Daily Archives: September 11, 2014

GRCC In the News, 9-11-14

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* Note: MLive’s home page features GRCC’s Community Picnic today.

Top 5 things to do around Grand Rapids include Fiesta Mexicana, Eastown Street Fair, GRCC Picnic

Sept. 11, 2014; MLive

GRAND RAPIDS, MI — Street fairs and beer festivals will help you sneak some summertime activities into September. Add these five events to your social calendar.

… GRCC 100th Anniversary Community Picnic

Wolters twins reunite in senior year at GVSU

Sept. 8, 2014; The Lanthorn (GVSU student newspaper)

For the past decade, as Kaitlyn and Kourtney Wolters have matured into the adults they are now; their volleyball skills have followed suit, developing and growing from high school to college.

After playing alongside one another from grade school to prepping at Unity Christian High School, and for two years playing together at Grand Rapids Community College, it made for a unique transition in 2013 when the Wolters twins found themselves separated on and off the court for the first time.

 

HVAC/R program celebrates re-accreditation

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HVAC/R instructors Don Steeby and Ron Stevenson have worked diligently to successfully achieve their department’s re-accreditation from The Partnership for Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Accreditation (PAHRA).

The primary purpose of accreditation is to ensure a level of educational quality by establishing and maintaining high educational standards. PAHRA is an independent, third party organization that is a partnership between heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and refrigeration (HVACR) educators and the HVACR industry that will award accreditation to programs that have met and/or exceeded industry validated standards.

This programmatic accreditation program is the only one that is supported by the major industry associations. The purpose of PAHRA is to improve the quality of training offered at all levels of education by meeting or exceeding established industry standards in the heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVACR) industry.

Ron Stevenson and Don Steeby

Ron Stevenson and Don Steeby

Seminar highlights role of math in engineering

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The Grand Rapids Community College Mathematics Department will host its first Mathematics Seminar of the 2014-2015 academic year on Thursday, September 18, 3:00- 4:00 PM in 104 Cook. Our presenter, Duy Duong-Tran, is a former GRCC student currently at Western Michigan University double-majoring in Mathematics and Industrial-Entrepreneurial Engineering. He will discuss applications of mathematics in the field of engineering. See below for title and abstract.

This talk should be of interest to students considering a career in engineering or applied mathematics, or to anyone who would like to learn more about real-world applications of mathematics. A working knowledge of Intermediate Algebra (Ma 107) would be helpful. As always, everyone is welcome to attend GRCC Mathematics Seminars.

Pop and cookies will be served at 2:45 PM.

Mathematics in the World of Industrial Engineers

The influence of mathematics in our society is amazing. For example, mathematics plays a role in the infrastructure of the automobile industry (aerodynamic simulation through the use of math modeling), bioengineering (footwear design through piecewise linear interpolation and modeling), and the aviation industry (cubic spline interpolation at Boeing Research and Development to replace “lofting” technique).

This seminar will discuss the use of mathematics in the world of industrial engineering. Specifically, we will talk about Optimization Problems in the industry using Linear Programming (LP). Surprisingly enough, LP problems often do not employ any computer algorithm techniques, and most mathematics students are exposed to LP problems early in their careers without an official introduction to the topic. Well-known LP techniques can be applied to scheduling, transportation, assignment, capacity planning, network optimization models, project management, facility planning, and capital budgeting problems.

All of these reside under the applied mathematics field called Operations Research (OR). We will go through the technique of solving a couple of problems, and will be surprised at how much impact OR (or more generally mathematics) has upon the success of a manufacturing based corporation.

Students with knowledge of Intermediate Algebra (Ma 107) or above are encouraged to attend; no knowledge of calculus is necessary. The seminar is also designed to encourage students with a passion for both mathematics and engineering to move forward with confidence.

Changes made to policies

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Changes were recently made to several college policies:

9.5 Use of the College Name, Seal, and Emblem/Logo: Revised

  • Clarified the overall purpose of the policy
  • Defined the ownership of the policy
  • Removed the following sections of the policy as these areas are incorporated into the work of the communication department in department procedures:
    • Publication and Image
    • College Promotions and Outreach Procedures

6.2 Equal Employment Opportunity and Non-Discrimination

  • Updated EEO Policy to add the following protected characteristics and associated definitions: “sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, political affiliation and familial status….”
  • Updated to be consistent with the newly updated Sexual Misconduct Policy, recent legislation regarding Title IX (VAWA), and LGBT Workers Executive Order signed by President Obama July 2014.
  • Updated to include protected categories under Title VII
  • Specifically referencing “sexual orientation” and “gender identity or expression” sends a clear message that all employees will be respected and able to work free of any kind of harassment, and that no form of harassment or offensive conduct directed at individuals based on sexual orientation or gender identity will be tolerated.
  • The previous version of the policy stated that “any supervisor who experiences, witnesses or receives a written or oral report or complaint of discrimination or related retaliation shall promptly report it to the Office of General Counsel.”  We have changed that statement to say “any employee” as it is every employee’s responsibility to make sure that concerns are properly forward to be addressed once they are made aware of them.

14.9 Camera Phone and Related Technology: Elimination

  • Policy unnecessary. This policy simply restates current law.

11.8 Mobile Devices and Data Service Plans: Elimination

  • Policy unnecessary as this process should be a departmental procedure.