By Ben Markley
The annual State of the College Address was given by President Terry Calaway Sept. 28.
One of the major themes of this year’s address was the college’s recent focus on innovation, said Don Weiss, chair of the Board of Trustees.
“[The college will] be far-sighted and visionary to give our students the knowledge they need to do things we can’t even yet imagine,” Weiss said.
Calaway elaborated on this theme by listing some of the major innovations of the college during his presidency, including the opening of the Center of Innovation.
The Center will be a place for students, faculty, staff and members of the community to all discuss in a comfortable, friendly environment, Calaway said. He said the Center will use a more “appreciative inquiry model of discussion” to discuss issues and ideas.
The Sustainability program was mentioned during the address. Calaway said the program made a significant impact over the past few years. He said the college was using more than seven truckloads of paper yearly when he began his presidency.
“It’s not just about doing more recycling or looking at ways that we might save materials,” Calaway said. “It’s about creating a different culture in our institution.”
Calaway also spoke in length about how the college has improved student engagement.
“The student who walks down the hall by themselves, goes to class, sits down, attends class, gets up, walks out and goes to work is not as likely to be successful as a student that becomes engaged,” he said.
One example of student engagement Calaway mentioned is Dream Johnson County, a program designed to help students facing challenges ranging from academic development to emotional struggles. The program helps students through what Calaway called “invasive counseling.”
“[The counselors] don’t just sit back and wait for students to get connected or for students to call,” Calaway said. “I think our counselors truly do save lives every day.”
Calaway said the success of the college over the past year is a combination of talented students and quality faculty and staff, but he warned the college not to settle.
“I told our cabinet the other day that my job over the next three years as we move forward is to make them uncomfortable,” he said. “We can’t rest on our laurels. I don’t think our community would settle for that.”
Calaway urged the audience to push the college in the future and used the example of the new Olathe Health Education Center, which began construction in spring 2010 and is now open for fall 2011 classes.
“Make us a little uncomfortable,” he said. “If we weren’t a little uncomfortable, we wouldn’t have an Olathe Health Education Center.
“You’re only as good as tomorrow’s plan.”
Contact Ben Markley, news editor, at bmarkle2@stumail.jccc.edu.