10,000 Small Businesses–Greater Philadelphia recently marked its second commencement and the one-year anniversary of the groundbreaking program’s launch.

Judith Gay, Ph.D., the College’s interim president; Nicole Pullen Ross, Mid-Atlantic region head of Goldman Sachs; Alan Greenberger, deputy mayor for Economic Development and director of Commerce; and Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter were among the dignitaries who attended the Jan.11 ceremony, where 27 business owners received program completion certificates.

“We’re really proud of this class,” said Nutter, who also met with the business owners before the ceremony. “We’re particularly excited about this program. We have a lot of focus on start-up businesses and entrepreneurs but this program answers ‘What are we doing to support those who have already survived the initial start-up phase and are trying to expand their businesses?’”

Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses–Greater Philadelphia is a fully funded program that offers 14weeks of entrepreneurial instruction, one-on-one coaching and access to capital for eligible business owners from the region. The business owners in the second class represent a diverse mix of industries and professions, including urban planning, manufacturing, funeral rites, web development, education and retail. They come from cities and suburbs across the region and have two things in common—a proven track record and willingness to learn more.

Since its launch last year, 50 business owners from across the region have completed the program in Philadelphia. Applications for 10,000 Small Businesses are accepted on a rolling basis at Community College of Philadelphia, with Feb. 10, 2014, as the deadline to apply for the next cohort.

In his speech to fellow scholars, graduate Rich Goldberg, president of Safian & Rudolph Jewelers, noted how much the business owners had bonded during the course. “Each of us decided we were destined for something greater,” he said. “Not just because we believed it, but because we made others believe in us and our visions.”

In her closing remarks, Margaret Berger Bradley, the program’s executive director, told the entrepreneurs that their new skills and business acumen had prepared them for the next level of success. “This is not a graduation. This is your commencement,” she said.

During his distinguished career, Thomas R. Hawk, Ph.D., helped Community College of Philadelphia grow in prominence and influence, regionally and nationally.

He is widely respected by peers as a practitioner and an academic. In 2006, Dr. Hawk became the first business officer from a community college ever selected to receive the Distinguished Business Officer of the Year award from the National Association of College and University Business Officers. “In the end, you succeed because of the colleagues with whom you work on a daily basis,” Dr. Hawk said recently. “I have been blessed to work with a large number of truly smart and creative people.”

A long-time champion of open-access institutions, Dr. Hawk began his community college career on the faculty. “I first walked in the doors of the College in 1967, when I was 22. It was an ‘Introduction to Business’ class and the chance to teach it was an amazing experience for me. The students were bright and engaged. Many were older than I was and had life experiences that gave them far greater wisdoms than I had in many areas,” he said.

In January, following 46 years of service, Dr. Hawk, Vice President for Planning and Finance, will retire. Over the years, he assisted or led efforts to:

• Maintain financial planning and budget management strategies which have enabled the College to sustain stability and quality in programs and services, and deal responsibly with fluctuating patterns of public support.
• Develop and oversee the implementation of the College’s Facility Master Plans which have led to the development of three permanent Regional Centers and major expansion and renewal of the College’s Main Campus. He oversaw the development of seven new buildings at the Main Campus and Regional Centers, as well as extensive renovations and expansions.
• Provide leadership for the strategic planning and institutional research efforts, which have provided a basis for understanding and strengthening institutional effectiveness and helped to identify strategic directions.

Having earned a Masters of Business Administration from the Wharton School and a Doctorate in Higher Education from the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Hawk could have worked for a Fortune 500 company, but instead he signed up for a rollercoaster ride at a community college. Why has he stayed so long?

“It’s the mission of the college,” Dr. Hawk explained, during recent remarks to colleagues. “How can you not get excited about helping to transform thousands of lives on an annual basis? It’s the great people I have worked with and for; the quality and commitment of my professional coworkers and institutional leadership at the senior and board levels...”

On December 5, the College threw a festive retirement party that drew more than 100 well-wishers from all walks and ages of life, along with family, present and former trustees, staff and Foundation board members. Dr. Hawk said his decision to put his advanced degrees to work for a community college was a strategic one. “Despite the occasional facility breakdowns and the periodic budget crises, it has been fun and very rewarding.

Dr. Hawk used the platform to reflect upon how much the College had changed over the decades, and offer newcomers — anyone here 30 years or less — a recap of some of the milestones.

“In its early years, the College had no developmental programs, few career programs and operated from one relatively small leased facility. Other major cities were creating complex multi-campus institutions. But things changed rapidly for the College in the 1970s and 80s.” Among the challenges and opportunities the college has faced:

• Returning Vietnam vets transformed the nature of the student body
• BEOG, which became Pell, created true financial access by allowing lower income students to enroll with little or no out-of-pocket costs. As a result enrollment growth greatly exceed intuitional planning projections
• The adoption of a truly open admissions policy resulted in the need for a massive commitment to developmental education and academic support services
• Development of a regional center model to ensure off-campus students had access to essential academic programs and support services
• New technology has transformed how teaching and learning occurs, how the College is managed and the nature of the College’s physical facilities

"In the variety of positions I have held during my career, I was lucky enough to be able to help play a role in assisting the College to respond to all these issues and many more," he said.

As retirement nears, Dr. Hawk is working on the big plan for the next chapter of life: he’ll spend more time traveling, grandfathering, walking the dog, riding rollercoasters, and gardening.

Larry Thi was a stand-out student at Community College of Philadelphia before transferring to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a scholarship worth up to $30,000 a year.

Now a UNC graduate and a high school teaching fellow with a nonprofit group called 12+, the scholar and alumnus last month came back to the place where his higher education career started, but this time he was looking for new tools to help inner city youth realize academic success.

Thi was among more than a dozen educators and advocates who attended a town-hall style information session for community leaders on November 19 in the Main Campus Pavilion. The workshop was part of an initiative that seeks to give Philadelphia’s influential teachers, mentors and community leaders, who we call Pathfinders, timely access to the latest information regarding changes to financial aid, admissions deadlines and scholarships.

In 2011, Thi was selected to receive the prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship, a national award given to outstanding community college students. The award helped fund his undergraduate degree in history at UNC Chapel Hill, which Thi received in May 2013.

Since August, Thi has taught high school students in Kensington through 12+, which seeks to serve students from the most impoverished sections of the city. His mission now is to empower students and provide a road map to college.

“My current duties as a 12+ Fellow include providing college access to students at Kensington Health Sciences Academy, cultivating a college-going culture and promoting academic achievement,” Thi said. “I facilitate workshops to equip students with necessary skills to succeed, advise students one-on-one, and operate multiple after school programs including Chess Club, ESL Club and Poetry Club.”

The Pathfinders workshop provided useful information, he said. “I attended a teacher-parent conference and the parent asked me about learning disability support services provided by universities and colleges for her son. Having attended the Pathfinders workshop, I informed the parent about the Center on Disability and certain accommodations and support that may be provided for her child,” Thi said.

At the November workshop, Samuel Hirsch, Ed.D., vice president for Student Affairs, discussed the broad range of support services available to new students at the College. The Pathfinders asked a lot of questions about Single Stop, a national initiative that is new to our College. It provides free and comprehensive social and financial services to students as part of an effort to foster economic security and support student retention.

Students around the nation have received an average of $2,000 in public benefits, services and tax credits through Single Stop USA. Community College of Philadelphia is the 16th College in the nation to launch Single Stop.

Jennifer Cardoso, of Philadelphia Academies, Inc., a nonprofit youth development organization that works with several district schools, said she came to learn more about the Single Stop initiative. “I knew about it but was interested in knowing more,” Cardoso said.

New market research has shown that the College’s enrollment is being driven in part by community influencers who convince prospective students to enroll. The Pathfinders initiative is designed to support them and create opportunities for them to gather and share new ideas.

For more information about Pathfinders, contact Diane Kae, manager, Student Outreach and Recruitment at dkae [at] ccp.edu (dkae[at]ccp[dot]edu).

When students don’t know where to go for help with courses, finances or the job search, they need only look to College mascot Colonial Phil for direction.

On the new MyGPS (Goal Plan for Success) site the College launched on the MyCCP portal this fall, a variety of Colonial Phil photos demonstrate the range of help available.

For enrolled students, MyGPS provides access to courses; a directory of student support services; online tools to assist with financial management, career planning and job searches; and important messages regarding financial aid, College announcements and personal announcements.

Faculty and staff also can use the site, but it’s intended to give students one-stop access to the College’s many services. “The College provides resources, but students were not aware of what they were. We wanted to bring together all the key resources for students in one place,” said Dean of Students Ronald C. Jackson.

The Student Affairs Division held a MyGPS fair on Oct. 15 in the Bonnell Lobby to welcome students to the site. Bouquets of black and yellow balloons decorated the lobby, and easels placed near the main security desk held poster-sized screen shots of the MyGPS web pages that feature Colonial Phil. Staff members and student leaders handed out free popcorn and bookbags to those who visited table displays.

Support services represented at the fair included Student Success Initiatives, the Women’s Outreach and Advocacy Center, Keystone Education Yields Success program, Academic Advising, Scholarship programs, and the new Single Stop program, which offers benefit screening and other services.

Other student support services and resources at the College include the Center for Male Engagement, International Student Services, Reentry Support Project, the Library, Career Services Center, Center for Disability, the Counseling Center, Learning Labs, Veterans Resource Center and Student Academic Computer Centers.

Quaamir Trice, an Education major, said he entered the College through the Center for Male Engagement’s Summer Enrichment Program and credits the center with helping him. “It’s like an academic barber shop, where you can go and discuss what is on your mind,” Trice said. “It’s a positive program. I really think it should be a national program.”