Calhoun to Name Baseball-Softball Complex In Honor of Former Coach Fred Frickie

February 18, 2014

Calhoun to Name Baseball-Softball Complex In Honor Of Former Coach Fred Frickie

Dedication event to be held April 12; Names of former players needed

Fred Frickie served as head baseball coach at Calhoun Community College for over 27 years and during his tenure, coached a number of successful teams.  Frickie's influence on the lives of young people on and off the field was significant and his contributions to Calhoun and the local community noteworthy. To recognize these contributions, the college will name the Calhoun baseball and softball complex in his honor during a ceremony in April.

Frickie worked with Calhoun's baseball program from 1967 until his retirement in 1995.  Among his accomplishments during his tenure are the following:

-Won 669 games, 25^th on the all-time national junior college list at the time of his retirement;

-Named Region 22 Coach of the Year 6 times;

-Won the Alabama/Junior/Community College State Tournament 6 times in 20 trips;

-Member of the NJCAA Baseball Hall of Fame, the Alabama Junior College Athletic Hall of Fame, the Alabama Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame, and the Morgan County Sports Hall of Fame.

Additionally, Frickie was responsible for the building of two ball fields on Calhoun's Decatur campus with minimum resources and the assistance of the National Guard.  During his career at Calhoun, Frickie coached a number of players who went on to the national ranks, including retired players Jorge Posada and Gary Redus.

"Fred Frickie's contributions in the form of many years of selfless dedication and personal effort have provided important and enduring benefits to this institution and our community," commented Calhoun President Marilyn Beck.  "It is only fitting that Calhoun's baseball and softball park be named after someone whose name is synonymous with Calhoun Community College athletics and the college's mission," Beck added.  

A free, invitation-only event to officially dedicate the complex in Frickie's honor is planned for Saturday, April 12, 2014.  The College is currently seeking the names and current addresses of all of Frickie's former players.  If you were a player, family member, or fan and wish to be invited to this event, please click on the following link and complete and submit the information form www.calhoun.edu/FrickieEvent

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Lanita Parker

Public Relations

Calhoun Community College

P.O. Box 2216

Decatur, AL  35609

(256) 306-2615

(256) 306-2877 (fax)

lap@calhoun.edu

We're Back: Travel Jobs Fully Recover

Dear Travel Colleague: We end this week with the remarkable announcement that travel employment has returned to pre-Great Recession levels. This milestone, based on U.S. Department of Labor figures released today, leaves little room for doubt: travel is a job-creating powerhouse. Travel Jobs Roar Back Month over month, the industry has climbed steadily to recovery. With the 7,000 jobs added in January, plus a substantial upward revision to previous data, the travel industry now employs more workers than its pre-recession peak of February 2008. In fact, the new labor report reveals that we actually reached the milestone in October and have since gone above and beyond, standing 11 percent higher than the number of travel workers in 2008. In total, travel supports 14.6 million American jobs, directly employs one in eight Americans, and is a top 10 employer in 47 states and the District of Columbia. In a League of Our Own While it is our hope that the economy overall prospers, it is travel that has been leading the recovery, adding workers faster than other sectors. The travel industry has added jobs at a rate 19 percent faster than the rest of the economy, which has replaced only 88 percent of jobs lost during the recession. Unfortunately, sectors such as construction, manufacturing, real estate and finance are far from fully recovered. Continuing the Climb I am proud of our industry for this exceptional performance and our ability to provide answers to America's complex economic challenges. But there's more we can do. If further supported by responsible policies like the JOLT Act and reauthorization of programs like Brand USA that work for America, travel can contribute to a strong, upwardly mobile job market and create opportunities for all to succeed. Help spread the word that travel means jobs in your community. Together, we'll continue to drive our nation's recovery and put Americans back to work. Sincerely, Roger J. Dow President and CEO Join us @ustravel. Like us on Facebook.

This email was sent to patticulp@alabamatravel.org. To ensure that you continue receiving our emails, please add us to your address book or safe senders list. If you believe you have received this message in error, please unsubscribe. U.S. Travel Association 1100 New York Avenue, NW | Suite 450 | Washington, DC 20005 P: 202.408.8422 | F: 202.408.1255 | feedback@ustravel.org

Athens State Business Student Receives Scholarship from International Organization

For Further Information

Guy McClure

256-233-8296

Guy.McClure@athens.edu

For immediate release

February 10, 2014

www.athens.edu

Athens State Business Student Receives Scholarship from International Organization

               

                ATHENS, Ala. - Athens State University College of Business student Julie Dobbins is the recipient of the North Alabama International Trade Association (NAITA) Scholarship for the current academic year.   She was recognized at the NAITA Annual Meeting on February 7 at a luncheon held at the Westin Hotel in Huntsville.  

                Dobbins is seeking her Business Management major and International Business minor.  Julie hails from Gadsden Alabama and was awarded this honor based upon her exceptional academic record while at Athens State University.   She was notified of the award by the NAITA Executive Director Anne Burkett in January. 

                “It is always a good thing when our students are recognized for the exemplary work they are doing,” states Dr. Tom Pieplow, Athens State’s Department Chair of Management, Logistics & Supply Chain Management and a member of the NAITA Senior Advisory Board.  “Julie works very hard at her studies and will undoubtedly be successful in any area of International Business. She is a budding superstar and I look forward to her moving into a professional career and demonstrating her abilities.”

                The NAITA Scholarship is administered through the Athens State University Foundation and has strict guidelines that must be met for its award.   It pays out $1,000 per year (two semesters) for those who receive it and is payable towards tuition and books.

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Attached picture:  Left Tom Pieplow, Right Julie Dobbins.

Calhoun Community College Named As One of Top 150 in the Country

February 3, 2014

CALHOUN COMMUNITY COLLEGE Named As One of Top 150 in the Country

Nation's Signature Recognition of Excellence, Chosen from over 1,000 Community Colleges Which Serve Nearly Half of All Undergraduates in US

Highlighting the critical importance of improving student success in America's community colleges, the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program has named Calhoun Community College as one of the nation's top 150 community colleges eligible to compete for the 2015 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence and $1 million dollars in prize funds.

The Prize, awarded every two years, is the nation's signature recognition of high achievement and performance among America's community colleges and recognizes institutions for exceptional student outcomes in four areas: student learning, certificate and degree completion, employment and earnings, and high levels of access and success for minority and low-income students.

The Aspen Institute identified the top 150 community colleges through an assessment of institutional performance, improvement, and equity on student retention and completion measures.  Together, the 150 community colleges eligible to compete for the Prize represent the diversity and richness of the entire sector:

• They are located in 37 states across the nation;
• They represent urban, rural, and suburban markets; and
• They encompass big community colleges and small community colleges—from Miami Dade College in Florida serving over 100,000 students to Carver Career Center in West Virginia serving fewer than 500 students.

A full list of the 150 community colleges is available at www.AspenPrize.org. Prize winners will be announced in early 2015.

"We are extremely excited to be among the list of community colleges invited to compete for the Aspen Prize," commented Calhoun President Marilyn Beck.  "To be recognized among the nation's best two-year colleges truly speaks well to the caliber of students, faculty and staff we have at Calhoun as well as the quality of our programs," Beck added.

Nearly half of America's college students attend community college, with more than seven million students – youth and adult learners – working towards certificates and degrees in these institutions across the country.

"Community colleges have tremendous power to change lives, and their success will increasingly define our nation's economic strength and the potential for social mobility for every American" said Josh Wyner, executive director of the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program. "This competition is designed to spotlight the excellent work being done in the most effective community colleges, those that best help students obtain meaningful, high-quality education and training for competitive-wage jobs after college. We hope it will raise the bar and provide a roadmap for community colleges nationwide."

The 2013 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence was awarded to co-winners Santa Barbara City College (California) and Walla Walla Community College (Washington).   Valencia College (Florida) was the inaugural Prize winner in 2011.

Calhoun and the 149 other community colleges were selected from a national pool of over 1,000 public two-year colleges using publicly available data on student outcomes. The formula used to select the colleges was devised by expert analysts at the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems in consultation with an expert advisory committee convened by the Aspen Institute. The data focus on student retention and completion, considered from three perspectives:

• Performance (retention, graduation rates including transfers, and degrees and certificates per 100 "full-time equivalent" students)
• Improvement (awarded for steady improvement in each performance metric over time)
• Equity (evidence of strong completion outcomes for minority and low-income students)
  

To ensure full representation of the range and diversity of the sector, adjustments were applied with respect to mission, size, and minority representation.  

Calhoun has been invited to submit an application containing detailed data on degree/certificate completion (including progress and transfer rates), labor market outcomes (employment and earnings), and student learning outcomes. The college must demonstrate the delivery of exceptional student results for all students – including those from racial minority and/or low-income backgrounds – and also use data to inform decisions and continually improve over time.

Ten finalists will be named in fall 2014. The Aspen Institute will then conduct site visits to each of the finalists and collect additional quantitative data, including employment and earnings data from states and transfer data from the National Student Clearinghouse. A distinguished Prize Jury will select a grand prize winner and a few finalists with distinction in early 2015.

The Aspen Prize is funded by the Bank of America Charitable Foundation, Joyce Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and Lumina Foundation.

The Aspen College Excellence Program aims to identify and replicate practices and policies that significantly improve college student outcomes.  Through the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, the New College Leadership Project and other initiatives, the College Excellence Program works to improve colleges' and policy-makers' understanding of what is needed to teach and graduate post-secondary students, especially the growing population of low-income and minority students on American campuses. For more information, visit http://www.aspeninstitute.org/cep.

The Aspen Institute is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, DC. Its mission is to foster leadership based on enduring values and to provide a nonpartisan venue for dealing with critical issues. The Institute is based in Washington, DC; Aspen, Colorado; and on the Wye River on Maryland's Eastern Shore. It also has offices in New York City and an international network of partners. For more information, visit www.aspeninstitute.org.

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