Best of Florida Schools 2005
General Categories—Page 12

Best Entrepreneurs
Barry’s Party Station
Are they disc jockeys or business moguls in the making? Both! The DJ’s at WBRY 1640 AM at Barry University do more than spin great tunes—they also take their show on the road, providing entertainment services.

“Eric Hoffman was the primary force behind the establishment of WBRY Event Services. He saw an opportunity, proposed it to his dean, Dr. Linda Peterson, and received approval and funds for the operation,” says Jessie Darga, university relations. But funding wasn’t necessary for long. With students providing music, popular DJ personalities, and smoke and light shows, they’re in hot demand at on- and off-campus parties, barbecues, dances, banquets, and concerts.

“On average, we provide services for about 15 events per semester. Our average is about one event per week, which is remarkable considering the size of the university and the type of external clients we serve,” says Dr. Eric Hoffman, station manager and faculty advisor. “WBRY Event Services is now self-funded.”

Getting out of the studio and into events gives the students the chance to broaden their skills beyond just broadcasting. “After only two years of operation, the number of clients is up, the number of events is up, and the revenue stream has never been better—a win-win for everyone involved,” Hoffman says.

Like all entrepreneurs, the students have to figure out the best ways to spend their hard-earned bucks. “All the earned revenue is funneled directly back into the radio station and WBRY Event Services,” Hoffman says. “This money supports an award program, better equipment, better facilities, a music subscription, and staff perks like an end-of-semester party and refreshments at meetings.” Plus, WBRY isn’t afraid to boost their technology, supporting Web streaming and broadcasting all over campus. The revenue has brought in more than just clients. “All these ‘perks’ have proven to help with recruiting, and the station staff has swelled to an all-time high,” he says. Barry students put in long hours to make sure the station lives up to its motto: “Barry’s party station, where the party is on all semester long!”—JD

Contact Darga at dargaj@bucmail.barry.edu.

Best Use of Balloons
Inflating Ingenuity
Dr. R.J. Johnson isn’t heading off to a children’s party when you see him carrying a bag full of colorful balloons. He’s preparing for the popular balloon-tower exercise in his Teambuilding and Communications class at Lake-Sumter Community College.

“Students like it because it’s something different and more hands-on,” Johnson says. “But it also teaches them to become more aware of their assumptions and, probably more importantly, to stop and listen to each other.”

Around the fifth or sixth week of his class, Johnson asks student teams to construct the highest tower they can—using only balloons and masking tape. Allowed just eight minutes to plan before they start, students learn to adapt their strategies as they go along. “They find that not one person has to be in charge, but that leadership can shift around,” Johnson says. “Some people might be pulling out tape or blowing up balloons, but if someone says, ‘Hey, I need a balloon here,’ it just gets there. It doesn’t matter who does it—the roles shift as the need arises.”

Students rapidly try out different techniques, most creating multi-colored tubes of layered and interlocking balloons. Johnson gives them eight minutes to build before pausing for a group debriefing. “I just ask them what’s working well, and generally they’re ready to get back and finish it up,” he says. Students then have eight additional minutes to extend their puffed-up pillars. The highest towers have been more than 10 feet tall, reaching all the way to the classroom’s ceiling.

An additional perk of the exercise is that students learn to have a little faith in one another, Johnson says. For that reason, LSCC’s athletic director often encourages athletes to take his class. “Last fall, I had 11 athletes in the class, and they were specifically placed in there because some were good athletes, and some weren’t quite as good,” Johnson says. “The idea was to have the good ones pulling up the other ones.”

An integral part of his life skills course after just five years, Johnson hopes his balloon towers will keep teaching students to think on their feet. “Things are changing so rapidly in today’s world,” he says. “It’s not that you go to a job and you’re told everything to do—you need to be able to think for yourselves and be able to adapt to that change. It’s a lesson that’s probably not taught enough to students.” —AMC

Contact Johnson at johnsonrj@lscc.edu.

Best Automotive Training Center
Driven Dreamers
Good things come to those who wait—and in the case of Seminole Community College, the wait was eight long years.

Replacing a smaller 30-year-old building, the concept of a new Automotive Training Center for the Sanford/Lake Mary campus seemed like a no-brainer. "All the faculty and students will, for the first time, be in one building and one area," says Jim Cox, SCC automotive department chair. "We'll have a large multi-purpose area to host large functions and regional meetings and seminars."

The new center was presented to Cox by Barbara Miller, executive vice president of the Central Florida Auto Dealers Association. It'll not only accommodate more students but will consolidate the entire automotive department within its walls. From state-of-the-art labs and high-tech classrooms to on-the-job training for fleet mangers and salespeople, the new center will offer students better automotive training.

From its conception eight years ago to construction in 2005, however, the new ATC has been plagued by financial setbacks. SCC, along with the CFADA, whose members include auto dealers, repair shops, and private citizens, were determined to see the project through. In 2003, the CFADA donated $2.5 million for the center and expected the Florida legislature to match the funds. But it delivered only $800,000. The cost of the high-tech ATC simply demanded more. So SCC's president and other lobbyists from the CFADA pleaded with Tallahassee and got their matched funds on May 28—along with an additional $1.5 million to complete the project. Hope was never lost on the center, Cox says. "There's a little feeling that you have that continuously tells you that it will happen,” he says. Construction finally began on Oct. 19.

Although it's taken eight years, the facility will be worth the wait. "I believe the size will astound many people," Cox says. Their brand-new ATC is scheduled to open in fall 2006. Enrollment in the program is expected to double in the second year after construction is complete, though expanded courses for title clerk, finance, fleet management, and sales should boost enrollment and usage by another 20 percent during the first year, Cox says. Locally, the graduates churned out from the new ATC are expected to bring in a total of $2 million a year in job income

Cox says the center's realization is the result of "a true partnership between education and local industry." From donations to lobbying government officials to keeping faith in the project, many leaders like Miller and Dr. Ann McGee, SCC president, have helped see the vision through.

"When you have a dream, patience and faith are partners with you," Cox says. "Now everyone will be anxious to see the finished product. It's going to be a fabulous addition to the campus and a real boon to the local automotive industry." —LH

Contact Communications Manager Shelley C. Ouellette at ouellets@scc-fl.edu.

Best Common Reading
Book Buddies
Moving into the college atmosphere for the first time is nerve-racking when you don’t know many people. The incoming students at Florida Southern College have nothing to worry about, though. They already have something in common with each member of their class.

This year, the faculty implemented a new program, selecting a book for all incoming first-year students to read. The program’s goal is to create a conversation for all first-year students to participate in. The faculty chooses books carefully so that they have universal appeal and themes and multiple points of interest to discuss. The idea for the program came about when faculty members began to consider an idea for orientation that would create a sense of community.

“Students who come in from many different backgrounds, many different regions of the country, and many different high-school experiences have something in common,” says Susan Conner, dean of the college. “It creates community and opportunities for discussion.”

This year, students read Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, a story about a boy stranded at sea. When new students arrived on campus for their orientation, they were grouped by their freshman experience course and were asked to visually represent a theme or themes of the book. Each group determined a phrase to identify the book and then drew a poster to reflect that theme. Five hundred sixty-five students participated, and the winning team received a class party.

The discussion didn’t end there. Before classes began, students met with their freshman experience professor for a discussion of the book. Throughout the semester, they continued to bring up ideas or events as they related to new experiences.

“We hoped that the book would have some ‘uncommon’ and exciting themes for discussion,” Conner says. “Students delved into the themes with much intellectual relish.” —MM

Contact Conner at sconner@flsouthern.edu.

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