December 2022 Volume 6 Issue 5

14 NSCC faculty have earned the ACUE Microcredential in Promoting Active Learning. During the last months of the fall semester, these faculty engaged in professional learning about developing effective class sessions and lectures, teaching powerful note-taking skills, using groups to ensure active learning, using the active learning cycle, planning effective class discussions, and facilitating engaging class discussions.

These faculty learned about active learning, implemented active learning teaching practices in their courses, reflected on these teaching practices, and planned for how to continue using active learning practices in their courses in the future.

Please join The Teaching Center in congratulating these faculty on their achievement.

• Bir Bohara
• Michael Glenn
• Jennifer Goncalves
• Beth Gorham
• Jeff Green
• Thomas Holmes
• Janessa Jacobs

• John Knox
• Rachel Lewis
• Landon Mason
• Aggie Mendoza
• Kassidy Schmidt
• Michele Singletary
• Donna Whitehouse

Jane Kisber was a member of the Tennessee Board of Regents from 1988 to 2002. During that time, she was a strong supporter of Nashville State and its efforts to become a community college. Former NSCC president, George Van Allen, said Kisber was a key mentor for him when he came to Nashville State, and he was instrumental in having a building named after her on our campus.

The Kisber Building (known as the L Building back then) opened in the winter of the 1989/90 school year. Volunteers from across campus moved the library’s books from the W Building to their new home.

The building housed the Learning Center, as well as the English, Math and Sciences, Social Sciences, and Academic Development departments. Although they have switched offices over the years, many of those departments still call the Kisber Building home.

As we end fall 2022 and start 2023, The Teaching Center and the Office of Online Learning encourage faculty to engage in the 7-week Course Design Academy. This self-paced course is designed to support faculty as we transition to an accelerated format. The Academy contains helpful information on best practices for teaching in an accelerated format.

The 7-week Course Design Academy can be started at any time, is self-paced, hosted in D2L, and is also open to adjuncts. It is not facilitated; however, the Teaching Center and the Office of Online Learning are ready to answer questions and provide guidance.

Although it is not a requirement to complete the Academy to teach 7-week courses, the information gleaned from the Academy will help ensure courses are planned strategically to meet course objectives without overwhelming students or faculty. We encourage all faculty to go through the academy before the summer of 2023.

If you have already registered to be part of this course, you can search in your D2L search bar for OOL-CDA-7W to access the course. If you have not already registered, you can register for the 7-week Course Design Academy by emailing online.learning@nscc.edu and theteachingcenter@nscc.edu with “Request to be added to the 7-week Course Design Academy”  in the subject line and with your A number and first and last name in the body of the message. 

I recently went to the Paris Landing State Park for a conference.  Upon check-in, the staff gave me a room key with an envelope that had the room number on it.  Now let’s pause for a second and think about what could go wrong here.  What if I lose my key with the envelope?  Whoever found it would have the key and know which room the key would unlock – that’s full access to my room!  Knowing what could happen had I lost the key with the envelope, I left the envelope in my room and carried only the key throughout the conference.

I am sharing this story because it was a real-life example of risk assessment and control activities.  Risk assessment is the process of identifying risks and rating the likelihood and impact of a risk event.  Simply put, it is having a mindset of analyzing what could go wrong.  In my example, I was in fact doing a risk assessment when I analyzed the possible scenario of losing my key. 

Control activities are the steps taken to mitigate risks.  Examples of control activities include policies and procedures, physical controls (locks and gates), segregation of duties, reviews, and reconciliations.  In my example, separating the envelope and the key is a control activity that would reduce the risk of anyone gaining access to my room.

Risk assessment and control activities are important tools that help the College achieve its objectives.  I encourage everyone to be aware of the risks that would prevent the College from achieving its objectives and the controls that would help mitigate the risks.  As the College’s Internal Auditor, part of my mission is to make suggestions for improvements to internal controls.  If you have any questions about risk assessment and controls, please let me know. 

I am happy to help.

Maria is a first-time freshman who just graduated from an MNPS high school. She is using Tennessee Promise (TNP) to pay for her education and is dependent on this funding to remain in college. In high school, she completed two AP courses and graduated with a 2.8 GPA. Due to poor advising prior to starting at Nashville State, Maria did not submit her AP scores to the institution. Fortunately, her ACT English score awarded her credit for ENGL 1010.

Maria attended New Student Orientation at the end of July and entered as a General Studies major. In NSCC 1010, First Year Experience, Maria expressed her goal to work in the medical field and get an advanced degree. As she was completing her degree plan, it became evident that she was in classes that were not needed once she changed her major to the STEM field. As she mapped out her degree path, Maria became fearful as to how she would complete the degree in two years since she would have to start her math sequence all over. When it was discussed that TNP would pay for a 5th semester, Maria expressed that she needed a transfer scholarship since she did not qualify for other aid and those were only awarded for a fall start.

Staying out of school for an extended period of time did not seem like a good option to her so she created a plan that would have her taking 20-21 credits each term. Maria entered NSCC as a solid student who wasn’t aware that college was vastly different from high school. She is a first-generation college student so although she has a supportive mother, she doesn’t have someone who knows the intricacies and challenges of getting through college. She tried to read all the information in every syllabus, the student handbook, the catalog, etc. But she missed some important details about courses and NSCC policies and didn’t always reach out for help. She let fear and self-doubt impact her schoolwork and ended her first semester with a 1.2 GPA. She is reevaluating both her immediate and future plans as she struggles to believe she can be successful in college.

Kick Off 2023 with professional learning. You are invited to join colleagues January 4 – 13, 2023, for the Kick-Off 2023 Professional Learning Conference at Nashville State Community College. Through the activities offered over this 10-day conference, Online Learning and The Teaching Center will help you collaborate with other colleagues, engage with leaders, implement culturally responsive teaching practices, and build community.

Badging: NSCC participants who engage in 8 professional learning sessions presented by the Teaching Center and Online Learning between January 4 – 13 will earn the Kick Off 2023 badge. 

Workshops have been coded to show the connection to Nashville State’s Core Values – Nashville State LEADS, to show which workshops qualify for CRTP credit, and to show which workshops share teaching practices from our ACUE cohorts.   

• L – Learning 
• E – Equity Driven 
• A – Accountability 
• D – Data-Informed 
• S – Student-Centered 
• CRTP – Culturally Responsive Teaching Practices
• ACUE – Led by ACUE Cohort member(s) sharing teaching practices learned from ACUE. 

View the schedule online now and make plans to join us.

On December 2, the Administrative Assembly hosted the first annual Seasonal Sugar Soiree. 

More than 50 employees attended this fun and festive event where Sue Belcher’s famous punch and dozens of homemade and purchased holiday treats were enjoyed. Finn, Nashville State’s mascot, joined in the festivities and took photos with attendees. 

Mark your calendars now for December 1, 2023, to celebrate round two!