The Pellissippi Press

by Adrienne Lefebvre

Pellissippi State will kick-off Operation Hearts for Haiti on Feb. 11-12, starting a semester-long fundraising effort to help quake victims.

“This is student driven,” said Kim Thomas, director of Student Life and Recreation. “Our clubs, students and advisors came together and said, ‘Hey, we need to be doing something.’”

Thomas said donation buckets will be distributed at cashier counters on all campuses and at the office of Student Life and Recreation. A $5 donation during the kick-off will deliver candy hearts to anyone on campus.

Fundraising officially began last week as Pellissippi’s clubs gathered at Club Connection, a competition that raised $152 for the American Red Cross.

Kenyatta Rogers is a member of the Active Black Student Association, the club raising the most money during Club Connection.  She is also the newest member of the Student Activities Board and has been active helping to organize help efforts.

“We wanted to find a way to get as many students as possible involved in helping,” Rogers said of Operation Hearts for Haiti.

Student Kenyatta Rogers prepares donation buckets for Operation Hearts for Haiti

Pellissippi State will be scheduling new events throughout the semester. Fundraising will conclude on April 23 at a Pellipalooza-like event.

“It will be the same kind of event, except it will be in the evening,” said Thomas. “The community will be invited to attend and our students will be able to perform.”

Thomas added that a website is currently under construction that will post activities and allow student to see how much money has been raised.

Donations made at any event during the semester will benefit quake victims through The American Red Cross, Partners in Health, and Remote Area Medical. RAM is a local organization already working in Haiti.

“Any student who’s interested in volunteering for any events or activities that we have in regards to Haiti, come on by and see us,” said Thomas.

Student Life and Recreation is located in Goins, Room 141. For more information, visit http://www.pstcc.edu/departments/student_life/.

By Adrienne Lefebvre

A new formula to measure student achievement is being considered by state leaders and could impact funding for Pellissippi State.

“This is a national discussion about what should be expected from higher education,” said Dr. Allen Edwards, president of Pellissippi State.

A brief by the National Governors Association, released earlier this month, points out that “improving the performance of postsecondary institutions, including community colleges, has increasingly taken center stage in state economic recovery plans.”

The NGA brief finds that “existing measures of student achievement exclude far too many students and track too few student milestones,” exclusions that can sometimes “penalize institutions.”

Graduation rates are one way that institutions are now evaluated for performance, but these “can’t be the only measure for us,” said Edwards.

“We are democracy’s college. We don’t control who comes in the front door,” said Edwards.” If you have a high school diploma and you want to attend college, by God, we’re going to be your shot.”

The NGA brief agrees many community colleges risk being marginalized in productivity evaluations. State and federal data can be “misleading when applied to two-year colleges” because standards of performance were “originally designed for four-year institutions.”

Edwards shares this concern and advocates measures included in the NGA brief that would more accurately gauge success at Pellissippi State.

In addition to graduation and job placement rates, “measures ought to be: Students who successfully transfer to another institution, students who successfully complete remedial courses and move into collegiate courses and completion of any certificates,” said Edwards. “These are successful completions of skill levels that ought to be recognized.”

Edwards said Governor Phil Bredesen is leading this discussion and expects these new measures to be addressed in the next legislative session.