Germanna Community College News Blog

Important messages for students and faculty about registration, classes, estended tuition payment deadline, Blackboard and more

2013-05-22T20:03:00.001-04:00

Outages and intermittent service have made it necessary to communicate these important messages to students and faculty:

Students should attend class, even if they are not officially registered for that class. Class registration will resume when the internet services are available.
Faculty must pay close attention to the accuracy of their class rosters and maintain manual attendance logs as needed.
Deadlines for payment and drop/add will be extended to accommodate students who need this assistance, as long as students have attended their classes at least once.
Access to Black Board is available through learn.vccs.edu
Interactive video classes can continue as scheduled, in spite of Internet outages.
The Germanna Testing Centers are closed temporarily. Routine service will resume when the technical services become stabilize.
Access to library resources will be severely limited during periods of internet outages.
· E-2 messages will be sent with updates as they become available

Silver Linings: Since she was a child, when GCC engineering Prof. Davyda Hammond has seen a need, she's found a way to fix things

2013-05-22T12:05:00.000-04:00

Her mother passed away when she was 5.

She says her father couldn’t take care of her, so at age 12, she moved to Birmingham, Ala. to live with her grandmother, Sylvia Branch.

She wasn’t happy about the move, but what seemed to be a storm cloud had a silver lining.

“It was my teachers in Alabama who really turned me on to math,” she says.

Germanna engineering Prof. Davyda Hammond and students
on green roof of GCC's Science & Engineering Building

“I wasn’t a good student in Detroit,” Germanna Community College Engineering Prof. Davyda Hammond says. “The primary reason was my home life. I lived with my aunt on the weekends and my father on weekdays. I was moving from one bed to another.”

Her life had taken a turn for the better thanks to her grandmother. So it rankled her when, as a child, she would see shady mechanics take advantage of her grandmother, charging her a lot and refusing to explain what was wrong. “My grandmother always got the short end of the stick,” she says.

She was 12 and her teachers in Alabama were telling her she should become a math teacher. She knew that math was important to engineering. And she says with a smile that she thought to herself back then, “Well, engineers, they learn about cars.”

By the time she was in college, she was doing her own 20-point checks on her car and her grandmother’s. When she’d take either car to a dealership, she’d confidently and firmly say: “This is what’s wrong. Don’t tell me anything else is wrong with it.”

As a child, she had seen a need and addressed that need. That’s what engineers do.

So it should come as no surprise that she’s done the same as a faculty member at Germanna.

Until now, Germanna’s Associate of Science degree in Engineering program focused on mechanical engineering and engineering science.

Dr. Hammond said that one of the primary concerned voiced during last year’s Germanna Center for Workforce Advisory Board meeting, was a skills gap that existed when it came to filling electrical engineering jobs.

Earlier this year she did some research and found that more job openings were listed for electrical engineers across Virginia than for mechanical engineers.

Seeing a need, she pushed to add a concentration in electrical engineering at Germanna. And she succeeded.

Dr. Hammond explains that because Germanna has guaranteed admission articulation agreements with both UVa. and Virginia Tech, “If you get at least a ‘B’ in all your engineering and science and math classes at GCC and an overall GPA of 3.2, you’re guaranteed admission into the schools of engineering at UVa. and Virginia Tech. They get so many applications at Tech that automatically knowing you’re getting in is a real advantage.”

Things are coming together nicely for the GCC engineering program, which has a beautiful, cutting edge new Science & Engineering Building at Germanna’s Fredericksburg Area Campus in Spotsylvania.

Germanna's new Science & Engineering Building and Information Commons

She earned her bachelor’s degree at Auburn University, her master’s degree at the University of California-Irvine and her Ph.D. at the University of Alabama.

Her grandmother passed away in 2009, but she lived to see Davyda get her PhD. “For a long time, she didn’t know what I was doing. I was the grandchild who knew how to fix things. A broken radio? ‘Fix this for me.’ The VCR? ‘Fix this for me.’ I was the fix-it child.”

In a manner of speaking, she has her own “fix it children” now.

Dr. Hammond is the faculty advisor for GCC's Applied Engineering Club. In the spring of 2013, the club built a robot "with the Fukushuma power plant meltdown disaster in mind.” It has the ability to navigate into areas too dangerous and restricting to send personnel. It uses two onboard cameras that allow both a forward-tilting view and a 310-degree pan and tilt view to “see.” It's able to manipulate instruments from 10 inches away with its probe, drop remote sensors and retrieve sensors. It’s compact, weighing about nine pounds with no dimension greater than 14.25 inches. Club members use an Xbox controller to operate it via a Wi-Fi connection with an indoor range of 230 feet and virtually unlimited range when connected over the Internet. It uses a laser guidance system and has a top speed of 1.56 miles per hour.

Germanna Applied Engineering Club's D.R.O.I.D. robot.

The club and D.R.O.I.D. made a strong showing at this Spring’s ASME Student Professional Development Conference at the University of Virginia, finishing second in student design for D.R.O.I.D., second in Web page design by Tristan Jones, second in Poster Presentation by Andrew Hallet and fourth for an oral presentation by Brian Keefer.

A Germanna “MeCANical” engineering team led by Dr. Hammond won the Engineering Ingenuity award during a recent contest sponsored by Stafford County Schools and 99.3 The Vibe. Ten teams collected thousands of cans of food for the Fredericksburg Food Bank, and then built structures at Spotsylvania Towne Center. The Germanna Engineering students came up with an American flag design. Now all the cans go to feed area families in need.

"Silver Linings" design won an award and helped the hungry.

When the group had to submit a name for their structure, it didn’t know what it was going to build. So Prof. Hammond jotted down “Silver Linings.” She says that popped into her head because being sent to live with her grandmother led to her becoming a PhD teaching engineering at Germanna and because of the silver colored trim of the cans of food donated for the project.

Prof. Hammond is justifiably proud of her students.

“Engineering is a very difficult degree,” she says. “And if you’re not optimistic and lack confidence in yourself, it’s hard to deal with the stress.”

Add to that, Prof. Hammond says, the fact that most Germanna engineering students have jobs while trying to master a difficult program, and it’s satisfying to see them succeed.” They’re very serious about their studies. They’re coming into class after a full day of work. Some have retail jobs, but with the knowledge they possess, they’re very close to what you need for a professional job.

“They’re highly motivated, but at the same time, they know how to have fun,” she says. “They don’t let the stress of the program cause them to give up. They’re very supportive of one another. Engineering is a competitive environment, but it’s not that way here. We want to see everyone do well and get good grades that will allow them to transfer and finish their bachelor’s degrees.”

Don't fall behind. Germanna Tutoring Services will help you race ahead.

2013-05-20T12:05:00.002-04:00

Many new Germanna students are getting a jump start on their college education by enrolling in classes this summer. It’s important to be aware of the abundance of free academic support services available. Since most summer classes proceed at an accelerated pace, students should seek tutoring assistance through our Tutoring Services at the first sign that they need additional instructional assistance.

Students can schedule appointments for individual tutoring appointments by calling or visiting the Locust Grove or Fredericksburg Tutoring Centers or by submitting an appointment request directly from the Tutoring website. Students at the Daniel and Stafford Centers may call our offices to schedule tutoring sessions via Blackboard Collaborate. Walk-in assistance is also available in our Writing and Math Center at the Fredericksburg and Locust Grove campuses. Please refer to the Tutoring Services Web page for specific hours.

If students are unable to visit the Locust Grove or Fredericksburg Tutoring Centers, they may be interested in participating in online tutoring sessions through Smarthinking. Enrolled students have already been pre-registered for Smarthinking, so they may participate in “live” tutoring sessions or submit their writing assignments for review to the essay center.

As students prepare for placement tests, write research papers, or complete homework assignments, please let them know that there are many helpful handouts available to them from the Tutoring Centers or from the tutoring website. Students can also access over 4,000 Khan Academy videos from the tutoring Web page in subjects ranging from algebra and statistics to economics and physics.

Fredericksburg Area Campus Tutoring Center (540) 891-3017

Locust Grove Campus Tutoring Center (540) 423-9148

Tutoring appointments may be made here.

--Ann S. Lyons

Coordinator of Tutoring Services

Germanna's new Student Veterans Support Counselor knows what it's like to serve in Afghanistan, and he understands the difficulties veterans face in making the transition from active duty to civilian and college life

2013-05-17T14:28:00.000-04:00

Germanna Community College's new Student Veterans Support Counselor understands what it's like to be deployed during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.
He understands what it's like to make the transition from active duty to civilian life.

He understands the emotional turmoil many veterans face in making that kind of transition.
And he understands veterans' frustration in dealing with the red tape that too often tangles their efforts to get the benefits they've earned.
Robert M. Dixon, a Westminster, Md. native who lives in Stafford County, had a 22-year career in the U.S. Army, serving during the Gulf War as part of Operation Desert Storm and as part of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. He retired as a lieutenant colonel. He said that during his Army career and two years as a civilian working at Quantico he developed a respect for other branches of the service including the Marines, Navy and Air Force.
His last assignment was serving on the Army’s Suicide Prevention Task Force.
“One of my duties there was to serve on an interdisciplinary team to try to identify [reasons for] the spike in suicides in active duty and reserve members as well as to come up with some integrated approaches as to how we might reduce those numbers,” Dixon said.
Dixon said the NIH, the CDC and the Department of Defense have been studying the increased rate of suicides among active duty military personnel and veterans.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has set up a crisis line for vets in urgent need of mental health care at 1/800/273-8255, press 1.
  Reports say it’s harder to track the total number of veteran suicides than those of active duty military members, but there is concern that the number may be climbing. And some fear the worst years may lie ahead as the U.S. draws down its forces in Afghanistan.
“I think the evidence is still out,” Dixon said. “Some people say it’s easy because people are deploying and coming back with a lot of issues. I’m not sure it’s that simple, because we were noticing spikes in people who have never deployed as well. So I’m not sure it’s just a problem limited to veterans who have been deployed to combat.”
“Some of the issues that precipitate some of that revolve around health problems, family problems—things the general public has a difficult time dealing with as well,” Dixon said. “But there is a disproportionate rise in suicides in our veteran population.”
He said one of the difficulties the military faces in dealing with the problem is reluctance on the part of many in the military to seek help for mental health problems like depression, anxiety and PTSD.
“When you’re dealing with the veteran’s population, there’s a certain stigma attached,” Dixon said.
“No one wants to be seen as having mental health issues. But the reality is that if people would just reach out for help when they think they need it, there are a lot of resources available and it really helps to alleviate some of the underlying things pushing people to think about that.”
Germanna and the Rappahannock Area Community Services Board recently signed an agreement   to ease and expand student access to mental health services for all its students, including veterans.

”This agreement will help our counseling staff provide better crisis intervention and referral service to students in need of mental health assessment and treatment. I’m looking forward to working closely with RACSB staff to develop a plan to address mental health crises and provide access to the RACSB Emergency Services Program,” said Pam Frederick, Germanna Dean of Student Development.
Dixon said we can all help in addressing the situation.
“I’m convinced at the end of the day that the best prevention against suicide is looking out for each other and checking on each other and knowing each other. So many cases are such that people went into isolation mode and didn’t want to talk, which is normally associated with general depression.”
Dixon said active duty military personnel and veterans find talking about mental health issues: “ hard to do because it’s counter-culture to the military. Nobody wants to be seen as the weak link. But the reality is that if you’re suffering with this in silence, no matter what you do, it causes problems.”
Of his new job at Germanna, Dixon said: “ I’m grateful to have the opportunity to help the young men and women who have given so much already. For me, it really is personally about giving back. I also feel education is so important to setting our veterans up for the rest of their lives—it’s the difference between just getting by and having a good life.”
Dixon said it’s impossible to say exactly how many veterans are students at Germanna, because only those receiving VA benefits are identified as such.
“A segment of the population uses the GI Bill and we can track them,” Dixon said. “Others don’t and some veterans don’t want to be identified as veterans. They don’t want accolades. They’ve put that part of their lives away and don’t want to discuss it.”
He said that over the next few years he’d like to “build a mutually supportive network of veterans and family members. We have a significant number of family members of veterans using GI Bill benefits.”
Dixon said the major concern for most students who are veterans is “the timely delivery of benefits that they count on not only for tuition, but for housing.” Many also have anxiety about returning to the classroom environment again after the military.   He believes his experience as a veteran using VA benefits has provided him with a background that can benefit student veterans experiencing problems with benefits and access to veteran resources to help them with their transition back to civilian life.

Questions regarding eligibility for education benefits or VA policies and procedures may also be directed to the Department of Veterans Affairs at 1-888-442-4551 or http://www.gibill.va.gov.

GCC Student Veterans Support Counselor Robert Dixon may be reached at Germanna at 540-891-3023 or rdixon@germanna.edu.

For more information, go to:

http://www.germanna.edu/Students/Financial_Aid/Veteran_Affairs/va-information.asp

State board sets 2013-2014 community college tuition

2013-05-17T10:35:00.002-04:00

NEWS RELEASE

RICHMOND — The State Board for Community Colleges established the 2013-2014 in-state tuition and mandatory fees rate at $130 per credit hour at its regular May meeting. Beginning this fall in-state students will pay an additional $5.50 per credit hour, which means the cost of a typical three-hour class will increase by $16.50 and the cost of a full-time load of classes for the year will increase by $165....

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Jeffrey Kraus

Assistant Vice Chancellor for Public Relations

(804) 592-6767

jkraus@vccs.edu

For Immediate Release
May 16, 2013

Hiring Additional Full-Time Instructors,
Offering More STEM-H* Programs
Drive State Board Tuition Policy for 2013-2014

*Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Health Science

The approved 4.4 percent increase will allow Virginia’s Community Colleges to expand science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and health science (STEM-H) programs. It will increase the percentage of courses taught by full-time faculty from 45 percent to 47.5 percent – a level not seen throughout the VCCS since 2005. The increase will also fund the colleges’ portion of employee salary increases and higher health insurance costs.

“This tuition decision balances our priorities of access and quality. It permits Virginia’s Community Colleges to advance its long-held goal of hiring more full-time faculty members and offering more science and technology programs, which are expensive to offer, while adhering to our public promise of affordability,” said Hank W. Chao, chair of the State Board for Community Colleges.

This chart depicts the fall semester credit hours taught by full-time VCCS faculty members from 2002 through 2012 and includes the goal for 2013.

KEEPING A PUBLIC PROMISE

The board’s tuition decision is in accord with Achieve 2015, the VCCS six-year strategic plan that calls for keeping community college tuition and fee rates at one-half or less than that of the comparable rates at Virginia’s four-year universities.

Currently, tuition and mandatory fees at Virginia’s Community Colleges are just over one-third (37.6 percent) of the average of comparable tuition and fees charged by Virginia’s public four-year institutions.

TUITION DIFFERENTIALS

The State Board also agreed to increase the tuition differential rate for Northern Virginia Community College by $2.00 per credit hour. Even with the differential, NVCC’s tuition remains the lowest among comparable colleges in the Washington, D.C. metro area.

Further, the board approved an increase of $1.00 per credit hour to the tuition differential rate for J. Sargeant Reynolds, Tidewater, Thomas Nelson and Virginia Western community colleges. Tidewater Community College will offset that tuition differential with a $1.00 decrease in its student activity fee. The tuition differential will help the included colleges attract and retain instructors in more competitive urban and suburban labor markets.

OUT-OF-STATE TUITION

The State Board increased the tuition rate for out-of-state students by $5.50 per credit hour to a total of $324.60 per credit hour. Out-of-state students make up approximately five percent of the total enrollment of Virginia’s Community Colleges.

About Virginia’s Community Colleges: Created more than 40 years ago, the VCCS is comprised of 23 community colleges located on 40 campuses across the commonwealth. Together, Virginia’s Community Colleges serve more than 405,000 students a year. For more information, please visit myfuture.vccs.edu.

NIH internship brings Germanna student a step closer to childhood dream

2013-05-15T12:40:00.000-04:00

Germanna Community College student Ulisses Santamaria, the son of immigrants from El Salvador, has always wanted to be a doctor—so much so that as a child he became his own first patient.

Ulisses Santamaria to research how the retina processes images

“I’ve always had a thing for medicine,” he says. “Even as a kid, if I was kind of my own doctor. If I had cuts or bruises, I’d fix them myself. I was pulling my own teeth out when they were ready. I pulled out the last [baby tooth] when I was 9 years old.

“I wanted to be a clinical surgeon. But I’ve always thought it was interesting what goes into the research that goes into developing tools used in surgery.”

He has worked as a volunteer at the Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center, mostly in the emergency room.

Now the 18-year-old Spotsylvania County native has become one of the early success stories for Germanna Community College’s new Experiential Learning internship program. Through the program Ulisses has landed an internship at the National Institute for Health.

He will be mentored by Dr. Alon Poleg-Polsky in research involving the structure and function of the retina at the National Institute of Neurological Disease and Stroke in Bethesda. The work will involve investigation into how the retina performs preliminary image processing and transmits visual information to the brain.

His father immigrated from El Salvador in 1989 to escape a civil war there. His mother followed a year later.

“For my mom, it was a better opportunity to work over here and send money back home,” he said. “At the same time,there was a war going on in El Salvador. Instead of going into the civil war, they told him it would be better to come to the United States to avoid that.”

Ulisses is the first member of his immediate family to go to college. His father works as a home renovator.

Ulisses is the first member of his immediate family to go to college.

He credits Gary Brightbill, an 8^th grade science teacher at Battlefield Middle School who was honored as one of Spotsylvania County’s best teachers for 2013, for piquing his interest in science. “He set off the spark,” Ulisses says. Faculty members at Germanna have fanned that spark into a flame, he says.

“I always planned to come to Germanna from the moment I began my freshman year at Courtland. “It’s less expensive than four-year schools and I’ve had good teachers here. Dr. Trudy Witt, for biology, is one of my favorites. Prof. Mike Shirazi in math—that man is great. And [Prof. Shawn Shields-Maxwell] is a pretty awesome chemistry teacher.”

Prof. Trudy Witt

Prof. Witt said: "Ulisses is an excellent student ... His love of life and enthusiasm for science is contagious. He was a pleasure to have in class."

Cheri Ober, Germanna’s internship program coordinator, says Ulissis has been working his way through college by delivering pizzas. This summer the paid NIH internship will give him the chance to earn money doing work related to his career goal for the first time, she says.

To learn more about Germanna’s internship program, email Ober at cober@germanna.edu or go to http://www.germanna.edu/Students/Experiential_Learning_Center/for_students/

Germanna Community College Board to meet at 5 p.m. May 16 at Locust Grove Campus

2013-05-13T10:27:00.000-04:00

The public is invited to attend the upcoming meeting of the Germanna Community College Board on Thursday, May 16, 2013, at 5 p.m. The meeting will take place in Room 100 at the college’s Locust Grove Campus at 2130 Germanna Highway in Orange County. A sign-up sheet will be made available 30 minutes prior to the beginning of the meeting for those interested in addressing the board.

Germanna Community College is a two-year, public institution of higher education, serving a total headcount of about 14,000 in the counties of Caroline, Culpeper, King George, Madison, Orange, Spotsylvania, Stafford and the city of Fredericksburg.

When she was a first grader, Haleigh Funk helped her dad beat cancer, and he helped her learn about compassion and courage . That set her on a path to a nursing career that continues with a walk in Germanna's Spring Commencement

2013-05-06T21:48:00.000-04:00

Haleigh Funk

Her father’s battle with cancer started Haleigh Funk on her way to becoming a nurse.
“My dad had cancer when I was in the first grade,” Funk said. “And he let me inject shots into his stomach. Since then, everybody has said I ought to be a nurse.”
Funk’s father, 47-year-old Brian Funk, recovered and is doing well. But Haleigh Funk didn’t forget the experience.
At 18, she completed Germanna Community College’s Practical Nursing program at Eastern View High School in Culpeper and became an LPN.
At 19, she graduated from Germanna’s Registered Nursing program on Thursday, May 8 at the Fredericksburg Expo Center. A total of 562 students were to receive 981 associate’s degrees and certificates.
“The sky is the limit for this talented young woman,” Germanna Dean of Nursing and Health Technologies Mary Gilkey said.
“It’s definitely been a journey, and there’s been a lot of hard work,” Haleigh Funk said. But it’s been rewarding.”
She hopes to work at Culpeper Regional Hospital, plans to eventually get her bachelor’s degree and would like to specialize in geriatric nurse.

2013 Spring Commencement keynote speaker Virginia Van Valzah: From learning disabilities to an "addiction to learning"

2013-05-06T14:38:00.001-04:00

Virginia Van Valzah

Virginia Van Valzah has turned a learning disability into what she calls an “addiction to learning.”

The determined 26-year-old has battled ADHD and dyslexia since she was a child. When she enrolled at Germanna Community College, she applied advice from one of her teachers at James Monroe High School to break courses down into easily digestible chunks and spend a lot of time in the Tutoring Center.

“Class sizes at Germanna are small enough that you get that one-on-one attention you need to thrive,” she says.

After earning her associate’s degree at Germanna in 2006, she went on to a bachelor’s in administrative justice at George Mason University in 2008 and a post bachelor’s certificate and master’s in criminal justice at Virginia Commonwealth University in 2011. Using flash cards to study, she compiled a 3.7 grade point average at VCU.

She’s now a court security deputy for the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office and a training officer. This summer, she will begin teaching criminology at Germanna as an adjunct faculty member.

“I’m addicted to learning and I’m trying to pass on my addiction to other people,” she says.

As a training officer, she‘s already helped students one-on-one who might have struggled without that attention.

“People do things differently and they learn differently,” she says. “I want to be the person who understands a learning disability. They could be the best at the job. They don’t know how to do it unless you help them, but they could be the best.”

She grew up in Spotsylvania, Stafford and Fredericksburg. She currently lives in downtown Fredericksburg.

Her mother, Cathy Van Valzah, has been a history teacher for over 25 years at Brooke Point High School in Stafford. Her father, Stuart Van Valzah, is an accountant who owns his own business.

She said she has known she wanted to work in law enforcement since she was 7 years old. “When other girls were playing with dolls, I was playing cops and robbers,” she said. “I’ve always been kind of a tomboy.”

Germanna Community College and College Central Network join forces.

2013-04-24T13:09:00.000-04:00

Germanna Community College and College Central Network have joined forces to bring you the latest in career and job resources, networking and job searching! Post your resume, find a job, discover thousands of great tips for improving your career building skills all through GCC career services site!

http://www.collegecentral.com/germanna/

Representatives of “green energy” companies in Germany tour Germanna Community College’s LEED Silver-certified building at the Fredericksburg Area Campus in Spotsylvania.

2013-04-16T17:07:00.000-04:00

http://news.fredericksburg.com/newsdesk/2013/04/15/areas-german-link-may-mean-business/

Come check out the latest in Robotics, Lasers and Rail-Gun models

2013-04-16T10:10:00.000-04:00

2nd Annual FredTech STEM 16 Summit

(Science, Technology, Engineering & Math)

April 20, 2013

10:00am - 2:00pm

Hosted by University of Mary Washington at the

Anderson Center

College Avenue & Route 1

Fredericksburg Campus

Our annual STEM16 Summit, sponsored by the University of Mary Washington, FredTech, and the Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce, highlights the achievements and offerings of our region’s students, educators, and businesses in the STEM arena. This year we expect to highlight student and educator STEM efforts from over 25 local secondary schools, the University of Mary Washington, Germanna Community College and NSWCDD Dahlgren. The Summit is open to the public and admission is free of charge, thanks to our generous sponsors.

Summit Information:

· Expecting approximately 50 STEM-related booths

· Technology Demonstrations (including Robotics, Lasers, Rail-Gun models)

· STEM Career Fields Panel

· Eagle Dining by Sodexo concession stand will be open for you to purchase food

· Keynote Address – Betty Williams, VA Aviation, Dept. of Education, Director

· Presentation of $2,000 Scholarship & Educator of the Year Award

Schedule:

10:00 Conference & Booths Open

11:00 Seminar Session I

11:45 Welcome & Keynote Address & Scholarship Presentations

12:45 Seminar Session II

2:00 Summit Concludes

She helps other students and the Germanna Educational Foundation is helping her

2013-04-01T07:00:00.000-04:00

Germanna Community College student Sarah Pfeiffer is German. So when she needed a job, she thought about working at GCC’s Tutoring Center, helping others learn to speak her native tongue.
But she’s such a good student that she wound up tutoring German, English, math, biology and chemistry.

GCC Middle College Coordinator Carolyn Bynum
and student, tutor and scholarship recipient Sarah Pfeiffer

"I actually just walked over there to ask if they might need a German tutor,” she says with a laugh. Then GCC Coordinator of Tutoring Ann Lyons asked how her English is. "I ended up tutoring pretty much everything I’ve taken so far,” Pfeiffer says.
She’s on track to graduate from Germanna in the spring of 2013. She plans to transfer to the University of Mary Washington to pursue a master’s degree in biology, then go on to dental school at Virginia Commonwealth University.
“I love it at Germanna,” she says. “Everybody is really helpful.”
She says she’s grateful to the Germanna Educational Foundation for the Raynold "Randy" Collier Glazebrook III Scholarship and the Steve and Nancy Jones Scholarship. They've “made a huge difference” as she puts herself through college, she says.
Funds raised at the GCC Educational Foundation's annual Scholarship Monte Carlo Night, set for April 20 at Germanna's Daniel Technology Center in Culpeper, go to help Germanna students who aren't able to get the support they need through financial aid.

Germanna Applied Engineering Club demos D.R.O.I.D. Diverse Remote-Operated Inspection Device

2013-03-21T22:19:00.000-04:00

Thursday at GCC's Fredericksburg Area Campus in Spotsylvania, the Germanna Community College Applied Engineering Club and Dr. Davyda Hammond demonstrated a robot the club built "with the Fukushuma power plant meltdown disaster in mind. It has the ability to navigate into areas too dangerous and restricting to send personnel. Two onboard cameras allow both a forward-tilting view and a 310-degree pan and tilt view. Being able to see what is going on is only part of the D.R.O.I.D's mission. It's able to manipulate instruments from 10 inches away with its probe, drop remote sensors and retrieve sensors." The device weighs about nine pounds and "no dimension is greater than 14.25 inches." Club members used an Xbox controller to operate it via a Wi-Fi connection with an indoor range of 230 feet and "virtually unlimited range when connected over the Internet." It uses a laser guidance system and has a top speed of 1.56 miles per hour.

The club and D.R.O.I.D. made a strong showing at the recent ASME Student Professional Development Conference at the University of Virginia, finishing second in student design for D.R.O.I.D., second in Web page design by Tristan Jones, second in Poster Presentation by Andrew Hallet and fourth for an oral presentation by Brian Keefer.

Germanna, Rappahannock Area Community Services Board sign agreement to ease, expand student access to mental health services

2013-03-17T22:05:00.003-04:00

Germanna Community College President David A. Sam and Ronald W. Branscome, Executive Director of the Rappahannock Area Community Services Board [RACSB], have signed a Memorandum of Agreement "to facilitate coordination of care between the two entities, to expand the array of psychiatric services available to students at GCC; to develop procedures for the management of mental health crises."

"This agreement will help our counseling staff provide better crisis intervention and referral service to students in need of mental health assessment and treatment. I'm looking forward to working closely with RACSB staff to develop a plan to address mental health crisis and provide access to the RACSB Emergency Services Program," said Pam Frederick, Germanna Dean of Student Development.

According to RACSB Executive Director Ron Branscome, "RACSB has enjoyed numerous opportunities to collaborate with Germanna over the years. We are pleased to formalize our partnership. We want to ensure that GCC students have immediate and easy access to local, public mental health services."

Founded in 1970, the Rappahannock Area Community Services Board (RACSB) provides public mental health, intellectual disability, substance abuse, prevention and early intervention services to the residents of the City of Fredericksburg and the counties of Caroline, King George, Spotsylvania and Stafford. RACSB operates six outpatient clinics that provide therapy; specialized counseling and case management services; psychological assessment; 24-hour crisis intervention; and medication management services. RACSB also offers mental health day support and residential services including crisis stabilization at The Sunshine Lady House for Mental Health Wellness & Recovery. To learn more, visit www.racsb.state.va.us.

GCC Educational Foundation Scholarship Reception: 'The very best thing you can do to pay back that investment is to succeed'

2013-03-17T21:42:00.000-04:00

The Germanna Community College Educational Foundation thanked donors for their generosity at Annual GCCEF Scholarship Reception at GCC's Fredericksburg Area Campus in Spotsylvania.

About 275 students have received scholarship awards from the GCCEF this academic year, Foundation Executive Director Mike Catell said. "This represents more than $230,000 in total scholarship support, which has increased the last two years," Catell said.

Germanna President David A. Sam told scholarship recipients in the crowd that in addition to saying thank you, "The very best thing you can do to pay back that investment is to succeed."

Catell credited new scholarships from donors including Atlantic Builders, saying they helped spur continued growth in scholarship funding. He thanked Adam and Rhonda Fried. Adam Fried is CEO of Atlantic Builders.

Catell said "the continued investment from Mary Washington Healthcare" has boosted GCC's nursing program. He said MWHC President and CEO Fred Rankin and Jane and Larry Ingalls' support of the Jane Ingalls Nurse Educator Fellowship" has been critical. Rankin and the Ingallses were in attendance.

"Because of this, Germanna has helped more than six nursing faculty in three years work toward their MSN," Catell said. "We are pleased that two have secured their degree and are teaching at the college and one more is expected to finish by next spring."

He thanked Culpeper Regional Health System and its President and CEO Lee Kirk for support for dual enrollment nursing students at Eastern View High School.

Catell also expressed gratitude to the Fredericksburg Rotary Club and member Felix Fraraccio, who attended the event. Like · Comment

Campus to Career series: What does it really take to get hired today?

2013-03-17T21:26:00.000-04:00

What does it really take to get hired today?

Kristen Reed of Job.com will be among the speakers at a Campus to Career series event at noon Tuesday, March 19 in room 212 of the Dickinson Building on Germanna's Fredericksburg Area Campus in Spotsylvania.

Also discussing what it takes will be:

Derrick Mestler, PHRm Sr. Leader, Human Resources, Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center

Kathy Sweere, Re-Employment Specialist, Virginia Workforce Center, Virginia Employment Commission

A resume review and a lesson in the art of "elevator" interviewing follow.

A free lunch will be provided.

The event is sponsored by GCC Career Services. For more information, email Career & Academic Counselor Marie F. Hawley at mhawley@germanna.edu or call 540/834-1051.

Tuesday is Tornado Drill Day

2013-03-11T23:10:00.001-04:00

A message from Germanna's Department of Police & Security Services:

During the past two years, 62 tornadoes hit Virginia, killing 10 people and injuring more than 100. Some 210 homes were destroyed, and more than 1,050 were damaged. Nearly every part of the state was affected.

We are now moving into tornado season and with that comes our yearly state wide tornado drill.

This year, Gov. Bob McDonnell has proclaimed Tuesday, March 12, as Tornado Preparedness Day. Germanna Community College will participate with two separate drills in order to cover each campus location.

The Fredericksburg and Locust Grove campus will hold their drill at 9:45 AM on March 12th. The Stafford Center, Auto Tech Center and Daniel Technology Center will conduct their drills on at 2 PM on March 12th.

Please take some time prior to the drill and locate the Severe Weather Shelter Areas around the campuses marked by the green signs. The drill will start with the tornado drill message being broadcasted over the emergency alert speaker system. The message will instruct everyone to move to the Severe Weather Shelter Areas and take cover. Once you have made it to a Severe Weather Shelter Area, crouch as low as possible to the floor, facing down and cover your heads with their hands. Anticipate once everyone is in a Severe Weather Shelter Area, possibly being there for approximately 5 minutes before getting the “All Clear” message.

Tornadoes are nature's most violent storms. They can appear suddenly without warning and can be invisible until dust and debris are picked up or a funnel cloud appears. Be prepared to act quickly.

Know the Signs

· Strong, persistent rotation in the base of a cloud

· Whirling dust or debris on the ground under a cloud base – tornadoes sometimes have no visible funnel

· Hail or heavy rain followed by dead calm or a fast, intense wind shift. Many tornadoes, especially in Virginia, are wrapped in heavy precipitation and can’t be seen.

· Loud, continuous roar or rumble, which doesn’t fade in a few seconds like thunder does

· If it’s night, look for small, bright, blue-green to white flashes at ground level (as opposed to silvery lightning up in the clouds). These lights are power lines being snapped by very strong wind, perhaps a tornado.

· Persistent lowering of the cloud base

Watches and Warnings

Learn the terms that are used to identify a tornado.

Tornado Watch: a tornado is possible in your area. You should monitor weather-alert radios and local radio and TV stations for information.

Tornado Warning: a tornado has been sighted in the area or has been indicated by National Weather Service Doppler radar. When a warning is issued, take cover immediately.

Preparing for Tornadoes

Get a NOAA Weather Radio with warning alarm tone and battery backup to get information directly from the National Weather Service. This is the quickest way to learn that a tornado is heading your way. Many models are available.
Know what tornado watch and tornado warning mean.
Determine in advance where you will take cover in case of a tornado warning. Keep this safe location uncluttered.
Storm cellars or basements provide the best protection.
If underground shelter is not available, go into a windowless interior room, closet or hallway on the lowest floor possible.
Stay away from windows, doors and outside walls. Go to the center of the room. Stay away from corners because they attract debris.
If you are in a high-rise building, you may not have enough time to go to the lowest floor. Pick a place in a hallway in the center of the building.
A vehicle, trailer or mobile home does not provide good protection. Plan to go quickly to a building with a strong foundation, if possible.
Get a kit of emergency supplies. Store it in your shelter location.
Practice tornado drills at least once a year
During a Tornado

When a tornado warning is issued, take cover in your safe location immediately or on the lowest level of the nearest substantial building. Protect your body from flying debris with a heavy blanket, pillows, sofa cushions or mattress.
If you can’t get to your safe location or the lowest level of a substantial building:
Open buildings (shopping mall, gym or civic center): Try to get into a restroom or interior hallway. If there is no time, get up against something that will support or deflect falling debris. Protect your head by covering it with your arms.
Cars and trucks: Get out of your vehicle and try to find shelter inside a sturdy building. A culvert or ditch can provide shelter if a substantial building is not nearby. Lie down flat and cover your head with your hands. Do not get under an overpass or bridge. You are safer in a low, flat location.
Outdoors. Try to find shelter immediately in the nearest substantial building. If no buildings are close, lie down flat in a ditch or depression and cover your head with your hands.
Mobile homes: Do not stay in mobile homes. Leave immediately and seek shelter inside a nearby sturdy building, or lie down in a ditch away from your home, covering your head with your hands. Mobile homes are extremely unsafe during tornadoes.
Stay in your safe location until the danger has passed.
--Department of Police & Security Services

(540) 891-3079 or 2-9-1-1

cbranch@germanna.edu

canderson@germanna.edu

Four Germanna employees honored at Innovations Conference in Dallas

2013-03-11T11:15:00.000-04:00

Four Germanna Community College employees are being honored at the League for Innovation in the Community College’s annual Innovations Conference going on through Wednesday in Dallas.

Named in honor of John E. and Suanne D. Roueche, leaders in the community college field and early proponents of the idea that every college employee has a role in how well students learn and succeed, the John and Suanne Roueche Excellence Awards celebrate outstanding contributions and leadership by community college faculty and staff.

Germanna winners Win Stevens, Sally Cool
and Garland Fenwick in Dallas.

The Germanna winners are: Sally Cool, Manager of ACC and Testing Services, Garland Fenwick, Winferd Stevens, Coordinator of Disability Services and Michael C. Farris, former Financial Aid Coordinator. Farris returned to his hometown as Director of Financial Aid at Randolph College in Lynchburg in February.

Win Stevens

Stevens said the conference provides an opportunity to tap into "new ideas to keep community colleges moving forward. This is a critical time for community colleges."

He said being selected “is a great honor and I would like to thank all the great people who are working in community colleges who are giving their heart and soul to helping others.”

Sally Cool

Cool wrote: “I am easily motivated just with watching our students grow and succeed knowing that our services had a hand in helping them on their way ... Communication is the key to a strong relationship with students as well as the college community. Perseverance is necessary to implement resources when they are needed and money is tight, and vision for the future; always thinking ahead of new initiatives that will keep improving the quality of our services. “

Garland Fenwick

“As a Facilities Manager, I am inspired and motivated to provide the most effective and efficient facilities,” Fenwick wrote. “ I feel by providing safe and well maintained buildings and grounds, it creates an atmosphere that contributes to student learning. “

“I am truly honored to have been selected for this award,” Farris wrote. “I will continue to work hard so that students can achieve their dreams. Thanks to all who helped make this possible.”

More than 800 colleges are League members. According to its Web site, “The goal is to assist community colleges in developing policies, programs, and practices that place learning at the heart of the educational enterprise, while overhauling the traditional architecture of education.”

The organization is based in Chandler, Ariz.

Germanna's Cory MacLauchlin featured in BBC radio documentary set to air March 11

2013-03-05T14:58:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to Germanna Community College English faculty member Cory MacLauchlin, who's featured prominently in the BBC documentary "The Curse of the Confederacy of Dunces" set to air on BBC Radio 4 on March 11 at 11 a.m. EST.
He's the author of a biography of "A Confederacy of Dunces" author John Kennedy Toole titled "Butterfly in the Typewriter."
Cory is expecting a royal invitation from the Queen any day now...

Looming snowstorm delays HESI tests at Locust Grove Campus

2013-03-05T14:24:00.000-05:00

If there's a blizzard, who'll take care of the human simulators
in Germanna's Virtual Hospital?

Cameron Rodish, supervisor of the Locust Grove Campus Academic Computer and Testing Centers, says the possibility of snow Wednesday has resulted in the company renovating the LGC Testing Center in room 207F pushing the work back. That means room 203 will continue to serve as the testing center at LGC through Friday, March 15th.

We will not be able to administer Health Education Systems, Inc. tests during this time. HESI is a company that produces standardized and customized tests for nursing students.

We apologize for any inconvenience.

Be a part of 'From Emancipation to the March on Washington' at 7 p.m., Feb. 18 in Sealy Auditorium on Germanna's Fredericksburg Campus

2013-02-11T18:25:00.000-05:00

"From Emancipation to the March on Washington" is a Black History Month panel discussion set for 7 p.m., Monday, Feb. 18 in Sealy Auditorium in the Workforce & Technology Building on Germanna Community College's Fredericksburg Area Campus in Spotsylvania. The event, which is open to the public, free, will feature the Rev. Lawrence A. Davies, former mayor of Fredericksburg, Gaye Adegbalola, who participated in 1960 sit ins at segregated downtown Fredericksburg lunch counters, and Germanna history faculty members Stuart Smith, Ed Watson and James Price.

Topics discussed will include:

The Promise of Equality- The Declaration of Independence and the “All men are created equal” promise.

Emancipation- Lincoln’s reasons/goals for issuing the proclamation. Was it legal? Did it actually emancipate?

The Civil War Amendments- 13th, 14th, and 15th Black Progress to Jim Crow- It's crucial to understand that there was Black Progress from 1877-1890 but then a new generation of Southerners arose, the sons and daughters of Confederate veterans, who sought to implement the change their fathers had wanted: a separation of the races. This included political disenfranchisement, social segregation (Jim Crow), the “de-skilling” process (the decline in workforce expertise) and the Supreme Court’s compliance.

The Road to the March on Washington- Early Civil Rights efforts (Jackie Robinson, Rosa Parks) to the “I Have a Dream” speech.--Stuart Smith

There will also be discussion about what Jim Crow times were like in the Fredericksburg area, including the lunch counter sit ins that forced the issue.

Rev. Davies will talk about the Fredericksburg march that calmed the town while other cities saw upheaval following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King.

Evening of music, dance set for Saturday, Feb. 16 at Germanna's Daniel Center in Culpeper in observance of Black History Month

2013-02-11T16:59:00.002-05:00

Germanna Community College's 2013 Black History Month Series continues at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16 with a Night of Praise at the Daniel Technology Center in Culpeper. It's open to the public and admission is free.

The event, organized by Germanna Assoc. Prof. of Nursing Phyllis Smith, MSN, RN, will feature: Restoration Community Dance Ministry (Spotsylvania), Antioch Baptist Church Choir (Madison), Sylvannah Baptist Church Choir (Spotsylvania).

Drop It Challenge starting. Weigh in, lose weight and Germanna Nursing wins

2013-01-30T11:16:00.000-05:00

A massive weight loss challenge is getting underway in the Culpeper area, and there’s still time to sign up to participate. Registration for the annual Drop It! The Healthy Living and Weight Loss Challenge is going on this week, ending Feb. 2. Participants have the chance to win up to $1,000 in prize money while slimming down and learning more about exercise and nutrition.

The 12-week Drop It! program features free exercise classes, nutritional tips, health screenings and motivational support. As part of the program, a health fair will be held Feb. 2 at Germanna Community College’s Daniel Technology Center from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. The fair will include free screenings, fitness demos, healthy snacks and more, according to the “Drop It!” website, dropitchallenge.com.

Drop It! is a joint effort of Germanna, the Culpeper Regional Health System and Powell Wellness Center with support from local philanthropists Joe and Linda Daniel. It’s a way to inspire area residents to take better charge of their health. It’s also a fundraiser for local nursing and health education programs, with $50 donated for every pound lost by participants.

--By JANET MARSHALL, The Free Lance-Star

Take advantage of free Germanna Student Activities leadership mini-retreat Feb. 1, learn about Dance Floor Leadership Theory

2013-01-28T12:40:00.001-05:00

Student Activities is offering a free leadership mini-retreat for student leaders and advisors at the Fredericksburg Area Campus in Spotsylvania on Feb. 1.
Nationally known guest speaker and entrepreneur Tom Krieglestein of Swift Kick will lead the program.
Please RSVP to Sandi Pope at spope@germanna.edu by Jan. 31.

Agenda, Friday, February 1, 2013:
Noon, Dickinson, Room 212 – Swift Kick Presentation and box lunch
2:30 pm – Travel to SKM Center for Stress Management Session with Debbie Bennett
6 pm Travel to dinner out in Fredericksburg
8:30 pm return to GCC/Fredericksburg

TOM KRIGLESTEIN ON DANCE FLOOR LEADERSHIP THEORY:

Just like on a dance floor, every school experiences varying levels of student engagement between those fully involved (student leaders) and those lurking on the edge (apathetic students). The same tactics to create successful social change on a dance floor (connections, relevancy, models of success, and motivation) also work to increase engagement within any school. DFT provides student leaders a new model for creating community, increasing student engagement, and fostering a culture of retention.

TOM KRIGLESTEIN BIO

I lived the first nine yrs of my life on a western Michigan farm. My family then moved to a Chicago suburb where I spent the rest of my childhood. I now live in NYC with my wife, Annie Colbert, and two cats — Oscar and Layla Beans.
I consider myself a lifelong explorer who lives to create. I started my first company, an online retail store, as a college junior. At its peak, the store annually grossed $1.5 million. With the revenue I paid my college debt, my post college living expenses, and an eight-month Europe/Asia trip with my wife.
I was a 2001 ALL-USA Academic First Team member. I was top of my class at both College of DuPage and Aurora University and gave both graduating speeches. USA Today featured my profile in a full page spread distributed internationally.
Since graduating, I worked for three years as a Quantum Learning Network facilitator. QLN is considered the premier company for accelerated learning techniques. Through QLN, I spoke to thousands of students around the US and the world including South Korea, Indonesia and Bermuda.
In 2004 I co-founded my second business, Swift Kick, with the goal of increasing student engagement in education. We use both training and technology to accomplish our mission. We've been named the 2007, 2008, and 2009 Best Campus Speaker of the Year by member schools of the Association of the Promotion of Campus Activities.
Our two trainings are Dance Floor Theory Leadership Training and The Secrets Behind Facebook.
Our technology project is Red Rover, an online student orientation that happens before orientation and integrates with Facebook.
My wife, Annie, and I were one of the top three finalists competing for the 2008 NBC Today Show Wedding - Race to the Altar.