November Graduation

These are the days that remind us of all the things for which we can be thankful. At Community Business College we are thankful to be able to graduate another group of wonderful students today.

The ceremony was a lot of fun. Things were a little cozier than other graduations, possible because of the weather and some who had hoped to make it couldn't. One graduate couldn't make it because of job opportunity and we certainly understand that.

We had a delicious lunch with a lot of wonderful dishes. Whether it's because the Thanksgiving holiday is so near or because people just got into the spirit of the graduation, there were some excellent foods with great takes on traditional recipes.

One observation on this graduation is that the dignitaries who were invited have all been promoted since the last time we saw them. That's good for them and exciting to see.

We at the school all hope the job prospects for our fresh grads are improving. The labor market results for California and Stanislaus, Merced and San Joaquin counties came out today with some good news and bad news:

The bad news:

Employment is still high (over 12%). The overall employment picture for the last month hasn't improved a lot since the months before .

The good news:

Unemployment hasn't gotten worse. There seems to be some stability now and that what layoffs are still happening are being balanced by some hiring.

It does seem that the standards have really changed when the phrase "unemployment hasn't gotten any worse" is seen as "good news," but these are not ordinary times. They are surely times with extraordinary challenges.

With extraordinary challenges comes extraordinary people and we feel our graduates from our programs are extraordinary people who will soon be working for good companies.

Good luck to the 2010 class that graduated today!

What The MyCAA "Reboot" Means

Community Business College has received some information regarding the re-activation and acceptance of new participants in the MyCAA program. Here is the summary:


The Department Of Defense has completed the program review and will be making the necessary adjustments to resume the MyCAA program beginning in October 2010.

Starting 8 a.m. (EDT) Monday October 25, 2010, Military OneSource Career and Education counselors will have a much more active role in supporting military spouses. In addition to understanding resources available via DoD’s financial aid support, they will provide support and assistance to identify and gain access to other federal, state and local programs. All military spouses of active duty service members will be eligible for career counseling and support.

New MyCAA financial assistance guidelines
With a focus on the original intent of the program, the Defense Department’s financial assistance program will:

1. Be available to spouses of active duty service members in pay grades E1-E5, W1-W2, and O1-O2 (Pay grades verified by DEERS)
2. Offer a maximum financial benefit of $4,000 with a fiscal year cap of $2,000 (in other words, $2,000 per year in tuition assistance to MyCAA approved schools exclusively like Community Business College with a maximum lifetime benefit total of $4,000). Waivers will be provided by counselors on a case-by-case basis for spouses pursuing licensure or certification up to the total maximum assistance of $4,000
3. Require military spouses to finish their program of study within three years from the start date of the first course
4. Be limited to associate degrees, certification and licensures

Additionally, National Guard and Reserve members must be on active duty for their spouses to receive the MyCAA benefit. Spouses may no longer use the MyCAA benefit when the service member is in an alert or demobilization period. The new eligibility rule takes effect immediately.

Starting 8 a.m. (EDT) Monday October 25, 2010, Military OneSource career and education counselors will have a much more active role in supporting military spouses. In addition to understanding resources available via DoD’s financial aid support, they will provide support and assistance to identify and gain access to other federal, state, and local programs. All military spouses of active duty service members will be eligible for career counseling and support.

These new guidelines reflect a return to the original purpose of the program – to assist spouses of service members achieve portable careers. These changes also align the program with responsible fiscal planning by the Defense Department to help sustain the program. Additional program details will be posted on this Web site when they become available. We encourage you to check the site often.

Currently Approved Spouses
Spouses who currently have an active account will be allowed to request financial assistance until Thursday, October 21, 2010. And beginning September 1, 2010, spouses may request financial assistance for classes that have a start date up to January 15, 2011. To ensure adequate time to plan for courses, no career plans will be accepted after August 31, 2010. All currently approved financial assistance documents will be honored.

Miscellaneous Notes
The program will be closed from Friday, October 22 to Monday, October 25, 2010, so that we may ensure the infrastructure is in place to implement the new program.

“Military spouses are the backbone for military families, displaying strength of
character to be admired by this nation. The Department of Defense remains
committed to investing in military families, and appreciates the sacrifice of
those who also serve.”

* All current correct and approved FA’s will be honored.


Note: The MyCAA policies that will be implemented are under development and will be finalized by the October 25 start.


More details will be posted here as they become available.

Community Business College’s training programs are approved by the MyCAA funding program.

A CBC Graduate Gets Hired!

Congratulations to CBC Graduate S.B. who was hired yesterday. We hope this will be the start of a new wave of hiring as the economy picks up. We've been getting reports from graduates that they have been invited to more interviews than before. The administrative field and the medical office field seem to be having the most increased activity. That would make sense since employers hire to relieve their pain first.

The Census Bureau is also hiring right now but, of course, those tend to be mostly temporary jobs. But, at this point, any job is a good job. Plus working helps build a resume and provide a more recent experience. This is especially true for those who have been unemployed for awhile. It's almost a "reset" button for a gap in a resume.

One reminder we give all of our graduates is even if you are offered a temporary position, take it and do a great job and make sure to get a glowing letter of recommendation from your supervisor. Those letters are worth the effort and are as good as gold, especially when it's a tight job market for job seekers.

Final Thought For Week Ending On March 26, 2010

This week's final thought was recommended by one of the Community Business College instructors. It is:

"The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." - Winston Churchill

The sentiment is an especially important sentiment when doing a job search. There will always be difficulties in hunting for a new job, but it is important to never forget that each new job opening is an opportunity; each interview may have difficulties but provides a door to either learn more about yourself or to advance in the job process; and although completing job application forms can be tedious, it is important to remember others who have faced and overcome such difficulties before.

St. Patrick's Day

Today we celebrated St. Patrick's Day at Community Business College.

For those who are following along using the school's Rosetta Stone online language program, "sláinte" is the word of the day. It's an Irish blessing of good health. By the way, Irish (or Gaelic) is one of the 31 different languages offered through the Community Business College online language programs, but is one of the few languages for which no one has (yet) signed up.

We had corned beef and cabbage with potatoes and carrots. Plus lots of traditional and non-traditional St. Patrick's Day foods. There was also great conversation including a discussion on whether St. Patrick's Day is really and truly an Irish holiday or more of an American addition. Generally the consensus was that it is probably something more along the lines of a U.S. holiday where people like to turn their rivers and beer green.

Anyone interested in the celebration could follow along with the potluck at the Community Business College Twitter site.

We finished off the lunch with two very green cakes. One cake had a rich, green frosting made with cream cheese and pineapple and the other shamrock cake was a great surprise in that we sliced it into servings, it showed a rainbow inside! If only the leprechaun who brought had also brought a pot of gold!

Everyone seemed to have their fill. Maybe the food was too good. Everyone was feeling a little drowsy after having so much food on a nice warm Spring day. One of the school instructors said it best "remind me not to schedule study periods after potlucks."

Pictures of the St. Patrick Day potluck lunch are posted here.

Sláinte!

Finish the Rosetta Stone Story!

Have you seen the Rosetta Stone commercial with the humble farmboy using Rosetta Stone language software to try to impress the Italian Super Model?

Here's your chance to finish the story and win big prizes.

Simply tell how the video ends. You can submit a photograph, a written story or a video to provide a happy ending, a funny ending or even a sad ending, but the contest organizers emphasize creativity.

To see the commercial, click here: http://www.rosettastone.com/farmboy

If you're ready to enter the contest, click this link: Farmboy Story Entry

The contest is running from January 8th - January 29th and all submissions must be received by 5:00 p.m. EST on January 29th. Then, even if you aren't entering an ending, you can still participate. The finalists chosen by Rosetta Stone will be open to public voting.

Students at Community Business College have been using Rosetta Stone to improve their language skills and making their resumes more attractive to employers. It's a great and inexpensive way to become become bi-lingual or even tri-lingual in a year-long program.

Recyling Pays

Thanks to the students and staff of Community Business College, we earned $33.76 recylcing aluminum, plastic and glass. The break down was:

Aluminum cans - 32.9 pounds

PET plastic - 33.1 pounds

HDPE plastic 8.4 pounds

Glass - 67.7 pounds



The trick was finding a recycling company that will take both PET Plastic and HDPE plastic. Not all places will do that. Luckily, Turlock Recycling did the job.

The money earned from the recycling will be used for another ice cream social at the school where we turn “Trash into Treats.”