TO: DCCCD Board Members
FROM: Dr. Wright L. Lassiter, Jr.
DATE: September 2, 2011
RE: Weekend Memo #249
AN ADMINISTRATOR’S PRAYER
It is amazing how time passes and how some things in the distant past appear from time to time. As a graduate student in the School of Business at Indiana University in 1961, I read an article by Robert L. Katz in the Harvard Business Review with the same subject as this commentary. I could not find the original article, but I did find my notes. Based on those notes and my experiences over the past 50 years, I have attempted to craft this product for personal professional development for myself and my colleagues.
Please note the inclusion of values that have appeared in this commentary series over the past five years, such as self-awareness, judgment, wisdom, humility, courage, sensitivity, value of others, understanding, tolerance, and patience.
* * *
Grant me the self-awareness to know honestly what I am, what I can do, and what I cannot do;
Grant me the judgment to channel my energies into those avenues which best utilize my abilities and do not require talents which I do not possess;
Grant me the wisdom to admit error cheerfully and learn from my experiences, that I may grow and develop and avoid repetition of mistakes;
Grant me the humility to learn from others, even though they may be younger, less experienced, or of humbler station than me;
Grant me the courage to make decisions whenever they are necessary and to avoid rashness when they are not;
Grant me the sensitivity to judge the reactions of others, that I may modify my actions to meet the needs of those affected;
Grant me the consideration to recognize the worth of each individual and to respect all those with whom I have contact, neither stifling their development nor exalting myself at their expense;

Grant me the perspicacity to acknowledge that I can be no more effective than my subordinates enable me to be, and to deal with them so that they can help me by helping themselves;
Grant me the tolerance to recognize mistakes as a cost of true learning and to stand behind my subordinates, accepting my responsibility for their actions;
Grant me the insight to develop a personal philosophy, that my life may have more meaning and satisfaction and that I may avoid capricious action under the pressures of expediency;
Grant me the patience to live realistically with my circumstances, striving always for the better, but recognizing the perils of too rapid or too drastic change; and
Grant me all these things, dear Lord, that I may live a more useful life through serving my fellow men and, through them, serve Thee.
Just a little food for thought, colleagues.
Brookhaven College
On August 31st, students received help with reading and writing assignments and won prizes at the
Communications Lab open house at Brookhaven College. Margaret Riley, developmental reading visiting scholar, and Sharon Poole, learning lab coordinator, arranged the event to highlight the services offered in the lab. As the largest of the open computer labs at the college, students often do not realize that they may access tutoring in reading and writing along with study skills.
At the ChildCareGroup’s Annual Summer Sizzler, Johnny Castro, child development professor at
Brookhaven College, gave a presentation to more than 40 educators and childcare professionals.
His presentation, “Essential Lessons for Those Who Work with Young Children,” focused on new research and findings in child development and made them applicable to the childcare professional.
Held at the Dallas World Trade Center, this event brought together more than 400 childcare professionals from the Dallas area. ChildCareGroup is a non-profit agency dedicated to promoting, delivering and expanding childcare services available outside the home.
El Centro College
The El Centro College Bill J. Priest Campus has been awarded a $1,024,564 Skills Development
Fund grant by the Texas Workforce Commission. Through this project, the college will provide training for 728 employees of Doctors Hospital, VIBRA Specialty Hospital and Los Barrios Unidos
Community Clinic in West Dallas over the next year.
The Sonography OB/GYN Club hosted its annual “Pathologies at the Paramount” seminar on
August 27th at El Centro College. Under the direction of two El Centro College faculty members,
Pam Crawford (RVT, RDMS) and Jan Blend (MS, RDMS), presentations were made by the college’s diagnostic medical sonography students. These presentations were designed for sonographers who perform abdominal, obstetric and gynecological ultrasound exams. The purpose of the presentations was to provide an overview of 10 interesting pathologies and case studies.
Approximately 50 diagnostic medical sonographers from the Dallas area attended the seminar for
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continuing education credits. Sonography OB/GYN Club members organized, promoted and presented the entire event.
On September 15th, the Bill J. Priest Institute of El Centro College and the International Small
Business Development Center (ISBDC) will host a series/seminar to help businesses and entrepreneurs import their products into the United States successfully. This nine-part series covers
United States Customs requirements, global sourcing, international payments and cultural considerations when importing into the United States. The seminar will also be available as a live webinar. Please contact the ISBDC at 214.267.2210 for more information.
North Lake College
Our Students — The Blazer Student Store opened for business on August 29th with gently used clothing for men, women and children, novelty items, books, DVDs, jewelry, pottery, nonperishable food items and more — all donated by students, faculty and staff members. Items are purchased using “Blazer bucks,” which students may purchase at the cashier's office or earn in the classroom or at campus events or by trading in items of their own. Each teaching and learning center at the college has a number of “Blazer bucks” for faculty to distribute. Vouchers, which are good for 10 cans of food, are also available for those in need. The Blazer Ambassadors, a newlyformed student club on campus, is in charge of scheduling workers for the store. The club's president is Nkonyezi Nanyamka and the sponsor is Virginia Jones, director of the Office of Student
Life at North Lake College. Other sponsors include Susan Villalobos, coordinator of service learning, whose students will earn community service hours by working in the store, and Kathleen
Stockmier, Journalism Club sponsor and News-Register adviser. Advertising dollars from the campus newspaper provided funding for the store’s startup. The Blazer Student Store is an offshoot of the college's annual Santa Bucks program, which North Lake College started in December 2002. This holiday give-away program is a one-day event using “Santa bucks” as currency. This year’s event has been scheduled for November 30th.
Our Community — On August 22nd, North Lake College Interim President Christa Slejko, vice presidents Mary Ciminelli and Paul Kelemen, executive deans Mike Cooley and Arthur James, facilities director John Watson and construction technology faculty member Roger Wilson attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony to open Lady Bird Johnson Middle School in the Irving Independent
School District. The school uses laptop technologies for all computer needs, utilizes solar and wind power and fully incorporates other green technologies to reduce energy consumption by more than
50 percent. The school is a net-zero facility that consumes only the energy it produces.
Our Employees — Fall 2011 Blue Green Week festivities were held August 22nd-26th at North Lake
College to welcome back faculty members to campus. Interim President Christa Slejko kicked off the week’s events with the State of the College address. Other activities included updates and training on student learning outcomes, refreshers on creating electronically accessible content,
Blackboard, information privacy and open house events for the academic skills center and the Blazer
Student Store.
Cedar Valley College
Student Success — A number of activities were held at Cedar Valley College to welcome back students for the fall semester. The Office of Student Life hosted a “Meet the President” event where students were given the opportunity to meet Dr. Jennifer Wimbish in a casual and relaxed setting.
In addition, several student orientations were hosted on campus to help acclimate new students and
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provide parents the opportunity to become acquainted with staff members and the various services offered by the college. Over 400 students participated in these events.
The commercial music program at Cedar Valley College has released the schedule for its fall recital series. Highlights include the James Gilyard Quartet, the N’awlins Gumbo Kings and the Jeremy
Garcia Duo. Performances are held each Wednesday from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. in the performance hall
(Building E) and are free of charge and open to the public.
Employee Success — Cedar Valley College professor Suzanne Disheroon was selected to edit The
Awakening and Other Writings by Kate Chopin . This book features the published works of nineteenthcentury writer Kate Chopin, best known as a writer of local color fiction set in the mysterious bayous of Louisiana. Chopin is best known for her critically acclaimed work, The Awakening .
Mountain View College
More than 1,000 students participated in new student orientation activities at Mountain View
College August 25-27th. Following President Felix Zamora’s welcome address, students attended breakout sessions and workshops pertaining to financial aid, books, classes, tutoring, clubs and organizations. In addition, students learned how to navigate online tools, eCampus and eConnect.
On September 6th, the Mountain View College Office of Student Life will have welcome-back parties for students, faculty and staff outside the student courtyard at 12:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. The theme for this year’s parties is “Texas Style.” For more information, please contact the Office of
Student Life at 214.860.8685.
Mountain View College and the YWCA of Dallas have partnered to offer two financial education workshop series. The workshops will encourage participants to learn how to track their spending, plug their spending leaks, improve their credit and invest in their future. The four-week workshop series will be held on Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. The first series will run from
September 10th through October 1st and the second series will run from October 22nd through
November 12th. To register, please call 214.584.2335.
Eastfield College
On August 27th, a 50-foot wind turbine was installed at Eastfield College to be used for instructional purposes. This turbine is tied into the college’s electrical system through a connection at the technology building. When the turbine is not being used for instruction, the electricity produced (3.5kw) will flow back into the college’s system and help power the technology building.
Students will be able to view its realtime electrical generation by viewing the meter on the south side of the building. The wind turbine was purchased from Imperial Electric based in Balch Springs, TX through funds provided by the Texas Legislature through the Texas Comptroller's Office Jobs and
Education for Texans (JET) grant awarded in 2010. The grant award was $147,098, to be used for additional instructional equipment for alternative/sustainable energy programs. This new program features both an associate degree and a certificate. As of August 2011, Eastfield College became one of two community colleges in North Central Texas to offer courses in alternative/sustainable energy.
Eastfield College’s Et Cetera (student newspaper) cartoonist Cody Richeson has done it again! After taking second-place honors last year, Cody has been named a finalist for the Associated Collegiate
Press (ACP) National Cartooning Award for his comic strip “College!” The ACP announced five finalists and five runners-up from a field of 212 entries submitted by colleges and universities. First
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through fifth-place winners will be announced at the 90th ACP/CMA National College Media
Convention in Orlando, FL on October 29th.
Congressman Jeb Hensarling (Texas 5 th District) visited Eastfield College on August 25th for a roundtable discussion with his constituents in the area. This event was hosted by the Mesquite
Chamber of Commerce and was open to the public. About 40 citizens attended and the main topic of discussion was the debt ceiling. (Hensarling is a member of the Joint Select Committee on
Deficit Reduction — a 12-member bipartisan, bicameral panel tasked with finding at least $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction over the next decade.) Health care was also a big topic. DCCCD
Chancellor Dr. Wright Lassiter, Jr., Vice Chancellor for Public and Governmental Affairs Justin
Lonon and Trustee Bill Metzger were in attendance.
Eastfield College’s “EFC 411” (informational table staffed by volunteers) was a huge success again this year. College staff members connected with over 3,000 students the first two days of classes by offering a friendly welcome and directional assistance. The Office of Student Life appreciates everyone’s efforts and their continued support of this project.
Richland College
Sustainable Community Building — “Economic Viability” — Richland College Garland Campus has been awarded two Skills Development Fund grants by the Texas Workforce Commission. Richland
College, in partnership with the Dallas County Manufacturers’ Association and the Garland
Chamber of Commerce, has been awarded $367,506 to train 398 employees at eight companies in topics, such as leadership, lean manufacturing, electrical, welding, blueprint reading, supply chain, geometric dimensioning and tolerancing, project management, statistical process control, 5S implementation, wire bonding, total quality management and MS Office applications. Richland
College, in partnership with Genesis Physicians Group and nine of their member offices, was awarded $173,921 to train 183 employees in topics, such as command Spanish, electronic medical records, HIPPA law/ethics, medical terminology, lean office, medical coding and phlebotomy. The training for both grants will be held at company locations, as well as at the Richland College Garland
Campus. Training will take place from August 31, 2011 through August 31, 2012.
Student Success — Large numbers of new-to-college and new-to-Richland College students took advantage of the welcoming “Ask Me” tables strategically placed throughout the campus on the first two days of the fall semester. Organized by the college's Office of Student Life, the tables were staffed by friendly, knowledgeable volunteers who answered questions and provided students with complimentary 2011-2012 Richland College student handbook/planners, campus maps, directions, pens and coffee. The tables were staffed both mornings and evenings during peak class times.
Employee Success — Richland College librarians officially opened the new Teaching Collection during
“Tea is for Teaching” welcome sessions on August 25-26th. The Teaching Collection, housed in a special location in the library, is a space to facilitate conversations and build knowledge about teaching. The Collection includes books and other resources that support and celebrate teaching, critical thinking, cooperative learning and ePortfolios. During the “Tea is for Teaching” welcome sessions, instructional staff had the opportunity to collaborate with librarians, plan for information literacy in upcoming classes, request media and book purchases, learn about the library's changing mission statement, review helpful classroom activities and obtain information about library-related marketplace applications and Web resources available on smartphones to support classroom instruction.
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Institutional Effectiveness — A team of Richlanders led by Nancy Kammerer, associate dean of organizational and staff development, evaluated and streamlined the institutional professional development expectations of all Richland College full-time employees, reducing the total hours required each year from 36 to 26. Core requirements were redistributed to focus on the college’s strategic needs and priorities, including the continuous improvement professional development expectations. This effort was undertaken following an analysis of Richland College's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that was conducted last spring in which all the college’s employees had an opportunity to provide input.
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