The Southern Highland Reader

Art comes in many forms and the newest addition to Southwestern Community College’s Oconaluftee Institute of Cultural Arts is actually old. It’s a letterpress that will be used to print books in the Cherokee syllabary.

“We are bringing back the Cherokee history in true art form,” said Luzene Hill, OICA progam outreach coordinator.

Years ago the Eastern Band published a newspaper called Tsa la gi Tsu lehisanunhi, or the Cherokee Phoenix. This first Native American newspaper was printed on a hot-type letterpress in which each word is put together by hand, combining individual metal letters or characters.

Through a $68,846 grant from Cherokee Preservation Foundation and a $47,792 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, OICA will purchase a metal press and develop a print-making studio at its facilities on Bingo Loop Road in Cherokee.

“It opens up a whole new craft of Book Art for us, including print making, hand papermaking and hand bookbinding,” said Hill. “For our students Book Art will blend fine arts with crafts.”

Sequoyah, the inventor of the Cherokee syllabary, recognized that conveying ideas in language was powerful so he spent 12 years developing the Cherokee syllabary, completing it in 1821. Each character represents a syllable, instead of one sound, thus the name syllabary.  As in the Phoenix newspaper, the power of the Cherokee language rises through the printed word on the page, transforming from thoughts to art, Hill explained.

“You already feel the power  of words but capturing them in a book through individual characters you’ve laid out in hot type and on paper you’ve made from linen or hemp fiber really helps you feel them in an art form, too,” said Hill. “To me, binding a book- accordion-style, for instance, is like producing a piece of sculpture.”

“You already feel the power  of words but capturing them in a book through individual characters you’ve laid out in hot type and on paper you’ve made from linen or hemp fiber really helps you feel them in an art form, too. To me, binding a book- accordion-style, for instance, is like producing a piece of sculpture.”

As students learn to produce first the paper and then the books, they will also learn skills such as precision, technique, spacing and artistic layout composition, said Hill, who is consulting with noted instructor Frank Brannon. Brannon, who runs his own letterpress studio SpeakEasy Press in Dillsboro, earned his master of fine arts in Book Arts at the University of Alabama and has recently taught Letterpress at the Penland School of Crafts and Papermaking and Printing at the John C. Campbell Folk School.

“One of Frank’s specialties is the Cherokee Phoenix newspaper,” said Hill. “He has explored and published copies from the original hand impressions of type from the Phoenix, found in a 1954 excavation of the New Echota historic site. He hand printed and hand bound the publications for exhibition.”

“The Phoenix was a bi-lingual weekly newspaper printed in parallel columns in Cherokee and English and one of its biggest subscribers was the British Library,” said Brannon, who also teaches at Book Works in Asheville. “Most folks don’t know that the paper was distributed in Europe, too. The first issue was published Feb. 21, 1828, using the 85 character Cherokee syllabary completed by Sequoyah just seven years earlier,” he said.

The first paper that the Phoenix was printed on came from Knoxville by wagon and it took two weeks to arrive, according to Brannon. The last issue was published in 1834, shortly before the Cherokee removal to Indian Territory in Oklahoma.

“Students will learn the Cherokee history right along with the history of the letterpress,” said Hill.

The Cherokee language will also be incorporated into the course since the books can be published in the Cherokee syllabary, she added.

SYLVA–A final point granite marker and plaque will be dedicated Saturday, Dec. 5, to Nathan Hall, a Southwestern Community College surveying technology student who died May 23, 2008 of leukemia.

The dedication service will be held at 11 a.m. behind the Holt Library on SCC’s Jackson Campus.

Retired Southwestern Community College Surveying Technology instructor Peter Messier, left and graduates of SCC’s Surveying Technology program, Bentley Robison, middle, and John Jeleniewski, right, both of Sylva, assist with the granite marker and plaque that will be dedicated Saturday, Dec. 5, to the late Nathan Hall. The 11 a.m. ceremony behind Holt Library will honor Hall, a former SCC Surveying Technology student, who died May 23, 2008 of leukemia.

“Nathan was a model student and an outstanding individual,” said his former SCC surveying technology instructor Peter Messier. “A young surveyor who left his mark on the hearts of all who knew him by unselfishly giving of himself ” is part of the inscription on the plaque that will be dedicated by his former fellow students.

A native and lifelong resident of Jackson County, Hall was a key player in the formation of the first student chapter of the North Carolina Society of Surveyors and was elected the first president of SCC’s student chapter.

“Nathan was on his way to becoming a great surveyor and an asset to the community,” said Messier. “He had an impressive 3.81 grade point average, had received a $1,000 scholarship from the NC Association of Community College Facility Operations and was just two courses shy of completing his degree when he died at age 27. He lived in the Balsam community and was working for Civil Design Consultants in Waynesville at the time of his death.”

The public is invited to the dedication ceremony which will feature personal tributes to Hall.

CULLOWHEE – Native American artist and activist Shan Goshorn will visit Western North Carolina in November for a talk at Western Carolina University and a demonstration at the Oconaluftee Institute for Cultural Arts.

“Pieced Treaty,” wood pulp splints and commercial dye, 20 by 20 by 26 inches, by Shan Goshorn, 2007.

An artist working in a variety of media, including paint, photography and mixed-media, Goshorn will speak about the progression of her work and her art as an expression of her activism during an artist’s talk at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3, in Room 130 of the Fine and Performing Arts Center on the WCU campus. The event is free and open to the public.

From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5, Goshorn will lead a workshop demonstrate her process of hand-tinting black-and-white photography at OICA, 70 Bingo Loop in Cherokee. The workshop is limited to 25 people and includes lunch and supplies, although participants may bring their own black-and-white prints, in a matte finish. No artistic background is required.

Goshorn is a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and lives in Tulsa, Okla. An artist for more than 25 years, she has exhibited work across the United States, Canada, Europe, China and Africa. Her work addresses contemporary American Indian and human rights issues, including Indian stereotypes and treaty violations. For example, Goshorn wove “Pieced Treaty,” a basket in the traditional Cherokee “spider’s web” pattern, from paper printed with tobacco agreements between the state of Oklahoma and the Cherokee Nation.

“‘Pieced Treaty” refers to the continual breaking of agreements,” Goshorn said. “I deliberately left the basket unfinished because the negotiations appear to be ongoing.”

The piece won first place in the basketry division of the 2009 Red Earth Festival’s artist competition and has been purchased by the National Museum of the American Indian, part of the Smithsonian Institution. Goshorn’s work is featured in numerous other collections, including the Institute of American Indian Art; in Cherokee, her work is in the Museum of the Cherokee Indian, Harrah’s Cherokee Hotel and the Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual.

The WCU School of Art and Design and the Oconaluftee Institute are co-hosts of Goshorn’s visit. The visit is funded by the Cherokee Preservation Foundation and the Revitalization of Traditional Cherokee Artisan Resources, an initiative operated through Western Carolina University’s Cherokee studies program.

The Oconaluftee Institute partners with Southwestern Community College and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians to offer an associate’s degree in fine arts. An agreement with WCU allows graduates to enter the university as juniors pursuing the bachelor of fine arts degree.

STATEWIDE–The Raleigh News and Observer’s Mark Johnson writes today that North Carolina’s community college system is seeing a huge jump in enrollment.

We posted here, earlier, about increases in enrollment at Southwestern Community College in Sylva, and also noted a substantial increase at Western Carolina University. The WCU jump bucks a trend of more-or-less steady enrollment at four year schools statewide.

Here’s an excerpt from the N&O story:

College enrollment nationally hit an all-time high last October of 11.5 million, or 40 percent of young adults from age 18 to 24, according to a Pew Center study released Thursday. Enrollment has been rising for years, but the recent spike was entirely at community colleges, according to the report.

While enrollment at four-year institutions was flat from 2007 to 2008, community college student ranks jumped from 3.1 million to 3.4 million young adults. The schools have seen that uptick continue this year.

“That’s the community college story,” said Scott Ralls, president of the state system. “The worse the economy is, the more likely we are to grow.”

Read the entire N&O piece here.

CHEROKEE-“We stand on the edge of becoming a truly unique voice in the world for indigenous art and culture,” said Joel Queen, new program coordinator and instructor at the Oconaluftee Institute for Cultural Arts in Cherokee.

Queen, whose art is displayed in such places as the Smithsonian Institution and the British Museum in London, says that art is the same language wherever you go. “The language of our Cherokee art is so storied with paintings, weaving, wood crafts, stonework and ceramics and I’ve spent my life creating in the Cherokee mediums,” said this enrolled member of the Eastern Band. “I’ve been able to make a successful living at it but now it’s time for me to give back and that’s why I chose to work with OICA.”

Master Cherokee potter Joel Queen, the new program coordinator and instructor at the Oconaluftee Institute for Cultural Arts in Cherokee, demonstrates a unique technique of using a cloth diaper to allow movement and expansion of clay. Luzene Hill, OICA program outreach coordinator, watches as Queen molds the strip of clay inside as he begins creating a piece of pottery.

His students, like Mike Taylor of Cherokee, respect the artistic heritage Queen brings to the institute. Members of Queen’s family have been potters for nine generations. “A lot of potters will keep their family secrets but I believe in sharing and in keeping the traditions alive so they don’t get lost,” said this grandson of potter Ethel Bigmeat. “One of the reasons to create art is so people can see their past and their future.”

“Part of our strength at OICA comes from our generational teachers like Joel and John Grant, who teaches wood and stone carving,” said Luzene Hill, program outreach coordinator for the institute.

“We give students a foundation in traditional methods, but we also give them the freedom to create contemporary art,” said Hill, an artist whose work is exhibited in private and corporate collections across the country.

Students of all skill levels are welcome at the institute, a joint endeavor of the Eastern Band, Southwestern Community College and Western Carolina University.

Students can earn an associate of fine arts degree from Southwestern. If they want to continue their education they can transfer to Western Carolina University, or any other college in the state university system, as a junior to pursue a bachelor of fine arts degree.

“Not all of our students want to go for a higher degree and we help them find their place in the market,” said Queen. “That’s important- they can be a great artist but if they don’t know how to market their work, they won’t be able to make a living from it.”

“Joel has his own business and gallery so he is the perfect person to help our students with marketing,” said Hill.

At present the classes are small enough that instructors can individualize a program around the student’s skill level.

Queen said part of his job is “taking students’ love of creating and helping them through the steps to achieve the vision they think their piece should look like. My job is to challenge them, to help them push their boundaries and see just how far they can go.”

But before they push the envelope and break all the rules, Queen teaches his students just what the rules are –rules he has learned from a personal mastery of clay and from knowledge and talent passed down from eight generations before him who sifted and kneaded hand-dug clay, stamped it with hand-carved wooden paddles and fired it in traditional pit fires.

“Here at the institute we respect and honor the traditions of our Cherokee ancestors. But after students master technique, we encourage them to show innovation and creativity,” said Queen. “For our Cherokee culture to evolve, our art must evolve first…and art is the same language, no matter where you go.”

While the institute is a mix of traditional and contemporary, the students are also a mix. About half are Cherokee and the others represent a mix of cultures, according to Hill, an EBCI enrolled member.

“The more students we get, the more programs we can offer,” she said. For more information, call 497-3945 or stop by the new location at 70 Bingo Loop Road in Cherokee.

Jennifer Pharr Davis hiked the 2,175-mile Appalachian Trail in 57 days, five hours and 35 minutes – 30 days faster than any other women have ever made the trip, and faster than all but four men.

SYLVA–The Women’s Appalachian Trail Record Holder and Blue Ridge Outdoors 2008 Outdoors Person of the Year, Jennifer Pharr Davis, will be at Southwestern Community College on Wednesday, Oct. 14, to speak to students, faculty and the community about how her journeys and adventures. She’ll share her insight on what hiking more than 8,000 miles of trails has taught her about goal setting, sacrifice and achievement.

“Jennifer will inspire and teach you to experience the woods and life in a new and exciting way,” said SCC’s outdoor leadership director Paul Wolf. “In her presentation she stresses ‘you are never too young to set goals and never too old to dream.’”

This two-session event, a part of SCC’s “Discover America Series,” will take place in the Balsam Building on the Jackson Campus. Following pizza at noon, the program titled Life Lessons from the Appalachian Trail will be from 12:30-2 p.m. in the auditorium.

In session two, How to Plan, Prepare for and Execute Adventure Events, from 2-4 p.m. Davis will provide in-depth discussion about the logistics, planning and execution of such adventures, including nutrition, gear, training, schedules, budget and more.

All students, faculty and the public are invited to this event which is sponsored by SCC’s Student Life Committee.

Read more about Pharr Davis’s feat here.

REGIONAL–Enrollments at Western Carolina University and Southwestern Community College jumped substantially this fall.

Western Carolina University’s student body has grown to 9,429 students – the largest total student enrollment in the university’s history and a 4 percent increase from last year.

Enrollment for the fall semester exceeds the previous record of 9,056 students in fall 2007 and shows 43 percent growth in the past decade. WCU had 6,580 students in 1999.

SCC experienced a record enrollment this fall of 2,606 students, up eight percent from last year and 20 percent for the last two years.

SCC will serve an additional 4,000 students through various short-term job training, special interest, and public service courses and programs such as Basic Law Enforcement Training, the Regional Fire Academy and National Park Service Seasonal Law Enforcement Training Program.

Says SCC President Cecil Groves: “Community colleges, probably more than any other group, are experiencing both the positive and negative effects of the recession. Enrollment is booming as people discover they need to learn new skills, or retool their current ones to make them more job competitive. So, in a way, we have been blessed with success by the economic downturn. But, as demand soars for our job-ready programs, state funds to help us provide those programs have been cut significantly. While we are getting more students, we are also getting less money to educate them. Like the person who has been laid off or had his hours cut back, we, too, feel the budget pinch of the recession.”

SYLVA-When Dave Blanton, father of slain trooper Shawn Blanton, decided that he needed a website for a scholarship in his son’s name, he knew just where to go. He approached Gene Couch, vice president of instructional services at Southwestern Community College, to see if the college had any students who could work on the project.

Couch asked Scott Cline, program coordinator for SCC’s web technology program, to recommend a student for the project.

“I thought of Paige Christie right away,” said Cline. “Paige is a web technology student from Bryson City who plans to graduate in December of 2009. As I expected, she was more than happy to take on the project.”

Southwestern Community College web technology student Paige Christie of Bryson City, right, demonstrates the website she designed for slain trooper Shawn Blanton to his dad, Dave Blanton of Webster, left, and Scott Cline, program coordinator for SCC's web technology program.

Christie contacted Dave Blanton to see exactly what he wanted on the site and to see what the timeline was for the project. The project was to design a website for a scholarship in his son’s name. Christie had two weeks to complete the project, along with still doing her school work.

“Paige did a super cool job,” said Dave Blanton. “She created stuff on the computer I never imagined you could do… and she made it easy to navigate for somebody like me who is computer illiterate.”

“It was a joy once I met Dave,” said Christie. “I knew about Shawn, his son, the first enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians to serve as a North Carolina State Trooper, who was shot on Interstate 40 June 17, 2008 during a routine traffic stop. He was just 24.”

The website includes information on the Shawn Blanton Scholarship Fund and the Shawn Blanton Memorial Ride June 20 that will support that fund. There are also links to the Officer Down Memorial Fund, YouTube tributes and photos.

“It was nice to work on something that will really make a difference,” said Christie, who learned a lot about the Blanton family during the process. “I learned of the Blanton family’s long connection to this area and to SCC. Shawn received his in-service law enforcement training at Southwestern, his dad graduated in 1990 from the paramedic program. Shawn’s mother, Jeanell Youngblood, graduated from SCC with an associate degree in business and his step-mother Jennifer is one of the first graduates of SCC’s physical therapy program. His sister Natalie graduated from SCC with a degree in nursing in July.”

“You can see why I thought about Southwestern to do this project,” said Blanton, who has been a paramedic with Cherokee EMS for 20 years.

“Paige did a great job on this project. Her work was very quick and professional.” said Cline. “This was a great opportunity for Paige to put her web design skills to work in a real world scenario.”

Smoky Mountain High School plans to build an indoor baseball and softball training facility in Shawn Blanton’s name. The advertising and graphic design program at Southwestern designed the graphic for the training facility. Christie designed the rest of the graphics on the website and the pictures were taken by different members of the Blanton family. “It was a real team effort,” said Christie.

To see the Shawn Blanton Scholarship website visit: http://troopershawnblantonscholarship.com/.
For more information about the web technology program at Southwestern Community College, contact Cline at scline@southwesterncc.edu or 828-58-4091 ext. 494.

In celebration of Earth Week, Southwestern Community College’s Green Team /Environmental Club will present the “11th Hour“, produced and narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio.

“Our planet is on a convergence of crises- all of which are a concern for life,” DiCaprio narrates in the film that will be shown on the Jackson Campus Monday, April 20, at 3 p.m. and Tuesday, April 21, at 2 p.m. Both locations will be Oaks Hall 104. Free food and discussion follow the show.

Drought, famine, flooding, hurricanes, acid rain, global warming- are these incidents isolated or pieces of a global puzzle? The 11th Hour explores the state of our planet and how we all could become environmental refugees, said Rudy Beharrysingh, SCC math instructor and head of the college’s green team.

“The 11th Hour could be mankind’s finest hour,” said Beharrysingh. “The purpose of the film is not only to raise awareness but to spark action. Ways are shown how each of us can help create change- and hope- for our planet.”

SYLVA-Martha Hall, of Sylva, is being honored today in Phoenix as one of 20 “USA Today All-USA Community College Academic Team” members.

Hall, 18, now a student of watershed hydrology at N.C. State University, was an active member of the Watershed Association of the Tuckasegee River while at SCC, with whom she helped secure grants, collected rainfall data and studied local streams. Hall also designed an award-winning filter that improved water quality in fish production tanks.

Nearly 1,450 students from 800 community colleges in 49 states and Guam were nominated for USA TODAY’s 2009 All-USA Community College Academic Team.

Read the USA Today piece here.

CHEROKEE-In less than two years the Oconaluftee Institute for Cultural Arts has outgrown its space at Southwestern Community College’s Cherokee Center and moved to newly renovated studios. The former Vocational Opportunities of Cherokee warehouse and store has been transformed into four working studios, a gallery, conference room, computer lab and staff offices.

Oconaluftee Institute for Cultural Arts students Darrin Bark, left, and Rose Long, assemble an easel in the gallery space of the new OICA Center. An Open House for the new facility, located at 70 Bingo Loop, is planned for May.

“We were using two very small classrooms at the SCC Cherokee Center,” said Eastern Band of Cherokee Indian member Luzene Hill, OICA program associate. “We now have a beautiful gallery for displaying the students’ work, plus four large studios. There is plenty of room for the students to work during class and a place for them to work on projects outside of class,” said Hill, who has exhibited at Indian Market in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Some of the students’ comments on seeing the new facility for the first time were, “I didn’t know it was going to be so nice” and “I can’t believe it’s so big.”

“I sense that the students feel they finally have their own space, designed for them, created especially for making and displaying their work” said Hill, a nationally-regarded installation artist.

The vision of the late Principal Chief Leon Jones to establish a university for the Cherokee people is now closer to realization, according to Hill. Through a partnership with Southwestern Community College, which provides the instruction and accreditation, and the Eastern Band of Cherokee, which provides the funding, students can earn an associate’s degree in fine arts. They study both traditional Cherokee art and foundations for contemporary interpretation, Hill said.

Students who graduate from the OICA program can transfer, through an articulation agreement, to WCU as juniors and pursue a bachelor of fine arts degree. Or they may transfer to any other public university in the state with up to 65 hours of credit. OICA is the only Native American Institution of higher education east of the Mississippi River dedicated to Native American arts.

“Not only are we expanding in space but we are expanding in recognition, too,” said Hill. “OICA is featured in the Charles Dana Foundation Newsletter and the National Indian Education Association web newsletter.”

FRANKLIN–Southwestern Community College’s Job-Career Readiness Center, located in SCC’s Macon Annex in downtown Franklin, opens for business Tuesday, March 24, at 9am.

SCC’s goal for the center is to educate and train individuals for success in the workplace through job readiness training, career exploration, communication skills, job seeking skills and personal development skills.

The target audience is the unemployed, underemployed, GED students, high school graduates and college graduates- all age groups 16 and older.

“Individuals can just drop in at any time and we will work with them one-on-one,” said Susan McCaskill, SCC vice president of extension education and economic development.

“We realize how hard it is for people during these tough economic times so we are prepared to offer some hope and some help,” said McCaskill. “We are providing this as a service to our neighbors; there is no charge for qualified individuals.”

The Job-Career Readiness Center is a collaborative partnership with SCC, the Employment Security Commission, Macon County Board of Commissioners and Southwestern Commission. For more information, call 800-447-4091, ext. 361 or 221.

Webster artist James Smythe is the featured artist at the Balsam Center at Southwestern Community College’s Jackson Campus through the month of March. The lobby art gallery is open Monday through Friday during regular school hours and during special events in the evenings.

Smythe is a retired painting professor from Western Carolina University, where he taught painting and art history for 31 years. On his retirement Smythe became a full-time landscape painter.

His paintings have been widely exhibited and he has won many art awards. “Our beautiful mountain environment inspired the subjects of the nine paintings in this exhibition, including the two that focus on churches,” said Smythe.

His paintings feature rich, bright color and a loose application of paint, often with the help of a palette knife. All of the paintings are framed and reasonably priced. Organized by the Macon County Art Association (of which he is a member), this is the third art exhibition of a yearlong schedule to be held at SCC. More paintings by the artists can be seen at the MCAA website mcaauptowngallery.org under Member Artists.

With final figures just tallied, Southwestern Community College Dean of Student Services Phil Weast said enrollment numbers are up 14 percent this spring over last spring with some 2,367 students taking college credit classes.

This increase comes after a 12 percent enrollment growth in the fall.

Groves

In addition to the increase in college credit enrollment, Southwestern enrolled more than 7,000 students in continuing education offerings such as adult literacy, industry training, small business seminars/workshops and arts and crafts classes.

Why the growth? SCC President Cecil Groves said, “Several factors account for the large increase. Certainly, the downturn in the national economy, causing increased concern for job security, is a key factor. Also, the faculty and staff at Southwestern have worked hard to make college classes more accessible as well as affordable for students.”

“For example,” he added, “this spring Southwestern instituted a more student-friendly scheduling format allowing students more time for work and family. And, Southwestern has continued to actively expand online learning options for students.”

“But probably most important is the national and statewide recognition of Southwestern for teaching excellence and student success. Something interesting we saw last semester and it carried over into this semester is that Southwestern has become the college of first choice for a greater segment of the population,” said Groves. “Our applications are coming in early so students, especially those right out of high school, are considering us as a first choice. In these tough economic times students- and their families- understand the need to cut costs, including higher education. Our affordability is certainly a smart investment. More and more students are staying closer to home and taking their first two years of college with us then transferring on to a four-year institution to complete their baccalaureate degree.”

In mainly urban areas, community college enrollment often goes up when the economy goes down, according to Groves. “The higher the unemployment rate, the higher the enrollment numbers. But in our case here in rural Western North Carolina, our enrollment increase has as much to do with that change in public perception as it does with the recession.

“Statewide our Community College President Scott Ralls has said, ‘Community colleges play the role of the economic cavalry that people look to when times get tough.’”

However, the irony, Groves said, is that just as Southwestern and other community colleges are seeing enrollments soar, they are being asked to significantly reduce operating costs.

“We’re facing a very real and serious challenge in handling an increase in demand while revenues decrease,” Groves said. “But be assured, Southwestern will do everything possible to provide an exceptional education experience without compromising quality or services.”

Southwestern Community College recently received funding to continue its work as the Western Regional Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. SCC is one of three regional centers which are part of the North Carolina Community College System’s statewide NC-NET initiative.

This year’s grant brings the six-year funding total to $215,000, according to Laura Pennington, SCC’s director of community and resource development.

The North Carolina Network for Excellence in Teaching is designed to support high-quality teaching at the 58 community colleges in North Carolina, Pennington said.

“Our focus is on community college teaching and learning, as well as leadership and professional development,” Pennington said.

Upcoming NC-NET seminars funded by the project include Active Learning in the College Classroom to be presented by SCC office systems technology instructor Elizabeth Haynes on Monday, Feb. 9, at 2 p.m.; Leadership on Fire presented by Jim Cain of Teamwork and Teamplay, Inc. on Friday, Feb. 27, at 10 a.m.; Assessing College Student Learning to be presented by SCC dean of arts and sciences Barb Putman, on Tuesday, March 10, at 2 p.m. All of these seminars will be held on the Jackson Campus. To register, call Darlene Peebles at 586-4091, ext. 300.

The North Carolina Network for Excellence in Teaching was established in 2003 as a cost-effective statewide infrastructure for the development and delivery of faculty professional development.

“One of the good things about it,” said Putman, “is that it helps North Carolina community colleges share resources and avoid duplication. We can collaborate and network among the colleges. Plus, it works two-fold. We let faculty know what’s available out there for them as well as respond to their requests of what they need.

“By utilizing a resource-rich and interactive web portal, faculty across the state can learn about conferences/training opportunities, access face-to-face and on-line seminars, chat with other instructors across the state via discussion boards, and search for ‘best practice’ resources through an interactive database. We also have a library collection of text, video and other materials showcasing effective teaching practices that is available for inter-library loan through WebCat.”

For more information, visit http://nc-net.info or contact Putman at 828-586-4091, ext. 496.

Southwestern Community College has added two programs of study: office administration with a legal concentration and medical office administration.

Both programs address a growing need in the region for professionals trained in these areas, according to Elizabeth Haynes, SCC office systems technology instructor.

The core courses for office administration are designed to help students acquire business and office administration knowledge and develop skills in communication, computer technology and problem solving. With the addition of five legal courses, the legal concentration program is ideal for people interested in working in a law office or for a government agency, Haynes said.

With the addition of six medical courses, Haynes said the medical office administration program is ideal for people who want to work in a health care setting, but who do not want to be clinicians.

For more information, contact Haynes at 586.4091, ext. 240.

Early registration at Southwestern Community College is Nov. 17-21.

Change comes to Southwestern Community College this January when the college implements a four-day class option that officials predict will greatly benefit students.

Starting with spring semester on Jan. 7, many classes will run on a Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday schedule, rather than the traditional Monday, Wednesday, Friday or Monday through Friday schedule.

Many students will be able to enroll in a full-time load of classes while attending college four days per week instead of the traditional five days per week.

“We expecting it will save our students both time and money,” said Gene Couch, SCC vice president for instruction and student services.

After studying the research and success rate of other colleges that converted to a four-day week, Southwestern faculty and administration designed their new schedule to respond to student economic, family and work commitments.

“In tough economic times we realize that our students may need to work more hours. So access was a key factor in our new scheduling,” said SCC President Cecil Groves.

According to Couch, “It’s been said that, ‘Education is thousands of years of tradition bound in hundreds of years of bureaucracy.’ Our goal at Southwestern is to break down that bureaucracy. We’ve reconceptualized the traditional college schedule to benefit our students.”

Previously, a typical schedule might include classes on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays that last an hour and 15 minutes. Those will be consolidated into lengthened Monday and Wednesday classes.

“This will eliminate students having to come to campus on Fridays,” said Couch. “It should free up their time and also save them some gas money.”

M-W-F classes will now fit the same template as Tuesday-Thursday classes, he said. “There we work the same amount of credit hours into a two-day week.”

The new schedule leaves Fridays open for extended 3-hour class formats like those currently offered in the evening. For instance, morning classes will be from 8-11 a.m. with afternoon classes from noon to 3 p.m.

Students may have work or family obligations Monday through Thursday and they could balance those commitments with college courses on Fridays. Some students and faculty prefer one-day classes where they can focus their attention on the course for an extended period of time, Couch said.

“By taking Friday-only classes, along with online courses, students can still complete their associate’s degree in two years,” Couch said.

“We are not doing anything less or compromising our students’ educational experience,” Groves said. “We’re simply allowing them better access.”

Couch said the college continues to extend its online courses which complements the move to help students save time and money. “Our online students tell us they really like working from home and setting their own schedules to do their course work. Many of them work online late at night if they have a day job or have to get their kids to bed.”

Some programs, such as health sciences, may not change to a four-day or one-day schedule design. These programs may have clinical or coursework expectations that require a five-day approach.

“At the end of the spring semester, we’ll evaluate the schedule change. If students continue to do well in their courses and feel that the college schedule meets their needs, then the new schedule may become the traditional schedule at Southwestern,” Groves said.

“Our goal is to make our roads and highways safe for everyone,” said District Attorney Mike Bonfoey.

That’s why he partnered with the community colleges of Western North Carolina to launch a Safe Driving Education Program. The program is available in the 30th judicial district, which includes Haywood, Jackson, Swain, Clay, Cherokee, Macon and Graham counties.

Meeting at the Jackson County Courtroom participants in a new safe driving program discuss how the program will operate. From left are Susan McCaskill, Southwestern Community College vice president of extension education, District Attorney Mike Bonfoey, Camila Wright, assistant district attorney, Curtis Dowdle, SCC director of extension education, public safety instructor, Stacy France, SCC director of extension education, personal enrichment and Chip McDonald, president of the Safety and Health Council of North Carolina.

Have you received a minor traffic citation or ticket recently? If you have, but don’t want your insurance rates to go up, you may be eligible to complete a four-hour defensive driving course. By completing the course drivers could save money on their insurance, keep points off their license and sharpen their driving skills.

To take advantage of the program drivers should register and complete the four-hour course before their court date. The cost for the course is $60. Drivers must then enter a written plea agreement and plead guilty to a lesser charge. Court costs and fines will be assessed.

Classes on Southwestern’s Jackson Campus are the first and third Tuesdays from 6-10 p.m. and the fourth Saturday from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Classes at SCC’s Macon Campus are the second and fourth Monday from 6-10 p.m. and the second Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. At the Swain Campus classes will be held the fourth Tuesday from 6-10 p.m. Drivers must register five business days prior to the class.

Some of the violations eligible are speeding, failing to reduce speed, exceeding safe speed, failure to reduce speed, stop sign violation, unsafe movement, red light violation, improper passing, improper use of traffic lane, failure to give turn signal, driving left of center, failure to burn or dim headlights and crossing median.

Drivers are not eligible if they have a commercial driver’s license and the violation occurred while they were operating a commercial vehicle. Drivers are also ineligible if an accident was involved that resulted in personal injury to someone or resulted in property damage in excess of $1,000. Other restrictions may apply.

For more information, call 828 586-4091, ext. 272 or 497.