As most of us appreciate, the American higher education system is subject to far greater scrutiny by lawmakers, government agencies, and accrediting bodies than has ever been the case in the past. Judith Eaton, President of the Council of Higher Education Accreditation, recently presented the hallmark of this scrutiny, which revolves around student learning. There is an increased expectation that colleges and universities demonstrate that students learn what they are supposed to learn while enrolled in a particular degree program. This expectation comes with two corollaries, one financial and one programmatic. From a financial perspective, there is a demand that colleges prove – with achievement data – that both public and private

Chelsea Eubanks, founder of Faithful Fish clothing line and a graduate of the May 2010 class, visited Beacon College to inspire and enlighten the incoming freshmen class during the Orientation dinner on August 16. Her message

A Presidential Note: Scrutiny, Accreditation, and Beacon College

I N S I D E

T H I S I S S U E :

September BOT Meeting

2

Future Pull Exercise

2

Parents’ Weekend

2

Freshmen Class

3

Academic Affairs

3

Newest Beacon Family

4-5

Writing Center News

6

HR News and Budget Update

7

Construction and Facilities

8

Organizational Chart

9

Beacon Student Success Story

The Beacon NAVIGATOR

A U G U S T 3 1 , 2 0 1 1 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 4

S P E C I A L

P O I N T S O F

I N T E R E S T :

• New Beacon Newsletter Name and Format

• Exciting News about the Freshmen Class

• Plans for Increased Housing

• August Anniversaries

expenditures for higher education are well spent; the bang for the buck expectation. The new federal requirement that every institution have in place a Net Price Calculator is part of this effort because it provides information to students and parents on the actual price of going to a particular college against which they can weigh its educational advantages. Beacon, under the leadership of Financial Aid Director Shawna Wells-Booth, is developing our Net Price Calculator. From a programmatic perspective, it is not enough to provide information on student achievement; this information must be used constantly to improve the quality and effectiveness of the educational programs that are delivered. Beacon’s Quality Enhancement Plan is part of

the effort to assure that our students develop essential critical thinking skills. Data derived each year are used to improve instruction in this area. Of course, all of this points to the key question: What are students supposed to learn? What are they supposed to achieve in college? Unfortunately, there is no universal agreement on what a student should have learned in the course of a degree program. To this end, the Lumina Foundation has undertaken to establish what it calls a Degree Qualification

illustrated the possibilities of success with a Beacon education. Her mother, Linda, will also be working with the College in the future to assist with marketing efforts in behalf of Beacon. If you know of any parents of

current or past students who would be likely to assist the C o l l e g e w i t h t h e i r Institutional Advancement efforts, please notify Walt at ext. 104 or Bonnie at ext. 106.

Continued on page 6

Know Your World and Its Struggles. Chart Your Course and Succeed.

Gain. Learn. Grow.

P A G E 2

Future Pull Exercise at Beacon

September Board of Trustees Meeting The next Board of Trustees’ (BOT) meeting will be held September 16 and 17. Friday morning, Bruce Vincent, one of the Board members wil l conduct a Future Pull exercise with select members of the campus community. The afternoon agenda will consist of meetings with the BOT committees. Academic and Student Affairs will discuss new programs of study and the current learning model

as well as review grant activity and a living/learning program (that includes life coaching, health and wellness, and service and leadership). The Finance and Facilities Committee will review the College’s budget, construction issues, a new IT infrastructure, investment policies, and d e v e l o p m e n t o f a permanent endowment. Saturday morning, John will conduct a similar Future Pull exercise with members of

the Board. After that session, the committees will report on matters and officers will be elected for the upcoming year. The afternoon will consist of the Annual Meeting involving Election of Officers, By-Laws Changes, committee reports, and information items including the President’s Report, which will apprise the Board of the College’s current activities and concerns.

action plans. The Future Pull concept i nvo l ves a brainstorming exercise where a description that “impacts imaginations” will be created as to what Beacon would look like in a n i d e a l op e r a t i n g state. Then, the question is asked, “looking back, what did we do to get here?” A list identifying 25-30 concepts in answer to that question will be generated, categorically grouped, registered, and ranked from

“not important” to “very important.” Action plans a r e t h e n p u t together based on the a g r e e d u p o n t o p priorities. These priorities are then distilled into goals that will be identified and a p p r o v e d b y t h e Board. From that point, a fairly typical planning sequence with action plans, t a c t i c a l p l a n n i n g , imp lementat ion , and accountability will be set in motion.

At first glance, this article title might sound as if a health and wel lness i n i t i a t i v e i s b e i n g i m p l e m e n t e d o n campus! However, this exercise is part of a strategic planning process for the College. Both selected campus members across the College and Board members will hold sessions to focus on elements or common areas of activities and behaviors that will drive our future

Please join us for

Parents’ Weekend!

T H E B E A C O N N A V I G A T O R

• Sunday, October 9 at 11:00 a.m.: President’s State of the College Brunch at Main Street Receptions.

Attendance at these events is greatly appreciated and highly encouraged. It’s a wonderful opportunity to individually c o n t r i b u t e t o t h e “baccalaureate culture” that’s part of Beacon’s new strategic

plan. Participation at each event for faculty and staff is free. A spouse or significant other may attend Saturday evening’s event for $30 whereas Department Heads and above should plan on being present for the Brunch. Please RSVP to Kay Krenek by September 28. Again, we hope to see you there mingling and enjoying yourselves!

Parents’ Weekend — October 7-9, 2011

The Future-Pull Planning Process™ starts the planning process from the future instead of the past or present.

We hope to see you at this year’s Parents’ Weekend! The schedule of events is as follows:

• Friday, October 7 at 6:30 p.m.: Welcome Reception at the Chopping Block;

• Saturday, October 8 at 6:00 p.m.: Dinner/Dance at the Harbor Hills Country Club; and

Welcome to the Freshmen Class P A G E 3 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 4

This year, we welcomed Beacon's largest incoming class to date. Fifty-four new students enrolled for the Fall 2011 semester bringing our total student body to 154! Our acceptance

criteria was more stringent than in past years, so we are very excited that this is Beacon's highest enrollment ever! This incoming class is not only the largest we've ever had, but is also made up of students who have the highest average test scores and GPA's of any incoming Beacon class. The incoming class includes students from all over the country and several international countries too!

Library News There are new extended hours for the library: Monday to Thursday 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Sunday 1 to 5 PM! Center for Student Success Director Toni Johnson is off to a great start! Watch for a new milieu in the Center (outside Toni, Heidi and Ken's offices) t h a t w i l l b e c o m i n g

soon! Please keep in mind that academic work is being done in this area, so please watch noise levels. Institutional Effectiveness Our Five Year Interim Report and Final QEP Report are due in one year. Academic Affairs have been building learning-centered syllabi and curricular maps in preparation for the reports.

We are pleased to announce that an all-time high of 154 students are enrolled for the Fall semester! There are 76 courses/sections being offered by 22 instructors. The largest class of 16 students is Adult Development and Aging taught by Dr. Nance while the smallest class of 2 students is Stained Glass 2 taught by Van Galyon.

John welcomes the incoming freshmen class at Orientation.

News from Academic Affairs Beacon

welcomed their

largest

incoming class

to date — 154

new students!

that she loves the person who is called "Montague." Therefore, I would like to ask for your kind support of this issue showcasing a new name for the Beacon Bulletin and its changed format. I was informed that a college-wide poll was conducted to decide on the previous name.

Many, if not all of us, recall this classic quote by Shakespeare from Romeo and Juliet:. "What's in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet." Here Juliet tells Romeo that a name is an artificial and meaningless convention, and

After falling in love with Beacon and all of you in its family, I hope to contribute to its new vision by creating a publication that leads by example as conscious, capable, and forward-thinking. The Beacon Navigator is a fitting symbol for present information s h a r i n g a s w e l l a s

What’s in a Name? encouraging our success as we chart our course into the future. I hope all of you will support this endeavor and contact me with numerous s u g g e s t i o n s a n d contr ibut ions in the forthcoming issues.

~Tamara

P A G E 4

T H E B E A C O N N A V I G A T O R

Kelly Rogers

Newest Members of the Beacon Family Please join us in welcoming the following people to the Beacon family: Russ Bellamy joins Beacon as a new faculty member in Liberal Studies and will serve as an Art Instructor. He holds a B.A. in Fine Arts from Georgetown College and a M.F.A. from the University of Cincinnati. Russ was recently an adjunct professor at Valdosta State University. He also taught sculpture, 3D design, and drawing at the University of Central Oklahoma. Russ enjoys sports especially running and playing soccer. His artwork revolves around social behavioral boundaries, and he encourages adults to act like children. David Goldstein, a new Counselor for Student Services, comes to us from the Bridges of America program, where he worked as an addictions counselor. David has 20 years of experience in a variety of counseling roles. He has a Bachelor’s Degree from Barry University in Behavioral Science and is

currently completing his Master’s degree in Psychology and Counseling at Troy University. He enjoys meditation and has been a private practitioner for 16 years having created and taught a 10 week mindfulness module at Bridges of America to prisoners. He enjoys playing drums, watching hockey, living a healthy lifestyle, horror and science fiction movies and many outdoor hobbies to include camping and hiking. I He likes spiritual and self-help reading and likes both cats and dogs. He has traveled a bit and has lived overseas three times for two month stays. Toni Johnson has been hired as the Director of the Center for Student Success after receiving her B.A. d e g r e e f r o m P a r k University in Human Resource Management and her joint Master’s degree from Troy University in Counseling and Psychology and Guidance and Counseling. Toni has been an Assistant Principal at Eustis Academy where she worked with LD students. Most recently, she was employed by Lifestream Behavioral Center as a Children’s Clinical On-Site Advanced Clinician. She also enjoys reading and exercise. Andrew Marvin will be working part-time in the Admissions Department as our Coordinator of Student Ambassadors. Andrew Marvin received his

Bachelor of Arts in Human Services from Beacon College in May 2010. His j o b w i l l i n c l u d e coordinating campus tours for prospective students and their parents and managing the Student Ambassador/Work Study program within the Admissions Department. In his free time he paints, takes his parents’ dogs to Agility Training, and attends classes at Valencia College in Orlando where he also lives. As a new Psychology Instructor, Rick Perrone joins the faculty in Human Serv i ces . Rick was previously employed as the School of Business Program Director and Acting Dean of Student Learning at Rasmussen College in Ocala after receiving his B.A. from Saint Leo University in Human Services and his B.S. from Regis University in Business Administration. He also received a M.S. from the University of Oklahoma in Human Relations and a Ph .D. f rom Cape l l a University in Human Services/Social Work and C o m m u n i t y Resources. Rick is currently earning his M.S. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology. Since completing a United States Air Force career as a Master Instructor, Rick has worked for the last 20 years in leadership and management of nonprofit/profit organizations in a variety of capacities. His

Rob Rogers with wife Teresa and their two daughters, Elliana (12) and Emma (8).

David Goldstein

P A G E 5 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 4

experiences include service as Director of Contract Administration, Director of Revenue Maximization and Regional Director of Qual ity Assurance. Outside of work, Rick enjoys family activities such as biking, camping, and watching his children’s soccer games. He also enjoys motorcycle riding, playing tennis, scuba diving and playing in a local rock band. Kelly Rogers, started a new position at Beacon as Transition Coach. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Human Services with a Minor in Psychology from Saint Leo University and a M.A. in Management from Webster University. She was the Director at the P.O.T.T. Vocational School in Ocala where she oversaw a l l s choo l operations including faculty, student records, marketing, counseling, budgeting, and admissions. She volunteers with the Brother’s Keeper Soup Kitchen, Hands of Mercy Everywhere, the Skill D a y C e n t e r , a n d became her church's board secretary last year. She loves the outdoors including camping, hiking, and canoeing, and visits friends out west annually. Rob Rogers, our newest Admissions Counselor received a B.Mus. from Belmont University and a M. A. in Organizational Leadership from Regent University. Previously, he was employed as a Senior Admissions Advisor for

Kaplan University in Orlando. His previous experience includes real e s t a t e a n d organizational consulting along with church and music ministry. Rob enjoys singing, playing piano and g u i t a r , a n d m o s t importantly "hanging out" with his family. Hired as a Learning Specialist, Heidi Smith holds a B.A. in Communications from the State University of New York and a M.A. in Public Administration from University of Colorado. Besides being in the U.S. Army and the Colorado Army National Guard, Heidi most recently was employed as an Intensive Reader Teacher at Tavares High School. She also spent eight years in prison with two Death Row inmates as part of her work with the Colorado Department of Corrections! She is married with one daughter and was a foster parent to 20 children ages 0-17 over a period of 10 years. She has one granddaughter who she shares is “perfect!” Her hobbies include quilting, writing, biking/walking, reading, and spending time with family and friends. Again, we look forward to working with and getting to know all of our newest additions!

Heidi Smith

Russ Bellamy

Toni Johnson

Rick Perrone

Andrew Marvin

P A G E 6

WordQ is designed to be invisible to the user and is so effective that many forget they are using it. Within minutes of getting started, choose from word sug-gestions that are based on what you type and hear them spoken aloud. Misspelled words and punctuation errors are read back precisely, so you can prevent, find and fix them yourself. Take control of your writing.

Writing Center News from Nancy Berger The Writing Center is pleased to offer faculty tra ining in ass ist ive technology programs including Kurzweil 3000 (an assistive technology, text to speech learning tool), WordQ, Inspiration®, and EDITOR (a proofreader at the word and phrase levels). Please give Nancy ext. 134 or Caroline ext. 114 a call to make an appointment. We are also excited to announce the expanded Writing Center will be fully o p e r a t i o n a l i n

approximately two weeks! This will allow for 10 additional computers, thus making the Writing Center available to service an entire class from time-to-time. Please call Caroline, ext. 114, if you need to reserve computers for your class. Also, as an FYI: In the past, headphones were not allowed in the Writing Center due to our cramped quarters. However, we also recognize that some students work better while l i s t en in g to mus i c .

Therefore, the new addition to the Writing Center will be “earphone-friendly.” We will maintain o u r c u r r e n t “ n o headphones” policy in the original Writing Center area. Please let us know how we may best accommodate you! As always, thank you for your enthusiasm and support! We are here to serve you! Write on!

thinking model into the DQP and seek to be part of a national grass-roots effort to improve the quality of higher education outside of government control. Even if not selected, the “footprint” of this initiative is so large that the DQP or some variant of it is likely to become a template for future development and assessment of college degrees. We will keep you posted. 1 Eaton, Judith S., Introduction, Reflections on the Future of Accreditation: A CHEA Initiative Volume. Washington, DC: Council for Higher Education Accreditation, 2011. 2 For more information: http://www.luminafoundation.org/p u b l i c a t i o n s /The_Degree_Qualifications_Profile.pdf).

Profile. This is a framework for establ ish ing the knowledge and skills that students should acquire to earn an associate’s , bachelor’s, or master’s degree. The Foundation has made a $425,000 grant to the Council of Independent Colleges (of which Beacon is a member) to explore the applicability of this DQP to independent college education (other grants have gone to regional accrediting bodies such as the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and the Higher Learning Commission). Dr. Chandler has written a proposal for Beacon to become one of the 25 private institutions from around the nation selected to participate in this pilot project. If we are accepted, we will fold our critical

T H E B E A C O N N A V I G A T O R

For visual mapping, outlining, writing and making presentations, use Inspiration® 9, the ultimate thinking and learning tool. Brainstorm ideas, structure your thoughts and visually communicate concepts to strengthen understanding with the Diagram and Map Views. To take notes, organize information, and structure writing for plans, papers and reports, use the integrated Outline View to focus on main and supporting ideas and to clarify thinking in written form. With Inspiration's Presentation Manager, transform your diagrams, mind maps and outlines into polished presentations that communicate ideas clearly and demonstrate understanding and knowledge.

(continued from page one) A Presidential Note

V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 4 P A G E 7

Hello from your HR Department by Kim Baggett Thank you to everyone who has volunteered for the Health and Wellness Committee. Our first meeting will be on September 13th. I am very excited about the projects we have coming up this year! Our Fall campaign will kick off in September with the first workshop in our professional development series, Working With Difficult People. This will be a fun and informative session and everyone is encouraged to attend. Additionally during the month of September, we will have a personal trainer on campus to do body fat testing. Watch your emails for

announcements regarding date and time. Here are some of the other activities we are working on: • Free 15 minute nutrition counseling sessions with a personal trainer. • Lunch and learn sessions regarding nutrition, weight loss, and exercise. • Self defense classes on campus. • Functional fitness classes on campus (based on interest and enrollment). • Professional Development sessions throughout the year on topics of interest.

• S m o k i n g c e s s a t i o n workshop. Beacon Walks Campaign. DID YOU KNOW? Each time you participate in a wellness activity on campus, you will receive a point. At the end of the semester, we will add up all the points and the winner will receive a fabulous prize!! Make sure you use the sign in sheet that will be available so that you get all of your points. The points results will be announced periodically so we can all see who is in the lead!!

• Priscilla Davis, 10 years • James Fleming, 12 years • Van Galyon, 9 years • Shawna Harris, 7 years • Joanne Jacobsen, 2 years • Caroline Le, 1 year • Anita Lee, 1 year • Steve McDaniels, 1 year • William Nesbitt, 6 years • Sandy Novak, 4 years

Beacon would l ike to recognize and express appreciation for the hard work and earnest efforts of Beacon employees celebrating their employment anniversaries this month:

• Nancy Berger, 3 years • Crystal Boone, 5 years • Shelly Chandler, 8 years

• Kendal Paget, 8 years • Ray Ramos, 3 years • Terri Ross, 15 years • Kirk Stowe, 1 year • Brenda Stefanisko, 3 years • Sandi Webster, 3 years

Again, thank you all for your valuable contributions to Beacon College throughout the year!

a Fall ‘11 student count of 153 with an increase to 165 students for Spring ‘12. It is estimated total income will be $5.9 million for the FY. After the budget is reviewed and approved by Pres ident Hutchinson, i t wi l l be

Greetings from the Business Office. Here is a quick update on the fiscal year (FY) 2011-12 budget process. The final review of all income categories and departmental expenses will be completed by the end of this week. The budget is projecting

Budget Overview by Cal Sanson

August Employment Anniversaries

CHECK IT OUT!!

Hear a rumor on campus and wonder if it is true?

Have a question you want to ask but you are not

sure who has the answer? If you have questions, we

have answers. You can email your question to the

HR Department at kbaggett@beaconcollege.edu or if you want to ask

anonymously, just write down your question and place it in the Check It

Out box that will be located in the Library. All

inquiries will be answered in this newsletter or by

email.

forwarded to the Board of Trustees for approval at the September 17 BOT Annual Meeting. Once the Board approves the FY 2011-12 budget, departmental budgets will be issued.

Don’t forget about the Beacon Buzz, Beacon’s

blog spot at http://thebeaconbuzz.blogspot.

com/. You can also submit your blogs to

blogs.beaconcollege.edu!

2012. Woodward Apartments We have added 12 new apartments to our housing options with the purchase of the so-called Woodward Street Apartments. These apartments are located south from the main campus just off Palmetto Street and across from some city tennis courts. These apartments will house 33 students and one resident assistant when fully occupied. They are two-bedroom apartments with two students to be placed in the larger bedroom and one in the smaller one. We have to honor the leases of those currently residing there and have some renovation work to do. Therefore, they will not be in full use until Spring Semester 2012. Additional Housing Obviously, as we seek to increase the student population on campus, we must build additional housing units. Currently, we are working with Mark Starcher to design additional housing on our existing property. It may require relocating the basketball court and possibly the pool and gazebo. Use of our own property has the decided advantage of relieving us of having soon to purchase additional properties in the area, rehabilitate them, and prepare them for new construction. Fortunately, the addition of a three-story, fifty-bed, apartment-style residence facility on our existing property appears feasible. The building would be similar in design and appearance to the current apartment complexes. However, we will be looking to upgrade from residential to commercial level construction, which will make the new apartments more durable over the years than those we have currently in use. Once the feasibility of this approach is determined, we will work through the Facilities and Finance Committee to determine if this is something the Board wishes to do.

Administration/Education Building We continue to make progress on the Administration/Education building redesign. Recently, the Board approved the hiring of Blaise-Fiebach, Inc., a Leesburg architectural firm to develop the new design for the two-story building. This firm has an excellent reputation, experience in building commercial and educational buildings, and a good working relationship with our Owner’s Representative, Mark Starcher. Redesign work is in progress and as soon as things are ripe, we will gather input from the campus community. Currently, we have laid out a conservative time line for the next steps in the building process: Site Milestones:

Permit Sent to City by 8/15/11 Site Permitting Goal – 10/30/11 Bid Site work -11/1/11 (depending on permitting comments) Start Site work 11/7/11

Building Milestones: Permit Set to City by 11/25/11 Building Permitting Goal – 12/30/11 Bid Building – 1/17/12 (depending on permitting comments) Start Building 2/13/12 Occupancy – 12/12

Two important clarifications are necessary: (1) Since we are engaging in a significant redesign, we must go through a re-permitting process. (2) Though we had hoped to be in the building by the beginning of the Fall 2011, that is not now possible. However, it is better to have a good building than an early occupancy. We should be able to move in late in Fall Semester

Construction and Facilities Update

P A G E 8

T H E B E A C O N N A V I G A T O R

Schedule of Events } September 1 — SACS Fifth-Year Interim Report/QEP Updates

at 2:30 p.m., Back of the Chopping Block

} September 2 — Grand Opening Reception for the new Counseling, Coaching, and Health Offices, Giveaways and Chef’s Party Platters, 12 to 6 PM, 118 Meadow Street

} September 5 — Labor Day Holiday, College Closed

} September 6 — President’s Meeting at 2:30 p.m., Back of the Chopping Block

} September 13 — Committee Meetings at 2:30 p.m., Curriculum: Room 8, Health & Wellness: Room 7, Retention: Room 6, Library: Periodical Room, and Technology: Room 10

} September 15 — Professional Development Seminar: “Working with Difficult People” at 2:30 p.m., Back of the Chopping Block

} September 16 — Future Pull Exercise for Selected Beacon College Faculty and Staff

} September 17 — Board of Trustees Meeting at the Mission Inn

} September 20 — Faculty Meeting at 2:30 p.m., Back of the Chopping Block

} September 27 — Department Meetings at 2:30 p.m., Chairs will select rooms and announce to their teams.

SEPTEMBER 2011 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

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4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17

18 19 20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30

Know Your World and Its Struggles. Chart Your Course and Succeed.

G A I N. L E A R N. G ROW.

Bob’s Joke Corner

I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, "Where's the self-help section?" She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose! If we put our two cents in, but only get a penny for our thoughts, who gets the extra penny?

“A healthy dose of humor from the Doctor”

Beacon’s Organizational Chart

“At Beacon College, we like to end on a positive note!”

V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 4 P A G E 9