TMCC Selected as One of Four Colleges for SJI Program
TMCC was recently selected as one of four colleges to participate in a year-long hands-on learning and design process with Student-Centered Design Team at the Seattle Jobs Initiative (SJI), an organization that partners with higher education and training institutions to make those programs more responsive to underserved students in need of these additional resources.
TMCC was one of four colleges selected to participate in the year-long program. Each successful institution demonstrated a strong commitment to student well-being, student-centered practices, and meeting Career and Technical (CTE) student needs.
The TMCC application team, which includes Interim Dean of the Technical Sciences Division Barbara Walden, Career Hub Program Coordinator Sidney Sullivan, Educational Partnership Program Coordinator Camille Vega and Executive Director of Retention Support Joan Steinman, completed the application process for the SNAPET (SNAP Employment and Training) program.
“This is a student-centered design approach,” said Steinman. “Through these methodologies, we will be able to learn about barriers that are keeping students from utilizing these resources.” These barriers could take many forms: do students not know about the program? Is the application process too difficult?
According to Steinman, over one thousand TMCC students qualify for the SNAPET program, but only a small number (20 or so) are currently receiving these benefits. SNAPET provides participants with access to training and support services to enter or move up in the workforce and can be utilized by students who are taking classes full-time. Currently, students can apply for SNAP and SNAPET benefits through the Educational Partnership Programs website.
“We want to encourage students to use this program, which includes mentoring and financial support,” said Steinman, who explained that the SNAPET program is a self-sustaining program, thanks to reimbursements that are supplied to TMCC through the Nevada Department of Welfare and Social Services.
Working with SJI will ultimately help each participating college design better solutions for connecting students to available resources, and to develop new strategies to promote student retention and completion as well as resilient practices to support student success. “This year-long program will also help us to meet other goals in terms of increasing student diversity in CTE programs, as well as provide us with the tools we can use apply to other programs at TMCC to increase student access and use,” she said.
TMCC Interim Executive Director of Facilities Operations and Capital Planning Featured in Publication
Recently, Dr. Ayodele Akinola was featured in Facilities Manager, a professional publication of APPA, Leadership in Educational Facilities, an organization that supports excellence with quality leadership and professional management through education, research, and recognition. The article “Taking Our Temp: How Has FM Fared?” offered perspectives from facilities professionals from around the country as we approach the one-year anniversary of campus shut-downs due to COVID-19 and how the pandemic affected institutions, their staff and what positive outcomes came out of this unusual year.
Akinola reported on the insights he gained for safety and in particular, disinfection protocols established at TMCC locations, given the limited number of in-person labs that remained in place. “The sudden emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic presented huge disinfection challenges,” he reported. These risks were mitigated thanks to an EPA-registered, water-based antimicrobial technology that provided persistent and continuous protection against the COVID-19 microbe on surfaces at each TMCC location.
"The commitment of the Facilities and Auxiliary services team during the COVID-19 pandemic and always is centered on the safety of staff, faculty, and students,” Akinola said. “We take careful and thoughtful approaches to strategize and aim for unsurpassed customer service delivery; protecting the health of our campus community by minimizing the spread of illness, and the promotion of a healthy environment, considering the commitment of TMCC to environmental sustainability."
Student Services Division is Open for Business
As TMCC moves forward into Stage 3 operations, TMCC students, faculty, and staff can get ready to re-start routines that COVID-19 might have forced them to leave behind, including the pursuit of health and wellness! Get ready to get your hearts pumping and to pump that iron: on Monday, April 5 the TMCC Sport and Fitness Center is scheduled to open its doors to members.
While things won’t be exactly the same as they were pre-COVID (gym-goers will have to make an appointment for their workout ahead of time, wear a mask and practice safety and social-distancing while using all cardio and strength/resistance equipment), some things will not change: you’re guaranteed a clean, well-organized space in which to pursue your fitness and wellness goals at the Dandini Campus.
In addition to welcoming back Sport and Fitness Center members and staff, TMCC’s move to Stage 3 mean that many of the student services offered by the college, such as Academic Advising, Counseling, and the Career Hub (to name a few examples) will start offering in-person appointments as of Monday, April 5.
Appointments can be made with each respective department by visiting their website, clicking the department “contact us” page and asking for more information.
Recruitment and Access Center Joins Forces with the Food Bank
Before the shutdowns due to COVID-19 last year, TMCC’s Recruitment and Access Center (RAC) participated in the quarterly in-person Family Health Festivals sponsored by the Food Bank of Northern Nevada held throughout the year, handing out information about our programs as well as TMCC swag items. While the in-person events are still on pause, RAC continues its work of reaching out to the community to provide resources and support.
Recently, TMCC’s RAC team was one of 35 community partners to provide materials that were used to create over 500 resource kits that were distributed at the drive-through Family Health Festival on March 20.
TMCC’s contributions included Steps to Enroll, information about Financial Aid, viewbooks, health sciences programs, dual credit and Success First flyers and a wide variety of TMCC swag items, such as t-shirts, mugs, hats, pencils, pens and notebooks to name a few examples.