Have you registered for winter quarter yet? Do it quick while the classes you want are still open! And don't forget winter intersession--it's a great time to "catch up" or "get ahead" with a few credits.

Register online or on campus. But do it NOW!!!!

Gary Williams, director of outreach programs, accepted the William Over College Access Collaboration Award at the Annual Ohio College Access and Success Conference, held October 23-25 in Columbus. The award, sponsored by Student Loan Funding, recognizes a college access program, resource center, high school or higher education institution dedicated to building collaborative relationships to help more Ohioans access, pay for and enroll in educational programs beyond high school. The award includes a grant of $1,000 to the winner's scholarship program.

The Ohio College Access Network (OCAN) and the Student Access & Success Coordinating Council of Ohio (SASCCO) oversee the awards process. The William Over award is one of four that were developed to recognize excellence in local college access programs and the commitment of people to inspire more Ohio student to pursue postsecondary education. The awards are open to all college access professionals and programs in the state of Ohio.

William Over, for which the award is named, was committed to helping more students have the opportunity to attend education beyond high school and to assist with the process he established the Clermont Educational Opportunities college access program to serve all students in Clermont County. Through his dedication and commitment the small rural program overcame many challenges a small nonprofit faces and realized the need to develop strong relationships and collaborative efforts with the community including school districts, businesses and colleges to become a strong viable program.

Congratulations on this well-deserved award!

Washington State has been recognized for marketing excellence with five awards from the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations, NCMPR. The organization, an affiliate of the American Association of Community Colleges, is the only organization of its kind that exclusively represents marketing and PR professionals at community, technical and junior colleges.

Washington State’s director of marketing and communication, Linda Lockhart, received the five Medallion Awards for design and effectiveness: gold (first place) for the postcard series “College Material Denim;” silver (second place) for the postcard series “Art Exhibit 2006,” for the poster “E-grades,” and for the Washington State Web site; and bronze (third place) for the college catalog.

“It is quite an honor to receive this recognition personally and on behalf of Washington State,” Lockhart said. “And it is especially gratifying to be acknowledged by others in the profession.” Nearly 500 medallion submissions were part of the competition.

The awards were presented at the NCMPR district 3 conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan. NCMPR district 3 includes two-year colleges from across Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin and Ontario. Lockhart and writer Jeri Knowlton attended the three-day conference.

NCMPR includes more than 1,550 members from more than 600 colleges across the United States, Canada and Bahamas. The winning entries will be among those submitted by Washington State to the Paragon Awards for national recognition at the 33rd annual national conference to be held next spring.

The Opportunity Scholars Program is once again organizing Thanksgiving dinner basket give-a-ways. Twelve students, chosen by the OSP advisory council, will be the grateful recipient of a full holiday meal, turkey and all.

“For many of our students, a big Thanksgiving meal just wouldn’t happen if it weren’t for this project. They simply don’t have the means,” said Molly Watson, director.

OSP provides academic and support services to first generation college students, students who are economically disadvantaged and/or students with disabilities. Eligible students then receive tutoring, mentoring, academic assessment and skill development while participating in a variety of activities, seminars and workshops.

“This project is about students helping students at a critical time when most students can’t afford a full thanksgiving dinner. Many students who have been recipients in the past feel good about making this opportunity happen for someone else. They chose this as their community service project each year,” said Watson.

This is the third year for the internal community service project. If you are interested in donating non-perishable goods, barrels re located in the Carson K. Miller Library or the Learning Center in the Arts & Sciences building. Watson also noted that cash donations to help offset the cost of the baskets are gratefully accepted.

Opportunity Scholars Program is a TRiO student support services program. Eligibility guidelines and funding are provided by the U.S.Department of Education

YOU CAN HELP!

OSP is helping to make Thanksgiving dinner for some deserving families. Please donate non-perishable food items, such as canned goods or boxed items, by bringing them to the Learning Center or in the barrel available in the Washington State Library. Also, with your donation, be sure to pick up your entry to win a very nice Christmas basket.(Check it out in the Learning Center)

OSP Advisory Board students will be putting the dinner baskets together on November 20, so be sure to get your donations to the Learning Center today. Prize drawing will be on November 20.

Recently the Opportunity Scholars Program staff opened up the workshop offerings to the college at large, posting flyers to notify students about an upcoming Diversity Workshop. What great response! The event had record attendance; 32 individuals attended the workshop with 19 being OSP students. The general number of attendees is usually about ten.

OPS generally schedules one or two workshops per month. "We vary the times offered as we know our students have 'diverse' schedules," said Molly Watson, director of opportunity programs. This workshop occurred on a Friday at 1 p.m. – not exactly a high volume time for students to be on campus. "One boost can definitely be attributed to an instructor giving extra credit, so we welcome that as a boost to attendance possibilities," Watson added.

Workshops are generally one hour in length and the range of topics might include topics such as Note taking Techniques, Test Anxiety, Life Transitions, Resume Writing and the next one on the schedule is a Stress Management Workshop on Wednesday, October 25th.

Encourage your students to take advantage of the offerings.

Zelda Fitzgerald and her husband, writer F. Scott Fitzgerald, were the golden couple of the 1920s, epitomizing the roaring promise of the decade. They were wealthy, glamorous and talented and their pictures were splashed across newspapers and magazines worldwide. Zelda was America's first flapper and served as the model for Scott's fictional heroines.

"Muse to Madness" allows Zelda to tell the story of her glory and her disintegration. Zelda takes her guests on a journey through memory, recounting her life as wife and muse to one of America's greatest writers. The Evergreen Arts & Humanities Series brings Zelda Fitzgerald, as portrayed by Debra Conner, to the Graham Auditorium stage on Thursday, November 9 at 7:30 p.m. in "Muse to Madness."

Debra Conner began portraying Emily Dickinson in 1997, thanks to a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Since then she has added the fascinating stories of Margaret Blennerhassett and Margaret Mitchell, and of course Zelda Fitzgerald, to her repertoire. She has appeared at national conferences, aboard riverboats and with the Ohio Humanities Council's Chautauqua program.

The Evergreen Arts & Humanities Series is sponsored by Schwendenman Agency and the Ohio River Border Initiative.

Related information: www.wscc.edu/evergreenah/index.asp?section=campus

Get out the caution tape and saw horses, winter break will be filled with construction in the student services area. A project to reconfigure the students services area for better customer service and improved traffic flow will get underway on Thanksgiving weekend with the "residents" of the offices in the student services and student development areas moving out to temporary lodging in the Community Room. These moves are tentatively scheduled for November 24 and 25.

The entire area will be brought together with one primary entrance, one service window and open traffic flow throughout the department. Coming together under one umbrella, the area will simply be referred to as student services; all of the functions within both sides will operate under the same department title.

The project includes extending slightly into the current lobby area with a new wall that runs from the current student development doorway over to the area where the HelpDesk was located earlier this year. An internal door will connect the student services and records office. The current storage area/kitchenette will be removed, offices in the student services area will be reconfigured, and a new file storage room and small conference area will be added. The floor plans for the project will be on display at the November 1 president's cabinet meeting and following that, in the lobby area.

Those with offices in the students services area, except Linda Lockhart, will be re-located into the Community Room temporarily for a few weeks during the break while construction takes place, thus providing a safer, cleaner and quieter work environment.

Watch for more news on the progress as we prepare ourselves to be able to serve students even better!