CSX is locomotivated to learn Remember “I’ve been working on the railroad...” ? Thanks to a special business partnership program with FCC], some Jacksonville area CSX Transportation employees are singing a new tune, which could be entitled, “I’ve been working on a college degree.” When the Fall Term opened in August, five FCC] college credit classes for CSX employees began onvsite at CSX’s downtown location. Eighty~six CSX employees, some who had never before taken a college level class, enrolled in Principles of Accounting I, Principles of Management, Introductory Computer Concepts, Principles of Marketing and Introduction to Business. “CSX wanted to directly impact the educational level of our employees,” said Ed Waters, CSX manager of accounts payable and materials inventory, who leads the company’s educational effort at the direction of Ed Latchford, vice president, finance. “Research showed that our employees who wanted to advance their careers would need additional education to be considered for promotion.” “Other employees—-those who are affected by CSX’s downsizing—need a solid educational base to take into the community." Waters said the response exceeded expectations. “We originally believed we’d start with two classes, based on a similar experience our company has had in Baltimore,” he noted. “But a survey distributed during the summer indicated we had far more interest out there, and we were able to provide five classes this first term.” “Still, I must have had another 25 phone calls after class started, from employees wanting to participate.” FCC] adjunct instructors teach the evening courses right at the employees’ workplace, under an arrangement which emphasizes convenience. The economic development area of Open Campus worked with CSX executives to design a program which met the company’s needs while providing quality education. Sheilah Lynn, project coordinator for the FCC] Center for Economic Development, synchronized the College’s role in setting up this special CSX program. “We are here to respond to industry’s needs,” said Lynn. “CSX knew what they wanted—college credit classes that would allow an employee to work toward a degree. It was our job to make it wor ." Lynn pulled together the areas of the College that needed involvement, including registration, recruitment, finance, etc., and made sure that they understood CSX’s goals. Registration was held at CSX’s downtown location, and CSX paid the employees’ tuition up front, an arrangement predicated on the student’s attaining a ‘C’ or better. Books were brought to CSX and sold to the students there. Each class meets one night per week for three or four hours, beginning at five o’clock. “It’s a excellent arrangement that encourages participation,” said Waters. “It’s convenient for the employee, and it‘s convenient for the company — company time isn’t lost while students take time off to buy books or pay fees, and students don’t have to make the extra effort to go to a campus.” For next term, CSX has plans to expand its program, based on the results of another survey due to be distributed this month. Additional classes will be offered, and CSX employees’ dependents will be eligible to attend the classes as well. Special arrange— ments to cover the workloads of ’round the clock shift employees in the switching and Disability doesn't diminish capability To the more than 60 students with disabil’ ities on Kent Campus, Mary Dash is their savior. Hearing'impaired students consult her for note—taking and interpreting seer ices. Visually‘impaired students come to her for talking calculators or braille equip— ment. Mobility~impaired students are referred to her for automatic door openers and special parking spaces. As the campus’ disabled student services specialist, she assists them with their acad— emic schedules and the registration process, and serves as their liaison between faculty or administration. But one of Dash’s biggest responsibilities is counseling students who are having difficulties coping, feelings she can easily relate to since she is blind. Born in Miami, Dash was a happy and healthy child until, at the age of five, she was diagnosed as diabetic. ———————- DWI Services Specialist Mary Dash sets an example for students on Kent Campus. By the age of 20, Dash’s strict regimen of diet, exercise and medication had become almost second nature. But her diligence was not enough for the powerful disease, and she became blind, a victim of diabetic retino— pathy. “Being diabetic, I knew there was a chance of going blind, but I didn’t think it would happen to me,” she said. “Right after it happened, I cried a lot. And I had no confidence in myself. I was even afraid to leave the house. I’d tell myself, ‘You can’t go outside; you can’t see!”’ Fortunately, Dash’s apathy was short—lived, and she enrolled in a rehabilitation school for the blind. She learned how to read and write braille, use a cane and other necessary skills, finally accepting her handicap and adapting to her new lifestyle. “I figured there wasn’t anything I could do about it, so if I was going to be blind, I was determined to be good at it,” she said. Soon after, she was hired as a receptionist at the Division of Blind Services. While she was successful, she knew that she would have to hone her skills to compete with her sighted counterparts. Dash made a difficult decision and moved to Daytona Beach for more advanced rehabilitation. There, she acquired new skills and something far more important— independence. “I realized that nobody else could do things for me. My roommate, who was also blind, couldn’t tell me if my socks were the same color, so I had to come up with a way to mark them and know for myself...l had no choice but to become self— A Publication of Florida Community College at ]acksonville R. L. Kirk, president and chief executive officer, CSX Transportation, joins FCC] President Charles Spence in launching the first offering of FCC] classes to CSX employees onrsite. Photo by Steve Henderson, CSX News dispatch areas should also boost the already flourishing interest in the classes. A special plus to the program is that the CSX ' Railroad Service Club store, which sells CSX and railroad memorabilia and insignia items, may soon serve as a mini—bookstore for CSX employee/students. Another goal for Lynn and Waters is to offer classes that require pre—course testing, with that testing performed at CSX. Plans are underway to achieve that in upcoming months. The best measure of the success of the CSX/FCC] partnership might be found in an inadvertent error made when the classes were first being advertised. An electronic mail‘message, meant for CSX employees in ]acksonville, mistakenly went to thousands of CSX employees across the nation. Waters received phone calls expressing interest in the FCC] classes from as far away as Michigan! sufficient,” she said. Dash subsequently moved to ]acksonville where she found employment with First Call, a crisis hotline. From her first phone call, she realized that she had a real knack INSIDE for helping people, and became interested in the field of psychology. Within six months, she quit her job and registered at Kent Campus to earn her AA degree in psychology. “ Women fire— fighters...................2 “In high school, I was a below average National student; I didn’t like school. When I told disabilities my family and friends I enrolled in college, awareness they thought it was laughable. They knew what a deadbeat I was in high school," she said. Yet despite the advice of doomsayers, she went ahca with her plan. Like most new students, Dash spent most of her first day wandering around, asking for directions. Noticing her difficulty, a campus month.....................2 1990 volleyball team........................4 employee sent her to the Disabled Student Services Office for special assistance. After a meeting with the office’s specialist, Wendy Gardner, Dash was given a complete campus orientation. Gardner also told Dash about the wide range of services available to her at FCC]. “Since I couldn’t read the papers my teachers passed out, I needed to have a reader, which Disabled Student Services provided me. Wendy also acted as a mediator with my teachers, arranging my tests,” she said. “But most importantly, she gave me the selfaconfidence to succeed. ‘You can do it,’ she’d always say...With her standing behind me, it made everything a whole lot easier.” Gardner’s support and assistance made a big impression on Dash. No longer content Continued on page 2 , OCR Text: CSX is locomotivated to learn Remember “I’ve been working on the railroad...” ? Thanks to a special business partnership program with FCC], some Jacksonville area CSX Transportation employees are singing a new tune, which could be entitled, “I’ve been working on a college degree.” When the Fall Term opened in August, five FCC] college credit classes for CSX employees began onvsite at CSX’s downtown location. Eighty~six CSX employees, some who had never before taken a college level class, enrolled in Principles of Accounting I, Principles of Management, Introductory Computer Concepts, Principles of Marketing and Introduction to Business. “CSX wanted to directly impact the educational level of our employees,” said Ed Waters, CSX manager of accounts payable and materials inventory, who leads the company’s educational effort at the direction of Ed Latchford, vice president, finance. “Research showed that our employees who wanted to advance their careers would need additional education to be considered for promotion.” “Other employees—-those who are affected by CSX’s downsizing—need a solid educational base to take into the community." Waters said the response exceeded expectations. “We originally believed we’d start with two classes, based on a similar experience our company has had in Baltimore,” he noted. “But a survey distributed during the summer indicated we had far more interest out there, and we were able to provide five classes this first term.” “Still, I must have had another 25 phone calls after class started, from employees wanting to participate.” FCC] adjunct instructors teach the evening courses right at the employees’ workplace, under an arrangement which emphasizes convenience. The economic development area of Open Campus worked with CSX executives to design a program which met the company’s needs while providing quality education. Sheilah Lynn, project coordinator for the FCC] Center for Economic Development, synchronized the College’s role in setting up this special CSX program. “We are here to respond to industry’s needs,” said Lynn. “CSX knew what they wanted—college credit classes that would allow an employee to work toward a degree. It was our job to make it wor ." Lynn pulled together the areas of the College that needed involvement, including registration, recruitment, finance, etc., and made sure that they understood CSX’s goals. Registration was held at CSX’s downtown location, and CSX paid the employees’ tuition up front, an arrangement predicated on the student’s attaining a ‘C’ or better. Books were brought to CSX and sold to the students there. Each class meets one night per week for three or four hours, beginning at five o’clock. “It’s a excellent arrangement that encourages participation,” said Waters. “It’s convenient for the employee, and it‘s convenient for the company — company time isn’t lost while students take time off to buy books or pay fees, and students don’t have to make the extra effort to go to a campus.” For next term, CSX has plans to expand its program, based on the results of another survey due to be distributed this month. Additional classes will be offered, and CSX employees’ dependents will be eligible to attend the classes as well. Special arrange— ments to cover the workloads of ’round the clock shift employees in the switching and Disability doesn't diminish capability To the more than 60 students with disabil’ ities on Kent Campus, Mary Dash is their savior. Hearing'impaired students consult her for note—taking and interpreting seer ices. Visually‘impaired students come to her for talking calculators or braille equip— ment. Mobility~impaired students are referred to her for automatic door openers and special parking spaces. As the campus’ disabled student services specialist, she assists them with their acad— emic schedules and the registration process, and serves as their liaison between faculty or administration. But one of Dash’s biggest responsibilities is counseling students who are having difficulties coping, feelings she can easily relate to since she is blind. Born in Miami, Dash was a happy and healthy child until, at the age of five, she was diagnosed as diabetic. ———————- DWI Services Specialist Mary Dash sets an example for students on Kent Campus. By the age of 20, Dash’s strict regimen of diet, exercise and medication had become almost second nature. But her diligence was not enough for the powerful disease, and she became blind, a victim of diabetic retino— pathy. “Being diabetic, I knew there was a chance of going blind, but I didn’t think it would happen to me,” she said. “Right after it happened, I cried a lot. And I had no confidence in myself. I was even afraid to leave the house. I’d tell myself, ‘You can’t go outside; you can’t see!”’ Fortunately, Dash’s apathy was short—lived, and she enrolled in a rehabilitation school for the blind. She learned how to read and write braille, use a cane and other necessary skills, finally accepting her handicap and adapting to her new lifestyle. “I figured there wasn’t anything I could do about it, so if I was going to be blind, I was determined to be good at it,” she said. Soon after, she was hired as a receptionist at the Division of Blind Services. While she was successful, she knew that she would have to hone her skills to compete with her sighted counterparts. Dash made a difficult decision and moved to Daytona Beach for more advanced rehabilitation. There, she acquired new skills and something far more important— independence. “I realized that nobody else could do things for me. My roommate, who was also blind, couldn’t tell me if my socks were the same color, so I had to come up with a way to mark them and know for myself...l had no choice but to become self— A Publication of Florida Community College at ]acksonville R. L. Kirk, president and chief executive officer, CSX Transportation, joins FCC] President Charles Spence in launching the first offering of FCC] classes to CSX employees onrsite. Photo by Steve Henderson, CSX News dispatch areas should also boost the already flourishing interest in the classes. A special plus to the program is that the CSX ' Railroad Service Club store, which sells CSX and railroad memorabilia and insignia items, may soon serve as a mini—bookstore for CSX employee/students. Another goal for Lynn and Waters is to offer classes that require pre—course testing, with that testing performed at CSX. Plans are underway to achieve that in upcoming months. The best measure of the success of the CSX/FCC] partnership might be found in an inadvertent error made when the classes were first being advertised. An electronic mail‘message, meant for CSX employees in ]acksonville, mistakenly went to thousands of CSX employees across the nation. Waters received phone calls expressing interest in the FCC] classes from as far away as Michigan! sufficient,” she said. Dash subsequently moved to ]acksonville where she found employment with First Call, a crisis hotline. From her first phone call, she realized that she had a real knack INSIDE for helping people, and became interested in the field of psychology. Within six months, she quit her job and registered at Kent Campus to earn her AA degree in psychology. “ Women fire— fighters...................2 “In high school, I was a below average National student; I didn’t like school. When I told disabilities my family and friends I enrolled in college, awareness they thought it was laughable. They knew what a deadbeat I was in high school," she said. Yet despite the advice of doomsayers, she went ahca with her plan. Like most new students, Dash spent most of her first day wandering around, asking for directions. Noticing her difficulty, a campus month.....................2 1990 volleyball team........................4 employee sent her to the Disabled Student Services Office for special assistance. After a meeting with the office’s specialist, Wendy Gardner, Dash was given a complete campus orientation. Gardner also told Dash about the wide range of services available to her at FCC]. “Since I couldn’t read the papers my teachers passed out, I needed to have a reader, which Disabled Student Services provided me. Wendy also acted as a mediator with my teachers, arranging my tests,” she said. “But most importantly, she gave me the selfaconfidence to succeed. ‘You can do it,’ she’d always say...With her standing behind me, it made everything a whole lot easier.” Gardner’s support and assistance made a big impression on Dash. No longer content Continued on page 2 , Z ArchiveInABox,JAX,Outlook Newsletter,Outlook Newsletter 06-07,October 1990,P01 (2).tif, P01 (2).tif