ALABAMA COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM - ACCS

[Pages:32]2015

ALABAMA COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM

ANNUAL REPORT

We are the Alabama Community College System

The lifeblood of any successful organization can always be found in its people. And, for the Alabama Community College System, it is indeed our successful students and alumni, our committed faculty and staff, and our steadfast community supporters who have helped to make our System the state's leading resource for providing educational and training opportunities through our academic transfer programs, adult education services, and workforce training in high-skill, high-wage career fields.

The positive impact of our community colleges on the lives of citizens across this state is profound. I dare say that there is not a person in Alabama who has not been touched in some way, either directly or indirectly, by one or more of our colleges. The stories our students share with us of challenge and perseverance, of triumph and success, are inspirational and a true testament of how our System is truly changing lives.

The best way to tell any story is through the eyes of those who have experienced it. On the pages of this report, you will see first-hand just a few examples of the thousands of individuals whose lives we have touched and whose dreams we have helped become reality. These stories are real and give a greater insight into who we are as a System:

? We are Beatrice Collins, who after successfully passing her GED test, is now a student leader at Lawson State Community College, with a perfect 4.0 GPA;

? We are Mitchell Sowers, a former Emergency Medical Technology dual enrollment student at Calhoun Community College, who at 18 years of age became the youngest firefighter in Alabama;

? We are Chancey Wyatt, who after earning her welding certification from Lurleen B. Wallace Community College, went on to become a highly successful welder in this male-dominated field and is now a full-time laboratory facilitator in LBW's welding program;

? We are Mavon Copeland, a graduate of Wallace State Community College's Industrial Electronics program, who after taking a stab at an engineering degree and spending time in the nursing program, is now successfully employed as a maintenance technologist at the Yates Nissan battery plant in Smyrna, Tenn.

? We are these stories of success, and so many more!

We are proud to be your Alabama Community College System.

Mark A. Heinrich, Ph.D., Chancellor Alabama Community College System 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

01 03 04 05 09 12 16 23 28 29 30

Chancellor's Message

ACCS Board of Trustees Telling the ACCS Story through the Eyes of Our Students Academic Transfer Adult Education Dual Enrollment Workforce Development It's Never Too Late...Stories of Perseverance and Inspiration ACCS Colleges are Excelling 2014-2015 ACCS Financial Highlights Alabama Community College System - Map

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Alabama Community College System Board of Trustees

In May 2015, the Alabama Legislature enacted a bill creating the Alabama Community College System and its Board of Trustees. The Alabama Community College System Board of Trustees plays a critical role in the education of hundreds of thousands of adults each year. The members of the Board of Trustees serve as guardians for the Alabama Community College System's mission and goals, with the Governor serving as chair of the Board by virtue of elected office. The other board members, appointed by the Governor, represent eight districts, with one state-wide member and an ex-officio liaison from the State Board of Education.

Governor Robert Bentley, President

Al Thompson, Vice President, District 1

Ron Fantroy, District 2

Susan Foy, District 3

Frank Caldwell, District 4

Crystal Brown, District 5

Milton Davis, Disctrict 6

Chuck Smith, District 7

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Blake McAnally, Member-at-Large

Mary Scott Hunter, State Board of Education Ex-Officio Member

Telling the ACCS Story through the Eyes of our Students

The Alabama Community College System is a unified system comprised of 25 colleges, Marion Military Institute and the Alabama Technology Network, delivering excellence in academic education, adult education, and workforce development. With close to 10,500 employees, last year we served approximately 185,000 people through all of our entities; over 83,000 of those served were enrolled in credit courses.

Here, we bring you the stories of just a few of the thousands of individuals whose lives have been changed through our colleges.

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ACADEMIC TRANSFER

The Alabama Community College System facilitates the seamless transfer from our community colleges to Alabama's public and most of the state's independent (private) four-year colleges and universities.

all of

Our students are successful! Thousands of our community college students transfer yearly to public four-year institutions, and studies show that most of these students are just as successful if not more so than the students starting at the fouryear college.

? More than 6,300 Alabama Community College System students successfully transferred to a four-year college or university last year.

? 89% of ACCS students who transfer to a public four-year college/university maintain a GPA greater than 2.0 at the college/university level.

Kaleigh Cork ? Shelton State Community

During her senior year of high school, Kaleigh Cork knew she wanted to attend Shelton State Community College. With strong leadership qualities and artistic talent, she was selected for multiple institutional scholarships and began her college career at the school of her choice.

While attending Shelton State, Kaleigh focused on completing basic core classes and preparing herself to transfer. "The education I received is the foundation for the work I now complete," says Cork. "My instructors at Shelton State taught me how to write like a college scholar, how to analyze questions to achieve deeper understanding, and how to think critically about situations to determine all possibilities."

Kaleigh concluded her experience at Shelton State as a recipient of a full scholarship to the University of Alabama. She attributes this to her advantage as a community college applicant. "As a high school senior, I would not have been selected for a University of Alabama scholarship. The motivation I received from Shelton State instructors and staff was the most beneficial aspect of being a student there."

Kaleigh is enjoying continued success while working toward her dream of teaching. As one of the top students in the University of Alabama's Multiple Abilities Program, she is receiving certification in early childhood education, elementary education, and special education. Kaleigh seeks to make a difference in the lives of children and influence their futures in a positive way.

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Caleb Dobbs - Gadsden State Community College

After graduating from high school in 2013, Caleb Dobbs was aimless and ambitionless. "I wasn't driven," the 20-year-old said. "I didn't take my studies seriously. I really didn't know what I wanted to do with my life." But, after spending two years at Gadsden State Community College, he now knows exactly what he wants to achieve.

country. "I seriously had no direction until I came to Gadsden State," he said. "I'm glad that I chose to find my way at Gadsden State. It has been a great place for me to grow as a person, and I have had a number of leadership opportunities that I may not have had at a four-year university."

"Gadsden State has really prepared me for the future," he said. "I'm ahead of the curve."

"I aspire to be a marine aquaculturist," he said. Aquaculture ? also known as fish farming ? refers to the breeding, rearing and harvesting of plants and animals in all types of water environments, including ponds, rivers, lakes and the ocean. Gadsden State has an impeccable reputation among aquaculturists, and is the only facility of its type on a community college campus in the Southeast, attracting students from across the

BalloonSat Team - Bishop State Community College

Bishop State Community College's participants in the Balloon Satellite (BalloonSAT) explorer program funded by NASA launched a 6-foot diameter weather balloon in spring 2016, complete with experiments and cameras, into the space-like regions of Earth's upper atmosphere. These future scientists used a microprocessor along with GPS technologies to locate the satellite once it returned to earth. They conducted numerous experiments designed to collect multiple kinds of data during the flight, and were even involved in interpreting the data. Their experience touched on every aspect of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) disciplines and helped to further prepare them to meet the demands of a four-year institution in any of the STEM fields they choose to enter.

Student participants from left to right: Back Row: Dr. Melinda Oliver, Chemistry instructor, Shanon Harris, Braxton Kennedy, Taylor Graves and Keith Nelson; Front Row: Maegan McCane, Alexis Millender, Aria Lopuhovski, Simone Alexander, math instructor, and Theartur Thames

Caleb Dobbs is pictured with an African Pompano during his summer internship at Dauphin Island Sea Lab.

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Andrew Reed ? Northwest Shoals Community College

Phil Campbell (AL) native, award-winning filmmaker and university professor Andrew Reed had no idea he would develop a love of videography at Northwest-Shoals Community College (NW-SCC) that would shape his career path and change his life.

During his freshman year on the Phil Campbell campus of NW-SCC, he took on an on-campus job to make some extra money. "While I was there, I worked at the Alabama Center for Advanced Woodworking Technology creating instructional videos," said Reed. "That experience really cemented my career path in video production."

After graduating from NW-SCC and receiving his bachelor's degree from the University of North Alabama (UNA), Reed received a fellowship to pursue his master's degree in Telecommunications at the University of Alabama (UA). He says it was there that he found his other passion. "I got into documentary film making and developed a passion for teaching production courses," stated Reed. He earned his Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and has now taught video production courses at four different universities.

It was after Reed completed his masters at UA and returned to UNA to teach that he began working on his most well-known film, I'm with Phil, a documentary about a man from New York named Phil Campbell who

discovers a rural town in Alabama with the same name. Phil invites Phil Campbells from all over the world to join him there; however, after a deadly tornado strikes the town, his stunt takes on an entirely different tone of disaster relief and awareness. Twenty Phil Campbells from around the United States actually came together to raise $42,000, which was given to help build a Habitat for Humanity home for a deserving family in Phil Campbell, Alabama, who lost their home in the tornado.

Reed has directed and/or produced 10 films since 2010 and is currently in progress on four others. And, regardless of the exciting journey his next film is sure to take him on, he will never forget where it all started. "NW-SCC helped me get my feet wet in the real world without drowning in it," stated Reed. "People need an opportunity to gradually transition into the different phases of life and NW-SCC allowed me to do that."

Cindy Donald ? Faulkner State Community College

Over a thirty-year span, Faulkner State Community College graduate Cindy Donald spent many years as a secretary for a structural engineering firm and then as a devoted wife and mother. After 12 years of serving as a stay-at-home mom, Donald decided it was time to pursue another career, and returned in 2010 to the college of which she was a proud alum, Faulkner State, to pursue a degree in Engineering. "In 1987, I got my associate's from Faulkner State, which was instrumental in the reason I chose to go there again ? I did not have

7 Andrew Reed films a few of the Phil Campbells as they work to clean-up their name sake town following the devastation from the tornado of April 27, 2011.

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