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The Washington-based Association of Community College Trustees
(ACCT) named Mott Community
College President Dr. Dick Shaink as the best community college president/CEO in North America.
The award was presented at the
ACCT Annual Community College
Leadership Congress in Toronto,
Canada.
MCC Board Chair Lenore Croudy said, “To have Dr. Shaink receive this national recognition from his peers by having been chosen as the top community college president/
CEO in the nation and beyond is one more sign of how well Mott
Community College is serving our community. As is usual for him,
Dr. Shaink gave credit to the staff and faculty of the college when he accepted his award but his leadership of this college through difficult financial times and in the face of a changing economy has been an inspiration. Our community should be proud to see Dr. Shaink receive this most prestigious and well-deserved award.”
The 2010/2011 season fits into the winning tradition of Mott College basketball. Under Hall of Fame
Coach Steve Schmidt, this year’s team of Mott Bears posted 33 wins to 3 losses, won their 8th state championship and 7th regional championship, making it all the way to the national finals.
The state championship game was played against Kalamazoo Valley
Community College in MCC’s own
Ballenger Fieldhouse and was a decisive 83-55 victory. The Flint
Journal story about that game began:
“The trademark of a champion is delivering when it matters most.” The
Mott Bears certainly delivered in that game and throughout the season.
During his 20 seasons as head men’s basketball coach at Mott Community
College, Steve Schmidt has put his thumbprint on the national community college basketball scene and created a culture of winning with a mixture of hard work, basketball savvy and a no-excuses approach to basketball. In 20 years, no excuses have been necessary. Since taking the reins at Mott in 1991, Schmidt has never lost more games in a season than he has won; and in the past 16 years, no Schmidt-coached team has won fewer than 25 games in a season.
MCC students had a chance to learn directly from actor Tony Shalhoub.
Actor Tony Shalhoub, famed as the detective Adrian Monk in the TV show “Monk”, was this spring’s guest at MCC for the Ballenger Eminent
Persons Lecture Series. Shalhoub came to Mott College campus to deliver a talk to a overflow audience and later gave a personal workshop to MCC theater and broadcasting students. Winner of three Emmy awards and a Golden Globe, he has also appeared in such films as “Men in Black” and “Spy Kids.”
In a warm and humorous presentation, Shalhoub talked about the rewards and challenges facing anyone seeking a career in acting.
As MCC student Kristina Lakey said after attending a workshop with the famed actor, “He has a unique perspective because it’s so hard to become a successful actor.”
U.S. Senator Carl Levin is the latest dignitary to tour MCC’s new fabrication laboratory, known as the FABLAB.
The MCC FABLAB, a dream-come true for inventors of all ages, is a hands-on laboratory that provides the technology and modern fabrication tools to let people build their own creations and products for personal or commercial use.
The FABLAB allows a person to essentially take an idea and discover how to turn it into a physical object. FABLABs are also uniquely designed to allow local communities to foster and support innovation that can lead to sustainable solutions for small businesses.
After touring the facility, Sen.
Levin stated, “I’m impressed by
Last Fall, more than 700 people turned up at the Flint Institute of Arts to watch and cheer the
FIA inaugural Intercollegiate
College Town LEGO competition as teams of students from Baker
College, Kettering University, Mott
Community College and University of Michigan-Flint competed to create an art masterpiece out of more than
90,000 plastic LEGO pieces. Students had three hours to create their masterpiece and fellow students, as well as the general public, were invited to come watch them and cheer on the different college teams. When all the fun was over, the winning creation had been made by the team from Mott College.
MCC won the title with an abstract vision of downtown Flint. The students on MCC’s LEGO-building team were Nic Pentecost, Candis
Cavanaugh, Cinthia Montague and
John Dwight Durand II (see photo).
Executive Dean Tom Crampton describes the operations of the FABLAB to
MCC President Dick Shaink and Sen.
Carl Levin as Senior Project Manager
Joe Pakkala observes.
what I’ve seen here. The technology available at MCC’s FABLAB will strengthen Michigan’s economy.”
On an earlier visit, U.S.
Congressman Dale Kildee was equally enthusiastic. “The FABLAB is a great educational and economic asset for this community.”

Questions about the Mott Community College programs described in this magazine can be directed to the MCC Admissions Office at (810) 762-0200. Visit the college website at www.mcc.edu for more details about MCC and its more than 100 career programs.
Comments or questions about this publication can be directed to the MCC Office of Public Information at (810) 762-0455.
To advertise in CareerFocus, please call (810) 762-0456.
Publisher ........................................................Dr. M. Richard Shaink,
President, Mott Community College
Editor ............................................................................Michael Kelly
Staff Writer .............................................................Sharon Campbell
Photography ................Michael Tews, Bob Rentschler, Matt Morgan
Mott Community College Board of Trustees
Lenore Croudy, Chair
Dr. John Snell, Vice Chair
Albert Koegel, Treasurer
Sally Shaheen Joseph, Secretary
Pamela M. Faris, Trustee
Michael Freeman, Trustee
Rafael Turner, Trustee
Mott Community College Executive Cabinet
Dr. Amy Fugate, Vice President,
Office of Academic Affairs
Larry Gawthrop, Chief Financial Officer
Scott Jenkins, Vice President, Office of
Administration and Student Services
Mark Kennedy, Chief Human Resources Officer, Human
Resources Department
CareerFocus is published twice a year by Mott Community
College, 1401 East Court Street, Flint, MI 48503, in partnership with Washtenaw Community College, Ann
Arbor, MI.
All rights reserved. No part of the material printed may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage retrieval system without the permission of the publisher.
© 2011 Mott Community College
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Tyler Martin
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I Mott Community College CareerFocus I Summer 2011 I 1

Across
Multiple Boundaries
2 I Summer 2011 I CareerFocus
By Michael Kelly F lint and Genesee County have long been a center of deaf education as a result of the creation of the Michigan
School for the Deaf by the Michigan State
Legislature in 1848. In
1849 the state picked Flint as the site of the proposed school. The school was finished and the first pupil was enrolled in 1854.
Ever since, Flint has had a large and active deaf community and culture. In response to the needs of Genesee County citizens, Mott
Community College developed and has maintained a strong American
Sign Language (ASL) program.
MCC not only teaches individuals who wish to learn ASL in their own lives, it has also built a respected program to train ASL interpreters.
Interpreting happens whenever two people or two groups of people do not share a common language but want to communicate with each other. When people who are deaf
(and who use sign language) and people who are not deaf (and who use a spoken language) want or need to talk to one another, that’s when interpreters do their work.
Interpreters must understand the meanings and intentions expressed in one language and then express those meanings and intentions in the other language
MCC student Rosario Avila came to Mott College after already being a trained interpreter in Mexican
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Sign Language (MSL) because he was looking for a quality program to teach him American Sign Language. Avila was a native Spanish-speaker and was fluent in spoken English as well as MSL but wanted to also become fluent in ASL to allow him a fourth language and the promising career that would allow.
“When I found that Mott College offered this program, I was very interested. I checked a lot of colleges and I found out that Mott Community
College has a lot of opportunities for students,” Avila relates, “I found help from the Writing Center, from college tutors; I found a lot of help from this college.”
Interpreters must have a high level of fluency in each language.
Most of the time interpreters work simultaneously, which means expressing what someone just said while at the same time focusing on what someone is saying right now. Sometimes interpreters work consecutively, which means listening until someone has completed an idea and then interpreting that idea.
Rosario Avila is looking forward to his future as an interpreter: “One of my goals is to become a tri-lingual interpreter. When I finish this program I will be able to translate
ASL to Mexican Sign Language,
ASL to English, ASL to Spanish, or
Mexican Sign Language to American
Sign Language.”
Interpreting is a very challenging and rewarding career especially for those who enjoy the way languages work, enjoy the way that people use language to get things done and enjoy playing an important role in helping people interact with each other. Interpreters also have to follow a professional Code of Conduct; one of its most important tenets is to maintain confidentiality. This means keeping private whatever happens in the interactions that are interpreted.
Avila praises MCC’s program. “The people are nice, the teachers are totally skilled. Most of the teachers are deaf and those that are hearing are very skilled interpreters. As soon as you walk into the classroom you get teachers with all the abilities and the classes are really enjoyable. There is no way you will get bored. The teachers will interact and play games with you. You will enjoy the classes.”
Other MCC students are equally enthusiastic about the ASL
Interpreter program. Heather Lynch said, “The interpreter training program at Mott College has been wonderful. I love going to Mott
College. All the professors have been great. We have a great mix of deaf professors, hearing professors and hard-of-hearing professors. It’s just been a really good experience.”
But MCC’s ASL Interpreter program is not just fun and games; it has a serious career focus.
Interpreting is an exciting career.
Interpreters get to work with a wide variety of people of all ages, in a myriad of settings and situations.
The demand for interpreters always seems to outweigh the supply, so licensed interpreters can find work easily. Interpreter Chris Friedrich says, “As an interpreter, you can be very independent, work on your own, work for yourself, make your schedule, be able to manage amount of work, enjoy learning, know a little bit about everything, always learning new things and more about interpreting.”
According to the U.S. Department of
Labor, “Employment of interpreters and translators is projected to increase 22 percent over the decade, which is much faster than the average for all occupations. These trends are expected to continue throughout the projections period, contributing to relatively rapid growth in the number of jobs for interpreters and translators across all industries in the economy.”
MCC student Amy Young promises,
“You will always be surprised with what you can find and enjoy with the
Interpreting Program. It’s not your basic sit-down 9-to-5 job. You never know what’s going to happen.”
Young also praised the depth of
MCC’s program. “MCC makes you actually go out into the community and meet with deaf people and actually learn the language, learn the culture. It really prepares you for the real world.”
Christin Fondren had a very different route to MCC’s ASL Interpreting
Program. A life-long Flint resident,
Fondren found herself interacting with deaf people in her work and eventually joined the staff of the
Michigan School for the Deaf. She came back to MCC just to take an
ASL class to help her at work but soon advanced to the interpreter program. Fondren praises MCC’s atmosphere: “The small class sizes –
I love the intimate setting. You get to know your classmates very well. The instructors have time to sit with you and mentor you. You’re not just a face in the crowd, you’re actually a person.
They get to know you and your life and why you’re here.”
Christin Fondren was enthusiastic about MCC’s program for those interested in entering this rewarding field. “I would 100%, unequivocally recommend Mott College,” she stated.
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I Mott Community College CareerFocus I Summer 2011 I 3

Feature
Whitney Fick
By Michael Kelly G raphic design is all around us. The pages you are holding in your hands were put together by a graphic artist. If you look around the room you are in, you’ll likely find many examples of graphic design from company logos to road signs to product packaging; design is an integral part of modern life.
Some people are surprised to discover that Mott Community
College has one of the strongest
Fine Arts programs in the region and that part of that program is the
Graphic Design program.
Graphic Designer Tyler Martin of Otisville came to Mott
College right out of high school. He didn’t know what he wanted to do as a career but always knew that he loved art.
“I’ve always had a passion for art, coloring and that sort of stuff when
I was a kid. Then when you start to grow up in high school and they tell you need to go to school and get a job, I knew I didn’t want to be a doctor of anything like that. I wanted to be an artist. But I didn’t want to be - like the phrase goes - a starving artist. I did some research and found that graphic design was the most typical way an artist could make money.”
He figured that MCC would be a good place to start. “I didn’t have a lot of money and wanted to get my feet wet,” he related. “Mott College was affordable. After I was here for a year and got some basics down, I transferred to the Illinois Institute of Art.”
That experience didn’t work as well as he hoped. “I ran out of money,” he laughed, “So I came home and finished my degree here.”
The Graphic Design program at
MCC turned out to be just the right thing for him.
“The MCC program is excellent,” Martin related, “Like I said, I went to the Illinois Institute of Art and there was another girl in my class at MCC who also went to a big art school and when we compared schools we both came to the same conclusion; at those schools we paid a lot for professors who stood up there and lectured on art history and stuff like that but, when class is over, they didn’t want you to ask them questions. But with Mott College it was a totally different thing.”
“I’ll be honest, it wasn’t easy,”
Martin said, “The work was challenging but it was rewarding.”
Finishing his classes at MCC but still needing a assigned internship,
Martin went out to California and won an internship with Element
Skateboards. Returning to Michigan, he worked briefly at a local TV station before being hired full time by CFI Medical Solutions in Fenton where he is now Creative Director.
Whitney Fick of Lapeer first picked MCC because of cost and convenience, assuming she would take most of her classes at MCC’s
Lapeer Extension Center just west of the City of Lapeer. To her surprise, she found herself drawn into the Graphic Design program and took most of her classes at the main campus in Flint.
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“I really love Mott College. I’m really happy with the Graphic Design program. Communicating with your viewers is fascinating to learn.”
Fick is enthusiastic about the program. “I’m trying to get my brother to come here and a friend at work, too. If you are artistic and are stuck - you don’t know what to do - come here! Talk to the faculty.
They’ll gladly talk to you and give you advice. It’s just an amazing experience. I’ve grown so much as a person throughout my years here at
Mott College. You learn so much in a short time.”
Her attitude about MCC is very practical. “It will get you a job,” she stated.
In 2008, there were 286,100 people employed in graphic design jobs.
By 2018, the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics predicts that the number of graphic design jobs will increase 13%.
However, this doesn’t mean you’ll have smooth sailing when applying for graphic design jobs. Competition comes with the territory in many art careers. About 25 percent of graphic designers are self-employed and many of these designers work on a freelance or contract basis.
There are definitely perks to being your own boss. For instance, you get to set your own hours and choose your own jobs. If you work well by yourself and can stay motivated to meet project deadlines without a supervisor to keep you accountable, working for yourself may be a good fit for you. On the other hand, working in a graphic design job at a firm has good points as well. Your company will be responsible for maintaining your work environment, purchasing equipment and software, and building a client base. You’ll also be more likely to work regular hours for a predictable paycheck.
On average, an entry-level graphic design job pays about $36,000, advancing to $45,000 with experience under your belt. Growing into your career, an art director should average around $75,000 and a creative director around $100,000. Freelancers find their salaries can vary
Tyler Martin widely, depending upon how much work they take on.
Mott Community College offers an
Advanced Certificate in addition to the Associates in Applied Science in
Graphic Design. The Motion & Media
Graphic Track is a new track within the AAS in Graphic Design.
The Advanced Certificate in Graphic
Design is intended for students who have previously earned a degree in
Graphic Design or related field, but who need to go back and refresh their skills or expand them into a new area of the industry. The Motion &
Media Graphics (MMG) Track is for students intending to work in the creative aspects of the broadcast and video industry. Many MCC students in the traditional Graphic Design track also take advantage of the courses offered in the MMG track in order to strengthen their abilities in this expanding area of design.
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I Mott Community College CareerFocus I Summer 2011 I 5

Feature
By Sharon Campbell E arly childhood education is an increasingly hot topic.
According to the
U.S. Department of
Education, students with just a high school diploma will be shut out of two out of three jobs, and right now, one out of four American students doesn’t finish high school.
Education experts believe that focusing on early education can play a significant role in reducing the drop-out rate, as children coming to school well-adjusted and ready to learn at an early age are less likely to fall behind and eventually drop out.
A study from the National Dropout
Prevention Center indicated that the most effective way to reduce the number of children who will ultimately drop out is to provide the best possible classroom instruction at the beginning of the school experience.
That’s music to the ears of Rebecca
Garske, Coordinator of the Mott
Community College Early Childhood
Learning Program, which is already ahead of the game, offering a nationally accredited academic program and overseeing the MCC
Early Childhood Learning Center, a local pioneer in the educational development of young children since
1987.
“Research bears this out,” Garske noted. “Children receiving early education, prior to entering the school system, are more prepared.
The more experiences they have, socially and academically with early education, the better success they will have in their K-12 experience.
This also reflects on their postsecondary experiences, toward becoming productive members of society.”
MCC’s Early Childhood Education program is accredited by the
National Association for the
Education of Young Children,
(NAEYC). MCC’s program sets the standard of excellence in early childhood teacher education, as the program focuses on the
NAEYC accreditation system which establishes professional preparation standards to raise the quality of early child education, which in turn raises the quality of early education programs serving young children.
Accredited associate degree programs in early childhood education like MCC’s provide access to the profession and a strong foundation for the diverse pool of early childhood teachers needed in the field.
“We were the second program in the state to be accredited,” Garske said.
“We’re very proud of that, as well as the fact that the program is so highly respected in the community.
Ninety percent of the Head Start teaching staff in the community has gone through our program.”
“We also have a diverse faculty who understand what it’s like to be a parent while being in the workforce and going back to school. This is very empowering for our students,”
Garske added.
Students have an opportunity to earn an associate degree in Early
Childhood Education and/or Early
Childhood Education-Special Needs.
In addition, an Early Childhood
Infant and Toddler Certificate and Child Development Associate
Credential training are also available.
The program offers courses that prepare students to be eligible for
Susan Lechota, Interim Director of the MCC Early Childhood Learning Center positions as child care center and family child care providers; workers in before and after school programs; staff in Head Start classrooms and various other agencies. The Early
Childhood Education-Special Needs program is competency based and focuses on the exceptional child.
Exceptional children are those who require special education and related services. Graduates of this program will be able to apply for positions as assistants in Head
Start classrooms, Great Start
Readiness programs, child care workers in residential programs, paraprofessionals and assistants in related service agencies.
The Early Childhood Infant and
Toddler Certificate offers a multifaceted training program to help students who wish to become or are presently employed in licensed early childhood programs. Courses help students build their knowledge and skill. Upon completion of the program, students will meet licensing, state and federal requirements for professionals caring for infants and toddlers.
Students may elect to apply course credits towards the completion of a degree in Early Childhood
Education.
Renee Barnes, a recent graduate of the Special Needs program, returned to college after being away from school for several years. She worked with disabled adults for 17 years, but always had a desire to work with young children with special needs. Her goal is to eventually open a center that will serve as a respite for parents and families of children with special needs.
“I’ve always wanted to work with special needs children,” Barnes said.
“I love it, and it’s a good fit for me.”
Individuals seeking a career that involves work with special needs children should be extremely patient people, she cautioned.
“Being in a classroom where things can get chaotic and noisy can be difficult,” Barnes said. “There’s no predictor of the behaviors; you have to be ready to roll with whatever happens on any day.”
An honor student, Barnes also serves as president of MCC’s Early
Childhood Education student club. The group recently made a presentation at the statewide
Association for the Education of
Young Children conference on
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special needs. “It was really an honor,” Barnes said.
The program has exceeded her expectations. “I think this is a great program, and professors have been wonderful,” Barnes added. “Their knowledge and experience alone is invaluable to students. I’ve really enjoyed being a student here.”
Charlene Fortner, another honor student in early childhood education, wants to be a special needs teacher in a Head Start program and a parent educator. She found her niche, returning to school after many years: mentoring to her fellow students at MCC.
She discovered that a number of younger female students looked to her as a role model.
“I felt like this was
God’s thing for me to come back to school, this was part of God’s plan,” said Fortner. “It’s about giving back. So many students don’t have anyone to tell them you’re no longer with the pigeons, you’re flying with the eagles now. That’s why I want
Renee Barnes to be a parent educator. I want to get into the education system to talk and work with young parents.”
Anyone entering the education field should definitely be a “people-person,” she advised. “You have to want to help people; you don’t want to see them down on the ground. I want to be the person to pick them up. That’s what it’s all about.”
Fortner was honored for her dedication to community service during the Michigan Campus
Compact Outstanding Student
Service Awards Celebration held in East Lansing. She received the
Outstanding Community Impact
Award, given to students who have made service an integral part of their college experience by their significant contribution to community resources.
Only six students statewide received this award. Fortner was recognized for her efforts as an active volunteer with Pierce Creative Arts Community
School in Flint’s first grade class. She initiated a program called “Paws &
Bones for Reading,” and challenged the students to read 100 books from
October to December. The students read 108 books and homework went up by 84 percent, thanks to Fortner’s program.
She credits early education faculty, and Mott College, in general, for encouraging, motivating and supporting students, especially non-traditional students. “MCC really promotes the seasoned crowd,” she said. “The professors work with you and expect you to keep up.”
Garske summed up what the Early
Childhood Education Program at
MCC offers students: “We are here, we’re visible, we’re cost-effective, we’re transferrable, and we meet the needs of our students.”
MCC’s Early Childhood Learning
Center provides comprehensive learning opportunities in a nurturing environment to promote the intellectual, physical and social development of 4-year-olds, with a primary emphasis on pre-literacy development, to encourage early literacy and improve school readiness for the pre-kindegarten child. A high-quality, laboratory pre-school, accredited by the NAEYC, all aspects of the Center and the programs offered meet NAEYC criteria and guidelines.
range of skills, including social and emotional, reading, language, math, and other aptitudes.
Doubling as a laboratory for students enrolled in MCC’s Early Childhood
Education program, the Center strongly encourages parent participation and promotes parent education. The majority of parents with children at the
Center are also MCC students, an added convenience providing viable daycare to student parents who often juggle school, work and family responsibilities.
“We love the fact that we meet the needs of
MCC students but also provide an awesome
Charlene Fortner
Parents are welcome to visit with their children at anytime, and are vital to the Center’s success. learning experience for children,” said
Susan Lechota, Interim Director of the Early Childhood Learning Center.
“We really focus on parents, as well as the children,” Lechota said. “We want to make sure parents have a voice.” “We really are a teaching school, but we’re also like a family here,” she added. “It’s our job to make sure the staff and student teachers feel comfortable and cared for.”
MCC’s Early Childhood Center is open to MCC students and the community. Visitors to MCC’s
Early Childhood Learning Center are greeted by a warm, welcoming atmosphere, with several spacious rooms devoted to instruction, reading and play, including a loft featuring living room décor, a housekeeping center, a store, and a fully-equipped outdoor playground area – all functioning as social-emotional development tools for the children.
“Children will act out anything that’s happening in the family,”
Lechota said. “They come to terms with whatever is happening in their lives by pretending.
It helps them to understand their experiences.”
“It looks like they’re playing, but they’re actually learning,” she added. “This is how they learn social skills and how to make the best choices.”
Jessica Lanave serves on the
Early Childhood Learning Center’s parent advisory board. She has two children, Isabella, 7, who previously attended the Center and Josephine,
4, currently attending. She loves the
Center, and what it has done for her daughters.
For more information about MCC’s
Early Childhood Education Program, please call (810) 762-0489.
The teachers facilitate the growth and development of the children, working with a curriculum that fosters development of a broad
“I can’t sing its praises enough,”
Lanave said. “It’s always been fabulous. The girls have had such great experiences here. It’s such an asset to the community; it’s really a blessing for me.”
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Feature
By Sharon Campbell T here is one area of business that is always in need of people and that area of business is accounting.
Businesses that are large enough to have their own in-house accounting departments always need people. Accounting firms that are hired by businesses are always in need of qualified accountants.
Accountants do prepare taxes, but these days, they do much, much more.
The Accounting program at Mott
Community College is expansive, exciting, high-tech and relevant: preparing its graduates to meet the needs of today’s business and industry.
With a half-dozen new courses added to the program, students are exposed to the technology and skill set used by the industry today.
“This includes exposure to the industry’s most widely used accounting software as well as cooperative education opportunities,” said Lisa Banks, Accounting
Coordinator and Assistant Professor of Business & Accounting at MCC.
“Students can also participate in the national IRS Volunteer Income Tax
Assistance (VITA) program for tax preparation experience.”
Antwann Green of Flint, a peer tutor who helps other students with
Accounting,
Economics and Management courses, is finishing up his second year at MCC. His career goal is to become a Certified Public
Accountant (CPA). After receiving his Associate’s degree from Mott
College, he plans to transfer to the
University of Michigan-Flint in the
Fall to begin work on a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration
(BBA), with an ultimate goal of earning an MBA, and from there: tackling the CPA exam.
“I chose accounting because I’ve just always been interested in learning the financial side of how
Antwann Green
8 I Summer 2011 I CareerFocus businesses work,” Green said. “I love the Accounting program here at MCC. The professors are always eager to help with any problems and they don’t just pass students, they make sure you really know the material. That provides an excellent foundation for anyone interested in Accounting. I would highly recommend Mott’s program to anyone interested in pursuing
Accounting because I feel confident that the professors have prepared me to be successful in my studies when I leave Mott.”
Green’s tenure at Mott College, as a student and peer tutor, has been fulfilling. He’s maintained a 4.0 cumulative GPA.
“I pretty much liked all the courses at Mott,” Green said. “But my favorites were, of course, the
Accounting and Economics courses.
I really enjoyed the challenge of figuring out how companies use accounting to make most of their financial decisions. I’ve excelled in all my courses here at Mott, but I’ve found the business courses most interesting.”
“The experience (as peer tutor) has really been rewarding, seeing students asking some of the same questions I had when I took the class and being able to help them figure it out really makes me feel good,” Green added.
MCC offers an Associate in Applied
Science (AAS) degree in Accounting and a Certificate in Accounting.
The AAS degree in Accounting program qualifies graduates for entry-level jobs in accounting.
Students will have knowledge of typical accounting situations to be expected in a computer environment or in small and medium sized businesses. Graduates will be able to successfully compete for positions in accounting areas such as payroll, cost, taxes, payables and receivables.
They may have supervisory responsibilities as office managers and staff accountants under the supervision of a head accountant, controller or treasurer.
The Accounting certificate program qualifies graduates for clerical-level positions in accounting. Students will gain knowledge of general office skills and be able to successfully compete for clerical positions in accounting areas such as payroll, accounts payables, accounts receivables and billing.
In the last four years, Mott
Community College has quadrupled
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the number of accounting degree graduates, making possible new agreements with four-year colleges that have enhanced the transferability of our courses. These new articulations also permit students to choose to study either two or three years at MCC’s low cost, still completing their bachelor’s degree in the traditional four years.
In addition, enrollment in the accounting program has increased exponentially with the addition of seven new courses.
Among the new programs that provide a new four-year college option to Accounting students is
MCC’s articulation with Cleary
University and an agreement with
Northwood University signed in
June. Administrator with Cleary
University and Mott Community
College came together in November,
2010 to sign an articulation agreement, fostering a seamless transition for MCC students seeking a Bachelor of Science degree in Corporate Accounting at Cleary.
The Corporate Accounting Bachelor’s
Degree prepares students to enter the accounting career field working for a business or as an individual accountant. Career possibilities for an individual with a bachelor’s degree in corporate accounting may include
Corporate In-House Accountant;
Income Tax Preparer; Certified Public
Accountant; Financial Advisor and
Business Consultant.
The MCC-Cleary agreement allows acceptance of up to 83 semester credits toward the Bachelor of
Science in Corporate Accounting degree at Cleary. A number of benefits for students are outlined in the terms of the MCC-Cleary articulation agreement. Professor
Banks is continually looking for other opportunities to assist the accounting students at Mott achieve their academic and career goals.
Back in the “Roaring Twenties,” the most notorious criminal in the country was Chicago’s Al “Scarface” Capone. Listed as the FBI’s Public
Enemy Number One, Capone dominated Chicago by owning or controlling countless speakeasies (places which sold alcohol during Prohibition), brothels, gambling houses, alcohol distilleries, dog and horse racing tracks, and nightclubs. He bribed city officials, judges and police, eventually controlling most of the state.
One might think that Capone was eventually convicted for arranging mob hits on his competitors and other such crimes but that is not true.  It was not Elliott Ness and his legendary team of “Untouchables” who brought Al
Capone to justice but it was a forensic accountant, Frank J. Wilson, from the US Treasury Department’s Special Intelligence Unit who finally built a successful case.
In 1929, President Hoover and Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon promised to put Capone in jail. Since the FBI criminal investigators could not do it, Mellon asked the Treasury Department to build a tax evasion case against Capone.
Because Capone lived lavishly with an estimated annual income of $50 million but never filed a tax return, Mellon figured there were at least one or two prosecutable offenses in there somewhere. Enter Frank Wilson, a fearless and persistent forensic accountant.
At trial in 1931, it was revealed that Capone had millions of dollars in untaxed income. Capone was convicted of tax evasion and sentenced to prison.
It was an accountant who brought down the biggest gangster in America.
“The community should also know that the MCC Accounting program offers high quality instruction by instructors who have industry experience…all this at the lowest cost in the county,” Banks said.
Business Division Dean Robert
Loth oversaw the selection of three new accounting faculty after losing the previous two long-time faculty to retirement in back-toback years. “It’s amazing that the three of us came with different accounting backgrounds - Alana
Ferguson, CPA, primarily public; Lisa
Murawa, primarily governmental, and myself from the corporate/ managerial accounting world,” Banks added. “We were able to combine our collective expertise and carve out a new winning program, with tremendous support from Dean Loth and the Business Division veterans.
The increase in both quantity and quality of our accounting majors are a contributor to our ability to attract these partnerships with the four-year institutions. We take great pride in being able to help build this bridge towards their future success.”
With all of the program’s success stories, Lisa Banks still has a wish list for the Accounting Program at
MCC.
“We would like to complete our course offerings to include everything required for an individual with a non-Accounting bachelor’s degree to return to MCC to take all the classes necessary to sit for the professional accounting certifications, primarily the CPA and CMA (Certified
Managerial Accountant) exams,”
Banks said. “We would also like to increase the internship / co-op opportunities to ensure that all MCC accounting students graduate with accounting work experience that qualifies them for better permanent job offers.”
Does Banks foresee any challenges facing the MCC Accounting program in the future?
“Space!” she said. “We are growing so much that we are running out of room…but that is a good problem.”
For information about the Accounting program at MCC, please call
(810) 232-7713.
810-762-0200 I www.mcc.edu
I Mott Community College CareerFocus I Summer 2011 I 9

By Michael Kelly H eather Naugler of
Davison did not expect to find herself in the Electronics and
Electrical program at
Mott College. For one thing, she already had a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of
Michigan-Flint.
She started working on the line at the Delphi plant in Flint back in 2006. After six months of line work, she was moved to the rework department where she would check malfunctioning circuit boards and components.
She must have done her job well because in 2009 she was offered the position of Electronics Technician.
“Except that I knew nothing about electronics!” Naugler complained.
Nonetheless, she found herself becoming more intrigued with her work. “I like trouble-shooting,” she said, “I like to figure out what’s wrong, to get to the bottom of it.”
As part of her new job Delphi sent her to Mott Community College to study electronics. After a few classes, Naugler’s self confidence at work rose: “I felt useful at work. I could figure out what I was doing.”
The classes turned out to be as much fun as work. “It’s been fun,” she related, “I love the teachers too.
They’re some of the best teachers
I’ve ever had.”
“They go out of their way to make sure you understand what you’re doing,” she explained. “The teachers here are more hands-on and really seem to care about how you’re doing. They want you to do really well.”
Despite having already completed a
Bachelor’s degree in Sociology, she stated that “I like the electronics better than Sociology so I’m hoping for a career in this.”
The program at MCC has sparked her ambition. “I’m thinking about going into Engineering,” she said, looking to the future.
Being a woman in a predominately male field hasn’t been a problem for Heather at MCC: “I love my classmates. Everyone helps each
Heather Naugler other out. We work on projects together and all that. At UM-Flint it wasn’t like that at all. It seems like everyone is closer at MCC. You know each other better and the teachers seem to care more about you.”
Nearing completion of an electronics degree from MCC,
Naugler relates that her job satisfaction is growing: “I like
10 I Summer 2011 I CareerFocus Mott Community College I www.mcc.edu
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810-762-0200

doing my own thing. I do something different every day. I do all kinds of things.”
Heather Naugler summed up her experience at MCC this way: “I feel better prepared for the future.”
Jason Slade, coordinator of
MCC’s Electronics and Electrical
Technology program, has seen constant change in his field. “The biggest change we have seen at MCC is the incorporation of the various areas of electronics, electrical, and control systems into our program.
At one time, the MCC program was strictly electronics and consisted of electrical theory, electronics circuit design and analysis. This fit the needs of industry at the time and our graduates were traditional electronics technicians. With the introduction of ‘throw-away’ consumer electronics, the increase in controls and automation, and the integration of hardware and software, our program has morphed into a very balanced and wellrounded curriculum. The controls portion of our program has definitely grown the most.”
The Electronics and Electrical
Technology program at Mott
College includes Electrical Theory;
Residential and Commercial
Wiring; Electronics and Embedded
Systems; as well as Controls,
Instrumentation, Automation, and
Robotics.
“In addition to the increase of control systems in our program,”
Slade said, “We have also experienced more integration of software with the traditional electronics hardware. No longer does a tech or engineer just build a circuit. They may need to first stimulate it, program it, or create an interface to communicate to from the outside world. This has increased the demand for computer skills in our area.”
Students completing the MCC program have a wealth of job opportunities, as well as paths for further education. Mott College has transfer programs in place with
Eastern Michigan University, Ferris
State University and Wayne State
University to make the transition smooth and affordable.
Graduates can find career opportunities in numerous fields, including:
• Commercial wiring
• Control systems
• Embedded controls
• Industrial automation
• Maintenance
• Medical equipment repair
• Residential wiring
• Robotics
• System and product development
• Technical sales
• Traditional and renewable energy
Studies by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics reveal that the mean wage for engineering technicians was $25.96 an hour with annual salaries ranging from the mid-$40,000 to mid-$50,000 range.
810-762-0200 I www.mcc.edu
I Mott Community College CareerFocus I Summer 2011 I 11

Feature
By Sharon Campbell V isitors entering Wendy
Early’s office will notice the plaques on the walls, books on shelves, and what looks like a huge exercise ball at her desk.
Wendy Early’s desk chair is the latest in ergonomic-friendly furniture in the workplace: an office ball chair. As program coordinator for the Occupational Therapy
Assistant program (OTA) for Mott
Community College, she obviously knows the benefits of sitting on an office ball chair: the body automatically makes the kind of adjustments that improve posture, forces proper spine alignment, among others.
Early has always had a passion for the holistic, as well as teaching. So, developing and overseeing the OTA program as its coordinator since its inception in 1994, just came naturally.
“This has always been a passion of mine, and I’ve always had an interest in teaching,” she said. Early always believed there would be an increasing demand for Occupational
Therapy Assistants in society, due to the changing demographics with people aging and living longer.
“The elderly population is booming,” she said. “Statistics show the elderly are the number one users of health care. If you live long enough, you will get arthritis of some kind, joint limitations, muscle weakness, or have difficulty doing daily activity.”
Occupational Therapy Assistants work under the supervision of occupational therapists, and the demand for OTAs is real. According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s
Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment is projected to grow much faster than average.
Estimated median salaries for an
OTA start at $43,910 in Michigan.
The reason for growth is, in addition to the growing elderly population and a large baby boomer generation aging, improved technology increasing survival rate of trauma victims and premature babies. All of these groups require increased amount of therapy services to improve their quality of life and promote independence.
Young or old, everyone has a job to do – learning, growing, playing, working, caring for and interacting with others, are all among the
“occupations” of life. Sometimes physical, emotional, and other challenges prevent people from participating fully in the job of living: injury, stroke, depression, developmental disabilities can all play a role in making it difficult for people to perform everyday tasks or be as independent as they would like to be. That is where occupational therapy comes in.
“All of our graduates, who have wanted jobs in occupational therapy, are finding jobs, full or part time, and sometimes within a month or two of graduation, and within an hour radius from our area --
Saginaw, Lapeer, Lansing, Ann
Arbor, Detroit,” Early said.
MCC’s OTA program, located at the college’s Southern Lakes Branch
Center in Fenton, trains students interested in helping individuals improve their lives through occupational therapy. Students pursuing careers as occupational therapy practitioners can begin at MCC with the Occupational
Therapy Assistant program. The program requires 24 to 26 months of completion following admittance to the course Introduction to
Occupational Therapy Assistant
(OTA 100), on the road to obtaining an associate’s degree.
Individuals who are ambitious, compassionate, creative, enthusiastic and good communicators by nature tend to be perfect candidates for jobs in occupational therapy.
“OTAs not only deal with physical issues, they are also trained to deal with psychological and cognitive issues that can develop,” Early said.
“Anyone can sustain an injury to the central nervous system, where depth perception is impaired.”
Traits such as flexibility, patience and the ability to problem-solve also define the aptitude of the OTA.
“The primary goal for the OTA is to increase maximum function in patient’s daily activities,” Early said. “You never know what the day will bring and you’re dealing with a vulnerable population: people who are ill, and not feeling well. You have to be patient; you must have excellent communication skills, overall, and you have to be able to communicate verbally and in writing, and you should be a good listener.”
MCC’s Physical Therapist Assistant
(PTA) program prepares students for the growing field of physical therapy, which according to the Bureau of
Labor Statistics, is a field in which employment is also projected to grow much faster than average.
Physical therapist assistants, or
PTAs, work under the direction of the physical therapist, assisting with physical therapy and care to patients. Individuals who choose this line of work will share similar characteristics to the OTA. PTAs should be able to communicate effectively as well as be able to exhibit compassion and empathy to patients, families and caregivers.
PTAs help physical therapists in rehabilitating patients who are physically impaired or injured, while
OTAs deal with emotional, mental and developmental as well as
Mott Community College I www.mcc.edu
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810-762-0200 12 I Summer 2011 I CareerFocus

physical issues. There is a difference between the Physical Therapist
Assistant and Occupational Therapy
Assistant, but they often find themselves working together as a team to benefit the patient. This team approach allows the PTA to address the patient’s functional abilities, general mobility and strengthening needs while the OTA can also address functional abilities and life activities.
For example, when working with a patient who has suffered a stroke, the PTA may address wheelchair mobility, sitting posture, the strength and ability to transfer from sitting to standing, standing posture and reaching mobility while standing at the kitchen counter or sink. At the same time, the OTA may address the task of washing dishes or preparing a meal while at the sink or counter, problem-solving the steps necessary for completing the task.
The PTA is defined as a technically educated health care provider who assists the physical therapist in the provision of physical therapy, assisting people suffering with physical injuries or disorders in an effort to prevent permanent physical impairment and to help provide physical relief from pain.
Rebecca Myszenski serves as coordinator of the PTA program at
MCC, a field where the job prospects are “very good” as well. “All of our students seeking employment have jobs within six months of graduation, and the average PTA salary in
Michigan is $42,020 a year,”
Myszenski said.
MCC student Tenaha Williams of
Flint is among the ambitious group of students frequenting the corridors and classrooms of SLBC’s OTA-
PTA wing: she’s a first year OTA/
PTA dual track student who started the program in the Fall Semester of
2010. She was initially interested in physical therapy but decided to pursue both occupational therapy as well as physical therapy because she is, first of all, not afraid of hard work and she has a sincere desire to help people.
“I always wanted to be in the medical field,” Williams said, who hails from a family with several members already working in various capacities in the medical industry. She is on leave from working at McLaren Regional
Medical Center in Flint to study OTA and PTA. “I started in the kitchen and worked my way up to ward clerk.
I noticed the PTs, what they do and how they worked with patients, and
I liked the interaction. I noticed you can also do OT at the same time.”
Williams believed she was up for the challenge, enrolled in MCC’s program and set out to pursue her dream career – ultimately managing a clinic that provides physical and occupational therapy services.
“It’s been a journey,” added Williams, whose grandmother suffers from arthritis and dementia, one of her primary motivations in choosing
PTA/OTA. “It takes a lot of hard work, dedication, and motivation to keep going. I also wanted to be more marketable, and I just really want to help people.”
“You have to be very passionate about wanting to see a person succeed,” Williams said. “You have to have a warm heart for this profession; you have to be a caring person.”
Mark Pattee of Flint, who was “the only guy in the program,” completed the academic portion of the OTA Program and is now starting four months of clinical training in area hospitals and clinics. He wants to erase the stigma that can sometimes be associated with therapy assistance as primarily female-dominated fields, and encourages men to consider these types of careers. “There is a need for male OTAs,” he said.
After working in the jewelry business for 13 years, Pattee is happy he returned to school to pursue a career in occupational therapy, a career he finds both fulfilling and challenging at the same time.
“You should have a good sense of humor,” he added. “You have to be adaptable, be able to roll with the punches. You have to be a peopleperson, first and foremost, you have to care about people. It’s challenging but ultimately rewarding in the end, because you’re helping people; you’re helping to make their lives easier.”
The Occupational Therapy Assistant
Program at MCC is accredited by the Accreditation Council for
Therapy of the American Occupational
Therapy Association, headquartered in Bethesda, Md. MCC’s Physical
Therapist Assistant Program is accredited by the Commission on
Accreditation in Physical
Therapy
Education, based in Alexandria,
Virginia.
Both programs, based at the MCC
Southern Lakes Branch Center,
2100 Thompson Road in Fenton, require a major time commitment for classroom hours, study, open labs, and clinical participation at various health care settings. Students can earn a two-year associate’s degree in
Occupational Therapy Assistant or
Physical Therapy Assistant, but also have the option of receiving a degree in both OTA and PTA, which can be accomplished in three years.
For more information about the
Occupational Therapy Assistant
Program, call (810) 762-5018 and for information about the Physical
Therapist Assistant Program, call
(810) 762-5021. Both OTA and PTA programs operate under the auspices of the MCC Health Sciences Division, lead by Dean Patricia Markowicz.
For information about the programs offered in Health Sciences at MCC, please call (810) 762-0317.
Tenaha Williams and Mark Patee
810-762-0200 I www.mcc.edu
I Mott Community College CareerFocus I Summer 2011 I 13

Mott Community College ...................$ 3,327.26
University of Michigan-Flint .................$ 6,720.00
Saginaw Valley State University .......... $ 6,870.00
Eastern Michigan University ................$ 7,148.00
Western Michigan University ...............$ 8,762.00
Baker College ......................................$ 9,225.00
Please note: room and board are not included in amounts.
(Sources:Peterson’s Guide website information as of 10/11)
(University of Michigan-Flint Website; Western Michigan University Website)
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