Ybor City Campus Presidential Community Advisory Council

(Formerly, Ybor City Campus President's Community Forum)

Charge:  Focus on connecting the greater Ybor City community to our campus and serve as a venue for an open dialogue between campus administration and the community-at-large

The Fall HCC Ybor City Campus President’s Community Forum Meeting we held Oct. 27, 2011 from 5pm-7pm in the Ybor Room.

 The following community members were present at the meeting:

Dr. Paul Nagy, Executive Director of Strategic Planning and Institutional Research, presented a video that gave an overview of HCC’s mission and values.  He then led a discussion on the topic of mission and values, seeking input from the community leaders at the session.  Dr. Nagy asked the assembly three questions and received responses to these queries:

1.     What are HCC strengths?  (The answers follow each question)

• Accessibility – from pre-GED through degree.  Accessibility included things such as the course schedule, the location of campuses, the costs of classes, and the ability to transfer into a four-year program;
• Addresses the needs of country residents;
• HCC is a good, affordable starting point for college students;
• HCC has a strong variety of program;
• The college is diverse, but the students also feel part of one college. 

2.     What should be HCC’s chief focus?a

• Preparing students for university transfer by restoring General Educational competencies and teaching critical thinking;
• Anticipating workforce needs and streamline focus on greatest needs by eliminating distractions;
• Strengthening focus on non-traditional students by:                                          i
• Capitalizing on adult education students;                         
• Enhance support services for non-traditional students;                        
• Stay current on advancements in instructional technology.
• Maintaining flexibility in dealing with changing demographics;
• Continuing to adapt, invent, and reinvent. 

3.    What can HCC do better?

• Secure adequate funding to maintain quality standards across the five campuses;
• Improve the feedback loop from business, industry and community who we serve;
• Improve the course availability and scheduling;
• Communication with the community regarding college activities;
• Think about what the college does best;
•  Improve customer service to students and business;
• Greater responsiveness to business needs based on analysis;
• Improve east of entry into college, for example, the web page, and emulate the Honors Institute approach. 

Individual Comments: (Drawn from post-it notes)·        

“Survey, analyze, etc. to make certain HCC continues to meet the needs of our county’s changing demographics.” 

 “Make your programs more accessible to your older community workforce.  Currently, you are not very user-friendly to the 35-plus year-old community.” 

“Focus on general education (math) competencies to prepare students for high tech.” 

“Advice: Keep up the good work.  (I) keep learning great things about HCC.  Thanks.” 

“For profit colleges have been successful because they treat students as individuals and cater to their needs.  Learn from their success.” 

“Continue to meet the needs of the community.” 

“Customer service.” 

“Position HCC to educate students on high demand skills needed in the county for the future and make it easy for students to get into HCC, stay in, graduate, and get jobs!” 

“Focus on the students’ long-term success.” 

“Have one president of the college.  Remove the campus heads.” 

“Quarterly revise top management.  Advice: Adapt, invent, and reinvent.” 

“I suggest the data on the things discussed be shared with the Chamber and community via their newsletters, meetings, a flyer, and on an easy to access website so more people can participate, go to your events, etc.”

The Summer 2011 Meeting of the Ybor City Campus Presidential Community Advisor Council (the successor of the Ybor City Campus President's Community Forum) met on Thursday, July 12, 2011 at 5:30pm in the Ybor Room on the HCC Ybor City Campus.

The meeting featured an opportunity to take a tour of two campus buildings, the Ybor City Campus Performing Arts Building (YPAB) and the Ybor City Campus Student Services Building (YSSB).

Additionally, Forum/Council members were asked to complete a questionnaire to keep HCC and community updated on members' professional interests.  Also reviewed at the meeting were plans to update the College's mission statement. which starts with visiting the following link and answering some key questions regarding HCC's mission, vision and values.  When answering, please remember that your responses can be practical, or philosophical, or both, as you choose.  There's no wrong answers, so be as imaginative as you want in aiding the College become a better community partner.

The next meetings of the Community Advisory Council are set for Thursday, October 27, 2011, from 5:30pm-7:30pm, and Thursday, March 1, 2012.  Time TBA.

New!   In response to comments made at our last meeting, we have added (below) a link to our employment board.  After registration, employers can post jobs and review the resumes of our participating students.  Please visit the board today and register: /ssem/career-center/employers-only.aspx

Also, for those of you who missed the presentation to the Ybor City Chamber of Commerce on August 9, 2011, you can view it here.

The Spring 2011 meeting of the  Ybor City Campus President's Community Forum, now the Ybor City Campus Presidential Community Advisory Council, was held Wednesday, February 9 at 5 pm in the Ybor Room on the HCC Ybor City Campus.

Hillsborough Community College President Dr. Ken Atwater was present to discuss the challenges facing HCC in the coming year and the goals the college have set to meet those challenges.  Dr. Atwater went on to detail for the forum participants the significant economic  impact the college and its graduates have on Hillsborough County, using figures found in the Regional Growth and Investment Analysis produced by the college.

Dr. Atwater's talk dovetailed with the Powerpoint presentation made by HCC-Ybor City Campus President Dr. Shawn Robinson, which focused on the role the Ybor City Campus plays in the surrounding community.

Community participants discussed various avenues for interaction with the campus during the meeting, including:

• Community and student participation in college festivals and events;
• Setting up internships for HCC students with local businesses;
• Providing more outreach to the community;
• Making the community more aware of arts events on campus;
• Making use of social networking to keep the community informed of HCC activities; and
• Working with community members to offer an expanded menu of non-credit courses.

To help meet these goals, members were asked to fill out a questionnaire for networking purposes, and a ballot to elect a chair for the council and a chair-elect.

The first Ybor City Campus President's Community Forum was held July 8, 2010.  In attendance were representatives of the following groups:

• Academy Preparatory School
• Church of Scientology
• Creative Loafing
• Hillsborough County School Board
• HCC Foundation
• HCC Ybor City Campus Administration
• HCC Ybor City Campus Faculty
• HCC Ybor City Campus Staff
• HCC Ybor City Campus Student Government Association
• Ybor City Museum Society
• Ybor City Development Corporation

Notes from the first forum are available here.

Continuing Projects and Discussions:

• Gather information on local businesses that offer discounts to HCC Students and Employees.
• Develop a local "Career Day" connection between our students and local businesses.
• Develop a local "Art in the Classroom" series to showcase local artists' work in classrooms either through reproductions, donations, or loan agreements.
• Partner with local media (WMNF, Creative Loafing, for exampls), to connect Radio, TV, Multi-media, and Journalism students with industry.
• Connect student-volunteers with magnet schools in their areas of interest to gain experience.
• Connect with local artists (professional and amateur, including K-12 students) to design and paint murals on campus. 
• Serve as good will ambassadors for the Ybor City Campus and Hillsborough Community College.