End of Semester Reflections

It is amazing how quickly the semester has gone by. At the end of the week, we say farewell to the fall 2011 semester. As I reflect on the last few months, I realize this semester is full of things we can all be proud of and I thought this was a good time for all of us to be reminded what we’ve accomplished:

• St. Louis Community College opened its Wildwood campus in fall 2007.  In that first semester, approximately 1,200 students took classes on the campus. This fall 2011 semester, there are over 2,100 students taking classes on the campus. About 25% of those students are also taking classes on one of the other campuses. Since the first building was designed to serve 2,200 to 2,300 students, the Wildwood campus is currently at 97% capacity.
• Each year that the campus has been open it has increased in credit hours produced.  In FY 2008, 18,553 credit hours were produced.  In FY 2011, 35,580 credit hours were generated.  This is a 92% growth in credit hours.
• Our Phi Theta Kappa chapter inducted 31 new members, bringing the total number of members from the Wildwood campus to 161 since the chapter was established in March 2009.
• Of the 365 teams competing in the Capsim Challenge for business students nationwide, Wildwood had two finishers in the top 30.  The team of Rachel Wood, Jamie Rybak and Patrick Eberle finished 20^th.  Brian Walker finished 29^th.
• Clubs have organized a variety of trips for members and other students, including the cadaver lab at Logan Chiropractic (Science Club), Principia College to see a mock debate between Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson (History Club), the LGBT Community Center and Science Center for the LGBT Health Fair (LGBT-S Club), and a visit to the West St. Louis County Rotary Club (Business Club).
• Over 2,100 people, including students, community members, faculty and staff attended events on campus sponsored by Campus Life, student clubs and academic departments. This includes a lecture by Dr. Harry K. Wong and Rosemary Wong, nationally recognized experts in the field of education and last week’s performance of “It’s A Wonderful Life” along with two Open Mic Nights, three Artists and Apples lectures, and many other events.
• Community services projects this semester produced record-breaking results showing how much our students, faculty and staff care for those in need. The annual food drive resulted in over 5,000 items donated to Circle of Concern, Phi Theta Kappa’s book drive received over 800 children’s books to donate to Haven of Grace and the St. Louis Crisis Nursery, and the Volunteers of Wildwood (V.O.W.) collected enough donations to send 50 care packages to soldiers serving overseas.

These are just a few of the many things I could talk about. There is so much to be proud of and, of course, so much more to accomplish. This time of year is a time for reflection. It’s a good time to think about what a gift we are to each other, and the many positive things we bring to our community and to our students. In addition, I think it is about realizing it is about more than each of us as individuals. Together, we can do things each of us could never do alone. Especially on our small campus, each person and department works together to create the best possible learning experience for our students. The whole is so much greater than the sum of the parts!

Thank you all for your contributions to the Wildwood campus and community this semester. I hope you all find time to refresh, relax and recharge over the winter break. Take a few moments to think about your goals and ideas for the new year. I would love to hear about them, please share in the comment section of this post or stop by to see me after the break. I look forward to seeing everyone in January as we kick off 2012!