Members of the Emergency Medical Services Program at Brookhaven College welcomed representatives from the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs, CAAHEP, which is the nation’s largest programmatic accreditor in the health sciences field. CAAHEP is the umbrella organization that manages accreditation for the Committee on Accreditation of Educational Programs for the EMS Professions, CoAEMSP. The two-day site visit was part of the program’s application for national accreditation by CoAEMSP, and included an evaluation of all aspects of the college’s EMS program. John Karduck, M.D.; Douglas K. York, director of EMS learning resources center at the University of Iowa hospitals and clinics; and Karen Franks, accreditation services coordinator for the CAAHEP, were members of the site team and reviewed the strengths and weaknesses in the program and uniformity in teaching and training methods. The visit, Sept. 20-21, also included interviews with current and past students, clinical site coordinators, employers of graduates from the program, faculty members, and the medical and program director. Results of the site visit will be announced in May 2008, at the annual CAAHEP Conference.
The Associated Collegiate Press selected the Brookhaven Courier student newspaper, as one of 55 finalists in the 2007 Newsmaker Pacemaker competition. Finalists were selected by a panel from The Washington Post. Newspapers are selected based on excellence in coverage and content, quality reporting, leadership on the opinion page, layout and design, evidence of in-depth reporting, photography and graphics. The Brookhaven Courier is one of 15 two-year colleges included in the 55 finalists. Courier staff members and Larie Engles, manager of student publications, will attend the ACP/College Media Association’s National College Media Convention in Washington, D.C., in October, where the winners will be announced.
Cultural studies and government students had an opportunity this week to hear from and speak with a special guest, Ambassador Enrique Hubbard of Mexico. Yasaman Contractor, student program development specialist, arranged the visit from the Consul General of the Mexican Consulate in Dallas. Sylvia Coffey, director of the Multicultural Center; Edleeca Thompson, humanities professor; Dave Reagan, director of College Police; and students from each of the courses welcomed the ambassador to the college. Hubbard spoke to the students about the history and culture of Mexico, also touching on the current social and economic challenges the country faces, as well as issues of immigration.
Jason Thornton, emergency medical services professor, received a confirmation of the high quality training the Brookhaven Emergency Medical Services Program provides to students from his former student Missi Davis, who is now a practicing paramedic. Davis wrote in an e-mail to Thornton that during a recent emergency call that required her and a partner to perform CPR on a patient in cardiac arrest, she relied on her training at Brookhaven College. Davis' patient needed CPR, defibrillations and several injections. After the successful outcome for the patient, Davis contacted Thornton to thank him for pushing her during her training because the necessary knowledge “just came to me” during the emergency, Davis said.
The Alpha Delta Pi chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, PTK, at Brookhaven College received notice that they have reached a 10 percent increase in membership, thus earning the Pinnacle Award for 2007. Since the chapter’s inception, 3,760 students have joined PTK at Brookhaven College. At the beginning of 2007, the chapter had 107 members. Aaron Ostrom, Ph.D., executive dean of special programs and club sponsor, has invited more than 1,600 qualified students to join this year. As of Oct. 3, 199 new members have been inducted this year.
More than 100 people from the community and the Dallas County Community College District attended the official opening of the Brookhaven College Head Start Center on Oct. 11. The $3 million facility is a model preschool, and the first-of-its-kind-in-the-nation collaboration between Brookhaven College and Head Start of Greater Dallas. Dr. Wright Lassiter, chancellor; Dr. Sharon L. Blackman, president; Brett Kirstein, president, Head Start of Greater Dallas Board; and Wanda J. Smith, CEO, Head Start of Greater Dallas, were featured guests. Tours of the new facility were offered and Texas Winds Musical Outreach provided a special musical performance. The center will accommodate 152 students and serve as the lab school for the college’s Child Development Program.
Patricia Dodd, Ph.D., English professor at Brookhaven College, will be presenting a paper at the Community College Humanities Association National Conference, “River of Ideas: Rethinking the Humanities,” in San Antonio later this month. At the conference, Dodd will be a moderator for one presentation and a speaker for another called “Mainstreaming Human Rights and the Humanities.” Dodd’s topic focuses on the struggle for human rights as heard through worldwide voices. She uses eyewitness reports, guest speakers from human rights organizations, and films that help her students gain a deeper understanding of the need for all people to have dignity and respect.
