Best of Florida Schools 2003
General Categories—Page 21 (Web-Only)

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Best Web Site
IRCC Fuses Fun and Science
Pick a Peck of Purple Peppers. It’s not just a variation of an old tongue twister, but is the title of a webcast on the breeding of vegetable crops at www.living-science.org. Indian River Community College, along with scientific organizations and four school districts, created the site to counteract declining interest in elective and advanced science courses among America’s youth.

Featured site stories range from pig cells helping a baboon fight diabetes to Pluto regaining “its place on the fringe” for the next 228 years. The basics are there, including that handy “Periodic Table of Elements”, but students also can opt for a virtual submarine tour or a slide show on the anatomy of a black hole.

Many middle and high school students experience living-science.org in their science classes as a part of the curriculum. “More than 100 instructors have developed content, PowerPoint presentations, classroom activities, and experiments for the web site through IRCC courses developed and conducted by IRCC faculty, with contributions from scientists from partner institutions,” says Jack Maxwell, vice president of academic affairs.

This site isn’t just for the kiddies, though. “IRCC students and college students elsewhere can view the webcasts, activities, and experiments,” Maxwell says. “In addition, current technology has allowed us to compile research stories containing text, digital video, and still images and make them available for anytime access.” Education majors also benefit from seeing some of the cutting-edge projects, activities, and experiments being conducted at the middle and high school level.

The initiative has allowed IRCC “to develop strong partnerships with the area science community, which will lead to more opportunities for students in the future,” Maxwell says. IRCC recently was named as one of only 13 winners of the Southwestern Bell Communication’s National Telecommunications Partnership Award, which recognizes exceptional educational partnerships. —AT

Contact Maxwell at smaxwell@ircc.edu or start exploring at www.living-science.org.

Best Homework
LCCC Students Get Thrifty, Look Nifty
Ever heard of going shopping for your homework? At Lake City Community College, business management professor Dr. Sheri Carder’s assignment drove students out of the library and into the nearest stores. Her goal wasn’t to drive up students’ credit card bills, but quite the opposite: find an interview suit but spend as little as possible. Carder wanted to show students that with a little resourcefulness and hunting, being ready for job interviews doesn’t have to break the bank.

“I challenged students to forage through resale shops, garage sales, E-bay auctions, department store sale racks, and thrift stores to put together a professional outfit appropriate for a job interview -- all for less than $25,” Carder says. Considering 80 percent of LCCC students are on financial aid, the assignment was one they could use, literally. One student spent just $5 for a suit that had been left unclaimed at a dry cleaners.

The Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team later sponsored a "Dress for Success for Less than $25" fashion show, which was videotaped in front of a live audience of 200 and aired on local cable television. —AT

Contact Carder at carders@mail.lakecity.cc.fl.us.

Best Sports Degree
Sports Education? No Sweat!
Taking sports leadership, sports medicine, and sports science classes—and getting a diploma from it—may seem like a sport nut’s dream. But it’s no longer a dream for students at Lake Sumter Community College’s satellite campus in Clermont. For the first time, a Florida community college is offering an Associate in Science Sports and Fitness degree because Clermont is home to some major sports facilities including the USA Triathlon National Training Center, the Special Olympics state headquarters, and the Central Florida Sports Medicine Institute, LSCC took advantage of the sports industry’s growth in that area, says Mary Joe Rager, LSCC’s dean of business and technology.

LSCC Athletics Director Mike Matulia and Jeff Duke of the Sports and Fitness department at the University of Central Florida helped design the degree prototype. The school earned a grant from the Florida Department of Education in 2000-01 to develop the program, which started in last fall. “We had some very good enrollment in our sports and leadership class, and I think we’re going to generate a lot of interest as we go,” Rager says.

Students interested in “Sports Leadership” will take classes such as “Sports Psychology,” "Legal Issues,” and “Management Strategies.” "Athletic Training,” "Strength Training,” and “Conditioning” are on the schedule for those interested in “Sports Medicine.” And students who want to work in a “Sports Science” field will take classes such as “Exercise,” "Physiology,” and “Human Performance.”

LSCC’s grads then can transfer to UCF’s four-year degree program in Sports and Fitness. —RGM

Contact Rager at ragermj@lscc.cc.fl.us.

Best Registration
From On Their Feet to On-line
At one time, a line of students at Lake-Sumter Community College stretched for what seemed like miles. Was the school giving away fee concert tickets? No, students were wasting hours of their time trying to get classes because registering by phone wasn’t an option. The LSCC administration noticed the problems their antiquated registration system created and did something about it. “We wanted to use technology to provide greater access and more convenience to our students,” says Jane Miller, vice president of student services.

Buying the on-line registration software package was easy—the actual implementation was the challenging part. “It took many months of manpower on the staff’s part.” Miller says. “They worked really hard to make sure the system was compatible with the way Lake-Sumter does things.” LSCC piloted the program with a small group of students last summer to make sure they caught all of the bugs and glitches before debuting it to the entire student population.

In the fall, Miller says her team was surprised and excited that 70 percent of the students used the optional on-line registration. “In spring of 2003, we went exclusively to on-line registration,” she says. Walk-up registration is still available to students who want staff assistance.

LSCC also implemented cyber-advising so students could still have access to advisors even over school breaks.  “Students love it. They don’t want to go back to standing in line again,” she says. “They were coming in, some having to take time off work, to stand in line. Now, they can do it from the convenience of their own home.”

Contact Miller at millerj@lscc.cc.fl.us.

Best Karaoke
MDCC Goes Karaoke Crazy
Ever thought you’d be strolling through campus mid-afternoon and see see your ultra-intellectual chemistry professor busting out the lyrics of “Wild Thing?” What about members of your history study group singing “I Will Survive” before that killer midterm? At the first-ever karaoke event at Miami-Dade Community College’s InterAmerican Campus, 100 students and faculty members took a break from their daily routines to come together and “Twist and Shout.”

According to Student Government Treasurer Denise Garcia, the karaoke event was one of many event tailored toward promoting community and growth at MDCC’s newest campus. “With interaction such as this with the student body, we can help the InterAmerican campus grow,” Garcia says.

SG kicked off the karaoke session in the main courtyard of campus, drawing in students and faculty on their way to lunch or class. “I remember one young man in particular,” Garcia says. “He just got up there and sang ‘New York, New York’… that really brought in the crowd. As soon as everyone heard that song, they just got up and started dancing.” —AT

Contact Garcia at dgarcia0107@yahoo.com.

Best Community Reading Program
M-DCC Launches ‘Novel’ Campaign
From Ayn Rand clubs to Jane Austen Societies, avid readers often join together to share the distinct, fulfilling experience of their favorite leisure activity.  Rarely, however, will they come across a book club the size of Miami.  By participating in Miami-Dade Community College’s “One Book, One Community” campaign, community members are discussing the reading experience with virtually everyone—be it their local supermarket cashier, bank teller, or dog groomer.

Originally launched by a Seattle librarian, “One Book, One Community” eventually grew into a national grass-roots effort to promote reading and literacy. After hearing about the project, the Florida Center for the Literary Arts at MDCC couldn’t help but ask itself what 65 communities across the country already had--“What if all of Miami read the same book?”—and went on to create the only “One Book, One Community” campaign in Florida sponsored by a college.

The campaign kicked off last July with Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street, a book describing the life of a Mexican immigrant settling down in the United States. According to the FCLA, the book celebrates the diversity of a multi-ethnic community. “A lot of people here could really relate to the experience of the narrator,” says Dr. Roselyne Pirson, program coordinator. Cisneros, who received the 1985 American Book Award for the novel, visited campus for the campaign’s kickoff ceremony and book unveiling. “One of the successes of the first phase of the campaign was that the community and the people here were able to have a dialogue with the author,” says Pirson.

Three to four thousand citizens in the Miami-Dade area are estimated to have read and discussed Cisneros’ novel last fall. Reading groups formed everywhere, including the MDCC campus, bookstores, libraries, private homes, and churches. Pirson even facilitated a book discussion in the supermarket. “We were really able to outreach to the entire community, not just the college community,” says Pirson.

The second book, selected in February 2003, is Ernest Gaines’ A Lesson Before Dying. While a FCLA selection committee chose Cisneros’ novel, the community voted on the second out of ten recommendations. When the 818 votes were tallied, Gaines’ novel won by a slim margin over Elie Wiesel’s Night. “This vote gives South Floridians a special opportunity not only to read a classic for contemporary American literature but also to explore timely issues such as racial justice, community leadership, shared knowledge, unexpected friendship, human dignity, and spiritual transformation,” says Pirson.

The FCLA foresees the campaign’s staying power in the Miami area. “We are also hoping to host a nationwide symposium on the success of One Book, One Community,” Pirson says. “The potential is really wonderful because it includes so many people from different age groups and ethnic groups coming together. The title really tells what the goal is—‘One Book, One Community.’ It offers so much more activity than just reading.” —AT

Contact Pirson at rpirson@mdcc.edu.

Best College Cruise
Get Leid at NFCC
The week before spring break seems to last forever--you’re dying for sun and beaches, but there are still a few days of books and school left. At North Florida Community College, the entire student body goes on a cruise before the vacation ever starts.

The annual NFCC Sentinel Cruise doesn’t sail very far—okay, it doesn’t sail at all—but Student Activities Director Carolyn Sperber goes all out to provide the cruise-ship atmosphere students need to feel like they’re escaping to tropical locales. “It gets everybody in the mood for the break and makes the rest of the week easier,” Sperber says.

The entire student center, normally furnished in pool tables and comfy couches and chairs, is transformed into a luxury liner with all the trappings. When students first walk in, they find themselves on the “ship,” and what’s the most plentiful thing on any cruise? The food! Sperber creates a huge buffet with ice sculptures and “champagne” fountains. “My mom even cuts fruits and veggies into palm trees, flowers, and little animals to garnish the buffet,” Sperber says. After students indulge on board, they cross a bridge and get “leid” with the traditional necklace of tropical flowers. When they arrive at the destination, an area called “Flamingo Bay,” steel drums play and fountains splash as they stroll through an area decorated with palm trees and flamingoes. Students can even exile professors to the “desert island” across the lagoon for a small fee, but the faculty members can ransom themselves off with a donation.

“What lets me know it works is when I mention the event at new-student orientation and people who’ve never been here all say, ‘Oh, yeah, the cruise!’,” Sperber says. —SRR

Contact Sperber at sperberc@nfcc.edu.

Best Halloween Event
Arachnophobia Live! At NFCC
EIGHT-LEGGED FREAKS TAKE OVER COLLEGE CAMPUS! Okay, it reads like a bad tabloid headline or recent bad movie, but it’s pretty close to the truth of what happens every October at North Florida Community College during the “Arachnophobia” Halloween event.

Student Activities Director Carolyn Sperber got in touch with her “inner Elvira” as she created the fun event where she hides spider toys all across campus. The student who finds the most during the week-long event wins a grand prize like a set of headphones, with prizes also going to 20 other students.

Students find the little plastic creepy-crawlies everywhere—Sperber hides them on railings, over doors, in window frames, from podiums, even behind toilet seats. “I’ve got literally hundreds and hundreds of them,” she says. “The students bring them back each year. Plus, I buy more.”

Last year’s winner, Virginia Brown, corralled 245 spiders. “It’s just a lot of fun in the middle of the semester when students need something to enjoy,” Sperber says. —SRR

Contact Sperber at  sperberc@nfcc.edu.

Best Motivator
NFCC President’s Parking Sacrifice
So you’re hired as the president of a community college. What’s your first action going to be? Call in the decorator for your new office, raise tuition, have a power lunch in the cafeteria?

If you’re Morris Steen, president of North Florida Community College, your first act would have been a simple gesture that told students where they’d stand in his administration. Steen gave up the reserved president’s parking spot and put up a sign that designated it “Reserved for Any Student.”

“The administrative and business buildings are served by a common parking lot where the spaces are reserved for the president, vice-president, staff, visitors, and handicapped. Ironically, there were no spaces for students,” Steen says. “By setting aside my parking space and designating it for any student, I wanted to send a message that we were a student-friendly and student-centered campus, not just in words but in deeds.”

The new parking sign, located in the most prime spot in the lot, got noticed by more than just students looking for a place to park.  It now figures prominently in the school’s PR, appearing on the cover of brochures and catalogs as a reminder of this president’s from-the-top-down attitude about serving students.

Steen walks by the spot each morning on his way into the office, although he sometimes gets teased about giving up his presidential privilege. “Ocassionally, someone will ask me what I do about parking if the spaces are filled up when I arrive,” he says. “I tell them that when I arrive each morning, there are still plenty of spaces available.” —SRR

Contact Steen at steenm@nfcc.edu.

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