Students Encouraged to Get Involved Through SLCCSA Elections

Salt Lake Community College students wanting a chance to make a change by representing student voices on campus are encouraged to apply to run for president or executive vice president positions for the Salt lake Community College Student Association.

The SLCCSA president serves as the chief executive officer of the SLCC Student Association and The executive vice president serves as the president and chair of the Student Senate. More information about elections is available here, and the application form can be found here. Applications are due by Noon on Tuesday, January 16, 2018.

If running for office isn’t your thing, apply for a selected position (regional vice presidents, publicity and advertising vice president, clubs & organizations, or the special assistant to the president on inclusion and equity). Applications for selected executive council officers positions are by 3 p.m. on Friday, February, 16, 2018, and are available here.

Don’t just go to SLCC, be a part of it! All of these are fun and engaging opportunities to bring meaningful change to our campus.

Those with questions can contact:
Abio Ayeliya – 801-957-3870, doctor.ayeliya@slcc.edu
Peter Moosman – 801-957-4620, peter.moosman@slcc.edu

Chef Aloia, Culinary Student Featured on Fox 13's The Place

Salt Lake Community College Culinary Institute's Chef Franco Aloia and student Stacy Peronnet prepared a herb and roasted garlic braised beef short ribs recipe on Fox 13's The Place, along with hosts Brooke Graham and Dave Nemeth. Over the course of two segments, Aloia and Peronnet, who has gone back to school after raising two daughters and a career in information technology, explained the process of braising, which is a method of cooking that involves searing meat at a high temperature and finishing the cooking low and slow with liquid, herbs and aromatics. Below are a few highlights from the show.

Fox 13 news anchor Hope Woodside stopped by.

College Receives National Digital Learning Innovation Award

A faculty-led team at Salt Lake Community College received a 2017 OLC Digital Learning Innovation Award for advancing undergraduate student success through the adoption of digital courseware. SLCC’s team was one of three institutions and ten faculty-led teams selected from among 60 submissions in year two of the Online Learning Consortium’s (OLC) DLIAward competition.

SLCC’s own initiative, Open SLCC, is nationally recognized as a leader in the use of open educational resources (OER), with over 1,400 sections that use OER instead of traditional, more costly textbooks.

For students like physics major and full-time Salt Lake City firefighter Jeffrey Cunningham, OER has kept his conservatively estimated cost of $400 for textbooks while at SLCC from being much higher. “I think everyone has a horror story about paying $60 for a book, out of which the professor only uses one article,” said Cunningham, 34, whose dream job would be working for NASA after retiring someday from the fire department. He still owns a $300 calculus textbook from 2002 that he refused to sell back “out of spite” for a paltry offering of $30 – and, as it turned out, he has been able to use it again while going for his second bachelor’s degree. “Anything you can do to help students save up front, every dollar you can save them, is incredibly beneficial.” Having OER available at SLCC, he added, helps make choosing SLCC a “sound” financial decision.

SLCC’s faculty-led team for Open SLCC includes sociology professors Daniel Poole and Deidre Tyler, biology professors Melissa Hardy, Dan Carpenter and Tim Beagley and Jason Pickavance, director of Faculty Development and Educational Initiatives. So far, they and others at SLCC have helped more than 54,000 students save over $4.6 million through the use of OER. The SLCC team accepted the DLIAward during the OLC Accelerate conference in Orlando.

Daniel Poole (l-r), Deidre Tyler, Jason Pickavance, Dan Carpenter, Tim Beagley (not pictured: Melissa Hardy)

“This is a huge deal for our students, who often lack the financial resources to purchase expensive textbooks,” said Hardy. “I teach a course for which I still use a department-mandated traditional textbook, and it was heartbreaking this semester to receive emails from students saying they couldn’t afford to purchase the book. One student told me it was a choice between the textbook and buying medicine for his sick child. In contrast, when I teach with free, open textbooks, all my students have access to the course materials on Day One of the semester, and it makes a difference in their success.”

Many faculty members at SLCC have embraced a national nonprofit education technology initiative that gives students access to free peer-reviewed, openly licensed textbooks online or at a low cost in print format, collectively known as OER. More specifically, OER consists of teaching, learning and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use and repurposing by others.

DLIAwards were determined by two rounds of review, first by a team of institutional-level and higher education organization-level reviewers, who narrowed the field of submissions for final review by a national panel of judges.

“The mission of the OLC DLIAwards is to discover student-centered active learning solutions that advance the world of digital learning for all students,” said Kathleen Ives, CEO and executive director of OLC. “The awarded projects in this year’s competition truly support this mission and serve as valuable models that other institutions can emulate as they embark on their own digital courseware initiatives.”

Specketer Celebrated for 500th Win

Salt Lake Community College women's basketball head coach Betsy Specketer was honored for reaching 500 wins while at SLCC. For a full story about Specketer's achievement and coaching history at SLCC, visit the SLCC Athletics site by clicking here.

Below are photos of the celebration honoring Specketer at Bruin Arena.

SLCC Honored as an Energy Champion by the Association of Energy Engineers

The Association of Energy Engineers (AEE) Utah chapter recently recognized Salt Lake Community College as an energy champion for the academic and workforce training programs offered by the SLCC Energy Institute, as well as the work of the SLCC Facilities department in energy conservation.

The Energy Institute provides training in clean energy technologies through programs including the Energy Management AAS degrees, Energy-Efficient HVAC and Lighting Certificates, Solar Sales and Installation, Lineworker Training, and the newest program in Building Automation.

The Facilities department constantly works to make SLCC's buildings and campuses more energy efficient. Most recently they completed HVAC and lighting upgrades and have installed analytic software on mechanical equipment to identify and prioritize future energy efficiency programs. They have also installed a "smart energy valve" to evaluate its efficiency for possible acceptance in utility incentives. Additionally, Facilities works closely with the Energy Institute programs, giving tours and hands-on demonstrations in classes, as well as employing energy management interns.

“This collaborative effort turns SLCC's campuses into living laboratories,” Associate Provost for Workforce & Economic Development Rick Bouillon said. “We’re grateful for the partnership with our Facilities team that enhances hands-on, practical learning for our students.”

To learn more about the numerous training programs offered through the SLCC Energy Institute, visit the program’s website.

SLCC President Receives Chamber ‘ATHENA Leadership Award’

Salt Lake Community College President Deneece G. Huftalin received the 2017 ATHENA Leadership Award from the Salt Lake Chamber, Utah’s largest and longest-standing statewide business association, during its annual Women & Business Conference in Salt Lake City.

The ATHENA Leadership Award is a prestigious national award presented annually to an active member of the Salt Lake Chamber who demonstrates excellence, creativity and initiative in business. Each recipient must also provide valuable service by devoting time and energy to improve the quality of life for others in the community and assist women in reaching their full leadership potential.

“It is my business to help students succeed and find their passion,” Dr. Huftalin said during her acceptance speech. “It is my business to keep the institution moving forward and inventive. It is my business to call out injustices and concerns in the higher education landscape. And it is my business to ensure that taxpayers are getting a high return on their investment and that we are accountable for the support they give us through their funding.”

Pictured: Lane Beattie, Salt Lake Chamber CEO and president (l-r), SLCC President Deneece G. Huftalin and Lisa Grogan, Wells Fargo regional marketing manager.

In her remarks, Dr. Huftalin also echoed the conference theme, “Brave & Bold,” saying that it is “an inclusive description of all who try, who take on a challenge, who speak their minds, who go against the grain at times.” She singled out two women in the room with SLCC connections, Kathleen Lopez and Alex Farmer, for being brave and bold in pursuit of their own goals. Dr. Huftalin also praised Gail Miller and Barbara Tanner for enhancing the community with their bold embrace and support of education and social justice.

Dr. Huftalin was named the eighth president of SLCC in September 2014. Prior to her current role, Huftalin served as Salt Lake Community College’s Interim President, Vice President of Student Services, Dean of Students, and Director of Academic and Career Advising. In her tenure as president, Dr. Huftalin has launched a College-wide strategic planning cycle that has produced a new vision, mission, values, and strategic goals for the College. She is also leading efforts to strengthen completion rates, transfer pathways, workforce responsiveness, and equity in student access and completion.

Dr. Huftalin also has taught in the Education, Leadership, and Policy program at the University of Utah and serves on a number of community boards and committees including the Salt Lake Chamber, Governor’s Education Excellence Commission, EDCUtah, Envision Utah, and Utah Campus Compact. Nationally, Dr. Huftalin serves as a Commissioner and Executive Committee member for the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU), a trustee for LeaderShape, and a member CEO for RC-2020, Inc.

President Huftalin (front row, second from left) and past ATHENA recipients.

College Has Big Night At Grizzlies Game

Salt Lake Community College staff, faculty, alumni and students helped fill in the crowd for SLCC Night at the Grizzlies during a home game at the Maverik Center in West Valley City. SLCC students sang the "National Anthem" and took part in a ceremonial puck drop. Staff members were at tables handing out free SLCC swag and information about the College. The Bruins mascot Brutus met the Grizzlies mascot Grizzbee on the ice! SLCC Multicultural Student Success Initiatives Manager Glory Johnson-Stanton sang "God Bless America." Free ticket vouchers were also handed out in advance to high school students. And it was all captured by SLCC photographer Scott Fineshriber - below are a few highlights!

A student displays a coveted VIP pass!

SLCC Student Association President Aynoa Rincon

Glory Johnson-Stanton sings "God Bless America"

NPR's Mara Liasson Talks Politics, Ethics at Grand

Mara Liasson

NPR political correspondent and Fox News contributor Mara Liasson spoke to a crowd at the Grand Theatre as the featured speaker for the Tanner Forum on Social Ethics. She spoke about the changing face of journalism, how people currently consume news, the concept of freedom of the press and the recent successes and failures of media. Her speech was followed by a Q&A moderated by SLCC's Nick Burns. Earlier in the day she met with SLCC journalism students in a roundtable discussion that covered a variety of topics.

Nick Burns, Division of Communication and Performing Arts Associate Dean, and Mara Liasson

Liasson can be heard on NPR’s “All Things Considered” and “Morning Edition,” and she can be seen as a contributor on Fox News Channel.

The Tanner Forum on Social Ethics brings nationally and internationally recognized speakers in the area of social ethics to Salt Lake Community College annually. The Tanner Forum enhances the College’s mission as a community-based learning institution by providing opportunities for the students, faculty, staff and wider community to come together for the thoughtful examination of critical issues in contemporary social ethics. The Tanner Forum on Social Ethics is funded in part by the O.C. Tanner Company.

Journalism student Jamielee Eldridge poses with Mara Liasson.

College Hosts Previews of New Westpointe Center

Salt Lake Community College recently offered a hard hat tour of its new facility at the Westpointe Workforce Training and Education Center to local industry contacts and friends of the College.

The 121,000-square-foot facility is located east of the Salt Lake City Airport, in the heart of the industrial area where many businesses already are served by the College's skilled career and technical education graduates. The building is scheduled to open in 2018; learn more about the Westpointe Center on the facility’s website here.

President Huftalin Covers Utah College Application Week on Fox 13

Salt Lake Community College President Deneece G. Huftalin appeared on Fox 13's The Place to talk about Utah College Application Week, which begins Nov. 9 and actually goes until Nov. 20. It's an annual Utah System ofHigher Education event when elected officials, college and university presidents and school leaders speak to almost 20,000 high school seniors in over 120 schools throughout the state about the value of a college education. It's also a time when seniors in participating high schools apply to college during the school day.

SLCC President Deneece G. Huftalin talks with The Place's Brittany Graham.

The information below includes some of what Huftalin touched on during her segment on Fox 13.

·      The weeklong event focuses on first-generation, underserved and low-income students who might be less likely to apply to or enroll in college.

·      Throughout the week officials at school are available to guide students through the college application process.

·      Almost 100 percent of the students who applied to a college during the weeklong event last year applied to an institution in Utah.

·      More than 85 percent of high school seniors who took part in the 2016 event reported that their interest in attending college significantly increased

·      Every state participates in some kind of College Application Week event.

During the weeklong event, seniors are given information about why college is important, what it can lead to and how to go about the process of applying.

·      Good-paying jobs for those with only a high school diploma are no longer plentiful.

·      Employers increasingly require some sort of college degree, certificate or training

·      College is valuable for teaching skills in communication, critical thinking and social awareness.

·      College graduates earn $830,000 more in a lifetime than those with only a high school diploma.

·      College experience can consist of earning a one-year certificate with quicker entry into the job market, a two-year associate degree or a four-year degree and beyond.

·      To begin working as an electrician, for example, you can get started with just a one-year certificate.

·      A respiratory therapist, also a good-paying job, you just need a two-year associate degree.

·      In other words, there is a college or university program of study somewhere in Utah that will be a right fit for a high school senior who is currently contemplating a higher education.

This special week is also a chance to talk with students about taking advantage of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FASFA).

·      Submitting a FAFSA form is the only way for students to determine if they qualify for federal and state financial aid.

·      Every student who completes a FAFSA form will qualify for some type of financial aid.

·      By not submitting FAFSA forms, Utah students last year left $36.5 million in unclaimed federal Pell grant money.

·      And Utah is last in the nation for the percentage of eligible students who complete the FAFSA.

·      In other words, students, maybe with the help of their parents, legal guardians or school officials, need to start the FAFSA process today.