In This Update
Welcome!
Welcome back for the 2009-2010 academic year! On a regular basis, I plan to update
you on a variety of important things happening at Lone Star College-Montgomery.
From the college's beginning, our faculty and staff have been committed
to academic excellence and supporting the aspirations of its students.
We do this by providing (1) a quality education that prepares students
to transfer to four-year colleges and universities or equipping them with
the necessary skills to enter the workforce, (2) an atmosphere that is
relaxing and conducive to learning, and (3) an unwavering commitment to
partner with our surrounding community. During the next two years, Lone
Star College-Montgomery is poised for the most significant campus expansion
in its history. The passage of the bond referendum in 2008 includes the
construction of three new buildings on our campus (plus a much-needed
parking garage!), as well as a new state-of-the-art satellite center in
the Conroe/Willis area. Indeed, we have exciting times ahead. In the ensuing
weeks and months, I look forward to getting to know you--and working with
you, as we grow the college together. We have a lot to accomplish!
Next week is a busy time for the entire college as we prepare for the
start of the fall semester. I hope to see all of you at the Lone Star
College System Convocation on Wednesday, August 19, at The Woodlands Waterway
Marriott. In addition to co-mingling with our colleagues from throughout
the System, our chancellor, Dr. Richard Carpenter, will highlight the
event with an exciting overview presentation of what's happening across
LSCS. The following day, LSC-Montgomery will host an all-employee breakfast,
followed by a more localized presentation of what's happening at LSC-Montgomery.
The breakfast will begin at 8:30 a.m. in Theatre lobby and Mary Matteson-Parrish
Art Gallery (Building D). The presentation will follow at 9:30 a.m. in
the Theatre. Later that evening, we will welcome all of our adjunct faculty
with dinners, meetings and presentations by each academic division. Here
is a link to the full
schedule of activities for the week of August 17-21. Finally,
on Friday, August 21, the Lone Star Premier (new student orientation)
will welcome hundreds of new LSC-Montgomery students in a fun, reality-show-themed
event from 9:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Even if you aren’t a part of this event,
make sure to welcome any new students you see wandering the campus.
As I write this, our projection of more than 10,100 students this fall is looking very promising. That projection represents a conservative 5 percent increase over last fall's total of 9,666 students. If our summer enrollment is any indication (we experienced a 8.5 percent growth rate, accommodating 6,064 students), fall enrollment will most likely increase. In fact, every fall semester since the college opened has seen a record number of students, and this fall will be no different. We'll wait until the Official Day in September to celebrate our milestone of reaching the 10,000-student mark. This is no small accomplishment, and it has taken the heroic efforts of so many of you to reach this total. Special thanks goes to all LSC-Montgomery employees that have gone the extra mile to make sure our students are adequately served.
I
may be new to LSC-Montgomery, but I am well aware of the parking situation
on our campus. As a temporary solution, we have created a 200-space lot
on the far west side of campus (near the LSC-Montgomery Child Care Center),
that will handle the overflow of cars that we expect on August 24. During
the first few weeks of the semester, when the parking situation will be
at its peak, I encourage you to be patient and understanding as our police
officers manage the traffic flow. Just remember: A year from now, our
parking crunch will be a distant memory (More on that in a minute.)
To
say that the next two years will be busy with construction is, well, an
understatement. Not only will we have three new instructional buildings
added to the LSC-Montgomery campus, we will also build a state-of-the-art
comprehensive satellite center on the north end of Conroe. Finally, we'll
add a much-needed parking garage here as well. Here's a quick status report/summary
of each of these projects:
Parking
Garage
This is the first priority, and it will be finished in time for the start
of the 2010-2011 academic year next August. The garage, which will house
1,000 cars on five levels, will be located on the north end of the west
parking lot--between the existing lot and the tennis courts. The garage
will also be the headquarters for our police department. Groundbreaking
will begin in late September with the clearing of the land, followed by
an aggressive 10-month construction phase.
Music
Building
The 20,000-square-foot music building will
house a 175-seat recital hall, a band and choir hall, and more than a
dozen practice rooms for students. This building will be located where
parking lot #6 sits—just behind building D. In fact, a covered walkway
will connect the new building to D. Groundbreaking will begin in November
and, due to the smaller size of this building, completion is expected
by the end of July 2010.
Health
Science Building
This much-needed building will house the college’s health science programs,
including biotechnology, physical therapist assistant, nursing, and more.
At 60,000 square feet, the health science building will include more than
30 classrooms and specialized labs. It will be physically connected to north
end of building B. Groundbreaking is slated for November, with an expected
completion date of December 2010.
Classroom Building
The largest of the new buildings, this 75,000-square-foot instructional center will
feature 40 classrooms and labs, including a 100-seat tiered lecture hall,
a large lobby area with coffee bar, and numerous faculty and staff offices.
Located just south of building F, groundbreaking for this building will
take place in November, with an expected completion date of December 2010.
LSC-Conroe Center
Providing maximum educational opportunities for the
northern end of the LSC-Montgomery service area is key to our mission
as a college. As such, we are building a comprehensive, 83,000-square-foot
satellite campus on the northern end of Conroe, on FM 3083 approximately
two miles east of I-45. LSC-Conroe Center's larger building (67,000 square
feet) will include eight computer labs, 12 general classrooms, a large
biology lab, and specialized classrooms for programs such as phlebotomy
and nurse assistant. This building will also house a full range of support
services, including a bookstore, library, testing center and tutoring.
The second building (16,000 square feet) will contain the center's industrial
programs, including welding, heating/ventilation/air conditioning, and
machining. Additionally, the college's automotive and diesel technician
programs will be housed in this building, complete with two bays for hands-on
student learning. This new LSC-Conroe Center, which replaces the existing
Conroe Center, is located within Conroe Park North, a large, rapidly growing
hub of business activity, including international corporations such as
McKesson and NOV Downhole. Groundbreaking will take place in November
2010, with an anticipated opening in early 2011.
In an effort to give Conroe, Willis and surrounding communities maximum
input into the ongoing success of the soon-to-be-built LSC-Conroe Center,
a community advisory group is being formed. In addition to several Lone
Star College employees, the group will consist of various community leaders
representing school districts, churches, city and county government, businesses,
non-profits, and more. The group will help guide new programs and services
for LSC-Conroe Center, serve as a sounding board for decisions impacting
the center, and act as a support/communications network for the center--helping
to raise awareness out in the community.
In forming this group, we are fulfilling several of the goals in the Lone Star College Strategic Plan for 2009-2011, including Goal #1: Maintain affordability and accessibility; Goal #3: Provide academic excellence and strengthen connectivity through high quality academic and service programs; Goal #5: Create effective internal and external systems of communication; Goal #6: Provide quality student-focused service; and Goal #8: Develop and maintain mutually constructive community partnerships
Beginning next month, the LSC-Conroe Center community advisory group will meet five times per year during the 18-month construction phase, followed by quarterly meetings once the center is operational in 2011. Co-chairs for this group are Dr. Roberto Rodriguez, director of the LSC-Conroe Center, and Steve Scheffler, dean of college relations.
Open communication is critical to our success. As I’ve said many times, my door is (almost) always open. But I’d like to take my “open door” on the road, in the form of monthly open forums for students, faculty and staff alike. These open forums will be held on the first Thursday of each month, beginning in September. Please attend if at all possible. Even if you don’t have something to say, you may learn something new simply by listening to the open dialogue of these forums. Oh, and we’ll have cookies and punch as an additional incentive! Open forum dates/times for the fall semester:
- Thursday, Sept. 3: 1-2:30 p.m. Room B102
- Thursday, Oct. 1: 1-2:30 p.m. Room A102
- Thursday, Nov. 5: 2-3:30 p.m. Room B102
In addition to these campuswide open forums, I intend to visit with each department/division during the upcoming semester. These more intimate visits will give me a better understanding of how the college operates at the “ground” level, and will also provide an additional tool for open communication.
The LSCS Board of Trustees recently approved the Systemwide budget for
2009-2010, which includes a total of $23,230,000 for LSC-Montgomery. Our
new budget does include an additional $580,122, which funds a four percent
salary increase with a minimum of $1,200 for all FT employees. This also
funds the increase in the minimum wage. We also received $371,453 in growth
funding, which was based on a projected increase of five percent in contact
hours for the entire year. This money funds five new full-time faculty
positions—English, emergency medical technology, math, physical therapist
assistant, and art. The balance of the money went for a three percent
increase in supplies, non-capital equipment, printing, postage, college
contingency.
Strategic Planning Focus Groups
Most of you actively participated last spring as the college created a
localized strategic plan based on the ten overarching Systemwide goals. I
believe that our strategic plan is essential to the future success of
the college, and my goal is to closely link our budget planning to the
strategic plan. As we prepare to put our plan into action, I would like
to provide an additional opportunity for faculty, staff and administrators
to react to the plan. Just as important, though, I want all employee groups
to feel comfortable voicing additional initiatives or directions in which
they’d like to see the college explore. So, we will hold separate focus
groups for all support staff, faculty and administrators. I encourage
you to participate. Be on the lookout for the dates of these focus groups
in the coming weeks.
The office of technology services (OTS) was quite busy on our campus throughout the summer. In late July, a large portion of LSC-Montgomery staff and faculty were migrated to the new AD domain and exchange mail server. When the migration is completed across the system, users will see a drop in “recipient's mailbox is full” messages. This is because attachments will be stored separate from the actual mail, which gives everyone additional space. On Monday, August 17, OTS will have technicians available in each of the office areas to help with any latent migration problems that returning faculty might encounter. Over the summer, 109 projectors were replaced at LSC-Montgomery, LSC-Conroe Center, and LSC-University Center. An updated instruction card will be in every classroom that has a new projector in it. Individual instruction by an A/V tech will also be available on a case by case basis. Shortly after the semester starts, OTS will begin replacing PCs and laptops based on the existing inventory and recent inventory scan.
Fire Science Academy will be holding their inaugural graduation on August 21, 2009 at 6 p.m. in the theater Building D.