By Jasmine Hsieh
The Scene staff
St. Louis Community College Interim Chancellor Dennis Michaelis said improving student services will be a main goal during the rest of his 18-month tenure.
“A lot of ways that students communicate with us — the way they register, the way they check their degree plan — those papers ought to go away,” he said. “(In the future) they will be able to do that on their smart phones.”
Michaelis spoke at a Feb. 19 forum, which filled Café East at Forest Park. Topics ranged from the new chancellor search to housekeeper safety, fundraising to building relationships with local school districts.
Michaelis took the interim position in October of 2013. His contract will end in June.
The college plans to make services such as financial aid, enrollment and registration accessible through Banner Self Service by the end of July. Banner is the online tool students use to manage personal and academic information.
“I will be honest with you,” Michaelis said. “I haven’t seen lines in registration in 20 years, except when I came to Forest Park. You are going to see some dramatic changes by fall.”
Michaelis said STLCC uses only 30 percent of Banner capability and that reorganization of student services is one of the “low-hanging fruits” the college has been trying to grasp.
“We have many millions of dollars we invested in technology,” he said. “But we might as well just burn them in stacks of money, because we had it for a long time and didn’t use it.”
It was known from the beginning that Michaelis would only be at St. Louis Community College for a short time.
“It was only logical for me to take an assessment — ‘What are the things that are immediately needed to be done?’ — and listen to the board about what they wanted to accomplish,” he said.
Michaelis said he and the STLCC Board of Trustees have focused mostly on student success and college reorganization.
“This college is one college; this is irrefutable,” he said. “I wasn’t here when the decision was made in ’99. And the problem is we haven’t fully functioned that way.”
Michaelis said he has worked hard to build relationships between the college campuses and local school districts, particularly with St. Louis School Superintendent Kelvin Adams.
Michaelis arranged for Adams to meet with the STLCC Board of Trustees. They talked about the importance of working together.
“I’m proud of the newly developed relationship that has come along very naturally with (St. Louis schools), and a number of other school districts,” Michaelis said.
Chancellor search
The college now is considering four candidates to replace Michaelis as chancellor.
They are Richard Dawe, president of Ozarka College; Jeff Pittman, vice provost for online education at Ivy Tech Community College; Beverlee McClure, CEO of the New Mexico Association of Commerce & Industry; and Rod Nunn, interim president at Forest Park.
All four will participate in public forums at each campus and at the Cosand Center between March 2 and 6.
Michaelis said there have been too much turnover in upper-level administration at the college and that stability must become its focus.
“Rather than coming in and saying, ‘Well, let’s blow the whole thing up and start all over again,’ every decision that you make, you have to truly believe in your heart that it’s the best thing for your students, faculty and the community,” he said. “And the new chancellor must understand that.”
Music professor and program coordinator Thomas Zirkle expressed concerns about whether the new chancellor will remain consistent with the current structure.
“The changes we are making now might all be abandoned in July,” he said. “And I know I’m not the only one to have this concern.”
Michaelis said he believes the STLCC Board of Trustees will discuss stability issues with the new chancellor.
“It’s really important for every one of you to give, whoever comes in, your support, and believe that he is doing the best he can,” he said.
Forest Park housekeeper Alice Moore expressed safety concerns in light of new work schedules. Some housekeepers will work from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and others from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m.
“As far as I know, most of the police officers leave before 11 p.m.,” Moore said. “But we housekeepers are going to be here until 2 a.m.”
Moore said housekeepers also are concerned on other campuses, particularly at Florissant Valley, where they walk from building to building.
“I have to be very honest with you that I do not know any of the specifics about it,” Michaelis said.
He said employee safety should remain a priority as officials makes decisions related to declining enrollments.
Forest Park counselor Kathleen Swyers asked what the college will do about students who have lost eligibility for financial aid.
“From my understanding, the college has been discussing tuition discounts,” Michaelis said. “The discussion right now is on whether it is $25 per credit hour or $25 per course.”
“It’s in progress now,” Nunn confirmed said.
College fundraising
Michaelis said the college needs to do more fundraising. He pointed out that the St. Louis Community College Foundation, established in 1962, has raised only about $5 million, compared to $18 million raised since 1988 by McLennan Community College, where he formerly served as president.
“My message is, we can do a lot better than this,” he said.
Jo-Ann Digman, executive director of St. Louis Community College Foundation, described the fundraising process.
“Our goal is that no one should be turned away from attending a community college for financial issues,” Digman said.
The foundation has 28 volunteers, who are business leaders, civic leaders and alumni. They help raise money from private sources, individuals, corporations and foundations to provide scholarships to STLCC students.
“We have over 200 scholarships available right now,” Digman said. “And we are also trying to raise money for specific programs such as developmental education and purposes such as emergency situations.”
Digman also encouraged faculty and staff to donate through payroll deduction.
“Whether it’s $5 or $10 a month, it is more about the participation than it is about the money,” she said. “Every dollar adds up.”
Michaelis noted that the STLCC Board of Trustees has committed to spend every dollar raised by the foundation to help students.
“That is a decision made by the board so that we can honestly say to donors that, ‘Your donation will not be wasted for administrative costs,’” he said.
Swyers expressed concern about limitations on the book fund.
“I have a student who got her book bag stolen this morning, but there is a time-line limit for applying for book fund,” she said. “And I wonder if that could be revisited, because students don’t have their emergencies happen in a certain time-line.”
Digman said the foundation is responsible only for raising money. The financial aid office distributes scholarships and other funding.
There are no emergency funds available to students right now, but Michaelis said the college will definitely have further discussion about it