GRCC Part of Coalition Receiving $550k Grant from Walmart

GRCC’s participation with the West Michigan Strategic Alliance (WMSA) has resulted in a $550 grant from the Walmart Foundation to help with literacy efforts in West Michigan.  From the release:

“The Walmart Foundation has awarded a $550,000 grant to the West Michigan Strategic Alliance (WMSA) to fund an expansion of a pilot program for adult literacy. The West Michigan Literacy to Work Initiative will expand the Making College Accessible pilot underway in Kent County to include first Ottawa and Muskegon counties and eventually all eight West Michigan counties served by WMSA.”

The project is being funded by the grant as well as money from the Michigan Department of Labor, Energy and Economic Growth, (DELEG) and the organizations leading the effort are the Literacy Center of West Michigan (LCWM) and Grand Rapids Community College (GRCC) and Area Community Service Employment and Training Council (ACSET, the Michigan Works agency for Kent and Allegan counties).  Read the full press release here.

GRCC Alum Mike Sheerin Named One of Best New Chefs by Food & Wine Mag

Alumnus of GRCC’s Hospitality Education Program (now the Secchia Institute for Culinary Education) Mike Sheerin was just named one of the top new chefs in the nation for 2010 by Food & Wine Magazine.  Sheerin is chef at Blackbird, an award-winning restaurant in Chicago.

From his profile he describes bitter chocolate as his favorite ingredient:

“We’re using it to make fried chocolate: We change the texture of it by cooking down tapioca pearls, then adding the bitter chocolate and drying it. Then we fry it, to give it a nice caramelized flavor. It’s good with duck leg confit.”

For his full profile, visit this site.

GRCC’s Dr. Ender Participates in Panel Discussion: “Higher Ed, Stronger Economy”

GRCC President Dr. Steven Ender spoke yesterday at an event organized by the local media outlet Rapid Growth titled “Higher Ed, Stronger Economy” along with leaders from several other Grand Rapids colleges and universities.  Threads of conversation the billions of dollars higher ed brings in to the region, the troubling funding situation for higher education in Michigan, and addressing the perceptions of higher ed in West Michigan (an interesting and little-known fact about Grand Rapids is that it is the second-largest college town in the state, behind East Lansing and ahead of Ann Arbor).  A full slideshow of photos can be viewed here.

GRCC Professor Charlotte Pease Selected to Present at Conference

GRCC Mechanical and Architectural Design Assistant Professor Charlotte Pease was selected to present a project titled Fabrications at the Interior Design Educators National Conference in Atlanta.  The project is the exploration of how the educational environment can create a greater understanding of the design and fabrication process that exists in the industry through the use of hands-on-experience. The project was recognized by those attending the conference by being awarded First Place in the Interior Design category and will be published by Wiley-Blackwell in the Journal of Interior Design.

Condolences to Sevigny and Miller Families

Condolences to the Sevigny and Miller families on the untimely passing of Erica Sevigny who was engaged to Chad Miller, son of Kimberly Miller who works in the Applied Technology Center (ATC).  Funeral arrangements are set for Friday – more details as they are available.

IT Network Upgrades 4/8/10

IT will be doing two network upgrades tomorrow night at 10:00 p.m.  One in the ATC parking ramp and the other in the Spectrum building across the street.  This will cause an outage for parts of campus for a few hours, however it should take place after all classes have concluded.