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The Insider October 2011Mullis & Gilliard facilitate“Active Learning” in Comp Ed classBengie Mullis and Bryan Gilliard have been at it again, crawlingthrough a smoky room and dropping and rolling to extinguishburning clothing. Mullis was caught ducking his head for cover bya wall in anticipation of a tornado coming through the building,and both men closed the blinds to hide during a hostage situation.Mullis, SPCC safety and security coordinator, and Gilliard, directorof law enforcement training at SPCC, were providing a safetylesson to the three Compensatory Education classes taught byKelly Stegall, Kelly Gordon and Marcia Smith. Robin Pittman,program coordinator, came to observe.As Mullis and Gilliard went through their lesson on emergencypreparedness, the adult students with varyingdegrees of developmental disabilities eagerlyanswered questions and interjected their own tipsfor dealing with emergencies. New students learnedhow important it can be to know your address andtelephone number when a call to 911 becomesnecessary.Bryan Gilliard answers a student’s question while BengieMullis, Robin Pittman and Kelly Stegall listen.Mullis and Gilliard, both long-time officers with theMonroe Police Department, have become regularvisitors to the Comp Ed classes, and both say theylook forward to leading the safety lessons.“Repetition is the key to teaching this material,” saidStegall, who leads the class. “Seeing what to do isimportant, too. By having this lesson regularly, wehelp make sure that our students know what todo in each emergency situation.”Spread the Word!Bengie Mullis and Bryan Gilliard demonstrate the proper way to crawlout of a smoke-filled building.There is a Compensatory Education class that meets at the Lockhart-Taylor Center on Mondays and Wednesdays between1:30 and 3 p.m. The instructor is April Watkins, who is currently working with her students on a unit about our world. Thestudents are taking a field trip to the Wadesboro Planetarium on Monday, Oct. 24 at 1:30 p.m.Scott Rivers, Basic Skills coordinator in Anson County, asks that we help him spread the word about this class that is freeto adults with developmental disabilities or traumatic brain injury. Classes help students become more independent bylearning basic skills and life skills needed to function successfully in daily living.The contact information to enroll in the Wadesboro class: Scott Rivers, 704-272-5468

The Insider October 2011Anson County Early College one offive early college “Innovators”Anson County Early College students and staff.Anson County Early College has been honored by the North Carolina New Schools Project as one of five early college “Innovators”because of its successful strategies in preparing students for college. They boast higher than average 9th grade promotion rates,end-of-course test scores, Algebra 2 course taking and 4-year cohort graduation rates.ACEC offers students five years of lessons that prepare them for the challenges of college. Upon graduation students have alreadyearned many college credit hours and some students have even completed their associate’s degree. Early college high schools blendhigh school and college courses, enabling students to earn their high school diploma and complete the first two years of college in acompressed time span.All early college schools adhere to the same five basic Core Principles, but use a wide range of strategies for attaining the essentialcharacteristics needed for success.The five Core Principles are: 1. Early college schools are committed to serving students underrepresented in higher education. 2.Early college schools are created and sustained by a local education agency, a higher education institution, and the community, allof whom are jointly accountable for student success. 3. Early college schools and their higher education partners and communityjointly develop an integrated academic program so all students earn one to two years of transferable college credit leading to collegecompletion. 4. Early college schools engage all students in a comprehensive support system that develops academic and socialskills as well as the behaviors and conditions necessary for college completion. 5. Early college schools and their higher educationand community partners work with intermediaries to create conditions and advocate for supportive policies that advance the earlycollege movement.Anson County Early College, is located at the L.L. Polk Campus of South Piedmont Community College in Polkton. Deborah Davis isthe school’s principal. To learn more about ACEC, contact the school at 704-272-5396.What does the Anson County Early College enrollment mean to SPCC?• ACEC has 166 students in grades 9-13.• There are 130 ACEC students enrolled in SPCC fall classes. The 36 freshmen are not taking college courses during the fall semester.• ACEC students occupy 259 SPCC seats with 173 in traditional classes and 86 in online classes.• ACEC students will generate 32.03 (full-time equivalent students) FTE valued at approximately $100,000.

The Insider October 2011Cindy Owen, student and director ofNew Testament Child CareSharon Little is an instructor at South Piedmont CommunityCollege in the early childhood education program. She isalso a mentor and advisor to her students, giving one on oneinstruction and constant encouragement in order to ensureher students’ success. Cindy Owen is one of Sharon Little’ssuccesses. She is a student in the Early Childhood Associateprogram at SPCC and will graduate in May. She is also theDirector of New Testament Child Care Development Centerin Monroe, where her husband is the pastor.Owen’s dedication to the Smart Start Education Starsprogram has earned her a spot on the Smart Start web site.Visit www.ncsmartstart.org/smartstart-stories/cindys-storyto read her story. The Stars program pays for tuition andbooks for those who would like to earn an associate degreein early childhood education. While advancing professionaldevelopment in students, earning college credits alsostrengthens the program quality and star rating of theparticipants’ licensed child care facility. Owen decided totake advantage of the Stars program and enrolled at SPCCwithin the first month of her employment at New TestamentChild Care Development Center.Cindy Owen, Director of New Testament Child DevelopmentCenter, and one of her students.When Owen began her tenure as Director at New Testament, only one of the day care teachers there had credentials inearly childhood education. She encouraged her employees to enroll in the Stars program and currently every teacheremployed there has already earned their degree in early childhood education or they are working towards a degree.Owen said, “Our teachers feel more like educators than babysitters now that they have their degrees or are workingtowards earning their degrees. SPCC and Smart Start have enabled our instructors to become better teachers to thechildren who attend our child care development center. South Piedmont Community College has made it so easy forour teachers to attend school. They even come to our center to register our teachers for classes. It is just a wonderfulprogram!”When asked why she chose SPCC to continue her education, Owen responded that SPCC was the perfect choice for herbecause it offered convenient locations and flexible class schedules, even offering some classes at night.“Sharon Little at SPCC was a huge encouragement to me. She pushed me to continue my education and be an advocatefor the early childhood education program, particularly in Union County. I can not say enough good things about SouthPiedmont Community College and the Union County Smart Start Education Stars Program. I love it! I love the program! Ilove everything about it!”Read more about Smart Start and The North Carolina Partnership for Children programs at www.ncsmartstart.org.

The Insider October 2011SACS update...Much needs to be done in next monthSouth Piedmont Community College employees were givena look at where things stand on the SACS re-accreditationprocess during a mandatory breakfast meeting Sept. 30 on theOld Charlotte Highway Campus.The goal is to have all narratives completed by Nov. 1 andPresident Stan Sidor wanted Jill Millard, co-chair of the SACSOversight Team, to give an update on how close we are tomeeting that goal.Sidor also reminded employees that, while he does not thinkSPCC is in danger of losing accreditation, the penalty for such asanction would be the loss of all federal scholarships.At the time of the presentation, four out of 15 corerequirements had been completed. Of those four, one wasready to place on the final submission site and three wereJill Millard talks about SACS at the employee meeting Sept. 30.ready for final style guide editing. Four were ready for finalreview by the SOT and the Quality Enhancement Plan hasits new team in place. It is chaired by Makena Stewart and Jennifer Chicosky. That leaves six, or 40 percent, that were still underrevision.Under Section 3 – Comprehensive Standards, 12 of 55 had been completed. Seven of the 12 are ready to place on the finalsubmission site and five are ready for final style editing. Six of the 55 are ready but are pending approval by the SPCC Board ofTrustees this month. Another 18 are ready for or are being revised following final review by the SOT. That leaves 19 (34 percent) stillunder revision.Under Section 4 – Federal Requirements, three of the 10 are ready for final review by the SOT. Seven – including three that are brandnew this year – had not been submitted.Millard also spoke about some things she learned during a visit to Alvin Community College in Texas. The college should haveevidence readily available that supports any statements made in the narratives. Regarding the QEP, we should be prepared to answerquestions on how the topic was narrowed down to advising and registration and how we control for variables when we assertthat improvements occurred as a result of the QEP. She also stressed that the site visit will be hectic and lots of preparation will beneeded.SACS standards review teams will continue to meet weekly through March 15, and the SOT will meet weekly through December.Training for all staff and personnel to prepare for the SACS visit will begin in the spring.Other important dates to remember:January 2012March 15, 2012May 14-18, 2012Sept. 3, 2012Oct. 22-24, 2012March 20, 2013SACS Vice President Rudy Jackson will make a consultation vistSubmit compliance certificationSACS off-site review, conducted in AtlantaFinal QEP plan dueSACS on-site visit to SPCC campusesResponse to on-site visit (answering issues of non-compliance)

The Insider October 2011Employee NewsNew HiresEdina Rizvanovic is the new full-time records technician in the StudentRecords Office at SPCC. She earned her bachelor’s degree from UNC-Charlottein 2009. Originally from Bosnia, Rizvanovic grew up in Germany and has lived in the United States for 10years. She speaks Bosnian, German and English fluently. In her spare time she enjoys cooking, reading,hiking, traveling and making new friends. Welcome Edina!Sheilita Douglas is the new administrative assistant to the vice president of Information Services, ErnestSimons, and will assist with some of the general daily operations of the Information Services team. Douglasis a graduate of Trinity University in Washington, DC and now lives in Union County with her husband andthree children. She served as administrative assistant to the dean of students at Trinity University and mostrecently worked as administrative assistant to the president of a non-profit consulting firm in Delaware.Welcome Sheilita!Employee BirthdaysOctober 1: Robby SmithOctober 2: Carilyn RaymondOctober 3: Dan MerleOctober 3: James MinorOctober 4: Kim GilmoreOctober 8: Tracy HutchensOctober 11: Vicki GeddingsOctober 12: Chuck PalmerOctober 14: Lynn GambonOctober 14: Judy GarrisOctober 16: Bob WinfreyOctober 16: Fedder WilliamsOctober 20: Daniel ColeOctober 23: Mary BergerOctober 23: John DeVittoOctober 28: Gail BaucomOctober 31: Carol CourtneyOctober 31: Jody Chartier

The Insider October 2011Iron the ShirtHorne and Blumish PraisedSystems Analyst II Nadine Burckhalternominated Susan Blumish, Director ofDistance Learning Integration, and RegistrarCathy Horne for Iron the Shirt Awards for themonth of September.“As you know the Internet was down onthe LLP campus on Tuesday the 13th ofSeptember. On this day there were severalstudents that had been registered foronline courses. Without Internet servicesthere was no way for Susan Blumish toupload the courses to Remote Learner.However with Cathy Horne’s smart phonethat had “Hot Spot” connectivity tothe Internet, Susan was able to get theinformation to a DBA at Remote Learnerwho stayed over his working hours tohelp SPCC out, which in turn led to thesestudents being enrolled and having accessto their online courses on Wednesday the14th of September. This is a great exampleof what “Customer Service” is. I believethey both used ingenuity on this day forour students.” - Nadine BurckhalterPictured are Cathy Horne and Susan Blumish with the irons they werepresented in recognition of outstanding customer service. Both will beallowed to keep the irons for the month of October.About Iron the ShirtThe Iron the Shirt award is named after an incident in a Raleigh clothing store where a clerk helpeda man who was buying a shirt by offering to iron his shirt for him. At SPCC, the award has beenpresented to employees who demonstrate exemplary customer service. To nominate someone forthe award, e-mail Hayne White at hwhite@spcc.edu with a brief description of the action deservingrecognition.

The Insider October 2011Brain TeaserHere’s another from Lew Powell’s book“The Ultimate North Carolina Quiz Book.”Q: What are terpenes and what dothey have to do with the BlueRidge Mountains?Email your answer to Jim Muldrow, jmuldrow@spcc.edu.All correct entries received by noon Oct. 15 will be placed in a drawing to determine the winner.Last month’s winnerBack topage 1Advertising and Graphic Design Instructor LindaWard poses wearing the apron she won for correctlyanswering last month’s Brain Teaser. Her entry wasselected in a drawing from all the correct answers.The question was: What North Carolina town isnamed for the industrialist who coined the term ‘airconditioning?’The correct answer is Cramerton in Gaston County.In a 1906 speech to the Southern Cotton Manufacturers’Association convention in Asheville, Stuart Cramerdiscussed his pioneering ‘air-conditioning’ system in theGray Manufacturing plant in Gastonia.