WE’RE ON PAGE ONE!

College Welcomes New Vice Presidents

SRJC’s Board of Trustees recently appointed two Vice Presidents, and the college community welcomes them! Vice President of Academic Affairs and Assistant Superintendent Dr. Mary Kay Rudolph joined the staff in June, replacing Dr. Edmund Buckley, who retired from SRJC after 34 years. From 2000-2003, Dr. Rudolph was an Educational Consultant in Wisconsin, working with clients that included the University of Wisconsin Stout’s Center for Excellence and Smoke Free Wisconsin. She was Vice President of Learning at Northcentral Technical College in Wisconsin from 2000-2003, and served for ten years as Dean of the Technology Division and Program (1995-2000) and Coordinator and Instructor in public safety (1989-1995) at Sacramento City College. She was also a Deputy Probation Officer for the Sacramento County Probation Department between 1983 and 1989. Rudolph earned a B.A. from Florida State University, a M.A. from CSU, Sacramento, and an Ed.D. from USF.

Dr. Michael Beebe, Ph.D. was appointed Vice President of Business Services in February, replacing retiring Vice President Ron Root. Before coming to SRJC, Dr. Beebe served as Vice President of Business Services at the College of Marin from 2001 to 2004, and Manager of Finance and Information Systems in the University of California, San Francisco’s Facilities Management Department from 1992-2001. Dr. Beebe was Senior Manager and Senior Accountant for Deloitte & Touche consulting group from 1982-1992. He earned a B.S. from Oregon State University, a M.A. from Simon Fraser University, and a Ph.D. in philosophy at the University of British Columbia, Canada. SRJC welcomes Drs. Rudolph and Beebe!

Summer Health Career Institute A Success

Local health-care, educational, governmental, and community-based organizations started meeting three years ago to address the critical workforce shortage in the health-care industry locally and statewide, and, as a result, formed the Healthcare Workforce Development Roundtable. In November 2004, on behalf of the Roundtable, SRJC received a state economic development grant from the California Community College Chancellor’s Office to promote health careers in Sonoma County, with a specific focus on the Hispanic community.

A unique component of this project was SRJC’s Summer Health Careers Institute, which was successfully held between June 27 and July 29. Twenty local high school students were selected from 100 high school nominees to participate in the five-week institute to explore firsthand health-care careers both on campus and at health-care providers in the community.

Meeting Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM, students attended classes in the Race Health Sciences Building, and reviewed relevant topics ranging from medical terminology and universal precautions to the history of medicine, among many other topics. Students also job shadowed professionals on site at health-care organizations, including the Sonoma County Health Department and Kaiser, Memorial and Sutter hospitals. Student participants earned 15 high school credits and 5 college units, plus they each received a stipend of $1250.

This project reflects the strong commitment of local health-care organizations to invest in Sonoma County’s future workforce, and because it was so successful, SRJC plans to hold another institute in summer 2006 and beyond.

Agricultural Pavilion Under Construction

Site work for SRJC’s Warren G. Dutton Jr. Agricultural Pavilion at the Shone Farm is nearly complete for construction of the main structure, which started this fall. The anticipated completion schedule of the pavilion is fall 2006.

Once built, the pavilion will provide instructional space for virtually all of SRJC’s Agricultural and Natural Resource Management programs, as well as agriculturally-related community events. Students and instructors will enjoy the new multipurpose indoor arena, classrooms, conference space, wine education laboratory, commercial food processing and preparation laboratory, administrative offices, student dorm rooms, and patio. The outside livestock and equine facility will include an outdoor arena equine round pens, horse paddocks, and exercise pens.

Funded through Measure A, the pavilion will become the educational centerpiece of Shone Farm near Forestville. To equip the new facility, SRJC’s Foundation Ag Trust Committee has raised over $1 million in the past two years.

SRJC Addresses California Teacher Shortage

Over the past few years the state’s budget crisis has disrupted what has been described as “California’s teacher development pipeline,” a system for recruiting, preparing, inducting, and building the content knowledge and skills of teachers.

To proactively address these shortages, SRJC continues to pursue a more coordinated Teacher Preparation Program that includes specialized counseling, financial aid information, articulation agreements, orientations, and a partnership with Sonoma State University. A number of activities are being implemented to expand SRJC’s teacher preparation program:

• Identify students who show promise in traditional middle and high school subjects; encourage students to consider teaching as a rewarding career.
• Have students and counselors work together on individual educational plans geared to university transfer to pursue teacher preparation.
• Encourage bilingual or English language learner students to prepare to become teachers and to use their invaluable language skills in careers in public schools.
• Encourage students to enroll in the new course “CI 55-Community Involvement in Education” to explore a teaching career and also volunteer in the classroom to enter a credential program.
• Encourage students to cross enroll in “EDUC 250-Teaching in a Changing World,” a Sonoma State lower division course offered at SRJC. Students pay no tuition and receive lower division college credit from SSU.
• Encourage students who already work as public school preschool teachers or classroom aides to consider pursuing teaching.
• Inform students about CalStateTEACH, a CSU Teacher Preparation program that offers student teaching and intern opportunities in a non-traditional distance education format.

Call Dean Kris Abrahamson (707) 524-1519 to find out more about SRJC’s teacher preparation program.

EMS Academy A Huge Success

SRJC’s Public Safety Training Center has launched a highly disciplined and professional Emergency Medical Service or EMS Academy, and the response by both graduates and employers indicates the program is a huge success.

The Academy, open to students concurrently enrolled in EMT-1 or graduates of the EMT-1 program, meets 12 hours a week (Friday evening 6 –10 PM and Saturday 8 AM – 5 PM) to allow students to take both courses during one week and to finish both in one semester. First piloted during the spring semester 2005 (January-May), the 200-hour Academy is a part of the regular schedule and is well attended by an even mix of EMT-1 students and EMT-1 graduates.

The intensive Academy is conducted every Saturday morning throughout the 16 weeks, and focuses on in-class activities and includes physical training used by a large private ambulance provider. It also provides 40 hours of training in Emergency Vehicle Operations (EVOC), utilizing the driving simulator, skid car, and higher speed track activities. Emphasis is placed on leadership/teamwork, patient moving and lifting, documentation, scenario practice, customer service, ethics, and medical-legal issues. At the close of the Academy, students participate in mock interviews by job recruiters from local public and private agencies.

Academy students doing both the EMT-1 coursework and the EMS Academy typically perform better in the EMT class, are prepared to go to work upon completion of the program as an entry-level EMT, and possess a solid foundation that creates a better base for paramedic training. For more information, contact Ken Bradford at 836-2917 or kbradford@santarosa.edu.

Dr. Ofelia Arellano Appointed Dean, Petaluma Campus

This summer SRJC welcomed Dr. Ofelia Arellano to help lead the College in the achievement of various institutional aims related to enrollment management, planning, diversity, and professional development.

Before assuming her new position, she served as Interim Executive Director of the Community College Leadership Development Initiatives and in various administrative positions since 1984 at Southwestern College, including Evening Dean, Dean, Provost, Director, and Coordinator. Dr. Arellano's broad teaching, counseling, research, and consulting experience, honors and awards, and professional service and articles published bring a highly informed perspective to her position.

Dean Arellano earned an A.A. from Imperial Valley College, and B.A. and M.A., and a Ph.D.degrees from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Welcome, Dean Arellano!

Customer Service Skills Certificate Introduced

Businesses and agencies invest considerable funds to attract new customers and clients by hiring trained staff with top customer service skills to enhance their success and increase profits.

SRJC now offers a new Customer Service Skills Certificate Program that teaches students the skills required to effectively deal with customers and clients. Skills learned in the Customer Service Skills Certificate Program can be immediately applied to customer contact positions in all occupations. The Customer Service Skills Certificate is a 5.5-unit program comprised of short courses that focus on different aspects of customer service. Instruction prepares students to work with all types and levels of customers utilizing tact and diplomacy.

This training adds a valuable dimension to SRJC’s other business certificates that specialize in areas such as bookkeeper, administrative assistant, account, and administrative support, as well as occupations outside of business.

Courses include Customer Skills, Communications, Team Building, Stress Management, Conflict Management, Attitude in the Workplace, Time Management, Managing Organizational Change, Decision Making, Business Ethics, and Business Etiquette. The courses are modular and can be take in any order.

For information, contact Carol Bennett, Program Coordinator, at (707) 522-2709, cbennett@santarosa.edu or http://www.santarosa.edu/bot.

Student Competes In National Robotics Tournament

Machine Tool student Zach Lytle has had a love for building machines and robots since he was very young, starting with Legos. Now that passion has been interlaced with a SRJC education and some innovative experimentation, establishing Zach as a wellknown builder of remote control combat robots. Nicknamed “Robotics Wizard,” he has designed and built 16 complete combat robots Machine Tool Shop, not including prototypes and half-done robots, which would make it over 40. Considered a master machinist in the fighting robot community, Zach also crafted countless parts for other national champion robots.

Lytle started taking classes at SRJC when he was 13, first enrolling in a welding class. In 1999, Lytle formed SRJC’s “Team Misfit,” a combat robotics team of full-time SRJC students, and this fall he started the first Robotics Club. Now 19, Zach earned an A.A. with honors last spring and will soon transfer to a four-year university (most likely San Luis Obispo) to pursue manufacturing engineering. In November in San Francisco, Team Misfit, including Lytle and his JC-built robot “Rebel,” competed head-to-head with the highest caliber fighting robots in the U.S.

Culinary Arts Offers Dining Room Service Certificate

SRJC’s new Culinary Arts Dining Room Service Competency Certificate was developed in response to the urgent need of Sonoma County’s restaurant industry for well-trained guest service staff. The program features intensive training that equips students with the skills required for employment in successful restaurants, including table service, banquet service, wine service, food and wine paring, host and hostess duties, point of sale systems, and maintenance of front house operations. The Dining Room Service option also includes an introduction to the human resources, leadership, and management aspects of the table service profession.

The eight-week program is scheduled on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 9:00 AM to 3:45 PM at SRJC’s Culinary Arts Center on B Street in downtown Santa Rosa. Call (707) 576-0211 for details.