As 2017 begins, I would like to let everyone know that our continued focus on academic quality is in full swing. I will refer here to our course enhancement, the outcome dashboards, and the teaching excellence award, but there are many more elements to Trident’s focus on quality. To enable students to visualize difficult concepts and procedures, more videos and exercises are now included in our courses. Faculty members curate and integrate digital resources. Most of this material is provided in multimedia with interactive components to foster student engagement and enhance learning and the student experience. We continuously evaluate new pedagogies and learning methodologies.
Another area of continuous focus is making it possible for faculty and administration to quickly assess student needs and engage in improving outcomes. To this end, we continue to improve Trident’s dashboards dedicated to course success, persistence, and graduation. Also, we are pleased to continue our Teaching Excellence Award tradition. Its objective is to provide an opportunity for students to nominate faculty based on their classroom experience. Faculty recipients are awarded based on strong commitment to quality teaching and learning, and the use of effective and innovative practices. Since its inception there have been three faculty members who received the award: Dr. Kenneth Cromer, Dr. Mark Pieffer, and Dr. Robert Touro.
Quality and successful student outcomes are at the core of our work. Thank you to all those who make it possible to continue on this path and please continue to provide us with support and input.
It was a busy holiday season for the Trident Military Assistance Center, as we continued our efforts to support our service members, their families, and our veterans.
On December 9, 2017, the TMAC participated in an Operation Gratitude event held in Cypress, CA. Letters for deployed service members, veterans, new recruiters, and our first responders were collected from our staff, faculty, local community, and our students and alumni throughout the nation.
On December 10-14, TMAC Leader Esmeralda Silva, VP of Strategic Alliances and Outreach Services, and Regional Manager Deena Mullins supported Snowball Express families by providing educational opportunities information which included scholarship options to the families of our fallen heroes.
The TMAC Leadership, Outreach and Partnership team, along with President Travis Allen also shipped holiday packages to deployed soldiers from the 14th HRSC out of Fort Bragg.
In February 2017, the Trident Military Assistance Center will donate $20 per person for the first 25 Trident employees to register for the Race on the Base event at Joint Base Los Alamitos.
Unfortunately, there are unscrupulous people who take advantage of others in a variety of ways including employment opportunities. A recent article on InsideHigherEd.com outlines such a scam and we wanted to make sure you are aware and cautious.
The Center for Career Planning and Workforce Strategies screens opportunities provided to the center prior to placing them in the Virtual Career Center (VCC), so you can be assured that the opportunities you find in the Symplicity VCC are legitimate. But none-the-less, we encourage you to be cautious when applying to job opportunities. Please take time to read the information below and remember; if it seems suspicious, then it may well be. The information can be read on https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2017/01/26/students-fall-prey-employment-scam
Students Fall Prey to Employment Scam
College students across the country are taking the bait on an employment scam that gives scammers access to their bank accounts, according to an announcement from the FBI.
The scammers send out emails and post advertisements for job openings, typically recruiting students to take on administrative positions. During the hiring process, students are told they need to purchase certain equipment or supplies for the new job, and the “employer” will send a counterfeit check to reimburse them for the materials. After the student deposits the check, they are asked to send a portion of the money from their checking account to a third party.
The FBI included several examples of the email instructions from scammers in its public service announcement.
After a student completes all of these steps, the results can be damaging -- they would need to reimburse the bank for the amount of the counterfeit checks, their bank account could be closed, their credit score could drop and they could be vulnerable to identity theft after divulging personal information to the scammers.
The FBI is encouraging students to report suspicious emails to their institution’s IT department and the FBI. The bureau also advises students never to accept a job that asks them to deposit or wire money. (Tate, 2017)
Upcoming Events:
February 8th – Cool Tools #7 11:30 AM/PT
February 22nd – Thriving as a Remote Employee 11:30 AM/PT
March 29th - Virtual Career Fair 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM/PT
Trident is excited to offer our Alumni community an exclusive opportunity to obtain their next degree with less out of pocket expense! The Trident Alumni Scholarship is available to undergraduate and graduate alumni who wish to pursue either the Master of Arts in Education (MAED) or the Master of Science in Homeland Security (MSHLS) degree programs. Scholarship recipients receive $300 towards each course!
What are the requirements for the scholarship? Alumni must:
If you are interested in applying for the scholarship, download and submit your application today!