Immigration, Education, and Our Future

Join us for this timely conference, co-sponsored by St. Edward’s University and Austin Community College District, on the pressing issues of immigration and the impact on P-16 level students and their families. Geared toward educators, non-profit and social service agency representatives, and local and state policy makers, sessions will allow conferees to interact with national and international experts.

When: Friday, May 9, 2008, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Location: St. Edward’s University, Jones Auditorium in Ragsdale Center, 3001 S. Congress Ave, Austin, TX 78704 See Map
For more information, please call Judy Green at (512) 223-7795 or go to the website.

Investment and Financial Planning Fair 2008

The Benefits Section of Human Resources will host the annual Investment & Financial Planning Fair on Wednesday, May 14, 2008, 8:30 am to 2:00 pm at the Highland Business Center, room 201. This fair and workshop is designed to provide employees the opportunity to evaluate their financial plans over the long-term. Go to http://www.austincc.edu/hr/benefits/invest_fair.php to view more information.

In addition to our usual offerings, the list below previews workshops being offered this spring. Just click on the name of the workshop to get more information or enroll.

Solar Energy Symposium
5/2/2008,10:00am-3:30pm, RVS S 103

Supervisor Series: Servant-Leadership in Feedback and Evaluations
5/6/2008, 10:00am-11:30am, HBC 410

The A, B, C, and Ds of Employee Evaluation
5/6/2008, 2:00pm-3:30pm, HBC 301.0
5/23/2008, 10:00am-11:30am, HBC 411

Effective Leadership
5/7/2008, 9:00am-10:30am, RVS S 103

Minutes-Taking Made Easy
5/8/2008, 10:00am-11:30am, HBC 301.8

Course Redesign 5: Self-Assessment
5/9/2008, 2:00pm-4:00pm, HBC 103.2

Course Redesign 6: Sustainability in Course Redesign
5/30/2008, 2:00pm-4:00pm, HBC 410

First Class Customer Service - Using a Servant-Leadership Approach
5/9/2008, 9:00am-10:30am, PIN 1013

ADA Awareness
5/9/2008, 11:00am-12:00pm, HBC 103.2
6/3/2008, 10:00am-11:00am, HBC 410

Sexual Harassment Prevention
5/9/2008, 10:00am-11:00pm, HBC 103.2
6/3/2008, 11:00am-12:00am, HBC 410

HR: Building a Better Budget
5/12/2008, 9:30am-10:30am, EVC 3154

Overcoming Procrastination: Part 1 (FULL)
5/21/2008, 2:00pm-3:30pm, HBC 301.0

Overcoming Procrastination: Part 2
5/22/2008, 2:00pm-3:30pm, HBC 103.2

Proofreading Basics
6/4/2008, 9:00am-10:30am, HBC 410

Wellness Series

Keeping Your Cool Even When Others Don't
5/29/2008, 3:00pm-4:30pm, NRG 4136

Diabetes: Costs, Risks and Prevention
6/4/2008, 12:30pm-1:30pm, RVS G8100

Finding Your Oxygen: Keys to Worklife Balance and Success
6/10/2008, 2:00pm-3:30pm, EVC 2311

What I Wish I Had Known Before Cancer
6/25/2008, 11:30am-1:00pm, HBC 411

Valuable Resources Just a Click Away

ACC has access to Starlink's library of resources. Monthly and Annual Streaming Videos (Best of) and Ideas on Teaching can all be accessed with the password biblioteca.

Starlink Webinar: “Overcome Everything”

Why do people fail? What do scientific breakthroughs reveal about the mind, body, and spirit that can help you stay motivated? How can you make fear a non-issue? This workshop is part of Success & Leadership Series 6.

Presenter: Patrick Combs, author of "Gearing Up for a Great Life" and "Major in Success," the #1 bestselling student success book ever. He is included in the National Motivational Speakers Hall of Fame and is a renowned success coach around the world. These monthly webinars, which can be accessed under the Topics and Dates for FY2008 Programs link, require a special password. The password for this one is success4u.

Starlink Streaming Video: “Saving Dollars and Making Sense: Unbundling Faculty Duties in Distance Courses”

Research into the costs of distance courses reveals that a key strategy for improving both “the bottom line” and teaching effectiveness is “unbundling” faculty duties: using teaching assistants, graders, discussion leaders, IT personnel, etc. This streaming video, available 24/7 via the Internet the entire month of May, will show how this practice works for distance courses. You may access this from the STARLINK homepage at www.starlinktraining.org under the “Members Only” section, using password biblioteca.

To receive professional development credit for these workshops, please email mrichard@austincc.edu a 200-word response to the video which can include what you liked about it, what you didn’t like, what it is that you gained from the video, what you might incorporate into your work or class, or any combination of these.

ACC Academy

Academy Goal: To develop the leadership skills of ACC full-time faculty and staffing table employees who demonstrate future leadership promise.

The timeframe of the academy will run from September through June. Various topics to be discussed over the course of the academy will be:

Servant-Leadership and Supervisory expectations
Community College hallmarks and future, ACC history and organization
Teambuilding
Internal and External College Relations (i.e., ACC Foundation, ACC Board, ACC partnerships and Community Based Organizations)
Understanding ACC’s Budget and Master Planning Process
Leadership and Diversity
Understanding the Roles of the THECB, SACS, and the Texas Legislature
Developing leadership skills, professional ethics and integrity

There will be an electronic application process that will consist of:

Letter of interest, including a statement of long-range professional goals
Résumé
2 letters of endorsement
2 annual reviews
Completed application form

All materials will be submitted to the Professional Development department by June 13, 2008. Participants will be selected by the end of June and their names will be forwarded to PLT the first week of July. Selected participants will be announced in August and will be asked to attend a kick-off meeting on September 19th. For more information, go to the website.

Career and Education Mergers: Transdisciplinary Learning

Jobs requiring technical training are growing at five times the rate of other occupations. A key 21st Century need is for employees who can integrate knowledge from across academic boundaries and solve real-world problems. This workshop will provide updated information essential for guiding students towards successful technical careers.

Attendees will:

Gain understanding in the interrelationship of 21st Century science, technology, society, and Texas economic development;
Be able to integrate information regarding students’ career needs or interests with technical education, the arts, and general academics;
Gain understanding of the shifts from industrial and informational work to transdisciplinary work.

May 22, 2008, 1:30-4:30 p.m., HBC 201
The presenter is Mr. Jim Brazell. Since 1995, Brazell has motivated and captured the imagination of audiences worldwide. Jim serves as a consulting analyst to the Texas State Technical College's Emerging Technologies program and to Digital Media Collaboratory at the Institute for Innovation, Creativity, and Capital, known as IC2, University of Texas at Austin.

You may preregister for this event at https://www3.austincc.edu/it/workshops/www/login.php.

NISOD Conference: May 25-28

The National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) meets once again in Austin this May focusing on "Teaching and Leadership Excellence." The U.S. Department of Education will offer six sessions in the career and technical education strand. The National Science Foundation will conduct two presentations, including a hands-on grant-writing workshop. There is a session for Department Chairs on what it takes to be a successful chair and how to optimize the use of part-time faculty. The Media and Advocacy Workshop will offer new tools and techniques to help you become a more effective advocate with media and policymakers.

On a special note, ACC President Dr. Steve Kinslowwill receive one of the two 2008 NISOD International Leadership Awards at this year's conference.

Smoking Cessation

If you have ever tried to quit smoking and failed, take comfort in the fact that most smokers fail six to eight times before quitting successfully. Your past failures are not a message that you are unable to quit. Instead, view them as part of the normal journey toward becoming a nonsmoker. The Wellness program is planning to offer a Smoking Cessation program this summer. If you are interested in receving information about this program, please contact Merrilee Shopland to be placed on the contact list.

Tech Tip - Opening Internet Explorer in kiosk mode

A friend wanted Internet Explorer to open in Kiosk mode. In this view, there is nothing at the top and nothing at the bottom. No toolbars, no taskbar. Nothing. Well, you can set that up automatically, you can use the current icon, or create a new one. I recommend the latter, so you're not locked into Kiosk mode.

Start by right-clicking an empty area on the desktop. Select New>>Shortcut. In the box, enter "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE" -k. Name it IE Kiosk.

Of course, there are no navigation buttons. So you have to substitute keystrokes. For instance, there is no Back button. But you can use the Backspace key. There's no Forward button, either. So you use Alt+Right Arrow. And to close the window? Click Ctrl+W.

You can visit Microsoft’s website to learn more keyboard shortcuts.

Tips for De-Stressing Frenzied Faculty

NISOD’s regular practitioner publication, Innovation Abstracts, is available online to all ACC faculty and staff. The publication is password protected. The user name is “member” and the password is 30years. Use this to access the article mentioned below.

In the most recent Innovation Abstract (Volume XXX, Number 12) “Tips for De-Stressing Frenzied Faculty,” Beverly Forsyth, Professor of English at Odessa College, describes seven strategies to help faculty get control of their personal and professional time—avoiding stress and burn-out.

To access the Innovation Abstracts, go to http://www.nisod.org/publications/abstracts/index.html

May/June 2008