The digital magazine for faculty, staff, students and friends of Pensacola State College
July 2, 2020
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Pensacola State College alumna is making a difference in the community by helping to feed those in need.
Kaitlin Santiago, a 2017 Pensacola State graduate, recently moved back home from Washington, D.C., because of the COVID-19 pandemic and, along with
Andrea Dias – another former resident ─ started
Snack Pack in April. So far, the two have delivered food boxes to more than 200 Escambia County and Santa Rosa County families in need.
The program initially began as a way to make sure children who depended on school breakfasts and lunches still received nutritious foods. The Snack Pack boxes are filled with enough fruit, vegetables, protein, snacks, water, etc., to feed a family for a week.
"At the beginning of this crisis, I could tell there were a number of people who wanted to help, and I could also see that there were a number of people who needed help. I was trying to think of a way to bring those two together," said Santiago during her interview with WEAR-TV’s
Rebekah Castor.
Snack Pack is completely donation-based and Santiago and Dias received a grant from Pensacola Mayor
Grover Robinson that will allow them to distribute more boxes in the city.
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PSC Covid-19 Response Plan stresses distancing, masks, cleanliness
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Walk the halls on any Pensacola State College campus, and you’ll see everyone masked up and keeping their distance. Walk into any office and you’ll find hand-sanitizer and more masks. And the disinfectant wipes for each office are on their way.
Pensacola State's College
Covid-19 Response Plan gives details on how the College will work to keep PSC students and employees healthy and virus-free.
“The purpose of the plan is let all College employees and students know about the required protective actions the College is putting in place to fight Covid-19 and keep everyone safe and healthy,’’ said
Tom Gilliam, PSC Vice President of General Counsel.
The 16-page plan details everything from cleaning and safety supplies that will be provided for employees and students, as well as guidelines for steps to be taken if someone is exposed to the virus.
A few highlights of the Response Plan:
- All employees, students and visitors are required to maintain a distance of at least 6 feet between themselves and other people at all times.
- Every employee, student and visitor on any PSC campus or center is required to wear a cloth face cover in the public area of all buildings. Face covering or masks must also be worn outside when a 6-foot separation between people cannot be maintained. “Public Areas” include hallways, restrooms, common workspaces, meeting rooms, serviced areas, waiting areas, elevators, stairwells, classrooms and all other areas utilized by more than one person at a time. The College will provide face covers for employees, and for all students on campus for services.
- The College’s custodial services is using a biocide agent on frequently-touched surfaces each evening. These custodians will also wipe frequently-touched areas throughout the day.
- PSC will also provide disinfecting wipes and other cleaning supplies to all departments. When fall classes begin on Aug. 17, the time between classes will be extended to allow custodial workers to clean the classroom before the next class resumes.
Gilliam said much of the PSC Covid-19 Response Plan parallels CDC and Florida Department of Health guidelines. He said further guidelines about how classes will operate under pandemic conditions will be released soon.
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Pensacola State President Ed Meadows honored with Rotary award
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Pensacola State College President
Ed Meadows
has been named the 2020 recipient of the
Grover III Robinson Award
by the
Rotary Club of Pensacola
. The award goes to the Rotary member who best exemplifies the Rotary Club’s motto of “Service Above Self."
The award is named for
Grover Robinson III
, father of Pensacola Mayor
Grover Robinson IV
. Grover Robinson III was an Army veteran who fought in the Vietnam War and earned a Bronze Star. He also served in the Florida House of Representatives for 14 years and was a former Rotary Club of Pensacola president. Robinson III, along with his wife
Sandra Robinson
, died in a helicopter crash in New Zealand in 2000. The Pensacola Rotary also gives an award named for Sandra Robinson.
“It’s a humbling experience to receive this award," said Meadows, who has been a member of the Rotary Club of Pensacola for 12 years. He has been a member of four Rotary Clubs, including Rotary Club of Pensacola, over a 30-year period. “Rotary has the motto of ‘Service Above Self’ and has done a lot of great things in the world, including the almost complete eradication of polio.” Polio eradication has been a goal of Rotary International since launching its “Polio Plus” project in 1985. The project has contributed nearly $1 billion to worldwide polio eradication efforts.
Rotary also works to provide drinking water for underdeveloped countries as well as sending medical equipment worldwide.
“It really is about service," Meadows said. “And Rotary has done so much good over the world for so many years.”
Meadows, who has been PSC president since 2008, serves on the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Co-Lab) Policy Board and the Achieve Escambia Leadership Council. He is also a member of the Greater Pensacola Chamber Board of Directors and the West Florida Hospital Board of Trustees.
In 2017, Meadows won the
Greater Pensacola Chamber’s Leader in Education Award
. He has also been honored with awards for service and support by the PACE Center for Girls and many other organizations.
John Trawick
, outgoing Rotary Club of Pensacola president, said Meadows is a “go to” person when needing help.
“He’s just one of the people you go to and you ask for something and he does it," Trawick said. “He’s done so many good things in Pensacola and has helped and served with a variety of organizations.”
Trawick, a Pensacola native, said Meadows’ leadership of Pensacola State College has helped the institution grow to levels many never thought possible.
“If you’ve grown up in Pensacola, you’ve watched the College change and grow dramatically," Trawick said. “And Dr. Meadows has led the charge to make Pensacola State College what it is today.”
-- Troy Moon
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When things went south in early spring, lots of businesses shuttered, from retail stores to nightclubs.
But if you needed a mechanic, well, some occupations were deemed more essential than others in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic And that’s why Pensacola State College Associate Professor Mike Cannon believes more students should consider a technical program that creates potential “essential” employees in an unsure world and a shaken economy.
Cannon is the PSC’s Mechanical Design and Fabrication, Associate in Science degree, program coordinator and instructor. He has been at Pensacola State for 28 years and identifies the College program as one of the best in the region. He also said that all degree programs at PSC, as well as, Vocational and Certificate programs, prepare students for “essential” jobs.
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Cannon said anyone looking for a career in the Engineering Technology field should seriously consider PSC to reach that goal.
“When the pandemic hit, a lot of businesses closed. But in April, if your AC went out or if your car needed to be fixed, you could still find people to make those repairs. More people need to be made aware of the fact that choosing a technical training option offers a career in essential jobs that keep our economy running.”
“We have one of the largest automated manufacturing training programs in the Southeast." he said. “It’s a highly-technical program, and I think a term we can use now is ‘essential technical skills.’ Trade school or vocational can no longer be seen as just an alternative educational training option. I never liked the description we have used for training, which was not based on a four-year track. Today they are not alternative skills, they are essential skills and the students learn a respected honored craft that are essential technical skills in trades that help build our country.”
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PSC Vet Tech receives dog, cat foods donation to support program
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Southern Veterinary Partners
donated 164 pounds of dry dog and cat food, and 252 cans of wet food, to the
Pensacola State College Veterinary Technology Program
to help feed the animals students and instructors care for on the Warrington campus.
The food is made by
Hill’s Pet Nutrition
.
“This donation allows us to feed a high-quality diet while emphasizing the importance of nutrition throughout their life stages and health conditions," said
Sarah Meyer-Patterson
, Veterinary Technology Program Director.
Southern Veterinary Partners has four veterinary hospital partners in Northwest Florida –
Friendship Veterinary Hospital
in Fort Walton Beach,
Southside Animal Hospital
in Navarre,
Safe Harbor Animal Hospital
in Pensacola and
Barry Veterinary Hospital
in Miramar Beach.
The food will be used to feed the dogs and cats that the PSC program receives each week from the Escambia and Santa Rosa counties animal shelters.
Students use the animals in live-animal skills laboratory courses. Animals get dental and medical care from students and are sent back to the shelters at the end of the week better suited for adoption.
Shannon Kolker
, manager at Friendship Veterinary School, said PSC’s Vet Tech students have a history of success.
“We’re actually one of the intern sites used for the Vet Tech program," Kolker said. “We’ve actually hired two or three who have gone through the program. We truly believe in veterinary education and PSC does a great job.”
-- Troy Moon
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PSC’s Michael Johnston elected Vice-Chair of statewide task force
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Pensacola State College’s
Michael Johnston has been elected Vice-Chair of the
Management Information Systems Advisory Taskforce (MISATFOR), a statewide organization that reviews data issues related to the required data submissions across the
Florida College System databases.
Johnston is PSC’s executive director of the
Institutional Research Department.
MISATFOR meets twice a year with representatives from Florida’s 28 colleges, as well as representatives from the Division of Accountability, Research and Measurement (ARM), the Division of Florida Colleges (DFC), the Division of Career and Adult Education (CAE), and CCTCMIS.
The purpose of these meetings is to review data issues related to the required data submissions across the Florida College System databases. Data issues could be legislative changes, DOE policy changes, or data quality initiatives to provide tighter controls producing better data across the system. These meetings are designed to inform, discuss, exchange ideas and provide advice pertaining to procedures, terminology, definitions, forms and legislative changes to data and data reporting requirements used by Florida’s colleges to satisfy state and federal reporting requirements.
“This is an opportunity to increase the accuracy of our date and tell the story of our students that we should be telling," Johnston said. “We collaborate over date structures and improve on them to increase accurate reporting.”
-- Troy Moon
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Workday rolls out with Phase I at Pensacola State College
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Wednesday, July 1, 2020 marked a milestone day for PSC!
The College went live with Phase I of
Workday, an Enterprise Resource Planning tool replacing the financial and human resources systems. The progression of this segment took place over approximately one and a half years and will be officially completed in the upcoming weeks.
Seen in the photo above are (left to right) PSC President
Ed Meadows;
Gean Ann Emond, Vice President, Business Affairs; and
Steve E. Whiting, Workday Implementation Coordinator.
Phase II, rolling out with Phase I’s completion, will be the replacement of the Student System, (eRosters, eAdvising, eManagement, and Spyglass) and will span in excess of two years.
Many thanks to everyone who assisted with the Phase I process and for your continued support as we move forward on our journey!
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