Dr. Norm Stephens, president, South Florida State College; Dr. Eileen Holden, president, Polk State College; Laurie Stephens; and Dr. Katherine M. Johnson, president, Pasco-Hernando Community College.

South Florida State College President Dr. Norm Stephens Jr. recently received the 2013 Distinguished Service Award from the Florida Association of Colleges and Universities (FAC&U). The award presentation took place at the association’s annual meeting on June 5 in Orlando.

Since 1969, the FAC&U annually recognizes outstanding and dedicated individuals who have demonstrated exceptional involvement or made significant contributions to not-for-profit higher education in Florida, both public and private.

“I nominated Norm because I have watched and admired his leadership for many years,” said Dr. Eileen Holden, president, Polk State College, and chair, FAC&U Distinguished Service Award Committee. “He possesses the attributes that all presidents want to emulate.”

To be considered for the Distinguished Service Award nominators must include a brief biographical sketch, statement of reasons why nominee deserves the award, nominee’s contributions to local community and state, list of recognitions and awards related to education, and letters of support.

“Stephens is highly regarded as a president who believes every employee, whether it’s the custodian or the long-time department head, contributes to the effectiveness of the institution,” Holden said in a nomination letter to the FAC&U.  “Dr. Stephens’ tireless pursuit of innovation, inspiring brand of leadership, and unwavering commitment to student success justify the honor.”

“At the point when others might feel they’ve done enough to serve their students, he just keeps going,” Holden said. “No detail is too small for his concern. No big-picture initiative is too ambitious. If it will help his students succeed in college, earn their degrees, and build better lives for themselves and their families, Dr. Stephens will make it happen.”

Established in 1933, the Florida Association of Colleges and Universities is the only non-governmental organization in Florida that represents the common interests of all three sectors of the state’s higher educational systems – state universities, public community colleges, and private, independent colleges and universities.

SFSC employees recently gathered for a pot luck luncheon to wish Norm Church a fond farewell. Pictured left to right: Randy Paeplow, Jim Robertson, Norm Church, Joel Boydston, Daniel Keller, John Byrd, and Tom Bush.

After 29 years of service to South Florida State College, Norman Church, professor of building maintenance, retires June 18. Church has been employed as a part-time faculty member for three years and as a full-time faculty member for 26 years.

Church moved to Highlands County in 1980 from Orlando. Prior to working at SFSC, he owned and operated Norm’s Cabinets in Sebring for four years.

Over the years, he has worked as a teacher aide in carpentry and adjunct instructor in carpentry and drafting. Church spent 26 years at SFSC as professor of carpentry and building maintenance at AMIkids Last Chance Ranch. During that time, he taught students tool safety, measuring, carpentry, construction, electrical skills, fabrication, and shop practices.

AMIkids Last Chance Ranch was a moderate risk, residential program in a ranch style setting that served male students, ages 15-18. The Last Chance Ranch provided students with structure, consistency, care, and rehabilitation to address students’ behavioral, educational, and career goals.

At first, Church was a bit overwhelmed when he started working at SFSC in 1984. “I didn’t know what to expect,” he said. “Everyone turned out to be impressively welcoming and helpful. In return, I do the same with fellow colleagues.”

“Norm was one of those employees that you never had to wonder if he going to follow up on this or if he’s doing what he’s supposed to,” said Tom Bush, chair, Technical and Industrial Education, SFSC.  “He never complained about extra paperwork or assignments.”

“By far the best part of working at SFSC has been the students,” Church said. “Being able to give students direction, ideas, and then to see their growth has been amazing.”

Larry Hooper, former SFSC professor of electronics, inspired Church the most. “He treated me like a friend right away,” he said. “Over the years, we developed a close bond, and he made my job easier.”

Church has watched SFSC expand significantly over the years with new programs and new buildings, such as the SFSC University Center, the Dr. Norman L. Stephens Jr. Health and Science Education Center, and the Hardee and DeSoto campuses.

“Norm touched the lives a countless young men who were going through a challenging time early in life,” Bush said. “He treated them with respect, taught them skills they could use once they got back to the real world, and he tried to instill his same good work ethic in them.”

During his retirement, Church will remain in Highlands County and plans to spend time traveling, camping, fishing, and trying to relax. As an avid volunteer, he plans to become more involved in his church, Elks Club, community service projects, Boy Scouts, and Rotary International.

“SFSC provides a high quality education,” Church said. “It’s been an honor and a pleasure to work here.”

“I’m anxious to retire,” Church said. “But I look forward to new challenges and God’s plans for my future.”

Pam Boden, Cindy Rose, Amy Dow, Becki Lowery, Ashley Bennett, Sandy Ellis, and Sandy Turke.

Students and employees celebrated during Norm’s Retirement Picnic on June 12 on the College’s Highlands Campus. The picnic was held in honor of Dr. Stephens, who retires from the college on June 30. The celebration included food and live music by Broken Road and Wicked Soundz. The event was sponsored by SFSC’s Chapter of Association of Florida Colleges (AFC).

To view a photo gallery from the event, click the link below:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sfscpanthers/sets/72157634111986722/

SFSC’s Dean of Cultural Programs Doug Andrews, keyboard, is a member of the jazz band Emanon.

Over 150 people gathered to hear jazz band, Emanon, along with special guest Terry Myers, perform a benefit concert in the South Florida State College University Center Auditorium on June 8.

Approximately $1,905 dollars was raised at the concert through ticket sales and donations.  All proceeds went to the SFSC’s Foundation, Inc. to benefit the newly established Dr. Norman L. Stephens Jr. Endowment.

The Dr. Norman L. Stephens Jr. Endowment has been set up through the SFSC Foundation, Inc. as a means to continue to provide funds for scholarships, equipment, the establishment of endowed teaching chairs, and support for faculty, staff, and program mini-grants.

Emanon performed well-known standards, such as “Don’t Get Around,” “Night And Day,” “One Note Samba,” “Take The A Train,” and “This Masquerade,” as well as some Latin, swing, funk, originals, and more.

Emanon is a group of local jazz musicians founded by Dave Naylor. Band members include Dave Naylor, trumpet, piccolo trumpet, and flugelhorn; Manny Patiño, bass; Martin Rimoldi, guitar; Doug Andrews, keyboard; and Bill Anderson, drums.

Joining Emanon for this special event was guest artist Terry Myers (reeds). His long list of performance credits includes Bill Allred’s Classic Jazz Band, Buddy Morrow, the Tex Beneke Orchestra, the Les Elgart Band, the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, Ray Charles, and Wayne Newton. He has performed at a number of prestigious jazz festivals around the world, as well as on the SFSC’s Jazz Series several times.

Lake Placid High School’s Class of 1963 gathered at their old school to celebrate their 50th reunion. First row, left to right: Susan (Parham) Dambrell; Myrna (Lewis) Wood; Joy (Fagan) Christino; Carole Anne (Rose) Soule’; Brenda (Ott) Jennings. Second row: Frank Rider; Carol (Worley) Berry; Nancy (Endicott) Worley; Vicki (Henry) Rapley, Helen (Rosser) Schlueter; Miriam (Browning Partridge. Third row: Sally (Stidham) Claire; Robert Aronhalt; Henry Danley; Ray Dambrell; Floyd Cobb; David Spillman. Back row: Jack Hathaway; Charles (“Chuck”) Briggs.

The Lake Placid High School class of 1963 recently gathered at South Florida State College’s (SFSC) Lake Placid Center to celebrate their 50^th year reunion.

Out of the graduating class of 27 students, 23 attended the reunion on Saturday, June 8. Six of the students began their academic venture in 1951 at the Lake Placid School from kindergarten to the day they graduated from 12^th grade in 1963. Classmates came from Indiana, California, Colorado, Arizona, Georgia, and all around Florida.

“We had a spectacular turnout, it was even more special that SFSC allowed us to walk the hallways, visit old classrooms, and reminisce on old memories,” said Sally Claire, a graduate of 1963 and reunion organizer.

Prior to the building of Lake Placid Elementary in the early 1970s, the Lake Placid School was the place of learning for students from Kindergarten through 12^th grade. The building was later opened as SFSC’s Lake Placid Center in December 1984.

In attendance was Dr. Robert Fitzgerald, one of their former high school instructors, a former member of the Highlands County School Board, and a retired professor from SFSC.

“We thoroughly enjoyed retracing our steps from our first grade classroom right up to our senior year class taught by Dr. Robert Fitzgerald,” Claire said. “Everyone was just delighted to have Dr. Robert Fitzgerald join us in the classroom where he taught us as his first students when he began teaching in the 1962-63 school year.”

The highlight of their reunion was visiting the gym where they used to play basketball, perform class plays, and hold school assemblies.

“What a special day it was to return to our old school building and walk the halls together once again,” Claire said. “Although there have been many changes, it still felt a lot like home”

South Florida State College’s Camp Adventure student’s surprised Dr. Norm Stephens by dancing to the Harlem Shake at Norm’s Retirement Picnic on June 12 at Panther Cove Park, Highlands Campus.

Six career professionals from Taiwan toured South Florida State College’s Highlands Campus Tuesday as part of Rotary Group Study Exchange Program conducted through Rotary International District 6890, West Central Florida. Dr. Kimberly Batty-Herbert, dean, Arts and Sciences, and a member of the Avon Park Noon Rotary, led the visitors through the Dr. Norman L. Stephens Jr. Health and Science Education Center, the Public Service Academy, the SFSC Theatre for the Performing Arts, and the SFSC Museum of Florida Art and Culture. While visiting a radiography class, the guests observed Kayla Shiver, 2013 class president, performing the process for making computer tomography (CT) scans.  Funded by the Rotary Foundation, the Group Study Exchange Program is a cultural and vocational learning opportunity for business people ages 25-40.

On May 22, the SFSC District Board of Trustees adopted a budget for next year.  During the workshop, I described the budget development process as difficult and confusing.  Difficult, because certain expenses are increasing beyond our control, and there are insufficient revenues to support many new initiatives.   As everyone knows, this is not a unique outcome.  Confusing, because complicated legislation and conflicts between the legislature and the governor caused last minute changes to our budget proposal.  Nevertheless, we have a budget that allows us to continue our core mission and to serve our students and our communities.

While the overall state appropriation for the Florida College System increased by $52 million (4.9 percent), only $13.3 million of that is actually distributed through the allocation model to the 28 colleges in our system.  The larger share of the appropriation covers mandatory Florida Retirement System (FRS) employer contributions.  Additionally, the appropriation included an equalization of funding for certain colleges experiencing significant growth over the last several years.  Also, six colleges received funding for special projects.  Finally, there was a relatively small appropriation for performance-based funding for satisfactory completion of industry certification in a select few technical programs.   The legislature approved significant changes to dual enrollment funding, and we are still analyzing the impact of this.  Fortunately, our worst fears regarding developmental education were not realized, but we have some work to do in this area, as you know.

Our SFSC state appropriation increased by $584,336, or 3.9 percent, over last year.  Unfortunately, little of this increase is discretionary.  Fully, $362,000 pays for an increased FRS employer contribution, and another $126,000 funds a new agricultural program partnership.  The remainder covers anticipated insurance and utility rate increases, among other typical expenses.

Further compounding the difficulty of this budget, our federal Carl Perkins allocation for vocational programs was cut by 31 percent.  In past years, these funds provided equipment and paid faculty salaries in certain technical programs.  Fortunately, we have sufficient funds from other sources for the equipment allowing us to absorb this reduction without significant consequences.

Perhaps the only good news to us is that PECO (Public Education Capital Outlay) funding provided us with $603,263 to be used for facility maintenance, equipment repair, and safety improvements at our campuses and centers.  We were not sure of any of this funding until rather late in the legislative session.

With the governor’s veto of the 3 percent tuition increase passed by the legislature, our overall revenues for the coming year increased by only 2.64 percent.  See the paragraph above to understand how small this increase actually is.  By making certain reductions in our expenses (tightening our proverbial belts), the trustees approved a 2 percent salary increase for eligible employees in the budget.  It isn’t much, and we certainly wish it could have been more.

Those of you interested in all the details of the budget and a complete listing of projects and initiatives for the coming year can find it on the SFSC website at http://www.southflorida.edu/_documents/_iContent/trustees/Meeting%20Packets/2013/11%20-%202013%20Budget%20Workshop.pdf.

As I said, this was a difficult and confusing budget year, but we have the necessary resources to continue the efforts we make on behalf of our students.

Thank you for your cooperation and your understanding.

Norm Stephens

Emanon is a group of local jazz musicians founded by Dave Naylor, who plays trumpet, piccolo trumpet, and flugelhorn. Naylor is a longtime music teacher and was a featured soloist in the Presidential U.S. Navy Band in Washington, D.C. during the Kennedy years. Manny Patiño (bass) has over 50 recordings and has performed with Ed Calle, Arturo Sandoval, Gloria Estefan, and James Brown. Martin Rimoldi (guitar) has played with many well-known groups in his native Argentina. Doug Andrews (keyboard) has been a music instructor and performer for many years and is SFSC’s dean of Cultural Programs. Bill Anderson (drums) has recorded and played professionally with many orchestras and bands over the years and has been the director of Music Ministries at First United Methodist Church of Sebring for over 20 years.

Joining Emanon for this special event is guest artist Terry Myers (reeds). His long list of performance credits includes Bill Allred’s Classic Jazz Band, Buddy Morrow, the Tex Beneke Orchestra, the Les Elgart Band, the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, Ray Charles, and Wayne Newton. He has performed at a number of prestigious jazz festivals around the world, as well as on the SFSC Jazz Series several times.

Emanon has played hundreds of gigs locally since 2001, when it was born as a trio. Since then it has seen many variations in the lineup. Emanon will present well-known standards, such as “Don’t Get Around,” “Night And Day,” “One Note Samba,” “Take The A Train,” and “This Masquerade,” as well as some latin, swing, funk, originals, and more.

The Dr. Norman L. Stephens Jr. Endowment has been set up through the SFSC Foundation, Inc. as a means to continue to provide funds for scholarships, equipment, the establishment of endowed teaching chairs, and support for faculty, staff, and program mini-grants.

Tickets to this evening of jazz with Emanon and special guest artist Terry Myers are $15 or $20. Tickets are available for purchase online at www.performances.southflorida.edu or by calling the SFSC Box Office at 863-784-7178. SFSC Box Office hours are 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Tickets are also available by visiting the Box Office during business hours. The Box Office is located in front of the SFSC Theatre for the Performing Arts, 600 W. College Drive, Avon Park.

Anita Kovacs and Joe Sarnovsky

Anita Kovacs, controller at South Florida State College (SFSC), was presented the 2013 Ken Jarrett Service Award recently at the Florida College System’s Council of Business Affairs (COBA) summer meeting. Joe Sarnovsky, vice president for administrative and business services at Seminole State College, was the 2012 recipient and presented the award to Kovacs.

Kovacs is the first non-chief business officer to be presented the award and SFSC is the first college to have two recipients. Glenn Little, vice president of administrative services, won the award in 2005.

The award is bestowed annually in recognition of the legacy of excellence established by Ken Jarrett, who until his death in 2000, served as the director of business affairs for the Florida Division of Community Colleges. Jarrett was a co-author of the accounting manual used by all 28 colleges in the Florida College System (FCS) when it was first written in 1968.

Members of COBA nominate one business officer, controller, or human resource officer who exemplifies the spirit of Jarrett. Criteria for the award are service to the FCS and the honor the recipient brings to it. The selection committee is made up of past Ken Jarrett Award winners.

Kovacs has provided assistance to other colleges, proposed many updates to the accounting manual, and has spent a great deal of time working with the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) updates in the last year.

Kovacs has instructed staff at Northwest Florida State College and Florida Keys Community College (FKCC) in person, via phone, and Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection. She assembled FKCC’s Annual Financial Report, coordinated the GASB 45 valuations amongst Florida College System Risk Management Consortium (FCSRMC) member colleges, and generally serves as a reference for issues.

She chairs the GASB subcommittee of the COBA, which organized Continuing Professional Education (CPE) training for COBA members and presented accounting manual updates for the changes to GASB. Kovacs has been a member of Ellucian’s customer advisory board for finance, and has served as a reference to other colleges on the Banner finance module.