Kenai Peninsula College

Marci Lea, administrative assistant, Director’s Office
Alasha Brito, communications specialist, Advancement Office
Jennifer Pederson, Educational Technology team lead
Robin Dahlman, assistant professor of education and administrator of elementary & early childhood education
Alison Gardell, assistant professor, biology
Melissa Towarak, Learning Center tutor
Victoria Trujillo, Payroll technician
Justin Stine, Custodial Maintenance service worker
Cheryl Brock, Senior accountant
Bridget Clark, Learning Center ABE instructor
Mitch Michaud, Learning Center International Student Support specialist
Charles “C.O.” Rudstrom, Facilities Operations and Maintenance supervisor
DeAnne Ruiz, Financial Aid clerk

Paula Martin, Interim campus director
Jill Burnham, Evening Programs coordinator
Shawn Story, Learning Resource Center ABE instructor
Reid Brewer, campus director

Cheryl Siemers, KPC assistant director of academic affairs and English professor was promoted to full professor.
Toby Long, KRC chemistry professor was promoted to associate professor and granted tenure.

The Kenai Peninsula Borough provided KPC with $814,048 in 2018/19 for a variety of programs and positions. The borough has supported the college since 1991 when Peninsula voters approved that up to 1/10^th mill of property taxes could be directed to the college. Since then, KPC has received $12,714,226 from the borough.

Visitors to KPC Campuses

KPC hosted many visitors at its campuses during 2017-18 fiscal year, including the following:

Incoming Chancellor Cathy Sandeen and UAA Interim Provost John Stalvey visited KRC Aug 17 for a tour and also to address the Faculty Senate at their annual retreat. It was the first time ever the Faculty Senate held their retreat at a UAA community campus.
On Sept. 7, the Dean of the UAA College of Health, Directors of Nursing and Allied Health and other representatives visited KBC and the area’s expanded health clinics, and Southern Peninsula Hospital to meet with CEOs and clinical directors.
Paul Layer, UA Statewide vice president for Academics, Students and Research visited KRC Sept 7 for a campus briefing and tour.
U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan visited with a class taught by Jeff Meyers, KBC assistant professor of history on Nov. 8. It was being taught at KRC since it is a video conferenced class and instructors need to teach from the opposite location a couple of times a semester. While at KRC, the senator spent about 15 minutes with two KRC veteran students.
UAA’s School of Social Work director and chairperson visited KBC in October to meet with Director Swartz and Kim Frost, Student & Enrollment Services coordinator, to discuss its plans for expanding the Bachelor of Social Work program to the Kenai Peninsula and potentially creating a satellite program site in Homer as well as perhaps creating an Associate’s degree level program. Area employers have expressed enthusiasm for being able to better meet their labor force needs.

Working with the Community & State

Due to the major budget reduction facing UA, advocacy training seminars were held in the spring semester that were open to faculty, staff, students and the public. Dr. Casey J Rudkin, KRC, and Drs. Lia Calhoun and Jeffrey Meyers at KBC provided the training.

KRC associate professor of physics and math, Andy Veh organized a lunar eclipse event at Soldotna Creek Park in January, attracting more than 50 people.

The Board of Directors of the Central Peninsula Hospital elected Steve Horn, KRC associate professor of business, to a three-year term that began Jan 1, 2019. Horn had previously served on the hospital board, has an extensive background in area of strategic planning and recognizes the importance of a quality experience for patients.

KBC’s Marine Technology (MT) program offered eight classes in the fall semester. The Able Seaman class had 10 participants. Jesus Trejo, MT Coordinator, met with each person to clarify USCG licensing eligibility, assist with sea time documentation and facilitate the application process.

A Winter Concert of Traditional Irish Music was presented by the Multicultural Consortium, the KRC Showcase, and with a grant from the UAA Diversity Action Council. The free event was well attended by students, staff, and the community members with more than 200 in attendance. The Alaska Native Studies club sold baked goods at the intermission, and the proceeds used to support the club. Alpha Omega Omicron, KPC’s chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, an international honor society, held a food drive to help stock the food pantry at the KRC Residence Hall. Concertgoers were encouraged to bring items to donate to the food pantry. Resident Assistant student Brett Knighten collaborated with Diane Taylor, KRC Learning Center Programs director to integrate a food collections component to the concert.

The KRC Student Health Clinic sponsored the annual Health Fair in March. Coordinated by Audrey Standerfer, Clinic RN, the most popular service was the reduced cost blood tests. Many health care vendors participated.

Nineteen non-credit community education classes and workshops were offered by KBC in the fall semester including new ones in art, computers, gardening and marine technology; tree pruning (Cooperative Extension Service), MS Windows and Chinese painting.

Collaborating with Business, Industry & Organizations

In the Spring 2019 semester there have already been students hired to go to work fulltime, prior to graduation, in both industrial process instrumentation (IPIN) and process technology. One recent IPIN student, who has recently gone to work full time in industrial instrumentation on the North Slope, was simultaneously offered an instrumentation position with the Greeley, Colorado Water and Wastewater Division. He was recruited from Alaska, and offered this job because no one in the Greeley area was as qualified as he was.

Exxon and BP came to campus in November to explain to the process technology students how to apply for the jobs they are posting. Exxon was last on campus in 2013, however they made it sound like they will be hiring about 10 employees per year for the next few years. BP also said their hiring numbers are on the rise.

Cam Choy, KRC associate professor of art hosted a free Sunday afternoon workshop with Kaitlin Vadla of Cook Inletkeepers. It was part of the Cook Inletkeepers “Get to Know Your Watershed” Program. Participants brought items from a beachcombing exercise to the KRC 3-D/Ceramics studio where impressions were made in clay and cast in plaster. This event was the 2nd annual workshop hosted by Vadla and Choy.

KPC’s Veteran Services department hosted a commemoration in honor of National Vietnam War Veterans Day on March 29. VFW Post 10046 Honor Guard started the ceremony by presenting the colors. Jim McHale, U.S. Air Force veteran, was the speaker at the event. Jim now holds many titles including but not limited to the Commander of the Kenai Peninsula Chapter of the Military Order of the Purple Heart and Kenai Peninsula College Council member. More than 15 veterans and their families attended and all veterans received lapel pins as a thank you for their service.

Industry is increasingly recognizing Kenai Peninsula College process operations, industrial instrumentation, and welding program students as “highly qualified”, equating their education to having as much as 5+ years of prior work experience. Exxon, BP, ConocoPhillips, Alyeska, and others such as Hilcorp, and Peak have made visits to the campus, giving presentations why students should work for them and how to apply for a career. It should be noted that some Alaska Oil and gas companies now require a certain percentage of their Operator new hires must have a PRT AAS degree.

Ahtna KRC Adjunct Professor Sondra Shaginoff-Stuart received a small teaching grant from the Alaska State Council on the Arts, part of the Rasmussen Foundation. She is working with Chickaloon Village Traditional Council on a high boot moccasin project. This project is focused on using Ahtna Language while making traditional high boot moccasins. The Kenaitze Indian Tribe is a community partner in this project and is supporting the underlying research to develop the material for this project.

The state-required Kenai River Guide Academy has graduated 897 potential fishing guides in 40 classes since 2006.

Partnering with the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District & Other Districts

Clair Kochis, KRC assistant professor of math participated in the Blue Moose Therapy Center's Canine Care Camp day. She constructed and delivered a math lesson on mathematical grouping and arrays using dogs and dog enclosures for Ms. Backtuit's Soldotna Elementary School second grade class.

KRC hosted ten high school students for the Emergency Trauma Technician academy in June. This collaboration between the school district and KRC has been a mutually beneficial partnership yielding several academies in various disciplines over the past year. These students had also attended and received their certification from the Basic Firefighter’s academy that was held over spring break.

In August the RBES office was relocated to another space at Seward High School. In the month of February the office space was repainted, a very nice improvement. The office space is provided to KPC-RBES at no cost to the college. Additionally, there is no charge to KPC for the use of classrooms for the classes we offer in Seward. It has and continues to be a wonderful partnership.

Rich Kochis, assistant professor of electronics and Dana Edwards, Soldotna High School teacher (and KRC instrumentation student) collaborated, for the second year in a row, to bring a group of Soldotna High School students to KRC for a day of experimenting with a very small, one chip computer, the Arduino. Kochis led them through a series of experiments to introduce them to computer programming and connecting circuits to the Arduino board.

Gary J. Turner, KPC director/CEO served as a semi-finalist judge for the Caring for the Kenai program on March 7. He’s been doing this for 12 years.

Joe Thornton, KRC training and conference coordinator organized the summer EXCEL Alaska Bridging at KRC and Alaska Christian College. It is a 30-day relevant, hands-on intensive, learning camp. Each year EXCEL Alaska alternates campuses and students. This year they stayed at ACC. Students chose to learn new skills in either carpentry, welding, Emergency Trauma Technician/Fire Fighting, Certified Nurse’s Aide (CNA) or ground school training.

KRC hosted the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District for three weeks in June for the Basic Firefighter and Emergency Trauma Technician academy for two sessions accommodating up to 32 high school students.

Jackie Marshall, RBES coordinator attended the Seward Schools Site Council meeting to present information about the JumpStart Program. The Seward Schools Site Council is an advisory board that makes recommendations to the local school principals and KPBSD School Board.

The Aspiring Workforce Program with Mountain View Elementary School was held in March. This program offers their 4th grade class the opportunity to view interactive presentations in the areas of process technology, welding, and Emergency Trauma Technician programs as well as tour the campus and two local companies (Nikiski Fire Station #2 and Marathon). This year we hosted 80 students.

Jackie Marshall, RBES coordinator set up a KPC table at the Seward High School Open House on August 23. Additionally, she gave a brief KPC presentation at the general assembly at the open house. She had numerous opportunities to talk with parents individually throughout the evening.

KRC hosted approximately two hundred 9th grade students from Soldotna Prep September 6-7. The students toured the Residence Hall, CTEC building and main campus. Student Services provided KPC folders for the students that included stickers and pennants along with information about the JumpStart program and financial aid.

Kim Frost, KBC student services coordinator and Nancy Johnson, KBC student services advisor were invited to Homer High School August 8 to discuss JumpStart with returning juniors and seniors as they came in to obtain their high school schedules.

Sixty-six Homer 6^th graders spent the day at KBC in an exciting “Kids To College” event that introduces elementary age students to college.

Over the summer semester KRC’s Emergency Medical Services staff taught two Emergency Trauma Technician (ETT) summer camps for high school students the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District, and EXCEL Alaska. Both camps were taught by KPC EMS Adjuncts (Ashley Pass, Tiffani Perry, and Shevie Lewis). Both classes were successful with State of Alaska ETT Certification and several of the graduates have since enrolled in the Emergency Medical Technician face to face class in the fall. The Basic Firefighter course (designed for high school age students) was also offered to students from the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District and the EXCEL Alaska group. The students were certified by the State of Alaska Fire Standards Council in exterior firefighting. The course was taught by KRC Fire adjuncts Bryan Crisp and Stephen Robertson.

Faculty & Staff Accomplishments

KBC Leadership changes: Carol Swartz, long time KBC director retired in December. Paula Martin, former KPC assistant director of academic affairs stepped into the interim role until June when Reid Brewer became the new campus director. Swartz was named Director Emerita due to her accomplishments over her 32 years as the KBC director.

Kim Frost, KBC’s Student and Enrollment Services coordinator served as KBC's acting director in January and April due to Interim Director Paula Martin’s absences.

Scott Downing, KRC associate professor of English was elected UAA Faculty Senate president. He is the first president from a community campus…ever.

AKNS adjuncts Helen Dick, Jeanie Maxim, Andrea Ivanoff, and Joel Isaak were invited to the Anchorage Museum by the Curator of Contemporary Indigenous Art, Melissa Shaginoff. This was the first event meant to become an ongoing dialogue between the museum, Elders and other indigenous peoples.

Professors Cheryl Siemers and Scott Downing presented at the first national conference for the Two Year College Association (TYCA) in Pittsburgh during Spring Recess. The presentation titled, “Improving Student Success in Writing: The Role of Shared Governance,” examined shared governance processes and the effects of those processes on students. Downing also presented at the 2019 Conference on College Composition & Communication (CCCC) later in the week at the same location. The presentation titled, “Video Feedback: Creating Social Presence in the Composition Classroom,” focused on the use of video feedback to engage students, improve understanding, and build trust in the online writing classroom.

KRC Dena’ina adjunct professor Joel Izaak installed a bronze statue near Ship Creek in Anchorage. The statue is of a Dena’ina matriarch from Eklutna named Olga.

KPC’s associate professor of process technology, Jeffrey Laube delivered three presentations to 200 attendees at the 9th annual NAPTA-ISC (North American Process Technology Alliance – Instructor Skills Conference in September. This is the 7th consecutive year that Laube has spoken at this conference.

KRC Alaska Native language adjuncts, Sondra Shaginoff-Stuart and Joel Isaak coordinated the 2nd Elders Language Gathering at KRC. This Language Gathering continued to address and explore how language is transmitted, best practices within the academic and non-academic communities and the creation of more language curriculum. Elders who participated were: Charlie Hubbard (Ahtna), Sassa Peterson (Yup’ik), Nita Rearden (Yup’ik) and Helen Dick (Dena’ina) and Tom Stroman (Dena’ina).

KRC adjunct Japanese instructor Yasuko Lehtinen and her class delivered 1,000 Origami paper cranes (Senbazuru) to Heritage Place (assisted living facility) on December 12. According to Japanese tradition, a Senbazuru is considered to bring good fortune.

Associate professor of process technology, Jeffrey Laube collaborated with Washington State University to work on a research project funded by grants from the National Science Foundation. Three workable process models were used in the Process Technology I: Equipment class; a pipe-system (Hydraulic Loss), an Eductor, and a Heat Exchanger. He traveled to Washington DC to deliver the learning data at the 2018 Advanced Technology Education – Primary Investigator conference.

Paul Landen, professor of psychology will once again chair the UAA University Title IX Campus Climate Committee. He was also appointed to the search committee for the Chief Diversity Office for UAA.

Victoria Trujillo, Payroll technician attended the HR Round Table in Anchorage on March 28 that was put together by the UAA’s HR Department. Topics covered included: payroll processes, timesheets, employee terminations and more.

Joel Isaak, KRC Alaska Native language adjunct was featured for his artwork in the Alaskan Spirt magazine published by Ravn. The article can be found online.

Michelle Waclawski, KBC ABE coordinator, and ABE instructor Pam Simmons, attended the Southern Peninsula Hospital’s Crisis Prevention Institute’s Nonviolent Crisis Intervention Course that was hosted by KBC.

Yasuko Lehtinen, KRC Japanese adjunct traveled to Akita, Japan (sister city to the Kenai Peninsula Borough) with 16 participants who were invited to perform dance in Akita. They were part of the parade at Akita Festival where 4-5 million people watched.

Rob Knapp, Student Accounts & Accounts Receivable technician has been working with UA Statewide on the implementation of a new online employee tuition waiver process that is scheduled for implementation for the summer 19 semester. Once fully online, all employee, spouse, dependent and adjunct tuition waivers will be submitted electronically through UA Online.

Kim Frost, KBC Student and Enrollment Services coordinator, completed the Online Learning Consortium's accessibility course "Applying Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Principles to Online Courses to Increase Accessibility and Engagement.” Frost has now completed the fourth and final course in the OLC's accessibility series earning her hard earned Accessibility Badge.

Claudia Pearson, Instructional Designer II completed the Certificate Program Foundation Course with the Online Learning Consortium (OLC).

Jenn Pedersen, Educational Technology Team (ETT) leader and Clair Kochis, KRC assistant professor of math were guest panelists for a Texthelp webinar: Math Textbook Conversion Take 2! Gaining University Support on March 28th. They discussed the ways EquatIO will benefit KPC. Not only will EquatIO assist faculty with the creation of accessible math to comply with Section 508 accessibility standards, the two elements can work together to improve student retention and course outcomes.

ETT and Advancement staff worked tirelessly on offering various accessibility workshops and trainings.

Cheryl Siemers, KPC assistant director of academic affairs worked with the UAA Online Advisory Council to draft policy suggestions for submission to the Provost regarding accessibility expectations and development for online courses.

Jenn Pedersen and Claudia Pearson collaborated with UAA’s Academic Innovations and eLearning Instructional Designers to plan and develop sessions for the February eTech Fair.

Cheryl Siemers traveled with math faculty Clair Kochis and English Faculty Scott Downing to give a presentation on concurrent enrollment practices and offerings at KPC at a session for faculty at the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau that was videoed to the Ketchikan and Sitka campuses.

Tiffany Perry, KRC paramedic clinical coordinator participated in the CoAEMSP accreditation site visit at Mat-Su College, providing essential information for the accreditation process for the Paramedical Technology program. Tiffany was commended by the accreditors for her detailed work and support of the program.

ETT members, Jenn Pedersen, Claudia Pearson and Jim Tuttle are now Certified Blackboard Trainers.

Jeffrey Johnson, KBC assistant professor of math, completed a 10-week course on the fundamentals of online teaching with focus on Strategies to Improve Retention, Designing Gamified Learning Environments, and Designing with Accessibility in Mind.

Jenn Pedersen and Cheryl Siemers formed a KPC accessibility committee comprised of faculty and staff members from all departments.

KPC faculty and staff were part of the Northwest Commission for Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) site visit to UAA Oct. 8-10, participating through select meetings in Anchorage (Director Turner represented KPC at the meetings), and through participation in faculty, staff, and student forums held on Oct. 8 and 9. UAA received four commendations and two recommendations in the findings presented at the conclusion of the visit.

Cheryl Siemers presented at four conferences on community-engaged teaching in June and July.

At the 2018 International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement, Siemers also received acknowledgement for participation in a collaborative community, Clayton and Colleagues, which received the association’s Distinguished Career Award, the first time a collective group has received the award.

On Feb. 15, KRC’s Counseling & Advising department co-sponsored Mental Health First Aid training at KRC. MHFA is a nationally acclaimed 8-hour course that teaches how to help someone who may be experiencing a mental health or substance use challenge.

Associate professor of counseling Dr. Christina Stuive participated in the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES) Proposal review committee. This is a national panel regarding the counseling profession with a focus on supervision and training of Master's level clinicians.

KRC Residence Life hosted hundreds of people participating at events at KRC including: Indigenous Language Conference; Upstream Academy; Brown University; UAA Summer Engineering Academy; Wounded Heroes and many more.

Tammie Willis, associate director of Residence Life, hosted a program for disability awareness called Deaf Perceptions of Sound.

The Alaska Adult Education Association recognized Learning Center volunteer Gail Sather as the “AAEA Volunteer of the Year Award” and Learning Center ESL Instructor Sara Hadfield received the “Professional Development Scholarship” award.

KRC associate professor Christina Stuive, continues to work on the APU/UAA Books of the Year committee and partnered with the KRC Showcase to bring internationally renowned author and recognized indigenous rights activist Winona LaDuke to KRC on November 10. Duke is well known for being a two time vice presidential candidate with Ralph Nader for the Green Party and she continues to work on the issues of climate change, sustainable food, and renewable energy.

KRC held its third annual Aspiring Workforce event and welcomed more than 75 fourth graders from Mountain View Elementary. The students and their chaperones toured the campus, visiting the paramedic, welding, and process technology labs, as well as the residence hall. Emily Knight, KPC recruiter welcomed the students to KRC with an introductory presentation and helped facilitate the tours.

The KPC Recruiter and Student Peer Ambassadors represented KPC at the annual Kenai Peninsula Job Fair on March 21. More than 650 people attended the event, many stopping by the KPC table to inquire about degree programs, courses offerings, and employment opportunities. At the event, Knight collected approximately 20 requests for more information, which required follow up at a later date.

The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Upstream Academy brought nine high school juniors and seniors to visit KRC and stay overnight in the residence hall. Knight led the students on a tour of the campus and spoke about the opportunities that await them at KPC.

The Advancement Office is again working with Standing Tide Productions to produce promotional videos that will focus on the values that make KPC special.

Kathi Overpeck, KRC Financial Aid coordinator participated in National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) Diversity training specifically relating to financial aid practices.

Students Making a Difference...Making a Difference for Students

The NAPTA Troubleshooting Skills Competition was held at the River Parish Community College in Gonzales, LA. April 26-27. Only the top 10 teams in the nation are invited to this competition. KPC’s record at prior competitions: 2018 2nd place; 2017 2nd & 3rd; 2016 2nd & 3rd; 2012 1st. The KPC team consisted of: Timothy Lehman, Brenner Musgrave, Edward Hoeldt, and Nikita Antonov-Team Captain. The troubleshooting team was coached by Associate Professor Jeffrey Laube and travel sponsored by Marathon Petroleum and APICC.

A joint effort between KBC Student and Enrollment Services and the Kachemak Bay Campus Student Association welcomed an estimated 75 students back to campus during a welcome back event featuring Fat Olives pizza and salad. The event was coordinated with the KBC Resource Open House (in lieu of a more traditional New Student Orientation) where twenty students visited five of the campus’s resource locations meeting the staff and receiving information to help them get off to the best possible start.

Jackie Marshall, RBES coordinator, secured two scholarship opportunities for Jumpstart students through the Seward PTA and Icicle Seafoods for the Fall of 2019.

Marshall hosted a table at Seward Middle School’s career night on April 25. She assisted Seward High Success Liaison, Jennifer Ransom with planning and set-up of this event.

During the Homer Winter Carnival 2018, KBC’s Student Association took the KBC mascot, Harmony the Whale, and entered her in the parade where she won first place in her division. Over Spring Break, the family of Zobeida Rudkin, current president of the KBC Student Association, brought Harmony to Soldotna for some much needed repairs.

Two KRC art students, Amanda Ritchie and Sadie Sprenger were selected to design murals for Soldotna Creek Park through a Soldotna Rotary project. Cam Choy, KRC associate professor of art will present the student designs to the Soldotna city manager in March.

Eleven students from around the country plus two local students arrived to participate in the Fall 2018 Semester by the Bay (SBB) program. They are taking mostly upper division classes such as Marine Biology, Marine Mammal Biology, Seminar, Articulation, Ichthyology and doing internships at area agencies.

A KPC Financial Aid night was held at Seward High. Stephanie Quintana, KPC Financial Aid assistant, presented to 30 plus high school students and parents on November 14.

Geno Rohl, assistant professor of math and U.S. Air Force Academy Admissions Liaison Officer for the Kenai Peninsula, presented at the first All Alaska Service Academies Night at Kenai Central High School. The All Alaska Service Academies Night is sponsored by Alaska’s three federal congressional representatives. Rohl also conducted three Air Force Academy candidate interviews.

Nancy Johnson, KBC Advising and Support specialist, reached out to more than 300 students in face-to-face and distance education courses via email, phone calls, and in person to see how their semester is going. These conversations provide a great opportunity to hear about student successes and struggles, and direct them to college resources when applicable.

Jackie Marshal, RBES coordinator presented to a group of 15 Seward High Upward Bound students on March 27. The presentation consisted of an overview of KPC’s degrees and certificate programs. Additionally, information about the Dual Credit- JumpStart Program and checklist of things students could be doing now in preparation for both of these opportunities.

KBC IT staff updated and installed equipment in classrooms and offices, and installed new infrastructure and equipment for desktop conferencing/classroom recording. Other upgrades were done for management and virtual servers. They also performed recovering activities from major power and internet outages, and deployed new systems to mitigate future outages

Dr Toby Long, KRC assistant professor of chemistry was awarded a UAA Service-Learning Mini-grant based upon testing and informing the public on the dangers of consuming arsenic from well-sourced drinking water. Students researched and tested various samples from households who submit samples for testing through the community partner - Love INC. of the Kenai Peninsula.

The Paramedic program was found to be in full compliance with their accrediting agency standards and conducted a self-study that was submitted in the spring. The accrediting body will conduct a site visit at KRC in Fall 19.

Melanie Hagen, HR technician continues to be part of the UAA Student Employment Procedures team. She held a meeting with KRC Residence Life staff to discuss changes in how UAA will track our Resident Assistants (RAs). KPC will be changing the position number for RAs to align with UAA. It is a position number specifically for RAs so they can be tracked for required trainings and health care opportunities.

There have been 101 paramedic technology graduates since the program started then years ago. These KPC students had an overall 89% first time National Registry pass rate, some 30% higher than national average. Passing the national test is required to be a licensed paramedic.

As part of Cheryl Brock’s, Senior Accountant & Payroll technician duties include overseeing Grants and Contracts, all MOU/MOAs, cooperative agreements and related documents such as Certificates of Insurance that are now housed electronically in one central location. Brock is responsible for maintaining the document files, reviewing the agreements and informing the appropriate point of contact of any items that need to be updated.

KRC assistant professor of electronics Rich Kochis and Rebecca Weaver, assistant professor of mathematics have been teaching one to two evening classes each semester for the last several years. By rotating different courses each semester, the entire Instrumentation curriculum has been offered. The strategy is to give local working students who prefer face-to-face classes, a path to accomplish their goal of getting the instrumentation degree.

Thanks to Jenya Malakhova-Quarterly, Bookstore manager, the bookstore now has an Instagram account. In March, the bookstore held a special promotion on Instagram. The KPC textbook rental program is gaining in popularity. In the fall 2018 semester the numbers almost doubled in comparison to fall 2017 from 26 to 48 titles available for rent.

Carrie Couey, KPC Administrative Services director consolidated our cellphone services under one vendor (GCI) that resulted in a reduction in cost. Previously four cellphones cost $240 per month between AT&T and GCI. Now we have seven cellphones and pay $180 per month. Cell phones are assigned to staff that need to be available after regular business hours and/or when off campus. Two of the new phones are used for marketing purposes. One is assigned to each campus and can be checked out to live stream and post events on the KPC social media accounts. Prior to this personal cell phones were used for KPC business.

KRC Developmental Advisor Beatrice Sagoonick served as: Advisor for the KRC Women’s Basketball Team; accompanied KRC students to the Native Foods Potluck at the Denaina Wellness Center; served on the Alyeska Scholarship Committee for KPC; and, on the KPC Recruitment Team.

KRC Professor Kipp Lavea’s Human Services Practicum (HUMS A295A) students completed more than 400 hours of volunteer work in Kenai Peninsula Borough social services agencies during the Fall 2018 semester.

Panic buttons were installed in six locations at KRC in case of a campus lockdown. When any one of these panic buttons is activated, a lock down message will be annunciated through the fire alarm to all interior locations on campus. This includes all mechanical rooms and bedrooms on campus.

HalCor Construction has completed the replacement of the boilers in the Brockel Building. This project installed boilers that are similar to the Career and Technical Education Center and Student Housing. These high efficiencies boilers should reduce natural gas usage by about 1/3 and provide a slight reduction in the use of electricity.

Piera Larosa, Resident Assistant, has spearheaded the student advocacy efforts to give students a voice in the budget process. She created a Facebook group called Students for Education. In addition, she planned the #RedforEd days which included encouraging faculty, staff and students to wear red to show their support for education as well hosted a table for two days where she collected close to 100 student testimonies about how KPC impacted their lives.

Tammie Willis, associate director associate director of residence life and Leslie Byrd, residence life coordinator, have started the LGBTQ coalition. This group is a collection of students, faculty, staff and community members who are working together to identify and develop resources to better support LGBTQ students living on the Kenai Peninsula.

Out of 1,626 students enrolled in courses through KRC, 316 self-identified as Alaska Native; about 19% of the students.

KPC’s Veteran Services Coordinator, Royce Bird, has processed certification for 174 veteran students across the University of Alaska System. Bird has calculated tuition and fees for $261,986.50 for the spring semester.

Emily Knight, Recruiter, Veteran Services coordinator, Royce Bird, and RBES coordinator Jackie Marshall were at the Alaska Tsunami Ocean Sciences Bowl in Seward to provide general information about KPC and promote KBC’s Semester by the Bay.

The month of November was recognized by the state of Alaska to highlight Alaskan Native/Native American Heritage Month (ANNAHM). We had lots of events for students, staff and faculty to participate in at KPC.

Native Food Day
Native Dance Gathering
Winona LaDuke Presentation
Elders Native Language Gathering
Rock you Mocs!

The Kenai River Campus Student Union hosted a ‘Welcome Week’ table. Snacks, beverages and assistance for students who need to find their class or had questions was provided for the first two days of the Fall Semester.

Zobeida Rudkin, Kachemak Bay Campus Student Association (KBCSA), Dennis Sweitzer, president of the Kenai River Campus Student Union (KRCSU), and Eric McKamy, KRCSU vice president went to Juneau as part of the UA Coalition of Student Leaders to rally/lobby for the University. They spoke to many legislators and were part of a UA student rally on the capitol steps.

KBCSA provided free food and coffee during finals week as a way to encourage students to spend some time on campus to study and to make it so they do not have to leave for lunch or coffee in the middle of the day and disrupt their study time.

KRCSU collaborated with the Res Hall staff to hold an event to raise awareness and advocate for education. The event was titled Wear Red4Ed. People were asked to write what they love about KPC. Those who participated or wore red were given a donut.

KBCSA held a student vote to increase their student activity fee from $3.50 to $4.50/credit that passed and goes into effect in Fall 2019.

The annual end-of-year BBQ held by KRCSU for students, faculty and staff and was held at the Residence Hall pavilion.

The KRC textbook rental program continues to grow. In Fall 2018 KRC rented 187 textbooks consisting of 40 different titles. KRC earned just under $1,000 in textbook late return fees for the rental program. In Fall 2018 KBC rented 26 books consisting of nine titles. Homer students returned all rental textbooks on time.

The KRCSU provided free freshly popped popcorn every Thursday for students, faculty and staff.

KBCSA provided free soup to students on numerous occasions during the year, hosted a successful Holiday Bazaar, and held a food drive to for the Anchor Point and Homer food banks.

KRCSU held a free food event where they provided free bowls of chicken noodle soup and chili with rolls and cookies. They gave out more than 150 bowls of food to students, staff, and faculty. That same day they held a food drive and collected 84 lbs of food they donated to the Kenai Peninsula Food Bank.

Giving & Donations

FY19 Grants:
Alaska Department of Labor, Adult Basic Education - $167,197.
Kenai Peninsula Borough - $817,775
Alaska State Council on the Arts (ASCA) - $4,050 with 100% match - KBC Writers Conference
National Science Foundation- ATE- continuing grant 10/15/18 - $10,063
Christina Stuive – KPC Service Learning minigrant- Winona LaDuke - $2,500
Toby Long- UAA CCEL minigrant for On-Site Testing for Arsenic on the Kenai Peninsula - $2,000

FY19 Technical Vocational and Education Program (TVEP) state grants:
BabySim Simulator Manikin - $34,000
MomSim Simulator Manikin - $68,500
KRC Workforce Development - $85,900
KBC Workforce Development - $79,100
KBC Maritime Vessel Trainer- Workforce Development - $2,000
KBC CNA GERi Manikin - $1,900

Annual Report

KPC Annual Report

Director's Welcome

Annual Report, July 1, 2018-June 30, 2019