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.

Enrollment and Weather

Because of MCC Campus closings today, Jan. 20, 2011, the last date for on-line student enrollment will be extended to Tuesday of next week (Jan. 25 at 11:59 a.m.) in order to accommodate Tuesday/Thursday class enrollment. Campus enrollment would also be allowed until that time so that it matches student self service on-line enrollment.

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.

Chancellor Mark James congratulates MCC-Longview students, encourages more campus success

Chancellor Mark James and MCC-Longview president Fred Grogan listen to questions and stories from faculty, staff and students during a special Tuesday lunch meeting in the Mel Aytes Education Center.


Meeting with faculty, staff and students Tuesday afternoon, MCC Chancellor Mark James said he was thrilled to see the dozen or more students who turned out to ask questions and share their own success stories from the classroom.

Students from the honors program, Phi Theta Kappa and even student government shared their individual stories about how a dedicated faculty and staff at MCC have helped launch them into new academic heights.

"These are the stories I love to hear," James said in his lunch meeting with MCC-Longview faculty, staff and students. "I love to hear about those successes and achievements directly from our own students. It is what keeps me going here."



The meeting was part of James' overall effort to visit all five MCC campuses and answer questions.

On Tuesday he sat down at MCC-Longview over wraps and chips to not only hear about some of the great milestones from students, but did answer some tough questions.

Faculty members questioned why it took so long for adjunct faculty to get paid at the beginning of each semester - sometimes six to seven week after classes start.

James admitted that the answer to the question was not perfect, but did spend a good amount of time trying to explain the whole process and how Vice Chancellor Tuesday Stanley and her staff were working to correct it.

Faculty members also asked about new ways to hire adjunct faculty members, which has become more difficult over time. Vice Chancellor Paul Long said the administrative staff have started a process that will pool all of the adjuct faculty from all five campuses into one database divided by subject. This will give department heads and hiring committees a chance to see all of the candidates from around the Kansas City region and possibly even find a few from other campuses that could fill in from time to time.

That process, Long said, is still in the works, but is moving forward steadily.

In the end, James spent close to two hours answering questions and hearing stories at MCC-Longview. James also promised to return to Longview for more Q and A sessions.

"We will be back," he said. "Believe me this is not just a one and done kind of commitment."

For more photos from Mark James's visit, click through to our Flickr page.

Penn Valley students gain civic training for midterm election

The Social Science Division at MCC-Penn Valley recently participated in the College Poll Worker Project. Three classes in the Social Science Division were trained by the Kansas City Board of Elections to serve as poll workers and election judges for the midterm election. Many students worked the polls on Election Day and were granted extra credit or project points by their instructors Dr. Karen Curls, Deborah Scott and Lyle Gibson.

The project was a partnership with Missouri Western State University and the Kansas City Board of Election. The initiative was part of a grant from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. The focus of the project was to encourage young people to serve as poll judges. It also aimed to enhance student’s understanding of the election process and the value of the right to vote as well as increase the pool of skilled poll workers during this time of transitioning from paper to electronic voting.

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.

Ben Franklin visits MCC-Penn Valley

Folks on MCC-Penn Valley's campus Monday did a double-take as someone resembling Ben Franklin walked the halls.

The gray-haired, bespectled gentleman was not the founding father and signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was instead Terry Lynch, historical portrayer and storyteller, who visited Penn Valley as part of his national tour to celebrate the 223rd anniversary of the signing of the Constitution.

Lynch has spent more than 10 years researching some of our country's greatest leaders. His presentation was based on his book, Mistakes Happen: A Historical Guide to Overcoming Adversity. The performance/lecture showed students how to discover their own greatness, learn effective leadership strategies, develop important everyday decision making skills and realize even the greatest leaders can and have made mistakes.

MCC-Penn Valley hosts international student orientation

MCC-Penn Valley recently welcomed 45 students at its international students orientation. Bobbie Gustin, cultural awareness coordinator, discussed immigration. Julianne Jacques, international student counselor, shared information on insurance and soft skills like punctuality, gestures and space when talking to other people.

These students are among the 150 international students enrolled in classes across Metropolitan Community College. Total students representing the following continents and countries include:

• Africa - 57
• Asia - 44
• South America - 9
• North America - 2
• Middle East - 14
• from Central America - 3
• from the Carribbean - 3
• Pacific - 2

Photo Caption: Bobbie Gustin (right), Penn Valley cultural awareness coordinator, chats with student following international student orientation.