Drupal Basics Training Opportunities 11/3/11-12/15/11

GRCC has moved to a new content management system called Drupal. Drupal replaces Webbuilder. Staff Development is offering seven additional trainings in Drupal Basics – Editing Content. If you are a content editor on the current Webbuilder, here is your opportunity to learn how to navigate the Drupal system, understand and use content types, and edit existing content. The sessions are scheduled for:

• Thursday November 3, 2011 9 – 10 AM
• Wednesday November 9, 2011 2 – 3 PM
• Monday November 14, 2011 1 – 2 PM
• Tuesday November 29, 2011 10:30 -11:30 AM
• Friday December 2, 2011 12:30 – 1:30 PM
• Wednesday December 7, 2011 3 – 4 PM
• Thursday December 15, 2011 2:30 – 3:30 PM

You may register for any of these sessions at www.grcc.edu/currentlearning.  If you have questions regarding any of the Staff Development learning opportunities contact us at employeedevelopment@grcc.edu

GRCC Music Dept to Host Community College Choral Festival 11/2/11

The GRCC Music Department will be hosting the Michigan Community College Choral Festival on Wednesday, November 2. The event will host 6 community college choirs from across the state culminating in a public concert at 3pm at St. Cecilia Music Center, 24 Ransom St. NE.

The guest conductor will be Dr. Sandra Snow for Michigan State University. The concert is free and open to the public.

GRCC Secchia Institute Culinary Students Study Abroad in Scotland – Photo

This great photo was taken over the summer in Scotland as students Rebecca Snook, Katie Vandermarkt and Katie Stuit worked in co-ops to burnish their culinary credentials with real-world international experience at St. Andrews Links.  Just another example of the world-class educational opportunities GRCC makes available to its’ students…

From left to right: Rebecca Snook, Katie Vandermarkt, Chef Sharon Munro, Katie Stuit, Chef Ian MacDonald

GRCC Student Newspaper Earns Awards From Michigan Press Association

The Collegiate has recently won some awards from the Michigan Press Association, the state’s professional press group. The competition covered material published between July, 2010 and July 2011.  The Collegiate is in the division 3 category of this organization with other community colleges, and small colleges.

Here is a summary of the awards, and students’ names:

• General Excellence – second place
• Investigative Reporting – second place, Dana Mate
• Sports News/Feature – first place, Austin Metz
• Sports News/Feature – second place, Ariel Christy
• Sports Photo – first place –Victoria Fanning
• Feature Page Design – second place, Matte Kropf

Transfer Fair 11/16/11

If you have regular contact with students – remind them they can learn about transfer requirements, meet with college and university representatives, and obtain catalogs and other transfer information at GRCC’s  Transfer Fair Wednesday November 16, 2011 from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on the 3rd Floor of the Student Center (corner of Lyon and Ransom St.).

Questions can be directed to Josephine Prince at 234-4576 or jprince@grcc.edu

GRCC in the News – 10/31/11

West Michigan college basketball preview: 10 key story lines as seasons tip off
Published: Friday, October 28, 2011, 12:00 PM | Grand Rapids Press

[…] 10. T.J. Carnegie, former boys varsity coach at Catholic Central, takes the helm of the Grand Rapids Community College men’s program. The 35-year-old also coached at East Grand Rapids and Lee. (More)

Fenton’s Ty Nunn competing well at collegiate level
Posted: Saturday, October 29, 2011 12:17 pm | TC Times | By Cole Holloway

Ty Nunn has been hitting the links for more than a decade. Nunn started playing golf at age 5 when his grandpa and dad introduced him to the game and hasn’t looked back. […]  Nunn, a Fenton High School graduate, is now enjoying the start to his college golf career. Nunn is a member of the Grand Rapids Community College golf team, which is a perennial powerhouse in the Michigan Community College Athletic Association.  (More)

Condolences to Elaine McCormack and Molly Maczka

Condolences to GRCC employees Elaine McCormack and Molly Maczka on the passing of their mother, Florence McCormack.  From the obituary:

“Florence B. McCormack, age 82, passed away Friday, October 28, 2011, after a courageous battle with Alzheimer’s […] She worked for 23 years in the Grand Rapids School system retiring in 1993, from Grand Rapids Community College.”

The details of the services and obituary can be found at the link below:

Mass of Christian Burial will be held Friday November 4, 2011, at 11 a.m., at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, Rev. Troy Nevins, presiding. Interment Resurrection Cemetery. Rosary will be recited Thursday 6:00 p.m. Visitation will be held on Thursday, November 3, 2011, from 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. – 8 p.m., at O’Brien-Eggebeen-Gerst Funeral Home, 3980 Cascade Road, SE.   (Full Obituary and Details)

GRCC Diversity Lecture Series Presents Maziar Bahari 11/9/11

GRCC’s Diversity Lecture Series will present Journalist, Filmmaker, and Former Political Prisoner Maziar Bahari on November 9, 2011 to speak on “Then They Came for Me: A Family’s Story of Love, Captivity, and Survival.”

Maziar Bahari, Iranian-Canadian journalist was arrested in Tehran on trumped-up charges of espionage in the aftermath of the contested 2009 election. Held in solitary confinement for 118 days, enduring physical and psychological torture, he chronicles his story in, Then They
Came for Me: A Family’s Story of Love, Captivity, and Survival.

As a correspondent for Newsweek, Bahari is an expert on Iran yet also embraces a wide range of subjects as a filmmaker, from Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany, to Iraqi child prisoners and Aids in South Africa.

Lecture begins at 7:00 p.m. at Fountain Street Church (24 Fountain Street NE, Grand Rapids, 49503).  The lecture is free and open to all and will be ASL Interpreted.

United Way Campaign Begins 11/7/11 – Kicks Off With New Jeans-A-Thon

The 2011 United Way campaign is ramping up here at GRCC and this year’s team wants to thank you in advance for your generosity! There’s a new – and fun – way to donate this year. In addition to your regular giving, you can donate $10 to the Jeans-athon. With your additional donation, YOU get the privilege of wearing jeans to work during the entire two-week campaign (that is, if you don’t have meetings or meetings with customers or outside the college.) Just give the additional $10.00 to your captain and they will provide you with a sticker to put on your Raider Card ID to show you’re participating. That’s $1.00 per day because the campaign ends November 18. So – get out your checkbook and your best jeans and let’s raise some money for the United Way!

ESPs Welcome Kelli Chapman

GRCC ESPs would like to welcome Kelli Chapman to the college.  Kelli works as a Financial Aid Front Desk Specialist and has just moved back to Michigan from Virginia because she misses snow! Kelli has a bachelor’s degree from Davenport and has worked at Detroit College of Business, Davenport and Baker Colleges. She was last employeed as the coordinator of the Student Access Center at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College in Richmond, Virginia.

Kelli is married to Rod, a robotics technician at Fanuc Robotics, and is a mother of three boys: Ryan, 22; Michael, 20; and Nicholas, 15. She enjoys camping and can’t wait to go snowmobiling. She also likes to take math classes so that her kids don’t get smarter than her.

Welcome Kelli!

GRCC Professors Present at Trends 2011

Diane Sparks and Becky Brinks recently presented at Trends 2011.  Here are their slides on “Online and Hybrid Classes in Early Childhood Education.”

For more exciting presentations and faculty practices, follow us on Facebook and Twitter at grccdlit.

GRCC International Guitar Series Presents Johannes Johannes Möller 11/10/11

At 7:30 p.m. thursday, November 10, GRCC’s Music Department will present 2011-2010 GFA Winner, Johannes Möller as part of its annual International Guitar Series.

The Swedish guitarist and composer Johannes Möller has captivated audiences throughout the world with charismatic and soulful performances. After playing his first public concerts at the age of 13, his performances now total over 500 and span Europe, Asia, South and North America. In 2010 he was awarded first prize in the GFA Concert Artist Competition, considered by many to be the most prestigious guitar competition in the world, resulting in a 50-concert tour and a recording with the Naxos label.

As a performer, Johannes’s artistry has reached well beyond the usual guitar circles. This was confirmed in 2008 when he won the Dutch Vriendenkrans Concours where he was competing against performers in all instrumental categories. As a part of this award his name has been engraved on a metal plate that can be seen in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Critics have also noted his special qualities, writing of his playing “Guitarist Johannes Möller achieved miracles with his lucid, spacious playing” (London Evening Standard).

The above concert will be held in Room 200 of the Grand Rapids Community College Music Center at the corner of Ransom and Lyon. Admission is $10 General and $7 for students and seniors.  Parking is available in the GRCC student parking ramp with $1.00 guest parking voucher sold at the door.  Call 234-3940 for further information or e-mail: bmorris@grcc.edu

GRCC in the News – 10/27/11

Going Local with Restaurant Week
J. BENNETT RYLAH | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2011 | Rapid Growth

Restaurant Week was regarded as a success following its inauguration in Fall of 2010. Nov. 3-13 will mark Grand Rapids’ second installment of culinary exploration. […] With Grand Rapids Community College’s Secchia Institute for Culinary Education located right downtown, there’s no reason why Grand Rapids shouldn’t be full of innovative, talented chefs producing an array of interesting menus.  (More)

Juan Olivarez shares faith, love of higher education in inaugural address as Aquinas College president
Published: Wednesday, October 26, 2011, 4:37 PM | Grand Rapids Press

GRAND RAPIDS – Juan Olivarez returned home to continue a legacy, he said today in his inaugural address as Aquinas College’s seventh president. “I believe I’m here because of an important calling,” he said, referring to his love for higher education, his faith in God and his desire to share that faith with students.  (More)

New Attendance Module in Blackboard

If you go to the “Early Alert” tab in Blackboard and click on “Starfish Home”, you’ll see a new “Record Attendance” link. Here’s a video on how to take attendance inside Blackboard:

You can find a tipsheet on this new feature, as well as other Blackboard tools at: www.grcc.edu/bbtipsheets

Contact dlit@grcc.edu with any questions. Don’t forget to follow them on Twitter and Facebook (grccdlit)!

GRCC in the News – 10/26/11

Juan Olivarez to be formally inaugurated today as Aquinas College’s seventh president in 125 years
Published: Wednesday, October 26, 2011, 7:00 AM | Grand Rapids Press

GRAND RAPIDS — Forty-four years ago, Juan Olivarez was a bright-eyed freshmen at Aquinas College, eager to start the next chapter of his life. […] Olivarez, 61, who succeeds Edward Balog, says he feels confident taking the reins after more than nine years leading Grand Rapids Community College and the past three years as president and CEO of the Kalamazoo Community Foundation  (More)

No. 2 Arizona Western Closing Gap on No. 1 Blinn in NJCAA Football Poll
National Junior College Athletic Association | October 25, 2011

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Following a wild week of upsets, the NJCAA Football Top 10 underwent some minor changes in the tenth poll of the 2011 season. […] Butler Community College (Kan.) remained No. 4 in the rankings, while No. 5 Grand Rapids Community College (Mich.) moved into the Top Five after beating Harper College (Ill.) 50-7.  (More)

Occupy Grand Rapids addresses City Commission, says it’s not going away
Published: Tuesday, October 25, 2011, 7:43 PM | Grand Rapids Press

GRAND RAPIDS – Members of Occupy Grand Rapids, at the request of Mayor George Heartwell, told city commissioners tonight that the group intends to continue protesting and camping out in a church parking lot until they see change in the community and the country. […] Since the group formed in Grand Rapids and stood together on Oct. 8, Grand Rapids Community College student Mandi Creveling has been impressed with its growth.  (More)