<br />
in partnership with the<br />
college have continued to<br />
set the standard for railroad<br />
training, and are generally<br />
acknowledged to be the<br />
top programs in the rail<br />
industry. And through<br />
the National Academy of<br />
Railroad Sciences, those<br />
training programs are<br />
now available to potential<br />
employees of all railroads.”<br />
– Matt Rose, chairman,<br />
president and chief<br />
executive officer, BNSF<br />
Railway Company<br />
21
Hospitality management<br />
“JCCC’s hospitality management<br />
program has been around for<br />
27 years. It was one of the first<br />
such programs to be accredited<br />
by the American Culinary<br />
Federation for apprenticeships.<br />
While in school, our apprentices<br />
work 6,000 hours under a<br />
supervising chef at country clubs,<br />
full service hotels, fine dining<br />
restaurants, casinos, hospitals<br />
and assisted living facilities.<br />
We have approximately<br />
125 employers in the metro<br />
area. According to the U.S.<br />
Department of Labor,<br />
apprenticeships like ours help<br />
build a skilled workforce for<br />
the 21st century. It’s the best<br />
way to learn anything.”<br />
– Lindy Robinson,<br />
assistant dean,<br />
design and hospitality<br />
Onethird of all adults in the U.S. have worked in the restaurant<br />
industry at some time during their lives. As the public’s interest in food<br />
and food service continues to grow, so does the demand for trained<br />
professionals in the hospitality industry. JCCC’s nationally recognized<br />
hospitality management program helps meet those needs.<br />
JCCC’s hospitality management program offers associate of science<br />
degrees in chef apprenticeship, food and beverage management,<br />
and hotel and lodging management. Certificates are also offered<br />
in pastry/baking, pastry/baking entrepreneurship, hospitality<br />
management entrepreneurship, sustainable agriculture, bed and<br />
breakfast entrepreneurship, and food and beverage management.<br />
JCCC’s chef apprenticeship program was the first program in the<br />
United States to receive American Culinary Federation Educational<br />
Institute accreditation. The program is also sponsored by the Greater<br />
Kansas City Chefs Association and the U.S. Department of Labor.<br />
The threeyear program consists of 6,000 hours of training under<br />
an American Culinary Federation chef member as well as formal<br />
course work with a heavy emphasis on food preparation. Students<br />
also receive a solid background in management, with courses in<br />
supervisory management, hospitality accounting, menu planning,<br />
purchasing, beverage control and advanced hospitality management.<br />
Pastry shop<br />
Meltinyourmouth, freshlybaked pastries are on sale every Friday<br />
during the fall and spring semesters at the JCCC pastry shop.<br />
The cakes, tortes, chocolate candies, tarts, eclairs, mousse, cookies<br />
and pies are freshly made by students in JCCC’s pastry/baking<br />
certificate program. Specialty pastries, like Thanksgiving pies<br />
and noel logs, are available at the holidays.<br />
Proceeds from pastry sales support the students in the pastry/baking<br />
program at JCCC. The oneyear, 30credithour pastry/baking<br />
certificate program is for students who are seeking employment as<br />
pastry cooks in pastry/bake shops, hotels, restaurants or other areas<br />
that produce pastry and baked products. Students may also have an<br />
entrepreneurial interest in opening their own operation.<br />
Culinary team<br />
JCCC’s culinary team has traveled the globe to take part in – and<br />
win – international competitions. In August 2006, JCCC’s culinary<br />
team was the overall winner and best of show, winning the only gold<br />
medal awarded at the Festival Gastronomico Guatemala competition<br />
in Guatemala City. The JCCC team was the only U.S. team invited<br />
to participate in the junior chef team competition. As the winner, the<br />
team was featured in the January 2007 issue of The National<br />
Culinary Review.<br />
22
Five students from JCCC traveled to St. Augustine, Fla.,<br />
in January 2006 to compete in the American Culinary<br />
Federation’s Winterfest 2006 competition. The team<br />
returned to Kansas with a gold medal for the Student<br />
Hot (foods) Team competition.<br />
In September 2004 the culinary team was the overall<br />
winner and best of show with a silver medal in the<br />
Festival Gastronomic Guatemala. The JCCC team was<br />
the only U.S. team invited to participate in the junior<br />
chef team competition. Student Chris Eis was named<br />
the American Culinary Federation Student Culinarian<br />
of the Year for the central region at the ACF regional<br />
conference.<br />
In April 2008, the culinary team travels to Singapore<br />
for its next international competition.<br />
Sustainable agriculture<br />
One of JCCC’s newest programs is in sustainable<br />
agriculture (market farming) entrepreneurship.<br />
Consumer demand for locally grown food is increasing,<br />
spurred by concerns about food quality, safety and the<br />
sustainability of the U.S. food system. Such demand is<br />
encouraged by chefs who recognize the importance<br />
of freshness and a connection with farmers and the<br />
land. This demand is not currently met, however, largely<br />
due to the structure of the food system, which relies<br />
on efficiencies of scale and centralized production<br />
and distribution.<br />
Nevertheless, opportunities to successfully respond<br />
to the demand for local food are on the rise with<br />
continuing development of market outlets, including<br />
farmers markets; farm stands; communitysupported<br />
agriculture; online cooperatives; and grocery stores,<br />
institutional dining services and restaurants that<br />
feature local products.<br />
JCCC’s sustainable agriculture (market farming)<br />
entrepreneurship program helps students realize their<br />
dream of opening their own sustainable agriculture<br />
business. Farmers who grow produce on the side,<br />
depending on crops like wheat or soybeans for the<br />
bulk of their livelihood, can learn how to develop<br />
a sustainable agriculture business based upon that<br />
produce.<br />
This program is a partnership among JCCC’s<br />
hospitality management, horticulture and<br />
entrepreneurship programs and Kansas State<br />
University. Three semesterlong practicum courses<br />
require the student to work at KState’s Horticulture<br />
Research and Extension Center in Olathe, Kan.<br />
Culinary initiatives<br />
New culinary initiatives for spring 2008 include a<br />
master chef series that brings master chefs (including<br />
JCCC’s own graduates) to campus for demonstrations<br />
and dinners, a “Cooking with Class” series of culinary<br />
videos shown on the JCCC cable channel, and an<br />
“edible schoolyard” program to be piloted at the<br />
college’s Hiersteiner Child Development Center, where<br />
the children in the center will learn to grow the fruits<br />
and vegetables that will be used to prepare their meals.<br />
“Each year, JCCC’s hospitality management and chef apprenticeship programs produce welltrained<br />
graduates who are ready and able to participate in the dynamic food, lodging and entertainment<br />
industries in the Kansas City area and throughout the nation. Graduates work as managers in the city’s<br />
top hotels, head chefs at local restaurants, and pastry chefs for country clubs. Their awardwinning<br />
culinary teams travel the globe to participate in – and usually win – culinary competitions, and the<br />
competitors come home to brighten the city’s restaurant scene.”<br />
– David Wysong, Kansas senator<br />
23
“The<br />
simulation<br />
lab provides<br />
a dynamic<br />
setting for<br />
our nursing and allied health<br />
students to learn the art of<br />
their discipline and apply the<br />
scientific basis. We are the<br />
leader in simulation in the<br />
state of Kansas, and every<br />
other school has followed<br />
JCCC’s lead. Through the use<br />
of simulation and under the<br />
watchful eye of an instructor,<br />
students can focus on their<br />
patient care as they would in<br />
a real setting but without the<br />
fear of harming the patient<br />
as they learn. Our students<br />
have often stopped me in<br />
the hallway or come to my<br />
office and thanked me for<br />
the opportunity to learn<br />
through simulations. It is<br />
one of the most exciting<br />
methodologies I have been<br />
involved with in my more<br />
than 35 years of nursing.”<br />
– Jeanne Walsh,<br />
assistant dean, nursing<br />
Nursing<br />
Like many parts of the country, Kansas is experiencing a serious nursing<br />
shortage. To help satisfy the demand for more nurses, JCCC has five<br />
nursing programs: licensed practical nurse, registered nurse, an RN<br />
refresher, an articulation program for licensed practical nurse to<br />
registered nurse, and an RN perioperative nursing program.<br />
In July 2006, JCCC received $470,445 from the Kansas Board of<br />
Regents to support the nursing program. Of that total, $144,200 was<br />
used to hire five parttime nursing faculty members, and $326,245 was<br />
used for patient simulators and related equipment needed to expand the<br />
Healthcare Simulation Center on campus. The grant to JCCC was the<br />
second largest in the state. The college received a second grant in 2007<br />
of $144,200 to continue to fund parttime instructors. A supplemental<br />
grant of $32,000 was also used for nursing faculty.<br />
Healthcare Simulation Center<br />
The grants support a lead gift of $750,000 that JCCC received in<br />
May 2006 from the Educate, Enrich and Enable Fund of the Greater<br />
Kansas City <strong>Community</strong> Foundation to fund a stateoftheart Healthcare<br />
Simulation Center, which became operational for the spring 2008<br />
semester. With the Healthcare Simulation Center, the nursing program<br />
will be able to increase the number of registered nurses entering the<br />
profession each year. Additional courses can be offered in phlebotomy<br />
certification, postanesthesia care, acute and emergency care, operating<br />
room nursing certification and RN first assistance, as well as a transition<br />
course for paramedics wanting to become nurses.<br />
The 1,500squarefoot center has the look, feel and equipment of four<br />
general medicalsurgery rooms and a large suite that can function as<br />
an operating room, labor/delivery room, emergency room or<br />
multibed recovery room. Each of the four rooms has infusion pumps<br />
for intravenous fluids and medications; vital sign monitors, including<br />
telemetry capability to measure abnormal heart activity; lines with real<br />
gases like oxygen; human waste disposal systems; sinks; power columns;<br />
and communication lines for calling hospital codes. The main hallway<br />
has a secured Pyxis Medstation, an automated drug dispensing unit for<br />
controlled substances, and refrigerators for IV fluids and dietary services.<br />
Even ambient sounds for a hospital, such as operator pages, are<br />
programmed into the center. Playing the parts of the patients will be<br />
sophisticated patient simulators that can be programmed with hundreds<br />
of symptoms of acute and chronic diseases/disorders and respond<br />
physiologically to treatment. An audiovisual system films students in<br />
every aspect of their work so faculty can evaluate their progress.<br />
24
Endowed chair<br />
In November 2006, the board of<br />
trustees accepted a pledge of<br />
$750,000 from Drs. David and<br />
Mary Zamierowski for the first<br />
endowed chair in the history of the<br />
college. The gift created and helped<br />
fund the Zamierowski Family<br />
Endowed Professorship for Nursing<br />
and Medical Simulation. Kathy<br />
Carver, professor, nursing, was<br />
designated to fill the endowed<br />
position.<br />
In addition, this gift qualified JCCC<br />
to participate in the Kansas Board<br />
of Regents Faculty of Distinction<br />
program. Under this program, the<br />
state annually contributes a<br />
percentage (currently five percent)<br />
of the total award to supplement<br />
the faculty salary and to provide<br />
additional operating support for<br />
assistance, travel, equipment or<br />
other expenses of the endowed<br />
professorship. The purpose is to<br />
increase private gifts and attract<br />
and retain professors of distinction<br />
for eligible educational institutions<br />
in Kansas. JCCC was one of two<br />
community colleges in Kansas to<br />
become part of the Faculty of<br />
Distinction program.<br />
“The application of simulation training to nursing education is a relatively new<br />
endeavor. The faculty here have become pioneers in the development of this field,<br />
from authoring copyrighted scenarios for the first available nursing manual to<br />
authoring chapters in upcoming textbooks to mentoring development of other labs<br />
in the region to organizing and presiding over regional societies for advancement<br />
of this technique. The faculty here have been committed to the development and<br />
utilization of this new methodology for the last half dozen years or so. I have been privileged to<br />
watch this as medical adviser to this project for the last three years. And in that time, in my opinion,<br />
the recognition of what is needed for the advancement of this field, and then the development of<br />
that particular technology to the point that two separate patent applications have been filed for the<br />
solutions worked out in this cutting edge laboratory, goes beyond the standard implication of the<br />
word ‘innovative.’ I believe that this level of inventiveness is very remarkable for a community college.”<br />
– Dr. David Zamierowski, physician, donor<br />
25
Biotechnology<br />
The greater Kansas City area, and specifically <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong>, is<br />
attracting biological, pharmaceutical and chemicalrelated formulating,<br />
manufacturing, research and testing companies. Many of these facilities<br />
employ scientific technicians to support the endeavors of their professional<br />
scientists and engineers.<br />
JCCC’s biotechnology program is designed to develop scientific support<br />
personnel for such companies in the metropolitan area through a oneyear<br />
vocational biotechnology certificate as well as twoyear associate of<br />
science and associate of applied science degrees in biotechnology.<br />
Students learn in the college’s stateoftheart biotechnology lab on campus.<br />
The 5,400squarefoot biotechnology suite houses a teaching lab, research<br />
lab, classroom, prep room, tissue culture room and faculty office, as well as<br />
sophisticated equipment, including a DNA sequencer, a thermocycler and<br />
highpressure liquid chromatograph.<br />
In 20062007, JCCC was among several local institutions that shared in a<br />
$15 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor through an initiative<br />
called the Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED).<br />
For JCCC, approximately $667,000 in OneKC WIRED funds supported<br />
the creation of the biotechnology lab, which opened in August 2007.<br />
The funds were used to purchase and develop simulation modules for<br />
career preparation/education, redesign the curriculum for online<br />
delivery and help promote career awareness activities in biotechnology.<br />
The college provided $500,000 as leveraged support for the purchase<br />
of the equipment; these funds were available through the $1.5 million<br />
grant the college received in fall 2005 from the Kansas Department of<br />
Commerce Workforce Solutions Fund.<br />
In 2007, JCCC, working in conjunction with the Kansas City Area Life<br />
Science Institute and bioscience industry employers in Kansas, conducted<br />
an evaluation of the jobrelated competencies and skill sets required for<br />
specialized career and technical training in the bioscience industry.<br />
The evaluation was funded, in part, by a $72,300 Carl D. Perkins<br />
Postsecondary State Leadership grant. The information will be used to<br />
expand biotechnology career awareness and improve secondary and<br />
postsecondary biotechnology education.<br />
“<strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> <strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong> is well positioned to supply<br />
skilled graduates to bioscience industries in the greater Kansas<br />
City area. With bestinclass facilities and equipment, a continued<br />
emphasis on teaching and learning, and strong connections to<br />
business and industry, JCCC will be a key player in supporting<br />
the highwage/highskill innovation economy.”<br />
– Dr. Blake Flanders, vice president of workforce development,<br />
Kansas Board of Regents, and director of workforce training and<br />
education services, Kansas Department of Commerce<br />
“<strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
<strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong><br />
is very fortunate to<br />
have this state of the art<br />
biotechnology facility<br />
that supports our<br />
biotechnology certificate<br />
and degree programs.<br />
The JCCC biotechnology<br />
program and supporting<br />
facility train and prepare<br />
students in the job skills<br />
required by the bioscience<br />
industry in the greater<br />
Kansas City metropolitan<br />
community. The<br />
biotechnology suite<br />
gives the students an<br />
opportunity to train in a<br />
simulated environment<br />
before they enter the<br />
workforce on the same<br />
types of equipment they<br />
will use there.”<br />
– Dr. Joseph Gadberry,<br />
assistant dean,<br />
sciences<br />
27
Entrepreneurship<br />
JCCC’s business entrepreneurship program teaches<br />
aspiring and existing entrepreneurs how to launch<br />
new ventures and strengthen the managerial and<br />
business skills they need to make a small business<br />
succeed. The program offers a unique partnership<br />
between credit and noncredit programming.<br />
With the help of a grant from the Ewing Marion<br />
Kauffman Foundation, in 2003 the college’s<br />
forcredit business entrepreneurship program<br />
and the Small Business Development Center<br />
located on campus joined forces to develop<br />
a joint program emphasizing “3 Steps for<br />
Entrepreneurial Success at JCCC.”<br />
As steps 1 and 2, students and community members<br />
who master a skill through one of JCCC’s career<br />
programs, such as interior design or automotive<br />
technology, are encouraged to add entrepreneurship<br />
courses to their schedule to help them develop the<br />
business acumen needed to start – and grow – their<br />
own business.<br />
Once they graduate and go into business for<br />
themselves, the students and community members<br />
can take advantage of the services offered through<br />
the Small Business Development Center, housed on<br />
the college campus as part of the Center for Business<br />
and Technology, to expand their business skills –<br />
that’s step 3.<br />
JCCC now offers 22 certificate programs combining<br />
education in entrepreneurship with the curriculum of<br />
existing career programs, ranging from automotive<br />
technology entrepreneurship to Web design<br />
entrepreneurship. Students in these programs learn<br />
28
“<strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> <strong>Community</strong><br />
<strong>College</strong> has a significant<br />
and positive impact on the<br />
educational, economic and<br />
cultural excellence of <strong>Johnson</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong> and the entire Kansas<br />
City area. From the arts to its<br />
zeal for innovation, JCCC is a<br />
major factor in the creation of<br />
the outstanding quality of life<br />
<strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> enjoys. As a<br />
member of the Kansas Board<br />
of Regents, the governing<br />
and coordinating body of<br />
the Kansas system of higher<br />
education, I have seen<br />
first hand how JCCC impacts<br />
Kansas through quality and<br />
creative workforce development<br />
both the skills required within an industry and the business knowledge<br />
needed to run a small business in that field.<br />
Coursework covers preparing a business plan, obtaining financing,<br />
financial management, market research, marketing a product or<br />
service, and developing an accurate accounting system. Students can<br />
earn an associate of applied science degree or complete the<br />
entrepreneurship vocational certificate or business plan certificate.<br />
The credit entrepreneurship studies and the college’s Small Business<br />
Development Center are now housed together in the Center for<br />
Entrepreneurship, where students, prospective entrepreneurs and small<br />
business owners can find instruction, professional consulting and<br />
management training. Plans for the 20082009 academic year call<br />
for the college to offer the entrepreneurship program as a model for<br />
the state of Kansas.<br />
and training programs. I am<br />
proud to be a supporter of such<br />
an important and outstanding<br />
Kansas asset.”<br />
– Gary Sherrer,<br />
Kansas Board of Regents,<br />
senior vice president,<br />
economic development,<br />
Overland Park Chamber<br />
of Commerce<br />
29
International Education<br />
“As I look at my colleagues<br />
who have participated in<br />
international programs, there<br />
is clearly a passion in them<br />
that spurs their professional<br />
development – a development<br />
that makes them better<br />
teachers (or counselors, or<br />
librarians, or administrators).<br />
Such experiences are<br />
transformative, and our<br />
worlds are literally and<br />
figuratively expanded.<br />
Overseas experiences can<br />
rejuvenate, revitalize and<br />
redirect academic interests<br />
for students and faculty alike.<br />
My academic career has been<br />
affected profoundly by my<br />
participation in international<br />
programs.”<br />
– Bob Perry,<br />
professor, sociology<br />
The International Education program at <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> <strong>Community</strong><br />
<strong>College</strong> works collaboratively with departments across the campus<br />
to increase faculty expertise on international and intercultural issues,<br />
to give students opportunities to experience cultures and languages,<br />
to enhance the curriculum and to provide linkages to colleges and<br />
scholars throughout the world.<br />
Programs for students include welldeveloped study abroad<br />
opportunities that feature shortterm, facultyled programs as<br />
well as semester and yearlong opportunities in 30 countries,<br />
an awardwinning international servicelearning program in Mexico<br />
that sends 60 faculty, staff and students on a health and development<br />
project each year, and an intercultural semester program that allows<br />
students to “go global” in the local community through service to the<br />
immigrant community, interaction with international students and<br />
targeted course work.<br />
A faculty international grants program sends 30 faculty members<br />
to international conferences and exchanges each year, and<br />
curriculum development projects encourage and assist with faculty<br />
initiatives. In the last few years these initiatives have included an<br />
NEH exemplary grant for Japanese studies, a Title VIA grant to<br />
increase attention to Islamic cultures, and a Fulbright Visiting<br />
Scholar grant.<br />
JCCC is a regional center for the Asian Studies Development<br />
program at the EastWest Center and the University of Hawaii<br />
and has institutional partnerships with colleges and universities<br />
in China, Russia, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Japan.<br />
Representatives participate each year in the DutchUSA Exchange<br />
program, and faculty exchanges in this program have led to new<br />
student opportunities in the health care area.<br />
New initiatives underway include projects to increase opportunities<br />
for online students to interact with students from other countries<br />
in various classes, including Intercultural Communications,<br />
British Literature, Composition and International Business.<br />
The development of a full twoyear curriculum in international<br />
business is underway, and the expansion of partnerships to<br />
South America, Thailand and Morocco are planned. In addition,<br />
the International Education program will increase attention to<br />
international development opportunities for faculty and students<br />
in science, math, health care and technology for global issues<br />
such as environmental challenges, HIV/AIDS, world health,<br />
global technology and conflict resolution. This new initiative will<br />
be accomplished through grants, visiting scholars and workshops.<br />
30
“The Carlsen<br />
Center at JCCC<br />
is one of a<br />
handful of<br />
presenters<br />
in the nation that annually<br />
commissions or co commissions<br />
new works from composers and<br />
choreographers. This commitment<br />
is grounded in two synergistic<br />
beliefs: that a critical component<br />
to the education and development<br />
of future audiences is an<br />
appreciation for and<br />
understanding of contemporary<br />
works, and that the arts <br />
presenting field plays a vital<br />
role in nurturing creativity by<br />
providing artists a venue in<br />
which to perform their new<br />
works. The additional innovation<br />
and benefit for our college and<br />
community is having creative<br />
artists such as Sierra and Varone<br />
in residence for a few days in the<br />
classroom describing the creative<br />
process, then leading the class<br />
through that process, introducing<br />
a new approach to thinking<br />
for the students and faculty.”<br />
– Charles Rogers,<br />
director, Carlsen Center<br />
Carlsen Center for<br />
the Performing Arts<br />
JCCC’s Carlsen Center for the Performing Arts offers the largest multidiscipline<br />
performing arts series in midAmerica and is recognized<br />
internationally as a leader among presenting organizations in<br />
supporting new artistic works in dance, music and theater through<br />
commissions and premieres. The series offers performances by<br />
nationally and internationally known artists and companies in the<br />
center’s 1,250seat Yardley Hall and 400seat Polsky Theatre. The<br />
Carlsen Center also houses a 50seat Recital Hall as well as a Black<br />
Box for academic theater productions.<br />
Highlights of the 20072008 Carlsen Center Series are midAmerica<br />
premieres of 3 Mo’Divas, CirqueWork’s Birdhouse Factory and an<br />
entire concert of music by a living composer, Roberto Sierra, including<br />
a piano concerto commissioned by the Carlsen Center and performed<br />
by Ian Hobson and Sinfonia da Camera; the midAmerica debut of<br />
the Helsingborg Symphony with Andrew Manze; and the world<br />
premiere of a new work by the Paul Taylor Dance Company,<br />
commissioned by the Carlsen Center. In 2007, Doug Varone and<br />
Dancers conducted their final technical rehearsal and premiere of a<br />
new work, Dense Terrain, cocommissioned by the Carlsen Center, on<br />
stage in Yardley Hall in advance of a New York debut.<br />
Introduced in 20062007 was a program titled “Creativity to<br />
Innovation,” which uses creative artists to examine and develop<br />
creativity among students, particularly in classes outside the<br />
performing arts. The initial project took place in May 2007 when<br />
Doug Varone and Dancers came to campus for a week of dress<br />
rehearsals of Dense Terrain before its premiere at the Brooklyn<br />
Academy of Arts later that month. Varone led a creativity workshop<br />
for JCCC students in English, psychology and early childhood<br />
education classes. The program’s goals are to enhance student<br />
learning by having artists lead students through various creative<br />
processes, foster creativity by building basic problemsolving skills and<br />
facilitate faculty growth through a multidisciplinary approach,<br />
communication and participation.<br />
32
ArtsEducation<br />
The Carlsen Center’s ArtsEducation program presents<br />
performances, lecture demonstrations, workshops and<br />
master classes for area school children and teachers at<br />
local schools and in the Carlsen Center. The program is<br />
both comprehensive (including all performing arts) and<br />
sequential (progressively increasing the depth of<br />
information at each age level). The performances are<br />
complemented by ageappropriate educational packets<br />
to be used in classroom teaching.<br />
In 20062007, the ArtsEducation program presented<br />
10 performances for children by six professional<br />
touring companies and 197 classes and<br />
lectures/demonstrations for more than 15,200 children<br />
and adults throughout the greater Kansas City area.<br />
In addition, the Carlsen Center continued its longterm<br />
artist residencies to perform and work with local<br />
students and teachers as part of the ArtsEducation<br />
program.<br />
“My experience with JCCC’s commitment to innovation comes from my service as chairman of the Carlsen<br />
Center Program Advisory Committee. I have the privilege of working with Charles Rogers, who continues<br />
to shape the programming in the Carlsen Center into one of the very best programs in the entire country.<br />
No higher praise can be given for the work Charles Rogers is doing than that of his professional<br />
colleagues in the North American Performing Arts Managers and Agents Association, who have<br />
presented him the association’s Award for Excellence.”<br />
– Mark S. Gilman, chairman, Gill Studios Inc.<br />
33
“The museum’s primary focus is on education through temporary exhibitions and the<br />
permanent collection. By focusing on contemporary artists – many of whom address<br />
challenging issues – students and visitors are engaged intellectually and visually. In<br />
addition, the museum’s collection and exhibition program contribute greatly to the<br />
college’s diversity initiatives. The Nerman Museum (as was the former Gallery of Art)<br />
is at the forefront of area institutions in its support, through exhibitions and art<br />
acquisitions, of artists of varying ethnicities. And a new focus area in the college’s Regnier Center will<br />
feature more than 50 works by contemporary Native American artists – a JCCC commitment perhaps<br />
unique among American colleges and universities.”<br />
– Bruce Hartman, director, Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art<br />
34
Nerman Museum of<br />
Contemporary Art<br />
Recognizing the important role that JCCC could play in cultivating an<br />
awareness and appreciation of the visual arts, in 1980 the college’s<br />
board of trustees approved a yearly art acquisition program. A guiding<br />
principle for the acquisitions was that the works be installed in a variety of<br />
locations throughout the campus. Accessibility and visibility were deemed<br />
vital to ensuring that art would be readily available to students and the<br />
community. Ultimately, the trustees thought, a permanent collection best<br />
enables students to directly engage with art on a daily basis. For many<br />
students, the works of art they encounter on college campuses are their<br />
first exposure to the richness and diversity of artistic expression.<br />
Since then, JCCC has been collecting contemporary art from around the<br />
world, each year adding new pieces to the collection. Today, the work<br />
of more than 600 local, regional, national and international artists is<br />
represented in JCCC’s prestigious collection, which features a diverse<br />
range of painting, photography, clay, sculpture and works on paper.<br />
The college’s collection is installed in “focus” areas in the corridors,<br />
dining halls and other highly visible and accessible locations around<br />
campus, sparking a spontaneous engagement with art for students,<br />
faculty, staff and visitors.<br />
In April 2006, Public Art Review magazine named JCCC as one of the<br />
top 10 university/college campuses for public art in America, citing the<br />
outdoor sculpture and the paintings, ceramics, photography and works<br />
on paper installed throughout the campus.<br />
In 1990, JCCC opened a Gallery of Art in its new Cultural Education<br />
Center (renamed the Carlsen Center in 1998). In its 3,000 square feet of<br />
exhibition space, JCCC’s Gallery of Art offered many of the region’s most<br />
important exhibitions focusing on contemporary art. Drawn from museums,<br />
galleries, studios and private collections throughout the country, five<br />
annual exhibitions featured a broad spectrum of artistic expression and<br />
endeavor.<br />
The gallery closed in early 2007 in anticipation of the October opening<br />
of the new Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art. Measuring more than<br />
38,000 square feet, the Nerman Museum is the largest contemporary art<br />
museum in the fourstate region and the only contemporary art museum<br />
in Kansas. The Nerman Museum features more than 12,000 square feet<br />
of exhibition space, including major temporary exhibition galleries,<br />
permanent collection galleries, a new media gallery and an intimate<br />
“focus” gallery. In addition, a project gallery is devoted to area artists,<br />
a unique commitment.<br />
The museum is named for Jerome and Margaret Nerman and their son,<br />
Lewis, in recognition of their lead gift in 2003 to help found an art<br />
museum for JCCC. The Nermans are among the region’s most prominent<br />
collectors of contemporary art.<br />
The museum also houses Café Tempo, a 200seat auditorium, two art<br />
education classrooms for children and adults, art storage and preparation<br />
areas and a museum shop.<br />
“My wife, Marti, and I have<br />
been involved with JCCC for<br />
more than 15 years and have<br />
been directly involved with its<br />
art program by funding the<br />
Oppenheimer Collection on<br />
campus and at the new<br />
Nerman Museum of<br />
Contemporary Art. We have<br />
been impressed with the<br />
college’s quality of education<br />
and with the impact JCCC has<br />
had on our community.<br />
Without question, JCCC is the<br />
most important institution in<br />
<strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong>. With the<br />
opening of the Nerman<br />
Museum, <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> has<br />
become an attraction and<br />
destination point for art and<br />
culture nationally.”<br />
– H. Tony Oppenheimer,<br />
managing director at The<br />
Private Bank, president of<br />
the Oppenheimer Brothers<br />
Foundation; donor<br />
35
“At JCCC, we do not implement technology for technology’s sake. Our technology plans<br />
are built and implemented in collaboration with our constituents. We have a very mature<br />
technology governance process and structure. If a technology initiative doesn’t tie back<br />
to the college plan, we aren’t going to have it on the project list. Those projects that<br />
contribute to our mission are the ones that get approved, funded and implemented.”<br />
– Dr. Wayne Brown, executive vice president, administration<br />
36
Information Services<br />
JCCC’s Information Services branch and the functional areas<br />
associated with the college’s enterprise resource planning (ERP)<br />
system, Banner, began working in January 2005 on migrating<br />
from Sun hardware and operating system to a more costeffective<br />
and efficient hardware and software solution. At the<br />
same time, the network was reconfigured to place ERP traffic<br />
into a separate network segment as part of an ongoing effort to<br />
secure database traffic.<br />
This monumental undertaking required institutional strategic,<br />
budget and technical planning over the course of two years.<br />
The design was implemented and tested in the test environments<br />
over a twomonth period. It was then implemented and has<br />
resulted in a number of processing efficiencies for the business<br />
areas. The amount of time saved in these processes totaled over<br />
72 hours.<br />
Furthermore, there was an immediate $60,000 savings in<br />
hardware and software costs for the existing environments and<br />
a projected savings of at least $450,000 as the branch builds<br />
its disaster recovery environments. The upgrade, which affected<br />
more than 40,000 people, resulted in only six help desk calls<br />
on the first business day it went live.<br />
As JCCC has continued to increase the use of technology, the<br />
college has seen the demand for additional servers increase.<br />
Ordering, receiving and deploying a physical server can take<br />
several weeks and costs an average of $5,000 per server. In<br />
addition, the servers use electricity, produce heat, and require<br />
maintenance and eventually disposal. Over the past two years<br />
the college has implemented server virtualization software that<br />
has reduced the ordering, receiving and deployment time from<br />
weeks to less than an hour. In addition, the cost of a virtual<br />
server is less than $1,000. Across the college, the virtualization<br />
of servers has produced an annual energy savings of<br />
approximately $56,350. Furthermore, the college has saved<br />
approximately $467,705 on the 115 physical servers that<br />
would have been bought without server virtualization.<br />
Other initiatives from<br />
Information Services<br />
include:<br />
• The use of control objectives for<br />
information and related technology<br />
(COBIT) to conduct selfaudits for<br />
technology department processes.<br />
This proactive approach, which is<br />
based on technology audit guidelines,<br />
produces processes that are<br />
streamlined and auditready.<br />
• Document imaging across various<br />
departments, ranging from student<br />
services to financial services and the<br />
president’s office, was implemented.<br />
Approximately 2,100,000 documents<br />
were migrated from a legacy system to<br />
an electronic format that is searchable,<br />
available and linked to the enterprise<br />
resource planning (ERP) system.<br />
The initiative eliminated rooms of<br />
filing cabinets, giving needed space<br />
back to college.<br />
• An integrated test plan process<br />
transitioned large technology project<br />
testing from ad hoc/oneoff test plans<br />
to a wellorchestrated, reliable test<br />
method. This process shaved weeks<br />
off of project testing and improved<br />
results.<br />
• An online access request process has<br />
been an innovation from an efficiency<br />
perspective. The process moved IS’<br />
system account creation time from<br />
an approximate twoweek turnaround<br />
time for access requests to a two days<br />
or fewer turnaround time.<br />
“<strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> <strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong> has one of the most systematic and strategic approaches<br />
to supporting its institutional mission through technology that we have seen. It focuses on student<br />
service, operational efficiency and collaboration inside and outside its walls. JCCC has been a<br />
leader in responding to the constantly evolving constituent needs, and its model has been copied<br />
by other institutions. JCCC’s rigorous and thorough approach toward technology implementation,<br />
which incorporates significant project review and planning, is unusually wellconsidered.<br />
JCCC has participated in a number of our software development beta programs and freely offers<br />
implementation advice to other clients. We are proud to support JCCC and to call them our partner.”<br />
– Brian Madocks, CEO, Sungard Higher Education<br />
37
“Polysomnography is<br />
rapidly evolving as a<br />
discrete health profession<br />
requiring specially<br />
trained technologists. A<br />
local sleep study center brought the<br />
need to the attention of the college,<br />
triggering the subsequent formal<br />
needs assessment and curriculum<br />
development. Even as this was<br />
occurring, the Board of Registered<br />
Polysomnography Technologists was<br />
changing eligibility requirements to<br />
more formal education pathways. It<br />
is a great example of responding<br />
to a community need and creating<br />
yet another option for students<br />
interested in the health care<br />
profession.”<br />
– Dr. Clarissa Craig,<br />
assistant dean, respiratory care<br />
Polysomnography/sleep<br />
technology<br />
In 2008, JCCC will initiate a polysomnography/sleep<br />
technology program leading to an AAS degree. JCCC’s is the<br />
first polysomnography degree program to be offered in either<br />
Kansas or Missouri.<br />
PSG technologists are employed in sleep disorder centers, which<br />
may be located in medical centers, hospitals or clinic/office<br />
settings. There are 16 sleep disorder centers and labs in Kansas<br />
and 12 in Missouri. More than 80 different types of sleep<br />
disorders have been identified, with obstructive sleep apnea<br />
symptoms occurring in one out of every 10 people. Historically,<br />
most sleep technologists receive informal training in a sleep<br />
laboratory or center via an apprenticeship method of instruction.<br />
However, sleep centers prefer to hire registered technologists<br />
credentialed by the Board of Registered Polysomnographic<br />
Technologists.<br />
PSG technologists perform sleep diagnostics working in<br />
conjunction with physicians to provide comprehensive clinical<br />
evaluations required for diagnosis of sleep disorders. By applying<br />
noninvasive monitoring equipment, the technologist<br />
simultaneously monitors EEG (electroencephalography), EOG<br />
(electroocculography), EMG (electromyography), ECG<br />
(electrocardiography), multiplebreathing variables and blood<br />
oxygen levels during sleep.<br />
Beginning in spring 2008, the college will hire a program<br />
coordinator to refine curriculum, recruit students and formalize<br />
and acquire clinical and physical resources. A fulltime<br />
coordinator will be hired in the fall, and the first two<br />
polysomnography courses will be offered: Introduction to Sleep<br />
Medicine and Physiology of Sleep Medicine.<br />
Application for program accreditation will be made to the<br />
Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs<br />
(CAAHEP). Graduates of the program will enter the field as<br />
polysomnographic technicians and be prepared to sit the national<br />
exam given by the Board of Registered Polysomnographic<br />
Technologists to gain the Registered Polysomnographic<br />
Technologist (RPSGT) credential.<br />
38
Second Life<br />
In 2007, JCCC bought an island in Second Life, a<br />
3D world imagined and created by its residents.<br />
Twenty pioneering JCCC faculty and staff are working<br />
with analysts in the Educational Technology Center<br />
(ETC) to build a virtual JCCC. Class activity is slated<br />
for springfall 2008.<br />
JCCC’s Second Life campus features artwork and<br />
brick sidewalks familiar to firstworld JCCC students.<br />
What students won’t find as familiar are the beach,<br />
the Spanishspeaking coffee shop and a museum of<br />
modern art showcasing students’ digital artwork.<br />
Parts of the island are public, parts private.<br />
ETC is building a library of basic classroom<br />
components so instructors can pick and choose things<br />
they want in their classrooms – from a traditional<br />
chalkboard for showing PowerPoints to an elaborate<br />
science lab complete with Bunsen burners and test<br />
tubes for performing chemistry experiments.<br />
Dr. Michael Robertson, professor of classics and<br />
humanities, will use his fall 2008 sabbatical to create<br />
guidelines and institutional policies for faculty and<br />
student users of JCCC’s island. He will also develop<br />
ways to incorporate Second Life into the college’s<br />
learning management system or as an alternative to it.<br />
ETC analysts, if not evangelists, are enthusiastic<br />
proponents of Second Life. They point out that a Second<br />
Life avatar can attend class from anywhere and argue<br />
there are some things better taught in Second Life than<br />
in the classroom, such as things that are too dangerous<br />
or too expensive to reproduce in the real world.<br />
Examples already developed in Second Life include<br />
how to repair an offshore oil rig, replace tanks under<br />
a gas station, and negotiate diplomacy between two<br />
countries that share a river near a nuclear power plant.<br />
At this point, Second Life is meant to supplement, not<br />
supplant, Webbased or facetoface learning. Not all<br />
of the Second Life activity has to be scheduled real time.<br />
Just like in a traditional class, a Second Life class can<br />
be a mix of live lectures, student discussions and<br />
assignments completed at the students’ convenience.<br />
“Right now, Second Life is a pilot project at JCCC to see if there is a valid educational use for this<br />
technology. Second Life has the potential to encourage students and reinvigorate faculty who<br />
want to look at it as an additional learning management system.”<br />
– Jonathan Bacon, director, Educational Technology Center<br />
39
National <strong>Community</strong><br />
<strong>College</strong> Benchmark Project<br />
Chapter 5<br />
Resources to Share<br />
with Member <strong>College</strong>s<br />
<strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> <strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong> is<br />
always eager to share with other institutions<br />
new programs and processes such as the<br />
ones listed here and in chapter 4.<br />
Within the last two decades, community colleges<br />
have come under increasing pressure to become<br />
more accountable to their various constituencies.<br />
The ability to gauge themselves against comparable<br />
peer institutions is a critical component of colleges’<br />
response to these mandates. In fact, the Higher<br />
Learning Commission’s Academic Quality<br />
Improvement Program (AQIP) and the Southern<br />
Association of <strong>College</strong>s and Schools Quality<br />
Enhancement Program (QEP) require that institutions<br />
provide comparability data as a part of the<br />
accreditation process.<br />
However, until quite recently, there were no<br />
comprehensive national processes to assist colleges in<br />
those efforts. In response to this set of circumstances,<br />
the Office of Institutional Research at <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
<strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong>, with the assistance of national<br />
experts in community college research and policy,<br />
took on the responsibility to create and support two<br />
such comprehensive benchmarking efforts – the<br />
Kansas Study of <strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong> Instructional<br />
Costs and Productivity and the National <strong>Community</strong><br />
<strong>College</strong> Benchmark Project.<br />
The National <strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong> Benchmark Project<br />
(NCCBP), begun in 2004, provides comparative data<br />
on 124 performance indicators for community<br />
colleges. Performance indicators include institutional<br />
information (service area total population, IPEDS<br />
enrollment, tuition and fees per credit hour), transfer<br />
and performance information, and student<br />
satisfaction and goal attainment data, as well as<br />
student retention and success rates. Other data<br />
elements focus on market penetration, student/faculty<br />
ratio, and instructional faculty load.<br />
40
“The National <strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong><br />
Benchmark Project has been<br />
integrated into multiple research<br />
and reporting efforts at Nashville<br />
State. We have used it for<br />
documenting/benchmarking in<br />
our general education review<br />
and in our student services<br />
staffing plan, our college<br />
“Participation in these national benchmarking efforts<br />
affords colleges the opportunity to compare themselves<br />
with peer institutions across a wide array of critical<br />
variables necessary for both continuous quality<br />
improvement and reliable demonstration of<br />
institutional effectiveness.”<br />
– Dr. Jeffrey Seybert,<br />
director, Institutional Research<br />
strategic plan, accreditation<br />
documentation, in reports to<br />
our foundation and employees,<br />
and in our workforce training<br />
business plan. In addition,<br />
NCCBP data have been<br />
integrated into Tennessee’s<br />
Performance Funding program.<br />
NCCBP allows identification of<br />
strengths and weaknesses with<br />
For the NCCBP, 178 public community colleges participated in<br />
the 2007 data collection. When benchmark data have been<br />
verified and updated, the following reports are provided to<br />
subscribing institutions:<br />
• a national aggregate report, customized for each institution,<br />
showing benchmark data and the institution’s percentile rank.<br />
• a subscriber directory, including information about the<br />
subscribing institutions’ enrollments, service areas and<br />
demographics.<br />
• best practices institutions, identifying institutions that scored<br />
above the 80 th percentile on benchmarks.<br />
Peer comparisons are also available through the NCCBP Web<br />
site: http://www.nccbp.org.<br />
A second project, the Kansas Study of <strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong><br />
Instructional Costs and Productivity, developed with support of a<br />
FIPSE grant, provides comparative data on instructional costs and<br />
faculty productivity at the academic discipline level of analyses.<br />
Data from these studies enable JCCC and other participating<br />
twoyear colleges to compare performance against similar<br />
institutions on a national basis.<br />
credible data. The innovative<br />
efforts of JCCC give Nashville<br />
State easy access to comparable<br />
data and the ability to benchmark<br />
with appropriate peers.”<br />
– Ellen J. Weed,<br />
vice president for academic<br />
affairs, Nashville State<br />
Technical <strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong><br />
41
Entrepreneurship<br />
Many rural areas are caught in a cycle of population<br />
loss and job loss, as young people leave for career<br />
opportunities and employment elsewhere. Encouraging<br />
people to stay in their communities and start their own<br />
businesses could positively affect this trend. JCCC’s<br />
entrepreneurship program is poised to serve as a<br />
model for entrepreneurship education in Kansas.<br />
To this end, JCCC’s entrepreneurship program<br />
(described in chapter 4) is a model replicable at<br />
other community colleges. The college has offered<br />
to provide community colleges throughout the state<br />
curriculum and curriculum development, certificate<br />
and program approval as well as faculty training for<br />
three entrepreneurship credit courses. The concept<br />
was presented in 2006 at a Network Kansas meeting<br />
attended by 10 Kansas community colleges and to<br />
the Kansas Council of Instructional Administrators.<br />
The initiative proposes a unique method of curriculum<br />
approval through the Kansas Board of Regents, in that<br />
colleges could adopt and offer the entrepreneurship<br />
courses created by JCCC faculty. Representatives from<br />
colleges adopting the program would come to <strong>Johnson</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong> for training in the delivery of these courses.<br />
Noncredit education would be offered through the<br />
statewide network of Small Business Development<br />
Centers using a curriculum titled “The Entrepreneurial<br />
Effect,” developed by the Ewing Marion Kauffman<br />
Foundation, that teaches economic development<br />
agencies to become more “entrepreneur friendly.”<br />
These twoday sessions would provide the education<br />
for attendees to return to their region to effectively<br />
“spread the word” on fostering entrepreneurship as<br />
a strategy for economic development.<br />
Once the execution and outcomes of the initiative<br />
are measured, it could become a model that could<br />
be replicated by any state in the nation.<br />
“We know that entrepreneurs comprise 99 percent of employers, employing<br />
approximately 50 percent of the private sector workforce. The more educated those<br />
entrepreneurs are, the more likely their businesses are to succeed. Our goal with the<br />
grant is to weave entrepreneurship education throughout the curriculum, be it for credit<br />
classes or noncredit, to help make that happen.”<br />
– Donna Duffey, professor and career program facilitator, Entrepreneurship<br />
42
Adjunct Certification Training<br />
JCCC offers all adjunct faculty members the opportunity to participate<br />
in the Adjunct Certificate Training (ACT) program; more than 275<br />
adjuncts have completed the program so far. The goal of ACT is to<br />
provide adjunct faculty with tools and resources to assist them in<br />
becoming more effective educators in the classroom.<br />
Certification requires an adjunct faculty member to complete nine<br />
required modules on topics such as assessment and test construction,<br />
designing an effective syllabus, legal issues, classroom diversity issues,<br />
classroom technology, teaching to the whole student, and instructional<br />
design, and at least one optional module on subjects ranging from<br />
teaching techniques and learning styles to strategies to reach students.<br />
Participants are videotaped giving a lecture and then receive a critique<br />
to help them improve their skills.<br />
Upon completion of ACT, the adjunct faculty member should be<br />
cognizant of the college’s mission, aware of policies and procedures of<br />
the academic branch, comfortable in the college’s learning community,<br />
and equipped with more resources to enhance student learning in the<br />
classroom. Adjunct faculty who complete the program receive a<br />
onetime stipend of $800.<br />
Since 2002, JCCC has also provided an annual Semester Refresher<br />
for adjuncts who have taught at the college for seven or more semesters.<br />
These professional development sessions have included teaching and<br />
learning strategies for the classroom, active classroom learning and<br />
advice about crossing the frontier from adjunct faculty to fulltime faculty.<br />
“Adjunct Certification Training has given adjuncts at JCCC the<br />
opportunity to participate in professional development activities<br />
that help them develop teaching skills and techniques that will<br />
engage their students in the learning process. ACT has proven<br />
to be a very positive professional development experience for<br />
participants; indeed, fulltime faculty have asked if they can<br />
attend these modules.”<br />
– Dr. Joseph Gadberry, assistant dean, sciences<br />
“The Adjunct<br />
Certification<br />
Training<br />
program<br />
offers<br />
well constructed, meaningful<br />
modules and great facilitators.<br />
While the coursework is<br />
precisely what new (and<br />
experienced) faculty need, I<br />
think the best part of the<br />
program is the support and<br />
camaraderie that develops<br />
among the participants.<br />
One of the biggest drawbacks<br />
to adjunct status is the lack of<br />
a feeling of community and<br />
little access to peers. The ACT<br />
program gives you a chance<br />
to share ideas and create<br />
solutions with those you<br />
might otherwise never meet.”<br />
– Leslie Quillen,<br />
adjunct professor,<br />
philosophy<br />
43
“JCCC’s leadership program<br />
is unique. Our class was able<br />
to deal with real life situations<br />
in higher education that are<br />
usually reserved for<br />
hypothetical interactions. During this leadership<br />
program I redefined leadership for myself<br />
as ‘a process of influencing, mobilizing and<br />
protecting others as the group shares and<br />
struggles to attain the dreams and aspirations<br />
of many.’ A leadership situation is born of<br />
many complex aspirations and dreams.<br />
It might be an understatement, but we had<br />
numerous complex situations presented to the<br />
group. As we discussed dreams, aspirations<br />
and fears, a ‘rally point’ for the group was<br />
the idea that positive changes have to occur<br />
Leadership Institute<br />
At JCCC, leadership development is a dynamic<br />
process whereby personal and professional<br />
development are blended with a strategic plan.<br />
This ensures the organization continuity of operations,<br />
stability and longterm success throughout inevitable<br />
leadership changes. To develop those future leaders,<br />
JCCC offers employees a new Leadership Institute<br />
based on the AACC’s Competencies for <strong>Community</strong><br />
<strong>College</strong> Leaders, developed by the “Leading<br />
Forward” project.<br />
The institute’s format encourages participants to<br />
identify personal strengths and growth opportunities<br />
as targets for goalsetting. Using feedback from<br />
multiple sources, participants complete an individual<br />
development plan and use a system of goalsetting,<br />
action plans and colleague support to achieve goals<br />
throughout the year. Participants may individualize<br />
the program to give them the greatest opportunity<br />
for success. Training is delivered using spaced<br />
repetition, an approach that allows participants to<br />
discuss, internalize, apply and process leadership<br />
material on an ongoing basis.<br />
Sessions cover such topics as organizational<br />
strategy, communication, resource management,<br />
civic engagement/community college advocacy,<br />
professionalism, collaboration, professional<br />
development and life balance.<br />
within the administration of the college in<br />
order for the college to move forward.”<br />
– Dr. David Burgess,<br />
assistant dean, Health, Physical<br />
Education, Recreation and Wellness<br />
44
”For many students, the adventure<br />
that is a college education can be<br />
a scary and challenging step along<br />
the road to success. The JCCC<br />
Success Center is a resource for<br />
students who need assistance with meeting those<br />
academic and personal goals.<br />
“The Success Center features the Career Center, where<br />
students can go for help preparing for or getting a job.<br />
The Success Center also features our Add/Drop Desk,<br />
where students can sign up for or drop classes and<br />
it is the place for students to receive their transcript<br />
Student Center<br />
Within the community college environment,<br />
student services must be multifaceted to<br />
meet the needs of the 21 st century student.<br />
Ideally, the various components of student<br />
service functions should support the<br />
educational objectives of students and<br />
the college. Students are sophisticated<br />
consumers and require coordinated quality<br />
service and an environment that leads to<br />
their successful educational experience.<br />
The Student Center, which opened in March<br />
2000, is the physical structure that serves<br />
as the “front door” to the campus for new<br />
students and the “swinging door” for<br />
continuing students. The building houses<br />
all of JCCC’s student services, including<br />
counseling, admissions, registration, student<br />
activities, testing services and financial aid,<br />
as well as the bookstore and dining facilities.<br />
Within the Student Center is the Student Success<br />
Center, which provides students a place to<br />
engage in a coordinated set of student services,<br />
from admission and career selection to financial<br />
aid and academic advising. This setting allows<br />
students to complete necessary enrollment<br />
activities and receive holistic counseling<br />
involving their academic, career and financial<br />
choices in one location. Instruction in selfservice<br />
opportunities also occurs to allow<br />
students to complete many of the required<br />
enrollment processes via electronic methods.<br />
in hand or to have it sent off to a different school<br />
for consideration. Students may also check in at<br />
the information desk on a walk in basis if they would<br />
like to meet with a personal or academic counselor.<br />
“For students concerned about paying for school,<br />
our financial aid desk is also located in the Success<br />
Center. The staff is always willing to help students<br />
with scholarships, loans and grants with available<br />
information on the many types of deadlines.<br />
“Last, but not least, the Success Center houses our<br />
Intercultural Center, where students from around<br />
the world receive assistance acclimating themselves<br />
to JCCC. It’s always exciting to meet new people from<br />
outside <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> and learn something about<br />
a different part of the world.<br />
“In conclusion, no student wants to confront what can<br />
be a daunting challenge – going to college – without<br />
some type of assistance and guidance along the way.<br />
Many students are unsure about a lot of things, and<br />
the Success Center is a helping hand for students as<br />
they continue on their own path to success.”<br />
– Benjamin Herron, Student Ambassador<br />
45
Chapter 6<br />
State and National Recognition<br />
The college as a whole and its faculty, staff, students and<br />
programs have been honored locally, regionally and nationally.<br />
Program awards<br />
Kansas Award<br />
of Excellence<br />
In October 2003, JCCC was<br />
one of four recipients of the<br />
2003 Kansas Excellence<br />
Award, the third and<br />
highest level of recognition<br />
for quality given by the<br />
Kansas Award for<br />
Excellence Foundation.<br />
The KAE award is<br />
presented to organizations<br />
that have demonstrated<br />
through their practices and<br />
achievements the highest<br />
and most consistent level of<br />
excellence. Organizations<br />
recognized at this level are<br />
considered role models for<br />
other Kansas institutions.<br />
In addition, sections 1 and 2<br />
of the document the college<br />
submitted for the award<br />
were named best of<br />
category. Section 1 dealt<br />
with leadership, section 2<br />
with strategic planning.<br />
Higher Education <strong>Community</strong><br />
Service Honor Roll<br />
In March 2007, JCCC was named to the President’s Higher Education<br />
<strong>Community</strong> Service Honor Roll, a program designed to encourage and<br />
increase public awareness of community service by college students and to<br />
recognize and promote exemplary programs and effective practices in higher<br />
education community service. JCCC was recognized for these projects:<br />
• Las Pintas, where students in the nursing, respiratory care, dental hygiene<br />
and early childhood education programs work with the residents of an<br />
impoverished community outside Guadalajara, Mexico.<br />
• The civic honors programs, whereby students are honored at graduation<br />
for their civic education and community experience.<br />
• A project for SafeHome, in which interior design students volunteered<br />
their skills to design five rooms for the shelter’s new facility.<br />
• A project for City Union Mission, in which interactive media<br />
students created a Web site for the mission’s thrift store.<br />
• Hurricane relief, for which the college’s chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, an<br />
international honor society for twoyear schools, organized a fundraiser<br />
that raised more than $2,000. In addition, 11 students traveled to New<br />
Orleans over spring break 2006 to help with the city’s rebuilding process.<br />
JCCC provides students with servicelearning opportunities, a method of<br />
experiential education that combines practical experience in the community<br />
with the academic theory of the classroom. Since JCCC’s servicelearning<br />
program began in fall 1993, more than 6,000 students have provided more<br />
than 90,000 hours of service at more than 100 community sites in the<br />
metropolitan Kansas City area.<br />
“Student volunteers consistently report increased selfconfidence,<br />
empowerment, achievement and a greater understanding of diverse<br />
and often unfamiliar segments of the community. They learn they<br />
can make a difference.”<br />
– Marcia Shideler, coordinator, <strong>Community</strong>Based Learning<br />
46
Las Pintas project wins national award<br />
Since 1998, JCCC students, faculty and staff have given<br />
medical, dental, social service and construction assistance to<br />
the impoverished town of Las Pintas, Mexico. In recognition of<br />
this lifechanging work, the <strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong> National Center<br />
for <strong>Community</strong> Engagement awarded its firstever International<br />
Service Learning Award to JCCC in May 2005.<br />
The first JCCC team to Las Pintas in 1998 helped build a<br />
community clinic and classroom, made home health visits,<br />
installed electricity, repaired a water pump and solar heater,<br />
and distributed 300 pairs of children’s shoes and school<br />
supplies. Since then, the emphasis on construction has been<br />
replaced by dental/health care and education. In 2004,<br />
the nursing team saw more than 1,000 patients; the dental<br />
hygiene team evaluated and treated more than 500; 150<br />
young children participated in schoolroom activities; and<br />
scholarships allowed 50 students, ages six to 19, to attend<br />
school rather than go to work to help support their families.<br />
The impact of this project is also evident in the increased<br />
participation by Las Pintas residents, of whom 50 are now<br />
trained to help as health promoters. JCCC students’ lives have<br />
been changed by the experience, which has influenced their<br />
personal development, career decisions and commitment to<br />
social and civic outreach.<br />
“JCCC faculty,<br />
staff and students<br />
have performed<br />
significant service<br />
in this Mexican<br />
community from the beginning.<br />
But over the past 10 years, we<br />
have formed a true ‘learning<br />
community’ with our Mexican<br />
partners. Sometimes we are teachers<br />
and helpers, but more often we<br />
are the students who learn humility,<br />
generosity and determination from<br />
the residents of Las Pintas.”<br />
– Carolyn Kadel,<br />
professor, political science,<br />
and director, International<br />
Education<br />
47
“It’s a great honor to be recognized by<br />
experts as one of the best in the country.<br />
The college’s high ranking is a tribute to<br />
faculty, staff and administrators who<br />
have collaborated to use technology in<br />
the classroom and via the Internet to<br />
improve teaching, learning, access<br />
and student support.”<br />
– Dr. Wayne Brown,<br />
executive vice president, administration<br />
“We have a very missiondriven group of<br />
IT professionals who are committed to the<br />
college and our students, faculty and staff.<br />
The college community recognizes the<br />
power of technology to improve processes<br />
for the good of our constituents, and the<br />
IT department has done an outstanding<br />
job of implementing changes that benefit<br />
the college. All of these things have come<br />
together to make JCCC an outstanding<br />
place to work in IT.”<br />
– Dr. Wayne Brown,<br />
executive vice president, administration<br />
Top 10 digitallysavvy<br />
community colleges<br />
In 2007, JCCC was again listed among the top<br />
10 digitallysavvy community colleges in the large<br />
college category by the Center for Digital Education<br />
and the American Association of <strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong>s<br />
(AACC). The ranking was established based on the<br />
third national Digital <strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong>s Survey,<br />
which examined how colleges deploy technology to<br />
streamline operations and better serve students, faculty<br />
and staff. The survey is conducted every two years.<br />
Nearly 200 community colleges across the country<br />
participated in the survey. <strong>College</strong>s were grouped into<br />
three categories based on student enrollment: small<br />
(less than 3,000 students), midsized (between 3,000<br />
and 7,500 students) and large (more than 7,500<br />
students). <strong>Community</strong> college officials responded to<br />
a set of survey questions that addressed online services<br />
and the provision of technology for students, faculty and<br />
communities. <strong>College</strong>s provided Web site addresses and<br />
background data for final verification and validation.<br />
Best place to work in IT<br />
In June 2007, JCCC was selected by IDG’s<br />
Computerworld, the “Voice of IT Management,”<br />
as one of the top workplaces for information technology<br />
(IT) professionals. This honor was part of the weekly<br />
IT publication’s 14th annual Best Places to Work in IT<br />
survey, which was published in the June 18 issue of<br />
Computerworld and online at Computerworld.com.<br />
Since 1994, Computerworld’s annual “Best Places<br />
to Work in IT” feature has ranked the top 100 work<br />
environments for technology professionals, based on<br />
a comprehensive questionnaire regarding company<br />
offerings in categories such as benefits, diversity,<br />
career development, training and retention. In addition,<br />
this year Computerworld surveyed IT workers for the<br />
list, and their responses factored heavily in determining<br />
the rankings.<br />
JCCC was ranked 47 th out of 100 in the Best Places<br />
to Work listings. JCCC has 95 IT staff members.<br />
48
Counseling is an exemplary<br />
practice program<br />
JCCC’s Counseling Services Center was recognized as an exemplary<br />
practice program by the National Academic Advising Association.<br />
The program will be included in the organization’s 2007 advising special<br />
populations monograph. In identifying exemplary practices, the selection<br />
committee sought programs that possess distinctive characteristics, were<br />
representative of a variety of institutional types, and had the potential to<br />
be replicated at other colleges and universities.<br />
“Because students go through transitions as they journey along their<br />
higher education path, staff in the Counseling Services Center has<br />
followed student development theory in their approach to students’<br />
decisionmaking needs. The Counseling Center provides a ‘holistic’<br />
approach to addressing what the students need when the students<br />
need it. Understanding that students develop at various levels,<br />
sometimes unrelated to chronological age, the counselors seek to<br />
meet them at the point they are and create a learning environment<br />
that allows them to move on to the next level of decisions.”<br />
– Dr. Dennis Day, vice president, Student Services<br />
Exemplary initiative award for EAP<br />
JCCC was named the recipient in 2005 of an Exemplary Initiative Award<br />
from the National Council of Instructional Administrators. JCCC was<br />
named winner in the “curriculum innovation” category for its English for<br />
Academic Purposes program. Mary Grace Foret, associate professor,<br />
English; Maggie Ackelson, professor, learning strategies; and Roslyn<br />
Bethke, professor, reading/Academic Achievement Center, initiated the<br />
EAP in fall 2004. EAP offers integrated courses in reading/vocabulary,<br />
writing/grammar and speaking/pronunciation at two levels in a<br />
learningcommunity format with additional standalone courses.<br />
“Seeing the EAP grow from a vision to a reality has been one<br />
of the most fulfilling experiences of my career. I am humbled<br />
by the immensely positive support that continues from all parts<br />
of the campus to ensure that we are providing the best learning<br />
environment for adult English language learners, many of whom<br />
have given up almost everything in their home countries to come<br />
to the U.S.”<br />
– Mary Grace Foret, associate professor, English<br />
Kansas adult<br />
education program<br />
one of nation’s best<br />
In November 2005, the Kansas<br />
Board of Regents announced that<br />
Kansas had been selected by<br />
the U.S. Department of Education<br />
as a “Best Practice” state for its<br />
adult education program, one<br />
of only three states in the nation<br />
to receive this distinction. Project<br />
Finish, co sponsored by JCCC<br />
and the <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> Library,<br />
is the largest adult education<br />
program in Kansas, serving<br />
25 percent of the ABE students<br />
in the state. Adult education<br />
programs serve persons age<br />
16 and older who are in need<br />
of basic skills to assist them in<br />
the workforce, community<br />
participation and family life.<br />
“For 25 years, Project Finish<br />
has educated illiterate adults,<br />
taught English as a second<br />
language, prepared learners<br />
for the high school<br />
equivalency test (GED)<br />
and delivered big doses of<br />
confidence to people who<br />
lacked necessary academic<br />
skills. More than 40,000<br />
adults have received<br />
instruction at Project Finish.<br />
Today Project Finish is the<br />
largest ABE program in<br />
the state and recognized<br />
as one of the best ABE<br />
programs in the nation.”<br />
– Susan McCabe,<br />
program director,<br />
ABE/GED/ESL<br />
49
“<strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> <strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong> was one of<br />
the first community colleges to be accredited for its<br />
<strong>College</strong> Now programs. Their participation in the<br />
program and partnership with secondary schools<br />
has provided an invaluable opportunity for high<br />
school students seeking college credit. Their presence<br />
in the community has had a direct impact on the<br />
success of many area high schools.”<br />
– Dr. Tom Trigg,<br />
superintendent, Blue Valley School District<br />
“The ‘Intercultural Assimilation and Conflict in East<br />
Asia’ project was a fantastic opportunity for our<br />
adjunct faculty colleagues. So often, adjunct faculty<br />
do not have the time or support for professional<br />
development, and this project was designed<br />
specifically to address their desire to understand<br />
Japan. The foundational knowledge they garnered<br />
from the project has been instrumental in their ability<br />
to incorporate information on Japan in their classes.<br />
Those of us who seek to infuse Asian studies are often<br />
asked why we teach it and why it’s important for<br />
students to study Asia. Our students are very likely<br />
to pursue careers in which they will have interaction<br />
with Asian businesses. They may even be assigned<br />
to live in Asia for their jobs. At the very least, a<br />
good portion of their retirement dollars will be<br />
invested in Asia. They can’t afford not to know<br />
about Asian cultures.”<br />
– Sheilah Philip,<br />
professor, theater<br />
<strong>College</strong> Now program is<br />
nationally accredited<br />
JCCC’s <strong>College</strong> Now concurrent enrollment<br />
program was accredited in 2006 through the<br />
National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment<br />
Partnerships (NACEP). The college is one of<br />
the first 20 schools in the nation to achieve<br />
this accreditation. <strong>College</strong> Now is a credit<br />
program for county high school juniors<br />
and seniors or 9 th and 10 th grade students<br />
identified as gifted with a current Individual<br />
Education Plan. <strong>College</strong> Now students<br />
enroll in selected college classes, such<br />
as composition or U.S. history, offered<br />
at and in cooperation with the high<br />
school. The courses reflect JCCC’s content,<br />
objectives and assignments and are taught<br />
on the high school campus by qualified<br />
high school teachers.<br />
During fall 2006, <strong>College</strong> Now enrollment<br />
totaled 2,423 students in 23 different<br />
locations. In spring 2007, 1,481 high<br />
school students were enrolled in <strong>College</strong><br />
Now. The credits students earn through<br />
<strong>College</strong> Now transfer to most fouryear<br />
colleges and universities, so students can<br />
enter college with several hours of credit<br />
behind them.<br />
Asian studies<br />
In 2003, the National Endowment for the<br />
Humanities awarded $135,650 to JCCC for<br />
a project titled “Intercultural Assimilation and<br />
Conflict in East Asia,” one of 16 Exemplary<br />
Education Grants awarded that year from a<br />
field of 172 applicants. JCCC was the only<br />
institution in Kansas and the only community<br />
college in the country to receive such a grant.<br />
The grant allowed JCCC and the <strong>Community</strong><br />
<strong>College</strong> of Philadelphia to cooperate in an<br />
ambitious twoyear program that provided<br />
intensive workshops on Asian studies to<br />
adjunct liberal arts faculty at community<br />
colleges in the two cities. The workshops in<br />
Overland Park concentrated on Japan, those<br />
in Philadelphia on China. JCCC is an active<br />
member of the Associated Regional Center<br />
of the Asian Studies Development Program,<br />
a major program of the EastWest Center at<br />
the University of Hawaii, Manoa.<br />
50
Faculty and staff awards<br />
Lindy Robinson, assistant dean, design and hospitality, serves on the<br />
American Culinary Federation’s National Apprenticeship Committee.<br />
The committee looks at all culinary apprenticeship throughout the USA<br />
and three international apprenticeships with the charge of making sure the<br />
apprenticeship is addressing any necessary changes to stay current with<br />
the industry. It also looks at any changes from the Department of Labor.<br />
Stephanie Sabato (pictured above), associate professor, graphic<br />
design, was named a recipient of a 2007 Fellow Award by the American<br />
Institute of Graphic Artists. The Fellow Award program is a means of<br />
recognizing mature designers who have made a significant contribution<br />
to raising the standards of excellence in practice and conduct within their<br />
local or regional design community as well as in their local AIGA chapter.<br />
In August 2006, Kathy Carver, professor, nursing, received the Kansas<br />
Council for Workforce Education’s Excellence in Teaching Award. This<br />
award recognizes a postsecondary faculty member who demonstrates<br />
outstanding teaching abilities and dedicated commitment to career and<br />
technical students. Recipients of this award exemplify exceptional teaching<br />
and student engagement skills within and/or outside of the classroom.<br />
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius appointed Jeanne Walsh, assistant dean,<br />
nursing, to the Kansas State Board of Nursing for the term September 14,<br />
2006, through June 30, 2010. Walsh is one of three nurse educators<br />
who serve on the board. This was the first time a JCCC nurse educator<br />
has been appointed to the state agency.<br />
The National Council for Continuing Education and Training (NCCET) has<br />
honored JCCC’s leadership in continuing education. Dr. Sally Winship,<br />
vicepresident, continuing education, received the President’s Leadership<br />
Award in 2006 for her strategic vision and dedication to NCCET as its<br />
midwest regional director. Winship has also been elected to the NCCET<br />
board for a threeyear term as presidentelect, 20072008; president,<br />
20082009; and past president, 20092010. Kathy Yeager, business<br />
solutions consultant for the Center for Business and Technology at JCCC,<br />
was elected to the NCCET board as director, Midwest region, for the<br />
20072009 term. Christy McWard, marketing coordinator for the<br />
Center for Business and Technology, received the Midwest Regional<br />
Leadership Award in 2006 for her role in marketing and event<br />
management of the first annual NCCET Midwest Spring Alliance,<br />
hosted by JCCC in June 2006.<br />
“JCCC is fortunate in the<br />
quality of its faculty and<br />
staff. They are recognized<br />
regionally and nationally<br />
by professional organizations<br />
and academic associations.<br />
Their work is published<br />
in books, journals and<br />
monographs, on paper and<br />
online, so that others can<br />
benefit from their ideas,<br />
experiments and<br />
innovations.”<br />
– Dr. Marilyn Rhinehart,<br />
vice president, Instruction<br />
51
Bobanne Kalkofen, associate professor, interior design,<br />
received the Chapter Educator Medalist Award in recognition<br />
of outstanding service and significant contributions to her<br />
chapter and to the body of knowledge that supports the<br />
profession of interior design. Diana Ingham, associate<br />
professor, interior design, received the national ASID Chapter<br />
Medalist Award. She was one of 11 people in the United<br />
States to be presented with this award in 2007. The Medalist<br />
Award is second only to becoming an ASID Fellow, the<br />
highest award bestowed by ASID.<br />
In December 2007, Charles R. Rogers, artistic director of<br />
the Carlsen Center, received the sixth annual North American<br />
Performing Arts Managers and Agents Award for Excellence<br />
in Presenting the Performing Arts. The NAPAMA Award is<br />
given each year to a distinguished presenter in recognition of<br />
the awardee’s dedication to the future of presenting the<br />
performing arts, professionalism, respect for colleagues and<br />
high ethical standards. The award includes a citation for<br />
excellence, and the recipient’s organization receives $1,000<br />
toward its endowment for presenting – the only such monetary<br />
award in the presenters’ industry.<br />
At the annual National Association of Student Personnel<br />
Administrators IVWest Regional Conference held in 2006,<br />
Dr. Dennis Day, vice president, Student Services, was<br />
awarded the Distinguished Service Award, presented to the<br />
individual who provided exceptional service to the region and<br />
enhanced the professional organization.<br />
Julie Pitts, program director, Intercultural Center, and<br />
Dr. Judy Korb, vice president, Human Resources and<br />
Organizational Development, have received International<br />
Exemplary Leadership Awards from the Chair Academy, an<br />
organization committed to academic and administrative<br />
leadership for postsecondary institutions globally.<br />
Ruth Randall, interim dean, Liberal Arts, was selected as a<br />
Faculty Scholar for both the 2006 and 2007 Phi Theta Kappa<br />
Faculty Scholar Conference and Phi Theta Kappa<br />
International Honors Institute. In addition, in 2007 she<br />
received the Distinguished Chapter Advisor Award at the Phi<br />
Theta Kappa International Convention. Phi Theta Kappa is the<br />
international honor society for twoyear colleges.<br />
Larry Thomas (pictured, left), professor of fine art, was<br />
selected by the Arts Council of Metropolitan Kansas City<br />
and the Charlotte Street Foundation to participate in the<br />
Creative Capital Professional Development Program in<br />
2007. Thomas was one of 24 artists chosen from a field of<br />
74 artists working in multiple disciplines from the Kansas City<br />
area. Thomas was also one of six Kansas City artists selected<br />
for the eighth annual public art display at six intersections<br />
between 9 th and 16 th streets on Central Avenue, Kansas City,<br />
Mo., Avenue of the Arts. He was also the only community<br />
college art faculty member to be selected for inclusion in an<br />
art exhibition titled, “AD ASTRA PER ASPERA: To the Stars<br />
Through Difficulties.” The exhibit is a juried exhibition of<br />
Kansas university and college art faculty.<br />
52
JCCC faculty members have received the National<br />
Institute for Staff and Organizational Development<br />
(NISOD) Excellence Award at the annual NISOD<br />
conference. This award recognizes faculty who<br />
epitomize “the importance of teaching in opendoor<br />
settings.” Recipients in 2006 were Brenda<br />
Edmonds, associate professor, mathematics; Samira<br />
Hussein (pictured with students, above, second from<br />
left), associate professor, business administration;<br />
and Susan <strong>Johnson</strong>, professor and career program<br />
facilitator, engineering technology. Recipients in<br />
2007 were Janalee Isaacson, professor, nursing;<br />
Kathy Carver, professor, nursing; and Theresa<br />
McChesney, assistant professor, mathematics.<br />
Jill Stinson, head volleyball coach, received the<br />
NJCAA Division II Coach of the Year award in 2005<br />
and was also named the AVCA Coach of the Year in<br />
2005 (the first for a JCCC head volleyball coach) and<br />
again in 2007. In 2006, she was inducted into the<br />
NJCAA Volleyball Coaches Hall of Fame.<br />
Anita Tebbe, professor and career program<br />
facilitator, paralegal, is chair of the American Bar<br />
Association Approval Commission, which automatically<br />
makes her a member of the ABA Standing Committee<br />
on Paralegals. The role of the Approval Commission is<br />
to foster highquality paralegal education, which is<br />
accomplished through the review of selfevaluation<br />
reports and onsite inspections of programs seeking ABA<br />
approval or reapproval.<br />
In 20052006, John Courtney, professor, hospitality<br />
management (now retired), was awarded a Lifetime<br />
Achievement Award from the American Culinary<br />
Federation Greater Kansas City Chefs Association.<br />
Julie Haas, executive director, Marketing<br />
Communications, was named Communicator of the<br />
Year for 2005 by District 5 of the National Council for<br />
Marketing and Public Relations.<br />
Carolyn Neptune, professor, mathematics (now<br />
retired), was one of five recipients of a teaching<br />
excellence award given by the American Mathematical<br />
Association of TwoYear <strong>College</strong>s (AMATYC) in 2005<br />
2006. She received an AMATYC medallion, which<br />
recognizes educators who have made outstanding<br />
contributions to mathematics education at twoyear<br />
colleges.<br />
Dr. Doug Patterson, associate professor, astronomy<br />
and physics, received the Ulysses Achievement Award<br />
from the European Space Agency in 20052006 for his<br />
contributions to the joint ESA/NASA Ulysses Project,<br />
which is a spacecraft that has been circling the sun for<br />
15 years.<br />
Timothy Lednicky, associate professor, metal<br />
fabrication, was named the Teacher of the Year in<br />
20052006 by the Kansas Association for Career and<br />
Technical Education.<br />
Mary Grace Foret, associate professor, English,<br />
received the 20032004 Houghton Mifflin Award for<br />
Dedication to <strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong> ESL Teaching,<br />
awarded by Teachers of English to Speakers of Other<br />
Languages (TESOL). Foret helped develop JCCC’s credit<br />
ESL program, assisted in the creation of the noncredit<br />
Intensive English Program and cowrote the curriculum<br />
for the English for Academic Purposes courses that<br />
began in fall 2004 for nonnative speakers.<br />
In April 2004, Dr. Marilyn Rhinehart, vice<br />
president, Instruction, received the Instructional<br />
Leadership Award from the National Council of<br />
Instructional Administrators. The Instructional Leadership<br />
Award recognizes an active instructional administrator<br />
at a twoyear college who demonstrates creativity and<br />
innovation, commitment to instructional issues and a<br />
positive influence on the college organization.<br />
53
Virginia Krebs, JCCC trustee, the first college<br />
employee and the first director of <strong>Community</strong> Services,<br />
was inducted into the MidAmerica Education Hall of<br />
Fame at a gala dinner and ceremony in November<br />
2004 at Kansas City Kansas <strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong>.<br />
Steve Wilson, professor, mathematics, and<br />
Mike Martin, associate professor, mathematics, were<br />
selected to receive the 2004 International Conference<br />
on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics Award for<br />
Excellence and Innovation with the Use of Technology<br />
in Collegiate Mathematics. Wilson and Martin received<br />
the award for their innovation, “Dynamic Web Tools<br />
for Undergraduate Mathematics.” They spent two years<br />
developing interactive Web pages that allow students<br />
and faculty to compute and visualize mathematical<br />
results directly from a Web browser.<br />
In 20042005, Anita Pankalla, coordinator of the<br />
cosmetology, esthetics and nail technology programs,<br />
was appointed by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to a threeyear<br />
term on the Kansas Board of Cosmetology, which<br />
licenses individuals and enforces standards of practice<br />
in cosmetology professions.<br />
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of<br />
Teaching and the Council for Advancement and<br />
Support of Education named Dr. Steve Gerson<br />
(pictured with student, above), professor, English, the<br />
2003 Kansas Professor of the Year. Gerson was<br />
selected from among nearly 400 top professors at<br />
U.S. colleges and universities.<br />
In October 2003, the National Council of Staff,<br />
Program and Organizational Development<br />
renamed its National Leadership Award in honor<br />
of Dr. Helen Burnstad, who served as director<br />
of Staff and Organizational Development at JCCC,<br />
retiring in 2003. In changing the name to the<br />
Helen Burnstad Leadership Award, the NCSPOD<br />
board of directors cited Burnstad’s leadership,<br />
mentoring and willingness to share her expertise<br />
with colleagues.<br />
54
Student awards<br />
Interior design<br />
In 20062007, 20 JCCC interior design students<br />
volunteered their services to assist SafeHome, <strong>Johnson</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong>’s shelter for domestic abuse, with the design of<br />
five rooms in their new facilities. Students took field<br />
measurements, interviewed employees about the use of<br />
each room and made presentations of design solutions,<br />
which were accepted and used in the new facility. In<br />
the spring, interior design students designed rooms for<br />
the Junior Women’s Symphony Alliance Designer’s<br />
Showhouse.<br />
“Student community involvement is an important<br />
component of learning for our students. We can<br />
teach theory in the classroom and reinforce the<br />
importance of the information in reallife<br />
situations.”<br />
– Jan Cummings, professor and career<br />
program facilitator, interior design<br />
The Campus Ledger<br />
JCCC’s student newspaper, The Campus Ledger, has<br />
received a number of awards:<br />
• For 20072008, the Campus Ledger won second<br />
place in the Best of Show contest at the National<br />
<strong>College</strong> Media Convention in Washington D.C.<br />
The convention was sponsored by the Associated<br />
Collegiate Press and <strong>College</strong> Media Advisers. The<br />
Campus Ledger placed second in the division for<br />
twoyear schools with 17 or more pages per issue.<br />
• In April 2007, The Campus Ledger was named the<br />
best student newspaper in its division at a state<br />
journalism conference in Wichita. The newspaper<br />
was given the AllKansas award by the Kansas<br />
Associated Collegiate Press. To receive the award,<br />
the paper scored outstanding marks in all categories<br />
judged, including writing, visuals and design, based<br />
on three issues from the 20062007 academic year.<br />
Members of The Ledger staff also received 26<br />
individual awards, including seven firstplace<br />
certificates. Miguel Morales, news editor, was<br />
named first runnerup in the <strong>College</strong> Journalist of the<br />
Year contest, and collected seven individual awards.<br />
• Students Miguel Morales and Kevin Mimms and<br />
the newspaper staff received a First Amendment<br />
Award from the Society of Professional Journalists in<br />
August 2006 for their coverage of allegations and<br />
investigations at the college. The Society’s First<br />
Amendment Award recognizes individuals and<br />
groups for extraordinarily strong efforts to preserve<br />
and strengthen the First Amendment.<br />
• The Ledger was one of 55 newspapers chosen<br />
from 234 entries across the country, and the only<br />
newspaper from Kansas, as a 2006 Pacemaker<br />
finalist by the Associated Collegiate Press.<br />
• In October 2006, the newspaper received a Gold<br />
Medalist rating from the Columbia Scholastic Press<br />
Association in a critique of its 20052006 issues<br />
and won second place in the “Best of Show” contest<br />
at the National Media Convention.<br />
• In November 2006, The Campus Ledger was<br />
awarded a $1,000 Louis E. Ingelhart Grant to<br />
promote the First Amendment on campus and within<br />
the community. The grant is administered by <strong>College</strong><br />
Media Advisers, a national organization whose<br />
membership includes advisers in college print,<br />
broadcast and new media.<br />
“The journalism and media communications program at JCCC offers students both classroom<br />
interaction with other journalism students and real world experience. With the program’s<br />
extensive internships, the largest internship program in the metro Kansas City area,<br />
students further develop their skills by working with professionals in the mass media,<br />
giving students a true introduction to their careers, all in their first two years of college.”<br />
– Mark Raduziner, professor, journalism and media communications<br />
55
Model UN team<br />
For fall 2007, the JCCC Model United Nations team<br />
received an Outstanding Delegation Award for its<br />
portrayal of New Zealand at the American Model<br />
United Nations International Conference. In addition,<br />
the team also received certificates of accomplishment<br />
for representing both the countries of New Zealand<br />
and Ukraine.<br />
Sixteen JCCC students competed with other colleges<br />
and universities from across North America. In particular,<br />
student Jared Hedge played a key role in the team’s<br />
success. Hedge represented New Zealand on the<br />
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the<br />
Pacific and received exceptional scores for global<br />
dialogue, diplomacy and multilateral negotiations.<br />
The team adviser is Dr. Brian Wright, associate<br />
professor, political science.<br />
The team has won awards at the last eight conferences<br />
attended. The conferences help students to further<br />
understand global issues and international relations in a<br />
forum that allows them to discuss global concerns in an<br />
atmosphere that is similar to that of the United Nations.<br />
The JCCC Model UN team is planning to attend the<br />
MidWest Model United Nations in St. Louis in February<br />
2008, where they will represent Peru and Cuba.<br />
In addition, they will attend the National Model United<br />
Nations Conference held in New York at the United<br />
Nations in March 2008, where they will, along<br />
with Wichita State University, be representing the<br />
Philippines. The team will be running the Metro Kansas<br />
City Model United Nations conference for area high<br />
school students in April 2008.<br />
“Model United Nations are simulations of the<br />
real United Nations in which student delegates<br />
assume the roles of diplomats of the countries they<br />
represent in attempting to reach solutions to the<br />
major problems facing the world today. Model<br />
United Nations provides JCCC an opportunity<br />
to highlight its academic excellence and for the<br />
students an outoftheclassroom opportunity to<br />
expand their knowledge of the United Nations<br />
and to broaden their perspective on the world.”<br />
– Dr. Brian Wright,<br />
associate professor, political science;<br />
team adviser, Model UN<br />
56
Debate team<br />
In fall 2007, JCCC’s debate team placed in the top six at<br />
four of the five tournaments they attended. In the recent<br />
fall rankings by the CrossExamination Debate<br />
Association, JCCC was the highestranking competitive<br />
community college, ranked 34 out of 138 schools,<br />
including fouryear institutions. JCCC earned a finalist<br />
award at the Baylor University Tournament this fall. There<br />
the team of Zac Hartkopp and Brad Jacobs went<br />
undefeated in prelimination rounds with a record of 70,<br />
which earned them topseed honors. The team proceeded<br />
to win their semifinal round on a 30 decision, earn a<br />
spot in the finals, and come home with a secondplace<br />
finish. Terri Easley, assistant professor, speech, is the<br />
team’s adviser.<br />
During the 20062007 year, the JCCC debate team<br />
travelled and competed at 11 tournaments and won<br />
awards or placed at all of those.<br />
“It is quite the accomplishment for a<br />
community college to be ranked so high<br />
compared to fouryear institutions. Since<br />
there is not a separate division for<br />
community colleges, JCCC’s debate team is<br />
constantly competing against universities<br />
across the country. The students’ consistent<br />
competitive success in the fall has placed<br />
them higher than schools such as Michigan,<br />
Johns Hopkins and Georgetown.”<br />
– Terri Easley, assistant professor,<br />
speech, and debate coach<br />
57
AllUSA Academic<br />
First Team<br />
In 2007, Tren Qu was named to the All <br />
USA Academic First Team for <strong>Community</strong><br />
and Junior <strong>College</strong>s. He was presented with<br />
a medallion and a $2,500 check at the<br />
AACC’s convention in April and was<br />
featured in a full page article in USA Today.<br />
Qu was also a New Century Scholar, the top<br />
scholar in Kansas selected in a state level<br />
competition, earning him $2,000 from the<br />
Coca Cola Foundation, as well as a 2006<br />
Congressional Award Gold Medalist. At<br />
JCCC, Qu was Student Senate president,<br />
Phi Theta Kappa vice president and 2006<br />
Men’s Athletic Academic Champion.<br />
“While each student is unique, and Tren<br />
certainly qualifies in that category, the<br />
majority of the students in Phi Theta<br />
Kappa and the Honors Program have<br />
two things in common. They tend to be<br />
a year or two older than our average<br />
college students, and they seem to be<br />
more diverse. Tren is a prime example<br />
of the ‘typical’ English as a second<br />
<br />
language student who not only enters<br />
college in the first two years in the<br />
United States, but excels in all classes.<br />
Phi Theta Kappa and Honors Program<br />
students seem to have an unlimited<br />
amount of energy, often displaying their<br />
leadership abilities in the program and<br />
throughout the campus. Tren was not<br />
only a PTK officer and an Honors<br />
Program student, but he was the<br />
Student Senate president and<br />
consistently volunteered for service<br />
projects on and off campus.”<br />
– Ruth Randall,<br />
interim dean, Liberal Arts<br />
Graphic design<br />
Students from JCCC’s graphic design program were award<br />
winners in the third annual AIGA Kansas City Chapter<br />
graphic design competition. The A3 Awards were juried by<br />
nationally acclaimed design leaders. JCCC’s student award<br />
recipients were Preston Brigham, Michael Casey<br />
DenBleyker and Carnise McIntosh (pictured above).<br />
In addition, when the Advertising Club of Kansas City<br />
presented the 2006 OMNI awards, several JCCC students<br />
were honored. The OMNI awards are the local level of<br />
competition in the American Advertising Federation’s<br />
National ADDY Awards competition.<br />
Nine of the 25 awards given to graphic design students from<br />
regional Kansas and Missouri colleges and universities went<br />
to JCCC’s graphic design students.<br />
In May 2004, students in JCCC’s communication design<br />
program won 10 awards, including Best of Show, in the STEP<br />
ONE Student Design Awards, sponsored by Osborn & Barr<br />
Communications, a marketing communications firm in Kansas<br />
City, Mo. In addition to Best of Show, JCCC students won Best<br />
in Category in three of the eight categories – ad campaign,<br />
packaging and outdoor advertising.<br />
Eight graphic design students had posters selected for yearlong<br />
exhibition by SIGGRAPH (Special Interest Group on<br />
Computer Graphics) at its international conference in May<br />
2003. Thirtyone posters were selected for exhibition from<br />
335 international entries from college, university and art<br />
institute students.<br />
58
The Pepsi Cup<br />
For 20062007, JCCC<br />
finished third in the nation<br />
in the Pepsi/The National<br />
Alliance of TwoYear <strong>College</strong><br />
Athletic Administrators Cup<br />
Award, which recognizes<br />
program excellence in twoyear<br />
college athletics at the<br />
national level. JCCC has a<br />
sixthplace, secondplace<br />
and two thirdplace finishes<br />
in the fouryear history of<br />
the award.<br />
JCCC has won these<br />
national championships in<br />
athletics: 2000, women’s<br />
basketball and women’s<br />
cross country; 2001,<br />
men’s basketball; 2003,<br />
women’s halfmarathon;<br />
2005, women’s halfmarathon<br />
and volleyball;<br />
and 2006, women’s<br />
halfmarathon.<br />
“The Pepsi Cup is a<br />
tribute to the athletes<br />
and coaches for their<br />
hard work and<br />
dedication to JCCC.<br />
They lived up to the<br />
expectations and<br />
mission of the school.”<br />
– Carl Heinrich,<br />
athletic director<br />
59
Chapter 7<br />
Institutional Stability<br />
60
Finance<br />
For fiscal year 20062007, the college’s management<br />
budget, representing the actual amount available to spend<br />
in a year, was $168,446,734. It was composed of the<br />
operating budget, totaling $126,300,569, and the budgets<br />
for all other funds such as capital outlay, auxiliary and<br />
restricted funds, totaling $42,146,165.<br />
Because the college anticipated an increase in both state<br />
aid and assessed valuation in the county, the 20062007<br />
budget reflected a decrease in the mill levy of .1 mill,<br />
dropping it to 8.860 mills. This was the lowest the college’s<br />
mill levy had been since 2002. The reduction meant the<br />
average homeowner in <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> paid about<br />
$234 a year to support the college.<br />
In 20062007, about 58 percent of JCCC’s operating<br />
funding came from county taxes; the rest came from student<br />
tuition, motor vehicle taxes, state aid and outofdistrict tuition.<br />
20062007 GENERAL FUND REVENUES<br />
52% | Ad Valorem<br />
Taxes<br />
6% | Local Motor<br />
Vehicle Taxes<br />
16% | State Aid<br />
8% | Other<br />
18% | Tuition<br />
AAA rating<br />
According to a report published in<br />
October 2006 by Standard & Poor’s titled<br />
AAARated Credits in U.S. State & Local<br />
Government Finance, JCCC continues to<br />
maintain the highest bond ratings, AAA.<br />
Only 21 school districts in the nation,<br />
including five community college districts<br />
and one technical college district, had their<br />
government obligation debt rated AAA.<br />
According to the report, general<br />
characteristics of AAA districts include<br />
growing tax bases and proximity to<br />
economic centers, very high wealth<br />
indices, strong management practices<br />
with a focus on multiyear planning,<br />
strong financial position, management<br />
of debt burden and appropriate ratios<br />
and rankings for average overall net<br />
debt per capita, average per capita<br />
market value and average general fund<br />
balance as a percentage of operating<br />
expenditures.<br />
According to Standard & Poor’s, an<br />
organization rated BBB or higher is<br />
regarded as having financial security<br />
characteristics that outweigh any<br />
vulnerabilities and is highly likely<br />
to have the ability to meet financial<br />
commitments. An organization rated<br />
AAA has “extremely strong” financial<br />
security characteristics; AAA is the<br />
highest rating Standard & Poor’s assigns.<br />
20062007 GENERAL FUND EXPENDITURES<br />
68% | Salaries and<br />
Benefits<br />
20% | Current<br />
Operating<br />
12% | Capital<br />
In 20082009, students will likely see an increase in tuition<br />
of $2 per credit hour for instate students and $5 per credit<br />
hour for outofstate students. <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> residents will<br />
pay $65 a credit hour, Kansas residents outside the county<br />
will pay $80 a credit hour and nonKansas residents will<br />
pay $149 a credit hour.<br />
“These high ratings are testimony<br />
to JCCC’s financial responsibility.<br />
By funding capital projects now,<br />
we can take advantage of low<br />
interest rates and save the<br />
taxpayers money.”<br />
– Lynn Mitchelson,<br />
chair, JCCC board of trustees<br />
61
”The recent opening of the Regnier<br />
Center (pictured, right) has had a<br />
significant impact on local workforce<br />
training and economic development in<br />
the greater metropolitan Kansas City<br />
area. The inclusion of state of the art<br />
wet labs will significantly enhance<br />
the ability of the community college<br />
to stay up with the demand for lab<br />
technicians for the burgeoning<br />
bioscience industry. The Regnier<br />
Center also provides significant new<br />
computer labs. Training and updating<br />
on new software will be a continuous<br />
need in the future. A significant<br />
amount of the college’s effort<br />
surrounds retooling individuals from<br />
nontechnical positions to technology <br />
oriented jobs. As the country evolves<br />
toward a knowledge based economy,<br />
having these strong technical skills<br />
is critical to our success.”<br />
– Bob Regnier,<br />
president and CEO, Bank<br />
of Blue Valley; chair of the<br />
college’s Campaign for the<br />
<strong>Community</strong>; donor<br />
Facilities<br />
Twenty major buildings on the JCCC campus house<br />
classrooms, labs, studios, a library, student services, dining<br />
services, faculty and staff offices, warehouse space and a<br />
printing plant. The newest are the Regnier Center and the<br />
Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art. The Regnier Center<br />
houses classrooms and labs for credit courses in computing<br />
systems and information technology, interactive media, game<br />
development and animation; a biotechnology laboratory suite<br />
and classrooms; the Center for Business and Technology’s<br />
offices, classrooms and computer labs; the Capitol Federal<br />
Conference Center; the Small Business Development Center;<br />
a center to support local entrepreneurs; and offices for the<br />
college’s Information Services staff, who provide computer<br />
network, academic and administrative support to students<br />
and faculty. The museum houses galleries for permanent<br />
and temporary exhibitions, Café Tempo, the M.R. and<br />
Evelyn Hudson Auditorium, the Tearney Art Education<br />
Center and a museum shop.<br />
In addition, classes are offered in more than 40 sites around<br />
the county, including high schools, the University of Kansas<br />
Edwards Campus two miles to the south, business sites, and<br />
local community centers. The primary offcampus sites are<br />
in Olathe, a suburb to the south where classrooms and the<br />
offices for the college’s adult basic education program are<br />
housed; West Park Center in the heart of the county where<br />
the programs for cosmetology and massage therapy are<br />
housed; and Bishop Miege North in the northern part of the<br />
county, where a variety of general education and computer<br />
classes are offered. Beginning in spring 2008, the college<br />
also offers vocational courses in Douglas <strong>County</strong> to the west.<br />
62
Fund raising<br />
At the conclusion of its fouryearlong<br />
capital campaign in September<br />
2007, the JCCC Foundation<br />
surpassed its goal of $15 million<br />
by raising $20.2 million to support<br />
construction, scholarships, programs<br />
and events, faculty and curriculum<br />
at the college.<br />
This was the first time in the college’s<br />
history that JCCC asked for private<br />
dollars to help fund construction at<br />
the college, specifically the Regnier<br />
Center and the Nerman Museum<br />
of Contemporary Art. The campaign<br />
also helped students pay for classes<br />
and buy books, and supported<br />
programs and events on campus<br />
and college faculty and curriculum.<br />
“The campaign succeeded because of the<br />
collective effort of nearly every department<br />
on campus, as countless members of the<br />
college family ‘stepped up’ when needed<br />
to help with prospective donors. They say it<br />
takes a village to raise a child; well, at JCCC,<br />
it took a campus to successfully execute a capital campaign.<br />
Ultimately, the campaign created so much philanthropic energy<br />
that it positively influenced all areas of fund raising. For the<br />
fiscal year ending June 30, 2007, every fiscal measurement<br />
achieved an alltime high as annual revenues total more than<br />
$6.6 million, the endowment reached $14.6 million and total<br />
assets hit $24.5 million.”<br />
– Dr. Joseph Sopcich, vice president, Institutional<br />
Advancement and Government Affairs<br />
Enrollment<br />
Final enrollment figures for spring 2007 were 17,873, a decrease of 0.9 percent from the spring 2006 total<br />
of 18,030. Final enrollment figures for summer 2007 were 8,569, down 3.9 percent from the 8,919 enrolled<br />
in summer 2006. For the fall 2007 semester, preliminary figures show that 19,937 students were enrolled at<br />
JCCC, an increase of 0.9 percent over the final total of 19,759 enrolled in fall 2006.<br />
JCCC served more than 80,000 county residents in 2006 2007 through the areas that compose Continuing<br />
Education and <strong>Community</strong> Services — the Center for Business and Technology, <strong>Community</strong> Services and the<br />
Carlsen Center.<br />
63
Center for Business<br />
and Technology<br />
JCCC’s Center for Business and Technology offers continuing<br />
education, workforce development and economic development<br />
to businesses in <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> and the greater metropolitan<br />
area. The center initiates strategic partnerships with businesses<br />
and educational institutions on a countywide, regional and<br />
national basis.<br />
The center differs from other training services in that it is a<br />
“onestop shop” serving all employees within a business, from<br />
executive training for the CEO to computer classes for the<br />
administrative assistant to grant applications and<br />
administration for the company as a whole. Its offerings<br />
include:<br />
• Continuing education: Licensing and CEUs for<br />
professionals in health and human services, real estate,<br />
mediation, education, payroll and human resources,<br />
police, fire, emergency medical technology and audio<br />
engineering<br />
• Workforce development: Customized contract training and<br />
development with key companies, including solutions for<br />
leadership, management, mentoring and coaching at<br />
various levels<br />
• Computer training: Public and contract training in<br />
computer applications and information technology<br />
• Small Business Development Center/Entrepreneurship<br />
Center<br />
• Special events: Executive Speaker Series, Administrative<br />
Professionals Day TM , National Council for Continuing<br />
Education and Training<br />
In addition to supporting industry training needs, the center<br />
also assists local companies in applying for grants available<br />
from the Kansas Department of Commerce to pay for<br />
workforce training for newly created jobs or jobs requiring<br />
new skills. Through this partnership, companies have accessed<br />
more than $106.6 million from the Department of Commerce<br />
since 1983 to support local workforce development.<br />
In 20062007, more than 17,800 people enrolled in one of<br />
the center’s 2,000 public seminars on topics ranging from<br />
management skills to computer applications. Nearly 500<br />
companies and organizations took advantage of contract<br />
training courses specifically tailored to fit their organizational<br />
needs, either on the JCCC campus or at their location.<br />
“JCCC has been extremely responsive in<br />
providing resource recommendations<br />
for all of our employee development<br />
requests. The contract sales staff<br />
understand how to build a quality<br />
training organization from the ground<br />
up and have helped <strong>Community</strong><br />
America Credit Union build a<br />
competencybased organization<br />
through a customized job analysis<br />
initiative. We are also looking to JCCC<br />
to support our new leadership<br />
development curriculum upon its<br />
completion. All of the resources they<br />
provide are of the highest professional<br />
quality and are reasonably priced. The<br />
level of customer service they provide<br />
is exceptional. They are even helping<br />
us explore gaming simulations in our<br />
newhire courses. JCCC is a partner<br />
that will continue to support our<br />
diverse and growing employee<br />
development needs.”<br />
– Marsha Moore,<br />
employee development director,<br />
<strong>Community</strong> America Credit Union<br />
65
Chapter 8<br />
Looking to the Future<br />
In this everchanging society, <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> <strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong><br />
foresees future opportunities for new methods, approaches and programs.<br />
Kansas Technical<br />
Education Authority<br />
In 2007, the Kansas legislature<br />
established a Technical Education<br />
Authority which, under the auspices<br />
of the Kansas Board of Regents,<br />
coordinates all career and technical<br />
education programs and activities<br />
of state community and technical<br />
colleges. Since JCCC prepares<br />
16 percent of all career and<br />
technical education graduates in<br />
Kansas, the college has positioned<br />
itself to be both a leader and model<br />
for state technical programming.<br />
The primary issue that the<br />
Technical Education Authority<br />
faces is whether to establish<br />
standards for collegiate technical<br />
programs. Originally, the Authority<br />
favored standardization, which<br />
sought common outcomes for<br />
programs that state colleges<br />
operated. However, JCCC<br />
argued that this approach would<br />
lead at best to mediocrity in<br />
program quality. On the other<br />
hand, establishing and maintaining<br />
high standards for technical<br />
education activities would best<br />
serve area employers seeking<br />
highly trained and qualified<br />
employees. The Authority was<br />
impressed with JCCC’s argument<br />
and is currently working with<br />
JCCC to determine ways of<br />
implementing high standards for<br />
technical education statewide.<br />
66
<strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
Education and<br />
Research Triangle<br />
JCCC also looks forward to supporting the<br />
<strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> Education and Research Triangle<br />
offering bioscience research and education at<br />
existing and planned educational facilities in the<br />
county. The county partners include the University<br />
of Kansas Edwards Campus, a proposed food<br />
security research facility to be developed by<br />
Kansas State University, and the <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
locations of the University of Kansas Medical<br />
Center. JCCC’s biotechnology program (see<br />
chapter 4) prepares the technicians needed for<br />
these programs and allows budding scientists<br />
to earn an associate’s degree in biotechnology<br />
as the first step toward further education.<br />
Its biotechnology facilities support the research<br />
and education taking place in the county.<br />
“Bioscience research has an amazing potential for<br />
new treatments and cures. We want those cures to<br />
be discovered here in Kansas. That’s why we’ve<br />
made the recruitment of bioscience companies a<br />
top priority and why we’ve invested in bioscience<br />
research and education at our universities. There<br />
are also good jobs created by bioscience research,<br />
so there’s an economic benefit as well. The triangle<br />
will help bring cuttingedge research to this area,<br />
which will then benefit the entire state.”<br />
– Kathleen Sebelius, Governor of Kansas<br />
Diversity<br />
<strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> has demographically been a<br />
middle class Caucasian community, and the student,<br />
faculty and staff populations at JCCC have reflected<br />
this homogeneity. Over the last decade, as <strong>Johnson</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong> has increasingly become more diverse,<br />
the college employee base has fallen behind.<br />
Two initiatives have been implemented to address<br />
this gap. The college has adopted diversification as<br />
an institutional strategic initiative and has established<br />
two strategic initiative teams to improve percentages<br />
of students and faculty and staff. The current percentage<br />
of minority students enrolled in JCCC credit classes<br />
(14.6 percent) has already exceeded its annual<br />
target (14.3 percent). However, the current percentage<br />
of minority JCCC faculty/staff (10.4 percent) is still<br />
below the annual target (11.1 percent). To facilitate<br />
increasing both percentages, a new executive assistant<br />
to the president, diversity initiatives, will work with<br />
student recruitment and instructional and student<br />
programming. The college is also piloting an intern<br />
faculty program for minority candidates.<br />
67
Sustainability<br />
This spring Terry Calaway, president, JCCC, will sign the American<br />
<strong>College</strong> & University Presidents Climate Commitment, demonstrating<br />
the college’s commitment to sustainability by becoming climate neutral.<br />
The college is already using green energy sources on this allelectric<br />
campus, as well as higherefficiency lighting, modern computerbased<br />
HVAC systems, and Energy Starcompliant computer hardware and<br />
printers that reduce the energy consumption of equipment in labs and<br />
classrooms. Global warming and sustainability are two of the defining<br />
issues of the 21st century; JCCC intends to be a leader in addressing<br />
climate change through practice and education.<br />
“We believe colleges and universities must exercise leadership<br />
in their communities and throughout society by modeling ways<br />
to minimize global warming emissions, and by providing the<br />
knowledge and the educated graduates to achieve climate<br />
neutrality. Campuses that address the climate challenge by<br />
reducing global warming emissions and by integrating<br />
sustainability into their curriculum will better serve their students<br />
and meet their social mandate to help create a thriving, ethical<br />
and civil society. These colleges and universities will be providing<br />
students with the knowledge and skills needed to address the<br />
critical, systemic challenges faced by the world in this new<br />
century and enable them to benefit from the economic<br />
opportunities that will arise as a result of solutions they develop.”<br />
– from the American <strong>College</strong> & University Presidents Climate<br />
Commitment<br />
Entrepreneurship<br />
The more educated small business owners are, the more likely their<br />
businesses are to succeed. Entrepreneurs don’t fail because they don’t<br />
know how to create original designs, install an air conditioner or cook<br />
a restaurant meal. They fail because they don’t know how to keep books,<br />
work with employees or market their product or service. According to the<br />
U.S. Small Business Administration, a major factor in a small company’s<br />
survival is the education level of the owner. JCCC is already weaving<br />
entrepreneurship education throughout its curriculum, be it with credit<br />
or noncredit classes, and is working to take that education into the<br />
local high schools and to other community colleges throughout the state<br />
(see chapters 4 and 5). With such education, small business owners –<br />
in Kansas and nationwide – improve their chances of success.<br />
68
A new operational<br />
philosophy<br />
While JCCC has always been deeply committed to<br />
the practices of collegiality, the institution is taking<br />
its methods of operation to a new level.<br />
Shared governance<br />
Most educational institutions practice shared<br />
governance. JCCC is exercising shared governance<br />
more than it ever has. Faculty in particular are<br />
given more opportunities for input into college<br />
decisionmaking. A crosssection of faculty has been<br />
working with administrators to engineer a major<br />
restructuring of the instructional area. In addition,<br />
facultychair positions (not existent before at JCCC)<br />
will be established and a faculty senate created.<br />
For the college as a whole, all students and employees<br />
can offer open and frank comments at the president’s<br />
regular Town Hall meetings.<br />
Continual Quality<br />
Improvement (CQI)<br />
JCCC committed to the principle of CQI in its<br />
operations in 2004 when it joined the Higher<br />
Learning Commission’s Academic Quality Improvement<br />
Project (AQIP). In November 2007, JCCC completed<br />
an institutionwide systems portfolio, which revealed<br />
not only areas of strength where CQI is practiced but<br />
also areas where operations demand improvement.<br />
Because of this reenergized commitment to CQI, the<br />
college is benchmarking activities across campus to<br />
ascertain how student learning may be improved in<br />
the future.<br />
Institutional planning<br />
Beginning March 2007, JCCC mapped out a new<br />
way of institutional planning, calling for the construction<br />
and maintenance of both an annual operational plan,<br />
built by the college’s operational units, and a multiyear<br />
strategic plan developed by crossfunctional teams from<br />
across the campus. More than 100 volunteers sit on six<br />
strategic initiative teams addressing college priorities:<br />
• Increasing graduation rates<br />
• Increasing the percentage of <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
high school graduates who attend JCCC<br />
• Increasing civic engagement activities<br />
• Increasing the percentage of minority students<br />
• Increasing the percentage of minority JCCC<br />
faculty and staff<br />
• Increasing general education learning outcomes<br />
assessment activities<br />
Both the strategic and operational plans flow<br />
into the institutional plan, which then informs the<br />
budget process, ensuring that planning does indeed<br />
precede budgeting.<br />
Data and evidence<br />
Underscoring this new operational philosophy at<br />
JCCC is the notion that data and evidence must be<br />
intimately involved in decisionmaking at all levels.<br />
Data and evidence are necessary to monitor planning<br />
initiatives and to establish the internal benchmarks that<br />
are necessary for CQI. And for shared governance to<br />
be worthwhile, evidence is needed to support and test<br />
new ideas and opinions. Always highly regarded,<br />
JCCC’s Institutional Research department produces<br />
and interprets data for all these efforts and groups.<br />
With these and other initiatives, JCCC intends to serve<br />
as a national model for other community colleges.<br />
69
<strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>County</strong> <strong>Community</strong> <strong>College</strong><br />
12345 <strong>College</strong> Blvd.<br />
Overland Park, Kansas<br />
www.jccc.edu