Sen. McCaskill visits MCC, wants to ratchet up appeal of manufacturing careers

"We need to convince students that tech is cool, and that manufacturing is tech," said U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill at a press conference Friday morning following a roundtable discussion with educators, community leaders and manufacturing employers.

The roundtable conversation, held at the MCC-Penn Valley Health Science Institute, was part of a statewide tour where Sen. McCaskill is visiting manufacturing facilities and talking to business and industry leaders about what they need to become more economically viable. McCaskill said she asked MCC to host Friday's event because she understands the important relationship between a prepared, skilled workforce and the high-quality technical education and training at MCC.

Roundtable participants included:
Claire McCaskill, U.S. Senator
Corey Dillon, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill’s Office
Clyde McQueen, Full Employment Council
Yolanda Reddix, Glennon Place, and graduate of MCC short-term training and LINCWorks
Troy Teague, Cerner
Tom Goodpasture, Pride Manufacturing, and representative of the Regional Nat'l. Tooling & Machining Assoc.
Bruce Eagleburger, Vector Tool and Engineering
Jake Chambers, Vector Tool and Engineering
Terry Akins, IBEW 124
Ron Green, Hallmark Cards
Tony Reinhart, Regional Director of Government Relations, Ford Motor Company

Participants from MCC included: Chancellor Mark James, IWI Executive Director Margaret Boyd, MCC-Business & Techonology President Debbie Goodall, MCC-Business & Technology Tech. Division Chair Penny Tepesch, Associate Vice Chancellor Tom Vansaghi, Vice Chancellor Paul Long and MCC-Maple Woods President Merna Saliman.

MCC-Maple Woods hosts Northland legislators

 

MCC-Maple Woods President Merna Saliman, along with Chancellor Mark James, hosted five Northland legislators on campus in order to share MCC's purpose and mission of preparing students, serving communities and creating opportunities.

Dr. Merna Saliman highlighted some of Maple Woods' major contributions to MCC and the Kansas City area, including the veterinary technology program and the annual Kansas City Storytelling Celebration.

Legislators in attendance included Rep. Jay Swearingen, Rep. Ron Schieber, Rep. Nick Marshall, Rep. Ryan Silvey and Rep. Myron Neth. MCC Associate Vice Chancellor for College and Community Relation Tom Vansaghi, as well as MCC legislative consultants Shannon Cooper and Nancy Giddens, were also in attendance.

Throughout the summer, MCC presidents and the chancellor will be meeting with legislators within each district to build relationships and facilitate future opportunities for working together to further MCC's mission and goals.

Retired Missouri Senator Visits HSI

Sandy McIlnay, director of health science at HSI, explains the value of the health resource center during a tour of HSI Wednesday with healthcare leader and former Mo. senator, Charlie Shields. 

Charlie Shields, chief operating officer at Truman Medical Center-Lakewood and former Missouri state senator, visited the MCC-Penn Valley Health Science Institute on Wednesday to tour the facility and learn about the innovative teaching and training techniques being used there.

Shields, who worked as an executive at Heartland Health System in St. Joseph for nearly two decades during his time in the Senate, is a longtime champion of public education and healthcare causes in the State of Missouri.

In a meeting before the tour of HSI, MCC officials spoke with Shields about the potential for collaboration opportunities with TMC-Lakewood.

Dirty Jobs’ Mike Rowe testifies before the US Senate, calls for a skilled labor force

You probably know Mike Rowe as that guy from Dirty Jobs, or the voice from Ghost Hunters and Deadliest Catch. Few are aware of his more serious side as an advocate for skilled trades and farming. This month, Rowe testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, calling for a major national PR campaign to address the shortage of skilled labor:



For a full transcript of Rowe’s testimony, visit the Discovery Channel’s website.

Rowe cited vacancies in 200,000 positions in manufacturing, and 450,000 in trades, transportation and utilities. Vacancies are expected to grow as an aging workforce continues to retire over the next five to ten years. In response, Rowe has established his own organization, the mikeroweWORKS Foundation, dedicated to supporting the trades. In conjunction with the Discovery Channel, Rowe is also

MCC-Longview international students visit Missouri Capitol for a day

It was a day to tell their stories. Stories that spanned the globe and crossed many borders but ultimately ended up at MCC-Longview.

On Feb. 16 ESL instructor Jan Rog and several international students participated in a day-long celebration at the Missouri State Capitol recognizing the thousands of international students attending college at Missouri colleges and universities.

“It was such a great success and we all had so much fun,” Rog said.

MCC-Longview students Li-Wen "Samantha" Cheng (from Taiwan), Mauricio Miralles (from Chile), and Robert Gaines (from Missouri) spent the day meeting with fellow students from around the state and attending a few congressional meetings.

International Education Day is sponsored by Study Missouri, a consortium of colleges and universities that promotes Missouri as a destination for international students and fosters study abroad opportunities for Missouri students. Last year, more than 200 students enjoyed International Education Day at the Capitol.

Countdown to tobacco-free MCC

Effective August 1, 2011, MCC will become tobacco-free. Chancellor Mark James made the announcement at the Chancellor Cabinet meeting on Nov.9, 2010.

This aggressive timeline will be implemented for the purpose of creating healthier campus environments for students, employees and visitors.

Tobacco-free refers to all types of smoking and smokeless tobacco products. Once implemented, all areas of MCC premises and grounds will be tobacco-free, as well as all MCC vehicles being used for MCC business. All students, employees, visitors, contractors, vendors and delivery personnel will be required to follow this initiative.

Employees - Who is my Budget Response Team representative?

The Budget Response Team (BRT) was created during Jackie Snyder’s Chancellorship, as a vehicle for staff, faculty and administrators to have a voice regarding impending budget changes due to the recession and continued state budget cuts.

As concerns and questions arise regarding budgets, employees are encouraged to contact their representative, listed below:

Staff: Beverly Jennings (MW), Sherry Skinner (BTC) and Melissa Marr (AC)
Faculty: Cheryl Winter (BR), Elliott Schimmel (LV), Lynn Canaday (BR) and Craig Bartholomaus (PV)
Administrators: Beth Lindquist (LV), Jon Burke (BR) and Reinhard Weglarz (AC)
Officers: Tuesday Stanley, Merna Saliman and Tom Vansaghi

MCC Hosts Freshman Legislators

MCC hosted a new kind of freshman orientation last weekend as nearly 50 newly elected state representatives and senators from Missouri and Kansas stopped at the MCC-Penn Valley Health Science Institute as part of a metro-wide tour.

The Kansas City Freshman Tour educated newly elected legislators about the Kansas City region’s importance to the overall economic well-being of both Kansas and Missouri.


The HSI visit included a panel discussion on early college and career preparation; Tracy Hall, MCC-Penn Valley associate dean of instruction, served on the panel. During welcoming remarks, MCC Board President David Disney underscored the importance of MCC’s role as the oldest and largest public institution of higher education in the Kansas City area, citing as an example the healthcare career education being delivered at the Health Science Institute.

The tour was coordinated by the Kansas City Area Development Council, the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, the Civic Council of Greater Kansas City and the Kansas City Area Life Sciences Institute. Other stops included the University of Kansas Medical Center, the Legends, the Kansas Speedway and Village West.