Spring is in bloom at MCC-Longview

Don't let the light rain and gray sky fool you, spring is in full bloom today at MCC-Longview.



Don't forget to check out all the other great campus photos on the MCC-Longview Photo Blog.

Graduation Fair at MCC-Blue River

It is time to get fitted. Metropolitan Community College-Blue River is holding a graduation fair on two dates this week. On Wednesday, March 23, go to the Campus Center to get your cap and gown between the hours of 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.

If you’re in the market for a class ring, Jostens will be at the Campus Center on Thursday, March 24 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.

You can get your cap and gown on either date, or if you cannot make it to the graduation fair then you will be able to get a cap and gown from the business office after March 24.

Graduation Fair, March 23 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. and March 24 from 10a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Campus Center

MCC-Longview at sea on the USS Missouri

To the untrained eye it might look like just another mess hall on the USS Missouri, an Iowa-class battleship.

But if you look close enough you will see someone from MCC-Longview has a bit of school pride.



From Wikipedia:

The Missouri was ordered in 1940 and commissioned in June 1944. In the Pacific Theater of World War II she fought in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa and shelled the Japanese home islands, and she fought in the Korean War from 1950 to 1953. She was decommissioned in 1955 into the United States Navy reserve fleets (the "Mothball Fleet"), but reactivated and modernized in 1984 as part of the 600-ship Navy plan, and provided fire support during Operation Desert Storm in January/February 1991.

Missouri received a total of 11 battle stars for service in World War II, Korea, and the Persian Gulf, and was finally decommissioned on 31 March 1992, but remained on the Naval Vessel Register until her name was struck in January 1995. In 1998, she was donated to the USS Missouri Memorial Association and became a museum ship at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

It just goes to show that The Lakers are everywhere.

MCC-Longview winter wonderland

It was a wintery scene at MCC-Longview as close to six inches of snow fell on campus this past weekend. Despite the snow day on Monday, campus crews were hard at work clearing the pathways, parking lots and sidewalks as everyone prepares for a new semester.

2010 in photos at MCC-Longview

For the past year we have been taking photos around this big beautiful campus and posting them to our Flickr photo blog.

As we get close to the end of 2010, we thought it would be fun to highlight some of our favorites. We asked you to weigh in and here are the ones you picked. We tallied your votes based on comments, total views and, of course, photographer's preference.

Did we miss your photo? Let us know in the comments. Thanks again for letting us photograph you and the many amazing events in 2010.

We hope you enjoy and have a fun Thanksgiving weekend.

MCC-Longview Express Job Fair: connecting students with new opportunities

Express Job Fair brought close to a dozen employers to campus giving students the opportunity to interview and apply to various jobs from around the KC area.

Along with employers, William Jewell University and the University of Central Missouri were also there offering information to students who were looking to transfer after completing their two years at MCC-Longview.

"We had such a great turnout," student employment services coordinator Linda Anderson said. "It's great to see so many students engaged with these companies here. It shows they are already starting to look ahead."

The Express Job Fair also offered mock interviews and resume reviews that helped students craft a professional image as they continue to look for work after college.



For a full gallery of photos from the event, go to our Flickr page.

MCC-Longview invites you to add to the story...

Calling all authors and artists!

Beginning on Friday, Oct. 8 and running until Thursday, Oct. 14, there will be a “Round Robin” story/art event in the MCC-Longview Campus Center Student Commons.

There will be a starter sentence provided, and YOU provide the rest of the story through poetry, fiction, art, comics or even personal experience.

All of work done on the story will then be on display at the 2010 MCC-Longview Literary Festival at the Mel Aytes Education Center on Oct.15 and 16 to see the completed masterpiece.

Be creative. Be inspired, and let your imagination go!

For more information, email Susan.Satterfield@mcckc.edu.

Tips for staying safe on campus

Metropolitan Community College is committed to ensuring the safety of students, staff and community members on all MCC campuses. Knowing what to do and where to go for help is the cornerstone of staying safe at all times.

MCC makes it simple.

Public safety officers are stationed on each MCC campus. They work in coordination with other departments and organizations to keep campuses secure. We can all make their jobs easier by remembering the following tips:

Safety Tip 1: In case of emergency, parking lots are equipped with designated call boxes. The red call buttons patch calls directly to “911”. Similarly, the black buttons are filtered to the campus public safety office.

In a recent article, the online publication Campus Safety Magazine praised call boxes, such as those on MCC campuses, because they enable individuals to “communicate with campus law enforcement who can pinpoint the caller’s location, thereby reducing response time and getting immediate help to the caller.”

Again, call stations and the alert buttons are for emergency situations only. If your circumstance is not an emergency, call or visit your campus Public Safety for assistance.

MCC’s Public Safety officers encourage everyone to play a part in campus safety. For instance, quickly report suspicious individuals (or questionable activity) to your campus’ Public Safety Department.

Safety Tip 2: Should you need to dial 911 from a campus telephone, make a mental note to dial “8” before dialing “911”.

Safety Tip 3: Know whom to call and how. Either bookmark this page to your favorites or write down your campus safety office number for quick and easy access. You may also sign up for campus text updates by clicking here.

Public Safety Staff by Campus

Blue River Public Safety
816.604.6523

Business & Technology Center Public Safety
816.604.5260

Penn Valley Public Safety
816. 604.4123

Maple Woods Public Safety
816. 604.3123

Longview Public Safety
816. 604.2123

Pioneer Public Safety
(816) 604-5023


To visit MCC's Public Safety website, click here.

*Special thanks to Blue River's Security Officer, Marla Wynes for pictures, tips and resources.

Pssst.... Wanna read something illegal?

Then come take a look at the Banned Book Week displays scattered throughout MCC-Longview's library and cafeteria between now and Oct. 2.

It's hard to imagine certain books, which have been a staple in many classrooms, have been challenged and even outright banned over the years from libraries because of their content. But spending only a short amount of time in front of one of the three displays around campus will show you that some of those banned books are actually classics that have defined entire generations of readers.

Starting this weekend, MCC-Longview will join libraries across the country in celebrating and creating awareness for those books that have landed on the banned list as part of the nationwide Banned Books Week (Sept. 25-Oct. 2).

Books such as A Brave New World, Huckleberry Finn, James and the Giant Peach and Death of a Salesman are just a taste of some of the books that have been removed from library shelves because groups have considered them illicit or just plain offensive.

But when you actually crack open the cover and read some of these books, you will find that these are some of the most wonderful stories from authors both current and past.

Stop by the library to check out some of these books and revel in a week-long celebration that encourages studetns to 'Think for yourself and let others do the same' (This year's theme).

Join in Banned Books Week by dowloading your own copy of the Library Bills of Rights

You can't rain on my parade...

Student James Eldridge was not going to let a little rain stop him from filling out his survey and self-assessment at the MCC-Longview True Colors event hosted by the counselling department and campus life and leadership.

The goal of the event was to get students to understand the importance of career planning and to begin thinking about career paths that match their interests.

Students who participated took the True Colors career planning inventory survey. Once they completed the survey a counselor interpreted their results. Students were then encouraged to follow-up with a counselor at a later date by meeting one-on-one with a counselor, signing up for a career workshop, or enrolling in the 1 credit GUID 109 career planning class.

Of course, once the survey work was done, students were invited to make their own tie-dye t-shirt as they could now literally show off their true colors.

MCC-Longview lawn 'Grows Native'

It is hard to miss the enormous swath of brown grass near the main entrance to campus. For several weeks the field of grass near the main entrance has been slowly dying, but Facilities Services Superintendent Steve Greife is not worried.


In fact, with the help and guidance of the Missouri Department of Conservation, Greife and his staff hope that by November, the grass will be completely dead. Then they can begin planting for a whole new project.


"We want to start growing native Missouri grasses in the field as part of a partnership with the [Missouri] Department of Conservation," Greife said.


Once the current grass is killed off and torn out, officials from the Missouri Department of Conservation will return and bring in grass seed that is native to this part of Missouri. The Grow Native program helps protect and restore our state's biodiversity by increasing conservation awareness of native plants and their effective use.


By building partnerships among private industry, non-profit organizations, government agencies and landowners, Grow Native aims to significantly increase the demand for and use of native plants on all landscapes.


The native grass will not only look interesting on campus, it will also help contribute to the thriving local ecosystem by providing food and shelter for much local wildlife.

MCC-Longview welcomes more than 8,000 students to campus for Fall 2010 semester

It was a busy week at MCC-Longview as classes started and the Fall 2010 semester got underway.

Although preliminary, MCC-Longview registrar David Fritz says enrollment numbers have jumped another 6 percent growing Longview's student body to more than 8,000 students this semester.

That translates into 64,797 credit hours being taken by students.

The numbers are expected to change slightly as students have time to enroll or drop classes.

MCC-Longview Library hour changing

With the summer semester winding down and the new fall semester just on the horizon, the MCC-Longview Library will be adjusting its hours. The library will be open the following hours.

August 1-22
Monday-Thursday: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Friday: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Saturday & Sunday: CLOSED

August 23
CLOSED

Starting Aug. 24
Monday-Thursday: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Friday: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Saturday: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Sunday: CLOSED

Fairy Princesses take over MCC-Longview for a day

This crowd of princesses held court at the MCC-Longview Community Education Office Friday morning as part of a campus-wide procession.

The Fairy Princess class was part of the MCC-Longview College for Kids program, which wraps up this week. The classes looked at various princess stories and taught the kids how to make their own princesses crafts, jewelry and decoration from items they can find around the house.

After the procession around MCC-Longview, the group then had tea on the lawn.

By all reports, the event was fit a king... or group of princesses.

MCC-Longview hosts international delegation from West Bank

Hebron University Professor Ahmad Elatawneh presents MCC-Longview President Fred Grogan with a gift after his presentation on Thursday.

Usually, summer campus tours are reserved for prospective students.

But on Thursday, June 24, MCC-Longview faculty and staff welcomed to campus a delegation of students and professors from the West Bank, as they travel across the country learning about the United States and how colleges and universities here operate successful English as a Second Language programs.

“We are proud to be here and thank you for inviting us to learn so we can take these lessons home for our own students and children,” professor Ahmad Elatawneh said. Elatawneh teaches applied linguistics at Hebron University.

Many in the delegation, which had been invited to the country and MCC-Longview by the U.S. State Department are English teachers in the West Bank and were anxious to hear about some of the award-winning ESL programs MCC-Longview has hosted in recent years.

“There visit reinforces our college’s effort to expand what we provide to students in a global education and understanding of the world,” MCC-Longview president Fred Grogan said. “It is also a great opportunity for our faculty and staff in the ESL program to highlight their enormous success.”

MCC-Longview was only one stop on the group’s cross-country tour. Mark Sullivan, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department, said the group had already toured Washington, D.C., and several other universities in the area. After a stop in Seattle, he said, they were then heading to Orlando to visit Disney World.

“The program we have put together is a way to show them the country and give them a chance to see our culture first-hand,” Sullivan said.

While at MCC-Longview, the delegation took several faculty-guided tours here and were given extensive briefings by staff about the English as a Second Language (ESL) , Academic Bridges for Learning Excellence (ABLE) and and First Learning Year Team (FLYT) programs. During Grogan’s welcome and introductions, the delegation presented him with a scarf marked with the Palestinian colors as a token of their appreciation for opening up the campus to their visit.



MCC-Longview President Fred Grogan speaks to the delegation of teachers and professors about the campus and its award-winning ESL programs.