Special Events


New "Lighten Up" Series

Near the end of Dr. Steve Kinslow's Administrative Update at ACC's Spring Development Day, he commented that he used playful slides because he feels ACC can always use some lightening up. Well Steve, we think so too and last December the Professional Development Office staff sat down and started planning a new "Lighten Up" series of workshops to offer this spring.

These workshops run the gamut from lightening up via nutrition to lightening up through improvisation and play, to lightening up by gaining energy and productivity. Check out the list below and see if one of these workshops might enhance your productivity and enjoyment.
Upcoming Workshops

Below are some of the workshops being offered in January, February and March. Go to the Workshop and Event Registration database to view or register for any of the 2005 workshops, including those listed below:

Lighten Up by Not Lighting Up: Smoking Cessation

This wellness seminar will help participants determine their readiness for making a change in their smoking habits. Reasons for smoking and daily triggers associated with smoking will be discussed, along with strategies and tools for becoming smoke-free. Recommendations will be provided about how family can help support your efforts to quit.
1/19/2005, 1:00 - 2:30 p.m., SVC 133

Lighten Up: Getting the Kinks Out

If much of your work day is spent standing, sitting at a desk, working at the computer, or talking on the phone, chances are you experience occasional muscle ache or soreness. This workshop will review the basics of good “ergonomics,” posture, important muscle groups, and simple at-the-desk movements to relieve the stresses.
1/28/2005, 1:15 - 3:15 p.m., HBC TBA

Lighten Up: Gaining Energy and Productivity in 2005!

Learn some simple techniques for lightening up in 2005--physically, mentally and emotionally. Whether it's losing a few belt notches or gaining a lighter attitude, this workshop will remind you of and reconnect you to your sources of vitality. By lightening up in even one area of your life, you can gain energy that will enhance both your personal and professional productivity.
2/4/2005, 2:00 - 3:30 p.m., RGC 125

Lighten Up: What's Food Got To Do With It?

How you eat affects the way you feel, look and perform, and yet so many of us are engaging in eating patterns that diminish our productivity and vitality. In this workshop, Dr. Vincent Bellonzi of the Austin Wellness Institute will discuss how to monitor your metabolism and physiology in addition to using proper nutrition as a strategy towards weight loss and better health.
2/4/2005, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m., HBC 411

Improving Performance through Improvisation

These workshops use improvisation techniques to help you build your communication, listening and teamwork skills, as well as develop your creativity, spontaneity and sense of play. These four one-hour sessions will explore the following topics:

Communication - Finding the flow and stifling your inner critic
3/4/2005, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m, HBC TBA

Listening - Learning to listen and respond intuitively
3/11/2005, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m., HBC TBA

Flexibility - Creatively responding when things don’t go as planned
3/25/2005, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m., HBC TBA

Teamwork - Working well in groups
4/1/2005, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m., HBC TBA

Audio Conference: Handling Difficult Conversations with Employees - What Supervisors Need to Know

Every workplace has some incidents of unacceptable behavior. Supervisors need the appropriate tools to deal with these stressful and frustrating situations. In this workshop you will discover how to provide criticism that results in positive behavior changes, head-off negative emotions before they spread, and anticipate employee responses to bad news.
1/20/2005, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m., HBC 103.6

PowerPoint 1

This software application is a versatile, user-friendly tool for presentations. In this workshop, participants will learn to

  • create compelling interactive slides that support a presentation
  • produce overheads, outlines, audience handouts and speaker notes
  • use the drawing tools
  • insert graphics, sound and video into their slide presentation.

Bring a topic and several graphics on disc as there will be time at the end to work on your own project with assistance if needed.
1/21/2005, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m., HBC 212

PowerPoint 2

Learn the tools for taking your presentation to a higher level in this two-hour workshop. Learn how to create tables and charts, and insert voice narration, video clips and sound. Discover the versatility of the special effects menu by adding animation, transitions, pre-set timing and other effects. Finally, learn how to convert your presentation to a web page.
1/28/2005, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m., HBC 212

Word Basics

This workshop introduces you to the word processing features of Microsoft Word. This hands-on workshop covers creating and managing documents, editing documents, formatting text, paragraphs and pages and printing.
1/28/2005, 2:00 – 4:00 p.m., RVS 1121

Excel Basics

This workshop introduces you to the spreadsheet features of Microsoft Excel. This hands-on workshop covers creating and managing workbooks, editing and modifying worksheets, formatting, basic formulas and functions and printing.
1/27/2005, 2:00 – 4:00 p.m., HBC 301.8
2/9/2005, 2:00 – 4:00 p.m., EVC 2203.1

ACC's New Confidential Fraud and Ethics Report Line Training

Come meet Internal Auditor Imad Mouchayleh and learn more about ACC's Confidential Fraud and Ethics Report Line. You will learn how to file an anonymous report as well as who will receive your report. You will also learn how response communications will remain anonymous and how you can follow up on any report you have submitted.
1/18/2005,10:00 - 11:00 a.m., HBC 301.1
1/19/2005, 10:00 - 11:00 a.m., PIN 1013
1/20/2005, 3:00 - 4:00 p.m., CYP 1048
1/21/2005, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m., RGC 124
1/24/2005, 9:00 - 10:00 a.m., NRG 2121
1/24/2005, 2:00 - 3:00 p.m., SVC 133
1/25/2005, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m., EVC 2213
1/26/2005, 1:30 - 2:30 p.m., RVS, Bldg. G 8100
Latest Developments

Online: Special Populations: Students with Disabilities

More and more students with disabilities are entering the classroom, but instructors don't always know what protocol to follow to effectively address these students' needs. New to the realm of online tutorials comes a Special Populations workshop which provides faculty and staff with strategies, resources and tools for assisting students with disabilities as well as those with limited proficiency in English. To find out more or enroll go to https://workshops.austincc.edu.

ACC Competes Well with Companies Recognized for Psychologically Healthy Workplaces

The American Psychological Association honors companies in a new national awards program designed to highlight psychologically healthy workplaces. If you look at the companies selected and why they were nominated, you'll notice that ACC already engages in most of the featured practices (just not the one that allows employees to bring pets to work and provides pet insurance). Check out the article and count your blessings.
Profile

ACC Pays for Faculty to Attend TCCTA's 58th Annual Convention

The 2005 Texas Community College Teachers Association (TCCTA) Convention bursts into action February 17 - 19, 2005 at the Renaissance Austin Hotel. The 58th Annual Convention will offer over 100 discipline-specific section meetings as well as general topics, such as financial planning, technology and international education in the community college. Using poetry, music, and dialog, Valencia Community College president Sanford C. "Sandy" Shugart will address the convention with "Telling Our Story: The Teacher at the Heart of the Community College." If you're interested in going to the convention, register and ACC will receive the bill. More information can be obtained at the convention's web site.

IntelliMouse Trick Zooms Screen In and Out

You know that wheel between the left and right mouse buttons? Well if you've got one, that makes your mouse an IntelliMouse and it has a trick up its sleeve: hold down the Ctrl key while scrolling with the wheel. If you're in an Office application, the document will zoom in and out. If you're in Internet Explorer, the fonts will get bigger and smaller. Try it right now and be prepared to have your pupils spin.
Profile

Lyman Grant

Last August Lyman Grant walked in the footsteps of such notable authors as Carson McCullers and Julia Alvarez and went to the The Bread Loaf Writer's Conference in Vermont. The conference is designed to accommodate both published writers and those in the early stages of promising careers, with only 22% of the general applicants having been accepted in 2004. At a workshop during Spring Development Day, Lyman told about his experiences at Bread Loaf--such as having dinner with Daniel Wallace, the author of the book Big Fish (which was recently made into a movie) and his wife.

For twenty-six years Lyman has been at ACC. He currently serves as department head of creative writing and teaches classes in creative writing and in English. In addition, Lyman also edits the literary journal, The Rio Review.