Work study students are cool

I went over to the Hodel Library today to interview a couple of work study students for a story I'm writing and came away really impressed. It wasn't just the fact that one of them is only 17 and the other is 18, or that they were both working on their associate's degrees in science to become veterinarians or that they were both really smart. It was all those things. It kind of blew me away watching these students help a patron, another student who was slightly older--shall we say--figure out how to format a graph to best display some complex data she had collected for a paper. The student workers were quick to help and knew exactly what to do. I wonder if I could have been anywhere close to that cool when I was a work study student.

Ready for our close-up

Our front office is back in business this week after a two-month renovation project brought on by some structural issues at the front of the 200 building. Not only is the rehabbed space more energy efficient with the disappearance of all that uninsulated glass (shown covered by verticle blinds in the photo on the right), the updated color scheme finally drags us out of the disco era. (Though there's some debate about whether the new paint is taupe or mauve.) It's also a better use of our scarce square footage. The large, previously fallow space behind the front desk is now occupied by our copy center and soon the faculty and staff mail room will be tucked into its own room to one side. Sometimes newer really is better.

Feeling the love

If pizza and cookies make people feel appreciated (and they usually do), our students were feeling pretty good about themselves today as Student Government treated the campus to a high-cholesterol feast during both lunch and dinner hours in the Library Courtyard. Though cool weather, by our standards, was predicted, mother nature cooperated just enough to make Student Appreciation Day a pleasant repast. Twenty-six pizzas were disseminated at midday with another dozen disappearing pretty quickly just a few minutes ago. (For those of you in northern climates, what you see behind student Malachy Ryan is sunshine and blue skies. Note, also, that he is comfortably dressed in a t-shirt and shorts. Just another not insignificant perk of life on MCC's Havasu campus.)

Please come again

Thanks to everyone who dropped by the campus Friday afternoon to "discover" MCC during our first MCC Discovery night. We got a chance to show off our people and have a lot of substantial conversations with people who want to chart a course for themselves in life. A few visitors, mostly the young ones, were lucky enough to find their way to the Gallery where our Student Art Show is on exhibit and where the students themselves were demonstrating their artfulness. Art is a part of our campus life that brings a lot of value, even though it's often overlooked. Thanks, also, to everyone who stayed late on a Friday night to help out with "Discovery." Everyone had a great attitude, and I think we showed potential students what we already know: that MCC is a friendly and inclusive place where you can also get a terrific education.

Here to stay

While I was sitting here staring at a blank "New Post" box trying to figure out what I was going to blog about today, one of my success stories stuck his head in to say he's on his way. Jeff literally stuck his head in because his great height requires him to duck when entering a standard doorway. He stopped by to let me know he'd scored well enough on his Compass assessment to begin college classes toward his associate's degree in Chemical Dependency Studies. As a disable Vietnam vet, he was looking for a way to move on to a new career with the help of his veteran's benefits. I call Jeff "my success story," but of course the real success is his. He took that first step, contacting us, and has faced each successive little hurdle with calm determination. It looks like this one's going to make a big impression around here, in more ways than one.

OK, this is getting big

It's not exactly the discovery of America, but "MCC Discovery" night, our last big bash of the year, is shaping up to be--dare I say it?--colossal. Guests will be able to take a free, fun, computer-based career assessment and learn about (a.k.a. discover) some of the high-demand career paths they can train for at MCC. There will be demonstrations and tours of our labs, and I just found out our art club will be doing their thing in The Gallery, where a juried show of their artwork will be on display. Believe it or not, art is a potentially lucrative career path, too. How can that be? Come to MCC Discovery night to find out.

Brain trust

Whoever said community colleges aren't about academics obviously never attended an induction ceremony of Phi Theta Kappa, the honor society for two-year colleges. Our campus' chapter, Alpha Chi Chi, welcomed its latest crop of eggheads Friday and, as campus documentarian, I was on hand to take photos. I have to admit, it was pretty inspiring seeing our top students lined up in one place. Newly pinned chapter president, Shawn Gall, will be a good role model. He's a straight-A student and by all appearances a straight arrow, too. It's cool to be smart!

Fun, a fair

I'll be taking my show on the road again tomorrow as I set up shop at a "Family Fun Fair," organized by the Auxiliary of the VFW to raise funds to buy a shade cover for the toddlers' play area at Rotary Park. Though I'll have all our most kid-friendly MCC give-away items (temporary tattoos, crayons, coloring books and really pretty bright red pencils), my ulterior motive will be to pitch education to their parents. Look for me in the big white tent.

Hungry, and not just for knowledge

I don't know what JC has whipped up for lunch today, but it has prompted a common refrain from people walking by outside my office: "Smells good!" Ever since JC's Chuckwagon opened in the fall, tantalizing smells wafting down the hallway have made it difficult for those of us who are trying to keep our appetites from running wild. Sometimes it's bacon, sometimes waffles. Today it's sauteing onions. As well as reminding us about our stomachs, the smells coming from JC's kitchen remind us how lucky this campus is to have fresh food service. In fact, I've got to go now. My stomach is growling!

Heating up

It's been winter for a while now (winter Havasu-style, which most people in the country wouldn't recognize as winter), so I haven't had occassion to comment on one of our city's outstanding characteristics: H-E-A-T. And when I say heat, I mean toasty summers with daytime temps well over 110 for weeks on end and lows in the 90s (burrrr!). After what has seemed like a cool spring, today (it's currenlty 88) we are finally getting an inkling of what lies not far ahead. This heat wave won't last long -- the temperature is due to drop 30 degrees by Thursday -- but it's been nice to get a glimpse of summer.

Do the math

We talk a fair amount about our partnership with Northern Arizona University that allows students to earn a bachelor's degree in elementary education without leaving Havasu. (In case you haven't heard, that's 2 years at MCC and 2 years of classes at NAU's extended campus.)
What you may not know is now you can earn a solid Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree with an emphasis in either humanities or public management by taking 90 credits at MCC and just 30 online with NAU. It's called the 90/30 option, and it can save you a lot in educational costs, even over the 2X2 option described above. Even better, NAU is talking about adding more 90/30 degree options. If you think you want to go for it, talk to the advisor at your NAU extended campus first. (Here on MCC's Havasu campus, that's friendly Tom Franklin).

Gardening

Most popular give-aways at our visit today to a college fair for juniors at Lake Havasu High School:
1) MCC lip balm (high school guys, in particular, must have a real chapped-lip problem)
2) MCC pens
3) temporary tattoos depicting the MCC Big Horn
4) MCC Catalog & Student Handbook on CD (Hopefully they won't be too disappointed when they realize there's no music on it.)
Hard to say if the fair had any impact on the students' future educational choices, but all those bright red trinkets at least planted a seed. And our lip balm really is awesome.

Lessons learned from the job fair

A couple of things I've gleaned from talking to folks at the Havasu Lanes job fair these last six weeks:
1) When deciding on your career path, ask yourself, "Do I want to be doing this when I'm 55?" (You may not believe you'll live that long, but statistics show you probably will, and you'll probably have many productive years ahead of you.)
2) If there's another dramatic change in our economy and your line of work suddenly becomes obsolete, it's good to have options. Education gives you options. In fact, it's pretty much impossible to have "too much education," isn't it?

In the game

I often hear colleagues lament that Mohave Community College is "the best kept secret in town." From my contacts in the community, I don't think it's such a big secret. I see how MCC touches thousands of lives: the people who go here, or who have a child, parent, relative or friend who goes here, or who aspire to go here. Nevertheless, it's now a major goal of the college to become even more central to community life as a mecca not only of education but of artistic, cultural and civic involvement. We're already making strides in that direction by hosting a "Community Listening Session" sponsored by the Arizona Commission on the Arts, this Friday, March 26, from 5:30-7 p.m., in our 600 building. The commission wants to hear from all of us about what our future vision for the arts in this region is, and MCC is a natural place to have that conversation.

Into the stretch

Now that Spring Break is behind us, it seems like no time at all before the end of the semester, and commencement, will be here. How did this year go by so fast? Which isn't to say there isn't still a lot of work to be done. In fact, for those of us who devote ourselves to helping new students get started at MCC, there's never a slow time. For many prospective students, the decisions associated with college are not quick or easy -- long-term rewards usually require long-range planning. A couple of weeks ago I talked with a group of students who are hoping to enter our nursing program in Fall 2011. It sounds like a long way off, and I admire their patience and their perserverance.

Art for art's sake

I forgot to mention there's a terrific exhibit in The Gallery (room 204) right now featuring works by art faculty and former faculty. The show includes beautiful landscape paintings by our resident faculty Alan Hall as well as provocative charcoal drawings by associate faculty Kevin Bangsund. The centerpiece of the exhibit is a collection of stunning and innovative ceramic pieces by former faculty member Harry Kaino II, who taught on the Havasu campus from 1976-1989. At right is one of his signature pieces that combines elegant wheel-thrown elements with almost organic hand-built components. Check the show out while it's here, through April 9.

Like a kid in a candy store

During the two-and-a-half hours I spent today at the weekly job fair hosted by Havasu Lanes Bowling Center, I had good, in-depth conversations with eight people. That may not seem like a lot on the speed-dating circuit, but for me, it's pretty good. The top career interest today? Counseling. I also talked to prospects with interests in truck driving, surgical technology, phlebotomy, computer science and casino gaming. They ranged from early-20s-just-starting-out to mid-50s-starting-over. But at this stage it's exciting (sometimes scary-exciting) for everyone, including me, because there are so many possibilities.

The benefits of higher education

One of the perks of going to college: Donuts! Bigger institutions of higher learning may have a Starbucks in their student center. But how many can boast a free feast of colorfully frosted deep-fried dough rings--plus coffee, juice and milk--all served up by a friendly member of the campus' own Student Government. As seen here, ravenous students from a morning psych class weren't exactly shy about partaking of the donut bounty. Neither was I, by the way.

Baseball paradise, too

One of the great things about living in Arizona, in addition to the nearly endless sunshine and bone-roasting warmth, is the proximity to Spring Training baseball. I spent a just-about-perfect morning this weekend watching the Seattle Mariners working out at the Peoria Sports Complex followed by an equally blissful afternoon watching them play a game against their complex partners, the San Diego Padres. Of course, Sunday's action was rained out. So much for that endless sunshine.

Yes, to be outdone

Check out this blog from "Kimberly" who apparently enjoyed her time recently on MCC's campus "in beautiful Lake Havasu City." I couldn't have expressed it better myself -- literally. After a long period of idleness with this blog, the discovery of Kimberly's sprightly dispatch gave me a Wally Pipp moment. (You'all remember who he was, right?)
Here's the link: http://yovia.com/blogs/kimberly/tag/mohave-community-college/