Month-in-Review: August 2020

2020 ACC Foster Care Luggage Drive raises record amount
The 11th annual ACC Foster Care Luggage Drive raised $3,000 in donations, tripling last year's amount. In the previous 10 years, 403 pieces of luggage and $5,844 have been donated. This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, only monetary donations through Marketplace were being accepted. The donations are given to the Department of Family and Protective Services Preparation for Adult Living (PAL) program. Each year they have a graduation ceremony for all foster care youth in the Central Texas area who are graduating and transition out of the foster care system. As a graduation gift, the foster students are given luggage.

ACC's Annual Awards Celebration
The 2020 ACC Awards Celebration was hosted virtually on Thursday, July 30, 2020, from 6 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. This annual event allows the Chancellor and the ACC Board of Trustees to honor the outstanding ACC faculty and staff who have been selected for Leadership and Teaching Excellence Awards and celebrates their hard work and dedication. If you missed the celebration, you can watch it here

MyACC Faculty/Staff Portal Preview
The MyACC portals for faculty and staff went live Monday, August 17. They provide single sign-on, personalized access to resources and services unique to faculty and staff at the college. The portals can be accessed from the ACC Faculty and Staff webpage and ACC employees are encouraged to provide feedback on their customized web portals here.

The Future of Work Summit Recap
Nearly 500 ACC employees participated in ACC's Future of Work Summit July 27-30, 2020. The online event featured higher education experts who covered topics like:

  • What is COVID-19's impact on higher education?
  • What changes will happen in the labor market?
  • How can ACC prepare our students and innovate for the future of work in Central Texas?

Featured speakers included Apple Leadership executives, economists, demographers, research scholars, and partners from Workforce Solutions and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Emerging themes included helping students find their purpose, making sure to "light the fire" in the first college semester to give students early momentum, and considerations for equity and inclusion as we help students find middle-skills jobs. Session recordings are available on the event website

ACC Receives Third National QM certification
Two ACC Health Sciences courses have achieved Quality Matters (QM) certification. This brings the college's total to three courses that have received national recognition for quality online and hybrid learning:

  • PHIL 1301 — Introduction to Philosophy (December 2018)
  • HPRS 2300 — Pharmacology for Health Professionals (November 2019)
  • HPRS 1106 — Medical Terminology (August 2020)