Appealing Your Final Grade

            DeKalb Technical College provides students a pathway for appealing the final grade given in a class.  This educational institution is student-centered, and strives to provide due process for any and all concerns.  Appealing a final grade is a very time-sensitive process, so addressing your concern in a timely manner is important.  A student has 14 days from the first day of the quarter following the term in which the grade was earned to begin this appeal process.  Final grades of a “C” or high are not appealable.  To learn more about the process and download the paperwork you’ll need, follow this link to the DeKalb Technical College website where the form can be found.

http://www.dekalbtech.edu/portals/studentforms/StudentFinalCourseGradeAppeal.pdf

            We hope to make this an equitable and fair process.  To that end, a new element is being added to the five-step process.  A Student Academic Appeals Committee (SAAC) is now formed to review the evidence in the case and make a final recommendation to the Vice President of Academic Affairs.   This committee is made up of a chairperson appointed by the Vice President of Academic Affairs; the Dean of Student Affairs; the Registrar; a group of faculty members, one from each of the areas NOT involved in the appeal, one selected by the student making the appeal, another selected by the faculty member whose grade is being appealed; and possibly an additional faculty member appointed by the Vice President of Student Affairs.  This process is designed to provide a fair and just system of appeals.

Money Matters – Office of Student Financial Services

        In the busy life of a student, handling various task and keeping up with multiple deadlines and dates can be somewhat challenging.    Completing the 2010-2011 FAFSA, however, should be at the top of the “To Do List”.   To complete the FAFSA, simply log on to the website at www.fafsa.ed.gov and select “Fill Out Your FAFSA” and choose the 2010-2011 aid year. Be sure to put DeKalb Tech’s school code (016582) on the application.

        This information will be used to determine a student’s eligibility for financial aid starting with Summer Quarter 2010 through Spring Quarter 2011.    In addition to completing a new FAFSA application, students should also be mindful of checking their DeKalb Tech e-mail accounts on a regular basis for information regarding their financial aid.  The Office of Student Financial Services will communicate with students by way of their secure DTC e-mail accounts to request information and to notify students of their award.   This will also be a quick and easy way for students to communicate with our staff.  We will be just an e-mail away.  Much success!

GOAL Rush #3

       DeKalb Technical College began its search for the “best of the best” by accepting nominations from the Faculty.  37 terrifically talented students were nominated; and on Monday, February 8, 2010, they began going through the candidate screening process.  One at a time, the students were warmly welcomed by the screening panel of five and then asked a series of questions about their academic pursuits and personal accomplishments.  At the end of this screening, three stellar students were selected to compete regionally.  On March 1^st, one of these three was selected DeKalb Tech’s 2010 GOAL Winner and Student of the Year.

      Congratulations to Cosmetology student Shirley Santiague! 

      Shirley M. Santiague, a resident of Tucker, GA,  is the daughter of Michael and Suzelle Santiague of Miami, Florida.  She has a Bachelor of Science in Business from Florida A & M University and chose to attend DeKalb Technical College to earn a diploma in Cosmetology and pursue a career in the field of Cosmetology.

      Ms. Santiague will now proceed to regional preliminary judging.  If chosen as one of the nine finalists, three from each region, she will receive an all-expense-paid trip to compete with GOAL finalists from the other state technical college campuses. Is she wins, Ms. Santiague will be the state’s 2010 GOAL winner and the recipient of the GOAL medallion.  She could also walk away with a new car, courtesy of Chevy, the statewide corporate sponsor of the GOAL program.

     Let’s cheer Shirley on as she goes on to the regional competition on April 1, 2010, to represent DeKalb Tech and take it all!

      Join us as we count down to GOAL Week, May 26 -28, 2010!

DeKalb Tech Announces GOAL Winner

Santiague DTC GOAL Winner

              Clarkston GA – Shirley M. Santiague, a Cosmetology student at from Tucker, GA is selected as DeKalb Technical College’s winner of the 2010 Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership (GOAL).
                   Santiague was chosen by a panel of local leaders over two other nominees for the award. The runners-up were Paula R. Ford, a Practical Nursing student from Loganville, GA; and Carla Tyrell, a Cosmetology student from Lithonia, GA.
                   GOAL, a statewide program of the Technical College System of Georgia, honors excellence in academics and leadership among the state’s technical college students. Local GOAL winners are selected at each of the state’s 27 technical colleges as well as the two Board of Regents colleges with technical education divisions.
Santiague will now proceed to regional preliminary judging. If chosen as one of the nine finalists, three from each region, then Santiague will receive an all-expense-paid trip to Atlanta in May where, for two-days, she will compete with GOAL finalists from the other state technical college campuses. A panel of leaders from the business, industry and government sectors will interview them and choose one to be the state’s 2010 GOAL winner and the recipient of the GOAL medallion.
                         Santiague says, “I could imagine myself making people beautiful as a career. I decided to pursue my passion after realizing that finance was not the key to my happiness in life and this was something that I always wanted to do. With a skill, there are always possibilities for career development”.
                Santiague is the daughter of Michael and Suzelle Santiague of Miami, Florida. She has a Bachelor of Science in Business from Florida A & M University and chose to attend DeKalb Technical College to earn a diploma in Cosmetology and pursue a career in the field of Cosmetology.

The “GOAL” Rush part II

DeKalb Technical College began its search for the “best of the best” by accepting nominations from the Faculty. 37 terrifically talented students were nominated; and on Monday, February 8, 2010, they began going through the candidate screening process. One at a time, the students were warmly welcomed by the screening panel of 5 and then asked a series of questions about their academic pursuits and personal accomplishments. At the end of this screening, 3 stellar students were selected to compete regionally.

Congratulations to Paula R. Ford, a Practical Nursing student nominated by instructor Larry Johnson, Jr; Shirley Santiague, a Cosmetology student nominated by instructor Larry Grant; and Carla Tyrell, a Cosmetology student nominated by instructor Arnold Taylor.

The next stage in the pursuit of GOAL is the discovery and selection of DeKalb Tech’s 2010 GOAL Winner and Student of the Year! Mark your calendars on Monday, March 1, 2010!

In 7 days, someone will strike GOAL!

Who will win and go on to the regional competition on April 1, 2010, to represent DeKalb Tech and take it all?

Join us as we count down to GOAL Week, May 26 -28, 2010!

The “GOAL” Rush

          Each year, outstanding students attending Georgia’s 27 technical colleges are recognized for academic excellence and personal achievement through an awards program called The Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership (GOAL).   Now in its 39^th year, the GOAL awards program is designed to emphasize the value and importance of technical education in today’s world and to showcase the caliber of individuals who are choosing Georgia’s technical colleges.  The culminating event of a week’s worth of honors is the election of one exceptional student who is selected by a panel of judges to serve as the state’s “Student of the Year” and the ambassador for technical education in Georgia. 

DeKalb Technical College began its search for the “best of the best” by accepting nominations from the Faculty.  37 terrifically talented students were nominated; and on Monday, February 8, 2010, they began the screening process.  At the end of this screening, 3 stellar students will be selected to compete regionally.  After the regional competition, the one most remarkable nominee will go before a panel of business and industry leaders, news media, and state government officials for the final judging and awards program.

Join us as we count down to GOAL Week, May 26 -28, 2010!

What does FERPA mean to you?

             The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records.  The law applies to all colleges that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education.  Students have the right to inspect and review their education record maintained by the college, students have the right to request that a college correct records which they believe to be inaccurate or misleading, and a college must have written permission from the student in order to release any information from their education record.  Students also have the right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by the college to comply with the requirements of FERPA.�
          

         The college notifies students annually of their FERPA rights in the General Catalog and Student Handbook.
Students with questions regarding FERPA should contact the DTC Registrar’s Office.

Bookstore Notes

On behalf of the all the staff at DTC Bookstores, THANK YOU to all who came by for books and supplies this quarter!

Dates to remember as the quarter progresses:
INVENTORY: February 1 – 3, 2010 (Stores will be closed; get your Scantron forms early!)
BOOK BUYBACK: March 8 – 25, 2010

A few items to keep in mind that will make your textbook shopping easier:
-All HOPE Book Allowance, Scholarship, and 3^rd Party accounts are active in the Bookstore until 1:00PM on the 2^nd Thursday of each quarter. (After this time, these accounts are inactive. If the HOPE Book Allowance was not used or a balance remains, Financial Aid will send out a refund. For Scholarship and 3^rd Party account balances, please check with Financial Aid for information regarding any remaining balance.)

  -Shop with your syllabus. Going to class first and getting information directly from instructors is the best way to know exactly what books you’ll need for the course and when you will need them. If you have a syllabus when you come in, we’ll be able to point you directly to the product you need.

-Bring your student ID. This facilitates a brief transaction at the register and keeps the lines moving smoothly.

We hope that all of our students at DTC have a great quarter and look forward to seeing you soon!

Let your artistic skills put cash in your pocket

SACSCOC

LOGO DESIGN COMPETITION

www.sacscoc.org

              The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) is pleased to announce a logo design competition for students, faculty, staff, alumni, and retirees of member institutions.

                Due to the recent separate incorporation of the Commission from the Association, a new logo is needed apart from the SACS seal.  The winning logo will become the property of SACSCOC and will be presented at the Annual Meeting in December 2010.  The new logo will be phased in and will completely replace the current logo that appears on Web pages, stationery, business cards, and official publications of the organization.

Prizes for the competition include:
                        First prize:                   $500.00
                        Second prize:              $300.00
                        Third prize:                  $200.00

Deadline for receiving entries is Friday, April 30, 2010.

Entries should be mailed to:
            Logo Competition
            Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
             Commission on Colleges
            1866 Southern Lane
            Decatur, GA 30033-4097

Submission details:

• Entries should be submitted on paper and in electronic format.  We are looking for a logo that presents well in both media.

• All submissions should be completed as vector art and saved as an EPS file.  Linked files should be embedded and all type outlined.  A low resolution PDF file should also be sent for review.

• Entries should include the design with no identifying designer marks or affiliation.

• Designer identification should be included with the entry but should not be on the entry.

• Designer identification should include the designer’s name, mailing address, email address, and telephone number.  Designer identification should also include the name and address of the institution, as well as the affiliation of the designer (student, faculty, staff, alumni, or retiree).

• All entries will be acknowledged upon receipt.

• All entries will become the property of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.

• Entries will not be returned.

Judging details:

• Identification will be removed from each entry.

• A team of Commission staff will screen the anonymous entries and select the top ten designs.

• The SACSCOC Board of Trustees will make the final selections from the anonymous entries.

• Winners will be announced at the December meeting, where the winning logo will be presented.

About SACSCOC:
                  The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges is the regional body for the accreditation of degree-granting higher education institutions in the Southern states.  The Commission’s mission is the enhancement of educational quality throughout the region and it strives to improve the effectiveness of institutions by ensuring that institutions meet standards established by the higher education community that address the needs of society and students.  It serves as the common denominator of shared values and practices among the diverse institutions in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Latin America and other international sites approved by the Commission on Colleges that award associate, baccalaureate, master’s, or doctoral degrees.  The Commission also accepts applications from other international institutions of higher education.

Questions?  Contact:
           Dr. Pamela Cravey
            Coordinator of Communications and External Affairs
            pcravey@sacscoc.org
            (404) 679-4501 ext. 4504

DTC instructor's concern for his family and his homeland

One week ago today the ground shook beneath the Haitian capital of Port Au Prince.  In the minutes, hours and days that followed it was pain, agony and anguish that rippled from the epicenter of the quake.  Hundreds of miles away in the Computer Information Systems department at DeKalb Technical College, John Etienne is in shock.  “When I first heard about it, I couldn’t believe it,” says the CIS instructor.  He was born in the northern part of the island country, and spent 16 years growing up, studying and working in Port Au Prince.   He spent the better part of his life sitting on top of a powder keg. “It is the last place on earth you would imagine something like this would happen.  I never thought Haiti was lying on top of a fault,” says Etienne.  From the moment he heard the news of the quake he began calling his siblings who still live in Haiti.  “The first thing I scrambled and said ‘let’s call, let’s call, let’s try to call’ but there was no circuit, you couldn’t call anywhere. So I started calling my sister in Miami, and family that I have there and say ‘have you heard, have you heard’, and see if they could get in contact,”  which they couldn’t.  It wasn’t until the next day that word came that Etienne’s brother survived the earthquake with minor injuries.  He is hospitalized. “He’s not in imminent dangers, so they were taking care of the more severely injured,” says Etienne.   Etienne has worked at DeKalb Tech for nearly 10 years.  He has one brother and four sisters still living in Haiti.  All of his siblings and their children survived but he is still concerned for he many friends and teachers he remembers from his homeland.  Among the destruction, death and tragedy, Etienne holds hope in the resiliency of his Haitian brethren. He says the country is no stranger to catastrophe.  Etienne says,  “It is a country where you learn to survive, it is so sad, but they will survive this,”  Etienne says there are large Haitian communities in places like New York and Miami, but metro Atlanta’s Haitian residents may be  fragmented but they’re close knit. Death tolls in the quake could top 200,000.  As the world sends aide, the search for survivors continues….and in Atlanta a college instructor continues to check on his recovering brother.