Best of
Florida Schools 2003
General Categories—Page
20 (Web-Only)
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Best E-mail
Youcanwinagateway@BCC.edu
Like every other college, Broward Community College is constantly
trying to coax students into signing up for school e-mail accounts. So when
administrators took older 150 Gateway computers out of service, a light bulb
when on. BCC held a contest to increase the number of students with a school
e-mail account—by registering for an on-line account, students could enter
to win one of the computers.
Students simply sent a normal message to the contest address to be entered into the drawing after activating their accounts.
With 700 students signing-up, the contest was a success, says Charles Lyle, BCC South Campus director of student life. “E-mail is important to the students at BCC because it’s a great way to get information on events and activities,” Lyle says. “Also, more and more professors are communicating with students outside the classroom via e-mail, and by having a BCC account, professors can pull up an e-mail list and send one mass e-mail of class information.”
BCC organized another contest this spring that included 700 more computers. Contest organizers used posters, handouts, faculty announcements in classrooms, and advertising in BCC’s newspaper, The Observer, to get the word out. —AS
Contact Lyle at clyle@broward.edu.
Best Company Awards
Recognizing Great Places to Work
Watch out, Dilbert. The Workforce at Central Florida Community College
is in full force, mimicking Fortune magazine and working to improve
the quality of local, small and mid-size companies. “ ‘Great Places to Work’
was the college’s response to a big conference we had,” says Margaret
Spontak, executive director of corporate training and continuing education.
“All of our local companies said they needed help with recruiting and
retaining employees.” The human resources capabilities available to the
companies needed a major face-lift, Spontak says.
“When we left that conference, we came across Fortune magazine’s ‘100 Best Places to Work for in America,’ and came up with our idea to do a similar project, a local project in just three counties—Levy, Citrus, and Marion,” Spontak says. The project’s purpose was to use awards to recognize those doing the right things as well as doing some one-on-one assisting with the companies, to improve their images. Because the Fortune magazine awards only apply to companies larger than 500 employees, CFCC spearheaded the local effort.
“It’s not just the award, it’s the learning in the process,” says Spontak. “To me, learning the characteristics of great places to work, and ways to emulate it as a company, are almost more important than the recognition.”
Although CFCC couldn’t win awards, key administrators still participated in the workshops. “We felt that if we’re asking companies to go through this, we needed to go through it ourselves,” Spontak says, “In the series of six workshops, companies were taught the elements of being a great place to work: pride, camaraderie, respect, credibility, family-friendly, and fairness.
The National Great Places to Work Institute did surveys of all the participating companies’ employees. From the tallied results winners emerged in each size category. CFCC Workforce also continues to conduct company visits and follow-ups. —AS
Contact Spontak at spontakm@cfcc.cc.fl.us.
Best Cheerleaders
All For Chipola Stand Up and Holler
Give me a “C”, give me an “H”, give me an “I”…Of course Chipola Junior
College’s cheerleaders add spirit and support to the athletic events,
but these 14 girls, chosen from applicants from all across the country,
bring more than tumbling skills and bouncy enthusiasm to their job—they
serve as public ambassadors for the Marianna school, both hosting events and
lending their presence to liven up others.
The cheerleading squad is an integral part of the Chipola community, says Coach Geraldine DeFelix. In fact, the squad’s so valuable to the school, that each year the Scholarship Foundation Group allots $1,500 to pay the tuition of returning sophomores who maintain a 2.5 GPA.
Each year the team attends as many as possible the invitations they receive to perform at various activities within their community. As their fundraiser, they also put on a December Extravaganza, a cheerleading conference designed to help local high school and club squads improve their skills. “We’re getting the best of the best on our team, and it really shows,” DeFelix says. “They act as a team, and do everything together.” This year, they also served as hostesses for the Annual State Cheerleading Competition, providing a hospitality room for the teams that traveled to Chipola.
In addition to community endeavors the teamof course cheers at basketball, baseball, and softball games. The squad also hosts festive events for the athletes such as Halloween treat deliveries and a Valentine’s Day party. —CA
Contact DeFelix at defelix@chipola.edu.
Best Tuition Deals
Chipola’s
Out-of-this-State Fees
Who wants to be a Bulldog or part of the Crimson Tide when all those great
Florida schools lie just across the border? This year, Chipola Junior
College started allowing Alabama and Georgia students to attend the
college for in-state tuition rates.
At most schools, out-of-state tuition is often triple that of in-state. But CJC, only 20 miles from the Georgia and Alabama borders, doesn’t discriminate against those not blessed with Florida residency. The tuition reduction really is intended to help students from counties on the Florida border who may actually have a shorter drive to Chipola than to a college in their own state, says Dr. Dale O’Daniel, former Chipola president. “Since the establishment of these programs this year, the enrollment has gone up 19 percent,” says Bryan Craven, director of public relations.
Florida state employees, meanwhile, can apply for a tuition waiver that pays up to six credit hours per term, benefiting those working in public service programs such as fire-fighting, corrections, and law enforcement. —CA
Contact Craven at Cravenb@chipola.edu.
Best Cafeteria
FCCJ Students Say Bon Appetit
Mystery meat is "Mmm mmm good" for
the students and faculty at Florida Community College at Jacksonville.
FCCJ’s meals don’t include a gray glob with lumps of unknown
ingredients. Instead, the only mystery is what exotic dish will be prepared
by culinary students. Food is an enjoyable and affordable part of the day
for students when they choose to eat on the FCCJ North campus, which hosts
the culinary and hospitality management program.
Three times weekly, students sample fine dining prepared by the culinary students, which is served in a separate room inside the cafeteria with windows that overlook one of the school's lakes. The fine meal includes gourmet food and service for only $6 for lunch and $7 for dinner, which includes an appetizer, main dish, desert, and beverage. Waiters and waitresses present you with a "very beautifully served meal," says Bettie Hausman, student activities director.
The regular staff prepares meals daily such as sandwiches, hot dogs, hamburgers, fresh soup, and a daily salad bar. The culinary students also cook for their classes, though their dishes usually are served in the cafeteria. The standard complaint about most schools is the cafeteria, and Hausman says, "But you never hear complaints about our campus."
During times when the regular staff is cooking, students can choose from $1 breakfast omelets to the freshly made sandwiches and subs for lunch. "They have a roast beef sub that's to die for," Hausman says.
Contact Hausman at bhausman@fccj.edu.
Best Student Lounge
SGA.com:
A Real World Site
Don't go looking for SGA.COM on the Internet—just walk across the
Hillsborough Community College-Dale Mabry campus and grab a cup of
coffee and a paper. Equipped with computers, sofas, and a coffee bar,
students have found their home away from home at SGA.COM, a new lounge that
provides a place for students to relax.
The Dale Mabry Student Government Association helped create the modernized lounge, which has 12 computers and 20 sofas scattered throughout. Students see blue, purple, and sage when they walk in instead of the institutional green and beige. "We avoided institutional colors and purposely chose uplifting colors that would appeal to the students," says Anita Yeung, SGA president.
An error in tuition charges accounted for a financial windfall that alllowed SGA to provide students with an improved lounge. After SGA completed the lounge, they renovated their own offices using similar colors. The Dale Mabry SGA members consider themselves trendsetters for the other three HCC campuses. "The Ybor campus is just finishing up their own renovation project," Yeung says. —LE
Contact Yeung at curve286@hotmail.com.
Best Star Search
IRCC’s Starry-eyed Students
Tired of looking up puzzled at a star-studded sky? No matter what your level
of astronomy expertise, you’re likely to be wowed by the nighttime sky after
visiting the Hallstrom Planetarium at
Indian River
Community College.
After all, what other planetarium comes complete with “the singing
astronomer?”
Director John Bell is notorious for belting out astronomy-related songs during his program, including “What is a Shooting Star?” and “Bold Orion.” "Singing is very engaging, and it’s also a good way to learn facts or background on a certain topic,” Bell says.
Since it’s opening in 1993, 150,000 people have visited the intimate theater including children, locals, and IRCC students. “When IRCC students take an astronomy class, regular visits to the planetarium make the textbook material come alive by immersing those students in a multi-dimensional experience Bell says. “[The planetarium] allows them to learn the constellations, navigate by the stars, or watch the retrograde motions of a planet in the sky,” he says.
Bell recently received an international award for Bear Tales and Other Stories, a program dealing with bear constellations and folk tales. His other recent programs include Universe Calling, with views of the sun and moon, a tour of the planets, a plunge near a black hole, and exploration of the Milky Way. Star of Wonder took audiences on a search for the star that may have guided the Magi across 600 miles of desert and mountains two thousand years ago, and The Voyager Encounters highlighted the discoveries on Jupiter and Saturn made by the robotic spacecraft.
Space Songs, starting in April 2003, will showcase more of Bell’s musical mania. “I will put my money where my mouth is and become, to my knowledge, the very first—and I hope not the last—planetarium director to sing his show to the audience,” Bell says. “And, of course, I will tell them all those four little words that sends tingling anticipation down their synapses—‘You’ll be singing too’.” —AT
Contact Bell at jbell@ircc.edu.
Best Student Recruiting
IRCC
Hopefuls Get Their Hands Dirty
Which is more exciting—sitting in an academic advising office
discussing a possible career in marine biology or jumping right in and
examining life under the sea firsthand? At “Great Explorations,” Indian
River Community College’s recruitment event, high school juniors and
seniors get their hands dirty while truly exploring their career options.
Last fall, 1,300 students from one dozen high schools took interactive, hands-on career tours related to their interests. They poured teeth molds, learned how nurses assess patient health, participated in a live Internet web cast, learned about e-commerce, worked with fabrics, identified turf grasses, viewed digital animation, assessed threats to the ecosystem, and examined marine organisms. “The reservations for the health tours fill most quickly,” says Diana Rew, Quad-County tech prep coordinator. “Students find these career choices attractive because the employment outlook is promising and the medical field offers competitive salaries with opportunity for growth.”
The numbers prove the event’s overwhelming success: 33 percent of those seniors attending registered at IRCC the following fall and 35 percent of the juniors signed up for dual-enrollment courses.
Great Explorations lets students make the connection between getting a good education and getting a new job, Rew says. “They gain the understanding of the skills and training necessary to achieve success in their chosen profession. Focused students are better prepared to achieve their educational goals.” —AT
Contact Rew at drew@ircc.edu.
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