By Erik Squire
Education Major
Hello again my fine fellow SMCC goers! Now that you’re done with a month of watching Netflix, skiing, and building snow forts with your sibs (aww, you’re so nice), it’s time to strap yourself in for another go! As always, you can all look forward to some superlative news this semester, brought to you by us at The Beacon. With no further ado, the happenings of the campus, exposed to you.
SMCC is throwing together an event for you community lovers and they’re putting the win in Winter Volunteer Fair. You can expect to find numerous clubs from SMCC and outside organizations representing themselves in one convenient place. It will be a great way to learn about and get connected with opportunities that are of interest to you. Whether it’s a club with activities that you can dig, or an organization offering an avenue for you to volunteer, it’s worth checking out. Here are a few names you may be familiar with: Winter Kids, Learning Works, Boys and Girls Club, and the Maine Conservation Corps; they’ll all be coming. Even The Beacon will be there and they have an exceptionally good looking guy manning the table, or so I’ve heard.
It is a proven fact that getting involved at school can boost one’s completion rate. It makes sense; when we get involved we feel like a part of our school community and academia starts to take on more significance. Not to mention it’s a great way to meet people! Needless to say, everyone should check out the Second Annual SMCC Winter Volunteer Fair. It will be held on Jan 27th in the HUB Gym at the South Portland Campus, 11:00am – 2:00pm.
In other news: Given SMCC’s decrees in enrollment and due to lower retention rates, we are facing a smaller budget, and with that come cutbacks. As unfortunate as this may be, it is being handled with great attention and care. What’s more, everybody is being invited to participate in the decision making process. Nothing will be done “hush, hush” or behind closed curtains.
Here are the words of SMCC’s president, Dr. Ron Cantor:
Through the budget forums, the Leadership Council, the governance process, and new task forces constituted to identify savings in several of our high-cost programs, we will address our challenges openly and transparently. Data on enrollment, student success, revenues, expenses and staffing will be available to all.
Given that we can no longer afford to do all that we are doing in the same ways we have done them, our situation will require Vice President Sortor and me to make some difficult decisions. Before we make these decisions we need your informed input and perspective. Let’s review the realities together.
Continued success will require new approaches grounded in trust, courage and open communication. We will advocate for state support, pursue external funding and, most importantly, refocus to increase student success.
Utilizing open communication and involving SMCC’s community isn’t the only strategy being employed. In circumstances like these, it becomes necessary to appoint task forces devoted solely to the labor of SMCC’s success. Two such committees are the new Leadership Council and the Strategic Planning Committee.
The Leadership Council is formed from the various leadership bodies governing SMCC. They will be meeting multiple times over this semester to collaborate and problem-solve about numerous issues including parking and the school’s budget.
As President Cantor explains, the Strategic Planning Committee, co-chaired by Michelle Neujahr and Steve Willis, [is] ready to lead us through a series of participatory discussions that will craft SMCC’s three-year strategic plan, complete with priorities, goals and clear outcomes, to be owned by all of us with pride.
If you’re concerned about the state of our affairs and would like to get involved in the progress of our community here at ––Southern Maine CC, please feel free to attend one or all of these open forums:
South Portland Campus
Friday, January 30th, 12:30 pm
Health Science Center, room 217
Wednesday, February 4th, 5:00 pm. Health Science center, room 217
Midcoast Campus
Tuesday, February 3rd, 12:30 pm. Orion Hall, Nursing classroom