@PimaNews

January 15, 2009

Contents

• College Updates
  • Board of Governors Meeting Update
  • Regular Staff Performance Evaluations Due
  • Student Learning Outcomes
  • Hiring Work Study Students
  • Grants Management Training March 12
  • Oktoberfest BBQ Results
• Pima People
• Upcoming Events

College Updates

Board of Governors Meeting Update
At the January 14, 2009 Board of Governor’s meeting, Dr. Brenda Even was elected Chair and Sherryn Marshall was elected Secretary.

Patrick Nugent was approved as the College's first full-time head football coach.  Nugent was previously the head varsity football coach at Canyon del Oro.  Under his leadership, the team was a 4A State runner up in 2007 and a State Semi-Finalist in 2008.

Regular Staff Performance Evaluations Due
In accordance with the Personnel Policy Statements, regular employees will have their job performance evaluated on an annual basis.

• Exempt employees are evaluated between January 1 and February 15, unless a probationary period or position change evaluation was completed within the immediately preceding 90 days.  If the supervisor has not supervised the employee for a continuous period of three months immediately prior to the evaluation date, the performance evaluation may be deferred until the three-month time period has been completed but no later than March 30.
• Non-Exempt employees are on an annual basis in the month of February, unless a probationary period or position change formal performance evaluation was completed within the immediately preceding 90 days.  If the supervisor has not supervised the non-exempt employee for a continuous period of three months immediately prior to the last work day in February, the performance evaluation may be deferred until the three-month time period has been completed.  The deferred evaluation must likewise be completed no later than the last work day in March.

Staff evaluation forms are located at http://www.pima.edu/profdev/opdforms.shtml.

Student Learning Outcomes
One of the five institutional-level student learning outcomes is “Learn”—which might seem obvious or even redundant.  But what does it mean to “learn” at an institution of higher learning?  Is learning in college is different than learning in life?  Clearly, it must be, or there would be no reason for schools, colleges, and universities to exist.

One of the components of “Learn” is “Comprehend:  Examine, understand, question, and integrate new information.”  How many of us comprehend how we walk?  Yet we walk every day without having to think about how we do it.  But the kinds of knowledge we hope our students will acquire cannot be gained so easily. 

To really learn, to be college-educated individuals, our students must be able to do more than fill in the bubbles on objective tests or repeat back to us our lectures and reading assignments.  They must understand the subject matter and demonstrate their understanding by being able to apply it to novel situations.  They must develop the habit of practicing comprehension, a type of intentional attention, not only in the school room, but in their lives and careers. 

Grants Management Training March 12
The Grants One-Stop Center (GOSC) will present a Grants Management Training program on March 12, 2009 for all individuals involved in grant management.  This is a great opportunity to learn how to manage a grant-funded program and earn professional development hours.

The training will be held at District Office, Community Room from 1:30 to 4:30 pm.  RSVP to Wendy Dosch by February 25, 2009.

Oktoberfest BBQ Results
The 2008 Oktoberfest Barbecue events raised $6,140 towards holiday food baskets for the families of men and women who have been deployed from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.  We appreciate the support of all PCC employees who participated.

Training for New Version of Form I-9
A new version of Form I-9 is available beginning February 2, 2009.  The revised Form I-9 will be available for download from www.uscis.gov.  Effective on that date, the College must use the new version of Form I-9 for all new hires.

The College is holding training for those employees responsible for verifying employment eligibility of new hire employees, adjunct faculty or student workers.  Register for one of the following sessions:

*Dialogue Live Option: Dialog Live allows you to save travel time and expense by participating in learning from a computer with internet connection.  Participants are able to hear the presentation, see the information presented, ask questions, and interact with the audience regardless of location.  The session will be open by 1:00 pm to confirm your audio is set and test features before the workshops begins at 1:30 pm.

To access Dialogue Live: MyPima>work tab>Log Into ED>Catalog>Instructor Led Courses>Dialogue Live>I-9 Fundamentals

Registration for all courses is through ED.  MyPima>work tab>Log Into ED>Catalog>Instructor Led Courses>I-9 Fundamentals.

Hiring Work Study Students
Hiring students for work study for Spring 2009 will continue through MyPima.  After logging into your MyPima account, click on the @Work tab and follow the link, “Federal Work Study position requests,” on the upper left hand side.

The Federal Work Study (FWS) Program is needs-based and is available only to those students who qualify for the award as determined by the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).  The federal government establishes eligibility criteria and allocates an annual budget which is used to fund the FWS earnings.  The amount of funding allocated to the College changes from year to year, therefore, the number of FWS positions allocated is also subject to adjustment.

For requests for information or inquiries email FWS@pima.edu.

Pima People

• Sylvia Lee, President, Northwest Campus and Cecilia Ramirez, Advanced Program Coordinator, Literacy Project, Community Campus received the 2008 Women on the Move award on December 14, 2008 at the YWCA of Tucson 27^th Annual Women on the Move Award program.
• Linda Rousos, ESL Faculty, Desert Vista Campus was selected for inclusion in the 2008-2009 edition of Who’s Who of American Women for her accomplishments in adult education, refugee education, and community development over the past 30 years.
• Matthias Duwel, Art Faculty, Northwest Campus had four of his works selected for exhibit at the Art Basel in Miami Beach, Florida.  In addition, his work has been accepted for the “Postcards from the Edge” benefit for Visual AIDS in New York.

Upcoming Events

• January 19: Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday
• January 20: Spring 2009 Classes Begin
• January 22: PCC Community Education Lecture Series presents “National Heritage Areas: Celebrating Heritage and Empowering Communities” at 6:30 pm at the Tucson Chinese Cultural Center, 1288 W. River Road.  The presentation is by Vanessa Bechtol, Santa Cruz Valley Heritage Alliance.
• January 22: First 5-week Session Begins
• January 23: Workshop for students transferring to the University of Arizona, Eller College of Management, Downtown Campus, LB 171, 12:39 to 2:00 pm
• February 2: 14-week Late Start Term Begins
• February 8: College Goal Sunday, Desert Vista Campus, 2:00 to 4:00 pm.  Volunteer opportunity to assist high school students attend college
• February 25: Graduation Application Deadline
• February 25 – March 8: PCC Theatre Arts presents the musical “Footloose,” Center for the Arts Proscenium Theatre.  Wednesday-Saturday at 7:30 pm, Sunday at 2:00 pm.  Opening celebration, “80’s Night,” February 26 at 7:30
• February 26-27: Rodeo Holiday
• February 27: First 5-week Session Ends
• February 28: Second 5-week Session Begins

@PimaNews is an electronic newsletter for employees of Pima Community College.  It is published by the Pima Community College Public Information Office.  @PimaNews is published weekly during the semester and bi-weekly during the summer.  Back issues are available at www.pima.edu/pimanews/index.shtml.  Please send announcements and news items to pimanews@pima.edu.