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Regional Roundup ... Reports from the StatesAlabamaGreetings from Alabama! The AACE Winter Workshop was held
Friday, January 14, 2005 at Saks, Inc. in Birmingham, Alabama.
It was a wonderful and informative way to start the 2005 year!
Jay Skipworth, Vice President of Colleges, and his team put
together a workshop that included Dr. Curtis Porter, who spoke
to us about international hiring, Jim Kellen, who energized
us with new visions of strengthening our statewide collaborative
network, and Dr. Roland Hearns, who shared with us great insights
on college-employer partnerships. Patricia L. Blum FloridaFirst, I want to thank SACE for the wonderful learning experiences provided by the annual conference. Networking with other state presidents provided me the opportunity to learn about exciting initiatives being undertaken by different states. In addition, I became familiar with unique strategies for tackling shared concerns and issues. I then shared with the FCPA Board all the exciting information that I learned from my cohorts about growing, strengthening, and improving state associations. Second, I want to give the SACE membership an update on Florida’s recovery from the challenges that this year’s unusual weather has thrust upon us. These hurricanes have complicated our personal and professional lives. Although there are still many blue tarps visible on roofs across Florida, it is apparent that recovery is now moving at a fast pace. Our members are progressing toward making this past year’s weather a bad but fading memory. Third, I would like to share with the SACE membership several of the challenges on which this year’s FCPA Board has focused. Great progress has been made on annual goals due to the commitment and vision of the board members. A plan for the systematic collection and preservation of historical data for future strategic planning and budgeting is being implemented through the development of a secured electronic storage area on the FCPA Web Page. The organization will no longer exclusively depend on the hard copies of records that are passed down through the hands of board members. This new process is allowing for the more organized collection of data for analysis purposes and for the convenient access to this critical data by all board members at any time. Directly related to the new data collection plan is the implementation of a new process for succession planning and growth of future FCPA leaders. This year, initial steps will include the introduction of a two-hour training session for board members. This training will be conducted by the President and Immediate Past President just prior to the beginning of the Fall Board Meeting. In addition, at the 2005 conference there will be a breakout session for members to learn about leadership and professional growth opportunities available through involvement with FCPA. Florida is still the Sunshine State, and June is a beautiful time of year to visit Florida’s white beaches. This year, FCPA is having its annual conference at the Delray Beach Marriott, June 22-24. This conference promises to be a great opportunity for networking, professional growth, and fun. We would love to have you participate. If you have an exciting program you would like to share with Florida’s career professionals, please consider submitting your proposal. Conference information and a downloadable program proposal form are available at the following link. http://www.fl-cpa.org/conference.html. Hope to see you soon. Thank you again to all the sharing and caring professionals I have met through my involvement with SACE. Christy King, Seminole Community College MississippiThe Mississippi Association of Colleges and Employers (MACE) recently met at Millsaps College in Jackson, MS for the annual Drive-In Workshop. Our guest speaker was Deborah Tierce, Leadership Training Specialist, from the Itawamba Community College Tupelo Campus. Ms. Tierce provided us all with a humorous and inspiring message in her presentation, “Laugh, Love, and Leave a Legacy.” MACE is proud to announce that membership is up to 105 members! We would like to welcome our new members: Monique Nunn from The University of Mississippi; Kalpesu Patel from Unitrin; Carolyn Seals from Alcorn State University; Pam Wilburn from The University of Mississippi; and Joe Wild from Alcorn State University. MACE will host our annual summer conference Thursday, July 28, and Friday, July 29, 2005 at Ameristar Casino Hotel in Vicksburg, MS. If you would like more information about upcoming events and career fairs in Mississippi, please visit www.maceweb.org. Tina Wilkins, MACE President South CarolinaSCACER members visited the Prepared Foods Division of Nestle USA for the Winter Drive-In. This was a unique opportunity to learn more about one of the largest employers in the state. The Gaffney, SC facility produces prepackaged foods, such as Stouffers and Lean Cuisine brands. Participants were treated to a presentation by Mr. Pat Emrich, Factory Manager. Mr. Emrich discussed Nestle's leadership position in frozen meals production, its excellent record of profitable growth, and its continued focus on being one of the most-trusted brands in the nation. Nestle's Prepared Foods Divisions is one of the largest food processing factories in the United States, producing over one million items each day and making Nestle a major economic force in South Carolina. After the presentation, SCACE members were provided tours of the facility, which is normally closed to the public. After our tour, we joined Nestle employees in the factory's cafeteria. It was an exciting drive-in and an excellent opportunity for SCACE members to gain first hand knowledge of a world-renowned organization. Come join the SCACERS for a wonderful conference in historic downtown Charleston, South Carolina! The SCACE Annual Conference is scheduled for April 27-29, 2005 at the beautiful historic Francis Marion Hotel on King Street! Our theme, “Tools of the Trade: Trends, Technology, and Training,” will focus on solutions to the challenges that companies and career service professionals experience in their daily work, as well as major trends in recruiting and employee selection. We are putting together a diverse list of topics to be presented. The conference will begin with Mayor Joe Riley giving the Welcome and Conference Opening. Other speakers include: Richard Davis, President of the McClain Group in Charleston; Ernie Passailaigue, President of the SC Lottery, will speak on the SC Lottery and how it works; and Janis Allen will be our Motivational Closing Speaker. The Conference will provide many opportunities to network, share ideas, and develop a new tool kit of resources to help perform our jobs more effectively. There promises to be something for everyone. To learn more, please visit www.scaceonline.org. We look forward to seeing you in Charleston! Tennessee2004-05 is proving to be a great year for the Tennessee Association of Colleges and Employers (TACE). We have a great Board, are having informative regional meetings, our membership is growing, and we are looking forward to an outstanding Annual Conference. Mike Horten, Membership Chair, is doing a fine job of growing our membership. We have more than 170 members. About 2/3 of our members are from universities and about 1/3 from employers. However, if you examine our mix of member schools and employers, about 50% are schools and 50% employers. Sheila Thompson is helping to develop a new recruiting brochure. Mike plans to contact each college and university in the state to ask them to become members of TACE. Our members are contacting employers at events such as job fairs to invite them to become members of TACE. TACE had an excellent representation at SACE in December. There were at least 31 folks from Tennessee for this first-rate conference. All of these people were fantastic and, I’m sure, added a great deal of value to the conference! Ann Taylor-Tharp, our Regional Liaisons Director, has worked with her Regional Liaisons, Janie Rich and Sheila Thompson, East Tennessee, Mimi Thomas, Middle, and Jacqueline Taylor, West, to develop and present excellent fall workshops. We had a Drive-in Workshop for the entire state and regional meetings in both East and West Tennessee this fall. This spring, we plan to have workshops in each of the three regions of the state. The TACE Annual Conference will be in Nashville on June 2-3, 2005. We are looking forward to an exciting lineup of speakers and events. Megan Nicklaus and Elaine Driver are the Co-Chairs. Callie Leousis is heading the registration and awards activities. We are looking to have programs that represent the concerns of all member institutions – small employers, large employers, community colleges, small and large schools. The agenda is still being developed and we are hoping to have a leading political figure in Tennessee and a national expert on career development and transition speak to the group. Hopefully, we will have a leading sports figure for a motivational speaker. We would welcome anyone from other –ACE organizations to visit the TACE Annual Conference. Charlie Hawkins, President BACK TO TOP |