Stop #2 – Office of Disability Services

June 21^st, 2010

Today was all about Disability Services. An overview:

Our mission...

The Office of Disability Services (ODS) works in partnership with the greater College community to facilitate equal access for students with disabilities to the educational programs, services and activities of Parkland College in accordance with federal law.

Our goals...

• to help students determine, access, and use academic accommodations;
• to equip students having disabilities with the technical resources that help them reach their educational goals;
• to foster an environment that encourages personal and academic growth and facilitates independence;
• to help students understand their abilities and needs, as well as the resources available to them;
• and to be an educational resource on disabilities concerns for our students, faculty, staff, and community.

Coordinator Becky Osborne and Associate Coordinator Nancy Rowley met me first thing in the morning. Since Secretary Kris Murray was out of the office today, I served as her temporary replacement and I might add that I performed my duties without messing up her desk.

The first order of business was familiarization with processes of how to answer the phone, schedule appointments for testing and assessment of services, send notices to faculty about tests that were completed, etc.

Most of the morning was spent on student appointments, some drop-in traffic, and a visit by Troy Burns to review the facilities. I was scheduled to help a student transcribe a test in a Spanish 100 since I have a little bit of background in that subject, but our student had to drop the course. Lo Siento.

I met Ian Thurow, an EIU student that volunteers 5 hours per day, Monday through Thursday in the office. Ian has an interest in working in the Student Services field and has decided that offering his services in the office will give him some exposure and assistance in making his career choice. Congratulations and thanks, Ian.

Left to right: Ian Thurow (EIU  Psychology Student), Nancy Rowley (Associate Coordinator), Becky Osborne (Coordinator).

Nancy Rowley demoed some of the assistive technology that the office and students use in cases of low vision in particular. Read/Write Gold in particular is such a useful piece of software that has application for many kinds of learners. The software has come a long way, useful for students with physical impairments as well as for student that have different learning styles (auditory v. visual). It will read webpages, PDF and Word docs, look up definitions, offer predictive vocabulary suggestions on the fly as well. Very nice.

Thanks to Becky and Nancy for hosting me.

Stop #1 – Business Training and Community Education

June 14 – 15, 2010

What a delightful way to begin this tour.

I was able to attend two staff meetings, have lunch with the entire office, meet a new employee welcome to (RJ Rowland with the new IDOT grant program), and have some great discussions with the people that work in the north end of the Parkland on Mattis building.

Here is what I learned:

• BT has a nice little meeting agenda template (attached) that works very well for their weekly meetings. Actually, you have to see it in practice to fully appreciate.
• The old Live and Learn publication needs a new name. If you think of something brilliant, let Jan Simon or Triss Henderson know.
• Congratulations to the Marketing Department for your work/design of the posters informing our students and visitors that we will be closed for 8 Fridays in the summer. BT and Community Ed loved the design.
• Call volume jumped from @ 166 calls per week to 308 after the most recent BT publication hit the streets.  That is an average of 61 calls per day. Well done.
• We are adding another handicapped parking space in front of the facility.
• Twenty-Four scholarships were funded and distributed to deserving College for Kids participants. Thanks to the Foundation, Allison Smith in Community Ed, and the staff in the Grants and Contracts Office for pursuing.
• The BT/Community Ed Staff take a day once per year to do some special cleaning of their area. Baseboards are wiped down and Chairs are dusted, etc. Wow!K
• Keep your eyes open for a special week-long fundraiser at Chili’s to support College for Kids. 
• Troy Burns, Jan Simon, Triss Henderson and I toured the buildings and grounds. Special thanks to Jackie Jones in the Physical Plant for her excellent work keeping the facility in good shape.
• The Truck Driver Training (or CDL) program is a hidden gem. Four weeks of training leads to a $40k per year career and Coordinator Jason Kamp says that students are seeing 4-5 job offers just two weeks into the program.
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Here is a picture of the group. The person on the far right is Jason Kamp. He took the group picture, so this is my version of “photoshopping” him in.

Our colleagues in the BT and Community Ed do a great job serving students. It’s evident that they are busy “engaging the community in learning”. My appreciation for all you do.

Tour dates are filling up. Public Safety is scheduled. I’ll go with Von to a Chief’s meeting, spend some time in the dispatch office and shadow an officer the next day.

On June 28^th, I’ll spend a week in the Admissions Office. Maybe they will let me sit at the front desk for a while…

The week of August 2^nd, I’ll learn more about Financial Aid and maybe help out Chris and Mary at the front desk. No doubt, I’ll learn more about the wonderful world of “FASFA”.

Today was the first “Tuesday Lunch in Gulliver’s”. About a dozen of us got together and had a free-wheeling discussion about a number of topics:

• Electronic “contracts” versus the paper versions from years past
• Status of Adult Education funding
• Construction projects (roofing in particular with all this rain)
• Budget outlook
• Board Meetings – They are open to the public and any/all employees that so desire. Don’t hesitate to come if you are inclined. FYI, I will be posting a summary of the meeting in the portal as well.
• The old deck outside HR has been removed today.
• Wireless network speed is sometimes an issue.

A word of thanks to Linda Parent, Betty Zeedyk, Lori Friedman, Kevin Knott and Brian Counter for their diligent work (till midnight last night, I hear) on getting the C3 report done. A lot of work went into this report.

And a mystery. As you sit in Gulliver’s and look out to the southwest, the wood trim by the roofline has a small red and white checked “sign” on it. It looks to have been there for a while, but no one at lunch knew what it is or its purpose. Do you? A mystery…

I’ll be posting updates and information to this site regularly, as the tour progresses. In addition, I’ll post notes from our Executive Team meetings…topics we discuss, decisions that are made, and information that might be good for you to know. I hope you find it useful. 

Tom
(From the BTC/Community Ed. Conference room)

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Business Training Staff Meetings

Objective:

To conduct an efficient, effective staff meeting

Agenda:

• Weekly Calendar (Angela)
• Enrollment Numbers (Kay)—Date of Class, Title, Enrollment
• Confirmation/No-Pay contacts (Angela)
• Book Orders (Paul/Angela)
• E-mail Blasts (Paul)
• TSP News/Updates (Angela)
• Open Enrollment News/Updates (Paul)
• Contract Training News/Updates (Joe)
• HCCTP Grant News/Updates (RJ)
• Staff schedules (Kay, Angela, Paul, Joe, Triss)
• Director Items (Triss)
• New topics/discussions relating to Department

Materials Needed:

• Room Calendars, Enrollments, Staff Schedules
• Ground Rules:
• Be on time
• Forward desk phones to voicemail
• Mute cell phones
• Keep personal items separate—focus on business matters relating to the Department
• Listen for door chime to assist participants
• Check voicemail and follow-up with future participants immediately after meeting
• Kay will take notes and Angela will type them up and ensure delivery to Staff

Summer Tour 2010:

I've been in my office far too much for far too long. I'm interested in doing something different.  I'd like to join you and your staff for a couple days to a week and work alongside you, learn a little bit, answer some questions, and the like.

This is a new idea that’s designed to help me better understand what life on a daily basis in your Department/Office entails. I have no doubt that it will help me better represent all you do for our Board of Trustees and our community and give me a chance to talk directly with the people who make Parkland such a great place.

Promises:

1.       I currently write evaluations for six people and if you aren't already on that list, have no intentions to add you.

2.       What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. In other words, I have no desire to come between you and your supervisor, make decisions that affect you, or commit your unit to anything. The intent is a mutual learning experience. I will, however, take your suggestions, observations, and ideas seriously.

Requests:

1.       We find an hour or so for us and Troy Burns to walk around your areas of responsibility to identify anything that the Physical Plant needs to know about.

2.       I’d be interested in sitting in on staff meetings, participating in any activities you have planned, go to class, and pitch in and help out where you need. I am trainable. I’ll wear jeans on the day I visit the Building and Grounds area, finger paint with the kids in the CDC, and talk to anyone at any time.

3.       We figure out a time/day for me to take you and your staff out to lunch. We may have to break down into smaller groups if you have a large area. You name the place and I'll buy.

4.       Give me a place with a chair and a small table or shared work space, preferably not by myself. That would defeat the purpose. I don't need much room; I’ll share space, work in a bullpen area, and can move around every day.  I don't want to put anyone out or make you feel uncomfortable.

Beginning Monday, June 14^th, Summer Tour 2010 kicks off with 2 days in Community Education and Business Training on Mattis Avenue.

During the summer, it seems to make the most sense to visit Student Services, Administrative Services, and Institutional Advancement units before the start of the fall semester. I’ll save Academic Services for fall unless there is something happening that makes sense.

Since there are so many places to visit and you have so many different things going on, I will be asking the Tour Manager, Nancy Willamon, to contact you about possible dates. But, if you have a special week in mind, please feel free to call or email her.

In addition, I intend to use the "From the President" tab in My.Parkland to chronicle thoughts, ideas, suggestions, and observations. I hope you will take a look occasionally.

I look forward to the summer. Thank you for all you do.