“Supporting educational opportunities for students in Southern Nevada helps ensure a pipeline of educated, capable leaders for our company and our entire community.” - Punam Mathur

>>>CCSN M a t t e r sAn Informative Newsletter for Alumni and Friends of CCSN

CCSN FOUNDATION

Community College of Southern Nevada Foundation 6375 West Charleston Blvd. - W3DLas Vegas, NV 89146

www.ccsn.edu/foundation foundation@ccsn.edu 702.651.7301

he Community College of Southern Nevada Foundation has been awarded a combined

gift of $300,000 by MGM MIRAGE and the Hites Education Endowment Fund to help further the academic aspirations of CCSN students. The funds will be used to underwrite scholarships for CCSN graduates who continue their higher education at UNLV. “For the next two decades, this new endowment fund will help our best transfer students achieve their dreams for a better life,” said Dr. Richard Carpenter, CCSN President. “The diversity of our student population was very important to MGM MIRAGE and helped achieve this partnership. We are deeply grateful to MGM MIRAGE

T

August 2005 - Volume 1, Issue 3

and look forward to its involvement in our students’ continued academic success and their impact on Southern Nevada’s continued economic devel-opment.”

This Issue

2 3 4•MGM Mirage - Hites Endowment•Auto Tech Building Update

MGM MIRAGE – Hites Education Endowment Fund To Help CCSN Graduates Earn Bachelor Degrees at UNLV

See Building Update On Page 2 >>>

•Removing Barriers Re-Entry Program

•Student Spotlight Auto Tech Program

According to Dr. Carpenter, a donation of $100,000 from MGM MIRAGE is being matched with $200,000 from the Hites Endowment Fund to create the MGM MIRAGE-Hites Education Endowment Fund.

See Endowment On Page 2 >>>

Auto Tech Building Update: Legislature Funds $10 Million

Recognizing the industry’s need for trained vehicle technicians, CCSN Foundation trustees and college administrators brought together leaders from the state’s automotive, collision, and diesel equipment industries with the goal of garnering support for an ambitious, $20 million building project. Less than one-year later, they are nearing the finish line. Diana Wilson, Chief Devel-opment Officer for the college and Executive Director of the CCSN Foundation, says, “We currently have funds and pledges totaling $650,000

Left to Right: Reggie Burton, Dir. of Comm. Diversity, MGM MIRAGE, Aaron Sidranski, Mngr. of Const. Diversity, MGM MIRAGE Design Group, Irene Bustamante, Dir. of Diversity Relations, MGM MIRAGE, Hanna Brown, Pres., Urban Chamber of Commerce, Dr. Richard Carpenter, Pres., CCSN, Jenny DesVaux Oakes, Chair, CCSN Foundation, Debra J. Nelson, VP of Corporate Diversity and Community Affairs, MGM MIRAGE, Punam Mathur, Senior VP of Corporate Diversity and Community Affairs, MGM MIRAGE, David Ayala, Recruitment Mngr., MGM MIRAGE

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Chair of the Board: Jenny DesVaux Oakes

Treasurer:Al Whalen

First Vice Chair: Ed Curry

Secretary:Robbie D. Graham

Immediate Past Chair: William E. Snyder, FAIA

Trustees:John R. Bailey, Esq. Gustav Mauler

Domingo Cambeiro, AIA Mike McCandless

Donald Clark Monte MillerLisa Dove-Swisher Debra J. NelsonNeil Friedman Ray E. NorvellCharlotte Hill Kathleen M. NylenCraig W. Johnson Chris PublowJames M. Jones, DDS Thomas Schoeman, AIASidra Kain Carolyn M. Sparks

John A. Kilduff Irene VogelJoanne Levy Bob WalshJim Marsh Denny Weddle

Frank Martin

College Representatives:Dr. Richard G. Carpenter President

Dr. Rand KeyVice President of Planning & Development

Dr. Arthur Byrd Vice President Student Services

Dr. Michael Richards Vice President Academic Affairs

Ms. Patty Charlton Vice President Finance & Administration

Dr. Alirio Valbuena Vice President Information Technology

Dr. Darren Divine Faculty Senate Chair Foundation Staff Members:Diana Wilson Executive Director

Karen Sherman Operations Coordinator

Jacque Matthews Director of Foundation Community Relations

Eric Garner Alumni and Scholarship Coordinator

CCSN FoundationBoard of Trustees

CCSN FOUNDATION

“Supporting educational opportunities for students in Southern Nevada helps ensure a pipeline of educated, capable leaders for our company and our entire community,” said Punam Mathur, Senior Vice President of Corporate Diversity and Community Affairs for MGM MIRAGE. “We are pleased to partner with organizations such as CCSN and the Hites Foundation that share our vision of diversity.” While many details of the program are still being worked out, scholarship applicants must be first generation college graduates from CCSN with a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or better, according to CCSN Foundation Chair Jenny DesVaux Oakes. Special consideration will be given to graduates who come from diverse cultural backgrounds and have overcome socioeconomic or educational disadvantages. “This combined fund will allow many financially-challenged, academically-talented CCSN grad-uates to transfer to UNLV to

achieve a bachelor’s degree in their field of choice,” said DesVaux Oakes. Applicants must be able to attend UNLV full-time and earn their degrees in four semesters. To be eligible for renewal, students must maintain at least a 2.75 GPA their first semester and 3.0 each of the following semesters. Based in St. Louis, the Hites Foundation was established by Robert F. Hites, a former Ralston Purina executive and community college instructor. During the decade following his death in 1995, the Hites Foundation implemented its goal of creating endowment funds to enable community college graduates to transfer to four year schools to complete bachelor degrees. “The Hites Foundation wishes to thank the MGM MIRAGE for its generous contribution to the MGM-Hites Endowment Fund. It will provide many CCSN graduates the opportunity to pursue their bachelor degrees,” said Don Davis, a Hites Foundation director.

Endowment >>> Continued From Cover

>>>CCSN Matters

Building Update >>> Continued From Cover

toward the $1 million match required by the legislature for the first phase of the building.” This leaves the Foundation with $350,000 in matching funds to raise from the private sector for phase one of the project. Plans for the new facility call for its construction to be completed in two phases over a five-year period; the Legislature’s recent approval of $11 million, $10 million from the state and $1 million from college resources, will complete the building’s first phase. “The addition of the new facilities will allow us to stop turning away students due to lack of space,” says Paul Pate, the college’s Dean of Applied Technologies.

“Last year our enrollment requests were 50 percent higher than our available seats, so we are extremely pleased that the Legislature funded a portion of the building.” Figures show that during the Fall Semester 450 requests for Automotive Technology classes went unfulfilled due to lack of classroom space and equipment. CCSN’s Automotive Tech-nology Program currently trains about 800 students to become Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) certified each semester. Pate anticipates that number to double once the new Automotive Technology Center is in place.

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Removing Barriers

In desperate need of refuge, Goodness finally found an organization that was the right fit for her situation. “I went to Safe House before the Re-Entry Program. They gave my children and me counseling. It helped.” No longer fearing for her safety or her sanity, Goodness began to reevaluate her life. “I knew I wanted more out of life than to be on welfare and food stamps forever.” Goodness says a neighbor, who was also a good friend, suggested she go to college. “Although I had heard about CCSN’s Re-Entry Program while at Safe House, I didn’t have the willpower to go.” Like many low-income, single parents, the potential cost and time commitment of going to college discouraged Goodness at first. “Without the Re-Entry Program, going to college would have been impossible. I honestly don’t think I could have been successful.” With the support of the Re-Entry Program, however, Goodness was able to conquer her fears and remove all barriers blocking her path to higher education. Today, Vicky Goodness is an honor student majoring in Elementary Education at CCSN. “I worked in the computer lab at the college last semester. In the fall, I’ll be starting a new position at the (Clark County) School District. My hope is to graduate from CCSN with honors, earn my baccalaureate degree from a university, and become an elementary school teacher – because working with children is what I love to do.” Every student success story is unique. Nevertheless, there is a common thread that connects Vicky Goodness’ story to that of many CCSN alumni: the Re-Entry Program at CCSN helped them open that “golden door” to a new world of opportunity.

Information For almost as long as the college has been in existence, the Re-Entry Program has been providing career services, academic guidance, apprenticeship-preparation training, financial assistance and much more to the following groups:

Keeping such a wide-ranging, non-profit program afloat with only partial government funding and limited support from the college is not easy. Program coordinators at all three campuses agree that donations from the community will allow the Program to flourish. To hear more life altering stories of student success, learn more about the Re-Entry Program, or to help change a life, please call:

• Low-income students• Single parents• Displaced homemakers• The educationally disadvantaged• Students with disabilities• Limited English proficient students• Unemployed and dislocated workers• and non-traditional program students

• 651-4681 Cheyenne Campus • 651-5089 Charleston Campus• 651-3115 Henderson Campus

Student Vicky Goodness, Daughter Sarah and Son Sam

>>>CCSN Matters

“…Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free...I lift my lamp beside the golden door.” Engraved on a plaque at the base of the Statue of Liberty, these powerful words not only end nineteenth-century American poet Emma Lazarus’ poem “The New Colossus,” they also describe what the Re-Entry Program at CCSN aspires to offer individuals facing significant barriers to their education and/or employment. “The (Re-Entry) Program has empowered me,” says Vicky Goodness, a Program participant. “You have to swallow your pride when asking some organizations for help. But not here.” Raising two children with little help from her former spouse, Goodness says she needed help getting back on her feet after escaping a violent marriage. “My ex-husband was verbally, mentally, and physically abusive. I didn’t want my children raised in that kind of situation. So I left.” Ironically, after the break up, Goodness says the domestic violence got worse. “His abusive behavior actually escalated after the divorce because he wanted to keep control over me.” According to Goodness, she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown when she began to reach out to community and government organizations for help. “There was a lot of the red tape involved with getting government assistance,” says Goodness. “And they try and break down your self esteem.” Unemployed, receiving public assistance, and on the run from an abusive relationship, Goodness says she was at her lowest point. “Really, the only thing that kept me alive was that my kids needed me.”

Re-Entry Program Removes Barriers For Future Teacher

Jefferson Nyborg is a recent graduate of CCSN’s Automotive Technology Program and an ASE Certified Nissan Technician who works for Desert Nissan. Speaking from experience, he advises new students to get an internship while taking automotive courses at the college. “You don’t just learn how to do the job, you learn about the theory behind the work you’re performing. This allows you to work faster and more efficiently because you understand why things need to be done a certain way,” says Nyborg. “What I learned in two years of college would have taken me between five and six years in the field.” Nyborg says he started working at Nissan about the same time he started the automotive program at CCSN. “When I started, I was making about $1,600 per month, now I make over $4,000.” As a graduate of the automotive program, Nyborg says that when he sings the praises of his wonderful teachers and discusses all he learned while at CCSN, many ask him how they can get started. Today, Nyborg is an unofficial ambassador for the program, but he hopes to one day return in an official capacity. “In three to five years, I would like to become an instructor. I think it would be great to teach at the new Automotive Technology Center.”

Matt Warren is currently a student in CCSN’s Automotive Technology Program who works for Desert Toyota of Las Vegas. Warren says he started working at the dealership about the same time he started taking automotive classes at CCSN. “Before I became a technician a few months ago, I used to change oil,” says Warren. Working his way up from making $9.00 an hour to making more than $15.00 an hour in less than a year-and-a-half, Warren says the automotive technology program gave him the knowledge for his career. “I’m still in school,” says Warren. “But all my instructors have worked in the field and they use their real-world knowledge to mentor students.” Warren adds, “What I’m learning in class is helping me to move up quickly.” Although he looks forward to graduating soon, Warren says he plans to continue taking courses once the new Automotive Technology Center opens. “With all the changes that are happening everyday, like hybrid technology, you have to stay on the cutting edge. I definitely plan on taking more classes.” Warren offers his best advice to anyone interested in becoming an automotive technician. “If you like working on cars and you want to make good money, the program can help you get your foot in the door. So if you’re interested, go for it! Like a wise person once said, ‘if you like what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.’”

Jefferson Nyborg Matt Warren

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>>>CCSN MattersStudent SpotlightAuto Training Revs Up Earning Power

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Eric Garner, Editor/Designer

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