How administrators, staff, faculty and students worked together to pull off a post-quake miracle at Germanna

GCC pursues online classes

Germanna nursing and dental hygiene students return to class as details are ironed out for all others

Date published: 8/31/2011

By PAMELA GOULD

Nursing and dental hygiene students resumed classes at Germanna Community College yesterday as deans finalized plans for the rest of the students whose classes were disrupted by an earthquake on the second day of the fall semester.

The challenge has been finding a way to continue instruction for the 4,400 people who registered for classes at the V. Earl Dickinson Building on the Fredericksburg Area Campus. That structure, built in 1997, suffered significant damage from the magnitude-5.8 earthquake on Aug. 23 centered in Louisa County.

The building won't be available for use until January at the earliest.

The goal has been to find a way to keep those students on campus this fall in the Massaponax area of Spotsylvania County, said Deborah Brock, dean of arts and sciences, and Bill Fiege, dean of technical and professional studies.

College spokesman Mike Zitz said many in the community responded to a request for space but, with a few exceptions, Germanna officials have chosen not to move classes.

Instead, the deans said Germanna has relocated some of the 321 classes scheduled for Dickinson into the Workforce and Community Education Building on the same campus.

Many classes were restructured. Forty will be taught totally online. Others will be a mix of online and classroom, while the rest will be in different classrooms. Fewer than five classes had to be canceled.

The college is adding a few 10-week courses to meet the needs of students who couldn't take their classes after they were rescheduled.

Those courses will begin Sept. 28, have longer meeting times, and end at the same time as regular 15-week semester classes, Fiege said.

They will meet at the Locust Grove Campus and on the Stafford campus of the University of Mary Washington, Zitz said.

Students started the fall semester on Aug. 22. Classes were in session when the earthquake began shortly before 2 p.m. last Tuesday.

Germanna President David Sam canceled classes indefinitely immediately after the earthquake so that structures at all campuses could be inspected.

Germanna offers classes in its own buildings in Culpeper, Orange and Spotsylvania counties. It also holds classes in office space in North Stafford.

Germanna Community College officials have been working over the past week to accommodate students enrolled for classes at the Fredericksburg Area Campus, whose chief academic building was significantly damaged in the magnitude-5.8 earthquake.

Only the Dickinson building has significant structural damage.

Though nursing and dental hygiene students returned to class yesterday at the Locust Grove Campus in Orange, students at all other sites will resume Sept. 6.

Germanna may lease space for noncredit classes and personnel being displaced from the Workforce building.

The Fredericksburg Area Campus lost 22 classrooms, its six science labs and two computer labs with the closing of the Dickinson building.

The Workforce building has 18 classrooms and two computer labs.

College officials are optimistic that even students who have shied away from online courses will find they like that option.

"We think some may be glad they have had the opportunity," Brock said.

Fiege cited a study that found 30 percent of college students have taken at least one online course. He also said that with today's technology, online learning can be very interactive.

He noted that faculty--many of whom now have iPads--can respond quickly, utilize online chats to communicate, and can rapidly post announcements using the college's electronic blackboard.

"It's very user-friendly," Fiege said.

Pamela Gould: 540/735-1972
Email: pgould@freelancestar.com

Germanna Community College officials have been working over the past week to accommodate students enrolled for classes at the Fredericksburg Area Campus, whose chief academic building was significantly damaged in the magnitude-5.8 earthquake on Aug. 23.

4,400--Number of students enrolled in classes meeting in the V. Earl Dickinson Building, which was damaged

321--Number of classes scheduled to meet there

10--Number of offices available for 150 to 200 faculty members

1--Number of GCC buildings significantly damaged

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR'S LEGACY: THROUGH EDUCATION, WE WILL OVERCOME

Germanna President David A. Sam told a crowd in Fredericksburg Sunday that Martin Luther King knew education was the key to true equality.


A portion of the remarks Dr. Sam delivered at Sunday's Celebration of the Life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. sponsored by the Multicultural OutReach Effort at James Monroe High School:

"He was educated and fought for others to be so educated. He saw his ministry and his activism as opportunities to teach with the entire nation, indeed the entire world, as his classroom.

"His too brief life modeled his belief that 'the quality, not the longevity, of one's life is what is important.' His life is a beacon that shines a light on our successes and failures, and guides us from the shoals of failure towards his dream of a society and educational system where we can truly be judged by the content of our character and not the color of our skin. Too many are still left behind. The beacon of his life glares a spotlight on what we have yet to do and aims us towards the way to achieve the dream of an empowering education for all of our citizens."

For more, go to the President's Blog.

AFTER FINDING HERSELF AT GERMANNA, LINDA OSORIO'S HELPING STAFFORD COUNTY COMMUTERS NAVIGATE THE ROAD TO WELLNESS

Former Germanna student Linda Osorio (above) recently opened Massage Matters Wellness Center in Garrisonville. She says believing in yourself and taking things one step at a time are the keys to success.
Linda Osorio says she didn't have much confidence when she came out of high school in Stafford County. She found herself, she says, as a student at Germanna Community College.

Now she's started her own business, Massage Matters Therapy & Wellness Center in Garrisonville, and is giving back to the college by sponsoring the Germanna soccer club.

She has a message for those who find themselves in a tough spot today: believe in yourself and never give up.

Osorio knows what it's like to feel that hope has almost slipped away.

She knows what it's like to be part of a stressed home environment because her mother struggled to support the family after her father left when she was 12.

"We had no electricity, no water at one point," she said. "I remember my sister and I were sitting in our bedroom one night with only candlelight. We were hungry and we talked about what we would want if we could have anything to eat. When my mom came home two hours later with two bags of KFC, it seemed like the best meal I ever had. We thought this was a miracle to be able to have something we really wanted." Good things, she said, happen when you really believe something can happen, "when you can taste it, feel it."

"Go at it moment by moment, step by step," Osorio said. "Martin Luther King once said, don't look at the whole staircase. Look at one step at a time. When you look at the whole staircase, you feel like you can't do it."

GERMANNA NURSING STUDENTS GIVE COMFORT TO THE DISADVANTAGED DURING HOLIDAY SEASON

Left to right, Germanna student nurses Meaghan Gallagher, Kristen Fisher, Erica Duggins, Lindsey Haun and Emily Causley help out at Holiday Dinner for the needy at Fredericksburg Baptist Church.
Twenty four second-year nursing students from Germanna Community College served up holiday dinners for an estimated 400 people, many of them homeless, at the Fredericksburg Baptist Church last week.

One of the GCC students, Lindsey Haun, a Chancellor High grad, is the daughter in law of the church's pastor, Larry Haun.

Rev. Haun said he considers more than 500 children in Fredericksburg to be homeless, since many of the live week to week in city motels.

For Dec. 18's Holiday Dinner at the church, "When we opened the doors, the were lined up all the way around the block," Rev. Haun said.

"It was awesome that so many nursing students from Germanna came to help," Rev. Haun said. "I'm not sure what we would have done had they not shown up."

Germanna student nurses at the church were residents from all over the Fredericksburg area. Among them, Meaghan Gallagher is a Massaponax High grad, Kristen Fisher a graduate of North Stafford High, Erica Duggins a Courtland High grad and Emily Causley a Chancellor High grad.

On the same night, first-year nursing students from Germanna were serving holiday meals to about 200 children at the Fredericksburg Boys & Girls Club.
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ASK NOT WHAT GERMANNA CAN DO FOR YOU. ASK WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR GERMANNA. GET INVOLVED. RUN FOR STUDENT SENATE. BE A LEADER.

Germanna's Student Government Association is accepting nominations for student senate through Friday, Dec. 19. Voting for senate positions will take place during the first week of the spring semester.



Germanna Student Government Association President Catherine Knapp says it doesn't take a big investment of time to make a difference at the college. She's urging her fellow students to run for student senate.

"Being an SGA Senator requires an average of only 90 minutes per week," Knapp says, and offers an opportunity to "Learn great leadership skills... (while deciding) "where $60,000 of your school fees is spent" and attending leadership and training conferences.

Knapp says SGA senators attend a one hour meeting weekly and attend a committee meeting once a month.

Applications are available next to room 121 at the Fredericksburg Area Campus' Dickinson Building. Applications to run for student senate must be submitted to Student Activities by this Friday, Dec. 19.

LOCAL BUSINESS LEADERS HELPING GERMANNA PREPARE TO LAUNCH CUSTOMER SERVICE ACADEMY

Plow & Hearth founder Peter Rice talks about the elements that are critical to strong customer service.

Peter Rice, founder of Plow & Hearth, is facilitating a group of area business leaders planning a Germanna Community College Customer Service Academy.

The Academy to be offered by GCC's Workforce and Continuing Education program, will assist the region's business community in improving the quality of customer service.

Rice provided insight into how Plow & Hearth became an outstanding customer-focused company.

Among the local business leaders putting the Germanna Customer Service Academy are Rice; Bob Hagan of the Fredericksburg Chamber of Commerce; Bob Alexander, CEO ofPratt Medical; Brian Baker: Executive Director of the Rappahannock Region Small Business Development Center; M.C. Moncure, Stafford County Tourism Manager; Colleen Hairston, President of the Fredericksburg Hospitality Association;Russell Seymour, Director of Economic Development for Spotsylvania County; Tom Blalock of Union Bank and Trust; Judi Bartlett, Associate Dean of Instruction at Germanna; Sharon Clark, Owner of Cameleer; Susan Barnhardt, owner of Pepperberries; and Jim Charapich of the Culpeper Chamber of Commerce.

SUPPORT FROM MARY WASHINGTON HOSPITAL AND CULPEPER REGIONAL HOSPITAL KEY AS SURGE IN GERMANNA NURSING GRADUATES HELPS MEET CRITICAL NEED

With help from Mary Washington Hospital and Culpeper Regional Hospital, Germanna is graduating more nursing students like the ones pictured here volunteering at the Culpeper Free Clinic.

An 88 percent increase in nursing graduates at Germannna Community College has contributed to a 67 percent overall increase in nursing program graduates in the Virginia Community College System.

Dr. Jane Ingalls RN, head of nursing at Germanna, congratulated her staff, saying, "You've made a difference in these students' lives and in the overall quality of health care in the communities served by GCC."

Gov. Tim Kaine lauded the state increase, saying: “Studies have shown that Virginia’s growing and aging population will require more than 20,000 nurses by 2020. Our Community Colleges and the Hospital and Healthcare Association are working hard, and successfully, to fulfill this need.”

Germanna President David A. Sam said a public-private partnership is playing a key role in the surge of nursing graduates. "We celebrate the success of our program and we owe special thanks to Culpeper Regional Hospital, Medicorp and Mary Washington Hospital for their investment in helping us meet the region's critical need for nurses," Dr. Sam said.



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GERMANNA PARADOX: ECONOMIC DOWNTURN REVS ENGINE OF COLLEGE GROWTH WHILE DRAINING FUNDING FUEL

Germanna has a total enrollment of 13,000, ranging in age from these 13-year-olds at a summer Tech Prep Camp, to a 94-year-old computer student. The community college is the fastest-growing in Virginia, but funding is declining.

In a piece in Saturday's Free Lance-Star headlined 'Crisis Breeds Opportunities,' Business Editor Howard Owen writes:

When the economy tanks, some parts of society have growth. A receding tide does not leave all boats stuck in the mud...


The state's community college system seems like a natural for growth in an economic downturn. Tuition runs about a third of the average at four-year state university, and that's before room and board. People who have lost their jobs are going to be looking for the kind of training opportunities offered there. And the system, which began in 1966, is growing like a weed anyway.

According to Jeffrey Kraus, the system's assistant vice chancellor of public relations, enrollment over the past two years has been "pretty dramatic." There are about 250,000 students in the system, plus another 190,000 in work-force training. Germanna Community College, with campuses in Fredericksburg and Locust Grove and a tech center in Culpeper, has about 6,300 students this fall, [and a total enrollment of 13,000, including workforce] up about 10 percent from last year. It's the fastest-growing of the state's 23 community colleges, percentage-wise.

Still, there is a problem.

The same downturn that might drive students to the community colleges is the force behind cuts in the system.

"We're gratified that the governor only cut us 5 percent," said Dr. David A. Sam, Germanna's president, referring to recent action by Gov. Tim Kaine. "Nonetheless, community colleges lost 5 percent last year, 5 percent this year and x-percent next year to be determined by [the state]."

Tuition probably will rise some, but "we don't want to make up for the state funding cuts [through tuition hikes], because we would not be affordable," Sam said.

"It's hard to build new programs and new buildings and hire new faculty," he continued. "We had lots of needs before this, and now the need will be even greater."

Sam said the expected rise in prospective students is at best a mixed blessing, and not just because of the budget cuts:

"We're in the community. Our friends, our neighbors, our families are threatened or affected by the downturn. Bad news affects us directly or indirectly.

"We care about the community," he added. "Community is our middle name."

There is a fund-raising group at Germanna, but the kind of endowments that large four-year schools amass is in another world.

"Community colleges have a shorter history of donation," Sam said, adding, "and we don't have winning football teams."

Hundreds learn about Germanna and Dual Enrollment at College Tour event

Riverbend High School student Heather Aylesworth and her mother, Tina Harris, talk with Germanna's Canice Graziano about nursing and dual enrollment during College Tour night at Spotsylvania Towne Centre.


Sixteen-year-old Riverbend High School sophomore Heather Aylesworth may be too young to head off to college yet, but she's not too young to plan for the day she will.

Heather, who wants some day to be a pediatric nurse at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, plans to begin her nursing studies with the program at Germanna Community College.

Her mother, Tina Harris, says it'll be nice to have Heather at home early in her college career.

But even before she leaves Riverbend High, she'll be getting a head start toward that goal by earning college credit through Germanna's Dual Enrollment Program.

GCC Coordinator of Dual Enrollment Canice Graziano says Heather will be taking DE English Comp and DE Pre-Calculus to earn college credit at her high school.

"Because she's planning so early she'll be able to take advantage of earning up to 12 college credits at Riverbend," Graziano says.

Heather was one of 300 students who stopped by the Germanna table to pick up materials and ask questions and GCC was one of dozens of colleges to participate in the event.