Reynolds Great Expectations student releases book

JSRCC Great Expectations student Davon Mitchell recently released his first book through Kingdom Publishing. Transcending Through the Mind…Expressing Through the Soul is a thought-provoking book written to educate, inspire and motivate readers to consider a new perspective on life. It offers life-changing hope and healing, viewed through various lenses.

Mitchell was a student in the Great Expectations program at Reynolds. Great Expectations is a program that helps young adults – those who are or were recently affiliated with the Virginia Foster Care System – transition to college. More than 500 children in the Virginia foster care system age out each year. Without social or family support, foster care children experience significant challenges living on their own. However, with access to education, foster care youth can find satisfying, well-paying jobs.

Reynolds faculty receive Chancellor’s Innovation Funds Award

JSRCC’s Quality Enhancement Team (QEP) leaders Ghazala Hashmi, Meg Foster and CJ Bracken received a Chancellor’s Innovation Funds Award, a Virginia Community College System grant program that provides Virginia community colleges with funding for projects aligned with the VCCS strategic plan “Achieve 2015.” In particular, the grant supports access goals and student success goals.

This award will fund the development of ENROLL 2.0 – Engagement for Online Learning with Web 2.0 Applications, a collaboratively created and taught program for certifying faculty to teach online. It will be used in conjunction with existing online instruction courses and training and will focus on increasing student engagement using Web 2.0 applications. The award will also support Peer Academic Leaders (PALs): Increasing Student Retention, Success, and Support through Peer Leadership, which seeks to build upon the existing student leaders program at Reynolds that annually trains a cohort of four students to assist Student Affairs advisers. These student leaders respond to various student inquiries about issues such as registration and scheduling, access to college technologies, and the identification of appropriate resources. Through PALs, JSRCC will now expand the current program into online and after-hours services, and thereby increase access and flexibility to more students.

Reduce your stress before you test

The JSRCC Office of Student Life is offering free, 10-minute massages to students, faculty and staff from noon to 2 p.m. on December 7 in Georgiadis Hall, room 206 (Parham Road Campus) and on December 8 in room 162 on the Downtown Campus. Snacks and drinks will be provided.

End of semester Testing Center hours

The Testing Centers at the Parham Road and Downtown campuses will be open the last two Saturdays of the semester, December 11 and 18. COMPASS (placement), ASSET, ATB (Ability to Benefit), KAPLAN nursing entrance and exit exams, Respiratory MOCK exam, ITE 115, CSC 155 and ServSafe exams will be given at 9 a.m. only. Make-up and distance learning exams will be from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

VCCA recognizes Reynolds' creative team

J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College's Marketing and Public Relations Office was recently recognized at the Virginia Community College Association's 2010 Excellence in Communications Awards program. Reynolds received a second place award for brochures and a third place award for print advertising. The VCCA promotes the development and advancement of community college education in Virginia.

2010 Scholarship Luncheon

Each year the JSRCC Office of Institutional Advancement coordinates the Scholarship Luncheon - which allows the College's generous scholarship donors to meet their scholarship recipients. It gives our donors a chance to hear about how they are touching the lives of our students and it gives our scholarship recipients the opportunity to say "thank you." Below are some photos of this year's luncheon.

JSRCC Respiratory Therapy students tour raceway

Students and faculty from the JSRCC Respiratory Therapy program were given a VIP tour of Richmond International Raceway in honor of National Respiratory Therapy Week.

Reynolds professor, 71, receives Ed.D

J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College Information Systems’ Instructor Shirley Justis Mitteldorfer, at the age of 71, received her doctorate degree in Educational Leadership/Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Phoenix in October 2010. Dr. Mittledorfer has taught technology courses at the College as an adjunct since the 1980’s.

Dr. Mitteldorfer celebrates after
passing the comprehensive exam.

In 2004, Dr. Mitteldorfer retired from Chesterfield County Public Schools where she was an instructional technology integrator and, before that, a classroom teacher. She went back to work four months later at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) where she now works as a senior instructional technology consultant for the University’s students, staff and faculty. She is also a professor for the School of Continuing Studies at the University of Richmond. Dr. Mitteldorfer holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology with a minor in Education from VCU and a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from VCU.

“Obtaining a doctoral degree in Educational Leadership/Curriculum and Instruction was a personal goal for me as starting a new career at 71 years old does not motivate me to change careers as long as I love what I do,” said Mitteldorfer. “I am content with staying on the cutting edge of technology that is required for my work, spending time traveling, and enjoying our families.”

Her work commitments leave little time for relaxation, but she and her husband, Marx, do enjoy traveling – having spent vacations during the last decade in Spain, Italy, the West Indies, the Caribbean, Greece, Ireland and France. She says her husband was “the wind beneath [her] wings” as he took on care of their families, home, cars and shopping while she pursued her degree.

“My joy and enthusiasm for teaching and learning is sustainable because of my husband,” she said. 

Author Richard Lederer visits campus

Author Richard Lederer led the J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College “Around the World Through Books” discussion this fall. The session featured Lederer’s Word Wizard – Super Bloopers, Rich Reflections and Other Acts of Word Magic, a collection of the author’s essays on the English language.

Lederer has more than one million books in print and has appeared in the New York Times, Sports Illustrated, National Review, and Reader's Digest. His column, "Looking at Language," appears in newspapers throughout the United States and in magazines.

Reynolds students to represent Commonwealth at national business leadership conference

JSRCC students recently received first place wins at the Virginia Phi Beta Lambda State Leadership Conference for future business leaders. Reynolds received first place for its community service project sponsoring the Salvation Army Food Pantry. For several years, the Reynolds chapter of Phi Beta Lamba has collected food for the Salvation Army. This year, the group more than doubled collections – delivering over 3,800 pounds of food to the pantry just before Thanksgiving. The project was presented by JSRCC students Matthew Hylton, Krystal Brooks, and Clarissa Smithee. Winners at the leadership conference will compete at the national level in Nashville this July.
“Our students competed with students from all over Virginia,” said Reynolds Phi Beta Lambda faculty advisor Dr. Mel C. Burton, Jr. “Students were from both two and four year colleges, so it makes it especially nice that they did so well in the competition.”
JSRCC student winners from this year’s Leadership Conference were:
Jordan Baker – 1st place in Emerging Business Issues
Justin Neagle – 1st place in Client Service; 1st place in Marketing Analysis and Decision Making
Jonathan Mathes – 1st place in Emerging Business Issues
Jara Janulis – 1st place in Help Desk; 1st place in Business Decision Making
Erica Southworth – 1st place in Business Decision Making
Andrew Pauley – 2nd place in Accounting Analysis and Decision Making; 2nd place in Sales Presentation

College Celebrates Nursing Graduate Recognition Ceremony

JSRCC recently recognized nearly 75 students who completed the Associate of Applied Science degree in Nursing. Held in the Lipman Auditorium of the Massey Library Technology Center, the ceremony opened with a welcome by JSRCC President Dr. Gary Rhodes and inspirational words by JSRCC nursing program coordinator Nancy O’Donnell, RN, MS.
“I know you are going to do a wonderful job in the profession and will make J. Sargeant Reynolds proud,” said O’Donnell. “It is now time for you to get out there and make things better.”
After sharing with the students some of the difficulties she faced when coming out of college, O’Donnell challenged the students not only to try new adventures in the profession, but to be someone that gets things done.
After the award presentations, the graduates recited the Nurses’ Pledge.
The Reynolds’ Nursing Program is designed to prepare its students to participate as collaborative members of nursing care teams and to provide direct care to patients in a variety of health service facilities and agencies. Upon satisfactory completion of the program, students are eligible to take the licensing examination to become Registered Nurses.

JSRCC celebrates women’s history

JSRCC’s Multicultural Enrichment Council recently sponsored “Empowerment: Connecting the Past, Present and Future” in honor of women’s history month. Guest speakers from the Virginia Latino Higher Education Network, the Commonwealth of Virginia and the Virginia Court of Appeals led a panel discussion about their journeys to success and their views on women in the modern world. CBS 6’s Reba Hollingsworth facilitated the discussion. An afternoon panel consisted of female students from Reynolds, University of Richmond, and Virginia Commonwealth University. Students shared their stories and aspirations from the perspective of young women on the verge of entering the workforce. Following the panel discussions, Richmond’s own Debo Dabney Trio played with singers Desiree Roots Centeio and Marie Goodman-Hunter in a “Salute to Women in Jazz.”

Reynolds teams with Synergy Racing for Porsche race at VIR

J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College Automotive students served as honorary pit crew members for the Reynolds number 81 Synergy Racing Porsche GT3 during the Grand-Am Rolex Series Bosch Engineering 250 race at Virginia International Speedway this past April. This opportunity was made possible by a generous sponsorship from a JSRCC Foundation Board member. The distinguished Bosch race was also aired live on the SPEED channel.
As part of a special topics course at the College this spring, led by JSRCC Automotive Program Head Kelly Schwendeman, students had been learning about the complexities of motor sports cars. In addition to having the Porsche outfitted with the Reynolds logo and colors during the race, several automotive students toured the Synergy Racing shop and receive a hands-on look at the Reynolds Porsche. During a road test prior to the race, students were invited onto the track and met well-known Porsche driver, David Murry.
The Reynolds Porsche incurred mechanical difficulties throughout the day and finished 18th in the 19-car Bosch Race. Yet students felt the challenges that Synergy faced to keep the car on the track were among the best learning opportunities the entire experience could offer.
"Five people can work as one person, all seamlessly," says one student. "[Someone needs] a tool and it's already on its way."
 >> see the video

---

Around the World Through Books

“Around the World Through Books” discusses a theory about globalization and soccer
The JSRCC Multicultural Enrichment Council (MEC) encourages cultural diversity throughout the Reynolds campuses and communities. In addition to speakers like Kevin Powell, the MEC organizes the College’s Cinema Series as well as the “Around the World Through Books” discussion series which recently hosted a discussion on How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization by Franklin Foer.
According to an Amazon.com book review, “…in Europe, South America, and elsewhere, soccer is not merely a pastime but often an expression of the social, economic, political, and racial composition of the communities that host both the teams and their throngs of enthusiastic fans…. Foer draws the reader into these sport-mad societies…”
JSRCC faculty member Jena Morrison facilitated the discussion and JSRCC student Jeferson Alvarez presented information about the role of soccer in his home country of Honduras.

A Year of Food Life

The JSRRC Multicultural Enrichment Council recently hosted the latest “Around the World Through Books” discussion on Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life on the College’s Western Campus in Goochland County. Kingsolver’s book chronicles her family's adventures in fulfilling their vows of eating locally for one year by farming in rural Virginia. It presents the economic, social and health benefits of eating local foods through touching human stories. Cindy Conner, Reynolds’ own horticultural instructor and advocate of sustainable agriculture, facilitated the discussion with both knowledge and passion.

Attendees preceded the book discussion with a tour of the College’s BIOINTENSIVE sustainable garden – managed by Conner and the JSRCC Sustainable Agriculture Club. For more information about the College’s “Around the World Through Books” series, visit www.Reynolds.edu/book.