Outloo— A Publication of Florida Community College at Jacksonville FCC]: Its history 1n the making Without a doubt, it will be the most celebrated happening at FCC] to date. The College’s 25th Anniversary is an event that has been awaited for...well, 25 years. It was in August 1966 that the first students began taking classes at Florida ]unior College. The phenomenal growth that has taken place since then is worthy of great fanfare, and plans are beginning to be made for the celebration, which will begin with the 1991 convocation. President Charles Spence had thought long and hard about an appropriate comme’ moration for this historic event. In early 1987 the answer came to him—in the inter; office mail. Bob Gentry, professor of communication and humanities at Kent Campus, submitted a proposal to research an oral history of the College. The idea for an oral history first came to Gentry back in 1986. During a bout of insomnia, he started reading a series of volumes called Foxfire, which told stories about the culture of the North Georgia people in their own words. Another inspiration was Studs Terkel’s oral histories of the Great Depression and World War II. “The rationale for the oral history came readily to mind,” he said. “Like many community colleges in the United States, FCC] has been so concerned with its growth that it has put little priority on recording its past. Since an oral history is history told by the people who created the history, it would provide a historical record but in a special way.” Gentry also found that the oral history concept fit well with the diversity of the College. “I thought an oral history would be an excellent way to portray a complex community college. It would be awfully hard to portray a dynamic and changing institution like FCC] with the standard, conventional textbook history,” he said. “Instead of going to the library and looking up dry records about Dr. Spence and what he’s done at the College, I ask Dr. Spence himself what he’s done.” To prepare, Gentry read all the oral histories he could get his hands on plus conventional histories of other colleges. He also talked to other authors and historians. Before presenting the idea to Spence, Gentry submitted a detailed proposal to his immediate administrators. “They liked the proposal and assured me of their full support." Once Spence approved the project, he appointed Bill Martin, associate vice president of instructional planning and development, as Gentry’s supervisor. Martin then formed an oral history com; mittee with Gentry as chairman. “The committee had several responsibilities from proofing the manuscript to verifying details,” he said. “They were a big help.” Gentry and Martin then began contacting subjects to interview. “We sent memos to all FCC] employees explaining the oral history concept and inviting them to contribute as narrators to the College history. We also invited many others to contribute, including students, alumni, former employees, officials and others outside FCC] who had been associated with the College,” Gentry said. Participants were given the option of writing their own stories in a “first—person, conversational style” or being interviewed on audio tape. Those who chose the latter met with Gentry in their offices or off; campus. “I got a lot of rich information [from the interviews], but because of space and cost [of the publication], I had to wield a sharp editorial knife,”'he admitted. “Editing is always difficult—you can never be sure whether you have done the subject justice. But I tried my best to be objective and keep the'essence of what was said.” When all (interviewing) was said and done in November of 1990, Gentry had gathered reflections of FCC] from 145 individuals. The result, entitled A College Tells Its Story: An Oral History of Florida Community College at Jacksonville, 1963’ I991 , was a just tribute to the College in his opinion. “I wanted material that I could transform into a readable book that would give a good representation of FCC],” he said. “It is a real misconception to say this is — WWI! Flt-f FLORIDA COMMUNITY COLLEGE -JACKSONVILLE (W r‘l’ 1 5T0 fl—¥( January 1991 just an inahouse book, though,” Gentry asserted. “Actually, it will serve a number of audiences—current and prospective students who want more than a catalog View of the College; faculty and other educators who want ideas and insights into FCCJ’s educational background; scholars who are interested in seeing how an educational institution mirrors the times; business and government officials who want to know how the institution affects the community. And, of course, it’s for everyone who has ever been connected with the College. “In fact, most of the anecdotes in the book will appeal to almost anyone. There are stories about jokes staff members pulled on each other, like the administrator who was nailed out of his office or the faculty member who rode his bike through an abandoned building when he wasn’t teaching,” Gentry said. “Of course, some stories are more colorful and controversial than others, but I can only print what people give me." The project also gave him an incredible experience. “It really was a massive job. On the average I was working 60 hours a week on it,” he said. “It was a lot of hard work, but I feel I have been blessed to have been a part of it.” Those were the days...Florida Junior College '5 Downtown Center. Gentry's effort became even more gratifying when he learned that it may be the first of its kind. “It appears that we are going to be the first institution of higher learning to do an oral history in book form,” he said. “We did find several college oral histories— tapes, transcripts in various stages of editing— but none in completed book form.” Samuel Proctor, director of the oral history program at the University of Florida, agreed with Gentry. “This work is an important history of one of Florida's major community colleges,” he said. “To my knowledge, it is the only oral history of an educational institution in book form.” With this knowledge, FCC] does come up with the most unique way of celebrating history—by creating it. The oral history will be available in the summer. INSIDE Theatre department . . . . . . 2 United Way brings us all together They may seem like three dissimilar topics, but overalls, jellybeans and cow manure are a lot more alike than you think. FCC] went all out with unique ways to earn United Way contributions in its 1990 Campaign. Stretching their imaginations as far as their dollars, College employees and students set out to have their most successful campaign yet. Administrators and campus coordinators kicked off the campaign in early October with a special presentation for professional employees. In support of this year’s theme— —“All Aboard for the United Way"—they donned overalls and conductor’s caps and danced their way around the board room. Attendees agreed, it was a truly loco! motivating experience. Campus coordinators kept the excite— ment on track at their respective campuses. Geraldine Smith got the wheels turning on Kent Campus with her human train. Wearing (cardboard) box cars, steering committee members showed their spirit by rolling all over campus. “We were trying to encourage them to participate through our enthusiasm,” she said. Their enthusiasm amounted to $9,443. For ]udy Robbins, Martin Center coordinator, the appeal for donations was a more personal one. “I talked to over 200 employees on an individual basis, reviewing with each person the College’s goals for the drive and encouraging their participation,” she said. Martin Center contributions totalled $17,904. At Downtown Campus, coordinator Ann Karnes used an educational angle to The Bovine Biscuit Bonanza at South Campus brought in over $500 for United Way. Profile: Rudy Murray . . . . 2 garner support. “This year we went with a United Way fair, so our people could see exactly what happened to their dollars,” she said. “One of the highlights, though, was having the children from our campus daycare center, that uses United Way dollars, sing to us.” Downtown Campus ' donated $7,558. ]eff Oliver, Open Campus coordinator, also found success with the “seeing is believing” approach, but he felt that he had an inherent advantage. “One reason I believe we did so well is my staff works directly with agencies supported by United Way. It’s easy for them to see exactly how important their contributions are,” he said. The United Way will also find their donations of $4,175 important. But for Paula Miller, North Campus coordinator, the answer was good old fashioned bribery. “We solicited door prizes from local businesses and then held drawings every other day. Having several drawings encouraged early participation because the earlier they made their contributions, the greater their chances of winning,” she said. Everyone turned out to be a winner with North Campus earning $9,484. Students at all four campuses worked long and hard to do their part for United Way. From hermit crab races to guess—thee number—of—jelly'beans contests, FCC] students collected a total of $1,561. But those with the most engineuity had (continued on page 4) Friends of the Iibrary......... 4 , OCR Text: Outloo— A Publication of Florida Community College at Jacksonville FCC]: Its history 1n the making Without a doubt, it will be the most celebrated happening at FCC] to date. The College’s 25th Anniversary is an event that has been awaited for...well, 25 years. It was in August 1966 that the first students began taking classes at Florida ]unior College. The phenomenal growth that has taken place since then is worthy of great fanfare, and plans are beginning to be made for the celebration, which will begin with the 1991 convocation. President Charles Spence had thought long and hard about an appropriate comme’ moration for this historic event. In early 1987 the answer came to him—in the inter; office mail. Bob Gentry, professor of communication and humanities at Kent Campus, submitted a proposal to research an oral history of the College. The idea for an oral history first came to Gentry back in 1986. During a bout of insomnia, he started reading a series of volumes called Foxfire, which told stories about the culture of the North Georgia people in their own words. Another inspiration was Studs Terkel’s oral histories of the Great Depression and World War II. “The rationale for the oral history came readily to mind,” he said. “Like many community colleges in the United States, FCC] has been so concerned with its growth that it has put little priority on recording its past. Since an oral history is history told by the people who created the history, it would provide a historical record but in a special way.” Gentry also found that the oral history concept fit well with the diversity of the College. “I thought an oral history would be an excellent way to portray a complex community college. It would be awfully hard to portray a dynamic and changing institution like FCC] with the standard, conventional textbook history,” he said. “Instead of going to the library and looking up dry records about Dr. Spence and what he’s done at the College, I ask Dr. Spence himself what he’s done.” To prepare, Gentry read all the oral histories he could get his hands on plus conventional histories of other colleges. He also talked to other authors and historians. Before presenting the idea to Spence, Gentry submitted a detailed proposal to his immediate administrators. “They liked the proposal and assured me of their full support." Once Spence approved the project, he appointed Bill Martin, associate vice president of instructional planning and development, as Gentry’s supervisor. Martin then formed an oral history com; mittee with Gentry as chairman. “The committee had several responsibilities from proofing the manuscript to verifying details,” he said. “They were a big help.” Gentry and Martin then began contacting subjects to interview. “We sent memos to all FCC] employees explaining the oral history concept and inviting them to contribute as narrators to the College history. We also invited many others to contribute, including students, alumni, former employees, officials and others outside FCC] who had been associated with the College,” Gentry said. Participants were given the option of writing their own stories in a “first—person, conversational style” or being interviewed on audio tape. Those who chose the latter met with Gentry in their offices or off; campus. “I got a lot of rich information [from the interviews], but because of space and cost [of the publication], I had to wield a sharp editorial knife,”'he admitted. “Editing is always difficult—you can never be sure whether you have done the subject justice. But I tried my best to be objective and keep the'essence of what was said.” When all (interviewing) was said and done in November of 1990, Gentry had gathered reflections of FCC] from 145 individuals. The result, entitled A College Tells Its Story: An Oral History of Florida Community College at Jacksonville, 1963’ I991 , was a just tribute to the College in his opinion. “I wanted material that I could transform into a readable book that would give a good representation of FCC],” he said. “It is a real misconception to say this is — WWI! Flt-f FLORIDA COMMUNITY COLLEGE -JACKSONVILLE (W r‘l’ 1 5T0 fl—¥( January 1991 just an inahouse book, though,” Gentry asserted. “Actually, it will serve a number of audiences—current and prospective students who want more than a catalog View of the College; faculty and other educators who want ideas and insights into FCCJ’s educational background; scholars who are interested in seeing how an educational institution mirrors the times; business and government officials who want to know how the institution affects the community. And, of course, it’s for everyone who has ever been connected with the College. “In fact, most of the anecdotes in the book will appeal to almost anyone. There are stories about jokes staff members pulled on each other, like the administrator who was nailed out of his office or the faculty member who rode his bike through an abandoned building when he wasn’t teaching,” Gentry said. “Of course, some stories are more colorful and controversial than others, but I can only print what people give me." The project also gave him an incredible experience. “It really was a massive job. On the average I was working 60 hours a week on it,” he said. “It was a lot of hard work, but I feel I have been blessed to have been a part of it.” Those were the days...Florida Junior College '5 Downtown Center. Gentry's effort became even more gratifying when he learned that it may be the first of its kind. “It appears that we are going to be the first institution of higher learning to do an oral history in book form,” he said. “We did find several college oral histories— tapes, transcripts in various stages of editing— but none in completed book form.” Samuel Proctor, director of the oral history program at the University of Florida, agreed with Gentry. “This work is an important history of one of Florida's major community colleges,” he said. “To my knowledge, it is the only oral history of an educational institution in book form.” With this knowledge, FCC] does come up with the most unique way of celebrating history—by creating it. The oral history will be available in the summer. INSIDE Theatre department . . . . . . 2 United Way brings us all together They may seem like three dissimilar topics, but overalls, jellybeans and cow manure are a lot more alike than you think. FCC] went all out with unique ways to earn United Way contributions in its 1990 Campaign. Stretching their imaginations as far as their dollars, College employees and students set out to have their most successful campaign yet. Administrators and campus coordinators kicked off the campaign in early October with a special presentation for professional employees. In support of this year’s theme— —“All Aboard for the United Way"—they donned overalls and conductor’s caps and danced their way around the board room. Attendees agreed, it was a truly loco! motivating experience. Campus coordinators kept the excite— ment on track at their respective campuses. Geraldine Smith got the wheels turning on Kent Campus with her human train. Wearing (cardboard) box cars, steering committee members showed their spirit by rolling all over campus. “We were trying to encourage them to participate through our enthusiasm,” she said. Their enthusiasm amounted to $9,443. For ]udy Robbins, Martin Center coordinator, the appeal for donations was a more personal one. “I talked to over 200 employees on an individual basis, reviewing with each person the College’s goals for the drive and encouraging their participation,” she said. Martin Center contributions totalled $17,904. At Downtown Campus, coordinator Ann Karnes used an educational angle to The Bovine Biscuit Bonanza at South Campus brought in over $500 for United Way. Profile: Rudy Murray . . . . 2 garner support. “This year we went with a United Way fair, so our people could see exactly what happened to their dollars,” she said. “One of the highlights, though, was having the children from our campus daycare center, that uses United Way dollars, sing to us.” Downtown Campus ' donated $7,558. ]eff Oliver, Open Campus coordinator, also found success with the “seeing is believing” approach, but he felt that he had an inherent advantage. “One reason I believe we did so well is my staff works directly with agencies supported by United Way. It’s easy for them to see exactly how important their contributions are,” he said. The United Way will also find their donations of $4,175 important. But for Paula Miller, North Campus coordinator, the answer was good old fashioned bribery. “We solicited door prizes from local businesses and then held drawings every other day. Having several drawings encouraged early participation because the earlier they made their contributions, the greater their chances of winning,” she said. Everyone turned out to be a winner with North Campus earning $9,484. Students at all four campuses worked long and hard to do their part for United Way. From hermit crab races to guess—thee number—of—jelly'beans contests, FCC] students collected a total of $1,561. But those with the most engineuity had (continued on page 4) Friends of the Iibrary......... 4 , Z ArchiveInABox,JAX,Outlook Newsletter,Outlook Newsletter 06-07,January 1991,P01 (2).tif, P01 (2).tif