Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Mitchell Columns will not be published on Wednesday, Nov. 26. The final issue of 2008 will be published on Dec. 10.

CLICK HERE FOR A PDF FILE OF THE CURRENT PAPER EDITION

Scholarships

Academic Calendar

Board Briefs

QEP Quips

MCC Inclement Weather Policy

Archive

November 20 through December 3

Michael Brooks—20th

Lamont Kinney—22nd

Audra Houpe—29th

Motivating Students Series
Negative feedback can lead to a negative class atmosphere. Be specific when giving negative feedback and tie comments to a specific task or performance—not to a specific student. Cushion negative comments with positive compliments about aspects of the task that students did well and be sensitive to "offhanded" remarks that might engender feelings of inadequacy. Often students want to know the "answer"—"what was it I should have said or done to make it right?" Avoid pleas from students for the "right answer" which can rob them of the opportunity to think and problem-solve for themselves. Ask for suggestions of possible approaches to the problem, suggest sources, and encourage them to build on existing skills. Always praise students for small, independent steps. —Submitted by Employee Development (11.19.08)

College CLOSED
November 26 through 28

First ARP Church
(Rehearsal, Dec. 6 @ 3 p.m.)

Mitchell Community College has been reaffirmed with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). On Monday August 4, the College celebrated this significant event in the life of the College. SACS is the accrediting body of all of the colleges and universities in an eleven-state southeastern region. Without this accreditation the college would no longer be in operation. Accreditation occurs every ten years. In this most recent accreditation the college was required to accomplish two major tasks. One was the completion of the compliance certification which is a collection of 75 core requirements, comprehensive standards and federal requirements that the college must demonstrate they are adhering to. The second component of the process is the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP). Each of these documents may be viewed on our website at www.mitchellcc.edu/sacs/index.cfm. The QEP is perhaps the more significant of the two documents because it describes a carefully designed and focused course of action that addresses a well-defined topic related to enhancing student learning. The topic of our QEP is Math Rules: The Art of Contextualizing MAT 060. The QEP identifies strategies to increase student knowledge of course competencies in developmental mathematic courses through Contextual Teaching and Learning (CTL). CTL invites the student to connect mathematical concepts to their everyday lives in a way that makes math more relevant and "real." CTL is a shift from the more traditional way of instruction in that it calls for the classroom to become more like a learning laboratory where students interact with real life applications of theoretical math concepts. The QEP will be evaluated over a five-year period and the College will be required to submit an "Impact Report of the Quality Enhancement Plan on Student Learning" as part of our "Fifth Year Interim Report." Using the data collected from the classroom, we intend to expand CTL practices into other curriculum areas throughout the college. Other significant accreditations that have occurred include, Associate Degree Nursing—National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission, Medical Assisting—Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs, and Early Childhood—National Association of the Education of Young Children. Thank you to Dr. Camille Reese for her leadership in these areas as well as the hard work of Mary Marks, Dede Dunst and all of those faculty members and staff that helped in accomplishing these accreditations. Our reaffirmation with SACS and these other accreditations is a very important accomplishment for the College and we shall rest on our laurels but not for long! We will move forward not only with the QEP and its expansion but also with other meaningful initiatives that will allow us to better serve our students and community.