@PimaNews

May 20, 2009

Contents

• College Updates
  • Corrected: Summer Work Schedules
  • Faculty Days of Accountability 2009-10
  • 2009-2010 Provost Let's Chat Session Schedule
  • PCC Graduation Television Playback
  • New Web page for Assisting Arizonans
  • Logon Box Disappearing
  • PCC Auction, June 1-3
  • @PimaNews Summer Publication Schedule
• Benefits: Open Enrollment ends Friday, May 22
• College Plan
• Pima People
• Upcoming Events

College Updates

Corrected: Summer Work Schedule
The Board of Governors approved a flexible work schedule for non-exempt and exempt staff and administrative employees. The four-day workweek schedule will begin the week of June 1, 2009, and end August 14, 2009. To provide equitable holiday pay to all eligible employees, there will be no flexible work schedule the week of June 29 because of the July 4 holiday.

Summer operations for core academic and business services will continue to be Monday through Friday. An extended four-day workweek schedule will begin and end at the appropriate hours designated by the administration to meet operating business needs. Employees working a flexible four-day work schedule will continue to work the same number of hours per week, with a 45-minute lunch break each day.

Faculty Days of Accountability 2009-10
During the 2009-2010 academic year, Pima Community College is piloting a new schedule for faculty accountability days. Faculty accountability will begin one day later in the Fall, and end one day later in the Spring.

For the 2009-2010 pilot, faculty accountability:

• begins Thursday, August 20, 2009, and
• continues through Thursday, May 20, 2010

Please visit the online academic calendar for further information.

2009-2010 Provost Let's Chat Session Schedule
Let's Chat sessions with Dr. Suzanne Miles, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor have been scheduled for 2009-2010 Academic Year. The sessions will be held on the following Wednesdays from noon to 1 p.m.:

PCC Graduation Television Playback
The 2009 Graduation Ceremony will be replayed on Cox Channel 121 and Comcast Channel 97 at the following dates and times:

New Web page for Assisting Arizonans
The Arizona State Library and Archives has launched a web page for assisting Arizonans during these tough economic times.  This site links users to tools for work, parenting, finance, housing and health, and also tools for seniors. The information can be found here or by visiting www.lib.az.us and selecting "Tools for Tough Times."

Logon Box Disappearing
The black box that appears when logging in to the PCC-Domain is going away. The box alerted the user to the version of McAfee antivirus currently running on the system and applied any updates that were needed. Your computer will continue to receive the updates even though the box will no longer show during the logon process.

You can contact the Helpdesk at 206-4900 or Helpdesk@pima.edu if you have questions.

Reminder: PCC Auction, June 1-3
Pima Community College will be holding a Sealed Bid Public Auction of surplus equipment and supplies at the M&S Warehouse, 6680 S. Country Club Rd., from June 1-3, 2009. The Auction is from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

If you have any questions, please call Raul Bejarano at 206-2653 or the Central Warehouse at 206-2650.

@PimaNews Summer Schedule
@PimaNews will go to a bi-weekly summer schedule for June and July, following the May 20, 2009 edition.  Summer editions will publish June 3 and 17, July 1, 15 and 29 and Aug. 13. Our weekly publication schedule will resume Thursday, Aug. 13.

Submissions for @PimaNews are due at noon the Monday prior to publication.  Email items to pimanews@pima.edu.

Benefits: Open Enrollment ends Friday, May 22

Remember, with the change to the College’s medical insurance provider, all benefit-eligible employees must complete and submit either a 2009-10 Medical Election Form or a 2009-10 Benefit Waiver Form, attaching proof of coverage through another qualified group medical plan.  Employees waiving medical insurance must also submit a Flexible Spending Account Enrollment Agreement form.

Medical, dental, waiver, flexible spending account and life insurance forms are all due no later than 4:45 p.m. on Friday, May 22, to the Employee Service Center, District Office, Room C117, 4905C Broadway or Mail Code DO 1235.

To verify enrollment choices, all employees are strongly urged to visit MyPima between June 15 and 19 to review their Benefit selections for the new plan year. (See page 10 in the Benefits Open Enrollment Guide.)  To request corrections, contact the Employee Service Center (206-4945) by 4:45 p.m. Friday, June 19. No other changes can be made until open enrollment next year, unless you have a qualifying change in status.

The guides and all necessary forms are available at www.pima.edu/benefits/openenrollment. Or, call the Employee Service Center, 206-4945.

College Plan

PCC’s office of Planning and Institutional Research is documenting the completion of Strategy 1.4 and Strategy 1.5 of the 2008-2011 College Plan. The strategies deal with valuing, enhancing, developing and supporting effective methods of learning and teaching. 

Among the many activities completed in furtherance of these strategies were: multiple sessions of technology training for adjunct faculty; a workshop on integrating Student Life into the classroom to aid in retaining students; and a College-wide workshop for developmental education faculty.

Also, as part of Strategy 1.5’s mandate to expand access to learning resources, PCC faculty and advisors took 90 PCC students to the opening reception of the Art of Democracy at the University of Arizona Student Union Art Gallery. The students examined the art online, analyzed the pieces at the gallery, held small-group discussions and wrote about their experiences.

Pima People

• Kristin Eberhardt, lead Dance faculty at West Campus, was invited by the National Dance Education Organization to speak to lawmakers McCain, Kyl, Grijalva and Giffords for Arts Advocacy Day in Washington D.C. on March 31.  She spoke about issues concerning the arts and arts education.
• Hiro Tashima, Arts faculty at West Campus, was nominated in the Art Educator category of the 2009 Lumies Arts Awards.
• Dr. Tom Selegue, Chemistry Faculty at the Northwest Campus, won the 2009 Southern Arizona Section of the American Chemical Society (ACS) College Educator award for Excellence in Teaching.
• Chuck Becker, Library Director at East Campus, published an article in the Journal of Library Administration. The article is titled, "Student Values and Research: Are Millenials Really Changing the Future of Reference and Research?" and appears in the May 4, 2009, issue.

Upcoming Events

• May 21: Graduation, Tucson Convention Center Arena at 7 p.m.
• May 25: Memorial Day Holiday, College closed
• May 26: Summer Session A classes begin
• May 26: Summer Session C classes begin
• May 28: GED Graduation at 7 p.m. at the Tucson Convention Center Music Hall
• May 29–31: Pima Writers’ Workshop, West Campus
• June 1: Flexible work schedules begin
• June 29: Summer Session A classes end
• June 29 - July 3: No flexible work schedules due to July 4 Holiday
• July 1: Financial Aid Application processing deadline
• July 3: July 4 Holiday (observed), College closed