BlueWave News

February 2022

FSCJ's 2022 Commencement will be held on Thursday, May 12, in-person at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. We are still in need of volunteers to help with different tasks throughout the day, such as setting up the arena, signing in graduates, helping guests to their seats, assisting with student line-up and cleaning up after the ceremony. If you are interested, talk with your supervisor and contact Bryan Stewart at bstewart@fscj.edu.

In addition to the in-person ceremony, Grad Fest events will be held at

each location:

Join us to help make these events memorable for our graduates! After the past couple of years, they deserve a huge celebration.

Employee Giving Campaign

“I’M IN!," the FSCJ Employee Giving Campaign began on Tuesday, February 1 and ends Friday, March 11. For the next five weeks, the Foundation will be sharing information, holding fun contests, asking for your support and sharing the amazing impact we make possible when we give to FSCJ.

Watch the introduction video from Dr. A above and click on the button below to visit the webpage to learn how you can join us and donate. With questions, you can email danielle.thompson@fscj.edu or call ext. 5955.

Student Awards Nominations

It's time to submit your Celebration of Student Success nominations. Faculty and staff are invited to nominate one to three students from your respective courses, academic programs, student organizations or workplace for recognition of their excellence. Students may be selected from the Summer 2021, Fall 2021 and Spring 2022 Terms and will be recognized in the following categories:

Academic Achievement, Inspirational Achievement, Outstanding Student Worker, Outstanding Student Leadership. Nominations may be submitted via the online form.

FSCJ Receives Grant to Establish Veteran Student Success Center

FSCJ received a three-year, $500,000 grant from Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) to enhance postsecondary educational opportunities for Veterans living in Duval and Nassau counties. The grant will be used to create the FSCJ Center of Excellence for Veteran Student Success within the existing Military and Veterans Services program.

Each year, the Center aims to work with 350-plus Veteran participants, coordinating and customizing services to address their academic, financial, physical and social needs. Wraparound support offerings, such as education and career counseling, tutoring, and mentoring, will enhance the student experience, encourage program persistence and lead to greater success following completion. Financial support will include GI Bill eligibilities, scholarships and supplemental aid resources.

Atlantic Logistics Establishes Scholarship Fund

Atlantic Logistics made a $20,000 gift for a non-endowed scholarship to establish the Atlantic Logistics’ Scholarship Fund. A formal check presentation was held on November 8. The fund will focus on providing financial aid to current or future FSCJ students who are enrolled in the Logistics and Transportation Specialist Technical Certificate or the Supply Chain Management Associate in Science programs.

Q&A with Dr. A

You are invited to an open conversation with Dr. Avendano to talk about current College priorities and future goals and initiatives for the upcoming year. Join us in-person for this opportunity to share your thoughts and questions for Dr. A.

Remaining Events:

FSCJ.edu Redesign Update

We are in the process of redesigning fscj.edu to bring a more focused user experience for our current students and those who are interested in becoming a student. Comprised of various stakeholders throughout the College including faculty, staff and students, the Web Redesign Committee has been collecting data to evaluate visitor traffic and behavior, and to identify needs and opportunities for enhancement.

The web team is working to finalize the overall design and structure. A Six Sigma Gate Review will be held on February 16 to gather feedback and input on the proposed designs and testing of various sections will begin in March. We are still on track for our targeted release for the Fall 2022 Term.

Be on the lookout for more information, including a redesign informational website that will be launching soon.

Employee Wellness Fair is Coming Soon

The 2022 Employee Wellness Fair will be held Friday, February 25, from 9 a.m. to noon at the Advanced Technology Center. This year's theme is "The New Normal," and the event will feature vendors, prizes, health screenings, healthy food and more.

Additional highlights:

Visionary Impact Plan 2.0 Update

Pillar One team has been collaboratively clarifying the path for FSCJ students since the Summer 2021 term. The team also engaged in a series of persona-based activities about navigating the College through a student lens and then produced a set of written recommendations for consideration by members of the Six Sigma Website Redesign team. Read more.

Pillar Two has engaged in work to help remove access barriers for students by engaging in discussion to suggest opportunities to streamline our onboarding processes. In addition, this team’s discussions help to inform new ideas for early and ongoing career exploration to increase student awareness of the diverse opportunities available to them and to help keep them on track.

Pillar Three has been engaged in review of qualitative data gathered from the Student Climate Survey. The team is currently in the process of gathering links to academic and non-academic resources for the creation of a “one-stop,” online hub that faculty and staff will be able to access when referring students. They will be assisting with development of co-curricular and extra-curricular activities.

Pillar Four is engaged in our equity work, supporting the Humanizing the Syllabus efforts and beginning discussions on culturally relevant teaching strategies. Although much of the work is happening with the support of the Academy for Teaching and Learning, we look forward to additional voices to help inform this work.

For more information or to join a team, please contact Deb Fontaine, deborah.fontaine@fscj.edu.

Facilities Update

The Facilities Team has been hard at work, updating and upgrading spaces across the College. Check out some highlights below:

Recently completed projects

Projects in progress

Projects getting started

FSCJ is made up of thousands of students with diverse talents, experiences, passions and goals, and we want to hear about them all! Students have been invited to share their personal journey and be spotlighted on our website.

We've heard from many students and gathered lots of different stories so far, but we're always on the lookout for more. Check them out for yourself by clicking on the green button. Feel free to nominate a student using the form on the site as well.

Twelve students participated in a Leadership Retreat at the Downtown Campus as part of the Spring 2022 Cohort of the FSCJ Leadership Certificate Program. The students took part in interactive workshops that covered conflict resolution, group dynamics, Robert’s Rules of Order, time management and multiple experiential team building activities.

Over the next four weeks, the students will attend three additional workshops, a symposium and volunteer six hours in the community in order to earn their certificate. For more information, please contact FSCJ Student Life & Leadership at getinvolved@fscj.edu.

As part of the 2022 Author Series, faculty, staff and students are invited to participate in the Author Series events which include a virtual reality trip to Italy, learning Italian, a cooking demo, psychology-related talks and more! Events are both virtual and in-person.

Be sure to join us for the author presentation as we virtually welcome Tembi Locke, the author of "From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home" on March 1 and 2. Check the website to learn all about the "live virtual" author visit, book and the scheduled activities. With questions, email melissa.boyd@fscj.edu.

Our online orientation has been a huge success for onboarding incoming students and we are excited to be making some updates in the coming months. We currently offer a number of custom orientations for students who are entering FSCJ. These include personalized orientations for our Dual Enrollment, International, Military and Transfer students.

If you are interested in learning more about our current orientation, let us know! We are also happy to provide a demonstration of this great tool. Just send an email to orientation@fscj.edu.

January 2022 Outreach Efforts:

As always, if you know someone who is interested in joining the FSCJ family, be sure to send them our way!

Faculty and Staff Accomplishments

Professors Pamela Brauda and David Singletary participated in the WASTC Winter ICT Educator Conference in January. Sharing their knowledge and experiences from establishing the two-year data science degree framework at FSCJ, they presented a workshop called, “The Nuts and Bolts of a Two-Year Data Science Degree." Learn more.

Congratulations to the following employee on completing an FSCJ Certificate program!

Diversity Certificate

February's Administrative & Professional Collaborative (APC) spotlight shines on Learning Management System Administrator Thomas Lewis. He provides service for all things Canvas. You will often find Thomas interfacing with faculty to support their needs, providing training for upcoming Canvas features or analyzing data to provide system reports for the College.

Review the highlights of the February 8, 2022, meeting of the FSCJ District Board of Trustees:

You can find more information on the Board of Trustees meeting on our website.

Who's New

This list includes those individuals who are filling the newly appointed Faculty full-time positions, full-time A&P positions and full-time Career Employee positions.

Faculty Full-Time

A&P Full-Time

Career Full-Time

Who's Retiring?

The following employees have recently retired, or will soon be retiring, from FSCJ:

FSCJ's faculty, staff, students, programs and leadership are often highlighted by local and regional media outlets - online, on air and in print. Read articles featuring important updates and activities happening within the College by clicking here.

Upcoming Events

We have created a COVID-19 Decision Tree that clearly outlines our protocols for students, faculty and staff. This tool will guide your return to campus following exposure to COVID-19 or after receiving a positive test for COVID-19. Check it out here.

Test your knowledge. To ensure all faculty and staff have an opportunity to submit answers, the quiz winners will be selected at random from entries with all questions answered correctly. You have until 6 p.m. on the day the newsletter is distributed to email your answers to bluewavenews@fscj.edu. The three winners will receive a BlueWave prize pack! Please note: Previous quiz winners, while eligible to submit answers, are not eligible for additional prizes for six months.

1) When is the 2022 Commencement Ceremony?

    a. March 28

    b. May 12

    c. April 4

    d. May 3

2) Free lunch vouchers will be given to the first ____ employees who visit the Wellness Fair.

    a. 250

    b. 50

    c. 100

    d. 10

3) What is the name of the employee giving campaign?

    a. I'M IN!

    b. myIMPACT

    c. WE'RE IN!

    d. myFSCJ

4) Where will the February 28 Q&A with Dr. A be held?

    a. Deerwood Center

    b. Cecil Center

    c. Downtown Campus

    d. Kent Campus

5) How much was the grant FSCJ received from Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE)?

    a. $1 million

    b. $20,000

    c. $200,000

    d. $500,000

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