Riverbat Week 2020
Austin Community College District (ACC) and Central Texas went purple November 16-20 to celebrate Riverbat Week 2020. Throughout the week, the cities of Austin, Kyle, Leander, and Round Rock issued proclamations declaring it Riverbats Day in their respective communities.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Riverbat brand and mascot, R.B., which were unveiled November 18, 2010, at the ACC Northridge Campus. Click here to learn more and view a slideshow including photos from the unveiling and recent appearances.
2020 State Employees Charitable Campaign
ACC faculty and staff donated a total of $42,127 to nonprofits through the 2020 State Employee Charitable Campaign (SECC). Of that total, employees contributed $5,534 to the ACC Foundation, which — when matched — will total over $11,000 for student scholarships.
The campuses that raised the most combined funds include:
In addition, campuses raised additional funds through virtual fundraising events and activities. San Gabriel, Cypress Creek, and Elgin were the top fundraisers for this year.
This year's "SECC Most Giving Campus" awards go to the following:
For more information about the SECC or to get involved in next year's campaign, contact Mauri Winters at 512-223-7577 or mmiculek@austincc.edu.
Drone Demo Day
ACC hosted its first-ever Drone Demo Day Wednesday, November 18, at the Public Safety Training Center at Hays Campus to promote its newest drone training certification program. The event, hosted in coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) National Drone Safety Awareness Week, promoted information about drone vehicles, safety, and education at ACC. Click here to learn more.
Distance Education Symposium
The annual Distance Education Symposium was held Thursday, November 12, and Friday, November 13. Faculty and staff presenters shared their expertise on a wide range of subjects, including accessibility services for remote students, motivation and mindset, online research practices, student engagement, creating online test security in Blackboard, using Blackboard Ally to make courses accessible, Online Educational Resources (OER), and tools such as Zoom and VidGrid. On Thursday afternoon, the keynote speaker, Dr. Joe Sanchez, presented his experiences with the concept of innovation-based learning, where the curriculum aligns with the real-world needs of students. Recordings for most of the symposium breakout sessions as well as the keynote address are available to watch on the DE Symposium website.
Grammar Summit
The Liberal Arts: Humanities and Communications Department (LAHC) held its first annual Grammar Summit titled, "Tools, Not Rules: Looking at Grammar through the Lens of Equity, Inclusion, and Access." The event included a myriad of topics ranging from the problems with teaching from a monolinguistic point-of-view to techniques on how to use grammar as a useful tool in the process of creativity rather than as a gatekeeping mechanism. LAHC plans to hold another Grammar Summit next year in which a different set of ideas will be explored and discussed. View this year's presentations on the Grammar Summit website.