Category: Academics

SC4 to host human trafficking conference with a health care focus April 8

St. Clair County Community College’s nursing department and the Michigan Abolitionist Project (MAP) are partnering to present a human trafficking conference Monday, April 8, from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. in the college’s Fine Arts Theatre.

The conference not only aims to increase awareness and understanding of the global crisis but also will focus on human trafficking from a health care perspective, educating professionals in the field on the assessment and evaluation of potential victims.

BastienThe second annual seminar will feature remarks from keynote speaker Danielle Bastien, RN, DNP FNP-BC, an emergency room nurse at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. Bastien recently completed the DNP program at Wayne State University, where her doctoral thesis focused on human trafficking. She developed a policy for Henry Ford Health System which implemented changes to the triage and emergency department process to help better identify patients who are victims of human trafficking.

“We’re so excited to partner with MAP to host this important event at SC4,” said Patti Tibble, director of the college’s nursing program. “Human trafficking is a critically important topic to address as nurses and health care professionals, and we’re glad to help bring training and assessment tools to professionals in our region.”

Interested attendees can learn more and register online through the MAP website. Registration is $20, and the event will issue 2.5 continuing education contact hours for nurses. For more information, email porthuron@map-mi.org or call 810-748-9528.

SC4 responds to growing demand for qualified health care professionals

As the population ages, health care professionals are more in demand than ever. In fact, new health-related jobs are projected to grow 18 percent through 2026, “much faster than the average for all occupations,” according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

For St. Clair County Community College – home to Michigan’s oldest community college’s nursing program – that trend means doubling down on what it has done well for the past 95 years and expanding efforts to ensure its students thrive in one of the nation’s 2.4 million anticipated new health sciences jobs.

Read more about the SC4’s response to the demand for health care professionals from The Keel.

Focus on Open Education Resources helps maximize student success, reduce college costs

It is Open Education Week, and St. Clair County Community College remains committed to its open education resources (OER) efforts, which have helped save students nearly $900,000 since 2016.

Started in 2013, Open Education Week is a global event to raise awareness and showcase the impact of open education on teaching and learning worldwide. OER include freely accessible, openly licensed text, media and other digital assets that can increase student learning and success while reducing the cost of higher education.

At SC4, OER advocates have led efforts that focus on providing faculty members the opportunity to utilize alternative textbooks that save students money. Faculty members in biology, business, criminal justice, earth science, English, health education, history, math, philosophy, physics courses and more have utilized the resources.

Additionally, many SC4 faculty members have received pilot awards for their OER innovation, including biology instructor Brandis Hubbard, who was recently recognized for a series of videos she developed for one of her courses.

“Embracing the creation and use of OER gives us the opportunity to encourage collaboration and creativity while also addressing textbook affordability to ensure our students have access to the resources they need to be successful,” said SC4 Dean of Library Services and Academic Technology Kendra Lake. “As the support for OER continues to grow across the state and the nation, being an integral part of the larger OER community will continue to benefit our students.”

Other OER efforts at the college include:

  • Participation in Michigan Colleges Online’s OER Commons hub, an OER discovery and curation tool that’s free for faculty members.
  • An OER team consisting of faculty, librarians and staff which aims to encourage and support open pedagogy across the college.
  • Host to more than 200 open education practitioners and advocates from across the state as part of the second annual Michigan Open Educational Resources (OER) Summit in September 2018.
  • A permanent OER textbook display available to faculty in the college’s library.
  • A custom OER Library Research Guide, featuring a curated list of OER resources by discipline, open access content search with a list of OER repositories, links to open education research and much more.

TRIO Student of the Month: Nicholas Reese

I chose to attend SC4 because it’s close to home, but I mostly chose the college for the reputation of its nursing program.

Working full-time while being in the nursing program can be tough. Working every afternoon takes time away from studying, so I’m usually staying up late to study because that’s when I can find the time. Time management is key to success when it comes to juggling a lot of responsibilities, and there have been many nights with only few hours of sleep just to get by in school. Financial barriers can also be challenging. I have been paying for half of the program costs out of pocket, but I look at the debt as an investment in my future that will pay off soon after graduation.

After I graduated high school I took two years off to manage some personal matters. I was salutatorian in high school, so I knew how to do well academically — my problem was making myself start up again. After talking with a close family friend, she recommended applying to the TRIO program at SC4. The more I learned about it, the more comfortable I felt going back to school again.

When I went to register for classes, I was clueless. I am a first-generation college student, so I had no idea how to register and what to register for. I went to TRIO for follow-up advising, and I left feeling relieved and confident. TRIO helped me complete all my prerequisites one year before applying to the nursing program, keeping me on track and able to focus on what’s important. Support services such as early registration allowed me to get the classes and instructors that I needed, and the TRIO staff has been so helpful. They are hardworking, dedicated individuals who truly advocate for students’ success.

I would strongly recommend TRIO to other students. They have even more support services than I was able to take advantage of for myself. Any person who wants a better learning experience with superior guidance should apply.

I am in my last semester of the nursing program. After graduation, studying and passing state boards are a priority so I can obtain my licensure to practice. Eventually, I would like to return to SC4 to take prerequisites for the B.S.N. program at Eastern Michigan University. When I get my B.S.N., I’ll continue to work until I find an area I want to specialize in — I look forward to figuring all of that out along the way.