This month’s spotlight shines on our new APC Chair, Lori Cimino. Lori serves as the Instructional Program Manager for the ASL/English Interpreting and Digital Media programs. She began her career at the College as an adjunct faculty for American Sign Language more than 15 years ago. Lori joined the FSCJ family after coming to the College to take a few interpreting courses and stumbling upon an opportunity for a faculty position; she has been here ever since.

Every step in Lori’s career path has connected her to a passion for education, teaching, and learning. However, it is in higher education, specifically, the college environment, where her wings have spread most widely. As an Instructional Program Manager, Lori not only manages the day to day operations of these programs, but she supports the students and faculty through advising, career exploration and planning, curriculum and program development, and serves as a liaison, coach, and problem solver; in sorts, she feels like a ‘jack of all trades’ some days. Her position also requires the ability to adapt to the diversity of our students, faculty, administration, support staff, industry leaders, and community partners on a daily basis. Not only does she appreciate the diversity of these interactions, she thrives in an environment where no two people or days are the same.

Lori holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in special education with an emphasis in deaf/hard of hearing and behavioral disorders. She has completed additional coursework and training in ESOL, crisis intervention, and applied behavior analysis and is also a nationally certified sign language interpreter.

Lori has a passion for people and has a strong belief that we are ‘humans first’ in all that we do, but also values the uniqueness of each of us an individual. As an athlete for the better part of her life, the concept of team is rooted deep within her soul and she enjoys the ability to communicate, collaborate, and build relationships with her colleagues and communicate at every opportunity.

When Lori is not at FSCJ, she is spending time with her family, cooking, or working as a sign language interpreter.

The Administrative & Professional Collaborative (APC) is the representative voice for the Administrative & Professional employees of FSCJ. In an effort to build cohesiveness, awareness and collegiality, each month we put a “spotlight” on one of our members.

August’s APC Spotlight shines on Tina Tharp-Hackney. Tina works as an Engineer II on the IT Network Team where she helps provide support for Collegewide infrastructure. Her main role is working as a digital signage system engineer; she also assists in supporting the C-Cure access control system and the Milestone Security Camera System. She started working in the Information Technology department in 2012 as the project coordinator for the Vice President of Technology & Chief Information Officer.

Tina holds a BS in Athletic Training from the University of North Florida. Additionally, she has completed professional development courses in beginning, intermediate, and advanced project management.

In her spare time, Tina enjoys spending time with her husband and two small children, gardening, and traveling.

The Administrative & Professional Collaborative (APC) is the representative voice for the Administrative & Professional employees of FSCJ. In an effort to build cohesiveness, awareness and collegiality, each month we put a “spotlight” on one of our members.

July’s Administrative and Professional Collaborative (APC) Spotlight shines on Beth Harvey, director of the Nathan H. Wilson Center for the Arts. Beth joined the College in 1995 as an administrative assistant for the new Wilson Center, which was still under construction at the time. Before coming to FSCJ, she worked at Theatre Jacksonville and often collaborated with the College in an academic-community theatre partnership. She became the Operations Manager in 1999 and was later named Director of the Wilson Center in 2005. Beth was also a founding member of the Administrative & Professional Collaborative, helping develop the by-laws and later serving as secretary.

Through her tenure, Beth has had the pleasure of hosting many professional artists in theatre, music and dance through the relationship with FSCJ Artist Series. She contracts professional artists through an initiative from the College, to work with the students to enhance their artistic talents. Recently, the program has expanded to include academic experts in other fields like math, history and human rights education.

With support from the FSCJ Artist Series, Beth founded the High School Summer Musical Theatre Experience (SMTE), a summer program for high school student actors, in 2005. SMTE is now celebrating its 13th summer with “Young Frankenstein.” Over the years, the program has called on the entertainment and technology program under John Pettegrew to build, paint, light and provide sound for the program of high school performers. The summer ends with a fully developed production that draws record crowds.

She loves what she does and continues to look for new ways to stimulate whole learning for the students. She believes you must go big or go home, and if you ever end up inside the office of the Wilson Center, you get a sense of that. The show doesn’t stop.

Beth has a BA in Spanish with a minor in Technical Theatre from Wesleyan College. She earned her MA in Organizational Management many years later.

Beth loves to travel, mostly by cruise ship, and has plans to get back to Alaska in the spring.

The Administrative & Professional Collaborative (APC) is the representative voice for the Administrative & Professional employees of FSCJ. In an effort to build cohesiveness, awareness and collegiality, each month we put a “spotlight” on one of our members.

June’s Administrative and Professional Collaborative (APC) Spotlight shines on Thomas Morris. As Associate Director of Advising for Assessment and Staff Development, Thomas provides substantial support for Collegewide advising outcomes assessment and strategic planning, including implementation and enhancement of the assessment of academic advising units. He is also responsible for employee training and the development of supporting tools for all advising staff.

Thomas holds a master’s degree in Human Resources Management and a bachelor’s degree in Psychology. He has spent 10 years in higher education having served in roles at the College of Central Florida and the University of Central Florida in both student affairs and academic affairs.

He has been part of the FSCJ family for 2.5 years and has worked within Admissions/Records as well as Academic Advising. Thomas has led departmental efforts in the implementation and launch of technology solutions such as TranscriptsPlus-FSCJ’s fully automated online transcript ordering service and QLess-Academic Advising’s queue management and appointment scheduling system. Currently, he serves on several committees that provide strategic direction related to the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), internal and external communication, and the call center and student experience.

Thomas is passionate about coaching, mentoring and team building. He recognizes the importance of developing employees to make them realize their true potential – to support their growth and success, which he considers key in creating a culture of excellence.

In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his family and friends. In addition, Thomas continues to take classes due to his commitment to never stop learning.

May’s Administrative and Professional Collaborative (APC) Spotlight shines on Ms. Terry Hollingshead, the 2017-2018 APC Exceptional Service and Initiative Award winner.

In her role as Senior Associate Director of Student Recruitment, Terry provides collaborative leadership in the operation and administration of community and school-based recruiting activities that increase both the quantity and quality of prospect and applicant pools to FSCJ. In addition to community-facing recruitment responsibilities, Terry is a self-proclaimed “data geek” and happily serves as principal researcher and project manager for departmental and institutional strategic initiatives related to student recruitment.

Terry’s affection for data and data-driven decision-making is observable in her work to develop and expand functionality of the Recruitment CRM (Connect) as well as through her involvement in Collegewide committees for Strategic Planning, Data Governance, Outcomes Assessment, and Strategic Enrollment Management.

Terry holds a Bachelor of Science in Education and Social Policy from Northwestern University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix. She plans to complete the Executive Certificate in Data Analytics from Cornell University during the summer of 2018 and further enhance her “data geek” designation.

In her spare time, Terry is also a “movie geek” who enjoys watching movies and has an excellent recall of movie quotes. If you notice her smiling at odd moments during a meeting it is often because she has made a mental association between the topic under discussion and a line in a movie. In her estimation, the single most quotable movies of all time are A Few Good Men, High Fidelity, and How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days.

In July, Terry will celebrate three years as a member of the FSCJ team. She is hoping the next three years will provide an opportunity to use the quote “Wakanda Forever” in FSCJ related conversation…wait…I think she just did!

The Administrative & Professional Collaborative (APC) is the representative voice for the Administrative & Professional employees of FSCJ. In an effort to build cohesiveness, awareness and collegiality, each month we put a “spotlight” on one of our members.

April’s APC Spotlight shines on Angel Duncan. Angel is FSCJ’s Director of  Continuing Education, a position she has held since July 2016. She oversees all Continuing Workforce Education programs, serving over 1,300 students with 80 classes and programs per year including open enrollment courses for professional and career development, non-credit certification and licensures, fast-track training programs, and personal enrichment courses.

Angel joined FSCJ in June 2014 after having spent 15+ years in corporate America working for companies such as General Electric, Walmart, Kellogg’s, and Pfizer. In her previous positions, she was responsible for conceptualizing and implementing strategic initiatives designed to improve market penetration and program/product awareness while increasing sales and profitability. She holds an MBA and a BS in Public Relations from Florida A & M University and is a Certified Operations Manager (COM) and Program Planner (CPP).

Angel is committed to building collaborative partnerships between FSCJ and the broader community, including businesses and government. She is passionate about providing high quality, relevant, life-long learning opportunities that inspire and empower individuals to achieve career advancement and personal fulfillment.

In her spare time, she enjoys hanging out with family and friends and traveling. She also enjoys giving back to the community by serving on community development and private school boards.

Our spotlight shines on each campus/center at least once a year.  Nominations for the spotlight may be directed to your campus representative or any officer.  Learn more about APC on our website, http://blogs.fscj.edu/apcollaborative.

Amy Li serves as FSCJ’s Assistant Bursar.  In this role, Amy is responsible for overseeing and managing the Student Financial Services offices, implementing new projects that improve customer service experience for students, and training for the Bursar’s office.  The Student Financial Services team strives to provide world-class exceptional customer service to all of our students regarding student payments, financial aid payments, student billings, debt and refunds. This team also collaborates with staff Collegewide to enhance the student experience.

Prior to joining FSCJ, Amy spent 9 years in higher education having served in several roles including Finance Manager, Academic Manager, and Veterans Affairs Manager. She holds an associate’s degree from Florida State College at Jacksonville, a bachelor’s degree in Management from University of Phoenix and a master’s degree in Business Administration from University of Phoenix.

In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her husband, sons, Tyler (5) and Erik (3) and attending Star Wars events with the family and friends.

The Administrative & Professional Collaborative (APC) is the representative voice for the Administrative & Professional employees of FSCJ. In an effort to build cohesiveness, awareness and collegiality, each month we put a “spotlight” on one of our members.

February’s APC Spotlight shines on Jeremiah Cobb. Jeremiah began his journey with FSCJ in March of 2016 as the Downtown Campus Grants Manager. He has since joined the Resource Development Office where he continues to work with grant project teams.

With twelve years’ experience in grants management, contract administration, and regulatory compliance, Jeremiah is well versed in program development and implementation. He has extensive experience in programmatic and fiscal management and was influential in developing grant management processes for the Jacksonville Transportation Authority, City of Jacksonville, and the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering.

Jeremiah is a graduate of Iowa State University with a dual bachelor’s degree in Marketing and Business Management.  He earned an MBA with academic honors from Webster University. Raised both in Long Beach, California and on Chicago’s Southside, Jeremiah has called Florida home since 2004. He serves on the board of Priority Love & Care, Inc. and is joint owner of a local bespoke clothier/image consultant company, The Bello Mo Group.

Our spotlight shines on each campus/center at least once a year.  Nominations for the spotlight may be directed to your campus representative or any officer.  Learn more about APC on our website, http://blogs.fscj.edu/apcollaborative.

The Administrative & Professional Collaborative (APC) is the representative voice for the Administrative & Professional employees of FSCJ. In an effort to build cohesiveness, awareness and collegiality, each month we put a “spotlight” on one of our members.

January’s Administrative and Professional Collaborative (APC) Spotlight shines on Ernie Friend. As the Instructional Program Manager for computer technology programs, Ernie provides Collegewide support for two bachelors and three associate degrees in information technology. Working with his staff and faculty, he has used virtualization technologies to web-enable some of the most advanced technical hands-on academic curriculum.

As a board member of the National Convergence Technology Center, Ernie contributes significantly, in collaboration with international business interests, to the national dialogue defining skill sets required for emerging information technology occupations.  He has led or participated in more than a dozen National Science Foundation and Department of Labor grants centered on creating new curriculum, faculty professional development and student engagement in high technology fields. He served on the U.S. Department of Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) committee designing new standards for Cybersecurity, and the College’s computer networking program, which he leads, and recently submitted an application to the National Security Agency (NSA) for designation as a Center of Academic Excellence.

Ernie has worked at FSCJ for more than 25 years and holds a master’s degree in Cybersecurity from the University of South Florida and a bachelor’s degree in Electronics Management from Southern Illinois University. His foundations in information technology leadership were earned through 10 years of service in the United States Navy, providing technical support and instruction on the latest military aircraft.

In his spare time, Ernie appreciates spending time with family and close friends. He enjoys helping others with projects and spending time outdoors, especially on the water.  He is working on checking off several bucket list items, including plans to live aboard a 34 foot catamaran sailboat.

Our spotlight shines on each campus/center at least once a year. Nominations for the spotlight may be directed to your campus representative or any officer. Learn more about APC on their website, blogs.fscj.edu/apcollaborative. 

Amy Unick is the Director of State and Federal Reporting in the Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Accreditation. Amy assists in managing the College’s compliance with state and federal reporting requirements under the Florida Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Education. The State and Federal Reporting team strives to provide accurate, timely, and valid data reporting while extracting and reporting in excess of 30 million pieces of data annually about the College and its students, employees, and facilities. This team also collaborates with staff Collegewide to enhance and inform the full data life cycle and serves as data subject matter experts. As a part of this team, Amy has been actively involved in the implementation of PeopleSoft, from the first pillar to the last!

Amy began her FSCJ career in the Information Technology Services department as a software developer for the Orion ERP system.  After spending four years in this role, she transitioned to her current team.  She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Phoenix and actively pursues professional development with FSCJ classes, most recently completing Intro to Oracle SQL, Advanced Oracle SQL, and SQL Server Database classes.

Outside of the college, Amy enjoys spending time with family, scrapbooking, card-making, and collecting animals — currently two dogs, four cats, and four kittens that were found before Hurricane Irma and are looking for a good home.