JCCC’s Map Quest

Something came across the JCCC electronic mail server, Infolist today:

Google team visits JCCC
A team from Google is at the JCCC main campus and at OHEC this week, gathering site information in preparation for Google indoor mapping. Once this process is complete, JCCC students will be able to enter in a specific room location into a map application and find their way directly to the specified location.

The team consists of approximately six individuals conducting the building walkthroughs. The team navigates each building, looking for natural traffic patterns the students or patrons would travel. Then, through the use of mobile devices, the information is captured.

Meanwhile, JCCC floor plans are being uploaded to a designated Google portal where the coordinate data can be associated with the floor plans.

Thank you for your assistance with this process. Please contact Sandra Warner (ext. 2552) with any questions.

While it’s awesome that students and their families will be able to take self-guided tours of JCCC and that maybe the college’s trustees will finally be able to find their way around campus (BAZINGA!), it makes me wonder about the safety of the college’s students and employees.

I don’t mean to be indelicate but … has anyone at JCCC even considered that an unstable person could use this mapping technology to plan and carry out a killing spree?

With the push for campus security and mandatory active-shooter training for all employees, it confuses me why JCCC would partner with Google to reveal the college’s back stairwells, hidden areas, and other vulnerable areas of campus.

You might want to note the location of JCCC’s emergency phones and AEDs

Remember That One Time JCCC Respected Hourly Employees Enough to Put One on the New President Screening Committee?

This email was sent 8:39 AM, Monday, August 28, 2006:

TO: Full-Time Regular and Part-Time Regular Office & Technical, Maintenance & Service and Hourly Technical Staff

FROM: Office of the President

SUBJECT: JCCC New President Screening Committee

As you are aware, the college is beginning the search process for its new JCCC President.  As part of this plan, a Screening Committee is being formed to provide input into this search process.  A position is available on this Screening Committee for an hourly-paid JCCC staff member.

We are currently seeking the names of hourly staff interested in serving on this New President Screening Committee.  If you have an interest in participating in this role or wish to nominate a peer, I request that you submit your name or nomination through our on-line nomination process.  This information must be received by Tuesday, August 29, 2006 at 9:00pm in order to receive further consideration.

To access the on-line nomination process:

1) Access the college home page (http://www.jccc.edu)

2) Login to MyJCCC

3) Click on the JCCC Applications tab

4) Click on Human Resources

5) Click on the Screening Committee link

On Thursday, August 31, 2006, an alphabetical list of eligible names submitted will be sent to you and your hourly peers for a vote to select the person to be appointed to this committee.  Any names or nominations received for active Office Personnel League (OPL) members will not be included in this list because the OPL membership has a seat on the Screening Committee and will have a separate selection process.  If this process results in a tie vote, there will be a run-off vote held to select the member for this committee.

The New President Screening Committee will be co-chaired by two Board of Trustees members, Elaine Perilla and Ben Hodge.  Working with Dr. Jeff Hockaday, the college’s search consultant, the responsibilities of this Screening Committee will include attending three scheduled lunch meetings and one evening public forum of approximately 90 minutes each 1) to develop a job profile to be used for screening the applicants for President; 2) to review and screen the credentials and video presentations of candidates brought forward for this position; and 3) to determine a slate of up to 8 candidates to be sent to the full Board of Trustees for their further consideration.

As you can see, the person selected for this committee will play a very important role in screening candidates for the position of new JCCC President.  I hope that you will give this invitation your serious consideration and submit your name as indicated above if you wish to be considered for this assignment.  The selected hourly staff member will be announced after the conclusion of the voting process.

If you have any questions about this process, contact Dorothy Friedrich at college ext. 3268.  Thank you for your consideration.

Former JCCC Chef Passes

Former JCCC Executive Chef Tim Johnson

I heard of Chef Tim’s death from a friend on Facebook. I was taken aback since JCCC recently lost another favorite, Fred Krebs.

I immediately checked Chef Tim’s Twitter account. He’d Tweet the lunch menu featured in the college’s eateries: Down Under and Cafe Tempo. But there were no clues, nothing to verify his passing. Then this morning a post appeared on the JCCC electronic mail server, Infolist:

Sad news: Tim Johnson, former JCCC executive chef, dies

     Tim Johnson, former JCCC executive chef, died Monday, Jan. 15.

     Visitation is from 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 20, at McGilley State Line Chapel, 12301 State Line Road, Kansas City, Mo. A rosary will be said at 7 p.m., following the visitation, with time for sharing starting at 7:30 p.m.

     A memorial Mass is at 11 a.m. Monday, Jan. 21, at St. Peter’s Catholic Church, 815 East Meyer Boulevard, Kansas City, Mo.

     An online guest book and obituary can be found here.

When Chef Tim first came to JCCC, he dove into our sustainability effort by working to help create the Sustainability Expo and Dinner.

That first year, Chef Tim worked with the video production department to create a video to be shown at the Expo/Dinner. Chef send an email to the campus asking for people who had “farm stories.” I sent him an email saying I was a former migrant farmworker and though it may not be a cheery story fitting in with what they were trying do to, I’d be happy to share it. Within moments, Chef Tim replied saying he’d love to include it.

Unfortunately, I was going out of town and couldn’t make it on the day they filmed. Every so often, usually when the Expo/Dinner rolled around, we’d send emails trying to coordinate something where I could come and share my story but it never got beyond that stage. I appreciate that he never forgot about it and that he seemed to have the utmost respect for farmworkers.

I regret not making the time to meet him in person to shake his hand.

From the press release Johnson County Community College – Executive chef has a flair for food:

At JCCC, [Chef Tim] Johnson is involved in the college’s sustainability efforts. He holds a sustainability dinner and expo each year, at which people can meet local providers and vendors and enjoy a feast of local foods. He also starts a community-supported agriculture (CSA) market at JCCC, through which faculty and staff can enjoy fresh produce and locally made products throughout the summer.

Johnson’s resignation as JCCC’s Executive  Chef came in the December 12, 2012 board packet.

But if Johnson resigned in November, why was his JCCC Twitter account still active? And why was it posting messages two days after his death?

Fred Krebs, My Unexpected Friend

Fred Krebs, 1946 – 2012

I met Fred Krebs when I worked as a reporter for The Campus Ledger. Fred, dressed as Benjamin Franklin,  sat at a table in the Commons building handing out copies of the US Constitution.  He saw me coming down the steps from The Ledger offices and said, “You need to have one of these.”

I thought he was one of those annoying guys handing out Gideon bibles.

Looking closer, I saw it was a pocket-size US Constitution. I thanked him and took it. I continued to walk down the hall then I turned around and went back into The Ledger office.

“There’s a guy handing out little mini-Constitutions in the COM. Get a photog out there,” I told the photo editor. “Oh, and tell everyone to get one of those mini-Constitutions and bring them to the staff meeting.”

That was the beginning of our annual Constitution Day feature story and Fred was always our “go to” source.

As an employee of the library, I’d seen Fred a few times as he scheduled classes with the librarians. When I became a Diversity Fellow, I started to see more of him as he collaborated with our director, Carmaletta Williams on projects, most notably on The Souls of Black Folk.

Sure, I still thought he was kinda crazy for dressing up as all those historical figures but, everyone has their thing, right? And his wasn’t hurting anyone, in fact, people enjoyed it. He was helping them understand history.

When Fred’s mother, Virginia Krebs, stepped down from the Board of Trustees, I submitted an application to fill the vacancy. I guess word got around and Fred came into the library and said, “I hear you applied to fill my mother’s seat on the board.”

Oh geez, was I really gonna get a beat-down in the library from Benjamin Franklin?