HCC Receives Acceptance to the National Summer Institute on Learning Communities at Evergreen College

This summer a select group of HCC faculty and staff have been accepted and will be attending The National Summer Institute on Learning Communities at Evergreen College in Olympia, Washington. 

The National Summer Institute on Learning Communities is designed to help two-year and four-year campuses that are starting or expanding learning community programs, as well as institutions that are just beginning to explore the potential for learning communities on their campus. It draws on the wisdom of experienced learning community practitioners as well as the growing research on what makes learning communities an effective institutional change strategy for improving student learning, persistence, and graduation rates. 

The institute has been held annually since the mid-1990’s at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. Teams from both public and independent institutions have found the institute invaluable in creating, expanding, and improving their learning community programs.

Colleges and universities selected for the institute are matched with resource faculty who are leaders in learning community work and other reform movements in higher education. The work of each team at the institute varies, depending on their institutional and program needs. Institutions starting or expanding their programs will leave the institute with a two-year action plan. Those considering learning communities will create a well-developed program proposal. Workshops and consultations are designed to support teams' work on proposals and plans relevant to their institution. Teams generally range in size from five to ten members.

The HCC Learning Communities mission statement is: “To provide HCC students an opportunity for interactions with faculty and peers in a vibrant, linked classroom experience; This educational space offers faculty partners  collaborative, intellectual collegiality, creating interdisciplinary intersections,  while students benefit from  a cohesive, transferrable, relevant view with increased interest in learning and perseverance.”

Faculty Spotlight - Christopher Martinez

Faculty Spotlight - Christopher Martinez

Humanities Instructor Dale Mabry Campus “If I can do this, anyone can.” As a graduate of HCC (I show my students my AA degree), I tell them that as a solid C student I still excelled at HCC. So, if I can do this, anyone can. They just need to be tenacious.

Capital Course: I love teaching World Religions. The course touches on the personal lives of every student in the class, whether we cover their religion or religious background or upbringing. The students internalize the knowledge, recognizing it as familiar. Ideal Ideology: An advocate would best describe my philosophy of higher education. This advocate, interacting with the local community, guides students in their best interest. Higher education is the link between the aspiration of students and the community’s needs. The responsibility of this advocate is to anticipate the future needs of the community and general society and to tailor its educational offerings accordingly. This serves best both students and the community. The latter can be seen in the fields of distance education and multi-media training, no longer a future trend. Multi-media skills are needed in the careers of the present. HCC, as the student advocate, should offer this training. But multi-media training should not be just the goal, but also the delivery system. In the 21st century, students need access to more than just traditional, face-to-face instruction. Technology is the norm in society, and it should be that in higher education. Distance learning and multi-media training has been shown to exceed face-to-face instruction in certain aspects. This is why I have been involved in the e-textbook pilot at HCC. Teachable Moment: I’ve had two. One student’s last name was Singh. I asked her if she was a Sikh. She asked me how I knew. I told her Singhs have the title “Singh” in their name and they are Sikhs. She said she went home and her parents confirmed this, something she had never been told. Another student showed up for class wearing two rosaries around his neck. I asked to borrow one and then began reciting the prayers assigned to each bead. His eyes grew wide and said he did not know that was what a rosary was for. This reflects my teaching approach: a personal encounter with students so they internalize the knowledge in class and use it in cognitive reasoning. Student Success: I believe in “edutainment.” This is a combination of education and entertainment. Students, particularly the younger ones, consume large and fast quantities of entertainment through various electronic means. In the classroom, I use humor to hook the students (get their attention) and then teach an interesting topic, interspersed with videos, class projects and more humor. Humor makes me, as an instructor, more approachable, when a student is encountering difficulty inside or outside the classroom. Techno Tool: Blackboard is my primary techno tool. Everything is in the course template there: syllabus, PowerPoint and other documents, reviews for tests. This is the primary sources for my instructional content, and both instructor and student draws from it, so everyone is on the same page. Optimized Advice: It would be presumptuous to offer advice to any faculty member, including new ones, with one exception: encouragement. Remember, you usually always know more than the students. Love your teaching, enjoy your interaction with the students, and be passionate about the subject matter.

Faculty Spotlight - Bryan Shuler

Bryan Shuler

Humanities, Dale Mabry Campus

Course Range: (Traditional)

Quotable Quote:  When studying the Humanities, especially in my African Humanities course, “It’s all about “Culture,” and not about Colour.”

Capital Course:  HUM 2420- African Humanities; as one of only a handful of Africanists in the state, I take pleasure in bringing my fieldwork as a Fulbright Research Scholar and Cultural Expert for National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions to the classroom and sharing it with dedicated and curious students here at HCC.

Ideal Ideology:  I believe that only through hands-on in-depth research in the field can an instructor fully perceive, appreciate and explain the various aspects of their course topics, and therefore, present the insight our students desperately need in order to successfully compete in the global environment they are and will experience in their lifetime.

Teachable Moment- Student Success: As a Humanistic Anthropologist, I continuously place myself within the scenario of the culture being discussed, and honestly share my personal experiences and reactions in the moment to what was occurring around me, rather than observing the culture at arm’s length, keeping it in a glass museum case. The students will automatically perceive the difference in approach and will come to embrace the culture rather than allow it to remain 2-dimentional in a textbook. It is one thing to discuss health issues through published statistics; it is another to share my personal experiences and emotions interacting with lepers in the community in which I lived. Photographs of textiles in a textbook cannot even begin to match the same classroom experience as allowing students to adorn various cloth and costumes from a culture. In the end, these moments of sharing between students and instructor inspire them to engage in their own unique experiences which jettison them into a world of personal exploration. 

Techno Tool:  I enjoy using the Power-Point presentations created using photographs taken during my fieldwork as it transcends a product made from “Clip-art” into a statement of personal point-of-view.

Optimized Advice:  Break out of the academic sterility; do not be afraid to expose one’s own emotions and experiences in your given field to the students, as this is the real basis for genuine honesty in the classroom.

HCC now has NROC!

NROC is the National Repository of Online Courses. So, why choose NROC?

• High-quality content is media-rich, adaptable and affordable.
• Mapped to state and federal standards.
• Content can be used with or without a textbook to enhance online, blended and face-to-face learning environments.
• Content can be used for co-requisite, remedial and/or modularized learning per Senate Bill 1720.



Available content in:

- Math (Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, Calculus, Statistics, and Probability)

- Natural Science (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Earth and Environmental Science),

- Social Science (History, Government, Economics and Religion)

• Instructors can modify their own HippoCampus site with custom Subject Displays, and Textbook Correlations, topic-level Annotations and Playlists.

For more about NROC, including information on how to login to HCC's portal page, click here.

What I Learned at the Florida Master Teacher Seminar

By Mustapha Lahrach

Imagine a completely immersive learning environment. Like the first day of any class, you are in a room with 34 people you have never met. You don’t know anything about their backgrounds, but if they’ve been assigned to your same class, you must have something in common. Imagine sitting in a dark room with this group of people watching a planetarium show as “The Dark Side of the Moon” plays in the background. Imagine sitting in a different room, facing each other, sharing the challenges we stumble upon from day to day. And finally, imagine spending four whole days with that same group of people.

This is true immersion.

The Florida Master Teacher Seminar brings teachers together in a comfortable environment to share their experiences of mastering their field and to help each other achieve excellence in education. This was accomplished through group discussions and by introducing excellent ideas that can be implemented easily and effectively. One example was the in-class activity, “One-Minute Motivator,” which balances a lecture with a visual aid to help focus students’ attention while they listen to the instructor. It could be an activity, a quick quiz, a magic trick, or a riddle that grabs attention or causes students to focus on a specific issue or topic.

Before arriving, each attendee was asked to bring a favorite, motivational book (mine was Paolo Coelho’s The Alchemist), which was placed in a room for the duration of the seminar. This gave us the opportunity to skim through pages of inspiration between workshops and discussions. One of the inspirational presentations that supplemented the group discussions was titled “How to Succeed at Almost Anything, Almost All the Time.”

And the secret is

• Vision (know what you want to accomplish)
• Equipment (have everything you need to accomplish it)
• Preparation (be prepared with plan B)
• Mystique (don’t be predictable!)
• Participation (to get others involved, be involved)
• Execution (as Nike says, just do it!)

If we can incorporate these elements into our teaching and into our lives, we should be able to master the challenges we face with confidence and be a positive force for our students and each other.

In facing these challenges, we push ourselves to improve, and in order to reach a higher level, we must improve on what we do now, by revisiting and revising what we have been doing year upon year. At the end of the seminar, each attendee shared a 15-minute teaching demonstration; upon completion, the audience contributed only positive, constructive feedback on notecards that the presenter could keep. What better way to get and keep advice, recommendations, and feedback from a trusted group of experienced teachers! This sort of self-improvement activity could help all of us, even without attending a seminar… I can ask a trusted colleague to sit in my class for 15 minutes. What will he or she see? How can I improve my teaching?

This is what I learned at the Florida Master Teacher Seminar…

Lilly Conference Announcements

(Reposted from Lilly Conference email announcement)

For 33 years, the Lilly Conferences on College and University Teaching and Learning have been known as exceptional places to present and to learn from faculty colleagues on effective teaching and learning. This interdisciplinary teaching conference includes faculty, administrators, and graduate students from across the United States and abroad. Participants are given the opportunity to exchange ideas, build a repertoire of skills that can be put to immediate use, and to network with colleagues.

The overall conference theme for the Lilly Conference series is “Evidence-Based Teaching and Learning.” Each of the Lilly Conferences are unique, but they all share the same great Lilly community spirit.

Lilly Conferences Time Sensitive Announcements:

Lilly National Austin: Jan 2-5, 2014 http://lillyconferences.com/tx
Plenary presenters are David Daniel, Terry Doyle, Marilla Svinicki, and Barbara Millis. Preconference workshop by Todd Zakrajsek, included with registration.
Draft program is now available: http://lillyconferences.com/tx/files/2014-Agenda.pdf
Although the general call for proposals is closed, poster presentation submissions are still being considered as space allows. http://lillyconferences.com/tx/proposals/

Lilly Conferences Updates: http://lillyconferences.com

Lilly International Conference: Oxford, Ohio, Nov 21-24, 2013 http://www.units.miamioh.edu/lillycon/
Lilly Conference - Oxford is SOLD OUT!!! If you are interested in experiencing the Conference, you still have a chance to do so virtually! For one low price you can watch the sessions from the comfort of your home or office, or host a campus-wide discussion with a group of faculty.
To see a complete list of sessions being recorded and to register for the webcast option, visit the Conference website at: http://MiamiOH.edu/lillycon

Lilly National Newport Beach: Feb 20 – 22, 2014 http://lillyconferences.com/ca
Plenary presenters are Tara Gray, Diane Halpern, Christy Price, and Todd Zakrajsek.

Lilly Spring International Conference: Bethesda May 29 - June 1, 2014 http://lillyconferences.com/bethesda
Registration and Call for proposals open until January 6. http://lillyconferences.com/bethesda/proposals/

Lilly Traverse City: Oct 17-20, 2013
Thanks for a great conference. Save the date for next year.....Oct 16 - 19, 2014 in Traverse City, Michigan.

Important Info for Camtasia Mac Users

If you have a Mac computer and are currently running Camtasia, this blog post is for you!

If you have updated your Mac to the OS X 10.9 Mavericks operating system, then you must also update your version of Camtasia Studio.

To install the update:

1. Open Camtasia for Mac
2. Click Camtasia 2 > Check for Updates
3. Follow the prompts to install the update

Call for Proposals: Research on Teaching and Learning Summit 2014

(reposted from Kennesaw State University email announcement)

Looking for a conference that is exciting, collegial and a great value? Please consider submitting a proposal to Research on Teaching and Learning Summit.

About the Conference Formerly known as The Georgia Conference on College & University Teaching, the Research on Teaching and Learning Summit has been renamed to underscore our commitment to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, with an emphasis on research and evidence. Since 1993, thousands of educators from all University System of Georgia colleges and universities, as well as many other schools in the country, and even educators from outside the US and Canada, have participated in this interdisciplinary conference. The renaming also reflects the growth of the conference, transcending state and national boundaries.

Now entering its third decade, the Summit is designed to provide college and university faculty the opportunity to discuss and share experiences and innovative teaching techniques. It offers concurrent sessions on cutting-edge issues in pedagogy and higher education in a relaxed, congenial atmosphere. There are also opportunities for participants to network with fellow educators. Participants report they have learned many new ideas they were able to bring back to campus, and have been energized by interacting with a collegial community of educators invested in excellent teaching.

To learn more about the conference tracks, types of presentations and submission details, please visit the conference website.

Submission Deadline:
Sunday Dec 1, 2013, no later than 11:59pm

Notifications of acceptance or rejections:
Monday, December 16, 2013

Submit Proposals Here:
http://cetl.kennesaw.edu/summit/call-for-proposals

TYCA-SE Conference 2014 Invitation and Call for Proposals—“Beacons of Light”

TYCA-SE Conference 2014 Invitation and Call for Proposals—“Beacons of Light”

Welcome to Sunny Florida—February 27-March 1, 2014! Pack your bathing suit and beach towel for the 49th Annual Two-Year College English Association-Southeast Conference hosted by Hillsborough Community College, Tampa, FL. The Tampa Hilton Airport Westshore has reserved a block of rooms for us about two minutes from International Mall Plaza and a few minutes from Tampa Bay.

Beyond the balmy “winter” weather, the 2014 TYCA-SE conference offers opportunities for a rejuvenating exchange of ideas through stimulating concurrent sessions on a variety of topics:

• Composition and Rhetoric
• Technical Writing
• Literature
• International Studies
• Speech/Listening
• Technology
• Film Studies/Media
• Assessment
• Creative Writing
• Pedagogy
• Developmental Writing/Reading
• Curriculum

We’re eager to hear your experiences and your ideas. To submit a proposal at the conference site, click here. The deadline for submissions is Sunday, 10 November 2013.

Register soon to avoid late registration fees. The deadline is Wednesday, 5 February 2014. The link for the registration form is on the left navigation bar of the conference Web site: click here.

For additional information, contact Diorah Nelson, Diorah Nelson; Sylvia Holladay; or Teresa Galloway.

For a printable PDF that includes information on the keynote speaker, conference sessions, accommodations and events, please click here.

Want Professional Development On-Demand?

HCC has Go2Knowledge! Go2Knowledge is an on-demand professional development system that offers over 75 webinars. Certificates are issued upon the completion of each webinar.

Training topics include:

• At-Risk Populations
• Campus Safety
• Organizational Development
• Student Success
• Teaching & Learning
• Technology

Visit the MyHCC Assistance Center (in Blackboard) for login instructions. Don't have access to the MyHCC Assistance Center? Register on the CITT Website.

NISOD - Call for Proposals

(reposted from NISOD announcement)

NISOD’s annual conference is the definitive gathering of faculty, administrators, and staff seeking to engage in deep conversations about best and promising practices designed to improve student achievement. This call for presentations invites proposals that address important issues facing today’s community and technical colleges, including:

• Demands to increase the number of completers
• Continuing need for postsecondary remediation
• Synchronizing higher education expectations and high school reform efforts
• Improving alignments between two- and four-year institutions
• Substantial reliance on part-time faculty
• Fully online and blended courses and programs and other educational technologies
• Shifting demands for skilled labor
• New approaches to sub-baccalaureate training and credentialing
• Joint-baccalaureate programming
• Declining fiscal resources
• Calls for improved data systems, data-sharing, and accountability
• Under-representation of African-American, Latino, Native American, female, and low-income students in STEM disciplines
• Shifting demographic, political, and economic forces
• Succession planning for faculty and senior administrators

Submit your proposal by January 10, 2014

Additional information, including the complete list of program strands, can be found at www.nisod.org/conference

Dealing with a Diverse Student Body

By Johana Melendez

Dealing with a diverse student body

Would you like to hear more about 4 core principles that all students long for? Regardless of their background, ethnicity, language, gender, religion, age, and all differences you can name, I believe these are core principles that if you embrace them, it can advance your connections with students that could eventually lead to improvement in their academic progress. If you want to hear more about it and some practical strategies to use in your classroom when dealing with a diverse student body click in the link to read more.

Dealing with a diverse student body

We all know very well that our students are different in many ways: physically, ethnically, culturally, socially, economically, emotionally, by age, gender, religion, level of intelligence, etc… So, how can we teach and reach out to all of them? Is it even possible? I personally think it is possible, however, it will be challenging because it all begins with “Me”, the teacher. In reading different publications about this topic and reflecting in my own personal experiences, I have come to the realization that most of the things that we want to change about our students may not be possible to change. But we can always change ourselves, our perceptions and expectations and educate ourselves so we can better deal with those things we cannot change. No matter how diverse your classroom is, there are principles that are common to all human beings and if you understand that, and embrace it, it will help you reach out to all your students and be a more effective teacher, regardless of their background and differences. Here, I list some of those core principles that we all long for with some ideas on how to apply them in your classroom.

1. Students want to be accepted and respected for who they are: Never assume, do not generalize. To better understand their behaviors, try to understand their home culture and family values and beliefs. The first day of class you can ask questions about what they think of education, their expectations of your class and you, as their teacher. Ask them if those ideas come from their family or the society they live in. Clarify your expectations that you have of them from day one, so they know where you stand and what you expect of them. Acknowledge that there may be differences in opinions and explain why you value your methods and philosophy of teaching. Always use a tone that demonstrates respect. After all, they are adults, just like you.
2. Students appreciate being thought of as if they are “smart and capable." We all enjoy being told how smart we are and love being able to achieve challenging things. People like challenge. Nothing feels better than being able to say: “That was hard, but I did it”. Don’t assume they are lazy and want and easy class. They may be anxious and feel lost, but with guidance and respect they are more likely to get inspired and start believing in themselves. Make your class challenging and always keep high standards but be sure to help them by providing them with structure and guidance on how to study the material. Many of them don’t know how to study. And then praise them when they achieve results. Demonstrate high expectations, but make sure you are available to help them achieve. The more practice and challenging discussions happen inside the classroom, the more they master the material and become confident outside the classroom and during the tests. If it’s too difficult, be flexible by offering them different alternatives to the same assignment. For example, if it’s a microbiology project, ask them to pick the diseases they want to research, instead of you making the decision for them. Give them periodic reviews, prompt feedback and frequent tests or practice tests so they have a chance to master material before final test. Give them the opportunity to drop a low grade. If they know that it is realistically possible to achieve a good grade, they will be more motivated to work on your class. If they know their whole grade depends on just a few tests, they will feel insecure and hopeless, and may give up.
3. Students want to know that you care: Everyone needs and wants to be loved. Showing that you care is a sign of love that goes the extra mile. Allow students to share their personal dreams, goals, concerns and hopes. Remember the saying: “No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care." Get them involved with community projects. Service learning is a great way to do that while they learn class material because they get to help the community and feel part of something. That will help you connect with the students in the class and outside the class. Attend SGA events to celebrate with students and thank them for their involvement in extracurricular activities.
4. Students love to share their life stories with the class and you: Tap into students' backgrounds to enhance learning. Students' self-esteem and motivation are enhanced when teachers ask them to share their experiences by creating class discussions and validating what they say. Students are more likely to be interested in your class when they can relate the concepts to their own life stories and experiences. So, do your homework and get to know them on first day so you can be prepared with ideas and examples that touch each of them.

In conclusion, I believe that teaching students here at HCC can be challenging because of the diversity of students we have, but if we embrace it, we can also learn from it and enjoy it. Although everything I wrote here comes from my heart and beliefs, I gathered ideas from the reference below to write this article and if you want to learn more, visit the link or read in the book “Educating Everybody's Children: Diverse Teaching Strategies for Diverse Learners, Revised and Expanded 2nd Edition Edited by Robert W. Cole; Chapter 2. Diverse Teaching Strategies for Diverse Learners written by Marietta Saravia-Shore. http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/107003/chapters/Diverse-Teaching-Strategies-for-Diverse-Learners.aspx

Jeremy Bullian and Alicia Ellison Published in the Journal of Web Librarianship!

Join us in congratulating HCC Librarians Jeremy Bullian and Alicia Ellison.

Their article, "Building a Low-Cost, Low-Labor Library Web Site at Hillsborough Community College," is now published in the Journal of Web Librarianship.

Here is the abstract page.

Jeremy and Alicia will also present their article as panelists at the Internet Librarian 2013 conference in October.

Upcoming Lilly Conferences

Lilly Conference Updates: http://lillyconferences.com/

• Lilly International Conference: Oxford, Ohio, Nov 21-24, 2013
  Registration is open. Plenary presenters include: Cathy Bishop-Clark & Beth Dietz-Uhler; Saouma Boujaoude; Susan Renes; Derald Sue; and Todd Zakrajsek & Terry Doyle.
• Lilly National Austin: Jan 2-5, 2014
  Kick off the New Year in Austin! Call for proposals is open through October 15th. Plenary presenters are David Daniel, Terry Doyle, Tara Gray, and Barbara Millis. Preconference workshop by Todd Zakrajsek.
• Lilly National Newport Beach: Feb 20 – 22, 2014.
  Call for proposals is open through Oct 6th.
  Pleanry presenters are Tara Gray, Diane Halpern, Christy Price, and Todd Zakrajsek.
• Lilly National Bethesda: May 29 - June 1, 2014
  Save the Date!!!

Lilly Conferences Time Sensitive Announcements:

• Lilly Traverse City: Oct 17-20, 2013
  Regular registration ends Sept. 17th. View the draft conference program at: http://lillyconferences.com/tc/schedule
• Lilly Austin: Jan 2-5, 2014
  Early Registration ends Sept. 15th. For conference details please visit: http://lillyconferences.com/tx/

Accessing and Utilizing SmartBook

"SmartBook provides an adaptive and interactive reading experience, allowing students to engage with course content and study efficiently." Interested in accessing and utilizing SmartBook Assignments?

Then, check out a great video by John Bacheller to learn more!

John Bacheller teaches in the Biology department at the Dale Mabry Campus.

Faculty Spotlight - Ron and Dori Ingersoll

MacDill Campus
Course Range: Traditional, Online, Hybrid

Ron and Dori Ingersoll are adjuncts at the MacDill Campus. They are also consultants in the area of enrollment and student success and have just completed the editing of a book titled "Strategic Enrollment Management: Transforming Higher Education:" Published by AACRAO the American Association for Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. They currently are associated with Educational Systems Inc. and are working on current methods of managing and improving enrollments.

Capital Course:
Ron: I like environmental science because it is easy to get people interested and it is very practical. It turns out to be a good course for on-line.

Dori: My only course at HCC has been Public Speaking, both face2face, hybrid, and online.  I do enjoy teaching it face2face most since I can develop a stronger relationship with the students there.  I also have a chance to clearly set the safe boundaries of the classroom to allow them to grow.  In the online course, it is more difficult to develop relationships since that takes more time.  Students take an online course for the most part to get a course completed by tucking it into their busy schedules.


Ideal Ideology:
Ron: I believe that everyone has a good chance of doing well. I do not believe in looking only at the number grade but at the process by which the student came up with a response. I believe in hard work and I am getting used to students coming in and saying they have to have an A.

Dori: I believe in creating an environment in which students can develop their communication skills by working with others and me in the activities of the course. Theory and text material are included as subtext for them to use in the development of their own ‘voice’ as speakers. They are asked to interact with others in their process instead of hiding out and learning on their own. This will help them as they move on into the world to work with others and keep growing.

Student Success:
Ron: I use videos and articles in my course. I find that the students get a little confused because they are not used to analyzing something. Instead of reciting back what they heard in class, one thing I try to do is have them distinguish facts from opinions. It takes a while for them to do that on a regular basis.

Teachable Moment:
Dori: I believe my work with students as they give speeches, providing immediate feedback to them, have given me many ‘teachable moments’. Students have opened themselves up to the class sharing life events that one would not assume they would be telling in a public arena. The acceptance and feedback to them dictates how the rest of the class goes. My students know I don’t allow hurtful feedback. I also require them to put the best they can into their speeches and the work they complete for me.

HCC Learning Communities Initiative

As Faculty Technology and Teaching Specialist for 2013-14 my primary project for the year will be the development of sustainable, effective interdisciplinary Learning Communities at HCC. These collaborative and interdisciplinary classrooms--both live and online--intend to provide a diverse instructional environment for both faculty and students.

Watch for upcoming information regarding the methodical creation of these Learning Communities that enhance student learning outcomes and increase student engagement.

For more information, contact:

Steve Johns,
Faculty Technology and Teaching Specialist
CITT, Rm. 211 (813)-253-7152
sjohns2@hccfl.edu

Apply for these Innovation Awards

It's that time of year again...Award Season!! Get your innovations recognized by applying for one of these national awards:

2014 Bellwether Awards

The Bellwether Awards annually recognize outstanding and innovative programs and practices that are successfully leading community colleges into the future. Thirty outstanding colleges will be selected to present their innovative practices at the 2014 Community College Futures Assembly in January. From each of the three categories below, one college will be selected to win the prestigious Bellwether Award. The application deadline is November 1, 2013.

Submit your proposals in the following three categories:

1. Instructional Programs & Services
2. Planning, Governance, & Finance
3. Workforce Development

Click here to learn more!

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Internationalization Through Technology: New Award Program Now Accepting Submissions

ACE's Center for Internationalization and Global Engagement and the SUNY Center for Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) have announced a new award program to recognize and promote the use of technology to enhance institutional internationalization and global competence of students at U.S. colleges and universities.

The awards will highlight innovative programs and approaches in two areas:

• Leaders in Internationalization Through Technology, which will recognize established programs
• Advancing Internationalization Through Collaborative Online International Learning, which will recognize and offer support for emerging initiatives

Click here to learn more!

HCC's STEM Grant - Published!

Bethany Cordell and Walt Justice, of HCC's Title III Stem Grant have been published. You can purchase their book, Title III (HSI) STEM Grant Technology Manual, in the Apple App Store.

Download the book from the Apple App Store today: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/title-iii-hsi-stem-grant-technology/id659027749?mt=11

HCC at NISOD Conference

Recently, some HCC faculty and staff went to the NISOD Conference in Houston, TX.

Travis Meek presented at the conference. "It was a great experience to be honored with the Excellence award at NISOD. The honor was intensified from being able to share it with HCC colleagues and a fellow Excellence award winner Mike Rabaut. Austin was an exciting city filled with music all around and bats flying overhead. To be honest the conference started off a bit slow for me because of so low attendance at sessions including the one I presented. By Wednesday it had all turned around with some innovative presentations on ideas I plan to implement in my own courses in varying amounts, such as flipped classrooms and collaborative testing." - Travis Meek



Mike Rabaut was HCC's NISOD Award Winner. "I found the experience interesting and was honored to receive the award especially with my school mate Travis Meek, a fellow Excellence award winner. The conference was enlightening and full of pleasant surprises, and of course there were the night time activities. I would like to extend my thanks to Dana Livesay and the CITT group for their hard work and dedication to helping faculty with their technology needs as well as allowing me to attend the conference. I especially enjoyed the evening dinner and accompanying Jam session that was punctuated with the talents of the attendees." - Mike Rabaut



HCC had a table at the conference:



Mike Rabaut and Dana Livesay:



Mike Rabaut and Travis Meek: