HVAC Students tour GRCC Boiler Plant

Have you ever wondered where the heat comes from that warms your classroom? Don Steeby’s HVAC students got the chance to find out when they toured the GRCC Central Boiler Plant last Tuesday. Steve Schueller with Facilities Maintenance hosted the tour and explained how three jumbo boilers generate enough steam to heat the entire main campus.

These boilers can produce a total of over 51 million BTU’s of steam that travels through over six miles of underground piping to reach every building. Students in ER-135 (Heating Theory) apply the practices they learn in class to repair and maintain heating equipment such as residential and commercial furnaces and boilers.

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Campus Wide Information System (CWIS) is being Upgraded This Semester

The Campus Wide Information System (CWIS), i.e. PeopleSoft, is being upgraded this academic year. Leaders of the Upgrade Team include Peggy Gorno, David Anderson, and Jody Graves. It is important that employees who regularly use the CWIS as part of their work pay attention to communications about the upgrade process. Please contact Peggy, David, or Jody if you have questions about the upgrade.

Important dates in the upgrade timeline include:

• Now through April, 2011: New System Available for End User Testing
• Mid-March through early-April 2011: End User Training (watch GRCC Today for announcements)
• Go Live: April 14 – April 18

Upgrading the CWIS involves taking data from our current system and putting it in the new system and doing extensive testing. The new systems will include many enhancements, such as:

• Improved menus and navigation
• Enhanced Features for Academic Advising and Degree Audit
• Added flexibility for Transcript Design, Class Permissions, and Service Indicators
• The capability to identify sets of individual or organizational IDs and use the results within other applications through the new Population Selection process
• Connected Query for joining or nesting multiple queries

If you are unfamiliar with wide range of uses of the CWIS at GRCC, a video explaining many of its functions can be viewed here.

Photos: GRCC Family Bowling Outing

On Saturday, January 22 Employee Professional Development & Enrichment and the WE Team hosted 70+ GRCC employees and their families to three hours of unlimited bowling and all the pizza and pop they could hold at Spectrum Lanes.

Here’s a quote from one of the attendees: “I just wanted to let you know that my family and I had a GREAT time at the bowling event this weekend! My 4 year-old actually had 2 strikes in her first game ever (and she ended up beating my score for the game as well). The pizza and pop were great and Spectrum lanes had a very nice facility.”

See all the smiling faces:

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GRCC in the News: 1/27/11

New GRCC partnership could help job creation
Steve Patterson Jessica Puchala | Updated:1/26/2011 6:13:24 PM

GRAND RAPIDS (WZZM) — People looking to land a job at the LG Chem Battery Plant in Holland will likely need special training. The plant should be operational by 2012 and should add about 400 jobs to the lakeshore.  (More)

29th Annual Giants Award & Banquet (1/29/11)

Since 1983, thirteen African American individuals and/or organizations are recognized for their exceptional contributions shaping the history and quality of life of greater Grand Rapids. Please join us as we honor and celebrate the notable contributions of these individuals.

Saturday, January 29, 2011 | DeVos Place | Steelcase Ballroom (303 Monroe Avenue NW) | Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503

Social Gathering 6:00 p.m., Dinner 6:30 p.m., Program 7:15 p.m.

For tickets, please call Grand Rapids Community College Bob and Aleicia Woodrick Diversity Learning Center (616) 234-3390
For nomination additional information please visit: www.grcc.edu/giants

2011 Giants Award Recipients:

• Floyd Skinner Justice | Stacy McGinnis
• Walter Coe Public Service | Larry Barnes
• Eugene Browning Medical | Ludie Weddle
• W.W. Plummer Humanitarian | Rev. Tony Campbell
• Ethel Coe Humanities | Melita Travis Johnson
• Milo Brown Business | Sandmann’s
• Phyllis Scott Activist | T.A. El-Amin
• William Glenn Trailblazer | Ron Snead
• Raymond Tardy Community Service | United Methodist Community House
• H.C. Toliver Religious Life | The Sensational Gospel Tones
• Hattie Beverly Education | Donna Poag
• Martha Reynolds Labor | Essie Bunn
• Giant Among Giants | To Be Determined

Condolences to Kathy Kolehouse and Family

Dwight Paul Emery, Kathy Kolehouse’s father, passed away on Tuesday after an extended illness. Though Kathy mourns the loss, she celebrates that her father has passed on to a place where there is no suffering and pain. Services are scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 5 at 10:00 a.m. in Dorr. The obituary will be in this Sunday’s G.R. Press.

Employee Learning Opportunties: 1/31/11-2/11/11

Faculty and Staff Learning Opportunities from Employee Professional Development & Enrichment:

Monday, January 31
Facilitation Skills 1:30-3:30 p.m.

Tuesday, February 1
Ethics at GRCC 9-11 a.m.
Disability 101 2-4 p.m.

Wednesday, February 2
Coping & Stress Management 9:30-11:30 a.m.

Thursday, February 3
Goal Setting 2-3:30 p.m.

Friday, February 4
Community CPR/AED Renewal 3:30-5:30 p.m.

Monday, February 7
Problem Solving Techniques 2-3:30 p.m.

Tuesday, February 8
Best Practices for Email 9:30-10:30 a.m.
Persuasive Communication 2-4 p.m.

Wednesday, February 9
Business Writing for GRCC Employees 9-11 a.m.
Best Practices for Social Media 3-4 p.m.

Friday, February 11
Search Committee Team Training 9-11 a.m.

These sessions are open to all GRCC Faculty and Staff. For complete descriptions or to register for these courses, go to www.grcc.edu/currentlearning

SSPD Grant Applications Due Tomorrow

The deadline for the submission of grant applications for the Support Staff Professional Development (SSPD) program is 4:30 p.m., January 28, 2011. The SSPD application packet and SSPD Guidelines are available in the GRCC Internal Grants area of the Grants Office website at www.grcc.edu/grants. Please note that applications must include a Supervisor’s Approval form, a budget form and budget documentation. If you have any questions about SSPD grants, please contact Lisa Dopke, Grants Coordinator at 234-3340 or ldopke@grcc.edu. Good luck!