Chancellor Irving Pressley McPhail was the keynote speaker at a Baltimore County Chamber of Commerce breakfast Nov. 24. McPhail’s topic “It Pays to Learn! It Pays to Invest! It Pays Dividends!” spoke directly to the economic benefits CCBC provides to the community.

Maryland Governor Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. has appointed Carol A. Sullivan, professor and program administrator of the Practical Nursing Program at CCBC Dundalk, a member of the Task Force on the Needs of Persons with Co-Occurring Mental Illness and Substance Abuse Disorders. The Task Force was established during the 2003 General Assembly and is expected to report its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly by December 2004.

Mary Landry, director of Library and Media Services, is the community college representative on the Executive Committee of the Maryland Digital Library, a statewide collaboration of 51 Maryland institutions of higher education that provide a collection of online resources through cooperative, leveraged purchasing. Landry is working with Charles Lowry of the University of Maryland, College Park and Pamela Higgins of Johns Hopkins University to try to obtain state financing for this effort and expand it to digitization of library collections and an online catalog of all Maryland academic libraries.

CCBC Environmental Science faculty member Chris Fox gave a presentation titled “ECO-nomic Benefits of Design for Repair” at the EnviroDesign7 conference in Washington D.C. EnviroDesign7 is a leading edge environmental technology exhibition and conference attended by more than 1,000 designers, architects, and engineers from some of the best-known companies around the world interested in sustainable development.

CCBC Catonsville presented a special art exhibit of recent work by faculty from the CCBC Art department at the Catonsville Gallery. The artwork represented a wide range of modern media, including electronic art and more traditional art forms such as ceramics and fiber. Artists participating in the exhibit represented various ethnic backgrounds and working styles. They included: Jennifer Becker, Jane Wynn, Tom Pergola, Olin Yoder, Larcia Premo, Symmes Gardner, Marcia Ray Wolfson, Diana Marta, Maria Sanchez, Tom Gregory, Will Niebauer, Paul Glasgow, Ozzie Mesa, Maman Rikin, Mark Lane, Haelim Allen, Breon Gilleran, Michele Kong and Alan Rutberg.

The Division of Learning and Student Development at CCBC Catonsville hosted the Maryland Community College Activities Directors Association workshop in October on the Catonsville campus. More than 160 students, faculty and staff representing 16 community colleges took part in the daylong conference focused on leadership strategies. All participants were awarded continuing education credits for their involvement.

Joan Swiston, director of Project Second Start, and Nancy Shualy, counselor with the program, are coordinating the Women in Construction mentoring and recruiting grant, awarded through the Building Congress Exchange. Funds will support mentor training, recruitment of mentees and recruitment of women in construction-related majors, apprenticeships and training.

The Center for Learning and Teaching Excellence located at CCBC Catonsville continued to host a series of events throughout the fall semester. Sam Latif, English professor, spoke on “The Myth of Islam.” Bill Rice, Philosophy professor, gave an entertaining talk on “The Basics of Culturally Mediated Instruction” and Professor Joan Hellman did a reading on “Campus Birding.” The Center, a part of the division of Learning and Student Development, is located in E-203. Feel free to stop in for coffee or to enjoy your lunch.

Mary Hansen (Horticulture manager) and her neighbors in the Bowleys Quarters, Md. community sent a beautiful letter to Chancellor Irving P. McPhail, President Gena Proulx and Public Safety Director Jeff Hagen to acknowledge Dorothy Coppell’s (assistant to the chief of Public Safety, CCBC Essex) extraordinary volunteer service to the community during the aftermath of Hurricane Isabel. A volunteer at Saint Matthew Lutheran Church, Coppell was there every day handing out clothes, cooking and organizing donated supplies. Hansen, one of the victims of Hurricane Isabel, praised Coppell for her dedication and for her warm smile that “helped to make the pain of loss a little easier to bear.”

Marsha Koger and Jacquelyn Lucy, CCBC Media Relations coordinators, presented a session on “How Media Relations can assist staff and faculty” at CCBC Catonsville in October, sponsored by the Center for Learning and Teaching Excellence. Handouts on tips from promoting CCBC programs to connecting with the community are available from Koger or Lucy for those who missed this event.

The CCBC Dundalk Student Employment/Co-op Office hosted the Career Services Affinity Group bi-annual meeting in October. Twenty-four career services professionals for 10 Maryland community colleges attended. Marlene Rydzewski, job development specialist at CCBC Dundalk, presented on the topic of converting work-study placements into co-op experiences.

The CCBC Catonsville Learning and Student Development division and the Counseling and Advisement Center hosted College Transfer Day in November. Students had an opportunity to meet with admissions representatives from four-year colleges such as the University of Baltimore and the University of Maryland College Park.