GRCC Hosts World Pastry Cup Tryouts for Team USA Saturday 4/21/12

Once again, Grand Rapids Community College will be the site of the tryouts that will select the competitors to represent the United States in the 2013 La Coupe du Monde de la Patisserie (the World Pastry Cup) held in Lyon, France.  The competitors, some of the finest artisans in chocolate, pastry and ice will be evaluated by an all-star panel including Kerry Vincent of (Food Network Challenge), Ewald Notter (a former La Coupe du Monde winner), Randy Finch and Derek Maxfield (of the Food Network’s “The Ice Brigade”), and more!

The tryouts will take place in Grand Rapids Community College’s Applied Technology Center (ATC) located on 151 Fountain St NE, and are open to the public from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.   For more information, visit www.grcc.edu/pastrycup

Team USA Competitors:

• Roy Pell | Executive Pastry Chef The Phoenician, Phoenix, AZ
• Regis Courivaud | Executive Pastry Chef Restaurant Le Monde, New York, NY
• Bill Foltz | Executive Pastry Chef L’Auberge du Lac, Lake Charles, LA
• Thierry Aujard | Pastry Chef Desserts International, Exton, PA
• Andy Chlebana | Pastry Chef / Professor Joliet Junior College, Joliet, IL
• Stephen Durfee | Pastry Chef Instructor, Culinary Institute of America, St. Helena, CA
• Christophe Feyt | Pastry Chef Paris Hotel, Las Vegas, NV
• Naomi Gallego | Corporate Pastry Chef Amero Foods, Laurel, MD

Judges

• Ewald Notter | Notter School of Pastry Arts
• Kerry Vincent | Food Network Challenge
• Randy Finch | Ice Sculptures, Inc. / The Ice Brigade
• Derek Maxfield | Ice Sculptures, Inc. / The Ice Brigade
• Luba Petrash | GRCC Ice Carving Team Coach
• Robin Van Rooyen | GRCC Visual Arts Professor
• Nick Antonakis | GRCC Visual Arts Professor

Over 200 Students get Their Ducks in a Row – Photos

Admissions and Enrollment Center staff worked together on Saturday 4/14 to offer services to students who have applied to GRCC but were not matriculated. Over 200 people were seen in the Enrollment Center where they could take the Accuplacer, drop off transcripts, set up their Online Student Center and/or Blackboard accounts, RSVP for New Student Orientation, take a tour of campus, hear a presentation from academic advisors or see a financial Aid representative. 127 students took the Accuplacer test on Saturday.

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GRCC History Class Experiences Depression-Era Meal – Photos

The HS293 seminar class about the era of WWI and the interwar period, taught by Prof. Susan Williams and Prof. Robert Hendershot, had the opportunity on Monday to collaborate with GRCC’s catering services department. To create a learning opportunity about the material culture of the Great Depression and the adaptability required by the crisis, Chef Nancy Rutledge and Director Daniel Zehr created a full menu of Depression-era items, including neck bone soup, hamburger gravy, collard greens, corn bread, mock apple pie (made with Ritz crackers), and a depression cake (minimal flour, no sugar, no eggs). Everything was delicious as well as educational. Chef Nancy provided a tutorial about the various ingredients and their preparation, and this nicely complimented much of what the students had recently read in Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath (which had been the inspiration for the class session in general and the hamburger gravy in particular).

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This special history seminar has included numerous interdisciplinary components, and students were very happy to be able to enjoy the wonderful meal along with so many of the faculty members who had contributed their time and expertise to its success over the course of the semester. Special thanks to Kimberly Overdevest, Mike Light, Laurie Foster, Bob Leunk, Gordan Vurusic, Dillon Carr, Christian Carron, the staff of the Meyer May House, and Dean Laurie Chesley, whose office kindly agreed to fund Monday’s Great Depression dinner/class.

Significantly, the Catering Services / Campus Dining Department expressed that they would be very keen to pursue similar collaborations with more departments and classes in the future. (Feel free to contact them with any ideas or questions at dzehr@grcc.edu)

Energy Conservation Encourages Earth Day Participation – GRCC Reduces Energy Consumption 18.5 Pct, Saves $2,980,022

While the world celebrates Earth Day this month, GRCC faculty, staff and students are participating as well, by continuing to save energy and resources.

Since GRCC began the program in May of 2008, energy consumption has been reduced by 141,910 MMBTUs. That reduction translates into the equivalent of 14,941 tons of carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere, or 2,682 passenger cars removed from the road, or 382,154 trees planted.

This Earth Day, ask yourself, are you doing your part to promote energy conservation on campus? Think about how you might change your energy use habits if the utility companies only provided the college a finite number of kilowatts of electricity and therms of gas per month. Energy conservation does take some effort but think how better our planet will be if we all take a few steps to reduce our energy use every day. You can make a difference. By continuing to change our practices we can save real dollars, reduce our carbon footprint, and be good stewards of the environment.

White Hall LEED Certification Program – Video

Recently GRCC’s White Hall was officially LEED-certified and a program was held to commemorate this first for the college (captured by GRCC’s Media Technologies Department):

GRAHEN Awards 2012 – Video

The GRAHEN Awards celebrate outstanding adult learners from colleges around Grand Rapids, and an awards banquet was held April 18,2012 to acknowledge these inspiring individuals.

GRCC in the News – 4/20/12

See how much of an economic impact West Michigan’s colleges and universities generate
Published: Friday, April 20, 2012, 6:15 AM | Grand Rapids Press

GRAND RAPIDS, MI — Higher education is a major contributor to West Michigan’s economy. That’s according to recently completed studies from Grand Valley State University and Grand Rapids Community College, which show that each institution contributes hundreds of millions of dollars to the regional economy each year.  (More)

ACLU lawsuit alleges Grand Rapids mother, son were wrongly targeted, abused by immigration agents
Published: Thursday, April 19, 2012, 4:27 PM | Grand Rapids Press

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – A mother and son who say they were targets of harassment by immigration authorities are now represented by the ACLU in a lawsuit against the United States agency. […] The suit claims that on Feb. 23, 2011, the mother and her 22-year-old son, a student at Grand Rapids Community College, were driving near South Division Avenue and Burton Street SW to a cousin’s house where they planned to show the 6-year-old boy a new puppy.  (More)

Opera Grand Rapids holds final round of Collegiate Vocal Competition on Sunday (video)
Published: Thursday, April 19, 2012, 10:15 AM | Grand Rapids Press

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Nine budding opera stars compete in the final round of Opera Grand Rapids Collegiate Vocal Competition on Sunday. […] Final round contestants for the 2012 competition are: Alison Bieber, Zack Lutes, William Perry Reed and Madison Roester all from Grand Rapids Community College.  (More)

New Policies – Course Credit Hour Definition and Seminar Courses

Below are the highlights for two new Academic Governing Council policies – please take a moment to review them (links to the full policies are provided below):

Course Credit Hour Definition: Policy defines a credit hour and gives value to the amount of work represented in learning outcomes and is verified by evidence of student achievement of those outcomes.  (Full Policy Available Here).

• A credit hour requires a minimum of one hour of direct faculty instruction and two hours of out-of-class student work each week for the equivalent of fourteen weeks.
• Clinicals require a minimum of 1.75 hours of student participation each week for the equivalent of fourteen weeks for each credit hour.
• Laboratories, Music Ensembles, Studios, Practica, Internships, and Fieldwork require a minimum of 2 hours of student participation each week for the equivalent of fourteen weeks for each credit hour.
• Co-ops require a minimum of 5 hours of student participation each week for the equivalent of fourteen weeks for each credit hour.
• Lecture/Labs are a way to implement an instructional strategy particular to a discipline. The department/program defines the credit hour/contact hour ratio according to the type of work required of students to meet the outcomes of those courses.

Seminar Courses: Policy is intended ensure the quality of the College curricula and the means to offer courses in special topics.  (Full Policy Available Here).

• Curriculum: A seminar course focuses on a topic that is not included and/or studied in depth in the discipline’s regular course offerings.
• Student: Students may not use more than twelve (12) credits of a combination of Seminar and Independent Study courses toward the fulfillment of the requirements for any associate’s degree.

Golden Raiders Retiree Reception – 4/25/12

It’s once again time for the Golden Raiders Retiree Reception. As you know, this is an annual event designed to bring GRCC retirees together and honor those who are retiring this year. The event will be held on Wednesday, April 25 from 1:00-3:00 p.m. with the program starting at 2:00 p.m. The event is once again in the Banquet Rooms of the Applied Technology Center (ATC), which is at the corner of Fountain Street and Ransom Avenue.

President Ender will give an update of the college, along with the presentation of the 2012 Emeritus Faculty/Administrator Award and the recognition of new retirees.

Please stop by and reconnect with friends and colleagues. All are welcome to attend.