Grand Cycling Classic Impact on Traffic Near Campus – 7/28/12

On July 28th the City of Grand Rapids is hosting the Grand Cycling Classic bicycle races in the downtown area. From approximately 7 to 10 in the morning up to 2000 cyclists of all ages will be participating in a Challenge ride. This route will pass through the north end of the GRCC Campus. This is a continual loop route, in which riders will circle the route for up to 2.5 hours.

The portion of the route that will impact our area is Division Avenue southbound to Crescent, up the Crescent Street hill to Bostwick, southbound on Bostwick to Lyon back to Division Avenue. Although there does not appear to be any scheduled activities on campus that day, employees should be aware in case they plan to park in the ramps for the event, or if they will be in the area for some other purpose.

For complete details of the day’s events the website is grcyclingclassic.com .  A map of the route is available in this flyer (.pdf).

GRCC Students Finalists in Song/Music Competition – Go Online and Vote

Silent Observer’s Rock the Mic: Artists Against Violence – a competition for area youth to participate in an anti-violence movement – has announced its Top 10 finalists who will compete for the top prize of $750 and a professionally edited and produced recording of their entry song (100 copies). GRCC is proud to announce that two of the top 10 finalists are GRCC students. They are Dominique Gordon and Steven Malcolm. The public is encouraged to vote for their favorite top 10 song starting July 9 by going to youtube.com/user/RockTheMicSO/videos; to vote, you must “Like” the video. Dominique’s entry is entitled “Brothas N Sistas” and Steven’s is “Stand.” We encourage all GRCC staff, faculty and students to go online and vote for these two entries.

Dominique and Steven will join the other eight finalists and perform their entry live on July 24 at 6:30 p.m. at Celebration! North. Winners will be decided by a panel of celebrity judges and online voting totals at the July 24 event. Top prize for the event is $750 and a professionally edited and produced recording of the song (100 copies); second place is $500 and third place is $250.

The public is invited to the live event on July 24. Tickets are $5 and will include popcorn and pop. To RSVP for this live event please visit celebrationcinema.com/rockthemic

GRCC Learning Corners Offering GED and ESL Orientations

GRCC’s Learning Corners are offering GED and ESL orientations in September and October respectively:

GED Orientation: 9/24/12
Participant requirements for GED Program:

• Must attend an orientation
• Must take assessments and score at a 9th grade reading level or higher to be eligible in our program per state requirements.
• Must have a Michigan issued ID or Drivers License.
• Must pay $25, non-refundable, registration fee.

Students who score below the 9th grade level will be referred to GRCC Adult Basic Education (ABE) at the Tassel MTEC or Literacy Center of West Michigan.  Please refer prospective GED students to Learning Corner @Wealthy, 616-234-3040.

ESL Orientation: 10/1/12
Participant requirements for ESL Program:

• Must attend an orientation and appraisal
• Must take pre-tests
• Must score 181 235 in the CASAS Pre-test to be eligible in our program per state requirements.
• Must have a Michigan issued ID or Passport
• Must pay $25, non-refundable, registration fee.

Students who score 180 and below are at the Beginning ESL Literacy level and do not qualify to be enrolled in our program per state mandate. These students will be referred to the Literacy Center of West Michigan to receive the help they need.

Students who score 236 or higher are at the Adult Secondary level and do not qualify to be enrolled in our program per state mandate. These students will be referred to ESL classes on main campus, GED classes at the Learning Corner @ Wealthy, and/or to a GRCC Academic Advisor to assist them in their next educational step.

Please refer prospective ESL students to WestSide Learning Corner, 616-234-3172.

Metro Health Mobile Mammography Unit Coming to GRCC 7/24/12 and 8/7/12

The Metro Health Mobile Mammography Unit coming to GRCC (specifically the DeVos Campus).  If you would like to take advantage of this please call their appointment line and schedule your appointment on either Tuesday, July 24 or Tuesday August 7.

Call (616)-252-4461 to schedule.  More information available in this flyer (.pdf)

GRCC in the News – 7/10/12

Muskegon Community College sets up ‘reverse transfer’ agreement with Grand Valley State University
Published: Tuesday, July 10, 2012, 7:57 AM | Muskegon Chronicle | By Megan Hart

MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI – The road from community college to university is now a two-way street. Grand Valley State University President Thomas Haas and Muskegon Community College President Dale Nesbary signed an agreement Monday afternoon that would allow students to transfer credits earned at GVSU back to MCC to count toward an associate’s degree. […] Haas said “reverse transfers” are becoming more popular and GVSU has a similar partnership with Grand Rapids Community College.  (More)

The Price of Liberty: Bugan’s Burying the Typewriter
by David Cope (David Cope) on Tuesday Jul 10th, 2012 07:59am | The Rapidian

As a writer and citizen of the world, Carmen Bugan has many roles; the Grand Rapids-based poet is a Romanian expatriate, eldest child of Ion and Mioara Bugan and chronicler of her father’s heroic stand against the tyrannical Ceauşescu regime in her home nation. She is also an honor graduate of Grand Rapids Community College, the University of Michigan, the Poets’ House/Lancaster University in Ireland and earned her doctorate at Oxford University, U.K.  (More)

Online classes attract growing numbers of students
Caroline MacGregor | WGVU | June 28, 2012

While enrollment for recent semesters at Grand Rapids Community College has been down slightly, interest in online classes is high. WGVU’s Caroline MacGregor has more. Taking classes online is a trend in universities and colleges in Michigan and around the globe that continues to grow. At GRCC, online courses account for 30 percent of classes offered this semester. The trend follows a 67 percent enrollment growth since 2009.  (More)

Raider Salute to Vikki Cooper, Pamela Scott and Jennifer Batten

This Salute comes from the Upward Bound program:

This Raider Salute is for three very special individuals who went the extra mile to aid in the success of the Upward Bound Summer Program this year.

We would like to thank Vikki Cooper for spending an afternoon working with our staff. Your commitment to professional and student development is admirable and greatly appreciated by all who attended your Reading Apprenticeship session.

Jennifer Batten and Pamela Scott, thank you for your continued support with the lab usage. Your commitment to access and minimizing the barriers of place and cost has allowed our students memorable educational preparation they could have not otherwise gotten.

To all of you, the staff and students of Upward Bound salute you!!

Raider Salute to Erich Flynn

This Salute comes from GRCC Police Chief Rebecca Whitman:

This Raider Salute goes out to Erich Flynn for going above and beyond to make sure my communication tools are functioning properly. He is always willing and able to find new ways to solve problems, and is available to help when needed, which seems to be often lately. Even when the situation seemed “fatal” he was able to bring life back to my smartphone, which was nothing more than a paperweight when he started…late on a Friday afternoon. Thanks to you and the rest of our I.T. support staff for all you do.