Join the Conversation!

Join a Conversation. Share Your Interests. Make New Friends.

Phoenix College is piloting Maricopa on Facebook, an interactive community for ALL Maricopa students, faculty and staff. Members can join in discussion communities and share common interests in specific areas such as sports & outdoors, lifestyle & beliefs, and hobbies & interests. Members can also affiliate with college clubs or other organizations that help to further focus interests.

Getting Started
You need to have your MEID and a personal Facebook account. The application will connect with the Facebook profile photo but will keep personal wall posts and other private information separate from the Maricopa on Facebook account.

To get started, you use your existing Facebook account.

1. Log into your existing Facebook account at www.facebook.com
2. Go to: facebook.maricopa.edu > Enter your MEID and click Sign-Up
3. On the next screen, click the Allow button
4. Enter your student email address
5. Check for confirmation in your student email account accessed through my.maricopa.edu
6. Follow the prompts to finish the setup
7. Complete your profile by adding interests and affiliations.
8. Take it one step further…introduce yourself and tell others what’s on your mind.

Accessing Your Account
Next time you want to access Maricopa on Facebook, just enter facebook.maricopa.edu or access through your personal Facebook account under the Maricopa Community Colleges personalized link.

Features

• Community: Find discussions focused on your stated interests and affiliations and access the Q & A section.
• Home: Start a discussion, view all wall posts or view only those from your friends or about your interests.
• People: View new members, make new friends with similar interests, locate classmates and find Facebook friends.

Is it safe to use?

Maricopa Community Colleges on Facebook is the official Facebook community for Maricopa Community Colleges. It was created in part to ensure that your personal Facebook profile stays private while allowing you to interact with people at school.

Does this give people access to my Facebook profile?

Maricopa Community Colleges on Facebook only pulls three things from your profile: Your name, your profile photo and your friend list. This is done so that you can see which friends go to Maricopa Community Colleges in the application. Maricopa Community Colleges respects your privacy and does not have special access to your photo albums, status updates, or any other activity of yours in Facebook.

Who can join Maricopa Community Colleges on Facebook?

Maricopa Community Colleges on Facebook is for students, faculty, and staff of Maricopa Community Colleges.

Raul H. Castro Institute Names New Director

Ofelia Cañez, a longtime educator with deep roots in Arizona, has been named the new director of the Raul H. Castro Institute, a public policy “do tank” housed and supported by Phoenix College.

In her role, Cañez will lead the activities of the institute, which was created to provide public policy input and programming in the areas of education, health and human services and civic engagement, and honor the legacy of former Arizona Gov. Raul Castro. She replaces Maria Enciso, who held the position since 2009 and returns to her full-time teaching role at Phoenix College.

“Ofelia Cañez brings a wealth of experience and commitment to this position,” says Dr. Anna Solley, president of Phoenix College. “We were fortunate to attract someone with such passion and strong ties to the community and state.”

Cañez spent 25 years in teaching and program development in preK-12 and secondary educational institutions. She served as residential faculty at Phoenix College for 11 years. Most recently she served as an academic program advisor at Chandler-Gilbert Community College.

“My education, experience and family life have all culminated in working with the Raul Castro Institute,” she says. “I’m paying it forward by building on the achievements of the RCI.”

In addition to continuing RCI’s initiatives for stronger educational outcomes for youth, Cañez, an Arizona native, also is keenly interested in the institute’s work in health care. She previously served on the Medical Radiology Technology Board of Arizona and the Medical Board of Directors for the Mountain Park Health Center in south Phoenix.

“How do we get the Latino community interested in pursuing interventions at an early stage in areas such as breast cancer, diabetes, obesity and drug use,” she says.

She’s looking forward to working with the Institute’s distinguished Advisory Committee to address priority areas and offer innovative projects that enable the state’s Latino communities to grow and prosper.

“I love the idea of it being a ‘do’ tank,” she says. “That means something is being done to overcome obstacles and find solutions.”

New real estate appraisal courses offered

The housing downturn has taught many lessons to consumers and real estate professionals alike.

In particular, the financial crisis sparked by an overvalued housing market highlighted the need for consumers and real estate professionals to know more about how the industry values properties.

Two new courses being offered by Phoenix College’s Business Department can help those students gain a stronger understanding of the complexities of valuing property.

As part of its expanded Real Estate Certificate program, the college has added two appraisal courses this fall and a real estate finance class offered in spring 2012 to the program.

“Basic Appraisal Principles” (REA270) and “Basic Appraisal Procedures” (REA271) will be offered concurrently this fall during eight-week courses. Each appraisal course is a two-credit course, which will go towards the 18 credits required to earn the Real Estate Certificate. In the spring, a three-credit Real Estate Finance course will be offered.

“It’s aimed at those who want to become more proficient in today’s housing market,” says Doula Zaharopoulos, who directs PC’s Real Estate Program. “In today’s housing market it is essential consumers know about the appraisal process. Even if someone is already a real estate sales agent, these classes will help them.”

The courses will be offered in a hybrid style of traditional and online classes.
The appraisal courses are open to the public and do not require any prerequisites.

Most of the courses in the real estate certificate program, such as Real Estate Principles I and II, Principles of Real Estate Law and Real Estate Selling, are accredited by the Arizona Department of Real Estate. Those who earn the certificate also meet state real estate licensing requirements of 90 hours of instruction and passing a school exam before taking the state exam.

While the Real Estate Certificate Program has been offered at Phoenix College in the past, the new courses are intended to meet the evolving needs of professional and consumers in the industry.

To register for these classes, go to www.phoenixcollege.edu and search the online schedule.

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Community Invited to Aug. 11 Health Career Session at PC Downtown Campus

Despite the shortage of good jobs found during these tough economic times, the health care field is one that has been able to offer decent paying jobs to those trained to work in the industry.

To help encourage people to pursue a medical transcription career, Phoenix College Downtown is hosting a community information session on Thursday, Aug. 11 at 9 a.m. The free session is open to the public will provide community members with information about PC Downtown’s new online medical transcription certificate program, offered in partnership with Career Step, a leading online healthcare education company.

This new program, which begins this Fall, will give participants an opportunity to earn a medical transcription certificate through online coursework working at a pace that fits their schedule and learning style.

“Healthcare is where the jobs are and we can help students prepare for successful careers in medical transcription in less than a year,” says Roberta Jeffers, director of Business and Industry Partnership at at Phoenix College Downtown, 640 N. 1^st Avenue.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of jobs in the medical transcription field will grow by 11 percent through 2018.

For more information on the information session, visit www.careerstep.com/ap/pcdt or call PC’s Custom Training and Education Department at (602) 223-4000.