Author: Mark Rummel

SC4 Board of Trustees to fill vacant trustee seat at special meeting Oct. 8

The St. Clair County Community College Board of Trustees has received 13 applications for a vacant trustee seat.

The board will consider the applicants at a special meeting at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 8, in Room 150 of the college’s Welcome Center.

The term of office for this vacancy is approximately 15 months and will expire on Dec. 31, 2020.

The seat was left vacant by the resignation of former Trustee John Adair.

The following people submitted applications for the vacant seat:

  • Craig Archer, Marysville
  • Karen Basha, Port Huron
  • Kim Chaltry, Port Huron
  • Brad Gudme, Emmett
  • James Howard, Port Huron
  • Anthony King, Port Huron
  • Garth Kriewall, Port Huron
  • Duane McCallister, St. Clair
  • John McIntosh, Fort Gratiot
  • John Ogden, Port Huron
  • James Osieczonek, Algonac
  • Tray Smith, Port Huron
  • Marissa Williams, Port Huron

Alumnus thriving as cybersecurity expert and Arizona State University adjunct professor

St. Clair County Community College alumnus Alexander Neff credits his alma mater for helping him keep pace while pursuing his career along today’s information superhighway.

Neff, 33, of Mesa, Ariz., is employed as a cybersecurity and compliance manager for VisualVault and recently became an adjunct professor at Arizona State University.

“Everything I learned prepared me to jump into my career full steam and allowed me to catch up to speed quickly on technologies I hadn’t learned yet,” he said. “Without SC4, I would have never achieved the level of success I have today.”

The Algonac High School graduate earned his Associate of Science degree in computer information systems (networking) from SC4 in 2006. He then went on to attend Northern Arizona University where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in information technology management in 2012 and later his Master of Science degree in management of information systems from the University of Arizona in 2017.

Neff began working as a systems analyst for Magellan21 in Glendale, Ariz., in 2010 and later became an information security architect for the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System in Phoenix in 2011 before accepting his current position this year with VisualVault. He is also a Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH).

“In my first few positions after graduation, I supported small business networks,” Neff said. “My degree from SC4 aligned well with those positions. In order to move forward with my career, I transitioned to cybersecurity and was able to leverage all of my experience up to that point. In my current position, I’m in charge of cybersecurity and compliance for a company that provides software as a service.”

He also will soon teach college classes similar to the ones he took at SC4.

“I actually just accepted the position at ASU to teach night classes,” he said. “I will be teaching a couple of 100 and 200 level information technology and cybersecurity classes a semester, exactly the kind of classes I took at SC4. I feel it’s a way to strengthen my own knowledge while training the next wave of cybersecurity engineers as they are sorely needed in the industry. In the next few years, there’s expected to be a shortage of millions of cybersecurity workers.”

Neff added SC4 was a stepping-stone to higher education.

“The education I received at SC4 gave me a solid foundation of how technology works and allowed me to get my feet wet in my career,” he said.

SC4 radiologic technology students win top honors at statewide competition

St. Clair County Community College Class of 2020 radiologic technology students recently competed in the Michigan Society of Radiologic Technologists Annual Student Academic Competition in Bay City, Mich. SC4 student Taylor Kreger (shown above holding the trophy) earned first place, while SC4 students Danielle Sawyer (above right) and Katelyn Vespie (above left) won third and fourth place, respectively.

IMG_1123 (1).PNGSC4 students competed against students from a number of radiologic technology programs across Michigan. Students were tasked with special preparation sessions and assignments to be ready for the event.

“This competition comes at a good time in the program,” said SC4 Program Director Monica Rowling. “It helps prepare students early for their national certifying exam. Taylor, Danielle and Katelyn represented SC4 well and should be very proud of their accomplishments!”

As this year’s winner, Kreger won $250, a plaque, medallion and the right to display the competition trophy until next year’s competition. Sawyer won $75, a plaque and medallion, and Vespie was awarded a medallion.

SC4’s radiologic technology program is increasingly known for the high-quality education it provides to its students. SC4 radiologic technology students recently helped continue for a sixth year the program’s impressive 100 percent passing rate on the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT) exam by taking and passing the exam on their first try.

SC4 Dean of Health Sciences Jenny Giles-Voss commented on the program’s perfect record on the national registry exam in a past SC4 news release.

“A perfect record like this is incredibly rare,” Giles-Voss said. “It illustrates the high level of commitment we have to our students in ensuring they are ready to thrive in this career path upon graduation.

“Specifically, Monica has had a remarkable record of preparing skilled radiographers in our region. We are fortunate to have her and our amazing team of faculty experts teaching future generations of health care professionals.”

SC4 alumna fulfills dream of becoming a nurse, leader in health care

Caren Kosal didn’t have to roam far from home to make her dreams of becoming a nurse come true.

caren-kosel-alumni-pics14.jpgKosal, who earned her associate degree in nursing from St. Clair County Community College in 2006, today serves as the trauma program manager at McLaren Port Huron.

“The SC4 nursing program helped me fulfill a lifelong dream of becoming a nurse,” she said. “It is a very humbling experience to help others when they need it most. I am very proud to be a nurse.”

“The SC4 nursing program was very well organized and the instructors were very helpful. SC4 was affordable and conveniently located close to my home, and this helped to make my dream a reality.”

After graduating from Richmond High School in 1988, Kosal worked as an administrative assistant in the orthopedic department at Children’s Hospital from 1988-89 and transferred to the spina bifida clinic where she worked from 1989-96. She went on to work as an administrative assistant for a pediatric orthopedic surgeon until 1999.

She then stayed home with her two young sons for four years, typing medical transcriptions at home before deciding to go back to school.

“I decided to stay home with my first child when I was 29 years old,” she said. “After being home, I knew I really missed working at the hospital but I was ready for more of a leadership role if I were to return. While working in the spina bifida clinic, the manager was a clinical nurse specialist. That’s when I decided I needed to pursue a nursing degree.”

Kosal attended SC4 from 2003-06. While in nursing school, Kosal decided she wanted to become an emergency room nurse when finished with her degree, so she worked part-time as an ER tech at Henry Ford Macomb Hospital until receiving her nursing license.

After graduating from SC4 in 2006, she transitioned to an ER registered nurse role at Henry Ford Macomb.

Kosal said she later decided to apply for an assistant clinical manager position in the ER and was told she needed a bachelor’s degree to be considered.

“I remembered SC4 was affiliated with the University of Michigan-Flint Nursing School at the time, and knew I wouldn’t have a problem with credit transfers,” she said. “I obtained a bachelor’s degree while working full-time hours.”

She finished her bachelor’s degree in nursing from University of Michigan-Flint in December 2013 and the next month became the emergency room manager at McLaren Macomb.

Kosal has been the trauma program manager at McLaren Port Huron since 2017. She lives in Columbus Township with her sons, Noah and Owen, who are now 19 and 17, respectively.

“Without my degree from SC4, I would never have been able to achieve my goals of being a nurse