@PimaNews

October 8, 2009

Contents

• College Updates
  • Computer Systems Unavailable
  • Legislative Update
  • ACES Community Outreach Project
  • Help Evaluate PCC Library Databases
• Benefits
• Inside Story: ECE Online Courses
• Best Practices: Your Outlook Scheduling Assistant
• Upcoming Events
• Ongoing Events

College Updates

Computer Systems Unavailable

    Beginning: Friday, October 30 at 10 p.m.
    Until:  Saturday, October 31 at 6 a.m.

Due to a required systems upgrade the following services will be unavailable during the above times:

• Banner
• Banner Web (or Self Service)
• MyPima
• Blackboard Vista
• MyDegreePlan
• Web Content Management System
• Schedule of Classes
• Workflow
• Pima Reports

We regret the inconvenience.  This maintenance is part of ongoing activity to continue improving the stability and reliability of services.  College staff will be working as quickly as possible to perform the needed updates.

Legislative Update
A couple of bills recently took effect that may impact College employees:

Arizona State Retirement System:  House Bill 2118 (Laws 2009, Chapter 36) became effective on September 30, 2009, implementing a number of changes to the Arizona State Retirement System. Some of the changes include:

• The 80 percent cap on retirement benefits has been removed.
• Beginning July 1, 2010, a member will be required to have five years of service credit in ASRS before initiating a service purchase.
• The Service Purchase Programs has been expanded to include time worked for the government of a U.S. commonwealth, insular area or overseas possession.

For more information on House Bill 2118 see the ASRS September Report [PDF].

Health Benefits for Dependents:  The General Appropriations Act included changes to ARS 38-651, which authorizes the state to procure health and accident coverage for state employees and their dependents. Specifically, the new language redefined dependents as “a spouse under the laws of this state, a child who is under 19 or a child who is under 23 and who is a full-time student.” Pima Community College does not participate in the state health insurance plan and is not affected by these changes. 

ACES Community Outreach Project – Barbeque
Please join ACES in the effort to raise money to buy holiday food baskets for the families of our military personnel from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. One hundred percent of all donations will go toward food baskets for the families of our military personnel.

Here are the dates and primary contact person for each barbecue. Donations of items or cash to cover expenses will be accepted both prior to and during the events. Volunteers are welcome and needed as well. Please speak with the contact for your location about how you can assist them.

We anticipate another record-setting year! Thank you for your help and support of this worthwhile event.

Donations are given to the Tucson Chamber of Commerce Military Affairs Committee to assist with holiday food baskets and emergency requests from the families of the men and women who have been deployed from DM. In the last four years we have donated more than $18,000, with a record of more than $6,100 in 2008. Let’s make it our best effort yet!

Help Evaluate PCC Library Databases
Please help the PCC Library by providing feedback on new databases we are evaluating. We are particularly interested in your opinion on the content and interface. The databases are listed at the bottom of the “Magazine, Newspaper and Journal Articles” page of the library Web site. We are evaluating seven databases this fall:

• ProQuest Historical Newspapers (offers full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue of the nation’s leading newspapers, including The San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Guardian & Observer)
• Primal Anatomy (offers pictures of interactive anatomy)
• Greenr (offers reference on environment, energy and natural resources)
• Environment Complete (offers reference on environment, energy and natural resources)
• Arts Full-Text (offers full text plus abstracts and indexing of publications on artists, exhibition reviews, and criticism)
• Humanities Full-Text (offers the full text of feature articles, interviews, obituaries, book reviews, and reviews of ballets, dance programs, motion pictures, musicals, operas, plays, radio and television programs)
• Global Issues in Context (offers multi-media reference on international news and events)

Note that there is a link next to each database that will allow you to provide quick feedback. The deadline for submitting evaluations is October 30, 2009. If you have any questions, please contact Bob Baker at 206-6485.

Benefits

Seasonal Flu Shot Clinics
Flu shots will be available to employees from October 12 to October 23. The vaccination will be to guard against seasonal flu only, NOT the H1N1 virus. The vaccinations are free and you do not have to be a member of CIGNA to receive one. The schedule is as follows:

Call the Employee Service Center, 206-4945, for more information.

Inside Story: ECE Online Courses

Adding online course offerings has helped the Early Childhood Education (ECE) program at Pima’s Desert Vista Campus more than double its ECE enrollment, says Ted Roush, Title V project director for the College.

“We currently have 382 students enrolled in online ECE courses,” he says, adding that 11 ECE courses are now offered online.

More than a year ago, Pima began converting high-demand ECE courses to online delivery, with funding from Pima’s Title V: Strengthening Institutions grant. The online conversion fulfills the College’s vision of “providing access to students without limits of place, time or distance.”

Nancy Mager, Title V program manager, says plans are underway to develop an Early Childhood Special Education component of the ECE program that would include online classes based on needs identified by the College’s community partners.

“The Pima Center for Early Childhood Studies is committed to lowering the barriers to attaining degrees in early childhood care and education,” says Shanna Kukla, program manager for ECE.

Best Practices: Your Outlook Scheduling Assistant

Your fellow PCC employees are busier than ever, which means that arranging a meeting can be a scheduling nightmare. One helpful tool at your fingertips is the Microsoft Outlook scheduling assistant function. The scheduling assistant can help you find a time when everybody is available.

To use it, go to your Outlook calendar and click on the “new appointment” icon. When your appointment box opens, click on “invite attendees” under the appointment tab and fill out the appointment information. Then click on “scheduling assistant,” also under the appointment tab. The scheduling assistant will show you when the colleagues you have invited are busy, out of the office or potentially free for a meeting. As you click through potential meeting times, the scheduling assistant will tell how many of the participants have an open schedule at that time. Just select a time when all are available and send your meeting request.

Upcoming Events

• Oct. 14: Earth Science Day, Northwest Campus, 2nd level, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.
• Oct. 17: Pima Community College Job Fair for Adjunct Faculty, Pima Community College District Office, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
• Oct. 19: Tribal & College Leaders Summit, South Ballroom, The University of Arizona, 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.
• Oct. 20: Wind Ensemble Fall Concert, West Campus Proscenium Theatre at 7:30 p.m. For information and tickets, call 206-6986
• Oct. 20-21: Cyber Security Workshop, Downtown Campus, Amethyst Room, from 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. on Oct. 20 and 8 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. on Oct. 21. Register by calling 206-7088 or emailing jcarroll@pima.edu
• Oct. 22: PCC Chorale and College Singers in concert, 7:30 p.m., West Campus, CFA Proscenium Theatre. For information and tickets, call 206-6986
• Oct. 22: PCC chapter of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society hosts panel discussion on the region’s agrarian past and current community garden efforts, Desert Vista Campus, Octotillo Room, 6:30 p.m.
• Oct. 23: “Galileo Galilei’s Astronomical Telescope: A Special Lecture Under the Stars Program,” East Campus observatory, 6:30 - 10 p.m.
• Oct. 31: 12th Annual Safe Halloween, East Campus, noon-4 p.m.
• Nov. 4-15: PCC Theatre Arts presents See How They Run, West Campus Black Box Theatre. For information and tickets, call 206-6986
• Nov. 20: Senior Anti-Crime Workshop, Desert Vista Campus Rooms C-106, C-107, C-108, 8 a.m. - noon. Register here

Ongoing Events

• Sept. 8–Oct. 9: CFA Louis Carlos Bernal Gallery presents “Distilled Matter: Conte, Oil, Enamel, Thread” with Matthias Düwel, Charity Hall and Kay Lawrence. For more information, call 206-6942

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