BSC April Activities Review

Campus Activities

• Six "open visitation meetings" were held at BSC campuses in Bluefield, Lewisburg, and Beckley, during which students, staff, and the public were encouraged to talk to the BSC President about thoughts, ideas, and concerns they wished to express

• More than 400 area public school students participated in the BSC Model United Nations Council Conference, April 10-11 at the College. The event was hosted by the BSC Model U.N. debate team

• Two students from BSC's Greenbrier Community College Center were named to the All-West Virginia Academic Team for Community and Technical Colleges

• BSC students earned eleven first-place awards during the recent Phi Beta Lambda state competition in Charleston, and all qualified to participate in the National Leadership Conference in July

• The College served as a host site for the educational video conference, "The New Public University: How Do We Compete in a Changing Environment?"

• Continued work on a variety of campus improvement projects, opening larger sidewalks and steps, built to meet ADA specifications

• Directed four workshops, through Student Support Services, designed to enhance students' study skills

• Prepared for two Summer 1997 orientation sessions for new students and their families

  Partnership Activities

• The "James H. Shott Endowed Chair in Business" has been established to honor one of this region's outstanding business and community leaders. Establishment of the endowed chair marks successful completion of a fund raising program in which $150,000 was pledged, and augments the Business Division's ability to attract outstanding faculty and recognize excellence in business instruction

• BSC's Electrical Engineering Technology program received a major state-of-the-art equipment gift, worth $12,000, from Wainwright Technical Sales. The "remote distributed input/output equipment" will permit students to gain hands-on experience in the use of equipment in use in the marketplace today

• Hosted a second series of question/answer sessions conducted by representatives of WVU's Executive M.B.A. program, which will be presented this fall at BSC sites

• BSC Volunteer Income Tax Assistance accounting faculty and students in Bluefield and Lewisburg donated 435 hours and prepared 430 tax returns for low income and elderly individuals

• Two BSC Business Division faculty have been invited to be featured presenters at the annual "Academy of Management" conference in Boston, August 9-13. The conference annually attracts faculty and administration from leading business schools throughout America

• A BSC Nursing faculty member presented the program, "Nursing Research in West Virginia--Guiding Practice into the Next Millennium," during the West Virginia League of Nursing's annual meeting in Parkersburg

• BSC Nursing faculty member's co-authored work, "Mall Walking, An Effective Mental Health Intervention for Older Adults," has been published in the most recent edition of "Journal of Psychosocial Nursing"

• BSC Mechanical Engineering Technology faculty member has been named chair of the West Virginia chapter of the American Society of Manufacturing Engineers

• BSC Center for Economic Enhancement and Educational Outreach completed customized Microsoft Word training program for second group of employees from First Century Bank (Bluefield, WV), and began training for a third group of employees from the bank

• Center for Economic Enhancement began computerized Microsoft Office training program for DS Parts (Bluefield, WV). This project is being funded through the Governor's Guaranteed Workforce Program

• Completed a training needs assessment for Med-Response, a home health care agency with southern West Virginia locations in Bluewell, Bluefield, and Welch

• Completed initial meeting with Phillips Machine Service, Inc. (Beckley), a manufacturer of mining equipment. The firm expressed interest in working with BSC to develop a company-tailored internship program to produce employees with specific technical and management skills

• Scheduled meeting with representatives of Hubbard Farms, Inc. (Lewisburg), owner of the British United Turkeys of America (BUTA). The firm will explore customized training and workforce development opportunities for its Greenbrier County workforce

• Finalized plans to participate in the 1997 Business Show (Beckley), sponsored by the Beckley-Raleigh County Chamber of Commerce, and the 1997 Appalachian Hardwood Expo (Bluefield), sponsored by the Princeton/Mercer County Chamber of Commerce

• Participated in the 1997 J104 Secretaries Fair and Expo

• Completed the following continuing education seminars:
  • Programmable Logic Controllers for Engineers (7 students)
  • Sexual Harassment & Fair Housing Laws for Real Estate (32 students)
  • Women's Health Care Issues (38 students)
  • Basic Dysrhythmias for Nurses (18 students)
  • Acute Care of Stroke Patient for Nurses (18 students)

• Co-sponsored with Greater Bluefield Chamber of Commerce, and hosted a "Lunch and Learn" seminar, "Business Grammar and Usage." Program was attended by 55 participants from 16 companies and organizations

• Sponsored one-day program of small business counseling for local entrepreneurs, provided by the WV Small Business Development Center

• Hosted the April "Small Business Dialogue," a program for members of the Greater Bluefield Chamber of Commerce

• Completed certification in the following competitive skills training modules as part of the WV Region 7 Training Network:
  • Percentages
  • Averages
  • Histograms
  • 80/20 Analysis
  • Variability Assessment
  • Standard Deviation
  • Plotting Data
  • Graphing
  • Trend Analysis
  • Sampling Applications
  • Control Charts 1, 2, and 3
  • Process Reengineering
  • Process Improvement
  (The WV Training Network was started by the Governor's Guaranteed Workforce Program to enhance coordination in delivery of services to business and ndustry)

• Worked with representative of Marshall University's Applied Research Department to introduce their services to business/industry in Bluefield, Princeton, and Beckley

• Met with representatives of WV Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Division to discuss status of Paramedic Training program

• Participated in continuing education seminar at the National Mine Health and Safety Academy (Beckley)

• Director of the Center for International Understanding (CIU) at BSC will be a panelist during two programs at the National Association for Foreign Student Advisors Association of International Educators Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, May 20-23

• BSC CIU is currently coordinating "Customized Technical Assistance Programs" for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on "Fiscal Federalism" for a second group of Bosnian officials (April 12-May 10), and "AIDS-Related Non-Government Organizations" for a Rumanian representative

• CIU has been awarded customized training program contract on Effective Local Governments and Media Relations for Ogre, Latvia's mayor and press secretary, as well as contract to deliver, by USAID-Academy for Educational Development, a training program for 16 Russian participants on Rural Social Services in a Market Economy

• Circulated brochures about CIU and CIU;s customized training programs on "Regional Economic Development and Diversification through Privatization, Entrepreneurism, and Democratization"

• Prepared brochure "International Trade and Investment: Export Assistance Services"

• CIU is preparing for publication the "Commonwealth Novel in English," a semiannual scholarly journal circulated in 34 countries

• Establishing "English as a Second Language" program, offering non-credit courses for international students and professionals, beginning Spring Semester 1998

• CIU has established a self-supporting Washington, DC Bureau

• CIU has continued to disseminate bids for contracts from international companies to WV businesses

• Planning for "International Pavilion" during Princeton "Summerfest," June 20-22

• BSC Engineering Technology students toured the new Mercer/Summers County Water Project, a $44 million state-of-the-art facility capable of providing up to 15 million gallons of water/day to its service area

• BSC Engineering Technology students toured Tazewell County (VA) Public Service Authority's Bishop Water Treatment Plant, which features the only ultrafiltration membrane water treatment system in Virginia

• BSC-TV 10, the television production and programming component of BSC, rebroadcast on the Bluefield-area television cable system two Bluefield City Board of Directors' meetings and the April monthly Mercer County Board of Education meeting