ISSUE 5, 2002 VOLUME 15

Opening doors to a brighter future

Honorees may come from diversebackgrounds and disciplines, butthey share a passion for teaching, adedication to students and a com-mitment to excellence.

Adjuncts, who were honored atceremonies on their campuses inApril, received a $500 check fromthe BCC Foundation. Professors ofthe Year were honored at BCC’sMay 8 graduation and received aprofessional development award ofup to $1,500. They can use it toattend a conference of their choice,participate in a professional devel-opment activity or to purchaseequipment for classroom instruction.All honorees received individualplaques and had their names addedto campus plaques honoring previ-ous recipients.

Students nominate Professor of theYear and Adjunct Professor of theYear candidates, and selection com-mittees on each campus choose thewinners. This year’s panels includ-ed the campus academic dean orchief administrator, faculty members,students and previous Professor ofthe Year honorees.

Read more about the 2001-2002recipients inside.

A math professor, who admitsshe wasn’t always good withnumbers, and a history profes-sor, who drives 150 milesseveral days a week to teach atBCC, are among the 10 distin-guished 2001-2002 Professorsand Adjunct Professors of theYear.

Hats off to our

Professors and Adjunct Professors

of the Year2001-2002

L to R: Bruce Hill, Harvey Levine, Faith Peters, Roger Rolison and Lynne Thorner

L to R: Matthew Pierce, Denise St. Patrick-Bell, Jerry Johnston,Claudia Sahagun and Patrick Smith

Professors of the Year

Adjunct Professors of the Year

Claudia Sahagun be-lieves every student hasthe ability to learn.Her mission is to helpthem realize it. Origin-ally from Venezuela,Sahagun first taughthearing-impaired chil-dren to speak Spanishand read lips. One ofher first students inVenezuela graduatedfrom BCC last year,demonstrating how ateacher can shape ayoung student’s life.

Sahagun, who came tothe United States in1983, completed hermaster’s degree inSpanish American liter-ature at University ofKentucky and joinedBCC in 1995.

In the classroom, theprofessor shares herpassion for learning.Students describe heras “extremely patient,compassionate, loveswhat she does, profes-sional and enthusias-tic.”

Sahagun is a 2001-02BCC Endowed TeachingChair recipient, mem-ber of numerous col-lege-wide committeesand a participant in thefaculty mentor/menteeprogram.

Take one of MatthewPierce’s courses, andyou’re likely to findclassroom activities thattouch your own life.That’s Pierce’s teachingphilosophy – chooseprojects and materialsthat apply to the lives ofstudents.

Fluent in French andable to converse inSpanish and Americansign language, the pro-fessor has traveled theworld. His experiencesabroad enable him torelate to BCC’s diversestudent population.

Students describe himas “dedicated, pre-pared, fun and having astrong background anda demonstrated interestin professional growth.”

He has served fiveyears on the collegewide and North CampusTechnology Enhance-ment Fund Committeeand as faculty technolo-gy mentor.

Pierce, who joined BCCin 1997, has a master’sdegree in modern lan-guage education fromFlorida InternationalUniversity and is work-ing on his doctoratein higher educationinstruction.

Professors of the Year 2001-2002

JERRY JOHNSTON MATTHEW PIERCE CLAUDIA SAHAGUN PATRICK SMITH DENISEST. PATRICK-BELL

Natural SciencesCentral Campus

Reading/SLS/ESLNorth Campus

Modern Foreign LanguageDowntown Center

Social SciencesCentral Campus

Social/BehavioralSciences - South Campus

Jerry Johnston believesstudents can learn bestby doing rather thanobserving. That explainswhy it’s not unusual tosee Jerry carryinglizards or frogs throughthe halls of Central.He’s simply on his wayto class for another“hands on” activity.Johnston shares hissense of wonder aboutthe natural world withhis students, whodescribe his classes aschallenging and “infec-tious.”He’s taken students onfield trips to ArchboldBiological Station incentral Florida, theFlorida Keys MarineLab and to Costa Ricawhere students partici-pated in his NationalGeographic-sponsoredcrocodile research inthe jungles and rivers ofthe area. In 2000,Johnston became coor-dinator of Central’sScience for Kids pro-gram, designed to turnmiddle school studentsonto science. He joinedBCC in 1997, holds abachelor’s in biologyfrom Villanova Univer-sity and a doctorate inbiology from Universityof Miami.

When several studentswere recently askedwhat they thoughtabout Patrick Smith,they said he was the“most amazing teacherwe’ve ever had.” That’sgot to please Smith,who strives to engagestudents the momenthe steps into a class-room.“I try to challenge mysocial science classes tothink, evaluate andanalyze developing pol-itical trends and placethese issues in the con-text of their daily lives,”says the professor, whojoined BCC in 1990.Smith, a former socialsciences departmenthead on Central, teachesworld history, interna-tional relations andAmerican governmentat BCC and adjuncts atFlorida Atlantic Univer-sity. He’s served asBCC’s College BrainBowl Coach and is afrequent public speakeras part of the BCCSenior College program.Smith holds a master’sdegree in history fromWest Virginia Univer-sity and has completedhis doctoral coursework in history andpolitical science.

Denise St. Patrick-Bellhas been a counselor,speaker and educatorfor more than 20 years.Her passion for teach-ing is felt by her stu-dents, who say she“expects the best fromus and, in return, offersthe best of herself.”St. Patrick-Bell joinedBCC in 1992 as a men-tal health counselorand adjunct professor,becoming a full-timefaculty member last year.In addition to teachingpsychology and educa-tion classes, she isadvisor to the educa-tion club.A former elementaryschool principal inTucson, Az., she holds adoctorate in education-al and public adminis-tration from Universityof Arizona. She also hasa master’s in counselingpsychology and a bach-elor’s in special educa-tion/psychology fromUniversity of Connecti-cut. National awardsinclude the KelloggLeadership Fellow, WhiteHouse Committee onthe Aging Internshipand Claremont CollegeThorton Bradshaw Inter-national Fellow.

Roger Rolison credits acommunity college inGeorgia with helpinghim develop the skillsto succeed at a four-year university andobtain his doctorate.That’s why he has noproblem driving 150miles several days aweek to teach studentsat BCC.

A Methodist minister,Rolison is also an edu-cation and social sci-ence professor at PalmBeach Community Col-lege and belongs tonumerous professionalorganizations. He holdsbachelor’s and master’sdegrees from ValdostaState College in Georgia,and a doctorate insocial studies educationfrom Florida StateUniversity. Rolison is aformer PBCC GladesCampus Endowed Chair,PBCC Outstanding Pro-fessor and semifinalistfor Florida Associationof Community CollegesProfessor of the Year.Students say he’s a rarebreed - passionate aboutteaching and possessesa great sense of humor.

Faith Peters shares asecret with new stu-dents - she wasn’talways good at math. Infact, high school mathwas such a struggle shehad to repeat a fewcourses in summerschool. However, hardwork paid off. Duringher junior year, Petersearned the highestaverage in her highschool math class, lay-ing the foundation for arewarding career inteaching. She hopes herstory will inspire stu-dents to work hard andrealize anything is pos-sible.

Peters graduated fromBCC with high honorsand started teaching atthe college at age 21.She holds a bachelor’sand a master’s degreefrom Florida AtlanticUniversity and FloridaInternational University,respectively. Peters iscurrently working onher doctorate in mathe-matics. She also teachesat Nova University andUniversity of Phoenix.Students say Peters isan excellent teacher,who takes the “fear”out of studying math.

Bruce Hill joined BCCin 1996. He not onlyteaches paramedictraining, advanced lifesupport and emergencyservices courses, buthe’s a lieutenant withthe City of Miramar FireRescue department.Students say his posi-tion gives them theopportunity to learnfirsthand how theirclassroom training cansave lives.

Hill’s courses are chal-lenging, but studentsseldom drop his classes -a testimony to his pop-ularity as an instructorand commitment toBCC’s Paramedic Cer-tificate program. He’scertified to teach inseven areas of emer-gency services and is aFlorida state certifiedparamedic, emergencymedical technician andfirefighter. Hill, whoalso teaches advancedcardiac life support atNova Southeastern Uni-versity, is in the processof completing his firescience and emergencymedical degrees.

Harvey Levine ownedhis own educationalsoftware company for12 years before retiringand returning to hisfirst love - teaching.He joined BCC inJanuary 2000, instruct-ing English classes onSouth Campus and latermoving to Central.

Levine holds a bache-lor’s degree in sociologyand anthropology, anda master’s degree anddoctorate in educationfrom Boston University.Before moving toFlorida, he worked inthe Massachusetts pub-lic school system.Levine has also taughtcomposition and litera-ture courses at PalmBeach Community Col-lege and Barry Uni-versity. Students areglad Levine came out ofretirement. They appre-ciate his patience,enthusiasm and non-intimidating approachto English composition.As for Levine, he lovesthe energy of the class-room and enjoys thetime he spends with hisstudents.

Lynne Thorner hastaught numerous com-position and writingclasses at BCC since1992, but her specialtyis “Film as Literature,”a course which inte-grates the aesthetics offilm with literature. Sheis a two-time recipientof the Two Year CollegeAssociation SoutheastNell Ann PickettSession Award, whichhonors the part-timeinstructor for his or hersignificance to commu-nity colleges. Thorner isalso a recipient of threeBCC Teaching/LearningCommunity ClassroomResearch grants.

Thorner holds a mas-ter’s degree in humani-ties from Manhattan-ville College in Purchase,N.Y., a bachelor’s ineducation from Univer-sity of Vermont andteaches literature andcomposition at LynnUniversity in BocaRaton.

Her students and col-leagues say she repre-sents the best of collegeteaching, infused withenergy, creativity andchallenge.

Adjunct Professors of the Year 2001-2002

BRUCE HILL HARVEY LEVINE FAITH PETERS ROGER ROLISON LYNNE THORNER

EMS DepartmentHealth Sciences

English DepartmentCentral Campus

Math DepartmentSouth Campus

History/Political SciencesDepartment - Downtown

English DepartmentNorth Campus

BCC’s in-house experts and several outside trainers conducted the sessions. South’s formerStudent Affairs Dean Susie Malter taught strategies to make work and life more enjoyable; busi-ness professor Jane Treptow (Central) instructed a session on how to deal effectively with yoursupervisor; psychology professor Ronnie Rothschild (DTC) taught relaxation/basic yoga tech-niques and communications professor Sherri Sinkoff (Central) instructed a session on how tobreak the ice when meeting new people. Spanish professor Claudia Sahagun taught Latin aer-obics and counselor Gary Mallare (South) instructed self-defense.

Second AnnualCareer Employee

Retreat a Hit!

Outside trainers included Trina Pulliam, of Trainnovations, who taught two workshops deal-ing with change in the workplace and achieving job satisfaction. Jill Schneider, of Circle-of-Life, taught sessions on nutrition and stress reduction, and certified clown Gail Choate, ofSynergies, taught desk yoga and the health benefits of laughter. BCC massage therapy pro-gram manager Sandra Stone and her students provided free massages.

During lunch, Staff Development Director Pat Senior handed out door prizes, including BCCt-shirts, an umbrella, flashlights, movie tickets and table centerpieces, created by DonnaFrancavilla (Library - North). Three lucky career employees walked away with the big doorprizes of the day, donated by BCC employees. Ingrid Acero and Tom Sims, who both workin Central’s academic computing center, won weekend stays at the Holiday Inn in FortLauderdale. Maricarmen Chavez, who works in the Pines testing center, won a $100 gift cer-tificate to Romero Jewelers, donated by professor Dora Romero. Retreat evaluations wereoverwhelmingly positive, and Staff Development is looking forward to planning next year’sretreat. It may be held in May to avoid conflicts with other campus activities. If you haveideas about workshops, contact Staff Development.

Desk yoga, self-defense and tips on how todeal effectively with your boss werethree of 13 workshops offered at StaffDevelopment’s Second Annual CareerEmployee Retreat. More than 110 careeremployees attended the daylong eventApril 26 at the Pines Center.

�Career employees enjoying some freshair and sunshine on their lunch break.

�Gary Mallare (left) teaches self-defense.

�Workshop attendees

�Employees participating in laughworkshop instructed by Gail Choate.

�Career employees dance stress away inthe salsa aerobics class.

�Facilitator Gail Choate (center) says laughing can improve your health.

from around the Campuses/Centers

Al Looses Locks for Good Cause

Neil Fleming Conducts Workshop

Marilyn Daniels (English-Central) discusses an idea witheducation consultant Neil Fleming, who conducted a two-dayworkshop for faculty members and administrators April 18-19on Central Campus. Topics included how to match teachingstrategies to student needs and transform students from pas-sive learners to active listeners. BCC’s Teaching/LearningCommunity sponsored the workshop.

Business professor Al DeCook sat in a barber chair April 25 onCentral Campus as social sciences professor Kisha Kingsnipped his shoulder-length silver locks. DeCook donated thehair to Locks of Love, a not-for-profit organization that pro-vides hair pieces for children who suffer from medical hairloss. King bought the winning ticket in a drawing that alsoraised $900 to benefit the American Cancer Society. The eventwas sponsored by Phi Beta Lambda.

Kisha King grabs Al DeCook’s lengthy locks.

Central Campus

Jeanne Christ Honored forTeaching Excellence

Downtown Center

Downtown Center Englishprofessor Jeanne Christ isBCC’s recipient of an inter-national award for outstand-ing innovation in classroomteaching. She and facultymembers from around theworld were honored at the13th International Conferenceon College Teaching andLearning in Jacksonville, Fl.,in April.

BCC selected Christ toreceive the Award forInnovative Excellence inTeaching, Learning and Technology for her creative approachto teaching technical writing - a subject that can intimidatethe most confident of students. Christ has created a programcalled “From Fear to Fun” in which students develop aninvention idea and write the user manual to accompany it.She teaches students to use technology - scanners, digitalcameras, computers and computer applications, such asPowerPoint – to produce technical documents that can rivalprofessional examples found in the real world. At theJacksonville conference, Christ presented a 45-minte overviewof her technical writing program.

“I knew the idea I was using in class was innovative,” saysChrist, “but this is actually an award for my students. I havethe habit of holding high expectations for my students. Thisaward reconfirms what I’ve always believed - students canachieve whatever they want if you believe in them.”

Christ has taught technical writing for five years at BCC. Shehas a bachelor’s degree in business administration and amaster’s in English from University of Central Florida.

“Professor Christ is representative of many faculty membersat BCC who use innovative strategies in their teaching,” saysVice President for Academic Affairs Eileen Holden. “We arevery proud of Jeanne and all of our faculty members for theircommitment to student achievement,” she adds.

Colleges and universities from around the world nominatefaculty members for the award. This is the first year BCC hasparticipated in the competition. You can find out more byvisiting www.teachlearn.org

from around the Campuses/Centers

North Campus

McFarlane Hosts BCC Retirees

South Campus Student AffairsDean Susie Malter Honored

Collegewide South Campus

Retiring North Campus Provost Larry McFarlane (far right,second row) played the perfect host to 35 BCC retirees inMarch. After a catered lunch of chicken, ham and fish,McFarlane took the group on a tour of North Campus. Retireeshold a monthly luncheon to chat and catch up on BCC news.

More than 80 friends andcolleagues of South CampusStudent Affairs Dean SusieMalter honored her at aluncheon May 2. Malterbegan a sabbatical July 1 andwill return to BCC in July2003 as a counselor. Malterjoined the college 30 yearsago – first working on NorthCampus, and then moving toSouth where she’s beenStudent Affairs Dean for 21years.

“I have always known that Icould be my most effective by‘hiring well,’ and I have sur-rounded myself with a smart,talented and hardworkingstaff that have always mademe look good,” Malter toldthe luncheon group. Shesums up her career successwith three C’s: commitment,challenge and control.

Debbie Sloan (right), thenew student affairs dean,hands Susie Malter a dozenpink roses.

Kudos to BCC’s CorporateRun/Walk Team

More than 80 BCC employees laced up their running shoes forthe 2002 Corporate Walk/Run held April 11 at the NationalCar Rental Center in Sunrise. The college was among the top10 largest teams participating in the 5K/three-mile event,which is in its fifth year.

President Willis Holcombe and governmental relationspresidential assistant Barbara Cohen Pippin (second from left)stand with three of BCC’s seven Florida All-USA AcademicTeam winners.

From left to right: students Debbie Crespo (South Campus),Maria Abella (Central) and Mimi Jensen (South). Standing tothe far right is Central Campus ESL/reading professor Mary DiStefano Diaz, a faculty advisor to BCC’s Phi Theta Kappachapter, the international honor society for two-year collegeswhich sponsors the competition along with USA TODAY.Recipients represent many of the nation’s most outstandingstudents at two-year colleges.

Congrats toBCC’s FloridaAll-USAWinnersandAdvisors

NEW EMPLOYEESBrandon Kaminsky

INTERNET & EBUSINESSDIRECTOR, INFORMATION

SYSTEMS - DTC

Diane KrasnorEXECUTIVE ASSISTANT,

ENROLLMENTMANAGEMENT - CENTRAL

Yuto MathuraCAMPUS SAFETY OFFICER,

CAMPUS SAFETY -CENTRAL

Zachary BeckerLEAD PROJECT WORKER

CAMPUS FACILITIES -CENTRAL

Vivian NaceADMINISTRATIVE

COORDINATOR, PERSONNELOPERATIONS - DTC

Brandon has a bache-lor’s degree in busi-ness administrationfrom University ofFlorida-Gainesvilleand is working onhis master’s degree.Before joining BCClast October, he wasproject manager forGeneral Electric GlobalExchange Services inMaryland.

Dimitry MarcelSTOREKEEPER I,BOOKSTORE -

SOUTH

A martial arts instruc-tor, helicopter pilotand former U.S.Marine, Dimitry start-ed at BCC in October2001. Previous jobsinclude loss preven-tion specialist at theSun-Sentinel, forkliftoperator and dataentry clerk.

Jacqueline StawickiPROGRAM MANAGER

RADIATION THERAPY - HEALTHSCIENCES - NORTH

Jacqueline was clini-cal coordinator ofPalm Beach CommunityCollege’s RadiologyTechnology Programbefore joining BCC inJanuary 2002. A certi-fied radiology instruc-tor, she also has amaster’s degree inpsychology from Cali-fornia Coast Univer-sity in Santa Anna.

Thomas TassetSYSTEMS ENGINEER,

INFORMATION SYSTEMS -DTC

A Certified NovellNetwork Engineerand University ofMissouri graduate, Thomas was a net-work manager forKansas City PublicSchools for two years and owned a technol-ogy consulting busi-ness. He joined BCClast November.

Eric GordonSCIENCE LAB TECHNICIAN

BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE -CENTRAL

Eric has a bachelor’sdegree in biologyfrom North CarolinaCentral University inDurham and workedas a laboratory assis-tant. A former scienceinstructor at DadeMarine Institute inKey Biscayne, Ericjoined BCC in Novem-ber 2001.

Sonja-Dawn WilliamsADMIN. SPECIALIST II,BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE -

NORTH

Sonja joined BCC fulltime in September2001. She’s a graduateof University of Tech-nology in Kingston,Jamaica, and workedas a substitute ele-mentary school teacherfor Broward PublicSchools. Sonja isattending BCC.

Diane joined BCC inOctober 2001. Shehas 15 years of officeexperience, servingas executive assistantto the president andchief executive officerof several large com-panies. Diane, a for-mer flight attendant,attended BCC.

BCC hired Yuton, anexperienced securityofficer, in November2001. He has diplo-mas in automotiverepair and mechanicsfrom the Foley-Belsaw Institute inKansas City andNational TechnicalSchool in LosAngeles.

Zachary is trained tooperate more than50 different typesof man-lift devices,including forklifts andcherry pickers. Aformer mechanic’shelper, he joined BCCin 2001. He’s alsotaking evening classesat the college.

Vivian, who joinedBCC in October 2001,is a former humanresources specialistfor United CerebralPalsy Association ofRochester, N.Y. Shehas a personneladministration diplo-ma from RochesterInstitute of Technology.

North Campus administrators, faculty, students and staffmet in April for a Summit on Student Success. A joint effortbetween academic and student affairs, the Summit calledupon participants to “brainstorm” new ways to help stu-dents achieve their educational goals.

Facilitators - Pat Senior, BCC’s staff development director, andtraining coordinatorCheryl Graziose -used a new computersoftware programcalled Facilitate.com.to solicit responses tokey questions. Topicsincluded academic

preparation and student retention. Responses were then col-lected and used as a springboard to encourage a lively dis-cussion of new ideas.

Planning has begun for a follow-up summit this fall.If you have any questions, contact North Campus AcademicDean Hettie Williams at 954-201-2231 or North StudentAffairs Dean Peter Barbatis at 954-201-2300.

English professor Michael Cleary (Central) read his poetry andconducted a poetry/creative writing workshop for studentsand faculty at Vincennes University in Vincennes, Ind., inApril.

The South Florida Manufacturers Association has namedBCC’s Continuing Education Director Jerry Enloe as a 2001-02

Administrative Employee of the Year.SFMA applauded Jerry’s ability toincrease continuing education enroll-ment and secure 15 public/privatepartnerships for BCC despite tougheconomic times. Jerry was honoredat a ceremony April 25 in FortLauderdale.

Professor Nancy Estes (Wellness/Education-South) had a busy springterm. Not only did she complete another master’s degree, but donned ared and white hat and headed off to North Fork Elementary School in FortLauderdale for National Reading week in April. She and 20 of her BCCstudents spent the day reading classic Dr. Seuss tales to the youngsters.May 3, Nancy received her master’s in foundations of education/multi-cultural from Florida Atlantic University. She already has a doctorate ineducation, but pursued the master’s degree to update her skills.

History professor Susan Oldfather (North) received a master’s degree in world geography inMay from Florida Atlantic University. It’s her second master’s degree - her first is in worldhistory.

Miriam Tirado, (Student Financial Services-DTC), received her master’s degree in organizationalmanagement from University of Phoenix in March.

ON TARGET is published by and for the employees of BCC. Comments and ideas for articles are welcome! EDITOR: Pat Senior; Co-Editor/Photo Contributor: Chris Gabettas.SPECIAL THANKS to BCC’s Printing & Graphic Arts, and the College Relations Dept.

BCC PEOPLEIN THE NEWS

Friends and colleagues bida fond farewell to NorthCampus math professorWalter Gannott at a retire-ment luncheon May 6 atthe Olive Garden restaurantin Coral Springs. Walterretired May 8 after working15 years at BCC. He’s look-ing forward to spendingmore time with his grand-children and pursuing hishobby of collecting Lioneltrains. Send-off gifts includ-ed a digital watch, a Barnesand Noble gift certificateand lemonade cooler. Goodluck Walter!

Walter Gannott Retires Student Success Summitheld on North Campus

Congratulations to the follow-ing on being awarded externalgrant funding:

Dr. Debra Allen and WilliamMinervini for providing sup-porting information for thecollaborative grant funded bythe Florida Department ofEducation Workforce Develop-ment Capitalization IncentiveGrant Program awarding theSchool Board of BrowardCounty and BCC $62,420each. This second year con-tinuation program will expandthe training, provide market-ing and recruiting, and add aninternship component to theNetworking Services Tech-nology Associate of Science(AS) degree and certificateprogram.

Dr. Debra Allen for writing;Barbara Cipriano, NormanSeavers and Maryeve Tearlefor valuable assistance for the$229,100 funding from theAgency for Workforce Inno-vation throughWorkForce Onefor a Targeted Industry SectorTraining Challenge grant.BCC will develop and imple-ment various customized,short-term training programsand information technologycertification training to meetthe needs of business partnersin the community.

Dr. Debra Allen for writingand Dr. Lois Bolton, JerryEnloe, Nilo Marin, MattieRoig and Norman Seavers forassisting with a $400,000award from the South FloridaWater Management Districtfor BCC and a consortium ofpartners from K-20 to developand implement an Environ-mental Studies and Com-munity Outreach program.

If you have any questionscontact Kathy Gerstman at954-201-2347 / 2228, or e-mailkgerstma@broward.edu.

GRANTS AT AGLANCE

by Dr. Kathy Gertsman

In Memory - Former BCC professor Irving Chaimowitz of Miramar died Feb. 19. He taught inCentral’s electronics, engineering and technology department from August 1982-88. A 40-yearmember of MENSA, he taught physics in the Dade County high schools before coming to BCC.