Classrooms Without Walls

Andrea Sullins, a student at Isaac Dickson Elementary School, gets some assistance from A-B Tech Automotive student Steve Boyd during Dickson's Classrooms Without Walls job shadowing program. Three students from Dickson visited automotive and one visited Culinary as part of the program.

Bee S-u-p-p-o-r-t-i-v-e

This year's Altrusa Spelling Bee will be held in Ferguson Auditorium March 24 at 7 p.m. Come out and support A-B Tech's spelling teams- Eric Parsels, Developmental Studies Instructor, English; Valerie Watts, Spanish Instructor; Seth Stewart, English Instructor; Ruth Shackelton, wife of John Shackelton, Developmental Studies Instructor, English; Mary McClurkin, English Instructor; and Gary Nelson, Developmental Studies Instructor, Math. The members of the PTK team are Jessica Decker, Vivian Cunningham, and Christi Britt-Hill. There will be a Spirit Prize given to the team that collects the most donations to literacy, so come out with your dictionary and checkbook!

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OD Corner:Professional Development/QEP Retreat A Success!

How many teachers do we have here today?

On Thursday, Feb. 20, during her Quality Enhancement II keynote address, Dr. Betty Siegel posed this question. After a quick count of hands raised in the Ferguson Auditorium crowd, she announced: "Wrong! You're ALL teachers at A-B Tech. Every single person who works here comes in contact with students, and that makes every single one of you a teacher!"

Siegel, President of Kennesaw State University in Georgia since 1981 (the first woman to hold that position in the 34-unit University System of Georgia), delivered a lively, heartfelt and inspirational speech to close the afternoon's Quality Enhancement Plan/SACS activities. Along with Dr. William Purkey (who was a guest speaker here two years ago), Siegel is co-founder of the International Alliance for Invitational Education. The IAIE, a 1,200-member organization with representatives from 12 countries, helps members apply the concepts of invitational education to personal and professional lives. Since A-B Tech's QEP topic is Developing Strategies for Student Success through Invitational Education, Siegel was invited to illuminate the ways in which Invitational Education can help A-B Tech achieve its QEP goal.

An expert in administration and psychology, Siegel has been praised for exemplary programs at Kennesaw State University in minority recruitment and retention, leadership programs for faculty, staff, administrators and students, international initiatives, and an array of programs designed to invite student success. Under her invitational leadership, the University has grown from a four-year college with an enrollment of 4,000 students and 15 baccalaureate degree programs to its current University status with 16,000 curriculum students, 50 undergraduate and graduate degree programs and 36,000 continuing education students. As someone who has made Invitational Education the heart of her own presidency, Siegel praised President Bailey for setting the goal of making A-B Tech the most invitational place in town! Her assessment: I know you will succeed!

Siegel's address capped an eventful afternoon that began with divisions and work groups meeting from noon - 1:20 for an Atlanta Bread Company catered lunch and various professional development activities. At 1:30, employees gathered in Ferguson Auditorium for an overview of the QEP process and Invitational Education with Team Leader Deborah Lonon. The QEP was defined as follows:

The QEP is a course of action for institutional improvement that addresses one or more issues that contribute to institutional quality, with special attention to student learning. The QEP is a significant component of the reaffirmation process that should be designed to demonstrate a capacity to address significant issues and aspirations. One of the first objectives of the QEP is to engage the wider academic community in a comprehensive and thorough analysis of the effectiveness of the learning environment to support student learning and to accomplish the mission of the institution. With its goal of Developing Strategies for Student Success through Invitational Education, A-B Tech's Quality Enhancement Plan considers the total environment of A-B Tech as part of that learning environment. Therefore, the 5-Ps of Invitational Education, PEOPLE, PLACES, PROGRAMS, POLICIES and PROCESSES were assessed at the first Quality Enhancement Retreat in September 2002. During a 5-P Relay Activity that day, employees were asked to focus on what A-B Tech is already doing well in each of these areas.

On Feb. 20 at 2:00 p.m., a continuation of the 5-P Relay was conducted in various classrooms in Elm, Sycamore and Laurel Buildings, facilitated by QE Team members and other volunteers from across the campus. While the September Quality Enhancement Retreat used an appreciative inquiry approach to assess the College's strengths, this time, participants were asked to identify the top three challenges for each P and to discuss possible solutions to those challenges. Each session closed with an opportunity to complete an Employee Invitational Education survey.

At 3:30 p.m., employees returned to Ferguson to hear Siegel expound on ways that Invitational Education's tenets will help us meet the goal of Developing Strategies for Student Success through Invitational Education as part of our reaffirmation process. Her address was enthusiastically received with a standing ovation. Deborah Lonon closed the day by thanking Carol Rovello, Vera Williams, the Quality Enhancement Team, Siegel, President Bailey and Vice Presidents Branch, King, Metcalf and Morrissey, along with the many volunteers who helped make the QEII a success. What's next for the Quality Enhancement Plan Process?

• 1) Administer and compile continuing education student survey
• 2) Compile curriculum student survey
• 3) Compile employee survey
• 4) Compile 5-P Relay Challenges
• 5) Disseminate information from all surveys and 5-P Relay activities to College employees
• 6) Determine top 3 - 5 QEP goals
• 7) Form focus groups to investigate those goals
• 8) Devise resulting plans of action to achieve selected goals
• 9) Report on those action plans at the Fall 2003 Quality Enhancement Retreat III
• 10)Compile all information in the QEP narrative due 1-12-04
• 11)Receive re-accreditation!

Meanwhile, Dr. Tom Benberg, A-B Tech's SACS liaison, visited campus on Thursday and Friday, Feb. 27 and 28 to hear about our accreditation progress thus far, answer questions and provide clarification.

For further information on the SACS Quality Enhancement Plan and/or Invitational Education, please contact Deborah Lonon at ext. 339. (You may also wish to access the Invitational Education website at invitationaleducation.net. Those who requested purchase information on Siegel and Purkey's new book, Becoming an Invitational Leader - A New Approach to Professional and Personal Success, will find assistance there.)

Carol Rovello, Director of Employee and Organization Development

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March Activities

• 3rd  Advanced PowerPoint (prerequisite - Intermediate PowerPoint)
• 4th  Second Reader Training
• 5th  Organic Gardening starts
• 7th  Grant Writing      Introduction to Graphics
• 11th     Faculty Discussion Group Hands On Applications: technology in the classroom, group activities, making learning come alive
• 12th     Organic Gardening, continued
• 19th     Organic Gardening, continued
• 20th     On-Campus Shiatsu
• 26th     On-Campus Chair to Table Massage

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Textbooks Ahoy!

The U.S. Navy has adopted a textbook on public speaking written by Hamilton Gregory, instructor in communications. Public Speaking for College and Career, now in its 6th edition and published by McGraw-Hill, is used at A-B Tech and other colleges and universities. The Navy adopted the text for all of its college-credit public speaking classes aboard ships, involving sailors throughout the world. A few weeks ago, Gregory received an e-mail from a public-speaking instructor who is using the book to teach a course on an aircraft carrier, the USS Constellation, in the Persian Gulf.

Making Taxes Not So Taxing

A-B Tech students are offering tax assistance through the annual Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program. Joe Franklin, Dean of Business and Hospitality Education, said last year, our students served more than 200 people last year, and this year have, in only two weeks, assisted 70. "(Accounting Instructor) Carol (Hutchinson) is really dedicated to the students and making sure they have the support they need to make the program a success," Franklin said.

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