Category: Student success

SC4 a great place to start according to alumnus Dan Damman

Attorney Daniel A. Damman says there’s no debate about it: St. Clair County Community College is the best place for area students to start their higher education.

A 1994 St. Clair High School graduate, Damman (pictured above with wife Therese) attended SC4 for two years, earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Michigan State University in 1999 and earned his Juris Doctorate from Wayne State University Law School in 2002.

After law school, Damman took over a New Baltimore law firm, changed the name to Damman Law Firm, PLC, and eventually moved it to Marysville and then St. Clair. He helped form Lord, Damman and VanDrew, PLC, in 2006 with partner Ken Lord and Dana VanDrew and later Damman VanDrew, PLC.

In June 2015 Damman and Nicole Winston founded the litigation firm Winston and Damman, PLLC, where they continue to practice law, including criminal defense, divorce and family law, personal injury, wrongful death and social security disability.

Damman, 44, formerly of Marysville and now St. Clair Township, was elected to the Marysville City Council in 2011 and mayor in 2013. He served three terms before stepping down to enter the candidacy for judge of the 31st Circuit Court. He and his wife, Therese, have two children, Emily, 20, and Mason, 18.

He said he decided his senior year of high school to attend SC4 after graduation and began in the fall of 1994.

“Being the youngest of four children – and the youngest by nearly nine years, I was not ready to leave my parents’ home,” Damman said. “I also wasn’t exactly sure where I wanted to go to obtain my bachelor’s degree.

“SC4 gave me some time to transition from high school into adulthood, obtain a great education at a fraction of the cost of a four-year university, get some college credits under my belt, and time to figure out where I wanted to go next.”

Damman said SC4 allowed him to obtain an excellent education from some extraordinary instructors close to home.

“I went to SC4 for two years; my wife attended SC4; my daughter attended SC4, first through dual enrollment and then for a year after high school; and my son attends SC4 right now through dual enrollment. SC4 was crucial in starting me on the path to where I am today, and I am proud to be a SC4 alumnus.”

In addition to proximity and quality instruction, Damman said SC4 is a smart financial decision for anyone considering higher education.

“What is crystal clear at this point in my life is that SC4 is one of the crown jewels of our area and people are wise to take advantage of what it has to offer. With the soaring cost of higher education, the ability for a high school student to earn college credits at no cost to the student, or his/her family, through dual enrollment or the Blue Water Middle College should be a no-brainer.

“Attending SC4 after graduation to earn credits at a fraction of the cost of a four-year university should also be given careful consideration for those students who want to start his or her education without back-breaking student debt. I believe that viewed through just about any lens, SC4 presents opportunity for everyone.”

SC4 joins statewide basic needs initiative to support students

PORT HURON – St. Clair County Community College announced today that it will join a statewide initiative to help students connect with resources to support basic needs. The Michigan Community College Association was awarded a $442,000 grant to launch the initiative focused on improving student completion and success by addressing economic instability among students including access to food, housing, transportation, childcare and other basic needs.

The Michigan – Building Economic Stability Today (MI-BEST) effort is funded by a grant from the ECMC Foundation as part of its Basic Needs Initiative, designed to address and alleviate basic needs insecurity among students.

The initiative kicks off this month and continues through June 2022. SC4 will begin by forming a team of college personnel and community leaders in January.

National survey findings reported that 45 percent of respondents had been food insecure in the past 30 days, 56 percent had been housing insecure in the previous year and 17 percent had been homeless during that year.

“We know that the lack of access to basic needs is frequently the reason that students leave college,” said Erica Lee Orians, executive director of the Michigan Center for Student Success at the Michigan Community College Association, “SC4’s participation in this initiative is a critical component of our student success efforts.”

The Michigan Center for Student Success is leading the initiative for the MCCA and will partner with nationally-recognized organizations including the National Center for Inquiry and Improvement and Trellis Research along with Michigan-based organizations including the Michigan Association of United Ways, MiBridges, and Public Policy Associates to support Michigan’s participating community colleges.

“We have focused on a number of initiatives to improve student completion at SC4 and MI-BEST is another opportunity for the college to eliminate barriers to student success,” said SC4 Vice President of Student Services Pete Lacey. “We are grateful for the partnership from the ECMC Foundation and the Michigan Community College Association and their visionary leadership to address economic instability to improve student success.”

Other student needs and completion initiatives at SC4 include the Complete Your Degree Program as well as working collaboratively with Literacy and Beyond, which assists single moms with GED completion and helps provide support to enroll in college. The college also provides students with nutritional food options via free Skippers Snacks bins located around campus. 

The MCCA basic needs initiative was created in response to research from the Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice (Hope Center), California State University, MDRC and the National Bureau of Economic Research, showing that basic needs insecurity is prevalent among students at two- and four-year campuses and impacts students’ persistence and graduation outcomes.

The Michigan Center for Student Success, founded in 2011, serves as a hub connecting leadership, administrators, faculty, and staff in their emerging and ongoing efforts to improve student outcomes, emphasizing linkages between practice, research, and policy. The Center has led statewide initiatives focused on re-engaging adults, developmental education, transfer, veterans, and advising. The Center is part of the 16-state Student Success Center Network working with over half of the community colleges across the nation.

ABOUT THE MICHIGAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE ASSOCIATION
The Michigan Community College Association fosters collaboration, connection, and partnerships among the 28 Michigan public community colleges and their stakeholders.  The MCCA provides strong legislative and public advocacy in Lansing and throughout Michigan, works to improve the image and credibility of community colleges, and advances numerous shared initiatives through the Michigan Center for Student Success, Michigan Colleges Online, and the Michigan New Jobs Training Program.

ABOUT ECMC FOUNDATION
ECMC Foundation is a Los Angeles-based, nationally focused foundation whose mission is to inspire and to facilitate improvements that affect educational outcomes—especially among underserved populations—through evidence-based innovation. It is one of several affiliates under the ECMC Group enterprise based in Minneapolis. ECMC Foundation makes investments in two focus areas: College Success and Career Readiness; and uses a spectrum of funding structures, including strategic grantmaking and program-related investments, to invest in both nonprofit and for-profit ventures. Working with grantees, partners and peers, ECMC Foundation’s vision is for all learners to unlock their fullest potential. Learn more about ECMC Foundation by visiting www.ecmcfoundation.org and ECMC Group by visiting www.ecmcgroup.org.

TRIO student finds a new path forward at SC4

Employed for more than 10 years installing commercial fences, Thomas Short learned he was without a job when his company went under.

“I had to start over,” Short said. “I tried to find another steady job but a lot of the outdoor jobs I was qualified for are not steady and can end at any time.”

Due to the loss of his financial stability, Short says he began heading down a rough path, abusing substances and making bad decisions.

“After I lost my house, I was staying at my mother’s house and, with every day getting worse than the previous day, I knew something had to change,” he said. “I thought about what kind of example I was setting for my children and decided that I would show them the example that I want them to follow.”

Short set out to earn his G.E.D, which took about three or four months. He then was asked if he was going to pursue college.

“That was something I had never thought about,” Short said. “Again thinking about my children, I decided to show them that ‘Dad can do it and so can you.’”

Short enrolled at St. Clair County Community College in 2018 and applied for the TRIO program.

“The last time I attended any kind of school was in the eighth grade,” he said. “When I came to college, I was super nervous about the process and had no clue how a system like this was supposed to work. I heard that TRIO was known for its academic planning.”

Since then, TRIO has helped Short plan and register for classes and generally stay on track. TRIO also provided support services that Short never anticipated.

“TRIO made me feel like part of something bigger than myself,” Short said. “They gave me confidence, and I feel the self-confidence I gained reflected directly into my grades. Trio took the butterflies and self-doubt out of being a brand-new college student, and I am sincerely grateful for the program.”

In addition to the TRIO program, Short says he’s very thankful for the support he’s found in his SC4 professors.

“I have been honored to learn from the most caring and helpful professors that a student could ask for,” he said. “The one-on-one attention has really shown the advantage of a community college. I am grateful for all of my professors, but a few that really stand out for me: Professor Lubbers, who taught me to be more outgoing as a student; Instructor Gentry, who taught me that if I do something great don’t be afraid to let people know that I’ve done something great; and Professor Forsgren and Professor Collard, who challenged my way of thinking and pushed me to challenge myself harder than I ever thought I was capable of.”

Thanks to support from his professors and TRIO, Short continues his forward momentum toward a new career.

“My goal is to get into a steady career in technology so I won’t have to worry about where my children’s next meal will come from,” he said. “Also, part of the reason I started college was to provide a good example for my children to follow and learn from. The ultimate goal is to ready my children for a better future than I was on the way to providing them before. Now here I am, full speed ahead and will never look back.”

WPHM’s Paul Miller on right wavelength thanks to SC4 start

Port Huron’s own Paul Miller has been getting up and starting the morning with thousands of area listeners each weekday for 17 years now.

The St. Clair County Community College alumnus is the man behind the microphone as the host of the WPHM AM-1380 morning show.

A 1986 graduate of Port Huron Northern High School, Miller went on to attend SC4 and earn his associate degree in 1988. He then transferred to Central Michigan University where he received his Bachelor of Applied Arts in broadcast and cinematic arts with a minor in English in 1990.

Miller, 51, said his local community college was essential in getting him on the right wavelength.

“SC4 was a great choice for me,” he said. “I was interested in a career in media, and was able to gain experience on campus in many ways. I liked the smaller class size, the accessibility of instructors. Of course, SC4 was an affordable choice, but I also felt the quality of instruction was good and it allowed me to graduate with an associate degree and easily transfer to Central Michigan University.”

Over the years, Miller worked as news director for WGHN radio in Grand Haven from 1991-92, WPHM from 1992-96, and WCRZ in Flint from 1996-98. He later worked as a news reporter/anchor for WJR in Detroit from 1996-2001 and then account executive at Marx Layne and Co. Public Relations in 2001-02 before returning home to host the WPHM morning show.

Miller said he actually started his career at WPHM when he worked part time for the radio station while attending SC4 in 1987-88.

“I grew up listening to WPHM as a kid so it was fun to have longtime morning show host John Hill as my communications instructor,” he said. “John hired me to work at WPHM on a part-time basis while I attended SC4, and it provided me invaluable experience learning about radio and working in the business while going to school.

“John became a longtime friend, and I was honored to work with him as news director at WPHM after graduating from CMU. I eventually returned to replace him when he retired from the station and also taught some of his media classes at SC4.”

Miller added SC4’s downtown campus is small enough for students to make important connections while going to school, yet large enough to offer events for the entire community.

“In addition to the opportunity I had to work at WPHM while attending SC4, I made friends that I still have today during my time at the college,” Miller added. “I thought it was a good bridge between high school and moving away to attend Central Michigan. I like that SC4 truly is part of the community where students and non-students alike can participate in activities on campus, right in downtown Port Huron.”

Miller and his wife, Anne, live in Fort Gratiot and have a daughter, Nora, 17.