Interview with President Arvelo - Great Bay Community College

Recently, I met with the President of Great Bay Community College to inquire about some of the recent changes and possible new changes to our school. Here is how it went:

Erica: Why did the school separate from the state?
President Arvelo: In 2005, the Community College System made the decision to separate. The states personnel policies within the school structure were set up exactly like that of the administration of the Department of State. Internally, the system was not designed for higher education and made decision making a bit complicated. So in 2007 that separation began. The college system will still be connected in some ways but will be self governed which allows for more flexibility.

Erica: What does this mean financially for the school in regards to funding?
President Arvelo: This will not affect the funds given to the schools.

Erica: How much does Great Bay receive from the state?
President Arvelo: This past year Great Bay received just under $4 million dollars in state funds and that covers about half of the operating funds for the school.

Erica Rahn: I was under the impression that 2 year colleges in the State were not permitted to offer Bachelor degrees, but with the split is there the possibility that Great Bay could offer Bachelors degrees in the future?
President Arvelo: Offering Bachelor degrees draws away from the mission of the school. The possibility is there but has not been considered yet.

Erica: Lets talk about the parking problem, will a parking garage be built?
President Arvelo: The College is on a contained lot about 13 acres. As the school grows, and new offices and facilities need to be added, the parking issue would need to be solved. Currently there are about 550-600 cars a week at the school and we project that we will need to accommodate 800 cars in the future. There are other other option that have been discussed; encouraging car-pooling, public transportation, off-site parking, and parking garage.

Erica: Is the parking garage a definite go?
President Arvelo: Nothing has been decided as of yet. We are working with the Pease Development Authority at the moment.

Erica: I heard that there will also be a new entrance way? Is this true?
President Arvelo: Yes, the will be a new entrance way. In the original construction of this building, it was designed and was on the blue prints. Due to some financial and time issues the rennovation was put off.

Erica: When will it get done?
President Arvelo: We are hoping to start work either in the spring of 2010 or Summer. But it should be finished by Fall of 2010.

Erica: What is going on with the Stratham Building?
President Arvelo: The continuing care retirement community CCRC, based in Rye, is in the process of purchasing the building. The building will be a multi-service facility, for profit/non-profit, for the town and community. They are moving forward with the purchase over the next year and at the moment CCRC needs more funding, and things are looking promising. In the meantime, we have to maintain the building.

Erica: If the sale doesn't go through, how will that cost impact us and tuition?
President Arvelo: The sale of the building will not impact tuition. All tuition raises are made by the Board of Trustees. This board is chosen by the Governor, and the group makes a tuition hike decisions collaboratively. Tuition raises are are all system wide and under 4%. The main reason for these hikes are loss of funding just like all other public schools.

Erica: Does CCSNH have the highest tuition in the country for community colleges?

President Arvelo: CCSNH has the lowest tuition in NH in both private and public schools. If you look directly at tuition costs, NH is one of the highest "tuition" community colleges, BUT if you look at the costs of other schools in the nation, they seem to hide the costs in other FEES. The act of hiding fees can be misleading when comparing tuition costs only. CCSNH doesn't practice this type of billing.

Local Business Doing It Right

In the market for a new CD, DVD, or video game? Buying local is always nice but usually isn't cost effective. Those big stores like Best Buy can usually get away with a lesser price because they can buy in larger quantities. Well, Bull Moose Music is a local store that will usually always beat the prices of larger competitors.

They have eight stores in Maine and two in New Hampshire. Although they are not as frequent as the larger stores, they usually beat their prices in a lot of different medias. More often than not, new release CDs are sold at under $10, new release DVDs at around $15, and video games are $5 less than anyone else is selling them.

Bull Moose not only sells new CDs, DVDs, and video games, but they buy back your old ones and sells used. Everything they are doing is saving customers money. In my experiences, all employees have been very down to earth people who just want to help you find the music or video you're looking for. I've never thought that I was bothering anyone by asking questions and they have all been very knowledged.

Buy local. Be happy.

Bull Moose Music

You Got Steez??

Steez Magazine is a free, East Coast, Snowboard, Ski and Skate Magazine.
Originated from a small project for a college class, it has gone from a dream to a reality for creator and Director, Andy Bablo. He took his business knowledge along with his art and graphic design skills, and added a whole bunch of marketing to turn this school assignment into a small business with a following. With a crew of friends with a similar passion to ride the East Coast, to “rep” the Steez style, the magazine and the gear - the Steez sensation is spreading.
Starting in the summer of 2006, the Steez crew has produced the magazine, compiling and publishing between 4 and 6 issues a year. They cover Snowboard, Ski and Skate events including a great verity of photos and stories submitted by lots of different contributors throughout the East Coast. The magazine advertises local mountains, shops, apparel and events and competitions that are scheduled throughout the winter. The Steez Union will be there, at all the winter events – giving out things for FREE!

FREE is what it is all about. FREE magazines, FREE stickers, FREE articles, FREE T-shirts, FREE interviews, FREE promotions about upcoming events and more.

Magazines can be found at local snowboard, ski, and skates shops, at the mountains and ski resorts, at the Steez booth at most all events and on college campuses. Here at GBCC - Mags and stickers can be found in the Green Bean Café and on the Student Life bulletin boards in the halls.

As all of us snow enthusiasts wait impatiently for the snow to fall and the mountains to pump into action – occupy your mind and Check it out on the Web!

http://www.steezminimag.com/

Young Adults and Their Credit

Do you know your credit score? Every day you see those crazy commercials with some guy that kinda looks like me dancing and singing songs about it. “Free credit report dot com, blah ya blah something, like an atom bomb.” You might not know all the words, but you know the commercial. I know that when you are young you don’t think that credit reports and things like that are important or even really matter to you. Well, one of the easiest things to overlook as a young’n is your future. Do you know that bills from some old apartment you never got around to paying are on there? If you are even a couple days late on a credit card payment it’s gonna show up there too. There are a million ways for you to kill your credit score and it can be devastating to your future. In this world your credit score can make or break you. Hey, guess what? You want a new apartment? Well, they’re gonna check your credit. Want to buy a new car? Better have plenty of good credit. You can’t even get a cell phone without good credit. And, possibly the worst one, did you know that prospective employers can even check your credit and make decisions on hiring you based on it?

I have some advice to all of you out there that read this article. Go to www.AnnualCreditReport.com where you are allowed to check your credit report for free—no strings attached—once every 12 months. This service is made available by the three nationwide credit reporting companies in accordance with the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act (FACT Act). This site won’t make you pay anything like all the other sites with singing guys and crazy commercials. It is incredibly easy to trash your credit and it can take up to ten years to get it back in check. I know that most of you aren’t thinking about buying a new house or some sporty car right now, but after you get your degree and a good job those plans might change.

All you have to do to keep your score up is be conscious of your bills. I know it’s not easy because I have had to battle back from my bad credit for years. If you have a credit card set up automatic payments for at least the minimum through your checking account. When you have more money just send an extra payment. This will make sure that you can’t forget to send it in. Other bills set up with automatic payments will help you too. After you check your credit score look at what negative information is on your report. You can set up ways to make payments to the creditors and put your account back in good standing. Don’t overlook the importance of your score even if you don’t think it applies to you at this point. It can take much longer than you think to get it back up to a respectable level. Good luck to you all and stay sharp—your future depends on it.

A Great Dedication

On Friday, October 9, 2009 in the big white tent in front of the school (in the pouring rain) I mingled with the students and staff of Great Bay Community College. As I munched on crackers, cheese, and roasted veggies I looked around and saw proud faces of those around me. That evening was very inspiring as a student and I could feel the pride radiating off of the staff.

I flipped through the program for the night and learned about the schools history. Did you know that our school was created in 1945? President Arvelo welcomed us all, greeted all of the school supporters including our Governor, state legislators, the schools Board of Trustees, and the new building's Architects. Each and every one of these people made it possible for the move to Portsmouth.

Governor Lynch spoke and called Great Bay Community College a "Jewel". He explained that community colleges help local communities and the state as a whole by providing customers, products, and workers with skills and qualifications that assist in economic development. Gov. Lynch has recently granted $19,000,000 to the CCSNH system. He also commended on GBCC's nursing program and the Running Start program.
Paul Halloway, the Chair of the Board of Trustees for GBCC, Emily Zoulias, our own Student Senate President, and Richard A. Gustafson, the Chancellor all spoke. In tough economic times, education will make us all competitive. The message that I heard repeatedly was "pride" and "real sense of purpose" of our students. The Chancellor made a critical point that will stick with me and that was that our school is in a "position to serve" and put us in a "position to succeed." When the students succeed the school succeeds.

After the speeches, the president and Governor cut the ribbon and tours of the college began. I walked through the school and the staff (and caterer's) were walking the halls and giving demo's in their class rooms. I decided to venture over to the Science department and this is what I found

Overall, it was a nice evening and I learned a lot about the college. The staff was so proud and I could feel that as I passed through the halls. Each department was showcased from admissions, to CAPS. I was honored and humbled to be a part of this great night.

Social Media Evolves Even More

In business today, companies are creating blogs, web-sites, twitter accounts, and so on. This new media platform has many advantages and disadvantages. Consumers, clients, staff, or anyone really can blog about anything. The legal department of most businesses are usually concerned about the brand of their business. Laws and regulations about social media content can be hard to filter if they even exist at all. Laws are not clear on how to handle most of these sites and as business owner's and CEO's try to regulate social media sites, consultants are often times hired to come in and evaluate the situation.

This article by Elizabeth Hannan demonstrates 7 steps on creating an amicable relationship between a companies law department and social media

http://www.socialmediatoday.com/SMC/136644

What a Stud

On October 7, 2009, the Vet Tech Club and the Kappa Beta Delta organized a presentation regarding training guide dogs. Great Bay's own Professor Dan Murphy has been training Sebastian, an 18 month old yellow lab for the Guiding Eyes Organization.

http://donate.guidingeyes.org/site/PageServer?pagename=homepage

Sebastian is a stud. He is just about ready to be given back to the program so he can begin work. Throughout the presentation Professor Murphy demonstrated how Sebastian was and is currently trained. He fed Sebastian cooked chicken and constantly gave him positive reinforcement. Prof. Murphy informed us that when training a dog, you always want to be positive and never reprimand or punish the dog.



Here were some of the commands that Sebastian knows and some no-no's when you see a guide dog in uniform:
Stand - right at side
Heel - touching leg
Sit Stand - Sit - Down - comes to owners' side, sits, and then lays down
Close - dog will come
Place - will sit or lay anywhere that owner wants
Free - dog can go wherever they want

Common Guidelines: when the dog is wearing his vest - ignore the dog, do not pet the dog, and please do not to ask if you can touch or feed the dog.

Professor Murphy described his job as a dog trainer like being a foster parent. This (hopefully) will make it easier when he has to give up Sebastian. One of the students at the presentation informed us that guide dogs cost about $20,000. Most of the time hearing and sight foundations will help to offset these costs. Adopting a guide dog can be frustrating because the waiting list is long. Prof. Murphy was very thankful to the school administration, staff and students for letting him bring Sebastian to class with him.
Training Sebastian is a "good thing" and we thank Professor Dan Murphy for sharing his experience with us.

Life After Great Bay

At some point or another our time at Great Bay is going to end. For some of us that’s in the near future, while others have just began their journey. Either way we need to know what direction we’re heading in for the future. For those of us continuing on and furthering our education it’s hard to know what is the best decision to make. Knowing which credits are transferable is important and will help students choose the right classes for their future. It would be frustrating to find out, after all the hard work has been done for a class, that the credit isn’t transferable. This would mean retaking the course at a different College or University, or a similar class that fits into the schools curriculum. Fortunately for us, in addition to Erica Brown (the "go to" person for transfer information) there is a website that will allow you to see where your Great Bay credits will transfer to most NH Colleges and Universities. It’s a great tool to help in making your decision about where you want to go when you're ready to transfer or when you’ve received your Great Bay degree. Check out the website to see all it has to offer http://www.nhtransfer.org/ .

Need a Lawyer??

Business Law - BUS211. This course is required for most business students and is offered in the fall term. I am finishing up on my associates degree in accounting and was left with a few business classes, this being one of them. After taking my tax class last spring I have been toying with the idea of going to law school. I thought, "excellent... business law..what a great place to start." This class is GREAT! My professors name is Alex Yiokarinis, Esq. Alex is an adjunct faculty member. For those of you who don't know what that is, he a "teacher for hire." I am never sure what to call my professors...Professor Alex, Mr. Yiokarinis (try not to butcher that name), or Professor Yiok, Esquire?? Anyway, we call him Alex.


I get a kick out of Googling people so here is some interesting tidbits on our professor:
1. Alex has a blog. http://exeterlawyer.blogspot.com/ Alex is a lawyer in Exeter, NH at a firm called Taylor and Yiokarinis. The blogs opening page is a list of things to do, or not to do if you get arrested. Very informative and funny.
2. I then went over to his web-site. http://www.exeterlawyer.com/ I learned what kind of law he practiced and where he graduated from and when. Alex has defended hundreds of clients in trials for assault, burglary, DWI, forgery, theft, murder, arson, identity fraud, robbery and other felony and misdemeanor offenses. One of the most interesting cases that Alex has been involved in is the case of Shelia LaBarre. This case made headlines this past year.
3. Alex has a Facebook page and has a profile set up on Linkd. http://www.linkedin.com/in/ayiokarinis.

Alex seems to be utilizing technology in terms of getting his name out there. He also has a more personal blog where he blogs about legal issues and new statutes and other blog sites that the average Joe or lawyer might find useful. That blog is called the Legal Pad. http://alexlegalese.blogspot.com/.

So far this class has taught me what a tort is, the difference between criminal law and civil law, and the rules of contract law. Lots more will be discussed and I can't wait. Alex gives really interesting examples that TRULY demonstrates how our legal system works in the country, especially in NH. The class benefits by participation of everyone and definitely seems to be the class to take!!

Online? In- Class? Hybrid?

The Business Department at Great Bay Community College offers its students a wide range of classes available at various times throughout the week. Perhaps the most convenient type of class is those that are offered online.
Online classes are great for students who feel that they have enough self-discipline to learn in their spare time. They allow the student to do all the work at home, sparing the student trouble of driving to the school, and saving money on gas. Also, the student can do the work at anytime during the week when they finally get a chance to accomplish it.
Although the on-line environment is very convenient, they can pose many problems. When participating in an online class, the student is basically just reading the book, doing the homework, and posting to the discussion board when it is required. The material can be dry and mundane if the subject is not of interest to the student. Online classes require independent work with minimal interactions with your teachers and classmates compared to an in-class environment. If you are a student who can learn in this setting, then this is not a problem for you.
I am a person who likes to get to know my class mates and I have trouble interacting with people in my online classes because I don’t know them. I cannot get a good impression of them and I fear that they don’t get the right impression of me, because for me it is difficult to show your personality through online conversations. Another problem for me, is that it is very easy to get sidetracked and forget about doing the homework assigned and I missed due dates. This became very problematic.
A perfect compromise between online and regular classes is hybrid classes. Hybrid classes meet once a week for an hour and fifteen minutes and then the students do the rest of the work online. This gives the student the opportunity to get to know your classmates so that you can feel comfortable interacting with them online. Hybrid classes also allot plenty of convenience and it adds a little spice to the reading because you get to hear your teacher’s opinions and stories on the subject that you read about in the book.
There are many things to consider when you are choosing your classes every semester. Hopefully this information gives you a little bit of insight into which type of class is the right kind for you.

Pease Golf Course Great Bay's Home Tournament

It was a perfect day for golf. The sun was out, a light breeze was blowing and I was extremely confident knowing that our team had a huge advantage because we playing at our home course. I played there at least three times a week this summer and knew the course so well I figured that not even my close friend Tiger could beat me today. I teed up the ball on the greenest most perfect spot and started going through my routine. I stood ten feet behind my ball and envisioned the shot I was about to take. I picked a spot in the center of the fairway to aim at and walked up to my ball. As I stood there everything went quiet. The twenty something other golfers from the different schools waited to see how the kid who recorded the chip in eagle the week before would tee-off. My backswing felt great and I began to accelerate forward to crush that ball 300 yards down the fairway. As my club face made contact with the ball I knew that something really bad was happening. I took a chunk of grass and dirt as my club slid right under the ball popping it straight up in the air. The ball landed about fifty feet away and rolled down into a ditch as I watched in disbelief. That first shot set the tone for my entire 18 holes of golf.

The tournament flew by and before I realized it we had come to the end. I had some good shots and my fair share of bad ones. Now only one hole was left, along with one last chance to show what we were made of. Each one of us stepped to the tee box and with the last little bit of energy we had left we embarked on our final challenge. My drive was struck well and went far, flying directly at the setting sun. I walked calmly alongside my new friends thinking about the next task at hand. I had my typical approach shot, about 150 yards from the green, in the rough and I had to hit over twenty foot tall evergreen. Even though it was almost dark and I could hardly see my ball I knew I had this shot down. After 17 holes of golf and with only a couple of shots left I finally found my confidence. I took no practice swings. I took a second to line up the shot and I swung away. It was perfectly hit. As it was soaring over the obstacles and floating down to the green I thought to myself:

This is what keeps me coming back to this aggravating and stressful sport. That one shot in each round that allows you to forget the last hundred bad ones.

My ball landed on the green and with two putts I recorded a par for that last hole. Just like Tiger taught me. After a tough day on the course something finally went smoothly. That's just the way it goes with golf, some days you would be better off just going fishing.

Ghosts in the Halls?

I entered the new Great Bay Community College building at Pease, on the first day of classes. As I rode the painstakingly slow elevator up to the fourth floor, the new location of all the Business Department classes, my memory took me back to a story – a rumor that I had heard one or two times before. The top floors of the new building are said to be the home of paranormal activity, a place where people have had ghost encounters and have said that the halls are haunted.

This idea of the fourth floor haunting was then mentioned by a student in my Cost Accounting class on that same first day. The class, along with Mr. Murphy, discussed the Ghost story and looked online to see if we could find any documentation of this haunting. Two websites, included the GBCC Pease building on their list of “NH’s Most Haunted Places.” We all joked that we will be listening for the spirits while in our business classes throughout the semester.

NH's Most Haunted Places Websites:
http://theshadowlands.net/places/newhampshire.htm
http://mightbehaunted.com/NEW%20HAMPSHIRE.html

The mention of the haunted halls made me remember a few other creepy - ghost related stories I had once heard about this location. A former GBCC student told me that when he first attended the Pease campus, only the first floor was used for classes and the top three floors were boarded off and abandoned. The dark stairwell leading up was one that no one ever dared to enter along with the abandoned elevator, leaving the upper floors a mystery to students. Another story was told by a friend of mine who worked doing construction on the new GBCC building during the renovation process. He told me that when he entered the top floors they seemed eerie and haunted, still filled with ancient surgical equipment from when the building was the location of the former Air Force Hospital. On numerous occasions the lights would flicker on and off while they were doing construction. He wondered if this was caused by the electricians working downstairs or if it was the ghosts of Great Bay?

With ghost stories flying through my head I decided to do some research to find out some History to go along with these documented Ghost encounter stories.

Yes indeed the current building was the Hospital on the Pease Air Force Base that was established in the 1930’s and was used by the US Navy during WWII. The base was active till it was the first of eighty-six military institutions, closed by the Commission of Base Realignment and Closure, a decision made in 1988. On March 31st, 1991 Pease Air Force Base was officially closed for military operations and re-opened for civilian use. Today the Pease Tradeport is a hub for transportation as well as an industrial park which is the home to over 220 businesses – Including Great Bay Community College, where ghosts roam the halls.

Pease Tradeport Website: http://www.peasedev.org/about_us/documents/PDAPressKit.pdf

Convocation and Student Activity Fair

During the first week of school I was asked to speak at the convocation. Convocation? Yup, that's a word. I had no idea what it was or what it meant. I did a little research, in my spare time, ha, and found out that a convocation is like a celebration of the new school year, kind of like the ceremony of graduation at the end of the year. The only way to understand it fully, was to accept the honor and attend the ceremony. I was asked to memorize a line that described our purpose as a community. Memorization is not a strong point for me, so my weekend consisted of homework, kids, and learning my line.

Convocation Altar

On Monday, September 14th at noon, the President of the college, the college administration, most of the advisers, professors, staff and students crowded into the big white tent in the lawn of the school. Some students sat on the lawn soaking in some rare autumn rays. The ceremony was really nice. There were speeches, mainly about community and why we are all here and the goals of the school. Personally I loved the speech that involved fortune cookies. I got up and lit my candle and spoke my line, as did the other 5 students, and heard the blessing of the school year. Now its official - game on.

GBCC common purposes

After the convocation, Mike Fischer, President Arvelo, Dan Murphy, and other teachers cooked for everyone,cheeseburgers, hot dogs, chips, beverages and cookies. The line was long but the vibe was good. Inside, students were setting up their tables for the activity fair. Some of the clubs and organizations are invite only, others are geared to specific interests, but all are run by students. The Student Senate and the Campus Activity Board (CAB) were conducting surveys, the International Club were hanging and eating their lunch, the Digital Art and Media Club (the Dam Club, as they like to be called) were handing out flyers about signs and laminating specials for any organization that might need graphic artwork done. The Great Bay Nursing Association was there selling merchandise and the Kappa Beta Delta Business Honor Society had an informative table set up showcasing the requirements for admission. The Literary Journal was and still is looking for writers and participants and the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering had a poster board up describing what students can do to get involved. There are other organizations and clubs that weren't showcased on Monday that can be found on the schools web page under student life. All of these clubs and groups have bulletin boards around the school and have their advisers e-mail address's listed on the school web-site. You can join these clubs anytime and can participate as much as you want.

I never joined a club because I thought, "Like I'm gonna have time for that too?" Well, I do. I go to one meeting a month, and maybe perform some kind of community service (that I never would do by myself), I make some new friends (that will come in handy for networking in my future), I can go on really cheap trips, and my resume has one more activity...who could say no to that?

GBCC Golf Team

Loudon's Downhill 15th Fairway.

As the fall semester commences the Great Bay Golf Team is in full swing. We don’t have as many players as the other teams, but we still aspire to beat them. There are four tournaments throughout September and October that we will be competing in, the last one being the fall championship. The school is a member of the Yankee Small College Conference (YSCC) where we compete against other similarly sized schools at a different course every week.

The first match was Saturday September 12th in Loudon, NH at Loudon Country Club. We played hard, battling the hilly terrain and scattered rain showers. For our first match we did well placing somewhere in the middle of the pack. The next tournament is this weekend Sunday September 20th at Pease Golf Course in Portsmouth, NH. We hope to finish strong since Pease is our home course and we have been practicing extensively for the weekend.

14th green at Loudon Country Club.

Same Ol' Song, New Dance

Here we go again. As we start out our journey through yet another semester here at Great Bay we're all feeling anxious, nervous, and excited about our classes. I'm pretty sure that it's a safe assumption to say that most of us are in the same boat, finding it overwhelming navigating through the blackboard and the new building looking for information about school activities, finding out what the BEST classes are and why, and what's happening in the local business world that pertains to each of us. With that being said, the Organizational Communications class (BUS210) has created this blog as an additional, more personal method for getting that information out to the masses. Also, we would like people outside the Great Bay community to be involved to learn about the school itself from a students perspective as well as other opportunities in the area. Please feel free to post questions, ideas, or anything else you feel is relative to the blogs purpose.