Amarillo College Badger Buzz

AWP proudly serves as our Employee Assistance Program (EAP), offering AC employees and their families valuable, confidential services at no cost.As we approach the holiday season, we want to highlight the EAP benefits that support work-life balance. The holidays can bring added stress, whether at work or in personal life. AWP members and their families can access counseling services tailored to their needs. They provide intake, counseling, guidance, assessment, referral, crisis intervention, and follow-up for employees, spouses, partners, and dependents facing challenges that may impact work performance and well-being.

The Amarillo College Advising Department comprises 12 advisors serving the Washington Street, West, and East Campuses. Our advisors go beyond class scheduling, often serving as barrier removers, counselors, and accountability partners. Advising is a crucial component of AC's success, ensuring each student has a clear path upon graduation, whether transferring or entering the workforce. We also have advising departments at the Hereford Campus and Moore County Campuses.

October is National Financial Planning Awareness Month, which means it’s a perfect time to reflect on our financial health and take steps to secure your future. Financial planning is not just for the wealthy or those nearing retirement; it’s a crucial practice for everyone, regardless of age or income level. By understanding the importance of financial planning, knowing when to seek professional advice, and recognizing how our needs change throughout different life stages, we can all build a more secure and prosperous future.

Amarillo College's Innovation Outpost (IO) is the digital and physical front door for Workforce Training and Development for the Panhandle region, focusing on building industry partnerships in advanced manufacturing and cybersecurity.In 2023-2024, the IO successfully delivered a range of programs leading to industry-recognized credentials. During this time, students earned over 100 credentials in one or more of the following: Cisco introduction to cybersecurity, operating basics, and computer hardware basics, EC Council Certified Secure Computer User (CSCU), Microsoft SC 900, and AZ 900.

Last month, I was at the General Assembly for the other college that I work with, and they had an amazing guest speaker who gave yet another mind-bending thought exercise about AI and the future world we may be moving toward.Now I am not a technology junkie, nor am I an early adopter with most technology (Thank you to those of you who are, I’m learning from you!). Most of my questions and reflections center around both the ethics that govern our use of technology, as well as the pervasive need to guard our humanity amidst our life in the digital age. This feels both personal and professional for me – I’m GenX, and we were the first generation to parent our GenZ children in the digital age (my kids were born in this world and are the ‘digital pros’, while their dad is the ‘digital noob’). While doing our very best, we really did not know what we were doing and made rookie parenting mistakes that we are now learning from and trying to correct. As James Bryan Smith says, “Technology is always 2 or 3 steps ahead of our ethics and our etiquette.”

September is National Suicide Prevention Month providing a reminder for us all to honor those who we have lost to suicide, support those living with suicidal thoughts, and reach out to our loved ones and communities to check in on their wellbeing. This is also the perfect opportunity to raise awareness and take action in the fight against suicide. The impact of suicide reached new heights in 2022 when It reached its record high of 49, 476 deaths in the United States, causing approximately one death every eleven minutes.1