A Publication of Florida Community College at Jacksonville Oh, there's no place like work for the holidays 'Twas the night before Christmas, And all through the school, Some employees were working, Others readied for yule. year with the big freeze we were called in for emergency repairs.” So while the rest of us were at home in front of the fireplace, Robertson and company were draining and wrapping frozen pipes. Not the most enjoyable way to spend the holidays, he conceded, but a “necessary evil” to have the College fully operational by January. “It would be nice to have the time off,” he said, “but [being on call] is part of my job.” Last year‘s hard freeze also added a twist to Rick Cannizzaro’s holiday plans. Instead of his annual trip to St. Augustine with the family, Cannizzaro, senior plant supervisor While employees, like me, were home wrapping gifts, Security was here, warding o f thefts (poetic license). As we drank our egg nog wit out any cares, The plant service teams were making repairs. A week and a half with all our days free, We spent our time singing and trimming the tree. But plant service workers weren’t having much fun, For security, too, there were things to be done... Keeping the College safe and secure is something we probably won’t give much thought to when we turn off our computers and switch off the lights on Dec. 21. But FCC] has its very own Christmas crew who keeps the campuses running smoothly over the holidays. For those of you who have wondered why there are very few crimes committed on school grounds during the Christmas break, it certainly isn’t because criminals take vacation. (Actually, burglaries and robberies increase over the holidays.) Crimes at FCC] are prevented, instead, by the continuous presence of FCC]’s security officers. “Nobody wants to work on Christmas, but security has a function to protect the school, and that protection doesn’t stop on holidays,” said ]im ]ett, chief of safety and security. “The fact is not much goes on during the holidays; it’s pretty boring. But I’m sure it would be. real exciting if we weren’t here on the campuses.” Lt. Feliche Mucciolo, crime prevention officer, knows all too well the feeling of working on Christmas. Last year, she spent her Christmas Day patrolling the grounds of the Martin Center for College Services. “Of course, it’s not something we enjoy,” she said, “but since we have to provide 24 hour coverage, working holidays is part of the job.” Her family, tOO, is understanding of her schedule and accommodates her by planning the festivities around her work. “My son and daughter are used to my schedule, so we usually have Christmas early or late,” she said. Though her family’s support makes working on holidays more bearable, she Sgt. Lewis Griffith must have had several years of Christmas saved up in his heart when he was called in to work last year. Griffith, the officer in charge at the Geis Marine Center, thought he was finally going to get to spend some quiet time at home, until he received a surprise phone call at 3:00 a.m. on Dec. 24, “Most of the bridges were closed because of the ice, so the guy who was supposed to be there couldn’t get in to work,” he said. It turned out that his replacement couldn’t make it in either. Thinking he would spend the additional time just “watching the river go by,” he got another surprise when he found the Center’s pipes had frozen solid and had to be thawed. Fortunately, half—way through his 36 hour shift, another officer showed up, so Griffith could nap in one of the classrooms. “Sure, it’s tiring, but that’s our job,” he said. “Security is a 24 hour a day, sevenrday a week job, and I knew that when I came into it.” Even though plant service workers are not scheduled to work over the holidays, they are on call 24 hours a day in case of an emergency, which, according to Don Robertson, director of administration and plant service, is an annual event. “Not a year goes by without plant service being called in,” he said. “It’s usually something like the alarm system going off. But last at South Campus, spent the majority of his Christmas Day at work. “We had a broken water line, which meant thousands of gallons of water were being pumped out. I was at work before 8 a.m. on Christmas morning and worked most of the day,” he said. Having two young children, he finds working over the holidays difficult, but as he said, “I’ve been here for five years, so they are used to it by now. Besides, once they get to open their presents, daddy is released from duty.” But the thought of eating reheated turkey dinner doesn’t trouble Cannizzaro too much. “We’re here as a service organization, and we want to serve to our best ability,” he said. Larry Baker, manager of plant operations, also knows the importance of dedication to the job. As a 14 year veteran of FCCJ’s plant service department, Baker has seen it all. “I’ve been called on weekend nights to pick up students in a broken down van. They’ve called me at 2, 3, 4 in the morning to go to one of the campuses,” he said. Last year, he was called in twice during the Christmas break to repair frozen pipes. “It didn‘t bother me. My duty is to' keep each of the plants in commission, and that’s what I did,” he said. As for this year, Baker is optimistic about a peaceful holiday. “I hope I don’t get called in this Christmas, but it won’t matter if I do,” he said. “If there’s a job to do, we’ll do it.” When you sit down to dinner on this Christmas Day, You’re sure to be grateiul and have lots to say. Of course, ou’ll than grandma for the scarf that she knit, And mom or the dinner—it sure was a hit. But this year, remember our own little elves, The ones who must work, not like ourselves, To them we say “thank you” for the strong dedication, admits that it does get lonely being on campus by herself. ”But somebody has to do it,” she said. “Besides, you can celebrate Christmas anywhere because Christmas is in your heart.” Happy Holidays to all and enjoy your vacation! College plans for future While occupied with a busy daily workload, most of us do not have the luxury of considering what our area—let alone the College—should be doing five or 10 years down the road. But a group of our peers has given considerable thought to the year 2000, thanks to a multistage planning process whose initial phase has just been completed. And now, each college employee will be given the opportunity to assist in creating the full FCC] Vision. College employees got together to plan our future. Where have we been.7 And where are we going? These were the questions first asked by more than 40 faculty, students and staff members during three meetings conducted at the beginning of Fall Term 1990. The .FCCJ Mission Statement We are dedicated to meaningful learning and excellent teaching, enabling individuals to achieve their hopes, dreams and full potential, and to being a leading partner in creating a dynamic, prosperous community of enlightened leaders and thoughtful, effective, global citizens. process used was developed by The Lilly Endowment Leadership Education program and was conducted by outside facilitators. At the first session, the group considered—individually and collectively “FCCJ’s history, reviewing how the past has influenced us. The second session focused on the College’s mission and the relationships between what we do and who we serve. At the final session, participants worked together to create a vision of what FCC] could be. (The graphic representation of the Vision is displayed on the wall outside the president’s office.) “The really attractive part of this process is that it is values—driven,” said Pamela Grey, director of institutional planning. “We brought diverse populations of the College together, and we came up with a simplified mission statement, representing our collective values. The facilitators helped everyone to move from what I call ‘shoelace management,’ where people just look down at what’s right in front of them to looking at the organization as a whole.” The FCC] mission statement forged by the group’s work was this: “We are dedicated to meaningful learning and IN SIDE Bo Cotton student center..........4 Weekend college..........4 Cross country team...........6 excellent teaching, enabling individuals to achieve their hopes, dreams and full potential, and to being a leading partner in creating a dynamic, prosperous community of enlightened leaders and thoughtful, effective, global citizens.” President Charles C. Spence called the (continued on Page 2) , OCR Text: A Publication of Florida Community College at Jacksonville Oh, there's no place like work for the holidays 'Twas the night before Christmas, And all through the school, Some employees were working, Others readied for yule. year with the big freeze we were called in for emergency repairs.” So while the rest of us were at home in front of the fireplace, Robertson and company were draining and wrapping frozen pipes. Not the most enjoyable way to spend the holidays, he conceded, but a “necessary evil” to have the College fully operational by January. “It would be nice to have the time off,” he said, “but [being on call] is part of my job.” Last year‘s hard freeze also added a twist to Rick Cannizzaro’s holiday plans. Instead of his annual trip to St. Augustine with the family, Cannizzaro, senior plant supervisor While employees, like me, were home wrapping gifts, Security was here, warding o f thefts (poetic license). As we drank our egg nog wit out any cares, The plant service teams were making repairs. A week and a half with all our days free, We spent our time singing and trimming the tree. But plant service workers weren’t having much fun, For security, too, there were things to be done... Keeping the College safe and secure is something we probably won’t give much thought to when we turn off our computers and switch off the lights on Dec. 21. But FCC] has its very own Christmas crew who keeps the campuses running smoothly over the holidays. For those of you who have wondered why there are very few crimes committed on school grounds during the Christmas break, it certainly isn’t because criminals take vacation. (Actually, burglaries and robberies increase over the holidays.) Crimes at FCC] are prevented, instead, by the continuous presence of FCC]’s security officers. “Nobody wants to work on Christmas, but security has a function to protect the school, and that protection doesn’t stop on holidays,” said ]im ]ett, chief of safety and security. “The fact is not much goes on during the holidays; it’s pretty boring. But I’m sure it would be. real exciting if we weren’t here on the campuses.” Lt. Feliche Mucciolo, crime prevention officer, knows all too well the feeling of working on Christmas. Last year, she spent her Christmas Day patrolling the grounds of the Martin Center for College Services. “Of course, it’s not something we enjoy,” she said, “but since we have to provide 24 hour coverage, working holidays is part of the job.” Her family, tOO, is understanding of her schedule and accommodates her by planning the festivities around her work. “My son and daughter are used to my schedule, so we usually have Christmas early or late,” she said. Though her family’s support makes working on holidays more bearable, she Sgt. Lewis Griffith must have had several years of Christmas saved up in his heart when he was called in to work last year. Griffith, the officer in charge at the Geis Marine Center, thought he was finally going to get to spend some quiet time at home, until he received a surprise phone call at 3:00 a.m. on Dec. 24, “Most of the bridges were closed because of the ice, so the guy who was supposed to be there couldn’t get in to work,” he said. It turned out that his replacement couldn’t make it in either. Thinking he would spend the additional time just “watching the river go by,” he got another surprise when he found the Center’s pipes had frozen solid and had to be thawed. Fortunately, half—way through his 36 hour shift, another officer showed up, so Griffith could nap in one of the classrooms. “Sure, it’s tiring, but that’s our job,” he said. “Security is a 24 hour a day, sevenrday a week job, and I knew that when I came into it.” Even though plant service workers are not scheduled to work over the holidays, they are on call 24 hours a day in case of an emergency, which, according to Don Robertson, director of administration and plant service, is an annual event. “Not a year goes by without plant service being called in,” he said. “It’s usually something like the alarm system going off. But last at South Campus, spent the majority of his Christmas Day at work. “We had a broken water line, which meant thousands of gallons of water were being pumped out. I was at work before 8 a.m. on Christmas morning and worked most of the day,” he said. Having two young children, he finds working over the holidays difficult, but as he said, “I’ve been here for five years, so they are used to it by now. Besides, once they get to open their presents, daddy is released from duty.” But the thought of eating reheated turkey dinner doesn’t trouble Cannizzaro too much. “We’re here as a service organization, and we want to serve to our best ability,” he said. Larry Baker, manager of plant operations, also knows the importance of dedication to the job. As a 14 year veteran of FCCJ’s plant service department, Baker has seen it all. “I’ve been called on weekend nights to pick up students in a broken down van. They’ve called me at 2, 3, 4 in the morning to go to one of the campuses,” he said. Last year, he was called in twice during the Christmas break to repair frozen pipes. “It didn‘t bother me. My duty is to' keep each of the plants in commission, and that’s what I did,” he said. As for this year, Baker is optimistic about a peaceful holiday. “I hope I don’t get called in this Christmas, but it won’t matter if I do,” he said. “If there’s a job to do, we’ll do it.” When you sit down to dinner on this Christmas Day, You’re sure to be grateiul and have lots to say. Of course, ou’ll than grandma for the scarf that she knit, And mom or the dinner—it sure was a hit. But this year, remember our own little elves, The ones who must work, not like ourselves, To them we say “thank you” for the strong dedication, admits that it does get lonely being on campus by herself. ”But somebody has to do it,” she said. “Besides, you can celebrate Christmas anywhere because Christmas is in your heart.” Happy Holidays to all and enjoy your vacation! College plans for future While occupied with a busy daily workload, most of us do not have the luxury of considering what our area—let alone the College—should be doing five or 10 years down the road. But a group of our peers has given considerable thought to the year 2000, thanks to a multistage planning process whose initial phase has just been completed. And now, each college employee will be given the opportunity to assist in creating the full FCC] Vision. College employees got together to plan our future. Where have we been.7 And where are we going? These were the questions first asked by more than 40 faculty, students and staff members during three meetings conducted at the beginning of Fall Term 1990. The .FCCJ Mission Statement We are dedicated to meaningful learning and excellent teaching, enabling individuals to achieve their hopes, dreams and full potential, and to being a leading partner in creating a dynamic, prosperous community of enlightened leaders and thoughtful, effective, global citizens. process used was developed by The Lilly Endowment Leadership Education program and was conducted by outside facilitators. At the first session, the group considered—individually and collectively “FCCJ’s history, reviewing how the past has influenced us. The second session focused on the College’s mission and the relationships between what we do and who we serve. At the final session, participants worked together to create a vision of what FCC] could be. (The graphic representation of the Vision is displayed on the wall outside the president’s office.) “The really attractive part of this process is that it is values—driven,” said Pamela Grey, director of institutional planning. “We brought diverse populations of the College together, and we came up with a simplified mission statement, representing our collective values. The facilitators helped everyone to move from what I call ‘shoelace management,’ where people just look down at what’s right in front of them to looking at the organization as a whole.” The FCC] mission statement forged by the group’s work was this: “We are dedicated to meaningful learning and IN SIDE Bo Cotton student center..........4 Weekend college..........4 Cross country team...........6 excellent teaching, enabling individuals to achieve their hopes, dreams and full potential, and to being a leading partner in creating a dynamic, prosperous community of enlightened leaders and thoughtful, effective, global citizens.” President Charles C. Spence called the (continued on Page 2) , Z ArchiveInABox,JAX,Outlook Newsletter Resorted,1990,November/December 1990,November/December 1990 1, November/December 1990 1