Teacher Education Seminar on Bullying in Schools (Photos)

Christy Buck, Executive Director of the Mental Health Foundation of West Michigan, speaks to teacher education students at the year’s first seminar.   Her focus was on how we can take a proactive approach to bullying in our schools.  Christy also provided important research findings about the impact bullying can have on mental health.

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GRCC Switching From Groupwise to Gmail

GMail is coming soon to a browser near you.  Based on survey results and then a pilot, the cabinet made the decision to migrate from GroupWise to GMail.  More details to follow.  There is much work and training to be done prior to our go live date which will be at the end of winter semester.   Look for GMail news in the upcoming IT Newsletter.

Two Lectures From Author Carmen Burgan

Former GRCC student and onetime adjunct colleague Carmen Bugan recently won the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference Bakeless Prize for “Burying the Typewriter,” her memoir of growing up in Ceaucescu’s Romania, living through years of tyranny and suffering after her dissident father drove to the central square in Bucharest and confronted the regime for the horrors it perpetrated.

Bugan was on campus speaking to GRCC students and the community and GRCC’s Media Technologies department captured both events:

Carmen Bugan – GRCC Alumna and Poet Author

Carmen Bugan – “Burying the Typewriter”

Mathematics Lecture – 50 Centuries in 50 Minutes (Video)

How did we get the mathematics that is studied today? Who was responsible for major advances in the mathematics that we now take for granted? When and where did this work take place?  This lecture by Professor John Dersch, captured by GRCC’s Media Technologies department, answers these questions by tracing the development of mathematics from 3000 B.C. to the dawn of the 21st century.

GRCC in the News – 9/24/12

Jobless try to stay positive in a painfully slow recovery
10:57 PM, Sep 22, 2012 | Battle Creek Enquirer

Five years ago, Robert Potter thought by now he would have a degree in criminal justice. He graduated high school in 2008, but a troubled economy has cost him his dreams. After he lost his job in 2010, Potter could no longer afford to attend Grand Rapids Community College and his mother, working through a temporary employment agency in Battle Creek, couldn’t afford to help him out financially. He moved back in with her and started working in manufacturing, but again, he lost his job.  (More)

ArtPrize Indoor Venues
Jonathan Seely | FOX 17 Web Producer | 5:35 p.m. EDT, September 21, 2012

Grand Rapids Community College’s Spectrum Theater | 160 Fountain NE Grand Rapids, MI […] The Grand Rapids Community College Paul Collins Art Gallery | 143 Bostwick Ave. NE 4th Floor Grand Rapids, MI   (More)

Last Minute Learning Opportunity From Staff Development – Bullying in the Workplace

There are still a few seats available for the ‘Bullying in the Workplace’ workshop being presented today from 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM in Room 122 LRC. The session will be presented by Tamber Bustance and Kathleen Owens from the Diversity Learning Center. NO REGISTRATION REQUIRED.

This learning session is built on participant discussion detailing and defining the role of supervisors of student employees. Supervisors may play many roles some of those roles may lead to conflict or complications.  Learning Objectives: Upon completion of this session, learners will:

• Understand the importance of boundary setting in the work place
• Recognize a new awareness of unintentional consequences to blurred boundaries
• Have an opportunity to discover how other supervisors handle awkward or upsetting situations/relationships with student employees
• Begin to develop strategies and create tools to address the value of clear protected boundaries

A Tool to Help Students Stay on Track to Graduate With My Degree Path – Coming 10/15/12

Have your students ever wondered:

• What classes do I still need to graduate?
• What if I change my major?
• How do I plan what courses to take next semester?

Introducing, a tool to help students stay on a clear path to graduation!  Starting October 15 – they will be able to log into their Online Student Center accounts and access this tool.  Explore. Plan. Learn. Graduate.

My Degree Path is a web-based tool designed to help you stay on a clear path to graduation.   It enables you and your advisor to review your coursework – past, present, and future – and evaluate which degree requirements you have completed and which remain to be completed.

How does My Degree Path work?
For students, My Degree Path will:

• Provide real-time advice, 24/7 for students
• Outline a path to graduation for a specific GRCC program
• Allows for the creation of semester by semester degree plan
• Provides self-service capabilities
• Allows exploration of other GRCC programs (what if)
• Allows direct access to multiple related services and advice

More information available at grcc.edu/MyDegreePath

Community Relations Council Forum 9/19/12 (Videos)

Member’s from the community came to GRCC to give testimonies. They discussed amending the Non-Discrimination Act to include sexual orientation and gender identity, and how it will impact the community.

GRCC Diversity Lecture Series 2012-2013

GRCC’s Diversity Lecture Series for 2012-2013 has announced its roster of amazing speakers:

JEFF CHANG – Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Author, Historian, Music Critic
Who We Be: The Colorization of America

Jeff Chang is a radical historian with both street cred and academic chops, Chang addresses multiculturalism, race relations, student activism, political engagement, the state of the arts, and the politics of abandonment. His book, Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation is only ostensibly about hip-hop; it’s really a cultural history.

In his follow-up, Who We Be, he traces the rise of multiculturalism—its roots, its triumphs, its commercialization—to tell a new, vibrant, and necessary people’s history. Jeff Chang is the Executive Director of the Institute for Diversity in the Arts at Stanford University.

KAMBRI CREWS – Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Author, Comedic Storyteller, Producer
Burn Down the Ground

Kambri Crews once lived with her deaf parents in a tin shed in Montgomery, Texas. She now runs her own PR and production company in New York City and is the author of the critically acclaimed memoir, Burn Down the Ground, her story of overcoming poverty, violence and near-crippling adversity.

Crews uses comedic storytelling with brutal honesty and fearless humor and inspires with her motto and guiding philosophy, “Life’s Tough, Laugh More.” She is a co-producer of the ECNY Awards and has produced dozens of shows featuring comedians and writers from The Onion, The Daily Show to Saturday Night Live.

DOUGLAS RUSHKOFF – Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Author, Media Theorist, Lecturer
Digital Nation

Douglas Rushkoff, Ph.D. is a graphic novelist and globally recognized media and technology theorist specializing in new media and internet culture. He originated several ideas ranging from “viral media” to “social currency” with insight on how interactive communications affect our society as we create, share, and influence each other’s values.

Rushkoff is a CNN commentator, author of 12 books, including the Gen-X Reader, Screenagers, Life Inc.: How Corporatism Conquered the World, and How We Can Take It Back. He is best known for his association with the early cyberpunk culture, and his advocacy of open source solutions to social problems.

LZ GRANDERSON – Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Journalist, Commentator, Sports Writer
Dare You to Move

LZ Granderson writes a weekly column for CNN.com, and is a senior writer and columnist for ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com. He is a contributor to ESPN’s Sports Center, Outside the Lines and First Take. This former Detroit gang member rose to be selected a Hechinger Fellow at Columbia University.

LZ’s commentary, reaches well beyond the world of athletics tackling subjects such as use of the N-word in the black community, the presence of gays in the locker room, and the truths and lies of reverse racism. Prior to joining ESPN, Mr. Granderson was a sports columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Grand Rapids Press.

SUSAN CAIN – Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Author, Lecturer
Quiet, The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking

Susan Cain is a former corporate lawyer and negotiations consultant—and a self-described introvert. Her book has sparked a genuine national conversation about introverts. Although our culture undervalues them dramatically, introverts have made some of the great contributions to society—from Chopin’s nocturnes to the invention of the personal computer to Gandhi’s transformative leadership. Based on intensive research in psychology and neurobiology, Cain argues that we design our schools, workplaces, and religious institutions for extroverts, and that this bias creates a waste of talent, energy, and happiness.

For more information, please call (616) 234-3390

• All lectures begin at 7:00 p.m. at Fountain Street Church, 24 Fountain St. NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49503
• Free and open to all
• On-campus parking $3.00 (with discount pass)
• ASL interpreted
• Book signing follows authors’ lectures

Policy Update Highlights – Foundation, Contributions, Drug and Alcohol Abuse, Cut-off Date, Late Enrollment, Maximum Credit Load

9.3 Grand Rapids Community College Foundation (Full Policy Here)

• There are no substantive changes to the policy.
• The policy recognizes that the GRCC Foundation exists to support the College.
• The GRCC Foundation’s By-Laws establish it as a Michigan non-profit organization that exists to support the College. The Policy indicates the dates the By-Laws were most recently modified.
• GRCC employees, the GRCC Board of Trustees, and the GRCC Foundation Board of Directors should be aware of the policy.

9.10 Contributions to the College (Full Policy Here)

• The primary changes to the policy include: 1) moving it from the “old” format to the “new format; and, 2) changing the numbering and associated sections/subsections (11.10 to 9.10).
• The policy communicates the process for receiving and documenting gifts to the College.

6.24 Drug and Alcohol Abuse Policy Highlights (Full Policy Here)

• The policy has been updated and modified to provide greater clarity to supervisors regarding concerning behaviors that may indicate substance abuse.
• Provides students and employees with information regarding how to access community resources if they have a substance abuse problem.
• Provides required warning regarding the dangers of alcohol and substance abuse to students and staff In compliance with the Clery Act.
• Policy is required by the Drug-Free Workplace Act and Drug Free Schools and Communities Act
• The use of alcohol on campus is prohibited unless specifically permitted for work or educational events or at the Heritage during regular hours.
• Covered substances and exceptions are outlined in the policy
• Identifies actions to be taken for refusal of pre-employment drug-screening

Admissions Cut-off Date (Full Policy Here)
GRCC will not accept new student applications five business days prior to the start of a semester.

• Allows opportunity for academic advising
• Allows more time to deliver other needed services to students

Blocking Late Enrollment (Full Policy Here)
GRCC will not allow students to enroll in a class after midnight of the day before the class meets for the second time.

• Allows for limited swaps if the second class has not met
• Promotes student responsibility and planning
• Facilitates building a learning community from the start of a class

Maximum Student Credit Hour Load Per Semester (Full Policy Here)
Students who want to enroll in more than 18 hours in a semester must get permission from the appropriate Associate Dean.

• Student success rates are negatively impacted when students enroll in too many credits in a given semester.