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(Music: "Pomp and Circumstance"
with names being read during Commencement.)
(Deneece Huftalin): The staff and faculty
at the College are aware of the diversity of our population.
They are aware that some students are coming
from very different socio-economic backgrounds:
first generation, veterans, lots of students
with disabilities-learning disabilities,
physical disabilities.
So, I think our faculty
and staff approach their work looking for innovation,
because they recognize that the way we deliver higher education
isn't the way it was delivered in the '50s, the '60s, the 70's.
That traditional-age population is gone.
So what do we do differently in terms of welcoming students,
communicating with students, supporting students,
to help meet them from whatever background they come from?
(Chris Picard): Being a community college,
we also define completion in a number of ways.
One of those ways is, frankly, through our transfer mission.
Students that come to us with the specific idea of, say...
getting their math requirements
or their English requirements before they transfer to the U
or to the USU, and they take three or four courses with us,
not completing a degree, not completing a certificate,
but nevertheless, completing what they set
out to accomplish in our institution.
We count that as a completion, because that is a central part
of our mission - an important part of our mission.
We also note through our own research, and national research,
that students need direction.
We have created a number of programs
to help students achieve that kind of direction,
and move through their academic career with more intention.
One of those is the Gen.Ed.
Step Ahead Program.
It is a cohort-based program.
Student can complete the entirety of their Gen.Ed.
in one academic year, and they do that in concert
with other students who are moving through the program
at the same time and in the same way.
So they build the kind of social support networks
that enable them to stick with it.
(Bob Burdette): My son, that's on a mission,
graduated through the Gen.Ed.
Step Ahead program.
And, what he found was that the work he did in high school,
in concurrent enrollment, and his AP classes,
fit just perfectly in Salt Lake Community College.
And so he entered the Gen.Ed.
Program and in one year from graduating high school,
he graduated from Salt Lake Community College.
(Suzanne Mozdy): The Math Emporium model is a movement
throughout the nation to try to help students get
through the development part of their math curriculum and get
into college-level credit-bearing classes quicker.
The curriculum which would normally take
up to four classes, they could do it in one semester.
(Hailey Kirkham): You're able to take a chunk of classes, like,
950, 900 and your able to chunk it into like 12 modules
so that you're able to move forward into the, like,
1010 classes, 1050 classes.
And for me, I'm trying to get 100% on all my assignments
so that I can move on.
And for me, it's very beneficial 'cause I'm actually able
to understand the material verses getting through it.
(Chris Picard): The "community" in community college,
in and of itself, implies partnership.
One of our core missions is transfer and transfer education.
And we have engaged, rather directly,
with Utah State University, thinking in terms
of that transfer mission.
And Utah State University is now offering classes on our campus
in business, with the idea that students willing to start here
and finish their bachelorette here through Utah State,
in a direct partnership.
The Biotech Program, again, very similar to what we are doing
with USU, we are doing with Utah Valley University,
in the biotechnology programs.
(Desiree Gates): I graduated Spring 2011,
and I had taken all my general chemistry, and then,
I actually stayed here and I went through
and took my organic chemistry and my physics.
And that all applied to my bachelor's degree.
So I was able to take all my classes through SLCC
and even my UVU classes, that I am now taking,
are all on the SLCC campus.
I am able to talk to all of the teachers.
It's a really nice program,
and it's a really easy transition from SLCC to UVU.
(Chris Picard): We have also partnered
with our business community, and we have partnered
with L3 Communications, for example,
to train their workforce, to prepare them
in the manufacturing domain.
So they are ready, willing and able when they step
onto the manufacturing floor.
And they can perform the tasks
that L3 has determined are important to them.
So that partnership is very important to creating
that pathway to employment for many displaced workers.
(Deneece Huftalin): I think the veteran's center
at Salt Lake Community College is one
of the gems of our institution.
I think we, as a College, have really stepped-up
to our commitment to provide great service and care for those
who have served our country.
(Robert Bridge): Working with my counselor at the VA,
we decided that Salt Lake Community College would be a
good place to start, instead of the University.
It offered smaller classes; very close to my home,
right here on the Redwood campus;
professors were very good and used to having diverse type
of students - people who were a little bit older.
And especially when you are starting out, relearning math.
(Deneece Huftalin): We have an amazing center.
From when I talk to the veterans,
they say "I could not have come to school had it not been
for the Veterans Center".
They say "It's a safe place.
I feel comfortable there.
People understand where I am coming from.
I can go to the Veteran's Center and ask all kinds
of logistical questions, lots of bureaucratic questions,
get my questions answered to all the red tape of higher ed."
I think the retention and completion
of our solders coming back is...
we are going to see gigantic numbers from that,
because not only are they coming back and feeling welcome,
but they have the support they need to be successful.
(Terry Schow): The advantage
to the veteran is many of them are busy.
Some are working, some going to school,
dealing with their families.
And if you've got a student veteran center on the campus,
it's a one-stop location for them.
And of course, my hope is that, not only can they get help from
and education standpoint,
but maybe they can also get information
of veterans benefits, get enrolled
in the VA healthcare system (if they are not),
maybe even get referred to help for employment.
So a one-stop is going to make it convenient for them.
(Philip James Nofi, Jr.): Having those people be there,
and be understanding, and help you have somebody there just
for you, so that you can get tutoring and assistance
in any subject: for English or math.
For me, it was math.
It was...it...I got A's instead of C's or D's.
So I am extremely grateful for that organization alone.