The Career Employees' Council (CEC) is the representative voice for the Career employees of FSCJ, with the goal to be committed to the continuous development of a collaborative work environment whereby the value and respect of Career employees are elevated through increased recognition, involvement and opportunities to achieve a higher degree of excellence. In this spirit, we put a "spotlight" on one of our members each month.

September’s Career Employees' Council (CEC) Spotlight illuminates on Academic Department Coordinator for Curriculum Services and Chair of the Career Employees' Council Rebecca Ann Nelson

Ms. Nelson began her career at FSCJ in May 2009 in the now closed Rosanne R. Hartwell Women’s Center working as a program assistant to support the $1.5 million National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Tri-IT grant program. Her role included the development of after-school and summer program curriculum for 9^th to 11^th grade underserved students. In April 2012 and following final grant reporting, she transitioned to the role of curriculum specialist under the Academic Affairs umbrella. Fortunately, her background in curriculum development coupled with prior experience in both the corporate and non-profit world allowed for a key skill set needed to serve in this exciting role for the next 11 years. However, as the department of Curriculum Services grew both size and culture as well as its approach to curriculum development, her role on the team was reassessed. The result was an opportunity to serve as the department’s curriculum coordinator which she accepted in May 2023. In total, Rebecca has been with FSCJ for 15 years and looks forward to continued growth and future opportunities.

Rebecca’s job focus is to provide guidance and direction to faculty, academic administrators and key stakeholders on the design and development of curriculum proposals in accordance with the College and Florida Department of Education standards for new, modified, reactivated or inactivated program and course curricula. With a background in writing, she regularly compiles curriculum proposal narratives to ensure alignment with the mission/vision of the College as well as technical accuracy of content summary, program information and layout, admission criteria, accreditation language, course sequencing, enrollment requirements, course credit and contact hours, faculty workload unit point assignment per current Collective Bargaining Agreement and additional supporting documentation including program council minutes, faculty addendums and signatures of support. Ms. Nelson leads and/or participates in departmental collaboration with offices responsible for overseeing program accreditation, admissions and recruiting, articulation, financial aid, marketing and website, online learning, student records and veteran affairs. 

Research is a critical component of her daily work which includes the use of a variety of internal and external systems to provide new benchmarks and/or analyze historical procedures for curriculum related actions. Further, the joint management of curriculum data systems including the College Catalog, course outline repository, Curriculum Services SharePoint site and Statewide Course Numbering System to review, create, modify and query data records or customize reports based on approved curricula is part of her everyday work. She also regularly provides training on the College’s curriculum process through the development of presentations for many different groups. 

What Rebecca enjoys most about her job is the opportunity to both learn from and serve so many different individuals within the College community. In her role as a partner in curriculum development, she is able to work with faculty, staff and administrators who share a vast array of experience with a plethora of ideas and perspectives. Serving as the coordinator of curriculum related actions for the College has further enabled her to support those who are working with students in the classroom and better understand challenges while simultaneously working collaboratively to identify solutions. Having served in the office of Curriculum Services since 2012, she has been able to acquire a vast array of historical knowledge and in turn share those experiences with others. This practice is extremely rewarding as it not only allows for time to reflect on best practices but equally opens new doors to consider inventive ways to continually improve processes. While she is an introvert by nature (proud INFJ), Ms. Nelson thoroughly enjoy building relationships with others. As she heard someone share in an interview many years ago, an education can change the trajectory of not only the student who is enrolling in college, but it can alter the pathway for future generations to come. Rebecca believes we are all here to serve a common goal and that is the student along with each other. 

One of the key objectives of the CEC is to offer a culture of service to our fellow career employee colleagues. The concept of service within the CEC is something she holds in very high professional regard as it demonstrates the ability of one to truly be of support to their peers.  Service also means setting aside an attitude of competition or divisiveness and replacing that with an attitude of humility and openness. In short, it means forgoing the constant need to be “right” and instead learning from others who may hold different ideas, opinions and/or experiences. While Rebecca is new to the role of CEC Chair, some of the goals she outlined during her running included engaging other groups to form lasting partnerships and establishing specific dates/times to gather as a governance group to not only build camaraderie but also support one another’s valuable work. She believes we can learn from one another and change the culture to be inclusive and supportive of all career employees.

The CEC board will meet again in September and then as a larger to outline a kick-off open to all Career employees with a fall theme in mind. Having been part of the College community for 15 years (and counting), she has been able to establish wonderful relationships with a large and diverse array of individuals. Fortunately, having established solid working relationships allows her to connect with those in supervisory roles to request their direct support of career employees to participate in the CEC.  

Rebecca started her educational journey as a pre-medicine major in spring of 1996 at Kennesaw State University (then Kennesaw State College). In spring of 1997, her stepfather was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 42. Unfortunately, the impact on her life was quite traumatic so upon completion of the quarter, she chose to step away. Over the course of the next  eight years, she co-owned and created a small business consulting firm, Integrity Computer Solutions (aka Casey Computer Solutions), in Northwest Atlanta. Ms. Nelson also worked a variety of consulting-based positions including the fields business sales and real estate sales and law (commercial and residential). In the spring of 2005, she enrolled in a nine-month training program offered in California and studied to be become a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE). While she enjoyed the challenge of technology, Rebecca missed the human element of this field. At this time, she had relocated from Atlanta to Jacksonville and began working in the non-profit sector. 

In 2009, she joined FSCJ and a few years later met her first advisor in over 14 years, Dr. Beatrix Dunn. Rebecca began taking classes at the College and slowly but surely, she completed one at a time. In 2018, she enrolled regularly as part-time student status and, in the spring of 2023, graduated with her Associate in Arts degree with an elective focus on the Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences and Criminal Justice/Law. Rebecca noted that she significantly struggled with mathematics so while she was not officially graduated from a two-year program, she was already taking classes in the bachelor’s program the entire year prior as she had exceeded the 60-credits required for admission. Her anticipated graduation date is spring of 2026 (or earlier if time allows). Rebecca has already begun researching graduate programs and has a few advisors at different institutions whom she checks in with every quarter. In addition to her traditional educational pathway, Ms. Nelson considers herself a life-long learner and regularly seeks out opportunities to expand her horizons and continually support her desire to be a well-rounded human though education.

Rebecca participates on various councils and committees:

• Chair of the Career Employees’ Council (CEC) to lead an elected board (Vice-Chair, Secretary, Treasurer and Publicity Coordinator), campus CEC representatives, and serve as the liaison to the College’s District Board of Trustees representing 770 +/- Career employees
  
• Secretary to the Curriculum Committee and GER Sub-Committee to maintain membership roster, facilitate agenda development, coordinate meetings and communicate curriculum related actions Collegewide
  
• Institutional Contact representing FSCJ with the Statewide Course Numbering System (SCNS) to manage and maintain course data records. 
  
• Member Lead of the College’s VIP 4.1.4.: Years of Service Recognition Committee to develop new and innovative means to celebrate fellow colleagues and their dedication to the College
  
• Founding member of FSCJ’s Nexus Initiative which convenes monthly to discuss the direct impact of curriculum related actions across key departmental stakeholders and their teams
• Member of the 2024 Succession Planning Committee: Academic Dean and the Director of Campus Enrollment & Student Services
• Member of the College’s Employee Benefits Advisory Council (EBAC)
• Student Mentor since 2023 with the College’s Mentorship Program
  

Rebecca volunteers outside FSCJ as well: 

• President, Little Whiskers Cat Rescue and Rehabilitation (2021-Present)
  
• Board Member, Hooff House Cat Rescue and Sanctuary (2024-Present)
  
• Member, Northeast Florida Council on Alcoholism and Drug Addition (NEFCADA) (2020-Present)
  
• Judge, SkillsUSA Career Training Competition State and National Competitions (Prepared Speech, Customer Service and Legal Services) (2022-Present)
  
• Member, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEI&B) Steering Committee, Curriculum (2021-2022)
  
• Volunteer Speaker, Gateway Community Services (2017-2019)
  
• Member, Association of Florida Colleges (AFC) (2009-2022)
  
• Member, Born Learning Initiative (2009-2011)
  
• Volunteer, Community Connections of Jacksonville (2008-2010)

When Rebecca is not working, she enjoys her personal pursuits which include art, music, history, theatre and reading. She is an avid fan of documentaries with a particular interest in 20^th century U.S. History. She also enjoys antiquing, thrifting and art fairs/festivals. However, animal safety and welfare are probably one of the most important parts of her life. While the work can often be quite taxing and at times discouraging due to cruelty cases, the long-term rewards are worth the short-term challenges. Currently, her focus is on utilizing the free and/or low cost spay/neuter programs within Duval County via the practice of Trap and Release (TNR) within the local feral cat communities. Additionally, Rebecca regularly partners with various rescues to provide care and support for some of the most feral and injured cats within Jacksonville. As part of this work, she is also a site administrator for the social media site Jax., FL, Cat Lovers and a moderator for the live chat/support group TNR Jacksonville.