Core4STEM Expo

Analisa Garza
Guest Blogger

Last week the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce teamed up with representatives from Fortune 500 companies, governmental agencies, universities and colleges, and local high schools to host the third annual CORE4STEM EXPO at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. The EXPO is part of the Chamber’s STEM initiative to encourage students by increasing awareness and interest in college and career goals with a long term effect of attracting higher paying jobs to San Antonio thus strengthening and increasing the cities prosperity (“Core 4 stem,” 2012).

Approximately 2,000 7th and 8th graders had the opportunity to broaden their understanding of STEM college and career goals by participating in hands-on activities, viewing demonstrations, and hearing from guest speakers including Jose Hernandez, the first Latino astronaut.

Thanks to the coordinating efforts of Helen Torres, SAC Director of Partnerships and Extended Services, and her staff, San Antonio College had the opportunity to participate in the EXPO by hosting hundreds of students with learner-centered hands-on sessions in STEM fields.

Students were introduced to the world of “Polyhedron and OCTA-TETRA Models” by Dan Suttin, SAC Math Lab tutor, where they learned the connections between these shapes and their applications to careers in architecture, engineering, design, art and mathematics.They were able to apply cyber security principles through simulated programs led by Troy Touchette, chair of Computer Information Systems, where they defended computers from hackers.

They also visited five activity tables led by SAC STEM students where they were introduced to multiple engineering careers including Bio Engineering using equipment provided by the SAC Biology Department and Geothermal Engineering using models provided by Adelante Tejas. Following these activities the students participated in Q&A sessions with Dr. Dan Dimitriu, Program Coordinator of SAC Engineering, and current SAC engineering students Kat Bently and Christopher Woods.

At the completion of each session the SAC College Connections team distributed buttons, backpacks, T-shirts, and information regarding the STEM programs available to their age group on our campus.

This event was a great success for our city and due to the collaborative efforts of all the STEM affiliated departments on our campus; it was a wonderful representation of the opportunities available to students through San Antonio College.

 

Analisa Garza is the MESA Center Coordinator.

Changing nursing, changing healthcare

Dr. Roswitha Davies 
Guest Blogger

What comes to your mind when you hear the word “nurse?” Do you think of a person who

Dr. Roswitha Davies

takes care of sick people in a hospital? Do you think of a person who works in a doctor’s office or a clinic who give pills and shots?  Most students who apply to the Nursing program at San Antonio College have an idea of what it means to be a nurse.

When looking at nursing on a broader level of a profession, however, our image is not as clear. Within nursing, we have licensed vocational nurses (LVN) and registered nurses (RN). Both levels are licensed to practice by the state upon completion of their programs, but the amount of training is different. Licensed vocational nurses receive one year of training and a certificate upon completion. Registered nurses may receive their training at a two-year community college and receive an associate degree or at a four-year university where they receive a bachelor’s degree. Registered nurses may further their education at a master’s or doctorate level.

Licensing ensures that all nurses are safe to practice in their jobs, and institutions that hire nurses ensure that the nurse’s job responsibilities do not exceed the level of training the nurse received. However, some research is finding that nurses at the bachelor’s level or higher can better deal with the evolving and complex healthcare system of the future.

In 2008, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Institute of Medicine undertook an initiative for the purpose of making recommendations for the future of nursing. A report, released in 2010 was titled “The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health.”  Regarding nursing education, the report recommended that “nurses should achieve higher levels of education and training through an improved education system that promotes seamless academic progression.” The report further recommended that by 2020, the proportion of nurses with a bachelor’s degree should increase from 50 percent to 80 percent.

The ability to progress to the next level of education is not new in nursing. Mobility programs have been in existence for many years for LVNs to further their education and become registered nurses. Programs are also available for registered nurses with associate degrees to obtain bachelor’s degrees. Many of RN- to-BSN programs are available but currently only about 17 percent  of nurses with associate degrees continue to a bachelor’s degree. From this report, an idea was born in Texas to reduce barriers in the state that hinder successful academic progression from an associate to a bachelor’s degree in nursing.

This initiative became the Consortium for the Advancement of Baccalaureate Nursing Education in Texas (CABNET). San Antonio College is among 45 community colleges and 16 universities that have expressed interest in participating. In addition to reducing transfer and financial barriers to educational progression, CABNET has taken on a broader goal of revising the way nursing education is taught. Content taught in the various nursing programs would build from basic knowledge and skill taught at community college level to deeper learning at the university level. This common curriculum would eliminate duplication of courses and re-teaching of content that currently exists.

The CABNET plan allows for all required general education courses to be taken at the community colleges that would further reduce tuition costs. Finally, the CABNET plan still allows for the student, upon completion of the associate degree requirements, to become licensed and enter the workforce as a registered nurse. The CABNET initiative is moving into its development phase with the plan to begin implementation in Fall 2013.

Dr. Roswitha Davies is an associate professor in the Nursing Department  @ SAC.

Getting an early start in technology

Troy Touchette
Guest Blogger

Getting prepared for a career in Information Technology can be a challenge. It is essential to have both experience and training for this industry. Training can be expensive and building experience can be difficult.

The training provided in San Antonio College’s Computer Information Systems Department is probably one of the most economical sources in the area. It is top-notch training at a reasonable cost. For those willing to start early, the deal is even better.

The Alamo Academies Information Technology and Security Academy (ITSA) allows area students to take dual-credit courses during their last two years of high school and earn more than 30 hours of college credit at no cost to the student.

The training in this program is provided by San Antonio College and includes the same college level courses taught on the main campus and includes the course ware certified by the National Security Agency to meet the Committee on National Security Systems Standards.

During the summer of their first year ITSA students work in an internship program that gives them valuable experience in the industry. Many of the students continued to work for the organizations after the summer internship  ended. After finishing at ITSA, students can complete an Associate’s Degree in Information Security and Assurance and ultimately can transfer into a Bachelor’s degree at a four-year university.

It’s a very good way to get an early start for those interested in a career in Cyber Security.

Troy Touchette is the new chair of Computer Information Systems:  Alamo.edu/sac/cis
For more information about the Alamo Academies,  www.alamo.edu/academies/

Astronomy vs. Astrology: Words matter!

 David A. Wood Jr.
Guest Blogger

Too often, we are loose with our vocabulary, and we end up saying or writing one thing when we really mean something else. Then our intent changes meaning and confusion reigns. When you are an astronomer, this most commonly occurs when others mistakenly refer to you as an “astrologer.” Astronomy and astrology have a long, intertwined, and tense history, but there is a huge difference between them.

Astrology is a pseudoscience, having more in common with fortune telling than science. It claims to use the Sun, Moon, and planet positions against the background stars to predict human events on Earth. When an astrologer casts a horoscope for you, she claims that your day, week, month, or year are predestined by the relative positions of seven objects, most of which are tens of millions or even hundreds of millions kilometers away! Furthermore, generic horoscopes, based only upon the Sun’s position, attempt to describe the lives of 500 million diverse people whose only connection is that they were born in the same 30-day calendar period. Why, then, are some twins so different?

Astronomy, on the other hand, is a true science that relies on the scientific method to determine how the universe works. Astronomers are not going to cast a horoscope for you, but that doesn’t mean that astronomy doesn’t affect your daily life. In fact, just the opposite is true. Astronomical events are so fundamentally hard-wired into your DNA, that you unconsciously follow their patterns. Seasons are caused by the tilt of Earth’s axis. The Moon’s phase cycle affects everything from tides to fertility.

Weeks are divided into seven days, each originally to honor one of the seven moving celestial objects: Sunday is the Sun’s day; Monday (lunes) is the Moon’s day; Tuesday (martes) is Tews’s or Mars’s day; Wednesday (miercoles) is Woden’s or Mercury’s day; Thursday (jueves) is Thor’s or Jupiter’s day; Friday (viernes) is Freya’s or Venus’s day; and Saturday is Saturn’s day. Even the designations of a.m. (short for ante meridiem, means “before midday”) and p.m. (short for post meridiem, means “after midday”) are astronomical relics that remain in our lexicon.

There is one last dirty little secret that astrologers won’t tell you. Your horoscope sign is wrong by a month. Astrologers tell me that I am a Libra, and 5,000 years ago, the Sun was indeed in Libra in early October; however, thanks to a phenomenon called “precession,” the Sun drifted into Virgo in early October almost 2,000 years ago. So, should I read the Libra horoscope, or should I drift back a month to read the Virgo horoscope?

In the end it doesn’t matter. I get to choose my destiny. It is not predetermined by the random location of a few remote objects on the day I was born.

Dr. David A. Wood Jr. is the Director of Institutional Research, Planning, and Effectiveness. He is an astronomy instructor at SAC.

How San Antonio College fits in City Mission

Helen Torres
Guest Blogger

San Antonio College is participating in the upcoming STEM Expo Nov. 8-9 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. This Expo aims to reach out to middle school students in five school districts: Edgewood, Southwest, South San, San Antonio and Harlandale.

Helen Torres

Among the interactive sessions will be various SAC departments. These include: Dr. Dan Dimitriu, Engineering; Dan Suttin, math tutor; and Troy Touchette, Computer Information Services. Touchette will be accompanied by students from the Information and Technology and Security Academy. They took top honors in March at the CyberPatriot IV-The National High School Cyber Defense Competition in Washington, D.C.

The interactive sessions are designed to spark student interest in STEM careers at an early age. The overall goal of the college, businesses and city is to encourage engineers and scientists in San Antonio and keep the brainpower here. If we grow our city’s workforce in the STEM areas, San Antonio will attract strong business and industries that will pay competitive wages and raise income levels in San Antonio.

San Antonio College faculty have stepped up again to support community initiatives, the Mayor’s Educational 2020 goals, and support SAC’s goals of improved student success.

This partnership is a win-win for future SAC students who are being exposed to STEM careers early, and for the future workforce of the City of San Antonio.

Helen Torres, SAC’s Director of Partnerships & Extended Services, serves on the Hispanic Chamber Education Committee, and is responsible for forging college partnerships like this one with the Hispanic Chamber, UTSA, and area school districts.

Adelante Tejas – Year one nears completion

 By Title V Grant staff
 Guest Bloggers

In October 2011, San Antonio College (SAC) and Sul Ross State University (SRSU) began the Adelante Tejas (Forward Texas) grant partnership to improve Science, Technology, Engineering and Math education for Hispanic and low-income Texas students. This Title V grant seeks to increase the number of students declaring STEM majors at SAC and matriculate them through to corresponding graduate programs at SRSU.

Counselor Rosa Maria Gonzalez and Instructor Alfred Alaniz advise a SAC student.

SAC’s grant support staff came on board in early 2012, which included a web master, a programmer, a student success specialist, a research specialist, and a pipeline coordinator. Grant staff from SAC and SRSU quickly began a comfortable long-distance working relationship.

In April 2012, Sul Ross hosted the first site visit in Alpine, for six San Antonio College delegates. Faculty and staff from both institutions met their counterparts, toured the university campus, visited the McDonald Observatory and explored Big Bend National Park together.

In June 2012 the combined Adelante Tejas team conducted a three-day STEM Summer Institute at San Antonio College to introduce faculty to new technological opportunities that could enhance STEM instruction.

Attendees learned how audiovisual podcasts could be used to supplement traditional classes and each recorded a short podcast to get more comfortable with the process. The Adelante Tejas grant calls for the development of 10 podcasts per year. As of this writing, nine podcasts have been recorded and eight have been delivered.

The Summer Institute participants also learned about 3D visualization technologies and were shown examples of how those could supplement STEM classes to clarify difficult concepts or to virtually ‘share’ bulky classroom models and physical artifact samples with students. Currently, faculty has proposed six 3D visualization projects and four proof-of-concept examples have been completed.

Fostering student-faculty rapport was the focus of an intensive four-day academic advising training institute that took place in July at SAC. Nine SAC faculty members and the SRSU Adelante Tejas director, Leslie Hopper, attended the institute. Video of these training sessions was streamed live over the Internet for those SRSU faculty and staff who were not able to attend.

This advising institute was designed to equip faculty with the tools, support and encouragement needed to advise students. In addition to training and workshop exercises, question and answer sessions with students gave the faculty first-hand exposure to real student concerns and insight into relevant advising strategies. Grant representatives, with assistance from staff and faculty from both institutions, are developing an institutional articulation agreement and a draft has been proposed. In addition to the agreement draft, three majors have been selected for the development of transfer guides. These include a BS in Biology, BS in Wildlife-Biology and a BS in Mathematics. A draft for the BS in Mathematics has been developed and has been presented for approval to department chairs at both institutions.

As part of the articulation agreement discussion, several instruments that would assist in the SAC to SRSU transfer process have been considered for inclusion. The addition of a consortium agreement would allow students to receive credit for hours enrolled at SAC to be considered in their financial aid package from Sul Ross for each semester they are co-enrolled. Also, a joint admissions agreement would allow SAC students to receive academic and financial advising through web-conferencing from SRSU staff before official admission into SRSU.

Representatives from both institutions continue to hold weekly web conferences and plan to finalize the articulation agreement, the BS in Mathematics transfer planning guide, the consortium agreement and the joint admissions agreement in anticipation of a signing ceremony in Spring 2013.

In August 2012, some 10 members of SAC’s faculty and staff (along with one student) visited the Sul Ross campus and learned more about the unique field research opportunities available to students in and around the West Texas Chisos Mountain range. SAC geology major Reuben Uribe met with SRSU graduate students and was invited to participate in hydrology field research the following week. This unexpected invitation is a prime example of the collaboration that can develop from this partnership.

As the first grant year comes to a close, SAC and Sul Ross have developed a solid foundation for the success of the Adelante Tejas grant and we are looking forward to the next four years.