A plan to plant about 1,000 on campus over the next few years was approved by the OCCC Board of Regents during the Nov. 15 meeting.

Howard-Fairbairn Site Design developed the plans to plant the trees, subject to the availability of funds. Cody Klein, Howard-Fairbairn associate, made the presentation to the board.

In an e-mail, OCCC President Paul Sechrist said the project will cost more than $400,000.

Funds are expected to come from a variety of sources, including private funds and donations, as well as Section 13 Offset money, which is state funding designated for capital improvement projects.

If you’re looking to put a little light into your holiday break, consider visiting one of the following attractions in and around the metro area.

Bricktown Lights

What better way to see the magical holiday lights than aboard a water taxi on the Bricktown canal? Bring a coat and stare in awe as the lights twinkle off the water.

An iPhone and iPad applications class is in the process of being created in the Computer Science division, said computer science professor Haining Chen, who will teach the course.

It will be offered in the fall of 2011 at 11 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

“A lot of students have iPhones, so when we ask them if they want to code their own programs for the iPhone, many students say yes,” Chen said.

The Testing Center will offer extended hours during finals week, Dec. 12 through 17, said Jim Ellis, Testing and Assessment Services director.

That week the center will be open from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday. On Saturday, Dec. 18, the hours will be the normal 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Finals week testing always increases the number of people who use the Testing Center, Ellis said.

Dec. 17 will be a momentous day for 62 OCCC nursing students when the students will receive their nursing pin in a pinning ceremony held in the College Union. The students have worked long and hard to get this point said Assistant Nursing Program Director Terri Walker.

“The pinning ceremony represents them being welcomed as a peer into our profession,” Walker said.

OCCC has named its first-ever police chief.

Jim Fitzpatrick, with 38 years of police experience, will soon head OCCC’s Safety and Security Department.

Fitzpatrick was hired earlier this month to replace former Safety and Security Director Ike Sloas, who resigned in September.

Fitzpatrick served as an Oklahoma City police officer for 35 years, as well as an additional three years in various administrative positions.

He said he came across the position through a friend, who noticed the vacancy on OCCC’s website.

“I have served in every branch of the police department,” Fitzpatrick said. “But never a college campus.”

However, he said, he looks forward to the bustling collegiate lifestyle.

The library staff is expanding its services to students both on and off campus, said Amanda Lemon, electronic services librarian. Videos-on-demand, Internet chats and a document scanner are just a few of the expanded offerings students can use.

One new addition to the library’s website is access to films on demand. Lemon describes it as an “academic-minded Netflix.”

There are videos on topics ranging from humanities to business, science and health. The films can be accessed under the “features” menu on the page, Lemon said.

OCCC’s Health Professions club took an educational tour of the brand new Oklahoma Heart Hospital south campus located at 5200 E. 1-240 Service Road in Oklahoma City on Nov. 12. The hospital opened this past January.

Health Professions sponsor and physics professor Steven Kamm and biology professor Kim Kyker, along with 22 students, took a two-hour tour of the hospital led by Chief Operating Officer of Oklahoma Heart Hospital staff John Austin and chief nursing officer Janet Fundaro.

An orientation offered to help users navigate ANGEL — the college’s online learning management system — has met with initial success.

Glenne’ Whisenhunt, Center for Learning and Teaching director, said within 28 days of going live, the new ANGEL online orientation had received a total of 35,141 hits by OCCC students and faculty.

She said this number far exceeded the initial expectations for the opening few weeks.

Whisenhunt said the goal of the ANGEL orientation is to give students a clear idea of what they are getting into when they enroll for online classes.

One month after announcing the OCCC website would receive an overhaul, the consulting firm contracted to help rebuild the site presented its preliminary findings Nov. 16.

Stephanie Geyer, Noel-Levitz Higher Education Consulting associate vice president, said 431 prospective students, community members and OCCC faculty and staff members responded to a web-based survey regarding the current website.

In addition, Geyer said, an additional survey targeting current students is available online now at www.occc.edu/survey.