Students now using new, upgraded student e-mail system

Just last week, the PTC Information Technology department moved all student e-mail service to a Microsoft-hosted provider that now allows students to do much more with their student e-mail accounts than ever before. New services include document sharing, calendaring, secure online storage, the ability to send and recieve large (20 MB) attachments, improved spam and virus filtering, folders to organize messages and more.

"Microsoft offers colleges this service at no additional cost, and the service includes hosted exchange e-mail, 25 gigabytes of file storage through Skydrive and an online version of Microsoft office," says Ken Ries, Director of Information Technology. "This hosted solution provides students with more storage and additional tools that were not available with our previous e-mail system. We aren't able to offer the same level of service locally, and certainly not for free," Ries adds.

The new PTC student e-mail address format is: user@go.pinetech.edu. Existing mail has been migrated to the hosted solution for all returning students, and mailing lists, address books and other services continue to function. To activate the new format, students should log in on campus and initiate their newly formatted "go" acounts. Try it -- log in!

Student Affairs staff committed to "top-notch" student service

Photo above: Student Affairs staff members gather for a group photo. Back row (L to R) -- Amanda Spencer, Erin White, Robert Baker, Dani Chandonnet. Middle row (L to R) -- Shawn Reynolds, Nancy Johnson, Gloria Baker, Jodie Klinkhammer. Front row (L to R) -- Kathy Arola, Nancy Mach, Dawn DeRocker.

In the first week of the Fall, 2010 semester and in the weeks leading up to it, the Student Affairs office has been busier than ever! The department administered 16 sessions of placement testing, hosted six more-than-full sessions of Orientation, and now the department is assigning lockers, parking passes and book vouchers. The last three items are being made available in the main hall at the college's front entrance.

"These are items students need to address right away, and we will have the information in the main hall during the first few days of the semester," says Nancy Mach, Dean of Student Affairs. "To provide these items and answers students need right up front is one way we are able to provide top-notch student service," Mach explains.

The Student Affairs staff affectionately calls the setup in the hall the "One-Stop Shop" or OSS. The OSS was set up Mon. Aug. 16, the week prior to the first week of classes, and in its first week served about 125 students.


Photo above: Student Affairs staff member Jodie Klinkhammer assists a student at the One-Stop Shop.


Photo above: Student Affairs staff member Dawn DeRocker assists a student at the One-Stop Shop.

PTC welcomes new staff and faculty members

With the start of another academic year (Fall 2010 officially kicks off Aug. 23!), and with a remarkable increase in enrollment, PTC has added many new sections of courses, instructors and support staff. Among the many new faces on campus are these newest Pines (in alphabetical order):

• Melissa Bruce, Child Care Resource and Referral Assistant
• Sandra Carlisle, Executive Assistant to the President
• Steve Cody, Microcomputer Support Specialist
• Roberta Cummings, College Lab Assistant
• Mary Beth Frandsen, English instructor
• Tony Gantenbein, Employment and Training Center Director
• Patricia Gerhardson, College Lab Assistant
• Darla Hoaglund McCann, Reading instructor
• Krista Hoekstra, Director of Nursing
• Tony Mueller, Computer Science Instructor
• Valerie Raiter, Employment and Training Center Media Coordinator
• Keven Wanless, College Lab Assistant
• Joy Zasadny, Biology Instructor

Photo above, clockwise from top left: Melissa Bruce, Tony Gantenbein, Roberta Cummings, Sandra Carlisle.

PTC Mercedes Excalibur gains mileage

In 2008, David Christensen of Pine City donated a pearl white Mercedes Excalibur, a "kit car," to the Pine Technical College Foundation. The car, actually a 1979 Chevrolet Camaro under its flashy exterior, is used in parades to promote the college. Most recently, it was seen in the July 17 Chisago County Fair parade and again in the Aug. 7 Pine County Fair parade.

"It was very generous of the Christensen family to give this kind of gift to the college," PTC President Robert Musgrove said. "It certainly draws a lot of attention to the college at public events, and that is precisely our intent!" Musgrove added.


Photo: The PTC car makes an appearance in the Pine County Fair parade.

Congressman Oberstar to visit PTC for Small Business Day

On Mon. Aug. 9, Pine Technical College will host Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District Small Business Day: Connecting Businesses with Opportunities. The event begins with registration at 8 a.m., and Congressman James Oberstar (D-Minn) will speak at 8:30 a.m.

Presented by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and Oberstar, the event’s purpose is to connect small businesses with federal, state and local government contracting opportunities while educating small business owners regarding resources available to help their businesses grow. Following Oberstar’s opening remarks, event attendees will have the opportunity to meet representatives from the federal government, various state agencies and small business resource centers. In addition to informational exhibits, DOT and the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) will present two bonus workshops, Access to Capital and How to Contract with the Government.

“PTC is happy to host this event with a focus on improving the health of local business and industry,” said PTC President Robert Musgrove. “As a technical college, we understand our role in providing skilled graduates to Pine Area businesses and industries. This event is all about supporting the local economy and industries, and therefore closely aligned with PTC’s mission,” Musgrove added.

PTC is working alongside the DOT in organizing the event. In addition to Oberstar, speakers will include representatives from the DOT’s federal and state offices and the Small Business Administration. Event attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions of the speakers and participate in a networking session with federal and state agencies.

Agencies invited to participate:

• U.S. Department of Transportation
• U.S. Small Business Administration
• U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
• Minnesota Department of Transportation (HDOT)
• Minnesota Procurement Technical Assistance Center
• Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs
• The Chamber of Commerce of Minnesota
• Minnesota Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
• The Associated General Contractors of Minnesota (AGC)
• The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED)
• The Women’s Business Development Center – Minnesota (WBDC-MN)
• Association of Women Contractors
• Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity
• Minnesota American Indian Chamber of Commerce
• St. Paul Department of Human Rights and Equal Economic Opportunity
• Spring Board Economic Development Corporation
• Turtle Island PTAC

For more information, call 320-629-5100.