Beautiful fall weather and an all-out effort by Columbus State faculty and staff made for an excellent Columbus State Day October 12—our 50th anniversary gift to the community. 
Campus invited to anniversary presentation
Please join President Harrison on Tuesday, October 22 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. in the Conference Center Ballroom, WD fourth floor, to celebrate our history makers, showcase our students, programs, and partnerships, and learn more about our master plan and regional vision for the future of higher education and workforce development in Central Ohio. Last month, the college hosted more than 150 local business leaders, civic and public officials as President Harrison reviewed our history and shared his vision for the future. The presentation was very well-received by the community, so come and see it for yourself next Tuesday!
Last call for candidate feedback
Please remember to give your feedback on the candidates for the position of vice president for Information Technology, as they are introduced to campus through the Open Forums. You can also view the candidate open forums online here: http://intranet.cscc.edu/cioforum/.
The link to the feedback form is online here: Feedback Form
Missed Columbus State Day?
If you missed Columbus State Day on campus, you can see highlights from Saturday in this video produced by Mark Van Horn in Marketing and Communications.
Students collect for military care packages
Columbus State’s College Leadership Conference of Ohio, which is scheduled for early next month, would like to encourage you to help make a difference by helping our military men and women overseas.
U.S. troops are stationed in places where the nearest convenience store is at least 40 minutes away, and requires a combat convoy to just make the trip. This year the College Leadership Conference of Ohio (CLCO) is challenging both students and employees to donate items for a Military Care Package Drive.
Participants at the Leadership Conference will package up the donations and write post cards to enclose in each package. Following the conference, all care packages and post cards will be taken to a local Blue Star Mothers’ Chapter to be shipped to troops overseas.
The type of items needed for these care packages includes such things as individually packed food and drink items, candy and sweets like gum and lifesavers, toiletries and hygiene items, boot socks and t-shirts, puzzles, word games, recent magazines and more. For a full list of items needed, email Heather Borland in Student Engagement and Leadership.
Financial Planning seminar offered
Your Columbus State Benefit Team invites you to attend a free financial planning educational seminar offered by VALIC, titled “Social Security and Your Retirement.” The presentation will be held on Wednesday, October 23, in WD 407 from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.
To register and reserve your seat, click on the link below. Seating is limited so register today!
Di Pietro to perform Halloween concert
Rocco Di Pietro, instructor in the Humanities, will perform a Halloween concert on Tuesday, October 29, at 7:00 p.m. in the Fort Hayes Theatre.
Di Pietro will present his works “King Lear” and “Lilith” with students from Columbus State, Ohio State and Fort Hayes music programs.
The concert will have mixed genres and some pop pieces with a Halloween theme will be included. Columbus State student Chelsea Arthur will sing one of her new songs, and OSU student composer Ramsey Sadaka will perform his new cello solo work. The concert is free and open to the public.
Disability Services Testing Center closed Friday
The Disability Services Testing Center will close Friday, October 18, from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. for staff training. Exams in progress will continue to be monitored, however no new exams will be scheduled during this time. The center will reopen at 3:30 p.m. Please contact the Disabilities Services Testing Center at ext. 2570 if you have questions or concerns.
Distance Education and Instructional Support (DEIS) seminars:
Air Sketch: Wirelessly Projecting Your Lectures/Presentations Using an iPad
If you are in a smart classroom, you can project your slides to a screen, annotate them, and then share them with your students. You can write on images or diagrams and do equations. Then you can share them with your students. If you are using Camtasia you can even post these lectures
Presenter: James Stewart, Associate Professor, Social Sciences, D-L Lead
When and where: Friday, October 18 (12:00 - 1:00 p.m.) CT 107 - Register
Blackboard Grade Center
Prerequisites: training participants must have already successfully completed the following ITI training courses: Introduction to Blackboard and Grade Center I
Date/Time: Wednesday, October 23 (12:00 - 1:00 p.m.) - Register
WebEx Meeting Center Basics
WebEx Meeting Center is a virtual online meeting room that allows Columbus State employees to hold meetings online. WebEx requires participants to have internet access and a computer with a microphone and audio capabilities. All communication is done through the computer, whether a desktop pc or laptop. WebEx allows for multiple participants, up to 200, at different locations to connect online and share any document, power point, web site, or other multimedia. Although WebEx has video capabilities, the focus generally is with sharing data and information with participants.
Please note: All participants seeking to attend training and or/use WebEx must download/complete the Cougar Webconferencing (WebEx) Meeting Request form before signing up for this training session - Download Meeting Center Request Form
When: Thursday, October 24 (6:00 - 8:00 p.m.) - Register
Human Capacity Development Session
Managing with Strengths
Prerequisite: Have completed Win with Your Strengths and is currently a supervisor/manager/ administrator at Columbus State.
This workshop will explore ways managers can use their strengths and the strengths of their employees to impact employee loyalty and productivity. The session will study managers who effectively use strengths to hire, focus, motivate, and develop employees and ultimately impact employee engagement and performance. Participants will begin to develop strategies for managing employees using a strengths-based approach.
When: Thursday, October 24, 8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Register
Bookstore offers customer appreciation program
The Columbus State Bookstore will offer customers $2 off every $10 spent at the Bookstore through October 31 and your employee discount applies to your purchases. Exclusions include textbooks, laptops, calculators and gift cards. You can also register to win a $10 iTunes gift card with one winner announced daily through Oct. 31.
Connect your students to the resources they need to be successful
FOCUS—powered by Starfish and supported using the college’s Title III grant—is a powerful communication tool at Columbus State that provides students with real-time information about how they are doing in class.
FOCUS allows:
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faculty, staff, or advisors to send timely notices to students who might be at risk of not completing a course successfully due to attendance, grade, or participation concerns.
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custom notices that help students find assistance early in the term, so they can overcome challenges and increase their chances of success.
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students to see the notices in their college email and in Blackboard, and the system also gives them access to a network of people who can work with them to find the resources they need.
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students to change their profiles in FOCUS to receive messages through personal email, Facebook, Twitter, or text messages.
Instructors and staffmay also use FOCUS to refer students to Columbus State support services such as tutoring and supplemental instruction. In some cases, tutors and supplemental instruction leaders follow up directly with these referrals. If not, Retention Specialist Megan McWilliams makes a point to follow up with students.
Training is available six times each semester. Interested faculty and staff can register at: http://web.cscc.edu/is/employeetraining/course.asp?C=480.