GRCC/Equest Featured Today on WJRW Today From 2-3 p.m.

The Equest/GRCC project will be featured on WJRW AM1340 today 2:00 – 3:00 pm on the program “LJJSpeaks – Less Stress More Success!”  The show will features interviews from the day, and GRCC construction trades faculty Keith Ferguson live.

IT Maintenance Scheduled for 6/8/10 – No Outages Anticipated

The Infrastructure team will be performing internal maintenance on Tuesday, June 8th, starting at 10 pm. Maintenance will consist of organization and cleanup of network wiring in the Data Center in preparation for future expansion. There should not be any interruption in service.  If you have any questions or concerns please contact the Help Desk at extension 3688 or email ITHELP@grcc.edu.

Alum Finalist for Governors Lifetime Achievement Award

GRCC alum, David Garvey, was nominated by the Academic Service Learning Center for the Governor George Romney Lifetime Achievement Award. David was one of only five candidates, from across the state, selected as a finalist for this Governor’s Service Award.

The Governor George Romney Lifetime Achievement Award is the most prestigious of the Governor’s Service Awards and honors an individual who has taken his or her volunteer service to the highest level – year after year. It honors an individual who has demonstrated a lifelong commitment to community involvement and volunteer service. Individuals nominated in this category have made service a way of life for many, many years.

David Garvey has been actively involved in serving his community since childhood, when he first made cupcakes for the members of his Cub Scout den at age 8. As a teenager, David was a volunteer for the United States Air Force Ground Observer Corps and was named an “Honorary Life Member…for Voluntary and Faithful Service…”

David is presently a volunteer tobacco cessation support resource for Tobacco Free Partners; does online research for the Director of Faculty Development at the University of Central Florida College of Medicine; and volunteers regularly within the Academic Service Learning Center at Grand Rapids Community College.

David will be honored as a finalist in Detroit on June 24. Governor Jennifer Granholm and First Gentleman Daniel Mulhern will host the reception and announce the winners.

Employee Professional Development Opportunities (6/7/10-6/17/10)

Below are the latest offering from Employee Professional Development & Enrichment:

Monday, June 7 | Sexual Harassment Awareness Training  1-2:30 p.m.

Tuesday, June 8

• Interviewing for Success  9-10:30 a.m.
• PeopleSoft: Entries, Budgets and Queries  1-2:30 p.m.
• The Rear-View Mirror – Part 1  2-4 p.m. (Pt 2 will be held June 22 at the same time)

Wednesday, June 9 | Proactive Customer Service  1-3 p.m.

Thursday, June 10 | Twitter Basics  1-2 p.m.

Monday, June 14 | GroupWise – Calendaring  1-2:30 p.m.

Tuesday, June 15 | 7 Keys to a Positive Mental Attitude  9-11 a.m.

Wednesday, June 16 | Bullying in the Workplace  9-10:30 a.m.

Thursday, June 17 | Word 2007- Styles & Art  2-3 p.m.

For descriptions or to register for any of these sessions, go to www.grcc.edu/currentlearning 

11th Conference on the Americas

The 11th Conference on the Americas will be held November 4, 5 and 6, 2010­ and covers the theme “Creative Agents of Change: Facing Challenges in our Communities.”  Doris Sommer (Harvard University) will deliver the featured address.

The Cultural Agents Initiative at Harvard University investigates and promotes the role art and artists play in helping their communities deal with challenges of pursuing sustainable development, reducing social and economic inequality, and expanding accessible healthcare, among other issues. This has inspired our theme “Creative Agents of Change,” with a focus on Latin America and the Caribbean, and Latino communities in the United States. We are particularly interested in the collaboration of academic institutions and community organizations. We wonder about the role of scholars as cultural agents, and their capacity to use the humanities, and physical and social sciences, to further build civil society, and offer innovative ways to address local challenges. And we are curious about existing bridges between community activists and scholars, and new ones that might be built. We invite proposals for papers, panels, workshops, roundtable discussions, exhibitions, or performances that address this relationship between academia and community, with a focus on any one of the following issues: Sustainable Development,  Environmental Security, Geohazards, Urbanization, Public Health, Public Violence, Immigration, Emigration, Human Trafficking, Gender Inequality, Racial/Ethnic Inequality, and Religious Divides.

Faculty are invited to present on the ways cultural agents have addressed these challenges, including the use of the arts (painting, sculpture, film, literature, theater and other art forms), historical narratives (oral histories, testimonials, counter-histories), and unconventional pedagogies.

Proposals may be in Spanish, Portuguese, French, or English (though we cannot guarantee interpreters for presentations in Portuguese and French). The proposal deadline is July 1, 2010. Please contact Aleta Anderson for more details, ext. 4879.

Fee: Faculty/Staff: $55.00, Community members: $10.00, Students: Free, Presenter or Panelist: Free  (Please make check payable to GVSU.)

ASO Presents Gospel Benefit Concert (6/18/10)

The GRCC African Student Organization (ASO) is hosting a Night Out at GRCC-Spectrum Theatre Saturday, June 5th from 5:30-7:30 featuring a Gospel Benefit Concert for GRCC student Anthony McNeal Sr. whose 9 year old son AJ will be undergoing open heart surgery on June 18th at the University of Michigan.  Questions?  Contact Anthony McNeal at (616) 589‐6681.

GRCC in the News: 6/7/10

Non-traditional college students bring experience to the forefront
Sunday, June 6th, 2010 Chad Houts (Western Herald)

These days, non-traditional college students are becoming stronger in numbers on campus, bringing with them life experience that makes their approach to the rigors of a college education unique. “I feel more confident now that I’m older, as opposed to when I first went when I was 18,” Wendy Beaver, a 38-year-old freshman at Western Michigan University said. […] Beaver is taking her general education requirements at WMU, and plans to transfer to the culinary program at Grand Rapids Community College.  (More)

Equest Center Gets New Addition – Will help eliminate waiting list for therapy
Lauren Unger FOX 17 News | 6:19 PM EDT, June 2, 2010

ROCKFORD – A unique type of therapy gets a little help from a local college. The Equest Center for Therapeutic Riding is a nonprofit that has been around for 20 years, helping hundreds of people of all ages and abilities. The facility uses horses and riding to increse motor and thinking skills in those with disabilities. People like Andrew Campbell. Andrew was in a serious car accident 10 years ago. Since then he’s been fighting to regain a number of basic skills, including walking and talking. […] They received the facility nearly free of charge, receiving all the labor from students at the Grand Rapids Community College.  (More)