Bailey-Week 8-EMCC

Activities:

• Visited Columbus high school's tech center
• Attended dual enrollment committee meeting
• Continued to gather and organize information that will be used in the faculty advising handbook

Reflection:

If you have been keeping up with my blog, then you are aware that I attend meetings nearly every week and you are also aware that I have been diligently working on a faculty advising manual. Both activities have been fun but I can honestly say, I am ready to get this handbook completed! Working during the summer has its disadvantages. First, part of the reason the handbook has taken me so long is because I have to meet with various offices on campus to discuss the material that should be included. Also, everybody has an opinion so it has been a little difficult keeping the information minimal while also including information that faculty feel will be helpful during advising. Since I have to meet with various offices, that also means that I am on their time...summer is their vacation time...so being able to access people sometimes can be very challenging.
Second, interruptions never fail. During the summer, the counseling center is busy with students who come to campus to register for fall classes. Though we are excited about these students, it just interrupts concentration and the ability to move forward. Then third, just when we feel we have all the needed information, we discover something we have left out so then we have to retrace and insert appropriately. Anyway, only working during the afternoon each day limits my time to devote to this project and so it is just taking time to complete...more time than I expected but I am staying optimistic because once it is finished, it will be a huge asset to campus. I am very excited about being the one responsible for organizing and publishing this handy dandy handbook! :)

At the beginning of the week, I was invited to assist a couple of members from the dual enrollment committee by going to Columbus high school (CHS). We sat down with the ladies who represent CHS's dual enrollment students and help oversee this program. We talked about the barriers associated that these students face such as enrolling at EMCC as well as other problems. East Mississippi Community College is about to host an orientation day for all representatives of dual enrollment from each high school that is participating in the program with EMCC. I wish I could be apart of it because I think it will be fun to educate the representative from each high school about the program, ways to help the students, and ways to keep organized throughout the process.

To summarize everything I learned from this week through the various meetings and planning, I am just really learning how much time it takes to plan anything on a college campus. If a project is going to be successful, it must be submitted for approval to various offices. Draft after draft must be made to ensure that the appropriate revisions are made and accepted before the information is put into a handbook that is used by everybody. The information has to be correct so the attention to detail and firm revisions are necessary.

Through working with the dual enrollment committee and meeting with CHS, I have also learned more about the community college system. This system strives to be community friendly and assessable to any student, any age, and any background. This way of being creates a unique experience when attempting to build programs on campus because each program has to meet the needs of a broad range of students. This experience is really teaching me to adapt my attitude and way of thinking to better serve various students.