What`s News? - Madisonville Community College

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March 2008
Vol. 10, No. 4
Proposed Budget Cut Will be
a Challenge for the College
Judith Rhoads, Ed.D., President
While our semester is off to a great start,
I remain concerned over a proposed 12%
budget cut for postsecondary education for
2009-2010, which would be in addition to
the 3% cut for this year.
services, and potential tuition increases. A
reduced class schedule means students could
take longer to graduate from our health and
technical programs, reducing the number of
qualified job applicants in our area.
With 33.5% of MCC’s budget funded
through state appropriations and 24.3% from
tuition and fees, I consider this proposed
budget to be devastating for the college.
While faculty and staff remain dedicated
to our college goals, this budget cut will
make timely realization of these goals a
challenge. On a system-wide level, the cut
will jeopardize the successful implementation of the KCTCS Plan for A Competitive
Commonwealth: 2008-2020, which outlines
initiatives that will help Kentucky achieve
the goals of House Bill 1, set forth in 1997.
This additional cut would put KCTCS back
to a 2003-2004 level of funding, resulting
in a $1.1 million budget reduction for MCC
on a recurring basis. This cut would impact
salaries and operating expenses at MCC,
calling for the college to place a hiring
freeze on as many as five faculty positions
and four staff positions.
We would also implement an 8 to 10% cut in
operating expenses, mainly through deferred
maintenance. Cabinet members will also be
working with employees in their areas to
help curb expenses.
While these changes would allow us to avoid
layoffs, ultimately, our students will be affected with fewer class offerings, reduced student
As a college, we have always done well with
budget management. Thanks to a dedicated
faculty and staff who are committed to
helping manage these cuts, I believe we
can weather the storm of a two-year budget
reduction.
I welcome ideas from faculty and staff on
how to reduce spending and reduce the impact on our students and college family.
Get Your Tickets Soon
for April Events at the
Glema Center
Patrons of the Glema Center may want
to make sure they have tickets for their
favorite shows now or get them soon.
Ticket sales for the final shows of the 2008
season have been brisk, particularly the
April shows featuring Garrison Keillor
and Maura O’Connell. Scheduled within
a week of each other, these two shows
will provide a fitting conclusion to another
great season at the Glema Center and will
set the stage for another two-weekend
summer musical, this July’s The Wiz.
Ireland-born O’Connell will perform on
Saturday, April 18 as the final installment
of this year’s First United Bank Coffeehouse Series.
Her career in America began in 1980 and
over the past three decades her distinctive
Irish folk, rock, and Celtic style have resulted in records like the heralded Wandering Home, Walls and Windows, and her
newest, Don’t I Know.
She may be best known for her wonderful
live shows, and she has toured with the
likes of John Prine, Bela Fleck, and Jerry
Douglas over the past ten years. Maura
has even found time to get in the movies,
Continued on page 5
What’s News?
Page 4: Spring Lineup at the
Glema Center
Page 2: Natalie Cooper is MCC Educator of the Year
Page5: MCC Joins Critical Thinking Test Development Cohort
Page 3: LaAsia Couch Receives
MLK Scholarship
Page 6 Tornado Relief Volunteers Needed in Muhlenberg Co.
Kentucky Community and Technical College System
2
President’s Newsletter
Continuing Excellence
Chamber Names Cooper Community
College Educator of the Year
In addition, Natalie has served in the highest faculty leadership role for the past two
years as Chair of the Faculty.
Her students, however, are her priority.
This is evident in some of the things that
students have said about her over the years
such as:
“This instructor has helped me understand
things about computers that will help me
in every class I take.”
Natalie Cooper, Associate Professor, was
honored as the Educator of the Year for
Madisonville Community College during
the Madisonville-Hopkins County Chamber of Commerce annual luncheon held
January 29.
Natalie has been with the college for 16
years. She teaches computer information
systems classes at the college and online
as part of the Kentucky Virtual University.
As a co-chair of the college’s cultural
diversity committee, she was integral in
the development of MCC’s Diversity Plan.
“She is a great instructor. I would recommend her to anyone taking a computer
class.”
“I can’t wait till I have another class with
her!!”
“She is always right there to meet our
needs. She is a wonderful and caring
instructor”
“I love Ms. Cooper!”
Dr. Susan Edington was named the first
recipient of the Murray State University-Madisonville Educator of the Year Award.
Faculty to Participate in Kentucky
Philological Association Conference
On March 7-8, Dr. Scott Vander Ploeg will be coordinating the 35th annual Kentucky Philological Association conference, held at the University of Louisville’s Ekstrom Library.
Among the 120 scholarly and creative writing presentations, Jude Roy will be reading
his short story, “Freaks,” and Vander Ploeg will deliver a paper on Tolkien’s use of Kentucky cultural features in creating the world of the hobbits, and he will also read some of
his creative non-fiction.
The conference will involve a plenary session on humor in language and literature, a
banquet and presidential address by NKU’s Danny Miller, and a lunch and business
meeting that Vander Ploeg will conduct. Proceedings from the conference are published
in the Kentucky Philological Review, a choice journal of scholarly articles.
Spotlight on
Faculty and Staff
Scott Vander Ploeg will participate in a
roundtable discussion, “Creative Writing Best Practices,” during the 2008 New
Horizons Conference on Teaching and
Learning to be held in Lexington on May
19-21. Also presenting with Vander Ploeg
will be: Scott Lucero, Hazard Community
and Technical College; Laura Dearing, Jefferson Community and Technical College;
and Brian Schichilone, Jefferson Community and Technical College.
Professors Sarah Oglesby and Scott
Vander Ploeg presented “Improvement
and Consistent Course Delivery for English 102” at the 43rd Two-Year College
Association—Southeast conference, a national association that met this year at the
Galt House in Louisville, February 21-23.
Conference
Expands with
Mid-Cycle Session
The Conference for Student Research, a
format for the presentation of real-time,
hands-on student research projects using
the scientific method, has been held yearly
in November. Since the approval of a new
course for general education credit, SCI
295 Scientific Investigations, projects carried out by students in this course may be
presented at the Spring Mid-Cycle Session
of the Conference for Student Research. The
Mid-Cycle Session will be held at Bluegrass
Community and Technical College on Friday, April 25 from 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
This session will also provide a presentation
opportunity for any other scientific projects
carried out by our undergraduate students in
which hypotheses are established, data answering those hypotheses are gathered, and
all the data, included those that disconfirm
the hypotheses, are interpreted.
3
Phi Theta Kappa Chapter Offers Satellite Seminar Series
The Chi Eta chapter of Phi Theta Kappa
is the MCC student honor society that is
member to the International Honor Society
for Two-Year Schools. It consists of approximately 70 students who hold high GPAs and
who are invited to apply for membership.
The chapter is very active this spring. They
are showing video-captures of seminar programs from the society’s Satellite Seminar
Series. The final in the series, “American
Theocracy: Politics, Radical Religion, Oil,
and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century,”
will be shown Tuesday, March 4, at 6 p.m.
in the Byrnes Auditorium on the MCC
Health Campus. The seminar is presented
via satellite by Kevin Phillips, whose bestselling books have influenced presidential
campaigns and changed the way America
sees itself. In his two most recent New York
Times bestsellers, American Dynasty and
Wealth and Democracy, Phillips established
himself as a powerful critic of the political
and economic forces that are ruling and
imperiling the U.S.
These seminars offer opportunities for
students to probe and discuss current issues.
Community members are welcome to attend and share in the discussion.
The Chi Etas will also be providing community service by donating gallons and
boxes of pop tabs to the Ronald McDonald
House charities. In past years, the chapter
has stayed to cook dinner for the residents.
The chapter officers have been busy writing
Hallmark Awards documentations, and are
considering attending a statewide meeting in Lexington on March 7-8, and the
International Convention in Philadelphia
April 2-6.
Scholarship Awards
Couch is Selected
King Scholarship Recipient
LaAsia Couch, 2008 recipient of the
Martin Luther King, Jr. scholarship award,
is pictured with James Bowles, MCC’s
Director of Diversity, during a Dr. King
celebration held January 20.
LaAsia is an Associate of Arts student currently carrying a GPA in excess of 3.7. She
is also active on campus through Student
Government Association, Multicultural
Student Association, and Student Ambassadors. Tim Thomas and Natalie Cooper,
MCC CIS faculty member, are members
of the King Scholarship Committee.
Crittenden Endowment to Provide $10,000 in
Scholarships for 2009
For academic year 2009, $10,000 will be available for scholarship
distribution through the Crittenden County Endowment for Excellence.
The fund now has over $150,000 cash in the bank and Madisonville
Community College estimates that over $10,500 in interest income will
be earned during the next 12 months. Students graduating from Crittenden County High School who are awarded scholarships through the
endowment will be announced later. Pictured from left with a ceremonial check announcing the 2009 award total are individuals who have
made multi-year commitments to the drive: Randa Simpson (seated),
Gareth Hardin, Dulcie Hardin, Roger Simpson, Jim Hatfield, and Bonita Hatfield, member of the college advisory board (seated).
4
Arts Programming
Upcoming Shows at the Glema Mahr Center for the Arts
Family Special
Arthur LIVE!, Monday, March 24 at 7 p.m.
D.W. is jealous when her big brother Arthur loses a tooth and gets a visit from the Tooth Fairy. Arthur explains
that the Tooth Fairy comes only when you lose a tooth and put it under your pillow at night, so D.W. dreams up
some hilarious (but unsuccessful) plans to trick the Tooth Fairy into coming. Finally, Arthur decides to reward
D.W.’s efforts by playing Tooth Fairy himself! Singing, dancing and audience participation will thrill audience
members of all ages. Tickets: $12/Children 12& under: $6. This show is sponsored by The Messenger.
First United Bank Coffeehouse Series
Dean Osborne Band with special guest Bobby Osborne
Friday, March 14 at 7:30 p.m.
If you like traditional bluegrass then you will love the Dean Osborne Band. The strong,
clarion voice of Dean Osborne is backed by a solid, straightforward bluegrass band.
Joining in on the fun will be special guest Bobby Osborne, a Grand Ole Opry member,
inductee in the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor and a Kentucky Music Hall
of Fame member. Tickets: $18.
Bawn in the Mash
Saturday, March 15, 2008 at 7:30 p.m.
Established in late 2004, The Mash was bawn from a mixture of darkfire tobacco
smoke and gourd-dust in the hills of Western Kentucky. Bawn in the Mash convey
emotion and feeling, song and dance, laughter and sadness to the listeners mind
by using traditional string band instruments played in a style that is uniquely their
own, but influenced by many. Regarded for their high energy live performances,
Bawn in the Mash have been spreading the word like molasses across this big
biscuit which we call Earth. Tickets: $18
Maura O’Connell, Friday, April 18 at 7:30 p.m.
The songs Maura O’Connell renders so affectingly vary across genres, from occasional tunes of old Ireland to sparkling new jazz or pop,
from revisited classics by Van Morrison or Lennon and McCartney to songs of new American songwriters. This Sugar Hill recording
artist has married an unmistakable deep, rich, flexible voice with her signature talent for finding what’s most potent in the work of a select
but broad array of genre-jumping songwriters, to pull the listener right along with her to the heart of a song. Tickets: $18
Glema Mahr Chamber Music Series
Aureole Trio, Friday, April 11 at 7:30 p.m.
Featuring Laura Gilbert on flute, Mary Hammann on viola, and Stacey Shames on harp, the trio’s unique blend of instruments—consolidating the entire orchestral palette into its three essential components—creates a thread of musical radiance. Tickets: $18
Coming in April:
Garrison Keillor, of A Prairie Home Companion fame,
will close the Center Stage Series for this season.
Call the Glema Center box office at 270-821-2787 for tickets.
5
MCC Invited to Participate
in Critical Thinking Test
Development
Mayor and Judge Executive
Proclaim February Career &
Technical Education Month
Tennessee Tech University has invited MCC to participate in a
project funded by the National Science Foundation to continue
development of the Critical thinking Assessment Test (CAT).
MCC is the only community college among the institutions
involved in the project, which include Howard University,
Tennessee Tech, University of Colorado, University of Hawaii,
University of Southern Maine, University of Texas, and University of Washington.
Dr. Debbie Cox, MCC Chief Academic Affairs Officer, says
that Tennessee Tech recognized and invited MCC to participate
because of the work on our Quality Enhancement Plan. The
QEP focuses upon improving students’ critical thinking abilities
across the curriculum through the use of active learning strategies in the classroom.
“It has been a nice shift for us to go from seeking out other
institutions’ best practices to other institutions soliciting us for
our findings,” said Cox.
Cox says the CAT is scenario-based rather than multiple choice,
which makes the test a better indicator of student learning. The
CAT has been administered in multiple sections of Basic Public
Speaking and Anatomy and Physiology in order to establish
baseline scores. The next step is to re-administer the test to see
if active learning strategies do lead to gains in students’ critical
thinking scores.
Faculty and staff have been trained to score the CAT by Tennessee Tech faculty. Also, the faculty are working with a statistician
at Murray State University to analyze the scores and to possibly
publish an article about the project.
Above, Judge Executive Donnie Carroll (seated) and Mayor
Will Cox try out a mining simulator on the Technical Campus. Both Carroll and Cox presented Dr. Judy Rhoads, MCC
President, with a proclamation, declaring February Career and
Technical Education Month in Madisonville.
Career and technical education provides students with education pathways that will help them explore their interests and
careers. Students learn specific job-related skills and workplace
ethics that make them successful on the job.
The subject areas most commonly associated with career and
technical education are: agriculture, business, family and
consumer sciences, health occupations, skilled technical and
industrial trades.
Glema Center Continued from Front
appearing as a singer in Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York.
Tickets for her show are $18.
Garrison Keillor brings his national reputation and loyal following to Madisonville on Thursday, April 24 with an intimate
one-man show sponsored by Trover Health System. Keillor is
perhaps best known for his stories about his mythical hometown,
Lake Wobegon, Minnesota, told through his populat nationally-
syndicated radio show, “Prairie Home Companion,” and his bestselling novels. He is also a noted essayist and columnist, and his
Madisonville show is one of his only appearances in the southeast
this spring and summer.
Make sure to include these, and all Glema Center shows, as part
of your spring plans. See related story on page 4.
6
Tornado Relief Volunteers Needed
Muhlenberg County was devastated February 5 by a series of tornados, and our college
was not spared, as the Muhlenberg Campus
building sustained $200,000 in structural
damage. Due in no small part to the work of
MCC maintenance staff members, classes
began again on the Muhlenberg Campus on
Monday, February 11.
The President’s Newsletter is an official
publication of Madisonville Community
College (MCC) and is published 8-10 times
annually.
Questions about the President’s Newsletter
should be directed to Emily Ray, Public
Relations Coordinator, at (270) 824-8581
or email: emily.ray@kctcs.edu.
MCC is one of 16 colleges in the Kentucky
Community and Technical College System.
MCC is a comprehensive two-year college
that prepares students for a career, offering
more than 167 associate’s degree, diploma
and certificate options in over 20 academic
and technical programs.
MCC has four campus sites:
North Campus
2000 College Drive
Madisonville, KY 42431
Technology Campus
100 School Avenue
Health Campus
750 North Laffoon Street
Muhlenberg County Campus
406 West Everly Brothers Boulevard
Central City, KY 42330
For more information about MCC call
(270) 821-2250 or toll-free 866-227-4812.
Visit MCC online at www.madisonville.
kctcs.edu.
MCC is committed to a policy of providing
educational opportunities to all qualified
students regardless of economic status, and
will not discriminate on the basis of race,
color, marital status, beliefs, age, national
origin or handicap.
The Muhlenberg Campus suffered window,
brick, and roof damage during the tornado
that passed through Muhlenberg County
on February 5. Faculty, staff, and students
followed the emergency response plan,
and thankfully, no one was injured.
The American Red Cross has established a
volunteer sign-up and contributions center at
its permanent offices in Greenville. Volunteer assignments are available involving
almost any job—from delivering meals, to
clean-up, to answering phones, to donating
clothes and food. If you would like to pitch
in a work shift or two, or make a monetary
or clothes donation, please call or email
John Peters in the Advancement Office at
824-8593 or email john.peters@kctcs.edu.
He can direct you to the best way to make a
donation or sign up for work duty sometime
during February or March.
Muhlenberg Countians make up about 27% of our enrollment, and our friends there have
been incredibly generous to the college cause over the past 20 years. Let’s make sure we, as
a college and permanent part of Muhlenberg County, make the rebuilding of the PowderlyGreenville area as successful as possible.
Hanson Elementary Student
Wins Spelling Bee
Jake DeLeon, student at Hanson Elementary, won the
Hopkins County Spelling Bee held in January at Madisonville Community College. Eleven area schools participated in the spelling bee. The runner-up was Lindsey
Greer from James Madison Middle School. Thank you
to the Kentucky Education Association Student Program
chapter at MCC for providing the awards. A special
thanks to the following individuals for making the event
such a success:
Nancy McClearn - Pronouncer
April Grace - Judge
Sarah Oglesby - Judge
Andrea Deal –Alternate Pronouncer
Sonya Shockley- Judge
Lisa Lee – Coordinator
Ray Gillaspie & Maintenance – setup
Paul Cothran – audio/video
Jake DeLeon, Spelling Bee
Winner
7
Faculty, Staff, and Students Enjoy Multicultural Potluck
Attendees enjoyed the Multicultural Potluck held February 5,
as part of Black History Month activities.The potluck is hosted
annually by the MCC Diversity Committee and allows faculty,
staff, and students to enjoy a variety of ethnic dishes.
For the first time, the potluck was held on the Glema Center
stage, with the Ron Jones Quartet of Louisville providing
entertainment. The quartet provided music as well as a background on the development of jazz music.
At left, Ron Jones leads the quartet on his saxophone as they
perform during the Multicultural Potluck. A large crowd turned
out for some delicious food and great entertainment.
Voices Programs Rescheduled for February 26
Due to inclement weather, Day and Evening Voices programs have been rescheduled for Tuesday, February 26. Day Voices will take place
12:15-1 p.m. and Evening Voices will take place at 6:30 p.m. Both events will be held in the Student Center on the North Campus.
Know How 2 Go
Dr. Judy Rhoads, President, and Judy
Moore, Assistant to the President/Special
Projects, have been visiting third grade
classes in Hopkins County and encouraging them to go to college by working on
the four steps of going to college.
1. Tell everyone that you want to go to college. The students said they wanted to tell
their parents and close family members.
2. Make good grades and take challenging
courses in math and science.
3. Think about where you want to go to
college. Statistics show if students begin
their education at home, they are more
likely to come back home to work.
4. Students need to explore how they are
going to pay for college.
Judy Moore explained the School Counts!
program and encouraged them to enroll
when they are freshmen in high school.
Know How 2 Go is a national program
funded by the American Council on
Education and the Lumina Foundation for
Education and is designed to help students
prepare and apply for college. For more
information visit: www.knowhow2go.org.
Natural Habitat Areas to be Created
with Completion of Badgett Center
Science and math faculty are establishing two natural habitat areas on the North
Campus. The areas will provide shelter for
small animals and birds, and will serve as
sites for outdoor field projects in ecology,
biology, and math. With the completion
of the Badgett Center, an area will be
established as a prairie habitat with clover,
grasses, and wildflowers native to Kentucky, including coneflowers, blackeyed
Susans, and sunflowers. Tall native grasses
will shelter small animals and birds, and
will provide a location for students to
study succession of plants.
A temporary pond will be established
with the installation of a water control
device to retain rain runoff for periods of
several days. Thomas Young, private land
biologist from the Kentucky Department
of Fish and Wildlife Resources of Madisonville, has aided the project through
consultation and provision of the water
control apparatus. The temporary pond
and surrounding riparian forest strip will
offer a watering location for birds and
animals in the area, as well as shelter to
native amphibians and reptiles, some of
which are threatened species.
Ecology and math courses will be integrated through projects that involve collecting soil or water samples, or viewing and
counting numbers of small animals and
birds, and calculating various measures
such as “richness indices,” based on number of species and numbers of individuals of each species noted. Ecology and
math instructors, Terri Tillen and Dawn
Chumley, are working to develop research
projects for students that integrate current
issues in wildlife diversity preservation
and probabilistic reasoning skills.
It is hoped that some future projects developed from the natural habitat areas will
be presented by student researchers at the
annual Conference for Student Research.
Upcoming Events
March
4
American Theocracy: Politics, Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century
Byrnes Auditorium, Health Campus, 6 p.m.
7
Madisonville College Foundation Spring Meeting
LRC Rm 105, 12 noon
8
Bowling Green Chamber Orchestra
Glema Mahr Center for the Arts, 7:30 p.m.
10-15
Spring Break—No Classes
14
Dean Osborne Band
15
Bawn in the Mash
2000 College Drive
20
Critical Thinking Seminar
JHG Rm 229, 5-7 p.m.
21
Good Friday—1/2 day holiday
24
Priority registration for Fall/Summer 2008 begins
Arthur LIVE!
Glema Mahr Center for the Arts, 7 p.m.
28
Faculty Meeting
Brynes Auditorium, Health Campus, 2:30 p.m.

What`s News? - Madisonville Community College

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